Good, but Controversial ...

This is a good movie. I'm glad I've been watching good movies for a while, Black Swan, True Grit and this one.

Geoffrey Rush is awesome. And of course, Colin Firth is good, too. The description of their relationship--how they developed their friendship--is really good and somewhat funny.

This king (George VI) grew up in the shadow of his great dad (another king, George V), his brother, and nanny who bullied him. He is traumatized by experience in childhood, and that's why he stammers. His wife and Geoffrey Rush (and the nation?) support this wimpy king to be a real king ... This is a good story, right?

The ending of the movie is that the king delivers historic speech (war declaration to Germany) to the nation. After his speech, he is applauded by his aides, family, politicians, and the nation (people gathering around the Buckingham Palace). Everyone says, "Congratulations, your majesty," to the king. And I thought, mm, should making a war declaration be celebrated? It is great that the king gets over stammering and gets confidence in himself, and I assume people honored his confident speech. He becomes the king, the leader of the country. But the war ... It could be something else that he shows his confidence as the king.

New Exercise Shoes

My old Reebok lost its grip so that it was time to replace it with a new pair of shoes.

I went to Sports Authority and found it (or that particular outlet) dealing only with Nike in terms of fitness shoes. I prefer Reebok to Nike regarding exercise shoes because of the width of shoes. Nike is usually narrow.

So I went to Lady Foot Locker next. They have a variety of Reebok and other brands. I explained a sales person that I wanted to have Reebok and my budget was $80ish. After a lecture about all those shoes, that sales person left me alone to pick a few shoes to try on. I picked three types of shoes, all black. Nowadays, exercise shoes are really, really colorful, which is not my taste. The combination of gray and pink, black and fluorescent green, and something that colors do not necessary match each other. I like shoes in a simple color, so this time, black.

The sales person told me that what I chose was all Nike. Shit. Anyway, I tried them on, starting with size 7. Size 7 was really tight. I knew it because Nike is smaller than other brands. The sales person told me the same. Then, I tried size 7.5. I thought it would be OK, but the sales person suggested to me to have one size up. So, I ended up with size 8. It was the first time in my life to try on size-8 shoes!

There were three types of shoes, but the store didn't have two of them in my size. But the last choice was my favorite, so it was not disappointing. After trying on the last choice and walking around in the store, I decided to buy them. And the sales person came to me and told me with sympathy the shoes cost $100, more than my budget.

Oh well, it was a big buy, but I needed new shoes anyway to protect myself from injury while exercising.

Easter Basket with Wine

DS and RN came back from DC this afternoon. I was house-sitting with their kids while they were away. I love house-sitting theirs always. The kids are easy, and I have a bunch of people who I can ask for help. But this time, I feel guilty because I was so busy of dealing with issues of my dissertation and someone else had to come over to replace me while I was in school. I was also stressed out because of my dissertation (not because of the kids). The older kid (12 years old) is a sensitive girl, and she noticed that I was stressed out. I thought I was behaving as I am, but she sensed something from me. I feel sorry for her.

Anyway, today is Easter. The kids hunted eggs, and I got a basket full of candies and wine (specially for me, hee hee hee) from DS. Thanks, DS!

Submission

OK, I submitted my dissertation to my committee members this afternoon. It was quite a hassle. I frantically revised my dissertation until 3 in the afternoon. I rushed to school to print. Then, the printer was jammed, urgh! I asked help for IT guys. They tried to set up a different printer in my PC, but it took forever. Then, I asked them to let me print my stuff to the good print through their Mac. They transferred my stuff to their Mac and pressed the button to print. Then, their Mac didn't recognize the printer. So, they had to set it up in their Mac, too. It took long. After a while, they finally did it and sent my stuff to the printer. I was waiting at the printer. Yes, the printer started spitting out my stuff! But I realize the toner was really really light, urgh! I asked IT guys to change the toner. They did. The printer started working again. But the toner was still light. It was probably because of the setting, but I didn't know how to fix it. I just didn't do anything but letting it go. Also, because I created my file with my PC and moved it to a Mac to print, my file was not transferred well. The footer was kind of out, so page numbers in the footer did not print well, urgh! Why this kind of things happens when you are in a hurry!

Anyway, I finally put copies of my dissertation in my committee members' mailboxes some time after 5. After that, I emailed my committee members by apologizing those issues in copies of my dissertation.

I'm so tired of dissertation stuff. Rewriting, revising, making mess with the printer and everything. And I know I will make another mess in my oral defense. I just want to finish this ...

Conservative Newspaper?

The talk of Chomsky last night was such a big deal, fetching thousands of audiences, but the local newspaper did not cover the event. I wonder if it is an indicator of how the newspaper is conservative. Or, they just don't have enough manpower to cover it (a night event). Either way, it's neither good for the paper nor for the public.

Chomsky

The talk was scheduled to start at 7 pm. So, I went one hour earlier to get a seat. I thought it'd be crowded, but I didn't expect that crowded! It was ridiculously crowded. When I got there (the hall), there were already a bunch of people around the doors. I walked along the line, which turned out very very long. I ended up coming to the end of the campus! Walking toward the end of the line, I thought I couldn't get in the hall anyway.

While I was walking, someone started sending people to another venue where would have video stream of the talk. So I went there. Then, I realized this alternative hall was almost packed. I was lucky to find a seat. The hall where I was was fully packed with people sitting on stairs. An organizer (and police officer) came and got them out because of fire regulations. Poor people, they were there for 30 minutes or something. The organizer said they were setting up another venue. I hope they could finally get in.

The talk was great. I think Chomsky is a little bit too deterministic, but I like him because of his confidence in what he says. No one argues against him anyway because he is Chomsky. He is the god.

Another Draft of the Findings Chapter

As you imagine, I was devastated last week when I finally got feedback from one of my committee members. I compiled a crappy draft and sent it to her last ... when was that? Saturday? But I haven't got a response from her. I can't wait until she responds. My chair agrees with me.

So, I kept working on it without knowing whether it is what she wants. Mind you, it was a really, really stressful process.

In the end, the findings chapter looks like the findings chapter, I guess. Interesting. I sent the latest edition of my findings chapter this afternoon for his feedback. I hope the chapter is on the right track.

The longer you work on your dissertation, the more you realize your dissertation is a crap. That's what I learned from my experience.

Second Home

I'm blessed to have DS in my life here.

I'm in a very negative mode right now because of rewriting and my roommate's lifestyle.

As you image from my yesterday's blog post, I was devastated and upset. But I was more upset and devastated by my roommate's behavior. She came home after midnight and took a shower, making loud noise. I usually put ear plugs in my ears to keep my sleep, and I did, but they are not perfect. Noise that she makes woke me up, anyway. I was pissed off and I realize how much I'm tired of sharing an apartment with someone, this night person (damn ass!).

I asked DS to have me for the weekend. She is a super easy person, and so are her family members. I really appreciate her and her family to have me whenever for whatever. So, I've been here from this afternoon, working on my rewriting stuff. I will stay here for this weekend for my concentration and relaxation. I'm really relaxed here, more relaxed than I'm home.

Devastated

I can't get it, I can't get it. I did behind-the-scene stuff to avoid this kind of mess, but it apparently didn't work.

OK, I showed a part of this chapter to this person in the beginning of last term, seeking her advice, because I was not sure if I was on the right track. That time, she said she like it. Because I thought I got consent from her, I worked on it, and that chapter became 120+ pages long. Then, I submitted the whole chapter to her in the middle of last term. And now, after the spring break and the first week of the spring term, I finally got her feedback on it, which devastated me. She doesn't like it. What?! Don't you remember you said you like it?! Because you said so, I kept doing what I was doing, damn it. Rewrite the chapter?! Give me a break! Why didn't you give me that I-change-my-mind feedback earlier!? I'm running out of time. How do you think I can make it by my oral defense scheduled in the beginning of May?! I don't get it, I just don't get it. I feel like I'm stupid, putting belief in my committee. This experience makes me aware how much I'm tired of academic bullshit! I just want to get out of it and make decent money by doing something productive.

Rewrite

OK, I accept my chair's opinion: rewrite the discussion chapter. I realized after I submitted that chapter to my chair that that chapter was really, really redundant. Actually, I started rewriting it after I reread it. I feel sorry for my chair reading that meaningless chapter. Alright, I write rewrite it.

King Estate

The weather was gorgeous so that I wanted to do something outside. So, I asked MA and went to King Estate for our excursion and, of course, for wine.

King Estate is a beautiful place to spend a sunny afternoon. We had an almost private tour within the winery and learned a little bit about wine. In my opinion, wine (Pinot Noir) is better in La Velle, but the atmosphere of King Estate is great.


Food at the restaurant was also beautiful. We loved this mushroom dish that was fantastic.


We emptied a bottle of Pinot Noir and wanted more. But I was a driver, and it's 40 minutes drive in the mountain so that I had to save drinking, ayayayay.

Coen Brothers!

Fantastic! I'm a big fan of Coen Brothers, and I highly likely see their movies in a favorable light, of course, as a fan. So, this is another great movie of theirs.

The problem was I couldn't catch well jokes. I assume those jokes were heavily reflecting culture at that time. Also, characters use Southern (?) English (Coen Brothers love the theme of the South), which is hard to understand. Especially, Jeff Bridges! His English itself is difficult enough, but his character's is worse. I want to see the movie again with English subtitles for a better understanding.