From the Walt Disney Company's website news page: I know I'm not supposed to get excited about a film until proudction stills are released (because they can always get cancelled), but TOO LATE I ALREADY HAVE ALL THE EXCITEMENT.
three and a half months ago I nervously submitted applications for graduate school (and then after that waited for my letters of recommendation to be written). Yesterday, after a month and a half of waiting (and one rejection) I recieved word that I was accepted into my first choice school. Normally I prefer to write more detailed entries, and perhaps later on I will, but for now all I care to say is that I am simultaneously excited and incredibly nervous. I'm stepping very much out of my comfor
This week, for the first time in a long time, my sister is moving back to the US. It's been hard for me to have her out of the country. Her time zone is pretty much the polar opposite of ours, and her work schedule (and to a lesser extent my work schedule) meant there was never much time for casual chatter- maybe an hour a week. It was frustrating because I enjoyed talking to her about whatever cool things she was doing on the other side of the world. Lately, though, talking to her has been diff
I know I should say that I like donating blood because it’s a generous thing to do and it saves lives, but honestly I just do it for the free cookies and movie tickets. The first time I donated blood was several years ago- 2011, I think? Prior to then, it's something I had always wanted to do, but despite how ridiculously easy it is to donate blood, I kept putting it off. Even after my first donation, I didn't donate again until 2014, and still only did three donations total that year. I had n
Source- Disney Blogs Well, there it is. After a few years of speculation, rumors, and short films, we have confirmation that Toy Story 4 is going to be a real thing. This early it’s hard to imagine what to make of this. On one hand, the Toy Story Trilogy is darn near perfect. It chronicles the life of a child as seen through the eyes of his toys as he grows up, matures, and moves on. It doesn’t really seem like there’s any story left to tell with these characters. Yeah Woody and the gang will h
So the Unofficial Family Reunion week came and went, all to soon in my opinion. Both sisters are back at school, and while I'll be seeing them both infrequently, I should be able to talk to my first sister more often, which is nice. Sister Appreciation Day Gift 1: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were a mild success. I may not be the best chef in the house, but I can follow a simple cookie recipe. And they came out pretty good: they were moist, and soft (the way cookies should be- none of
When I went out shopping yesterday I had three goals: 1.) Buy my sister some ceiling stars 2.) Find her a desktop fountain 3.) Buy an iTunes giftcard. But when I was strolling through Target I decided to check out the LEGO sections to see if Onua and Gali where there on clearance. Sure enough, they were! There were a decent number of Galis for ten dollars, but I got the very last Onua which was priced at 13. So of course I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. Throwing caution to the win
A long time ago in a blog entry far far away, I mentioned how I was accepted into graduate school. Well, a couple of months later here I am, sitting in my apartment and waiting for orientation stuff to start tomorrow. I have to confess that leaving home was kind of difficult. I love my family, and while we tend to appreciate each other from a distance, I still would rather be closer to them. I’m kind of far away. Like, over half way across the country kind of far. And, on top of that, on a campu
I almost devoted this entry to the news that Frozen 2 was announced and my thoughts on it... but Tomorrowland is coning out soon and it looks awesome. And I've had this in my 'blog drafts' document for a while now and it should have been posted weeks ago. Anyway, Tomorrowland. Movie trailers have always had issues, but the one that nags at me most is the one where trailers show way too much. Even teasers can have an obnoxious tendency to tell you the whole movie (see: Prometheus). What I love
For various reasons not entirely important to this blog entry, I've decided that I want to pursue a masters degree. This afternoon I sent in the application to my first choice program, and while I'm nervous about it (as anyone is nervous about an application) I'm satisfied with it. Hopefully I appropriately conveyed my eagerness for the program because it sounds like the kind of thing that's tailor made for my interests. And here is where I thank my oldest sister who spent her one afternoon visi
So my first year of graduate school is over. It was actually over a month ago, but I'm lazy and just got around to writing this now. I don't really have a whole lot of thoughts on it that I feel like puting down this minute, but I'm glad it's over and can put school out of my mind for another few years. I'll be spending this summer getting ready for my stint out of country. I had a nice week long break after finals where I went home to celebrate my birthday. Sure I spent the week trying to get
A bunch of years ago my Dad bought my Mom a shed where she could put all of her storage stuff. It was a store bought metal shed of decent size, but it wasn’t quite water or weather proof, and it was on a wooden foundation that trapped water. So a few weeks ago he decided that he would build her a new shed from scratch that was bigger and sturdier. She was scheduled to be at a conference from Thursday through Saturday, so in those three days he was going to build that shed and have it be a surpri
A little over a month ago I started a new job. After over a year of searching, it was exciting to finally throw away the part times I've been working and start full time doing work that, maybe technically isn't what I studied in school, but still uses what I learned in school. My first instinct is that how great it is to finally, after years and years, have a job that I don't hate... and sometimes even really like. Sure the commute sucks, and they aren't paying me enough that I can afford to mov
The fire that was threatening my local area is mostly contained. Actually it has been for two weeks or so. Evacuation orders are probably almost entirely lifted by now except for some small area. So that's mostly good. It did not come without losses for many people, though.
But it's California, and we're a box of matches when it comes down to it. Hotspot detection satellites are lighting up the state like a Christmas tree. That's why even though we (folks in my area) aren't being immediatel
Now, obviously autumn isn't one of those things where you snap your fingers and it just is. Like every other seasonal change it's a process that lasts over a short time. And then there's the fact that Mother Nature herself doesn't really like to make these changes happen consistently during one certain period of time each year. But, nevertheless, someone in charge of calendars decided that today would mark the first day of autumn, probably because it's an equinox or something like that. Autumn
It's been a truly wonderful and blessed experience to live in a country that's not my own. But while it was an adventure, all adventures have to end, and I have officially hopped back across the equator (into winter, glorious winter) to continue my life. Now time do all those fun things like... finishing school and finding a new job.
A lot of years ago I thought it might be worth my while to buy a premier membership just to see how I liked it. I wanted to give myself an opportunity to actually test out all the perks, but I didn't want a Lifetime because I wasn't sure if I would like it that much. So I bought a one-year. And, what do you know, the things premier members could do were really cool. And after it ended I spent a lot of time thinking how I should just break in and buy a lifetime, because why not? The perks are coo
My girlfriend is a huge nerd, and she's enjoyed going to conventions for years. I have never been to a convention before. So when the San Francisco Comic Con was set to take place at the beginning of September, it presented her an opportunity to be around a bunch of fellow nerds, and an opportunity for me to see what a convention is actually like. As a bonus, Ian McDiarmid was set to make an appearance at a Q and A session, so we made seeing him our primary goal for the day. Naturally, my firs
Living away from your loved ones and having limited communications with them can take a huge toll on you. So can going months with hardly a good night's sleep, ridiculous heat, and speaking a language you aren't comfortable with. So after almost a year abroad I am taking my first vacation back home, about a week and a half. And man oh man has it been a wonderful experience so far. In addition to just spending basic quality time with my family and girlfriend, I've been eating all the food I've
I wrote up a nice entry yesterday before I left, but was unable to post it due to errors. As such, we're skipping the "I'm leaving" and going straight to a quick "I'm here." I'm blogging this now because I'm not sure if that will be possible tomorrow? The Internet situation is up in the air. I'd say expect less activity from me, but I'm pretty inactive to begin with so no one will notice or care. First day was interesting. I'm intimidated by the fact that I'll need to learn two languages, but
I was really happy when we got some summer rain earlier this week. I can't remember the last time that ever happened in my life, and it came with thunder and lightning which is also a rarity. It was cool at first, until I got to work on Monday and heard that it started a fire. It was small at first, but two days later, like all of them, it erupted into a monster. 32,000 acres burning, and although it started really far away its now threatening the home of some family friends, and where my sister
Work on Wednesday was agonizing. It was really hard to get anything done while keeping the burn map open and watching it spread closer and closer to my girlfriend's place of residence. They were never under mandatory evacuation, but everyone around them was so they left anyway. It did end up jumping the highway, leaving a whole new range of people in danger and forced to evacuate. We were not one of those groups, but its still terrifying to watch a fire line inch closer and closer to your home.
(I can't link to the trailer and majhost won't let me upload a poster image, so go here to see the poster instead [google images link].) Back in early 2010 when the Academy Award nominations were announced, there was one nomination in the “Best Animated Feature” category that threw some people for a loop: The Secret of Kells. A common reaction I saw to that was: “The Secret of What?” With it only screening at various festivals, and no more than 37 theaters in America (Boxofficemojo), it’s not
Almost exactly a year (and two weeks) after writing a blog entry about the 2018 California fires, more are breaking out and the dry October winds we tend to get are certainly not helping . There are probably a few officially labelled fires, but the two I'm reading about are the Kincade Fire, because its closest to me, and the Tick Fire near Los Angeles. Unlike last year's fires which came too close to comfort, we are at no risk from the Kincade fire. Unfortunately many people (39-50,000 dependin
