Kamiya Satoshi

official site (japanese)
flickr gallery

Priscilla Ahn

okay, in case you haven't noticed, or been bombarded by me emailing you or talking to you about her, i have a new crush (see crush list on the left).
how many korean-american singers do you know?
of that small number, how many play guitar?
of that even smaller number, how many play harmonica?
of that miniscule number, how many play the kazoo while playing the guitar?



go to her myspace to listen to some tracks.
go to this page to grab a pair (of tracks).
go to this other page to grab another pair before the links expire.

i'm getting married

eventually.

lots to plan in the meantime (where, when, who). you're all invited.


this morning, i thought to myself, "hey, you have commitment issues."

"what do you mean?" i retorted, "if i say i will do something, i do it."

"not that kind of commitment; the big-deal commitments."

"i beg to differ, self. i'm very much about the big-deal commitment."

"that's what i mean, me; you commit even before she even has a chance to decide."

"who is this she you are referring to?"

"a hypothetical she; a past-she. you do the same thing everytime someone catches your eye and sort of eyes you in return: dive right in. do you even check for rocks or depth?"

"are you saying the ladies i am attracted to are craggly and shallow?"

"stop abusing the metaphor. just slow it down--"

"nothing going on here..."

"be that as it may, you need to proceed with caution when someone does show up. early commitment will cause her undue pressure; commitment is something that has to be earned and decided upon together."

"can we maybe talk about this when it becomes relevant? feeling just a bit lonelier now."

another long and boring story about how i solved a problem that no one else that reads this blog will ever have

i started using Opera's M2 email client (built-in to the browser) several months ago when the public beta of 9.5 came out. i hooked up my UT email and dumped Thunderbird and was fairly pleased with the way it all worked. until i was notified that my UT account would be nuked some time after graduation, unless i paid for an alumni service to maintain the account forever. the other option was to forward the address to another account to manage.

i've been putting my UT address on official stuff ever since i got it, so it displeased me to have to give it up. nowadays, people have an easier time changing their address of residence than their email address and cellphone numbers (see my hotmail address, in use since grade 7 -- i just can't get rid of it). because of my severe reluctance to start using another address, or forwarding the mail to a personal account, i sought alternative options. lo and behold, those who seek shall find.

UT has started a beta project in partnership with Google, in which the Gmail service handles an alumni branch of UT email (@alumni.utoronto.ca). the project sought beta testers to try out the system, essentially for free. all i had to do was email the email manager for UT. sweet.

so i forwarded the UT account to the new Gmail-handled alumni account that i was given and set up a new IMAP account in M2 to take care of it. Gmail had recently implemented IMAP and i wanted to take advantage of it.

testing the forwarding system and the IMAP settings with emails to myself, i quickly discovered something strange. in the default view in M2, it shows all messages marked as 'unread'; my test messages were appearing twice. was i downloading two copies of the message? was the forwarding system not working properly? i tested the forwarding system by emailing directly to the alumni account. same problem. time to Google.

my research found a small handful of people encountering the same problem; someone had the answer: the Unread view in M2 is a virtual folder. it simply scans every IMAP folder i am subscribed to and displays anything that hasn't been read yet. the problem was that the Gmail IMAP account shows labels as folders (Sent Mail, All Mail, Inbox, Trash, etc. are all folders). every message i received is given the Inbox label and the All Mail label. if i had a filter set up to shunt certain messages into other folders (Work, Fun, etc), they would show up in the Unread view as well. so, the simple solution would be to simply unsubscribe from one of the IMAP folders -- All Mail being the most reasonable.

in M2, it's fairly easy to customize which IMAP folders to subscribe to. the checkbox interface is intuitive and simple to use. so i used it on the Gmail account and unchecked the All Mail folder. i tried another test message and the double showed up again. i rechecked the IMAP folders. for some reason, the All Mail folder was subscribed to once again. i tried this with every other folder and all folders. they just kept coming back. jerks!

so for a couple of months, i just lived with receiving two copies of mail. that account doesn't receive that much, so it was not a big deal. i was prepared to live with it forever. until i was struck today (12 minutes ago) by inspiration: why don't i just set up a filter that allows my mail to bypass the Inbox? in two minutes, i set up the filters (for both direct and forwarded messages), tested them out and they work like a charm.

naturally, i'm very pleased with myself at this point, though i'm not sure why i never considered this solution earlier. anyway, the morale of this story is to never settle for almost-great. if you're that close to great already, might as well take it all the way.

overheard in english

instructor: "bundling" was the term used when two people lay down together to keep warm from the winter cold. it was only allowed for married people or fiances.

student: i believe that's called "spooning" now.

instructor: "spooning" is something else. we can talk about that later. outside of class.

guffaws and nervous giggles

my 'new' phase

the lack of actual posts lately is a result of a dearth of inspiration, a mountain of school-related work that i've been casually ignoring and because i'm in receiving mode. go to class, take in information, process, eat, poop, sleep, mix and repeat.

anyway, that's all besides the point. what i really wanted to talk about was my new phase regarding music flavour. it's pretty obvious from my list of crushes (left) and recent music-related posts what the pattern is.

music flavour shifts with my mood, with relatability and with cultural climate. if i had kept record of what i had listened to over the years, it would not be difficult to interpolate what was going on in my head and around me at those times.

a couple of years ago, my earholes really liked Pilate, Dashboard Confessional, Radiohead, etc. the pattern then was that i liked music by bands with male lead vocals that were too high to sing along to. then it shifted to Sixpence None the Richer, Sarah Maclachlan, and generally mellow mainstream ladies. it bounced from there to folk-y acoustic artists like Iron & Wine, instrumental whizzes like Sufjan Stevens, soundtrack music from Firefly, and Amelie, etc.

after a few months of silence, i've found a new, refined flavour that is clearly an evolution and merging of my previous samplings: acoustic songs sung by women with enchanting voices and unabashedly dorky personalities.

don't be too quick to judge

Bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8N8ZwOlO4U&NR=1

homagah!

MacBookAir
more thoughts on the matter after class.

[edit]
Thoughts. I has them.

prior to getting the notebook i now love and cherish, i did a hefty amount of research into what i should use my OSAP moneys on. there was news of Intel's new Core Duo chips that would revolutionize CPUs and of Apple hopping onto the Intel-wagon and popping out new notebooks. as time progressed, i made my purchase and did not regret it at all, even when new stuff came out. even new sexy, sexy, sexy stuff.

in the past 6 months, i have begun researching my next waste of money purchase for 2 or 3 years down the road, when i will likely have an income one way or another. the intertubes have been clogged with rumours since Apple made the switch to Intel for a 12" Powerbook G4 replacement, and i had mentally set my mind to put it into high consideration. i figured that by the time i cam ready to purchase again, it will have been released and fiddled with and reviewed and refreshed and upgraded.

today, at the Macworld Expo in San Fransisco, the MacBook Air was revealed.

grab a gander at the official product images.
now take a look at the real life shots.

dimensions:
Height:0.16-0.76" (0.4 - 1.94 cm)
Width:12.8" (32.5 cm)
Depth:8.94" (22.7 cm)
Weight: 3.0 lbs (1.36 kg)

base specifications:
Processor: Intel C2D 1.6 GHz 800MHz FSB 2 MB cache
RAM: 2 GB (667MHz) DDR2 (soldered onboard)
Graphics: Intel GMA x3100 integrated graphics 144 MB shared
Hard Drive: 1.8" 80 GB 4200 rpm (P-ATA)
Screen: 13.3" WXGA (1280x800) LED-backlit glossy
Audio Out: Built-in speakers (mono)
Ports: 1 Audio Out (mini), 1 USB 2.0, 1 Micro-DVI
Inputs: 1 iSight camera, 1 built-in microphone, 1 Multi-Touch Touchpad, Backlit Keyboard
Accessories: 1 micro-DVI to DVI convertor, 1 micro-DVI to VGA convertor, 45W Magsafe Power Adapter (w/ MBA connector), Install/Restore DVDs, Documentation
Battery Life: 5 hrs. (according to Apple)
Price: $1799 USD / $1899 CAD

Pros and Cons, from what i can tell from pictures.

Pros:

cosmetics; it's just a marvel of engineering and design

light

so thin it fits inside a manila envelope

multi-touch touchpad that works like iphone/ipod touch

drop-down port bay

LED backlit LCD and back-lit (full-sized) keyboard

new Magsafe connector

Cons:

too much function sacrificed for form

not enough USB ports. no FireWire or ethernet ports.

unreplaceable/unupgradable anything (battery, hard drive, RAM) at end-user level (like ipods and iMacs)

weak hard drive. solid state disk option WAY TOO EXPEN$IVE.

MacBook-sized footprint, and MacBook-sized bezel, without MacBook functionality

mono speakers

Verdict:
if we were to personify Apple's line of computers into stereotypes of people, the MBA would ring in as one of those really good-looking people without an ounce of common sense and very, very anorexic. the computing power is there, but it's all the little things around it that are lacking, like access to hard drive, RAM and battery. one would think that all the innovation that went into the MacBook's easy access hard drive, RAM and battery bay would have translated in this thinnovation. all in the name of thin. the drop-down port bay is marvelous and well implemented. for more ports, and thus greater usability, i would not mind a bit more thickness.

it's pretty hard to justify buying this notebook; i can't think of any market outside of the hardcore fanatical collector of all things Apple, or the compulsive buyers of the new and shiny for the MacBook Air. i personally would not consider this product for purchase, but i do consider it to be very promising for future revisions of the MacBook line, specifically regarding multi-touch touchpads, LED back-lit screens, back-lit keyboards with the MacBook style, more discreet power cord management. i'm excited to see where these innovations will evolve to come next year. until then, the MacBook Pro is still very svelte.
[/edit]

[edit2]
i think the MBA takes the envelope out of the box and pushes it. other manufacturers will be forced to follow suit. and that's a good thing.
[/edit2]

o hai wuts up?

• bogged down with school work
• bogged down with work related to school
• waiting for a shakeup in Leaf-land
• excited about Macworld San Fransisco 2008 tomorrow
• excited about hockey on friday
• oh so very stupidly stuck
• i know how you feel. stop it.

tired of school already?

even though it does not look like it outside (thanks to the Chinook), it is the winter and the holidays are over; the january ennui is about to set in. here's something from Angel Season 1, episode 13 to cheer you up. this clip is from the beginning of the episode where Angel, the broody vampire with a soul, is invited to Cordelia's party, where one of her friends chats him up.



BONUS: from season 5. mild spoiler warning

Tandem Storytelling

here's something i received in an email quite some time ago that came up again today.

From an English professor:

You know that book Men are from Mars, Women from Venus? Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted).

English 44A
SMU
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller
In-class Assignment for Wednesday

Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.

Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her Asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago.
"A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his trans-galactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. 

"Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her.
She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. 

Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans.

The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.

Asshole.

Bitch.

Schuyler Fisk - Hello

Listen

hello, it's me again
a whole lot's changed since i left and
i don't know, i guess i felt like checking in

surprise! you let it ring
well it's your turn to leave me hanging
i don't care, i know you love it when you see me call

i wonder who you're loving now
i'm guessing we won't work things out

you know what they say
you can't have it so you want it back
i'm way past that, believe me
if you could be in my life
like you've been on my mind
it'd be so easy

hello, it's me again
it's three days now you've been in my dreams
and i don't know, i guess that you've just been on my mind
i don't know, i guess i think about you all the time

i wonder if she's much like me
i wonder if she's what you need

you know what they say
you can't have it so you want it back
i'm way past that, believe me
if you could be in my life
like you've been on my mind
it'd be so easy
i know i'm to blame
but it kills me that
i made you hate me
like you've erased me
and i know what they say
they say you'll be happier
better off without me

i'm sure it's hard to see me
i'm sure you don't believe a word
because you've heard it all before
and we're so far from where we were

goodbye, i'll let you go
i'll get back to life, living solo
cause i know i need a few years on my own

you know what they say
you can't have it so you want it back
i'm way past that, believe me
if you could be in my life
like you've been on my mind
it'd be so easy
i know i'm to blame
but it kills me that
i made you hate me
like you've erased me
and i know what they say
they say that you'll be happier
better off without me

what comes after a retreat?

regrouping; reassessing resources, motivations, priorities; and adjusting deployment plans accordingly. what worked? what failed? how can this be better next time?

as per instructions, i went into winter retreat at Iawah without any expectations.

here are some tidbits i discovered:

• for all my lofty self-expectations, i can still be petty
• out of sight and out of mind does not always mean out of heart
• hemiola: pass the gorram butter
  
• i am where i should be
• why do i like my gates waist-high? investigation ensues.
• and i love the way you everything
  

height

if you've heard of Scott Song, raise your hand.

i heard about him from Mel K, who heard about him from Hannah; i don't know how far back the trail goes, but eventually, it leads back to Scott Song, an ABK Christian guy who is quite observant. he has written a series of articles about the way things are and they were disseminated via email forwards.

disclaimer: i don't know him personally, so i'm not affiliated with him in any way. the link above leads to the page of some kind soul that wanted to share Song's work with the world, rather than waste his time forwarding emails all day. the articles themselves (Song calls them his 'plans') are funny, but as it is with all funny things, some may not find it all that funny (read: offensive).

the title of this post links to the 'plan' that is probably one of his more astute observations. here's a snippet:

ALL girls want a tall guy. tall girls want a tall guy,
obviously. and SHORT girls want a tall guy, too. sure, they may be
willing to be with a shorter guy (as long as he is taller than her), but
she would still desire a taller guy, if possible. some give bogus reasons
such as "i want a tall husband so that my kids won't be short." that's
when i know they are lying to my face. that's like a guy saying "i want
to marry a supermodel so that my kids won't be ugly."

so go read it now.