I'm sitting here in the library, about to start my physics experiment outline, and I cannot help but eavesdrop on the two research assistants at the Library desk in the middle of Cabell. One of them apparently feels bad about the way he handled a phone call while working with someone, and the other is giving him a pep talk about it. It's weird/interesting to listen to.
Back to work.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Way I See It # 389
Ice cream makes me happy, so why shouldn't I eat it?
Ben and Jerry's Half Baked is delicious. And great on a radiator-induced hot evening of studying.
Ben and Jerry's Half Baked is delicious. And great on a radiator-induced hot evening of studying.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Way I See It # 388
I'm so conflicted about which phone to buy.
I want the LG Vu, but it is more than my reasonable budget.... but I love this phone.
I basically won't be happy with any other phone. Should I splurge?
I can buy a refurbished phone online for $100. But then again it's a used phone.
I could get the LG Shine, but I don't think I want to spend money on something I don't want...
ARGG
MATERIALISM AT IT'S BEST!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Way I See It # 387
Sometimes I just want my shower to burn. Does anyone else ever get that feeling? Sometimes the water just doesn't get hot enough.
Sometimes I intentionally pull the covers off and wait until I'm shivering to get back under them.
I set myself up for warmth. I must be cold-blooded.
Sometimes I enjoy silence and being alone.
Sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I feel like extra pillows give me emotional support, not just physical support.
What am I doing?
Sometimes I intentionally pull the covers off and wait until I'm shivering to get back under them.
I set myself up for warmth. I must be cold-blooded.
Sometimes I enjoy silence and being alone.
Sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I feel like extra pillows give me emotional support, not just physical support.
What am I doing?
The Way I See It # 386
So being at Starbucks and finishing my drink, and thinking about tattoos, has led me to stumble up this horrible image.
The Question isn't "Why So Serious?"
Rather it is "Are You Serious??"
The Way I See It # 385
sI'm visiting my local starbucks (Oakton style) and I ran into my drumming instructor Chris. No longer is it awkward between us when we see each other, but he was disappointed to find out that I sold my drum set. Oh well, he knows it was practical for me to sell it. All is well between us, and he even invited me and my friends to a gig on Saturday night, which is really cool of him. It's in Old Towne Alexandria, but I doubt anyone will want to go with me. Another time perhaps.
Why is it that everyone is staring at me? The Business man sitting behind me was staring into my Photobooth back at me and it creeped me out. There is an adorable little girl who stared at me, and her mother was staring at me until we made eye contact. There's a girl doing math homework who occasionally looks over, and everyone standing in line has looked my way for more than 30 seconds each. Maybe I'm just interesting looking? Maybe it's the glasses? The Macbook? The iced caramel Macchiato? What about me makes me so different? That I am the only member of my demographic in the room?
You'd think someone such as myself who finds it odd that people are staring would leave. Maybe I like the attention.
Why is it that everyone is staring at me? The Business man sitting behind me was staring into my Photobooth back at me and it creeped me out. There is an adorable little girl who stared at me, and her mother was staring at me until we made eye contact. There's a girl doing math homework who occasionally looks over, and everyone standing in line has looked my way for more than 30 seconds each. Maybe I'm just interesting looking? Maybe it's the glasses? The Macbook? The iced caramel Macchiato? What about me makes me so different? That I am the only member of my demographic in the room?
You'd think someone such as myself who finds it odd that people are staring would leave. Maybe I like the attention.
The Way I See It # 384
I have a feeling that I have been bred to be the way I am.
Obviously.
Learning is a cultural aspect, and while my parents obviously had a hand in raising me that way they did, I never thought that parents could teach their children differently, perhaps based on the language they speak. I learned through, supposedly, pointing out objects and reading off their names. My learning process as a child was entirely object/noun based, and thus when it comes to picking out something, and observing, I tend to observe focal objects much more readily than my surrounding environment. I wish this wasn't the case. I think it is more useful to think of things in relationships to others. In Chinese, this is how children are taught to learn. Parents speaking chinese will teach their children objects through relations, rather than simply naming objects. So their learning patterns are verb-based, rather than noun based.
Do you think that by growing up here, learning the way I have gives me an entirely biased view of the world? Why didn't it occur to me to see the whole picture, rather than parts of it that I wanted to see? Has my whole perception been skewed? I guess someone who learned in Chinese could say the same thing. It just makes us different.
However, In my linguistics class I took a test to test my perspective and I scored dramatically in the "Eastern Sense", meaning, that the objects I chose matched with answers that Asians rather than Westerners. Does this make my perception Asian? No.... because in the study about 60% of Westerns thought in the western sense.... so I guess I'm just in the "weird" 40%.
The more and more I think about language, culture, and cognition, the more fascinated I am. It makes me wonder how much learning and "nurturing" really play a role in shaping a person. Obviously it's a big role.... but what if we're all hardwired to think in a certain way?
Some argue that Children cannot possibly learn language on their own at such a young age, and that they have an internal cognitive mechanism that is a road map for language. Do you agree with this?
Obviously.
Learning is a cultural aspect, and while my parents obviously had a hand in raising me that way they did, I never thought that parents could teach their children differently, perhaps based on the language they speak. I learned through, supposedly, pointing out objects and reading off their names. My learning process as a child was entirely object/noun based, and thus when it comes to picking out something, and observing, I tend to observe focal objects much more readily than my surrounding environment. I wish this wasn't the case. I think it is more useful to think of things in relationships to others. In Chinese, this is how children are taught to learn. Parents speaking chinese will teach their children objects through relations, rather than simply naming objects. So their learning patterns are verb-based, rather than noun based.
Do you think that by growing up here, learning the way I have gives me an entirely biased view of the world? Why didn't it occur to me to see the whole picture, rather than parts of it that I wanted to see? Has my whole perception been skewed? I guess someone who learned in Chinese could say the same thing. It just makes us different.
However, In my linguistics class I took a test to test my perspective and I scored dramatically in the "Eastern Sense", meaning, that the objects I chose matched with answers that Asians rather than Westerners. Does this make my perception Asian? No.... because in the study about 60% of Westerns thought in the western sense.... so I guess I'm just in the "weird" 40%.
The more and more I think about language, culture, and cognition, the more fascinated I am. It makes me wonder how much learning and "nurturing" really play a role in shaping a person. Obviously it's a big role.... but what if we're all hardwired to think in a certain way?
Some argue that Children cannot possibly learn language on their own at such a young age, and that they have an internal cognitive mechanism that is a road map for language. Do you agree with this?
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