ctrl + shift + space | Fulbright

The function ctrl + shift + space associates two or more words seperated by a space so that they are on the same line in Microsoft Word. So if I'm typing, say, Law School, the 'law' and the 'school' would never be seperated. Whoever made up this function should be awarded a prize. It's genious.

Speaking of awards, my Real Estate Law professor was recently awarded a fulbright under the U.S. Scholars Program to go to teach in China. For those who don't know what that is, it's a program sponsored by the US Department of State that pays for established scholars to go abroad to research and teach. The fulbright is intended to encourage international exchange.

My professor offered me an RA position, but I'm a little hesitant to take it considering my overloaded schedule. The tough thing is that she has the exact same academic interests as I do (land use, development, and international law) so I'm trying to decide what to do. I already wrote extensively about Chinese land use, and I'm more than satisifed with the subjects she will research and teach at in China. Any advice on this matter would be helpful.

eyes burning in centimeters of ether

As I was driving to an SGI Korean festival in bmore today, I decided to switch my old custom "Japanese 3" CD to my "Hip Hop 2" CD. There is a song in there by Nujabes and others with lyrics that blow away your mind --

Light as a feather as I'm floating through
Readin' through the daily news
Measurin' the hurt within the golden rule
Centimeters of ether I'm heatin' the speaker
Motivational teacher with words that burn people
Seein' the headlines line with discord
It's either genocide or the planet in uproar
Never good.
The rules of paradise are never nice
The best laid plans of mice and men are never right
I'm just a vagabond with Flowers for Algernon
[end]

The metaphors and references to classics in the song are amazing, and it all flows so well together. It reminded me of the perfect poem. I haven't written in a way, so I thought I would try to jump back into the scene (maybe I was never in it). Below was soemething I wrote before and after graduation, which I submitted to a literary competition:

Ivory phoenix wings burning ink I write

Myself a blacksmith; the pen my tool, forging life

My negativity in ashes

My mission emerging in ember

My city in distress I return bringing youth afire

I again lather in the tears of the Chesapeake

Now igniting in it passionate prose

This courageous inferno washing away Charm’s vices

Remembering Key’s beats yes I blaze invariable algorithms

I say passionate and consistent solutions, Baltimore

A strong and steady current Chesapeake majestic

A stream of youth brimming with glorious vitality!

[end]

There is still much work to do. On another note, I got my contacts. They are a pain, though I'm sure it'll get better. Apparently, my eyes are small and my lashes long, so it's difficult to put in contacts. I was litterally at the optometrists trying to put these things in and out for an hour. My eyes became irritated because I touched them so much. I'm supposed to be keeping them in for about half the day for up to two weeks- Yesterday I had them in longer than I should have because it was a bother taking them out (believe it or not it's hard for me to take them out then it is to put them in). Today, I got tired of them so I took them out after 4 hours. I guess it has to do with "getting used to them" so I'll see how it goes :)

情熱大陸 (flute & guitar)

So I picked up the flute after spurts of messing around with it over the past year. So far so good - three weeks with practices everday. But, you really feel that gap when you listn to something like this...



This sounds better than the original violin version... And you can hear the bass from the flute, which is something I've never heard so clearly, at least on a youtube quality video. Much more practicing to do, eric. Almost done "Standard of Excellence, Comprehensive Band Method, Book 1 - Flute"

soka 2, BK, takamaki, italy, and my dream

I was at Jiffy Lube waiting for my car to come out and a few things occurred. First, while flipping through NEWSWEEK in the waiting area, I saw an advertisement for SUA. I was aware that SUA was actively recruiting in the local SoCal area, but I didn't know they were recruiting so heavily nationally. They were in the ad column right below Hopkins, taking up half the page...

Then, while grabbing a meal #9 from Burger King during my wait, I was shocked at how big a medium size was. I know people will think what I am saying is hypocritical given my attack at Japanese Starbucks a few posts ago, but this is ridiculous to the other extreme. What kind of person orders a medium and receives, what I would assume to be, an extra-large cup? Baffling.

You can't tell in this pic, but this is ginormous

Ad in Newsweek

While poking through my phone to find the pics above, I found another random picture, this time of Takamaki. I will not comment on it.



I just heard today of this place called Cinque Terre Vernazza, some place in Italy. I have yet to visit Europe, but this place has convinced me that I must go. It reminds of some town in a Ghibli movie where young witches fly on broomsticks and cats talk. Maybe I can go sometime between taking the bar and starting work. Or, right before my bar classes start...

 



And finally. I was watching this dorama called "Tobo Bengoshi," or, Runaway Lawyer (which is based on a manga that, I believe, was called Runaway Doctor) and made me think about what I want to do with this law degree that I worked so hard to get. I realized I do not want to stuck in a big corporate-like firm, nor do I want to be limited to handling the same types of cases over and over. The point is, I don't want to have the main motiviation of the firm I'm working for to be primarily for financial gain, and I do not want to have be stuck to a specialization. Instead, I want to serve justice (whatever that may mean I am still figuring out) without having to worry about how much money this is making my boss and I want to litigate for clients in all sorts of circumstances. One final piece is that I want to continue learning - because I have realized that, without that, life is pretty dull. Don't you think?

All this has led me to believe that working in the public sector, with a department with broad jurisdiction, would be ideal. It would be nice to be able to work for the Department of Justice, perhaps in the civil litigation division. Perhaps in getting there, I can gain some experience at the state level with the AG's office. I think you have to be barred before you can apply to the AG office, but I guess we will see where these realizations will take me. My thoughts are still all over the place, but I found some direction.

ek

soka, subway, frutti tutti, couque D'asses and words

The first in a long series of achievements for Soka University of America, my precious alma mater-- As everyone I'm sure knows by now, it was ranked:

(1) Top 25 most desirable small schools (#24)
(2) Top 20 most desirable suburban schools (#20)
(3) Top 15 in diversity (#12)

It also ranked in the top 25 in other categories. Proud is all I can say! See http://education.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/the-25-most-desirable-small-schools.all.html for more details.



foot long BLT

 On a completely different note, I think I'm hooked to Subway. Five dollar footlongs are no joke. Recently I've been into the footlong BLTs, but I often go with the Spicy Italian. I'm not sure who founded Subway, but the business model is incredibly genius. Despite having to keep veggies fresh, it came at a time all there was was fast food. Of course it will catch on - especially if it's cheap!

Speaking of good business models, I forgot how much ellicott city (my hometown, where I reside now) has gone through an asian revolution. The city was already asian-a-fied before I left for college, but its even more so now. Unfortunatley, this is one of the wealthiest cities in the country, and because of that, it attracts people with ... money - how severely difficult that may be to understand I do not know. So, we have many rich and successful asians, but particularly koreans and chinese. The business model I was referring to is, a recent korean-american SoCal-like do-it-yourself yogurtland type place. It's called Tutti Frutti and its all the rage. Welcome to west coast asian-american culture Ellicott City - congratulations! Bring the west to the east - that business model seems to work. I must admit I tried the yogurt there (with mochi balls and gummy bears on top), and it was damn good.

While I was looking through my phone to look for pictures of Tutti Frutti (to no avail), I ended up finding this picture of ryosuke with this snack below. I don't know what coque D'asses are, but it doesn't sound very good.

Couque D'asses

Thesaurus?

Finally, while working today, I couldn't help but to notice this "Dictionary of Synonyms." Isn't that ... a Thesaurus? Speak of synonyms.

eepad

I will promote the ASUS eepad. To all naysayers, let me just say this: It comes with Windows 7, something that most (all?) tablet PCs lack. The fact that you can touch screen W7 instead of using crude tabletPC OSs is pretty big for me. That means you can do all the same things you're doing on your computer right now with a tablet PC. And, like some tablets, you can dock the eepad into a laptop style keyboard or into a desktop-like docking station with a wireless keyboard.



Lemme say a word about laptops. While great for the mobile person, many people (students) still stay at their desks for prolonged periods of time. And, the way that laptops are made are not good for your body. Refer to the points of the hellish pain below:

One way to avoid these radiating red dots is to get a desktop. Desktops have their monitors and keyboards seperate, which allows you to set the height of the monitor to eye level, and to set the keyboard at elbow height. So, I think I would end up getting both the laptop and desktop docking station - one for the road and the other as a permanent dock at home when I'm in my chair for endless kalpas.

For all those people who have problems even with a desktop - well, that's just bad posture. Refer to the dicrepid men below.

花鳥風月

カチョウフウゲツ. いい曲だ！reminds you that the little moments count :) I heard this song while watching the dorama,　エンゼルバンク (angel bank). It's about this teacher who loses her job, and while attending a job hunting seminar, ends up working for the company that helps others find new jobs. Enjoy the song!

contacts and anime music

I think I've had it with glasses. I've weighed the pros and cons of glasses with those of contacts, but I think I've just about made my choice to go with contacts. Recently, the inner nose-support of the glasses actually hurt. Not to mention that you have to carry these glasses around everywhere. I think they were the perfect solution when I only needed to where them to see the board or when I was driving. But now that need to wear glasses all the time, I think it's safe to say that contact are a better choice... A... I'm sure putting them in and out everyday will be annoying. Such are the choices we must make...

For any nerds that watch Naruto (Cliff), you might enjoy this guy's crazy guitar skills...

the perennial question and May J

Coffee or tea? The perennial question. Coffee brings out the American in me, and 'gosh darnit' I love it. It's been with me on my long memo and brief nights and during acquired moments with others to kill time. It has never disserved me! The real question may be, which coffee? Recently I've been drinking some kind of super-market coffee in a yellow bin, that has, despite its mystery, very pleasant. Some flavors are just not bold enough, but the 'new yorld bold' will do it.

Then there's starbucks. I love them simply for asking me "would you like to leave room for whip cream?" Yes!! I haven't yet heard of anyone who's denied. During the winter, I like to go nigai with the classic Americano. My favorite during the summer is the Java Chip Frap. My knees shake and tremble after a sip. Speaking of trembling, though, I remember once I ordered at JR Shinjuku station for the "smallest size." Little did I know that they would, instead, slap me in the face with the coffee below. I believe I sipped on this 3 or 4 times before it was done. Japan... I love your service, but I cannot forgive you for this.

Apparently, this was the "small" size, smaller than a tall,
and simply nowhere to be found on the menu.

But maybe it's not a question about tea or coffee. I like to think tea is used for other purposes. I drink coffee with intent, whether it's to stay up or to pass time with others. Tea, on the other hand, commands more respect. Other than drinking it with Shane, it genuinly helps me relax! (that's not to say that I can't relax when I'm sippin' away with Shane). Sometimes you want to sit and think - and tea is a lot better for than than coffee is. Unfortunately, not many people enjoy tea. They drink it like its juice, but my friends, you've committed a huge error.

Aside from tea and coffee, I've been hooked to May J. I don't know that I've ever liked an artist more than her. Her style is pretty nice. She mixes this traditional straight-foward singing style with a lot of hip hop. She throws in some classical components, so the result is all-around good songs. Some of the songs I like are:

KANSHA, by the New Classics, feat. May J and WISE　（http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOaIb48XKM&feature=related
Garden, by May J, feat. DJ KAORI, Diggy-mo, クレンチ＆ブリスタ　（http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adSZnjWzQkA&feature=channel）
旅立つ君に, by May J　（http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEtBw4-cIaw）
もし君と, by May J, feat. キマグレン　（http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB8dEFy7WvM&feature=channel）
One Day, AILI thanx to May J & Ken 360 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK46C-hFk-Y)
And finally, the most recent song I discovered was 君に言えなかった想い, a song by KG, feat. May J.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia3v9zwkxFE&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-11-HM

a new day

a--- blogging has commenced. In highschool, I acquired a number of nicknames:
Quasimodo (Victor Hugo, Hunchback of Notre-Dame), akunamatata (Disney, The Lion King), komodo dragon (animal). But the most classic of them all was "hello moto." This is a tribute to my high school days, when I was free and easy, not worrying so much about what job I should apply for or how my resume looked. Cheers to that freedom, those thoughts that I now begin to scribble on these pages --