It's Saturday night and I am behind on my blogging again. I've done tiny shreds of work and lots of just surfing around looking at stuff, reading about other people's lives and having thoughts. The blogosphere is awesome. Before it really got going, there was the feeling that nothing again would ever be authentic--it was all too easy to fake, and there were just so many fakers out there. But now… well, of course there are fake blogs, but for most there is just no fraudulent way to duplicate the sheer depth of personality you have to invest in making a blog people will want to read. I'm sure people tell lies on their blogs, or make things up. I'm not saying all blogs are literally true. Just that they have popularized (if not quite invented) a new criterion for authenticity. The storyteller is a real person, even if the stories are tall tales.
I've decided to do my part by getting all caught up with this blog. It's not hard because two out of the three days I have to write about have been extremely uneventful. I'll make them separate posts, though, because short posts are more fun and readable, so I've heard. That means you're probably reading them all out of order, but it doesn't matter so much. One day and another are divided by the falling curtain of night, and sometimes I feel like everything changes off-stage and comes back looking all different.
Thursday: I procrastinated all morning. I think I was a little down because it was Colin's and my two year anniversary, and we were spending it apart. We make a point of always celebrating the 16th of every month, no matter how busy we are, by doing something small and special. And November 16 last year we went out on a date and smiled extra smiles. This November 16 we are geographically very distant, but no less in love. More in love, probably. But it's hard.
Unusually, I had three favors of varying sizes that people had asked me to do. So in the noontime, after a quick lunch at the school cafeteria (I had a spinach and meatball soup), I managed to get all those done: 1) going into the bookstore with a list of books my advisor wants, so he can pick them up when he's here--went very smoothly--they were delighted; 2) posting some ads for my Chinese tutor who has apparently agreed to help arrange a one-on-one Japanese teacher--am skeptical that anyone around here would be interested, but I posted the ads; 3) read a writing sample for a Chinese classmate applying to grad schools in the U.S.; I was dismayed at its quality, more on that later.
After doing all this, I sat in the reference room of the library and worked on my own translation… it goes so slowly. I am doing two translations right now, one in each direction. The one I am translating into Chinese is my own paper, which is what I worked on today. The good thing is that I can change things around at will, so if I'm stuck on how to say something I just don't. The bad thing is that it's hard to translated something out of your mother-tongue and into a foreign language. And much less satisfying than the other way around. Trudging along.
On the way home I picked up a webcam ($7.50 and that was totally without bargaining and only minimal comparison shopping woo-hoo). My anniversary present to Colin--a real-time view of me while we talked. That was nice, although it's oddly more tiring to talk to someone when you know they can see you. It was my first experience with that. Still kind of cool though.
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