Anime Expo is happening this weekend at the Staples/Convention Center. That's a 10 minute drive from my apartment! Damn. Times like these, I wish I had 1) a car, 2) anime groupies, 3) not a pressing deadline.

My favourite manga of all time, Blame of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura, is being animated. I'm filled with anticipation/dread/hope.

As I was walking across campus today, I noticed little floating particles drifting down. I thought it was pollen, until I realized it's Fall, so it couldn't have been. It was ash, of course, which was kind of spooky. It was miserably hot today (yesterday, tomorrow). The sky was blue to the north, but orange-gray to the south-west. Honestly, what a miserable week it's been.

My theory assignment is due tomorrow and I'm almost done. I'm also getting paid on Friday, which means this is going to be a wonderful weekend!

I'm flying to Austin, TX tomorrow. It'll be my first time visiting a southern state; very exciting! I have an one-hour stop over in Chicago. Not enough time to visit anyone there, too bad.

So this is my schedule:

March 28 to April 1 ~ Austin (UT)
April 1-3 ~ LA (USC)

I'm preparing to do a mini-Grand Tour of China in the Spring, and I'm trying to be more active in reading the latest news on China. One issue in particular strikes my fancy: China's efforts to have cleaner air, soil, water, etc. When I was last in Beijing, I got the sense that folks in were as anxious as Canadians about the harmful effects of smog, pesticide, and congestion. Then again, Beijingers like to talk big. Maybe environmental reform is their latest, favourite on dit.

The number of news reports on China is staggering. Most of it is entertaining, but misleading. For example, this article on China's environmental woes by Sylvia Yu Chao.

I've submitted 4 out of 6 applications. Will tackle Toronto and UCLA applications tomorrow. From the stress, anxiety, and frustration, and lack of sleep, I had something of a minor emotional breakdown this evening. Bleh.

Ontario's government plans to give provincial politicians a raise of about 28 per cent.

Reuters' Pictures of the year 2006: A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in the northern Indian city Lucknow June 30, 2006.

I went to a clinic last night, and the doc said I have an intestinal virus, not the flu. I should start to feel better in a couple of days. OK. Too tired to type more.

I had originally planned to apply to 14 programs....but I think that's too ambitious. I've decided to cut down the number of schools to 10: Chicago, Northwestern, UCLA, Toronto, Texas, USC, Emory, Michigan, Penn, Columbia.

And the ones that have been taken off the list are: Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Cornell.

I decided not to apply to Vanderbilt because of its location. I can't see myself living in Nashville, Tenn. It's a beautiful, historical city but...I don't think it's for me.

As for Johns Hopkins and Cornell, I took another look at their Renaissance faculty and realized they were not doing the kind of work I want to do (Renaissance drama, Elizabethan & Jacobean dramatic/print censorship, Renaissance cultural studies).

As for Princeton...err...my chances of getting in are very very very slim.

So, 10 schools--seems more doable in my mind. What does everyone think?

I am determined not to panic/stress out. I WILL get the work done.

Wednesday: revise personal statement, project description, CV; write cover letter, instructions, photocopy essays, fax GRE score request to ETS, print out recommender forms, login to SSHRC to figure out how long the damn proposal has to be. Watch new episode of LOST--if at all possible.

Thursday: Final touchups on documents. Mail packages to Chicago recommenders via Purolator or UPS.

Friday: Visit U of T recommender, give her package containing rec forms.

Saturday: Take GRE exam.

Sunday: start e-mailing prospective thesis advisor....

Marxists.org is a website I like to browse when I have time.

It has information on marxist, pre-marxist, post-marxist, Hegelian-marxist, marxist-existentialist, structuralist-marxist, deconstructionist-marxist, post-Hegelian-marxist-existentialist-structuralist-deconstructionist...thinkers.

Two weeks ago, Tori Amos released A Piano. The sound is incredibly clear, deep, and different. It isn't so much a remix than audio snapshots of her songs from one stage of development to another. While I've bought just about all her other CDs, I couldn't buy this collection. Too expensive. So I...er...downloaded it from Torrentspy.com. FYI. Heh.

I'm trying to get up the nerve to e-mail some profs/potential advisors, by this Friday. I still feel like my research idea is scattered/unfocused, but I also feel like I've delayed too much already.

My GRE Lit study is going well. I scored 99% on the mock GR9064 (year 1989), 94% on GR9964 (year 1999), 82% on REA Test #2 (year 1989). I intend to write at least another two mock exams before the actual exam of Nov. 4th. I'm hoping/praying I can get above 87% on the actual exam.

What I'm watching in anime this month
1. Saiunkoku Monogatari. This fantasy political romance is so easy and fun to watch. This series continues the tradition established by Fushigi Yuugi and Twelve Kingdoms: use the rich historical and political background of ancient China to tell your shoujo romance story.

2. Chevalier d'Eon. This series is bewildering, violent, and so cool. It's set in 18th century Paris, in the same era as the upcoming Marie Antoinette movie.

Just came back from watching The Illusionist. The movie was fine. It could've been edgier and more surprising, but over all, it's an entertaining and witty movie. Ah yes, Edward Norton looked damned fine in his silk-necktie and black overcoat. Yummy!

In other news, Mom and I finally came up with some names for the two cocktiel chicks: Hana and Momo. Wow, they're growing so quickly--they get bigger by the hour. The parents, especially the female 'tiel Feffi, are very attentive to their chicks. Chuchu and Feffi have fallen into a routine: Feffi will stuff herself with food (bread, seed, corn), then rush to feed the chicks. Chuchu feeds them too, sometimes, though recently he seems to be more interested in standing guard. We leave the birds alone during feeding time.

The bigger of the two chicks is about 25 days old, while the small one is 22 or 23. At this point, it's unnecessary for the parents to be with the chicks all the time--in fact, Feffi and Chuchu take many breaks during the day. Since we really love these little chicks (they're tiny, colourful, docile, in other words, they're irresistable), we have been taking the chicks out of their nest box while the parents are resting. Chuchu and Feffi don't really mind it if the humans play with their chicks for 5 or 10 minuts. "Play"'s not the right word. We hold them and pet them. They, in turn, squirm and nibbled at our fingers. For the most part, both chicks have adjusted to being handled by humans. When she sees a hand, Hana doesn't hiss or swing her head anymore, though Momo continues to swing his head (a "don't touch me" signal among birds).

Well, a picture's worth a thousand words, and I have 10:

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I yanked this fun meme from arckyosuke. But instead of using my own mug, I used the following...

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I'm back from Otakon. The high points of the weekend include:

~ Finally meeting thisresonance!!

~ Road trip with flying_squirrel and harempresident.

~ Hearing Nobuteru Yuki talk about ParaKiss, Escaflowne

~ Seeing Tateno Makoto draw in real time.

~ Nana Kitade concert and "gothic lolita fashion show".

~ Baltimore's Inner Harbor, the artists' gallery, the dealer's room (where I got a cute San-X pencil case).

I'll make a longer post later.

It's the year of the dog and I'm turning XXIV tomorrow! I'm leaving for Otakon tomorrow morning. It's going to be a minor roadtrip to a major anime convention.

The heatwave has been terrible.

New art! A pretty young man, let's call him "Dorian".


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Graduation, socials, airplane, then, home! I'm back in Toronto, safe and sound. I was exhausted by my flight, and Spring Quarter in general, so I pretty much slept for the last two days. Toronto is more or less the same. My 4 birds are as silly as ever. Mom is mom, just as she should be. I feel a bit strange. I feel different.

Tomorrow, I have to stay home for my UPS delivery. I'll try to make some calls/e-mails to my friends, at the very least to update everyone on my address change.

I leave Chicago on June 11th. I can't believe it! I won't have to go to the Reg everyday, I won't have to take the bus back at midnight everynight, I won't have to spend a small fortune at Hutch Commons, I'll never see most of my friends again (despite what we say about getting together, I know I'll probably never see them again--such is life). It's all a bit surreal.

My teacher said yes to an extension; I will talk to her about it further on Wednesday (hopefully she will be impressed by my idea/methodology, and I can get the research done before leaving Chicago).

This means I can concentrate on my medieval paper.

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day: it's the final day of classes (Note to self, bring digicam!!!), pick up my graded thesis (at least, I think it's graded), pick up last quarter's essays from ES and BC, meet with preceptor, draft Gower essay.

Before I sleep, I have to finish typing up my summary, read 100 pages of Appes, and write post on CHALK.