So I still haven't started the billions of things I have to do today, but I decided that this was more important. I can't believe I never thought to do this :D

So I'm involved in a group called Invisible Children. It's pretty much an international group, and we have a club here on campus. If you've heard of it, that's awesome and I love you! If you haven't, I still love you anyway. What it is is a group dedicated to ending the war the started in Northern Uganda, stopping the abduction of children to become child soldiers and sex slaves, and to get those children home, in the most peaceful way possible. The group responsible for this terror is the LRA, the Lord's Resistance Army, head by Joseph Kony. It all started with a group of friends going to the Sudan to make a movie about the situation there, but they somehow found themselves in Northern Uganda, and aware of what was going on there. The documentary they made is called "Rough Cut". Since then they have made many more movies, and have done many things to help out that area. The most recent push is to do something politically. Everyone knows the US has the resources to end the way, but it's not a top priority, and so nothing will get done about it. Recently, there has been a bill that passed in its committee (I forget whether it was the Senate or the House) called the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which calls for a plan to help end the war and get Uganda in such a way so that it can begin to prosper on its own.

Now, there's a bunch of ways you can help! You can learn more about it (because I'm bad at explaining things) by going to invisiblechilren.com. You can do the usual and donate money, they have a lot of cool things in the store you could buy or maybe as for as a gift for christmas or a birthday or something. You can see whether your representatives are supporting the bill here http://www.resolveuganda.org/legislation/cosponsors and write them a letter, saying thanks if they're cosponsoring it, or asking them to support it if they aren't. Another huge help, which takes probably about five seconds, is to sign the petition for the Citizen's Arrest Warrant of Joseph Kony, basically if we get enough of these signatures to show Obama, he has to listen to us by law. Or something like that I forget exactly... :D http://www.invisiblechildren.com/obama

Thanks for listening and tell your friends! And everyone else!

Time for a procrastination post.


So. Impermanence. What do you think? Cause I'm not sure. I have to read stuff. I might climb up onto my bed so i don't keep getting distracted. also i should turn off this music. Maybe use some correct capitalization. but maybe not. Okj. I am going to reaAADDD this book. RJIGHT NOWOWWWOWOWWW

So I need a post to write down all my thoughts while studying tonight so I'm not continuously changing my status on facebook...

I just found out that Heraclitus, a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher said "You can not step twice into the same river" and immediately I thought of Pocahontas: "What I love most about rivers is: You can't step in the same river twice" I was just amused to find some pre-socratics in my disney :D

I'll just edit this as I go... and post now. Because it is important.

I should have brought oreos. I'm starting to get hungry and I have no money so the closest food I don't have to buy is back at my appt :(


Ok... now that I'm done with assignments... I can actually study for my finals :D I'm thinking I'm going to walk into philosophy, hand in my paper, and go to the math lounge to study more.

SEE MY EYES I CAN HARDLY SEE

SEE ME STAND I CAN I CAN HARDLY WALK

I BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE ME WELL

SEE MY TONGUE I CAN HARDLY TALK SKLDFMKLJ :D JCS!

This is my "oh, i forgot about lj i should post stuff" post :D

It happens.


SOoooo I'm trying to decide where to go dancing, the team is going one place, but I told my friend I would go somewhere else, back when it looked no one was going to the other place, but if there are newbies going I really want to go and now I'm conflicted. All I know is i want to wear a pretty skirt. And shirt.

Omg I'm getting smooth/standard shoes. It's amazing. I'm getting these. They're hot. And fit me, which is amazing.

Annnddd I've been looking at latin costumes, and actually I tried one on yesterday when the shoe guy was here :O It is kind of scandy and didn't fit well, but it was awesome and jingily. And that made me look at about 40 billion costumes online, and my favorite right now is this!. It has the kind of bottom I like, shortish in front, with a longer to a point thingy back. And it's backless, which I like to. And it has a fun switchy front fwoosh thing. I don't know what color I'd get, but it's really affordable as far as ballroom costumes go, so hopefully I'll get it!

And I have a comp on sunday. I'm borrowing a car to drive! I get to get up insanely early and drive everyone down to UCONN. It will be fun. I also get to do my own hair! Which I haven't done since ballet. Last year Michelle was all nice and did all our hair and stuff :D I'm dancing with Anthony and hopefully we'll be amazing and win everything ever. And next comp, they'll be like "YOU CAN'T DANCE BRONZE ANYMORE YOU'RE TOO AWESOME!" But, pssshhh I wish.

I was suddenly feeling tired, then I looked up and realized it was only 11! In some ways, it's a good thing. Like one o those "IT'S FOR YOU OWN GOOD" type of good things. Like being more healthy or something, I don't know. But it's the weirdest summer schedule I've ever been on, which is weird because it's what most people would consider normal. I fell asleep around 10:30 last saturday night, but possibly partially because I stayed up most of the night at liz's the night before :D Fun times.

Just got back from New Hampshire, yearly visit :D It was shorter this year though, which was sad :( But we got to do a good deal of things, and I got my yearly Lindt, which is very important. I got one that's Cayanne Mango, and it's supposed to be hot, so I'm excited. I helped my cousin, Michael, make a short movie thingy (i got to be camera man :D), it was a spoof on survivor man, and it ended up being pretty funny. On the way home we stopped at Dartmouth, which was cool. My sister loved it, and I think it's been moved up further on her list. Also we went to this restrautne (I don't feel like trying to spell, so I'll let my fingers do what they want) and I got a salad because I wasn't that hungry, but then because I just got a salad and it wasn't a ridiculous portion type place, I still had room when the lady asked if we wanted dessert, so I said yes, and I got this delicious thing called Peaches and Cream which consisted of peaches, vanilla ice cream, balsamic vinegar, and a sprig of basil. It was amazing. I couldn't stop thinking about it for an hour after.

And then we went to a bookstore and I got two books: Letters to a Young Mathematician and Introduction to Graph Theory. I started reading the first, and it's awesome. I haven't started the second, but I'm sure I know a good deal inside, and it was 75% off, so I'm sure there was four dollars worth of info inside that I don't know yet, plus it'll be a good reference :D

ConnectiCon in two days! Excited. My Rosetta costume is finished, except for wings, which I might have to go without or something :( That's if I can't find any or make good ones in time. The pattern I have looks like the wings won't hold themselves up. OK BYE

Been really busy lately, mostly petting kitties :D Sometimes playing with ferrets. Lots of fun! I go to the shelter four days a week and to the wildlife sanctuary once a week, and both I get out by one. It's nice getting up early to go to "work" and then getting back in time for the rest of the day. I already have battle scars from the shelter, all from a cat named Panther, beautiful black cat who likes getting pet, but not too much. I've been getting better at not getting scratched/attacked as much. There's this really cute squishy faced cat, but not a persian, who has long and curly whiskers who's so adorable; I'd take him home in a heartbeat. Today I found a cat that looked like my old cat, Pumpkin, who was orangey with white paws. So adorable! Once I started petting her and walked away, she wanted to follow. So sweet. I love all my kitties!

Also last thursday I got to play with the ferrets for a little while, but they just wanted to sleep, so one just fell asleep on my lap :D I love those little guys.

Yesterday.


Was my first day of working at the Wildlife Sanctuary! Good times. First I cleaned out a bunch of turtle and tortoise cage thingies. The last one I was cleaning, when I opened the door there was a turtle staring right at me, eating his poop. Just staring with poop hanging out of his mouth. I cleaned what I was going to clean, and then decided to take care of the poop issue and the other turtle in the cage decided that sharing is important. Eventually I got what I could away from them. I told the person in charge and she said it was normal. Apparently these turtles eat anything. Then I cleaned cages in the back hall, which had chinchillas, two lizzardy things (blue tongued skink and a monitor?), ferrets, and two cages with snakes. The chinchillas were really chill and don't move that much, I've never seen chinchillas do much of anything, but they were really really soft. The skink just wanted to hang out under this rock thingy, and the monitor hissed a lot but didn't do anything about it. The ferrets were so friendly and acted more like kittens than anything else, as soon as I opened the door they wanted to get out and play. I kept having to pick them up and move them so they wouldn't escape, at the same time as I was cleaning their cage. The first snake didn't do anything, but I did always check and see where it was before I did anything because I'm cautious like that. The second cage of snakes had like 4 of them or something. They were really friendly and didn't bite, which was good because they kept crawling everywhere and I kept having to pick them up and move them and of course, as soon as took their dish out to refill it they all gathered where their dish goes, and I had to move them. Good times. :D


And tonight I'm going to an orientation for a no-kill shelter :D

Also: I just watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isDtYDmANkI and it was really cute :D

First I'd like to link this puppy cam. Because it's adorable

http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/puppy-cam-ny


Second I'd like to say that I'm eating a lime popsicle and it is tasty.

There are loud and obnoxious birds outside. :O

I found some of the books I'm going to be using for school, and they're awesome :D One is http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Mathematical-Analysis-Third-Walter/dp/007054235X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246299692&sr=8-3 which looks awesome but it's freakin me out!! Just the class. I think it's supposed to be hard.

Actually right now I'm just waiting for 5:00 to watch Gilmore Girls. Sorry :( I think I did have something to say, but I can't remember right now. I'm going to play Harvest Moon.

Also Popsicle dripped down my shirt and it was awkward and cold.

Today will be a loverly day. I believe. There's Vicky's party :D So I get to see all my homegurlz :D and watch musicals :D which I watched two of yesterday too... Les Miserables as preformed by SHA and Jesus Christ Superstar, which was fabulous. One of my new favorites. I've loved the music for a while actually but it was a lot of fun to watch. Next is Hair :D I need to see that badly.

So on the subject of Les Mis, I got my sister the book, all 1000+ pages, for Christmas, and read a few chapters of it when I got it. Last night I snuck into her room and got it :O I started reading it from where I left off and was just reading it now. It's really fab, I think. Like, when we watched a short movie thingy on Victor Hugo I thought he was this big sinful manwhore, cheating on his wife with a mistress and then cheating his mistress type thing, but the way he's describing the bishop at the beginning is amazing. And the stuff he says is like, awesome. Like: "We must never fear robbers or murderers. They are dangers from outside, small dangers. It is ourselves we have to fear. Prejudice is the real robber, and vice the real murderer. Why should we be troubled by a threat to our person or our pocket? What we have to beware of is the threat to our souls." and "A priest must never speak to protect himself against other men. Men do as God allows them to do. We may only pray to Him when we feel ourselves to be in danger, and we must pray, not for ourselves but for our brother, lest through us he fall into sin." He's like the most awesome bishop ever. I want to like... waltz with him or something.

On the downside, Jean Valjean doesn't appear until page 80 or something, but that's fine. It reads pretty quickly, a lot of short chapters which I do well with. I have a hard time with few large chapters unless it's really really interesting. I might make it one of my summer projects to read the whole thing.

Just watchin some Gilmore Girls. Richard had a heart attack while teaching :( Sad. And he just pronounced New Haven right, which makes me infinitely happy. They pronounce it wrong a lot, like put the emphasis on New instead of the Ha in Haven. And it's like, it's something that shows they're not actually in CT and kind of ruins it :( Now I'm hungry so I'm going to eat!

Sooooooooo



I need to post more often. because. There will probably be a lot of random and rambling. They both start with ram, like the sheep.

So I'll be volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary :D :D I'm really excited. And starting the second. Then I get to clean cages and hug chinchillas. They don't have any bears to hug but there are some snakes that making hugging things their business. Like hugging so much they have food. Also there was this legless lizzard guy there who was like "oh hi" when he saw me and started slithering up at me :D Also this owl, when i walked by it was like O^O HELLO. And when I walked out to leave this lynx was all HI and was pacing back and forth in its cage being all friendly and stuff :D he had the prettiest eyes!

Also I handed in a bunch of applications for vet offices. Hopefully I'll get a paying job too...

BTdubz, me and my mom got my grandpa this kinda math book for fathers day and i am really jealous. it's like all these questions about life that you never knew had to do with math but actually are. like why mondays always come around so fast. It's called How Long is a Piece of String: More Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life. I so want it.

and kiki sent me some harpsichord music and it is so intense.

It will not be too long until I can fix my schedule for school. Either the lady I talked to at school was right and I can do it on the 15th, or online is right and I can fix it on the first. I'm hoping the site is right. Because that's only next wednesday :D and then the day after I get to go to work! or so i'll be calling it because it's easier than "my volunteering opportunity" or whatever.

I keep having strange dreams. I guess that's normal though. Except sometimes they're disturbing like this one I had the other day with my sister. She did reprehensible things and my grandma was there so I couldn't talk to here and so we had to go in another room and talk then i woke up. Also this thing about a dead horse that I had to carry the skin from its head around in a bag so I could find some place to dispose of it because we were in the middle of the desert and if i just left it there it would start to smell.

I was in New York last sunday and walked around a bunch which was a lot of fun except my feet starting hurting like something in pain. I got the most intense grilled cheese ever for lunch with sharp cheddar cheese and apple and bacon and some sweet potato fries :D and then we gave my dad his present of some Star Trek dvd's on blue ray, a trilogy of movies :D When we got home we watched the first two, and then he left the next day so we haven't gotten a chance to watch the third one yet :( I actually have seen that one when I was little, and kind of remember part of it :O

on another note... I'm trying to be more active in KC, which is hard because I feel like I can really only play Natsu right now. I need to app another character or something but I have no idea who OHGOD I JUST POKED MYSELF IN THE EYE KLSJFD anyway... I'm trying to think of people but I really have no idea, I had a thought of maybe someone from Heroes because I've been kind of into that lately... I LOVE Hiro but I don't know if I could pull it off

i think i'm going to stop now... i need to sleep soon, i've been trying to get to sleep and wake up earlier so it's not terrible the one day a week i'll have to wake up :D

I feel like I want to make a post introducing my new icon!

It's beautiful, isn't it? Made in photoshop CS2, this cat is very excited about life in general! It enjoys long walks in the dark and watching you sleep. It has green eyes and various colored fur, including orange, a darker orange, and pink :D

I would like to thank Kat, who dared me to make it here:

http://liumei.livejournal.com/6995.html?thread=457811#t457811

I feel like I should update my lj...


So anyway right now I'm trying to read for microbio... i don't think i'll ever get any of it done, i'm so easily distracted. Also while talking to kiki I realized i really like the phrase "fecal matter".

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY... lol I'm just wasting time. I feel like I'm going to write a really long lj post, but I probably won't. Anyway... we have v-waltz tonight! i am excited!

my next few weeks seem like i'm going to have a lot of stuff to do.. which means i really should do as much reading as i can now, but i can't seem to actually do it. it's my fault and liz keeps yelling at me but oH WELL :D

just watichingnlwer fmy eyelidsljkfs

lol i'm really tired. i should do work. or read something else because i just suck at this point.

yup i'm going to go read the long dark tea-time of the soul now... douglas adams!



I LOVE YOU ALL

Important update: I am better at moving my hips off-wall :D

So I decided to make a real live lj post just because I haven't in forever and I miss everyone here. Also I feel too sick to do any real work except I'm feeling better which is good. Basically my throat was feeling a little funky thursday night before I went to bed, and I woke up that night coughing a bunch. Then when I woke up friday it felt icky so I ate some cough drops and stuff. Saturday it was still bothering me and at one point during Winter Ball (which I'll talk about later!) I realized I'd lost my voice and could pretty much only croak. So the rest of the night i croaked and whispered stuff. And sometimes felt like I couldn't really say anything. What was worse was Derrick has been threatening to throw everyone in the snow (or the freshmen girls) at some point and no one would hear me scream if he decided to do it that time. So I pretty much just clung to my other homies. But nothing happened so it was all good! Also Lizzie said if I was assaulted she would scream for me :D

So Winter Ball! It was fun! I got to wear my prom dress again and it was all pretty. And I wore makeup which is all rare and stuff. And sparkily earrings. And painted my nails all sparkily and silver to match my dress. It made me happy. And then I took liz as my date and she was all hot stuffs. In my red dress and her hair all straight it was so pretty! But yeah we got there and I danced and stuff and it was mucho fun. I even led liz in a swing and rumba, fields of gold! It was a beautiful thing. And liz had a lot of fun which made me really happy because I like when we get to go places together and have fun. Because that makes life fun. Yeah. The word fun cannot be overused.

And then after a bunch of us went to Cafe Dulce which as awesome tea/coffee/dessert stuffs, which is expensive but delicious. I got a really good green tea and a strawberry shortcake. We sat and ate and chatted for a while which is one of the best things ever! Then we went over to Anthony's for AFTER PARTY. In which we partied after the initial party. There were drunk people there. Like Tom. Except I don't drink so I just watch the sober people trying to reason with the drunk people. Something about slapping a bag of wine. Except now because if you slapped the bag of wine you'd have to drink directly from it, so just hold it up so I can. And oh okay. And then the bag of wine was put back into the box of wine. But yeah. At some point I started playing cards with John and Lizzie. And then Kyle too. And I won three times and I felt triumphant. The last time John was about to play a game called "John wins" except I didn't like that game so I played a game called "Lauren wins". It was successful. But Lizzie said she didn't like either game. But I didn't feel bad. And then Anthony and his roommates were making exaggerated yawning actions and we realized it was 4 am. So we left. And that was a beautiful night!

Only thing is we're having this problem with this one kid, or Liz is having the problem. He's kind of stalking her and being creepy. During the dance he kept following her around and asking her to dance and stuff, the latter not too weird usually except it didn't seem like he danced with other people. But yeah. We will try not to let this happen next time. And then he came with us to Cafe Dulce and the after party. Which was awkward. Because he is an awkward person. Even more awkward than Kyle. But yeah. I am really hoping he doesn't keep doing that because I feel like... idk he kind of makes everything less... genuine? Idk how to explain it. But it's awkward. But I still feel bad talking about him here but I don't because he's creepy but I DON'T KNOWJKLDSF *CRIES* HE HAS A FLASHLIGHT STRAPPED TO HIS BELT AT ALL TIMES AND SOME MYSTERIOUS RECTANGULAR THING THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS AND IT'S REALLY WEIRD.

...I'm done with that now :)

So today I went to social dance and it was fun and we did more lindy hop stuff and I think I'm improving, which is good. And when I woke up today I could talk again but I think I said that already. But I've been really tired because I woke up at 11 and I don't feel like I'm capable of doing actual work so I haven't tried. My plan was to read but I came online and was talking to kiki and then was all "hey i'll write a really long lj post" so i did. AND I THINK THAT'S IT BYE GUYS!

Blindness in King Lear
Blindness plagues everyone in the world at one point or another in their life. It is a sad condition in which one cannot see what is truly there. This blindness comes in many forms and has different causes. It can be self-induced or caused by others; it can be physical or mental. The character, Gloucester, is a perfect example of someone who has experienced all of these types of occlusion. In the play King Lear, Shakespeare uses Gloucester to demonstrate the various types of blindness.

At the beginning of the play and throughout it towards the end, Gloucester is suffering from a self-induced mental blindness of Edgar’s true character. Gloucester loves both his sons very much, and from that love comes trust. Gloucester just sees what he wants to see. Life seems good to him, and so he does not want to mar his outlook by even thinking of the possibility that Edmund is working against him or Edgar. This blind love and trust is very dangerous, as proven by the events that happen in the play.

Starting around Scene II of Act I, a mental blindness caused by others is introduced to Gloucester. Edmund begins feeding him lies about Edgar, seemingly supported by evidence. These lies and this enforced blindness are stronger than the love and trust Gloucester has for Edgar. This implies that blindness caused by others is more opaque than self-induced blindness. Furthermore, Edmunds lies increase Gloucester’s blindness of Edmund’s true character. Edmund twists reality to make it seem as if he is trustworthy and Edgar is treacherous.

Come the end of Act III, Gloucester becomes physically blind when both his eyes are gouged out. This physical blindness is very different from his mental blindness. Yes, this blindness does hide the truth, but, unlike mental, it does not affect Gloucester’s character judgment. He is actually less blind when he is physically blind than when he is mentally blind. Without his eyes, he can tell better whether a person has good intention or not than with his mind clouded. Gloucester could tell that Edgar was a good person who could be trusted, even if he could not identify him. Being physically blind actually turns out to be less harmful than being mentally blind.


King Lear Socratic Seminar
World Connection Question:
• If you saw a family situation similar to what happened in King Lear (siblings conspiring with and against each other and against their parents) what would you do about it?
o Depending on who I knew better, I would try to convince the conspiring parties not to carry out their plans or warn those they were conspiring against about the plot.
Close-Ended Question:
• How many people die in this play?
o Nine people, ten counting the Fool, who we don’t know what happened to
o There are about twenty-two characters in the play (Knights of Lear’s train, Captains, Messengers, Soldiers, and Attendants counted as one because they say so little)
Open-Ended Question:
• Kent mentions that he is forty-eight years old. How old do you think the rest of the characters are?
o I get the idea that Lear is in his sixties, as people didn’t live that long at the time. Gloucester is probably about the same age.
o I believe that Albany and Cornwall are in their forties, they seem younger than Lear, and probably about the same age as Kent.
o I can’t see Goneril or Regan being younger than thirty, but this poses some conflict with Cordelia’s apparent age. I’m thinking maybe Goneril could be in her thirties, and maybe Regan in her late twenties, which would even out the age differences a little bit.
o Although she acts older, I think Cordelia can’t be more than twenty. At the time, people not married by sixteen were considered old maids and probably ugly or not someone a person wanted to marry. The only thing is this would make her about twenty years younger than her sisters.
o When first reading the play, I got the idea that Edmund and Edgar are in their twenties, but after thinking about it, they are probably a little older, perhaps early to mid-thirties. Gloucester says that they are about a year apart.
Universal Theme/Core Question:
• Explain how in the play the two types of love affect the loyalty of the characters in the play.
o Caritas- this is the love of the truly loyal character. The characters that have this kind of love for Lear and other characters stand by them even in hard times when will get nothing from doing so but death.
o Cupiditas- this is the love of the character who appears loyal for their own benefit. When the person they are “loyal” to gets in a bad or fishy-looking situation or aren’t needed anymore, the character will abandon them right away and even betray them.
o France: “Love’s not love/ When it is mingled with regards that stand/ Aloof from the entire point.” (Act I. Scene i. Lines 239-241.)
o Fool: “That sire which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
And leave thee in the storm.

But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
And let the wise man fly:
The knave turns fool that runs away;
The fool no knave, perdy.” (Act II. Scene iv. Lines 74-81.)
Literary Analysis Question:
• In the beginning of the first scene, and once after, Lear uses first person plural. Why does he do this and why only these two times?
o Lear uses the first person plural (the first time) the one and only time he is truly in power. It shows his superiority, like being worth more than one person. The second time he uses it he is trying to enforce his superiority over Goneril: “Are you our daughter?” (Act I. Scene iv. Line 217).

Three-year-old Samus icons!

( ICONS HERE )

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZOC6JC50



I readed a book.

LETTERS


if you want them



CHARACTERS:
Marlene, Repliku, Macbeth, Glinda, Miguel, Djali, Zuko the Duck, Baby, Monk, Pam, Jeremy, Eminem, Natsu, Samus, Kimba, Smeagol

Blindness in King Lear
( HI )

Just got a new CAMERA and you know what that means. Pictures. Everywhere. I'll attack the world with them. And that's it :)



That's it lol :)