Wednesday, September 22, 2010

a ramble on various topics

Today was ridiculously procrastination filled. I got up on time, got ready on time (probably because I didn't have to worry about my roommate, since I haven't seen her in three days - or does that mean I should worry about her?), and caught the bus on time.
Then I got to school, and promptly started procrastinating. In my defense, it's not like there was a lot of stuff I actually had to get done, but I sure didn't do any of it at all. I read the entire internet (the parts of it that I frequent, anyway), at least three times today - once on a library computer in the morning, once on a library computer in the afternoon, and once on my iPod touch on the bus ride home. I have to say, it is incredibly sad and pathetic that I get better internet on the bus than I do sitting in my dorm room. In my room, it can take ten minutes to watch a three and a half minute youtube video, not to mention how long it takes to actually upload one! On the bus, I can watch that same video in three and a half minutes, and that is how the internet is meant to work. Yes, I remember dial-up, and I know that almost any wireless connection I have is infinitely better than what we had with AOL, but the world has moved on, and my generation demands better internet. How else will we be able to watch our illegal US tv shows the same night they air at home (or rather, the same morning, Cairo time)? How else will we be able to skype with our friends and families without the call connection being lost, the sound fading out, or the picture freezing into hilariously pixeled parodies of our loved ones? The point is, I guess, while there may be nothing I can do about it in real life, whatever internet connection I have does at least allow me to post my complaints about it to my blog, and I guess that's all I need. (Except for the tv shows. We all need those.)
The three and a half minute video in question:

Wow, I really did not expect to write that much about really nothing at all. Sorry if that was really boring. The rest of this post probably won't be much better!
33.33% of my class time today was interesting, which I guess is okay, since some days, like Monday and tomorrow most likely, are 0% interesting. In Dramatic Literature we discussed Antigone, which I really liked because I haven't really discussed that play since high school, and getting a different perspective on it was neat. The professor for that class is hilarious too, and he's really good at getting the other students and me to get to conclusions ourselves, instead of just telling us what to think about the plays. I'm the only American student in that class too, so it's almost like my perspective on the plays is always a little bit off from what the rest of the class thinks from an Egyptian standpoint. It's kind of nice actually, because it means that I almost always have something to say. I'll be getting my participation points this semester! (Actually, it's a little hard not to get participation points in any of my classes, just because they're all so tiny. I guess that's a good thing?) For example, I used the word 'blustery' to describe a character in Antigone today, and got props for it. I almost wonder if it's just the fact that while all the students in the class are fluent in English, I may be the only one who thinks in it. That's almost weird to contemplate. Does everyone always think in their native language (outside of language classes, anyway) or do people ever think unconsciously in a language they didn't learn as a child? This is a serious question, my friendiss, one which will have to be explored as soon as I learn to read people's minds...
Well, that was pretty much the most rambling and disjointed blog post ever. Pretty sure there were some beginnings of thoughts up there that never got finished. Will I go back and check? No. I kind of like it.
My blogs for the past few days have been lamentably short of pictures, or at least that's how I feel. I'll do my best to take a few snapshots tomorrow if I see anything interesting.
I haven't posted a MIKA video yet, but I've been listening to his stuff a lot. Here you go:

Thanks for reading and commenting!

2 comments:

  1. So where does one watch illegal TV shows? I need to see GLEE! Of course knowing me I'll probably just pay for it.

    I am infinitely far from being fluent in French, but I think in French probably 40% of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. what language dont i think in?! lol jk you know what sad...though i do catch myself thinking in spanish occasionally...i predominately think in english. in other instances i force myself to think in french, which turns out ok, and italian which is a complete failure. lol

    and two side notes... 1) funny that your question on what language people think in comes up...i was having the same thoughts a few weeks ago. 2) rambled blogs are a million times more interesting that structured ones as they give a glimpse to how the person thinks. and i gotta say your brain is pretty amazing! =3

    - MAGS

    p.s when are blogs not rambles?

    ReplyDelete