I have a fast forward tendency.

I need there to be some kind of forces outside of me to hold back this constant rush towards finished results. I’ve come to realize that I’m often working for the applause, working for the gratification I will get after passing the finish line.

This goes for every aspect of my life. Work, relationships, you name it.

Example: the second day I meet a guy that I really like I start seeing visions of our beautiful loving life together. Our future. His hand upon my pregnant belly. (I don’t even think I want a child, so this is of course entirely to blame on my darned hormones) I see us sitting on that porch of our little house, in that hamock, looking out upon the sun setting in the water down by the cliffs. A cup of tea in my hand. His shoulder against mine. Rocking slowly back and forth, as we drag deep breaths of fresh country air. Silently looking at eachother with a soft familliar smile…

I’m such a dreamer sometimes. Sorry for that little debauchery. 

This book writing/comic-creating is thus a real challenge for me.

I see myself so clearly with the finished book in my hand. I see myself doing interviews and signings, see myself selling it to all kinds of places. Talking about myself and my art, planning for the next big project, working on book number two, and trying out new processes on book number three. I’m enjoying the now, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that imagining the future comes very easily for me.

So to get there as quickly as possible I consider my self to be finished as soon as the first draft is written.  

“Temper while the iron is hot”, as the old saying goes.

And the iron is hot right now. The fire in me is rrraging, my eyes burn with desire for everything. The hunger is awake. 

But this is also the dangerous phase before I crash.

So the other night I attended a party where I had a very giving talk with K. He said that there could be time for slowing down. That taking a break from work is okay. That there is sometimes in an artists life a time for just taking long walks and watching all of your favourite movies for a month.

That this would not be considered a failure upon my part, but more a needed break from pushing too hard, pushing almost to the breaking point. And I don’t think I want to break just yet. I’ve been there before, you know… Broken down that is. And I’m just so much more together now, since I picked up all of those pieces of me and put them back together again.

So what I will do now is to shift focus for a while.

I will work on a text for Bild & Bubbla

I can see a future for me and BoB, where I’d write some kind of a Frida-column for every issue… It would probably become the most popular part of the whole magazine. (ego fixation) I would write in that personal and insightful way, that I master so well, about comics and art and life… (did you notice the fast forward tendency there..? hehe, I just can’t help myself now, can I…) 

And I will draw or paint for the joy of it without thinking of results. If K says it’s okay, then I can heed that advice, ’cause he’s got wisdom and truth in his eyes.

Russians mourned at religious services and soccer stadiums Sunday after a deadly train wreck that authorities blamed on a terrorist bomb. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church urged the nation not to give in to fear.

Relatives identified loved ones killed in the wreck of the express train. If confirmed as caused by a bombing, the wreck would be Russia’s deadliest terrorist attack outside the violence-plagued North Caucasus provinces in five years.

Television networks took entertainment programs off the air and moments of silence were observed before matches on the final Sunday of the Russian football league.

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the country’s dominant church, led a service for the victims at Christ the Savior Cathedral near the Kremlin. “We will remember their sacred names,” he said.

“Our people have been challenged. A crime of which any one of us could have been a victim has been committed for effect,” Kirill said in a statement on the church’s Web site. “They want to frighten everybody who lives in Russia.”

The rear three cars of the Nevsky Express, one of Russia’s fastest trains, derailed on a remote stretch of track late Friday as it sped from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing some passengers and trapping others in the jumbled wreckage. The head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, said Saturday that an explosive device detonated under the train, gouging a crater in the rail bed and blowing the tail cars off the tracks.

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said at least 25 people were killed and 26 were unaccounted for, though he said some may have survived uninjured or never have boarded the train.

Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said 85 people remained hospitalized, 21 in grave condition, according to Russian news agencies. A Belgian and an Italian were among those hurt.

Recovering from a broken rib at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Natalya Tarasova said she and her sister were reading in the third car from the rear when she heard a bang and felt the windows shake. The car swung wildly from side to side and she was thrown to the floor, her sister toppling onto her.

“People were tossed around the carriage like rags,” said Tarasova, 36, who works in a jewelry business and was returning home after an exhibition in Moscow. “Suitcases were jumping from the racks like frogs and falling on people.”

She said conductors collected medicine and other items from passengers and took the supplies to the two more badly damaged rear cars, which were left hundreds of meters back and were where most of the casualties occurred.

“It was scary, but there was no panic,” she said.

Relatives were identifying victims Sunday at a hospital morgue in Tver, the closest sizable city to the wreck site near the border of the Tver and Novgorod provinces, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Moscow.

The state-run railway company, Russian Railways, said train traffic was fully restored. There were no credible claims of responsibility or word on a possible motive.

Russia has been hit by a number of major terrorist attacks since the 1991 Soviet collapse, most linked to the 1990s wars between government forces and separatist rebels in Chechnya and the violence the conflicts have spawned across the surrounding North Caucasus.

Extreme nationalists were blamed for an explosion that caused a derailment along the same railway line in 2007, injuring 27 passengers. Authorities arrested two suspects in that blast and are searching for a third, a former military officer.

M6 French TV. *Cheers* NOCOPYRIGHT INTENDED. It is in act of FAIR USE and EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. “The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes” You know i dont make money from this, i do it as a hobby, to broaden knowledge and skills and for educational purposes. So in that case, i am allowed to use the audio represented within this video. … Muse Matt Bellamy Dom Howard Chris Wolstenholme Interview Best …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ7ArLA8v5M&hl=en

Recommend : tw-glendale tw-denmark tw-garland http://imacgame.blogspot.com/

Ha Jooyeon and Jeon Jiyoon, who wore it better?

Fans have noticed that Jewelry’s sexy rapper Ha Jooyeon and 4Minute’s charismatic Jeon Jiyoon have worn the exact same jumpsuit during their respective performances.

Jumpsuit has been a hot item worn by girl groups during performances this year. With different materials, jumpsuits can bring out different kinds of feel and uniqueness for the wearer. It can be matched with different fashion accessories and shoes, to create a brand new style. What the two hot rappers wore is the product of casual brand DKNY Jeans. It is made of silk, which appeals greatly to females.

In this case, our Ji Yoon wore the jumpsuit with bold accessories, creating a wilder image. Joo Yeon, on the other hand, wore it with a fur vest, emphasizing on a sporty charm. So actually it is not really a matter of who wore it better, but which style you prefer.

Source: Sports Chosun
Finding: uturn@4-minute.com
Reported + translated + edited by: kueensora@4-minute.com

I‘ve been meaning to come talk to you for a while,
but I’ve been mixed up– trying to get a job,
trying to get a place to live.

早くお会いしたかった
のですが
混乱してました…
仕事と
生きる場所を求めて

It’s tough re-adjusting to civilian life.

一般生活に戻るのは
大変だ

Especially with the way things are now.
You just gotta hope it gets better.

今でもそうです
あなたも大変だったと

Yeah.

ああ　

 ‘Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting a Tattoo’ is an interesting proof of growing popularity of tattoos. Publishing houses certainly do some research before deciding what to publish, so obviously there must be at least some demand for such books. Granted, it’s not the first book of this kind available but if there’s some interest in the subject, then there also must be some chance to profit from it and here we have this particular guide.

The main goal of Alpha series is, as one can read on wikipedia, ‘providing a basic understanding of complex and popular topic’ which is true about tattoos – popular they sure are and definitely more complex than it seems at first.

The author is John Reardon whose name may be not particularly well-known but who seems to be knowledgeable and able to present the subject of the book in a clear, easy to grasp manner.

The guide is divided into three parts: ‘what is a tattoo,’ ‘beginning the tattoo process’ and ‘get in the chair.’ Each part contains several chapters describing such questions as history of tattoos, tattoos and the society, choosing a design and the right artist, basic information on skin and how the tattoo machine works, tattoo process itself and proper aftercare once the tattoo is done. Chapters are short and pretty well focused although one can’t expect elaborate information on history of tattooing, indigenous cultures or intricacies of meaning behind tattoos as that’s simply not the goal of the book.

Despite the limitations of the book (its size and goal), the author managed to convey a few interesting pieces of information about tattooing in the modern Western society, gang tattoos and changing attitudes about tattoos although it’s certainly not a book one would use as a main source of information. If the reader is a potential first-timer, however, this book may certainly ease the fears and make the whole process less intimidating – knowledge is power and here one can see what steps must be completed before a good quality tattoo is achieved.

 The guide is well indexed. Appendix A contains glossary of the most important and common terms used in the industry.  Flash designs in Appendix B and ‘dramatic full-color photos of tattoos’ added as an extra are not really that impressive although some of them are able to show the magic of tattoos and what can be done by a skilled and imaginative tattoo artist. Appendix C contains titles of several books recommended to read.

 All in all, it’s an interesting title showing the growing interest in tattoo subculture in the mainstream society. It also is a small database of important information on the subject which makes it quite good an idiot’s guide.

 John Reardon, Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting a Tattoo, Alpha Books 2008;

The contact ring, residue patterns and bullet trajectories
are consistent with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

接触リング
残りパターンと
弾丸軌道は
自分で作った傷と
一致してる

Self-inflicted?
Was it–you think this is some kind of suicide pact?

自分で？
これは自殺って事か？

Had to be.
But then who arranged the bodies and covered them with the sheets that night?

だとして
なら誰が死体を並べて
シートで覆った？

All had alcohol in their systems.
She had ecstasy and heroin.

全員にアルコール反応が
彼女からは麻薬もな

Wat dizit ? Wai postid dis ’srenj en krezi’ lengwej ?

Wel, bikooozz, dis lengwej oldow hed mek mai hed spining fest, en pus mai tensyen haiyer, en lest mek mi krezi.. dis lengwej hed help mi tu andersten englis beter.

So ai celenj yu tu rid dis krezi lengwej, en anderstendit kerfuli .. if yu ken.. hehehehe

Yeah, dis taim ai won tu wrait e strenj artikel. Nating spesyal, jas tu brek normal rul.. Ai wrait dis lengwej in efbe bifor.. En e bes fren of main der, nem momoko, respondid naisli… Hop yu aider

Did you know? PayPal enables Kiva by granting its tasks for free: Join the Gardeners! http://j.mp/TeamG

Well, we followed the hand stamp from the guy who shot Janis,
led us to the house where we found these guys.

ジャニスを撃った奴の手に
スタンプがあった
それがあの家に導いた

You think these three had something to do with her shooting?

この三人も彼女と
関係あるのか？

Really? The one where you used to crash on my couch playing “Madden” till 4:00 A.M.?

そうか？ 朝の4時までソファーで
はしゃいでるのに？

Don’t you mean futon, and don’t you mean kicking your ass until 4:00 A.M.?

布団だろ
４時まで蹴ってやろうか？

What?

何だと？

What? I said it.

言ったとおりだ

No, you didn’t kick anything.
You were– you were cheating.
That’s what you were doing.

いや　お前は蹴れない
お前は…ずるい
お前もだろ

Hey, man, what you call cheating I call finding a way to change the game, my friend.

ずるをしてでも
ゲームを変える方法を
見つけたいよ

Yeah?
I miss the old one then.

ん？
俺は古いぞ

It’s like everything I say comes out wrong–
Everything.
Even when we’re getting along, it’s tense.

俺が悪いんだ…
全て
会っていると
張り詰めてしまう

English students join together! If we respond to this departmentally, we can have a much greater impact! Quick meeting, Monday 1PM, Library square to organise how we want to respond to the recently announced cuts. See you there?

Modern Languages meeting Tuesday at 11.30 in Arundel 401 with Tom Healy, to discuss what’s happening/what could happen with modern languages.

Informatics Stop Informatics Cuts are meeting in Chichester 1 foyer outside the labs from 11am onwards on Monday to discuss what we can do prior to the meeting at 1pm with the head of school in Richmond AS03.

Demonstration Thursday(emergency senate meeting), 9:30am – 10:30am, assemble library square. Organisational meeting afterwards.

General public meeting with speakers for all those affected by the proposed cuts and redundancies on Friday, 6pm (assemble in Library Square at 6pm and move to the nearest available space).

Please post any additional meeting times/dates in the comments below

I was raised in LA and happen to be asian, like so many of us here. My white co worker gets off the phone, lovestruck, and says, “Man, it was crazy–this girl turned out to be asian but her english is perfect.  I couldn’t tell, what a trip.”

I turn to him and say, “Imagine that, an asian girl speaking perfect english.”

Bet you 20 bucks they spell my name wrong.

Bet you $100 they got mine wrong.

誰もハングルを書けないのに
２０ドル

１００ドルにしなよ

With regards to the recent “email scandal” surrounding the climate change research…

I think it is only fair that the climate skeptics in return publish their complete email correspondence of the last decade, to show that they themselves are far removed from all the things they accuse the climate scientists of.

I’m not holding my breath for that though.

I’m in pre-trial conference all day, so totally unreachable,
but don’t forget we need to sign off on the proofs later.

今日はずっと会議なの
戻ったらきちんと
吟味しましょ

With time, I added more and more activities in English. I think this makes the difference. I was reading news, listening to podcast, to the radio… with the internet, it’s very easy to find content. The more you are listening and reading, the more you progress.

Many people will tell you that to learn a foreign language, you have to go to the country where it is spoken. It’s true that it will make you progress a lot, but why ?Because you are forced to listen to and use the language 24 / 7.
Why couldn’t you do this at home ?
Watch TV in English, watch films in English, listen to the radio in English, read books in English… There are plenty of things you can do in English that will act as if you were abroad.
Later, I did went to England and the USA for 2 short trips of 1 and 2 weeks. Of course, I won’t say it doesn’t help you to progress, it gave a boost to my level. But I think you can still progress a lot without moving.

The last big step was when I went to University. I applied to a specific section with lectures and classes in English and I was selected. I had two years working using English. It didn’t make me progress a lot as far as pronunciation and oral understanding are concerned. But I gained a bit of vocabulary and got used to the language. I always insist on this aspect because I think it is the most important. When I say “I got used to the language” , I mean English doesn’t seem foreign anymore. If I’m reading for example, whether the text is in English or in my mother tongue doesn’t matter, I don’t realize anymore that I’m using a different language, I’m just reading.

This is one important goal to achieve : to make the language YOURS ! By listening and reading as much as you can, acting as if you were abroad, you can do it.

That’s it for this long series of post on how did I learn English. I hope it gave you ideas or point of comparison. At least it gives you some content to read in English and makes you progress