Akano

I know, right? For cereal. Very Zelda. 2elven4u. Wow. - Such comments. Much approve. Very wow. I am happy to report that I'm feeling much better now. Just a cough and slight congestion to deal with now! Yay! *hack*

KK got me sick. Jerk. In other news, MAJORA'S MASK 3D CONFIRMED XIKQADRVVGSJUPOLWTW!!! I'm pretty psyched about this development and am throwing my money at the screen to make it be mine now. It's not working. Now, please excuse me while I hack up my left lung.

I knew none of the costumes, the premise was ridiculous, I clicked the thing that made Homsar appear, and the click-a-costume dialog was wonderful. ALL IS AS IT SHOULD BE! ♥

Nearly two weeks ago, my brothers, parents, roommate (whom Tekulo has taken to call Friend: Toa of Friendship, so I will refer to him as such), and two family friends took a relaxing trip down to Hilton Head Island, SC. Our first day in the condo wasn't terribly eventful; we all went to the beach and enjoyed the sun and sea. Tekulo built a rockin' sand castle, with a moat, staircases, and other hidden gems, and our dad got pooed on by a crow/raven/corvid. Twice. Also, KK decided to take advantage of my skin condition and scratch "Hi" on my back, which wasn't too bad due to the cool ocean keeping the itchiness at bay. Day 2 was fairly laid back. The youngins (my brothers, Friend, and I) stayed at the condo for the most part and partook in various stay-in type activities whilst the older folks (parents and family friends) went out and did adult things. Those who weren't allergic to shellfish had a dinner of shrimp, scallops, and the like; the two of us who were allergic (including me) had steak, because that's ocean food. Day 3 we ended up eating dinner at a restaurant known for its awesome seafood, and while you would think that limited my choices (it did), I was able to have sashimi tuna with avocado and peanut sauce. It was by far the best meal I had there, and it still haunts me. On Day 4, the elders went to Savannah, GA to tour the city and see the sights, while we youngins did awesome stuff. Our morning featured parasailing thanks to Tekulo's reservation-making skills. Friend: Toa of Friendship went up with KK, while Tekulo and I paired up for our flight. It was a real thrill and surprisingly quiet when you get a few hundred feet above the boat. The motor was a faint hum in the distance, and the view of the bay was fantastic. I would definitely recommend it to those who have never done it before, even if you have a fear of heights (like me). After returning to shore, we found out the same company offered kayaking to a wildlife preserve marsh nearby, so we reserved that for the afternoon while checking out Harbour Town in the meantime. We climbed up the lighthouse, grabbed a bite to eat, and then met up for a kayaking adventure into marshland. It was a fun little tour, filled with the floating excretions of a manatee (I may have glimpsed its nostrils!), herons and egrets, hermit crabs, and dogs barking at us from nearby villas. The park was very quiet and serene, and it was nice to be near nature. Once summer rolls around in the north I'd like to do some more kayaking/canoeing activities. After we returned from our marshland adventure (in fairly windy, rocky waters), we had dinner at a local pub, then went on to play 18 holes of minigolf. Friend: Toa of Friendship won with just two over par, and I claimed second place with Tekulo and KK trailing behind us. Day 5 was the youngins' return to Ohio in which Tekulo read The Promise, KK played Fire Emblem, and my 3DS's battery died from playing A Link Between Worlds. All in all, the trip was lots of fun, but it was nice to finally get back home after two weekends of constant traveling. WLEI DPSFS ASFS WLLOQWDIFE WD DPS UIJTI UIKHLSZ. DPSY ASFS UIIL WJT MSHD DI DPSKESLBSE.

The cipher at the end of Little Dipper says, "THE INVISIBLE WIZARD IS WATCHING." I think it's canon.

So, I just read this entry. YOU PAID OFF YOUR STUDENT LOANS ALREADY?! I feel very behind. ;_;

Well done, Alex Hirsch. Well done. The latest Gravity Falls episode was excellent. Totally squashed theories about the author of the journal and, while answering some questions, raised even more. Can't wait for the next episode...

Takuma Nuva: RUNON SENTENCES! A shame you don't have Nintendo stuffs; tis pretty rad, as the kids say. Tekulo/Melon Lord: I have a few non-Nintendo games floating around, but I keep coming back to Nintendo, no matter how far I may stray. Lyichir: Such sadness! The ending is very worth it. Voltex: It's very fun, and the ending is fantastic.

Yet again, my brothers suggested I do something that they've done. This time it was "watch Gravity Falls," a show which I knew of but didn't know much about. I have now finished the first season, and I must say it's a brilliant, funny show. In no particular order, what makes it stand out is The humor - By and far an important aspect of any comedy, the humor of Gravity Falls resonates very well, from the lamest pun to the brilliant stuff they get past the censors (and, wow, do they get a lot past the censors. This is a Disney show, right?). Expertly crafted and leaving me wanting more in the best way possible. The story - while not the most story-heavy series (a lot of the episodes are very standalone and can be watched without missing much of previous episodes), the story that is ongoing is very engaging. Gravity Falls, OR is a place where weird, paranormal stuff happens. Our main characters want to know why, thus we want to know why, and their curiosity becomes ours in a genuine, unforced way. The relationships are believable - Dipper and Mabel, the two main protagonists, are twin siblings who are sent to their great uncle (or, you guessed it, Grunkle) Stan's tourist trap, the Mystery Shack, for the summer. And they have a relationship that is completely believable (and as a twin, I can fully attest to it). Even when they have a scuffle or conflict, at the end of they day they can hug it out and not hate each other, which is very refreshing in a kids show. Also, the characters are not just defined by single character traits; for instance, Mabel has a fantastically overactive imagination and looks at the world from a very different angle than most of the other characters, but she's never called stupid or foolish by the others. Soos, the Mystery Shack's general repair and groundskeeper guy, who is overweight and sometimes dull-witted, is not defined by these traits, nor is he mocked for them; everyone treats him as they do everyone else, which is also really refreshing to see in a kids show. As for romantic relationships, This show has provided me with a lot of laughs and a fun world of mystery, and I look forward to what else it has in store.

Don't fret; keep a cool, calm head and everything will go fine.

Quick, tell me all the inklings you have on the stock market, Mexican food, future major sports events, and Armageddon. For science.

This entry makes me so happy.

All of the YES!!! Really hoping this gets localized in the US. Any word on whether it will be?

Now that I have watched Season 3 of Korra,

I have been up to lots of stuffs recently. Mostly of the electronic gaming variety. First off, I played Mega Man X for the first time courtesy of the Wii U Virtual Console (prompted by a fantastic video by Egoraptor). Fantastic game; the more I play SNES games, the more I regret not owning a SNES in childhood. After playing Fire Emblem (Rekka no Ken) and Sacred Stones, I finally caved into my roommate's demands that I play Awakening; OMG SO MUCH AWESOME! Probably one of my favorite games of all time, and definitely looking forward to playing it again. Right after completing Awakening, I received Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in the mail. Another fantastic game; Layton puzzles and story combined with Phoenix Wright courtroom shenanigans made for an awesome crossover. I just wish Maya hadn't been given a valley girl accent. :/ And, finally, my roommate got some 3DS Smash Bros codes, one of which he shared with me. I'm loving Mega Man so far; will definitely be playing as him once the Wii U version comes out (not getting the 3DS version; I'd like to spare my buttons of a painful death). I really wish the demo included Robin as a playable character, though; of the new roster, I'm looking forward to playing as him the most. On a more academic note, this Thursday is my Ph.D. preliminary exam oral defense, so that'll be fun. I've already worked through the problems that I will be asked about, and I think I've solved all of them. Hopefully all will go well.

I'm taking General Relativity this year as well. So far, I've enjoyed it quite a bit (though we've only done Special Relativity ).

Haldo, BZPeople! As you may have noticed, this summer the blogs were highly accented with my extreme absence since I took a trip to the northern UK. The reason for this absence is simple: I was studying for, and subsequently started taking, my preliminary examinations for continuation to my Ph.D. in physics. Last week for me was filled with three four-hour exams: one on Monday (Quantum Mechanics), one on Wednesday (Electromagnetism), and one on Friday (Classical, Special Relativity, and Statistical Mechanics grab bag). I am happy to say that I survived the initial onslaught of my prelims and am now in phase two: a twelve-hour take-home exam to be done over seventy-two hours (10 a.m. today to 10 a.m. Thursday). I have glanced at the problems but not worked on them yet, but I feel pretty good about the quantum section. In other news, the new school year is set to start in a week, but I have a class starting this Thursday. That'll be quite fun. 8D

This is absolutely fantastic. I don't think I did factorials for Unwound Future. Which one is he playing, BTW?

While days 2-4 were relatively uneventful (mostly collaborating days, doing research) my last three days in Edinburgh were pretty cool. Day 5: I climbed Arthur's Seat for a second time; it was sunny, so the view was even better than on Sunday when my advisor and I climbed it together. I also got proof That I made it to the summit. 8D Day 6: I went to Edinburgh Castle and walked around the former residence of the Scottish royal family. There were a few museums that were mainly dedicated to the history of Scottish military. I also saw the Scottish crown jewels, but was not allowed to take photos (and didn't realize I wasn't allowed until a lady yelled at me for taking out my phone). Day 7: I journeyed to Pencaitland, which is about 12 miles outside of Edinburgh, for a tour of the Glenkinchie distillery. However, I was late for my booked tour, as the bus didn't take me the whole way to the distillery, and it was a 2 mile walk to the distillery from the bus stop. I literally was walking, in the middle of Scottish farmland, following signs that I hoped were telling me the truth and leading me in the right direction. I eventually got there, however, unharmed but late. The lady at the front desk was very accommodating, though, and fit me into the next tour. It was quite lovely, and we got to see all the steps of brewing whiskey followed by a tasting session. After tasting, I picked up a bottle for my dad and a smaller bottle for me (if they sold 50 cl bottles, they would have been the same size, but, alas, they only had them in 20 and 70 cl sizes). I tried to get on the distillery's shuttle back to Edinburgh, but unfortunately I had asked to join it after it had left; they told me not to worry, though, as there was a local barman who would come and pick me up with two other women who also took the bus and take us to his pub, which was a few seconds' walk from the bus stop. The three of us had a drink at his pub (his only request in exchange for picking us up, which was completely fair in my opinion) and we got to talking. The one lady was around my age and still in college, while the older woman was her aunt and was retired. We got to talking about math and science, since the aunt had studied nutrition science for her job and enjoyed talking about science. We also discussed beer, the tour, and previous and future travels we were planning to take. All in all, it was a lovely afternoon, and we sat together on the bus back to Edinburgh and talked some more. Once we were back in the city, we said our goodbyes and were very glad to have met each other. Then, this morning, I boarded my flight back to the states, and now I am quite tired, as it is (as I'm typing this) around 1:30 a.m. back in Edinburgh, and my body wants to be very well asleep. I am happy to say, though, that it was a fruitful trip, both for research and fun, as now my code that I've been working on for nearly a year finally works and has reproduced the results of the paper we modeled it off of! Now, we get to push it into new parameter space to aid us in our spectroscopic analysis. Well, that's all for now. I'm going to go eat some cookies with my friends.

So, I'm currently in Edinburgh, UK for official Hogwarts business doing research with a collaborator at the local university. Things I have done include Vaguely losing consciousness on the plane ride over the Atlantic to adjust to new time zone. Would not qualify it as sleeping. Instead of checking into the hotel (which didn't allow checkins until 2 p.m. local time), climbing Arthur's Seat to the summit with my advisor like a boss. Enjoyed a Guinness. (Not Scottish, I know, but arguably fresher than those sold in the US.) Things I have not yet done include Tossing a caber. Wearing a kilt. Playing bagpipes. Trying haggis. (Will probably do this at breakfast tomorrow, though.) So far so fun. Also I've done research. Totally why I'm here.

GIMP, Inkscape, and LaTeX are wonderful, beautiful things. I've never done a presentation in LaTeX, but I bet it looks really nice.

I'm really bummed that all three of us weren't home at the same time because I want to witness this kind of ridiculousness firsthand. :/

It's been a while since I posted something, eh? Last week I went home to visit my family for a couple of weeks. It's been pretty low key so far; visited some friends over the weekend, mowed the lawn (so lovely), and tried to get things a bit cleaner around the house. I also ate way too much food at various gatherings. This weekend my dad and I pick up KK from grad school (he successfully defended his Master's!) and will enjoy two long, arduous, 10 hour-long trips. Then, I fly to Wisconsin for a conference, so that should be fun. I also got the Back to the Future DeLorean LEGO set, and I must say it's a very nice representation. Also, Doc Brown's "Great Scott!" face is perfect. I really want to make the purple skateboard in that set an actual hoverboard using magnets and a superconductor. One of these days...