Scenes from Childhood

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with these movies and the songs. I was about 3 when the Never Ending Story came out but I remember watching it a lot. Muriel’s Wedding is seriously like in my top 10 favorite movie list. Love it!!

Hamm and Bublé! Haha.

SNL was good this week.

Jon Hamm and Michael Bublé on the same night!! That’s so unfair!!

I was kind of surprised to see how much Jon Hamm needs to do a few crunches but I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for it. Also, Michael Bublé was just too happy that night. I love his music. I put some of the videos in this new contraption I found called Vodpod on the side there because it wouldn’t embed the videos in this post.

No JET this year :)

I didn’t get an interview with JET this year, although, I didn’t really expect to. It would have been a great birthday (YAY – today is my B-DAY) present knowing that I got an interview, but I’m even more resolved this time. My application was lacking and I should have started to volunteer at different places earlier than I did. I literally only joined maybe two clubs when I was college. When I first started college, I just never had any interest in joining clubs. As time progressed, I joined a business club when I majored in Finance, then I left when I changed majors. I joined the Anthropology club but I thought it was boring so I didn’t go back. I know now that I should have been a bit more proactive in college. I was just too busy all the time.

Anyway, to improve on my changes next year, I am still volunteering at the cultural center. I am actually helping the lead teacher teach some classes. It is nerve racking but I am getting into the swing of things. I am trying to gauge how best to explain grammar to the students. At first, I was being too complicated but now, I am getting better at my explanations. I usually go into complicated explanations when I’m nervous but I am getting use explaining things more simply. I hate nervousness and all the emotions that go with it. I don’t feel nervous in my head but my body tends to show it more. I hate that. It could be just the thyroid deal, though. I plan on doing Big Brothers and Big Sisters and I am going to try to start substituting in my local school district. I’m not sure how I’ll fit it all in but I am going to try to do it.

I’m not sure if my SOP was bad or mediocre or whatever. I didn’t think it was perfect but I’m not very good at writing essays. Next time, I know I’ll have more to put into it, besides my work experience.

As far as the health issues, I am not sure about that. That could have been the reason but I checked a Japanese medication website and it said Japan has my medication available (sorry if that sounds weird). They may have called my doctor and he may have said that I need a bit more time to adjust. If that is so, I guess I can deal with it. I did write an awful lot about my illness on my application. They probably felt that I should take more time to heal or something. Who knows.

Good news is that I got another notice of consideration for another government job. I will not be surprised by the Panel this time.

Enterprise

I started watching Star Trek Enterprise yesterday. It is probably my least favorite of all the Star Trek series. I hate the opening song, but I can see how it was used in relation to the time period. I prefer the more epic openings from all the other series.

What is most prevalent in the first couples of episodes is that the humans are fighting to make themselves relevant in space exploration. The Vulcans have basically defined humans in this series as dangerous, and that we should not be allowed to venture out our star system. I know that it is logical for the writers to create stories so that the characters prove themselves to their naysayers but I thought the Vulcans had a point, actually. There are several episodes in the beginning, where Sub Commander T’Pol tells Captain Archer to rethink certain decisions he is about to make. For example, in the episode “Strange New World” , some of the crew visited a class M planet (earth-like planet, basically) without going through proper procedures. Another example, from the episode “Fight or Flight”, T’Pol insists that Archer abandoned his quest to pay his respects to a group of unknown aliens found dead on an abandoned ship. In every one of these cases, T’Pol is proven to be right and some or all of the Enterprise have to work to stay alive.

I guess the writers were, maybe, showing how humans use too much of our emotions to make decisions instead of logic and common sense. I would just love to see some of the characters actually admit that humans are definitely flawed in some way. Every time I watch and movie or a television and the humans are in this situation, we always succeed and prove naysayers wrong. In reality, I don’t think that would could ever do that. I have seen apocalyptic movies and television shows where the whole of humanity is destroyed. It is usually by natural disaster and we can’t control the outcome. Some of us survive. Some of us die. But in the end the humans always prevail.

So far, the one thing I like about Enterprise is the conflict between the Vulcan, T’Pol and the human, Archer. I don’t know if the writers meant to make Scott Bakula’s character a little annoying but every time T’Pol points that he is being emotional, he becomes emotional. It’s actually funny. I guess what I get out of watching Enterprise and observing people in life myself is: what makes our use the emotions valid? A lot of people say that emotions are apart of the human spirit, but a lot of those emotions don’t seem to be done for some kind effort. It seems to me, a lot of our time is spent seeking validation. I question it and wonder about it. I’ve actually taken the time to try to improve how I respond to things emotionally. I don’t usually get bent out of shape about a lot of things, but I find that I am healthier when don’t allow certain events to overtake me. But I think that may have a lot of do with upbringing. I wasn’t brought up around people who prodded and nitpicked over everything. I’m grateful for it.

Yes, it’s inspiring but I can’t get into it:

Nothing to this one:

Star Trek DS9

So far, I have watched every Star Trek series except for seasons 4-7 of DS9 and Enterprise. I have always thought that Voyager was the best series but I would waver between that one and the Next Generation. There is something about the Next Generation that doesn’t seem to end well. I didn’t really like that finale all that much. The same can be said for Voyager’s finale. I suppose the finale was like that for TNG because of the movies they released afterward but I think it could have been more of an bang at the end.

I watched Voyager for Janeway because she was a woman who was in complete control. She reminds me of most of the women in my family. They have no problem taking on the role as leader in any situation and they always command respect. I’m really glad they chose Kate Mulgrew to do the part because her voice is so commanding and it’s not the typical voice people are used to hearing from a female. But after watching 3 seasons of DS9, I don’t think it can stay my favorite anymore.

There are so many different characters on DS9 and all of them, in some way, get a chance to shine in different episodes. I especially like the episodes with the Ferengi. Quark is all about business and making profit while his brother Ram’s son, Nog would rather be a StarFleet Officer. I love the conflicts that jump off between those two. There is also Kira, Dax, Sisko, Jake, Odo and so many more characters that just make the series a bit more well rounded for me. There was just less focus on the captain and his first captain and more focus on everyone else.

But as always, this will be my favorite Star Trek Opening:

Congratulations?

So I was reading this article on the New York Times website the other day. I thought it was cool when I heard that four of the Crouch quadruplets were accepted into Yale. I have no idea who they are. I’m sure it was advertised that their parents had given birth to them some 18 years ago. What is relevant about article is that they all were accepted to Yale. The article says they all got pretty high SAT scores, so I assumed that was why they got in. Anybody who has been to college, knows that colleges accept different students for different reasons. It is usually a well-rounded high school career. It is sometimes stellar grades and scores. These kids had enough to get accepted to Yale. It’s not MIT or CalTech. It’s Yale. If you read the comments, there are people who are happy and joyous for the kids and then there are people who think these kids have taken someone else’s place. I usually hear the latter when it comes to any person of color is admitted to any Ivy League school. Apparently, no person of color can possibly get into any Ivy League school without Affirmative Action. Really? Oh and what about George Bush? He got into Yale based on his own merits, did he? His father, George Bush, Sr had absolutely nothing to do with it?

I am so fed up with human pettiness. It’s not really human pettiness, it is the need to use brain power to express one’s resentment and hatefulness. I don’t see the need for it and I refuse to spend one minute of my life putting someone else down. I’m not unhappy or depressed in my life. I have been literally ostracized by people because I refused to do participate in stupidity like this. If it makes people feel better about themselves to say that these kids don’t deserve to go to Yale then I feel sorry for it. In my opinion, asking whether Affirmative Action had anything to do with their admission is invalid because we KNOW that colleges don’t go by certain formula for admitting. These questions only come up when it comes to a person of color. We aren’t asking questions of white students who get admitted to Yale or Harvard because their parents went there. Again, George Bush is a prime example of this.

I suppose I have problem with this because we aren’t being consistent in asking questions of everyone. I don’t need to bring any hatefulness or resentment into that equation.

I was listening to this while I was typing:

The New Year

Well, it’s 2010…

My year away from school or any other opportunity is over. If I don’t get into JET I plan to go back to college and get two more degrees. A bachelors and a Masters. Although, I know I said I was going to get a Masters in Education. I’m not so sure about that anymore. I plan on getting a bachelors in Social Work, for sure, but I want to work on a Masters in Education with a focus on Language Arts and TEFL.

I DON’T KNOW THOUGH! I was also thinking about working on social work and psychology, but I want to live overseas for a while. I know this as my practical side talking. My Mom’s words are swimming around my head. She screams she wants me to get on with it. But how? How can I when I don’t even know what I really want to do in life? I know I want at least two more degrees before I turn forty and maybe at least a PhD in something. I know I want to either teach or work for the government. I KNOW for sure that I want to  live overseas for at least two years but I want to at least get a Masters degree before I go. I’m almost 30. I need to just jump in but I don’t really know where to start. I have a lot of interests but I just can’t seem to focus it all into one thing.

If you could you have only seen my mother’s face when I told her I wanted to go back and get some more learnin’. She was shocked, because I had been an  undergrad for such a long time. To tell the truth, I am  just as lost and confused now as I was then, but I learned from that experience. I know I want to help people in some fashion. It could be through teaching or social work but I also like a bunch of other things, too. If I was good in math, life would be so simple. I actually think I could do great in math, if I wasn’t away from it a lot. I remember when I was high school, I got an A in a Math class but when the summer break came, I forgot it all. I do well when I’m surrounded by Math, because I’m definitely not one of those where it comes naturally.

All in all this year I will be busy. I will either be living in Japan or working on another degree. To be truthful, I’d rather stay home and work on the degree and then go to Japan after that. But if I get into JET, I’m not going to just let that go.

Anyway, now that I have a blog, I was thinking of ways to use it. I have observe a lot of things that really get on my nerves. Besides JET and other crap that happens in my life, I’m going to do posts about certain articles I read or things that I notice. I am a person who thinks things through and I rarely post if I feel I don’t know what I’m talking about. So there’s that.

The panel

Well, I had my interview for the government job on Weds. I wasn’t expecting it to be with a 4 person panel, though. It was kind of awkward to have on the phone and I expected them to call my home number and not my cell phone. I did okay after the first question, but I think they could tell that I have never done a panel interview before. I probably would have been better, if I actually drove there. I think I would have done that but the man who called me said there was no need. I suppose it was up to me though. They asked me a lot of questions about customer service, communications and just  other really simple questions. Not sure what that means. Maybe they were just checking to see if I was sane. I recently learned that getting a government job is very similar to getting into JET. If you are a new applicant and have never worked for the government, it can take about 6 months to actually start working because you have to get an extensive background check if you are offered a position. Well shall see.

I know that the JET interview will be a panel interview, so if I get an interview, I will be prepared for that. I wrote on my application that I studied Latin, French, Spanish and Japanese. I expect them to ask me to speak some Latin, so I am going to refresh my memory there. I don’t remember anything b/c I took 2 semesters of it when I was a freshman.

I’m just going to stay optimistic and hope for the best.

Learning to sing Karen…

I don’t remember when it happened, but when I was a kid, I heard some Carpenters songs. I think it was around the time my sister and I were watching Muriel’s Wedding and we got hooked on ABBA songs. I think we watched that movie 5 times a day, we loved it! We may have made our weekly trip to the library and I found a Carpenters CD. I was known for just picking out CD’s and listening to the music. I was brought up on a lot of different stuff but I always got into the old stuff more than anything recent.

Now I don’t sound like Karen at all but I do have her sort of news anchor type of voice. (so I’m told) Her voice is very clear and concise, although, she can sing about an octave higher than I can. I have been trying to sing like her for years, but I am not good at the breathing techniques but I have been practicing. There is also a lot of timidity behind my voice for some reason. I just can’t belt the notes out as well as I should. I am able to do it better when I do my voice training.  I need to do voice training everyday, but I haven’t because I’ve gotten addicted to Monster. I love it!

Anyway, I love both of these songs.

I just had to add this one, too: (used to obsessed with this band)

I knew this was coming…

Before I applied to the JET program, I applied for about 5 or 6 government jobs. The majority of them are located in Ohio because I really don’t feel I’m ready to move to another state right now. Ohio is cheap compared to other places. I know how much I will pay in rent and utilities, for the most part. I have student loans but I will still be able to save b/c I don’t have any kids. I don’t plan on having any children anytime soon either. I’m going back to school for a Masters if JET doesn’t pan out, so I won’t start paying those back for another two years.

Anyway, I have an interview for one of these government jobs next week. I got the feeling from talking to my interviewer that there weren’t very many applicants for this job. I know people looking for jobs that have no idea where to apply for the government jobs. The job I applied for is located in Columbus. I’d have to move if I get the job. I sort of hesitated calling the interviewer back because of JET. If I got the job, I would move but if I get into JET then I did all that moving just to turn around move again.  I could just drive two and a half hours a day but I know I won’t like doing that. There are people who do that everyday in this world, though. I will also miss the ESL class, too. I just started but, like I said in the other post, I really like these particular people.

The pluses about these government jobs are obvious.

Number one: Stability! Stability! Stability! It’s hard as heck to get laid off from a permanent full time government job. Number two: Some help getting student loans reduced. I think. Number three: There are US government jobs everywhere. The department I would work for (if I get the job) even has a location in Japan! Number four: Great health benefits. I really need this! Number five: Great pay! For a single person like me, anyway. Number six: The department I would work for is interesting. I’m still reading up on it for the interview but it seems like an exciting place to work.

If I get into JET, it will be great, but if I get this job; I will have to do a lot of thinking. There are many ways to go to Japan, so staying in Ohio is not the end of the world. That said it’s just an interview, but there nothing wrong with being optimistic about my chances. The other great thing is I can do a phone interview. I was so happy when the interviewer suggested it after I told him where I’d be driving from.

Crossing my fingers for this one!