Ever since my parents moved, driving has been a lot more frustrating for me. Our building is on a divided road, and we are on the side that runs away from everywhere I ever go on a regular basis. I have to go in the opposite direction to turn around and get where I'm going. Travel times now have an additional 15 or so minutes, and I just feel farther away. Part of that travel time is simply because there are a bajillion traffic lights that constantly stop me and/or a kajillion parked cars that I have to drive around. To top it all off, schools have started up again, so now I have to worry about school zones, school buses, extra pedestrian traffic, and extra car traffic from parents picking up their students.
I'm kind of a stickler for the rules of the road; I mean, I actually read the book before taking my test and I know a lot more of the laws for trivia purposes. Right of way is the big one that I yell about while I'm driving, but my favorite trivia type law regards seat belts. In my state, if the driver is over eighteen years of age, the passengers in the backseat have the option not to wear their seat belts.
So, here's a list of my top five pet peeves about driving:
1. Incorrect right of way. The driving laws dictate whose turn it is, and driving is all about taking turns. That's what makes things go smoothly. If I'm turning right or going straight and you're turning left, it's my turn. If you've been waiting at the stop sign but the person in front of you just went and I'm also at the front of the line, it's my turn. If I'm on the road and you're coming out of a driveway, it's my turn. Wait your turn!
2. Unnecessary honking. This was more in China than in the US since EVERYONE honks in China just to let you know they're there, but if I'm waiting at a red light where I'm allowed to turn on red, but I see cars coming that you can't see, don't honk at me! It makes me angry and less likely to go until it's green just to be spiteful.
3. Heavy traffic. Heavy traffic makes people extra stupid because they just want to get where they're going. It bothers me when people drive like they're the only ones who have a destination because it makes things less safe for the rest of us, and I don't want to crash because you couldn't be on time for whatever it is you're rushing to.
4. Unexpected construction/road closures. I was driving yesterday, and I got to a point in the road where there was a police car blocking my lane. He directed me to turn right into a neighborhood, where the rest of the traffic from the major road had also be redirected, and I had to snake around through this unfamiliar residential area and wait in the longest stop sign line of my life. Then I couldn't make my usual left turn. Then I had to go to the perpendicular main road that I hate driving on because of the traffic. I was frustrated and frazzled by the time I got where I was going, and I would have taken a different route altogether if there had been some indication of what was going on.
5. Traffic lights. In the US, we have a lot of traffic lights that are placed very close together. If I can figure out a route that avoids traffic and traffic lights, I take it because I hate traffic lights. I think that much of my drive time is spent sitting at red lights, and it feels ridiculous, especially when a stop sign could be just as effective. I understand that traffic lights are safer, but if they're not based on sensors and timers, then I just end up sitting for a long time at a red light while nobody is coming from any other direction. And they're always all red when I actually have a destination.
I know there are rebuttals to any and all of these points, but this is what frustrates me most. I just really want a vortex manipulator (they're more precise than a TARDIS, though I'd love one of those) or the ability to apparate or teleport. Any of the above. All of the above.
Today is awesome because I updated my computer.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
TV, Books, and Movies from the Summer
This summer I consumed a fair amount of media while I was away. Plane rides around the world are pretty long. So, here's the list and a brief summary of my impressions of what I read and watched.
LOST: I really liked this television series. The first season kind of bothered me a bit because it had little plot direction, but the detailed character profiles help understand who these people are as the story progresses. I think it was probably a very frustrating series to watch while it was still on because so many things are left unanswered, but it has amazing continuity when you watch it all at once. The ending is very controversial, but I think it wraps the story and answers my questions. I appreciate that the writers tried to conclude their series rather than have it stop abruptly, as the fabulous Joss Whedon series did. Overall, I enjoyed watching LOST. I recommend it, but you need to be patient.
Brave: Brave was so good!! The plot is pretty predictable and not terribly creative to get its message across, but the execution is really fun. My favorite characters were the three younger brothers; everything they did made me laugh. Beautiful animation in the moment when Merida shoots the arrow. It easily facilitates conversations about if parents listen to their children. I left very happy. Make sure to watch past the credits! There's an additional scene.
Howl's Moving Castle: Now, this was not a first-time watching for me, but I watched this movie in China when I was having a lazy day, and it reminded me why I love it so much. The animation is fantastic, the plotline is fun, and it reminds me of the Animated Film Club from high school.
How to Train Your Dragon: I have not seen this movie until this summer, and that has been a mistake. I actually watched it three times in one week because I liked it so much. The animation of light, water, and fire is amazing!!! I loved the way they brought life to the dragons to make them transform, and the human characters were quite funny. The soundtrack of this film is superior.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More with Feeling:" I ended up re-watching this episode (and actually buying it) because I had a thought while frustratedly studying Chinese characters that I was just "going through the motions," which is the opening song of the episode. At this point, I can sing along to all of the songs and recite most of the lines along with the episode. I also watched a bunch of behind the scenes videos, and it made me love the episode and series even more. It's just awesome.
WIGS: This webseries, free on YouTube, is all about women in the modern day. There are multiple story lines about individual fictional women and they air one at a time. I started watching WIGS when it began in the spring, and I think there are eight out right now, and my favorite is Lauren. I highly recommend watching this channel, because it is extremely relevant and important.
Other Webseries I love: Squaresville, Job Hunters, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (seriously watch this!!!)
Anna and the French Kiss: This novel by Stephanie Perkins was a fun, kind of fluffy, summer read. It is about Anna, a high school senior whose father decides to send her to School of America in Paris (SOAP) for just the one year. It follows her journey through the year when she has to adjust to living in a foreign country where she does not speak the language, living independently, having to make new friends, and still go to school. She ends up falling in love with her best friend, drama ensues, and the it concludes. I think my favorite part was that I read about Anna feeling helpless because she couldn't speak French while I was going through the same thing in China. Highly recommend as a fun book!
Rossum's Universal Robots: I will admit, this was a book assigned for a class that I dropped and couldn't sell back. However, I decided to read this play after watching Joss Whedon's Dollhouse because one of the final episodes makes a reference to it, so I wanted to understand what it was talking about. The play is about a company that manufactures humans, but the humans are missing any extraneous parts, including free will, except over time the robots take over the world and kill all the humans. The play follows the humans in charge of creating the robots as they deal with both the business and ethical sides of the manufacture of people. It's good, but unless you have a specific reason to read it, it's less easy to get through than a fun novel.
I think that's about it for things I went through during the summer. I mean, in China I saw Peking Opera, an acrobatics show, and a puppet show, but I wrote about those in my China blogs, so I exclude them here. I'm currently reading American G-ds by Neil Gaiman, but I'm not very far. I like it so far, but there's about 500 pages to go. I've mostly been watching stuff on BBC in the mornings and Doctor Who specials when they're on. I'm super psyched for the new season to start on Saturday!!!!
Today is awesome because I put together a scrapbook and have Tae Kwon Do tonight.
LOST: I really liked this television series. The first season kind of bothered me a bit because it had little plot direction, but the detailed character profiles help understand who these people are as the story progresses. I think it was probably a very frustrating series to watch while it was still on because so many things are left unanswered, but it has amazing continuity when you watch it all at once. The ending is very controversial, but I think it wraps the story and answers my questions. I appreciate that the writers tried to conclude their series rather than have it stop abruptly, as the fabulous Joss Whedon series did. Overall, I enjoyed watching LOST. I recommend it, but you need to be patient.
Brave: Brave was so good!! The plot is pretty predictable and not terribly creative to get its message across, but the execution is really fun. My favorite characters were the three younger brothers; everything they did made me laugh. Beautiful animation in the moment when Merida shoots the arrow. It easily facilitates conversations about if parents listen to their children. I left very happy. Make sure to watch past the credits! There's an additional scene.
Howl's Moving Castle: Now, this was not a first-time watching for me, but I watched this movie in China when I was having a lazy day, and it reminded me why I love it so much. The animation is fantastic, the plotline is fun, and it reminds me of the Animated Film Club from high school.
How to Train Your Dragon: I have not seen this movie until this summer, and that has been a mistake. I actually watched it three times in one week because I liked it so much. The animation of light, water, and fire is amazing!!! I loved the way they brought life to the dragons to make them transform, and the human characters were quite funny. The soundtrack of this film is superior.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More with Feeling:" I ended up re-watching this episode (and actually buying it) because I had a thought while frustratedly studying Chinese characters that I was just "going through the motions," which is the opening song of the episode. At this point, I can sing along to all of the songs and recite most of the lines along with the episode. I also watched a bunch of behind the scenes videos, and it made me love the episode and series even more. It's just awesome.
WIGS: This webseries, free on YouTube, is all about women in the modern day. There are multiple story lines about individual fictional women and they air one at a time. I started watching WIGS when it began in the spring, and I think there are eight out right now, and my favorite is Lauren. I highly recommend watching this channel, because it is extremely relevant and important.
Other Webseries I love: Squaresville, Job Hunters, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (seriously watch this!!!)
Anna and the French Kiss: This novel by Stephanie Perkins was a fun, kind of fluffy, summer read. It is about Anna, a high school senior whose father decides to send her to School of America in Paris (SOAP) for just the one year. It follows her journey through the year when she has to adjust to living in a foreign country where she does not speak the language, living independently, having to make new friends, and still go to school. She ends up falling in love with her best friend, drama ensues, and the it concludes. I think my favorite part was that I read about Anna feeling helpless because she couldn't speak French while I was going through the same thing in China. Highly recommend as a fun book!
Rossum's Universal Robots: I will admit, this was a book assigned for a class that I dropped and couldn't sell back. However, I decided to read this play after watching Joss Whedon's Dollhouse because one of the final episodes makes a reference to it, so I wanted to understand what it was talking about. The play is about a company that manufactures humans, but the humans are missing any extraneous parts, including free will, except over time the robots take over the world and kill all the humans. The play follows the humans in charge of creating the robots as they deal with both the business and ethical sides of the manufacture of people. It's good, but unless you have a specific reason to read it, it's less easy to get through than a fun novel.
I think that's about it for things I went through during the summer. I mean, in China I saw Peking Opera, an acrobatics show, and a puppet show, but I wrote about those in my China blogs, so I exclude them here. I'm currently reading American G-ds by Neil Gaiman, but I'm not very far. I like it so far, but there's about 500 pages to go. I've mostly been watching stuff on BBC in the mornings and Doctor Who specials when they're on. I'm super psyched for the new season to start on Saturday!!!!
Today is awesome because I put together a scrapbook and have Tae Kwon Do tonight.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
AAAAND Home
I've been home for two weeks now. It's nice, and I have accomplished absolutely nothing. Here's the breakdown:
Sunday August 12: travel for a 36-hour day. Dinner at home, unpack.
Monday August 13: lunch, shoe shopping, visit grandmothers, tae kwon do
Tuesday August 14: join the gym, lunch with friend, more shoe shopping, tae kwon do
Wednesday August 15: go to the gym
Thursday August 16: gym (first swim of the summer!), tae kwon do
Friday August 17: lunch with grandma, afternoon with mom, family dinner at Chinese restaurant
Saturday August 18: tae kwon do, clothes shopping with mom, visit friend in evening
Sunday August 19: sleep in (9:15, jetlag milestone!), market, dinner with grandma
Monday August 20: Target, lunch with two friends, gym, tae kwon do
Tuesday August 21: gym, tae kwon do
Wednesday August 22: friends lunch, movie with another friend (Brave was so awesome!!)
Thursday August 23: grocery store, gym, tae kwon do
Other things that have happened this summer: I have fallen in love with How to Train Your Dragon, watched all of Lost, read Anna and the French Kiss and Rossum's Universal Robots, and blogged every day in China (except for the five days I was without computer, when I journaled). So, basically, no BEDA this month because I did 51 daily blogs this summer already.
I'm mostly doing a whole lot of nothing while at home. I have a date for my second degree promotion for tae kwon do (December 2013), and I'm going to start working on a project next week to make a photo book to print of my pictures from China. I ended up taking 1700 photos/video, so there's really a lot to go through to choose for that album.
Tae Kwon Do has been amazing. It's so great to be back at the school with the family, and I love feeling like I still know what I'm doing. My sacred classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and my sleeping schedule dictates whether or not I go on Saturday. My Tuesday/Thursdays are especially meaningful to me, and I wouldn't trade those dojang hours for anything.
Since I've had so much free time and my brother has now begun his post-college job, I've been thinking (worrying) a lot about The Future. It's mostly because I have too much time on my hands so I start to plan, but I am now at the stage of my four-year plan when I need to figure out the what and where. More importantly the what because the where will follow and I may not have a choice there, but until this week the where didn't matter. I think the value I'm placing on location is reactionary to having spent two months out of the country. Anywho, it's all going to be fine and I just need to keep on track and do my research so I can figure out what I want and go get it (the last two steps of the aforementioned plan. It has been a very good plan.).
And, speaking of Who, September 1!!!! I'm pretty psyched for the new season of Doctor Who, and Asylum of the Daleks premieres on September 1. I've been watching mostly BBC America during my days of nothing, and they have had a lot of adverts and specials lately to get fans excited. Mission accomplished.
So, yeah, ramble-y blog post about my two uneventful weeks at home. I guess I'll write some book/television/movie reviews since there has been quite a lot of media in my summer. I do have more things scheduled in the next week! Some lunch dates and doctor's appointments. Things just aren't as adventurous as they were in China, so I feel like there's not much to post about beyond saying that tae kwon do class was amazing, which gets boring for people who weren't there after so many days in a row.
If you want to know about China, check out chinasteph.blogspot.com
I'm going to stop now because this is getting cynical.
Today is awesome because of Tae Kwon Do class!
Sunday August 12: travel for a 36-hour day. Dinner at home, unpack.
Monday August 13: lunch, shoe shopping, visit grandmothers, tae kwon do
Tuesday August 14: join the gym, lunch with friend, more shoe shopping, tae kwon do
Wednesday August 15: go to the gym
Thursday August 16: gym (first swim of the summer!), tae kwon do
Friday August 17: lunch with grandma, afternoon with mom, family dinner at Chinese restaurant
Saturday August 18: tae kwon do, clothes shopping with mom, visit friend in evening
Sunday August 19: sleep in (9:15, jetlag milestone!), market, dinner with grandma
Monday August 20: Target, lunch with two friends, gym, tae kwon do
Tuesday August 21: gym, tae kwon do
Wednesday August 22: friends lunch, movie with another friend (Brave was so awesome!!)
Thursday August 23: grocery store, gym, tae kwon do
Other things that have happened this summer: I have fallen in love with How to Train Your Dragon, watched all of Lost, read Anna and the French Kiss and Rossum's Universal Robots, and blogged every day in China (except for the five days I was without computer, when I journaled). So, basically, no BEDA this month because I did 51 daily blogs this summer already.
I'm mostly doing a whole lot of nothing while at home. I have a date for my second degree promotion for tae kwon do (December 2013), and I'm going to start working on a project next week to make a photo book to print of my pictures from China. I ended up taking 1700 photos/video, so there's really a lot to go through to choose for that album.
Tae Kwon Do has been amazing. It's so great to be back at the school with the family, and I love feeling like I still know what I'm doing. My sacred classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and my sleeping schedule dictates whether or not I go on Saturday. My Tuesday/Thursdays are especially meaningful to me, and I wouldn't trade those dojang hours for anything.
Since I've had so much free time and my brother has now begun his post-college job, I've been thinking (worrying) a lot about The Future. It's mostly because I have too much time on my hands so I start to plan, but I am now at the stage of my four-year plan when I need to figure out the what and where. More importantly the what because the where will follow and I may not have a choice there, but until this week the where didn't matter. I think the value I'm placing on location is reactionary to having spent two months out of the country. Anywho, it's all going to be fine and I just need to keep on track and do my research so I can figure out what I want and go get it (the last two steps of the aforementioned plan. It has been a very good plan.).
And, speaking of Who, September 1!!!! I'm pretty psyched for the new season of Doctor Who, and Asylum of the Daleks premieres on September 1. I've been watching mostly BBC America during my days of nothing, and they have had a lot of adverts and specials lately to get fans excited. Mission accomplished.
So, yeah, ramble-y blog post about my two uneventful weeks at home. I guess I'll write some book/television/movie reviews since there has been quite a lot of media in my summer. I do have more things scheduled in the next week! Some lunch dates and doctor's appointments. Things just aren't as adventurous as they were in China, so I feel like there's not much to post about beyond saying that tae kwon do class was amazing, which gets boring for people who weren't there after so many days in a row.
If you want to know about China, check out chinasteph.blogspot.com
I'm going to stop now because this is getting cynical.
Today is awesome because of Tae Kwon Do class!
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