Now see, that's how easy the college decision should be. It looks like we have a future Boilermaker in our midst. Next major decision, please.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
College Tours, Take II
Now see, that's how easy the college decision should be. It looks like we have a future Boilermaker in our midst. Next major decision, please.
Friday, March 19, 2010
On Second Glance Prologue
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Unfinished Symphony
So that's it. After a full year of work, I'm throwing it to The Shelf . . . . along the boulevard of broken dreams. Yeah, I feel like a loser. But why let that stop me? Plenty of losers go on to write perfectly good top selling novels. So I've heard. After ten years or something. But I've already started my new project, a young adult romantic comedy called "Mood Ring". I'll tell you about it later.
For the time being, my loss could be your gain. For those who have always wanted to read something I've written but haven't had the chance, I'll be posting the first part of my novel "On Second Glance" tomorrow. It's an intense romantic suspense that's actually pretty good. It just lacks an ending because I didn't get that far. And, yes, I know how stupid that sounds. I know HOW it's supposed to end, it just never felt right trying to take it there. So, stay tuned, enjoy some down time, visit my fantasy world, and if you detect the magical missing ingredient, let me know so I can put a merciful end to this unfinished literary symphony.
Waiting for inspiration.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Taste of Tokyo
A traditional kimono at the Japanese Information Center
As the judges finalized their decisions, we got to eat caviar and sushi, which might be great for high society gals, but I still gag at the thought. We also got to play with a robot prototype that looked like a baby harp seal. So cute. And then came the moment of anticipation.
Traditional dolls to celebrate Girls Day, March 3
As the prizes were awarded, each contestant accepted their gift bag and stepped off the stage. Mykell was downhearted when the English-Japanese/Japanese-English dictionaries were gone, and when the Barnes & Noble gift cards were all given out. But then they announced the awards for third place. Mykell and I looked at each other. Third place already? How could she make it so far? She and one other girl were tied for the least amount of language experience. Mykell couldn't be in the top three! And then they read off the winners in each division for second place. What? Mykell still wasn't called! At that point we were both stunned speechless. All we could do was laugh.
She got first place!! Way to go, Mykell!
I still can't believe it, but it was a wonderful experience seeing her up on the stand accepting her award, knowing all the hours she has put in to get this far. You see, Mykell started Japanese a semester late (Erik and I thought Chinese would be a better language to learn, from a global perspective, but Mykell hated it and quit). Because she started Japanese winter semester, she had to take Japanese 101 as an independent study course, only meeting with the instructor once a week for pronunciation/culture instruction. Japanese 102 was also taken independent study, over her summer break, with no instructor assistance at all. Upon her return to campus in the fall she had to take the Japanese 102 final to see if she could continue Japanese 201 with the rest of the class. It was a very stressful time, but her perseverance paid off and she passed with a high score. So, with all that said, Japanese 201 is actually the only semester Mykell has had to speak the language with other students. And now Japanese 202. It is amazing that her instructor would nominate her to compete in this competition at all. And then for her to be a finalist? Wow. It says something of Mykell's tenacity.
All the contestants and judges
She doesn't stand out, does she?
Mykell and her instructor, Fumiko Chiuini, have worked so hard and put in so many hours to translate Mykell's speech to Japanese (It was titled, "The Importance of Motherhood"), get the speech memorized, intonation exact, etc. etc. Congratulations to them both. It is an award well deserved.
Now we'll have to wait and hear about nationals . . . .