Haven’t posted here in a while because I was busy with my studies and life as a grad student is just not that exciting… at least not for me :neutral: . Now that I’m done with the round of midterms, I thought I make a post but I have nothing very interesting to write about, so I might as well make a post about how I replaced a door knob. I’m not very handy, but replacing a standard door knob is still within my abilities, and here is the post about the process accompanied by some badly taken photos.
Author: TJ
Thoughts on Macross Frontier: The False Songstress
Macross Frontier is one of the series I followed when I started writing on this blog two years ago, and it was one of the best series I’ve watched at least when mecha battles and music were concerned. So it’s no surprise that I was waiting to watch the theatrical version of the series, and I finally saw The False Songstress around a week ago. Despite liking the anime series so much, I find myself having little to say about the movie other than that “it was pretty good”.
Thoughts on Summer Wars
I watched Summer Wars a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t get around to writing about it due to me being lazy and busy at the same time. Summer Wars is of course the Mamoru Hosoda anime film about a math whiz and his upperclassman’s entire extended family trying to stop an errant program from crashing both a popular virtual world and the real world. Even though I’ve put this post under the “Reviews” category, this post is just some random thoughts I feel like writing down after watching the movie. Writing a well-versed and structured review just feel like too tall of a task for me these days lol.
Post contains spoilers.
Brief Stop in Washington DC
I went on my first conference trip recently in the area around Washington DC, and a colleague and I decided to swing by the Mall on one of the days. Due to time constraint, we only walked around the west side of the mall from near the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. This article is just for me to post some photos, nothing more.
Sengoku Basara 2 – Final Thoughts
Now that the Summer 2010 anime season is more or less over, it’s time again for my final impressions/”review” posts for shows that I followed but didn’t blog about. First up is the second season of Sengoku Basara, which turned out to be a downgrade compared to the first season.
Post contains spoilers to the show.
A Month Away from Home
Can’t believe it’s already been more than a month since I left home to begin graduate studies on my own. I’ve more or less settled into my new place and things have been going okay so far. Classes at my new school are fairly similar to the ones I had in 3rd/4th year at UBC, and I only have three classes. It’s hard to say if the classes are harder or easier, but I’ll have a better idea once I’ve had a midterm for each class. I haven’t done much for my research project yet, but it’s only a month in so it’s a bit too early to worry about it.
Moving on from the academic parts, I’m doing okay with all the shopping and cooking and all the other chores that comes with living on one’s own. This is the first time I’ve been on my own for any extended period of time, and so far I’ve managed to keep myself fed and clean and keep my place from turning into a dump. Not bad for a newbie independent :lol: . I actually think my cooking is surprisingly good for someone who almost never cooks at home, but I probably should give credit to my mom for teaching me a few recipes before I left. My food probably lacks variety though, but at least I’m not going hungry. In terms of shopping, I haven’t gotten a car yet so my destinations are quite limited, which makes things easier in some aspects. More choices mean more decisions to make.
In terms of activities for fun, I’ve joined some clubs and went to two gathering where there were free food. I’ve also been taking full advantage of the school’s fitness facilities and getting more exercise than ever, but I haven’t seen any tangible results just yet. I play badminton once a week too, so at least I’m not completely socially inactive. I probably should make more effort to get to know people though.
Anyways, that’s all I have to say for this update. Midterms are coming up so I better start studying.
New Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T410
Since I left home to study abroad, I no longer had access to my old Athlon XP desktop and had to buy a new computer. I decided I would get a laptop since it just more sense to have something smaller and portable. In the end, I shelled out for a ThinkPad, which are all-business, rock solid machines with good build quality, and this post is just for showing some photos and thoughts on my new computer.
TonyJiang.com: Fourth Year on the Net
I can’t believe it’s been four years already since I set up the tonyjiang.com domain. Actually, the anniversary is somewhere in August, but I was busy moving to a new place to start grad school so I didn’t have the time to make this post until today. Unlike 2008-2009, there were plenty of big changes to my website this year. Read on if you want to find out the inside scoop about tonyjiang.com over the last 12 or so months.
Starting a New Stage of My Life
This is my first post from my new place of residence, thousands of miles away from home. I’m starting my graduate studies somewhere in the US, and that meant packing up my stuff and moving to a new place. It’s an exciting time for me; I have my worries, but I’m still optimistic that everything will work out. If I don’t slack off, concentrate on my studies and take care of myself then I should be alright. I haven’t really settled into my new life yet, but hopefully I’ll get used to this as time goes on. I do miss my family though. Anyways, that’s all I have to write today. I have to get back into school mode before the work load really picks up. Wish me luck.
Grouse Mountain
Here is another short trip/visit that’s part of my efforts to get to know British Columbia better before I leave for the US for grad school. This time, I visited Grouse Mountain, one of the more notable attractions in the Lower Mainland area. Located in North Vancouver, Grouse Mountain is a ski resort in the winter and a scenic park with shows and a trail in the summer. Despite living in the Lower Mainland for quite a few years, I’ve never been to Grouse Mountain before, and so last weekend my family decided to go there. The post is short description of our trip accompanied by some photos.