The Keebee Chronicles

日本語はむずかしいだね。

2012-01-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

こんにちは！元気？あたしは元気だ。タームブラにリンクがたくさんある。本当に便利だ。タームブラに外国語の学生がいる。日本語と、フランス語と、中国語、…たくさん勉強するんだ！でも、あたしが、どうすればいい？レッスンプランがいないんだ。不良を感じている。（？）漢字がぜんぜん勉強しなかった。若しかして、感じの勉強を始めればいい。
日本語の本を買っただけど、まだ来ない。意気消沈感じている。
なぜずっとずっと忘れたか。ひどいよ。

勉強しなきゃ！

I really feel like I've just forgotten everything about Japanese. And I need a refresher course of some sort. I ordered a new textbook, but it still hasn't arrived. I guess I should sit down and do a serious review of the textbook I do have. Grammar points, vocabulary, kanji, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. Sigh. Why can't I remember things as easily as I'd like to? It's not fair, brain! You should retain everything language-related that I give you. Motor skills? Not necessary! Conjugations - necessary!

This project isn't starting out so well. But I knew it wouldn't be easy. Just need to get into shape again.

Salut! Alors, la semaine...

2012-01-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

      Heya! So it's Monday and that means French! I'm trying to decide if I should put my French posts in English as well... but seeing as I'm really just doing this blog for myself and as a project to get into Grad School, I don't see why? Should I? Hmm. For now, I think not. Then it would be too easy to simply translate from English when I do these posts. I need to THINK in French! Think French! Be the French.. you are the French! Instead, I'll just say that this post is about my tumblr account and making friends in an online game. No vocab this week. My korean textbook came in and had priority ;)
See it en francais, after the jump!

Coucou.
Alors, par où commencer...
Au début, il faut parler de http://frangeuggo.tumblr.com/. Je l'ai fait parce qu'il y a plus de blogs qui s'agit de l’apprentissage des langues. J'ai voulu moi-même de faire mon blog sur tumblr, mais je veux pas que des autres "reblog" ce que j’écris ici. Donc, blogger soit plus facile. Aussi, je veux une vrai projet, un portfolio enfin, pour m'aider à être admis à l’université. (<-- cette phrase là s'est avérée trop difficile. Dx )

Pour le français, cette semaine, j'ai triché! J'ai trouvé un jeu sur internet qu'on joue avec des autres partout dans le monde. Et, j'avais de la chance! Il y a des Français qui le jouer aussi! Donc, j'ai bouleversé avec quelques pour pratiquer. (Et pour m'amuser...) Il n'y a pas vraiment de vocabulaire que j'ai appris, mais je comprends plus les textos. Comme,
a tte <-- ca veut dire à tout à l'heure
pk ou pkoi    <-- pourquoi
Jé                 <-- j'ai

Il y a pleine, mais c'est tout que je me souviens. J'espère que je peux faire des amis. Et que ses amis m'aider avec la grammaire Dx

Bon, alors, a tte!

Bad me and ACTA

2012-01-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

Okie. I was bad. And didn't post for wednesday or today. Wah! But I did end up buying a korean textbook and workbook. Which should be coming soon. And pre-ordered a japanese textbook. And found an awesome site to help me get ready for the JLPT: http://www.jlptstudy.com/

If you're planning on taking the JLPT at any time, this should really help! And it's an option for those who can't afford the official study books.

SIDENOTE:

On the right you'll notice my ACTA notice. PLEASE. PLEASE! Spread the word about this! It's basically a global SOPA. And the chance that I could lose access to language aids, Japanese songs and doramas, Korean dramas and music, french books, even bbc shows, scares me!!!! Just look into it, kay? Then tell your friends.

Hunger Games, Tome 1, à mon avis

2012-01-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

J'ai fini le premier tome d'Hunger Games! Et... franchement... je ne l'aimais pas.
Spoilers after the jump! And more vocab!

     C'est tellement pareil de Battle Royale. L'histoire d'amour des deux protagonistes a établi au niveau de fan fiction. Et je pense que le fin du roman pouvait etre mieux si les deux ont fini par mourir.
     Les deux, Katniss et Peeta, ont été élus (plus ou moins) de participer dans les Jeux de Faim. Dedans, les concurrents doivent les entre-tuer pour gagner, et bon, pour survivre.

Enfin, il me semble que Katniss faisait semblant d’être amoureux avec Peeta pour l'aide des téléspectateurs. On, les lecteurs, commençait a lui croire, MAIS, Suzanne Collins nous frappait avec les derniers paragraphes qui dévoilent qu'elle n'en sais rien de ses propres sentiments. Vraiment? Donc, je pense que Suzanne l'a fait seulement pour poursuivre la trilogie et le triangle amoureux.

   Ben, il sera mieux si les deux "amants" se sont suicidés comme prévu, et les téléspectateurs seraient si choqués et si traumatisés qu'ils commenceront à douter le Capitole.

Bleh!!! Je veux pas lire Tome 2.

Voici les mots de vocabulaire pour cette semaine! ^--^

se raser	To shave
Une bouée	buoy
Une dactylo	A typist
Effleurer	To touch lightly, graze, brush by
se hisser	To heave oneself up
La nuque	The neck
Recul	Backward step, recession, avec le ~ with hindsight, in retrospect; manquer de ~ to be incapable of being objective; prendre du ~ to stand back;
Fautif	Guilty, at fault
Le Traversin	bolster
Errer	To roam, wander
Une réclame	An advertisement
Chaises de pailles un peu creusées	Eroded wicker chair ???
Empêtré	Entangled in
Souliers	Shoes IDIOMS: être dans ses petits ~s to feel uncomfortable.
Canotier	Boater
Cheveux laqués	Lacquered hair
Enfourcher	To mount
S'appuyer	Lean
La sciure	Sawdust
En secouant	Shaking
Affluer	To flock, to rush, to flood in
Traîner	To drag
Songeurs	Dreamers
Pâlir	To fade, to grow pale
Noyer	verb drown flood sink swamp countersink wreck drink away grub
La poussière	Dust ?
Élan	momentum
Treuils	winches
Coques	shells
Nous longions	We walked along
Tablier	apron
heurter	To hit, to collide with
------
Attelage	Team
Jais	Jet
Cocher	To tick, to check off
moche	Ugly, lousy
L'heure tardive	The late hour
Éblouissant	Dazzling
Dégringoler	Tumble
Qui ne tarissent pas d'éloges	Which are full of praise
Un appareillage	apparatus
Brinquebalant	rickety
Rapetisser telles des fourmis	Shrink like ants
Abreuver	To water, s'abreuver – to drink
Noisettes	hazelnuts
Patauger	To wade, To splash about, in mud – to slosh or squish
Récolter	To harvest, to dig up
Elle écarquille les yeux devant ce gâchis	She opened her eyes to this mess
Me traite de lâche	Call me a coward
Velouté	velvety
Étaler	To spread out, to roll qqch out, to scatter, to spread, to flaunt, to display
Les traits saillants	The salient features
Lèvres charnues	Plump lips
Hautaine	haughty
Farouche	wild
Auto-dérision	self-mockery
Méfiante	suspicious
Renfrognée	scowling
Scintiller	To twinkle, to sparkle, to glisten

한국말 연습해야 돼요!!!

2012-01-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

안녕하세요. 처음 뵙겠습니다.
저눈 알리샤 (끼비^^) 임니다. 미국 에서 왔어요. 한국말 잘못 해요. T_T
만나서 반갑습니다! xD

Yeah, my Korean is just awful. I'm still very much a beginner. Despite extensive studying!!! aka... watching lots of kdramas...>.>; I got up to chapter 3 in my Seoul National University text before turning to seemile.com for lessons. Which are a bit slower, but it helps to hear the words and not just flounder about in my own butchering of pronunciation. -nod nod- I have a shiny notebook that I've been using for Korean, but typing up Hangeul characters is just awful! I much prefer the romaji input that I use for Japanese. So I'm still trying to think of a way to easily input Hangeul. I may have to write the characters on my keyboard... Dx

It took me way too long to type up that intro v.v;

Programming Skillz

2012-01-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

I signed up for Codecademy to work on my javascript skillz, but I can not for the life of me figure out lesson 8! If anyone else is doing this, or knows how increment scripts work, PLEASE! AIDEZ-MOI! Dx

日本語の水曜日！

2012-01-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

My first Japanese post. AND BOY IS IT A DOOZY! I'll give you some links to Japanese learning websites, show off a UKISS video, and then there's 5 pages of vocab and kanji! Check it out, after the jump　＾o＾

あたしがたくさん忘れた。大変ね！どうしよう。。。ほんとは、はじめるの、どうすればいい？

I'm sure that sentence is all kinds of messed up. ><; But I honestly don't know where to begin. I feel like I've forgotten EVERYTHING! I think the best thing to do, therefore, is a couple weeks of review. I have quite a few sources that I use for Japanese (though I obviously haven't used them enough -.-;

Here's some of the links:
http://www.nihongodict.com/
- Nihongodict has to be the best dictionary that I've found. I find that most others are totally wrong or only give one definition of a word. And Nihongodict has a kanji look-up! ^o^

http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/
- rikaichan is a firefox add-on that lets you hover over kanji/hiragana/katakana and translates for you. Very handy!

http://japanesesentences.tumblr.com
- Japanese Sentences is such an amazing tumblr. I'll probably be making lots of flash cards from her sentences, though I won't share them here since that would be stealing >.>; But you should DEFINITELY follow her and check out the websites list she provides.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/index.html
- NHK world has free audio and text lessons! Gasp! I think it's just beginners, but I haven't really checked. Maybe I should start there...

http://www.japanesepod101.com/
- Japanese Pod 101! I wanted to gift a membership to this website for a friend who taught in Japan, but couldn't for the life of me figure it out. I still set up an account of my own, though... If I could remember the password... Still, even without getting the premium option, there is a LOT of info here. Hmm.. Maybe I should get a membership this year?

I have some more websites listed in the Resources tab (above) and as I find more I'll probably put them there.

But for today!!!!
I'm gonna go the route of song translation! =D (Which reminds me of another website.) I've found multiple translations of UKISS's Tick Tack, which is technically a Korean band. But the song is in Japanese and I've listened to it 20+ times already! xD Check it out:

This song just makes me feel like a 12 year old again and I love it! Oh UKISS, why you so awesome?

ANYWHO.
I've found lots of translations just from google. But, I don't want to steal anyone's work, so I've pulled random vocab and kanji from the song. And it's FIVE PAGES LONG! Dx Apparently, you can't export OTF files as html... hmm. Let's see how copy/paste works!

Appearance in Context	Dictionary Form	Romaji	Definition(s)
君	君きみ	ｋｉｍｉ	ｙｏｕ
愛している	愛するあいする	ａｉ　ｓｕｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｌｏｖｅ
気持ち	気持ちきもち	ｋｉｍｏｃｈｉ	ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ（ｓ）
変わらない	変わるかわる	ｋａｗａｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｃｈａｎｇｅ
僕ら	僕らぼくら	ｂｏｋｕｒａ	ｗｅ
重ねて	重ねてかさねて	ｋａｓａｎｅｔｅ	ｏｎｃｅ　ｍｏｒｅ，　ｒｅｐｅａｔｅｄｌｙ
素敵（な）	素敵（な）すてき（な）ステキ（な）	ｓｕｔｅｋｉ（ｎａ）	Ｌｏｖｅｌｙｄｒｅａｍｙｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌ
思い	思いおもい	ｏｍｏｉ	Ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｍｉｎｄｈｅａｒｔｆｅｅｌｉｎｇｓｅｍｏｔｉｏｎｓｅｎｔｉｍｅｎｔｌｏｖｅａｆｆｅｃｔｉｏｎｄｅｓｉｒｅｗｉｓｈｈｏｐｅｅｘｐｅｃｔａｔｉｏｎｉｍａｇｉｎａｔｉｏｎｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｅ
ように	ように	ｙｏｕｎｉ	ｉｎ　ｏｒｄｅｒ　ｔｏ，ｓｏ　ｔｈａｔ，ｔａｋｅ　ｃａｒｅ，ｈｏｐｉｎｇ　ｏｒ　ｗｉｓｈｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒ　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ
明日	あすあした	あすあした（ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ　ａｓｈｉｔａ，　ａｓｕ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｅｘｔ）	ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ
過ごせない	過ごすすごす	ｓｕｇｏｓｕ	ｔｏ　ｐａｓｓｔｏ　ｓｐｅｎｄｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈｔｏ　ｔｉｄｅ　ｏｖｅｒ
吐く	吐くつく	ｔｓｕｋｕ	ｔｏ　ｔｅｌｌ　（ｌｉｅｓ）ｔｏ　ｂｒｅａｔｈｅｔｏ　ｖｏｍｉｔｔｏ　ｄｉｓｇｏｒｇｅ
夜空	夜空よぞら	ｙｏｚｏｒａ	ｎｉｇｈｔ　ｓｋｙ
貫く	貫くつらぬく	ｔｓｕｒａｎｕｋｕ	ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ
胸	胸むね	ｍｕｎｅ	Ｃｈｅｓｔｂｒｅａｓｔ
奥	奥おく	ｏｋｕ	Ｉｎｔｅｒｉｏｒｉｎｓｉｄｅ
罪	罪つみ	ｔｓｕｍｉ	Ｃｒｉｍｅ，ｓｉｎ，ｆａｕｌｔ，ｉｎｄｉｓｃｒｅｔｉｏｎ
背負う	背負うせおう	ｓｅｏｕ	ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｂｕｒｄｅｎｅｄ　ｗｉｔｈ，ｔｏ　ｃａｒｒｙ　ｏｎ　ｂａｃｋ　ｏｒ　ｓｈｏｕｌｄｅｒ
覚悟	覚悟かくご	ｋａｋｕｇｏ	Ｒｅｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎｒｅｓｉｇｎａｔｉｏｎｒｅａｄｉｎｅｓｓｐｒｅｐａｒｅｄｎｅｓｓ
覚悟した	覚悟するかくごする	ｋａｋｕｇｏ　ｓｕｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｍａｋｅ　ｕｐｏｎｅ’ｓ　ｍｉｎｄ
なら	ならならば	ｎａｒａ　ｏｒ　ｎａｒａｂａ	Ｉｆ，　ｉｎ　ｃａｓｅ，ｉｆ　ｉｔ　ｉｓ　ｔｒｕｅｔｈａｔ，ｉｆ　ｉｔ　ｉｓｔｈｅ　ｃａｓｅ，ｉｆ　ｓｏ，ｉｆ　ｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ
鈍くない	鈍いにぶい	ｎｉｂｕｉ	ｄｕｌｌ，　ｔｈｉｃｋｈｅａｄｅｄ，ｏｂｔｕｓｅ
直ぐ	直ぐすぐ	ｓｕｇｕ	Ｉｍｍｅｄｉａｔｅｌｙａｔ　ｏｎｃｅ，ｄｉｒｅｃｔｌｙ，ｓｏｏｎ，ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｌｏｎｇ，ｓｈｏｒｔｌｙ，ｅａｓｉｌｙ，ｎｅａｒｂｙ
バレる	バレる	ｂａｒｅｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｌｅａｋ　ｏｕｔ（ａ　ｓｅｃｒｅｔ），ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｅｘｐｏｓｅｄ，
仕舞う	仕舞う終うしまう	ｓｈｉｍａｕ	ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｉｓｈ，ｔｏ　ｃｌｏｓｅ，ｔｏ　ｄｏ　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇｃｏｍｐｌｅｔｅｌｙ，
越えられない	越える超えるこえる	ｋｏｅｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｃｒｏｓｓ　ｏｖｅｒ，　ｔｏ　ｃｒｏｓｓ，ｔｏ　ｐａｓｓｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ，ｔｏ　ｅｘｃｅｅｄ
残酷（な）	残酷（な）ざんこく（な）	ｚａｎｋｏｋｕ（ｎａ）	Ｃｒｕｅｌｔｙｈａｒｓｈｎｅｓｓ
壁	壁かべへき	ｋａｂｅｏｒ　ｈｅｋｉ	Ｗａｌｌｂａｒｒｉｅｒ
下手（な）	下手（な）へた（な）	ｈｅｔａ（ｎａ）	Ｕｎｓｋｉｌｌｆｕｌ，ｐｏｏｒ，ａｗｋｗａｒｄ，ｉｍｐｒｕｄｅｎｔ，ｕｎｔａｃｔｆｕｌ
嘘	嘘うそ	ｕｓｏ	ｌｉｅ，ｆａｌｓｅｈｏｏｄ
瞳	瞳ひとみ	ｈｉｔｏｍｉ	ｅｙｅ（ｓ），ｐｕｐｉｌ　ｏｆｅｙｅ
見つめる	見つめる見詰めるみつめる	ｍｉｔｓｕｍｅｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｓｔａｒｅ　ａｔ，ｔｏ　ｇａｚｅ　ａｔ，ｔｏ　ｌｏｏｋ　ｈａｒｄａｔ，ｔｏ　ｆｉｘ　ｏｎｅ’ｓｅｙｅｓ　ｏｎ，ｔｏ　ｗａｔｃｈｉｎｔｅｎｔｌｙ
傷つく	傷つくきずつく	ｋｉｚｕｔｓｕｋｕ	ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｗｏｕｎｄｅｄ，ｔｏ　ｇｅｔｉｎｊｕｒｅｄ，ｔｏ　ｇｅｔ　ｈｕｒｔｆｅｅｌｉｎｇｓ
遠くない	遠くとおく	ｔｏｏｋｕ	ｆａｒ　ａｗａｙ，ｄｉｓｔａｎｔ，ｂｙ　ｆａｒ
言い訳	言い訳いいわけ	ｉｉｗａｋｅ	ｅｘｃｕｓｅ，ｅｘｐｌａｎａｔｉｏｎ
様（な）	様よう	ｙｏｕ	（ａｆｔｅｒ　ａ　ｎｏｕｎ，　ｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔ　ｗｈｅｎ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ａ　ｖｅｒｂ）ｌｉｋｅ，　ｓｉｍｉｌａｒ　ｔｏ，ｓｔｙｌｅ，　ｄｅｓｉｇｎ
優しさ	優しいやさしい	ｙａｓａｓｈｉｉ	Ｔｅｎｄｅｒｋｉｎｄｇｅｎｔｌｅ
分ける	分けるわける	ｗａｋｅｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｄｉｖｉｄｅｔｏ　ｓｅｐａｒａｔｅｔｏ　ｍａｋｅ　ｄｉｓｔｉｎｃｔｉｏｎｓ
辛い	辛いつらい	ｔｓｕｒａｉ	ｐａｉｎｆｕｌ，ｂｉｔｔｅｒ，ｈｅａｒｔ－ｂｒｅａｋｉｎｇ
終えたい	終えるおえる	ｏｅｒｕ	ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｉｓｈ
気づかない	気遣う気づかうきづかう	ｋｉｄｕｋａｕ	ｔｏ　ｗｏｒｒｙ　ａｂｏｕｔ，ｔｏ　ｆｅｅｌ　ａｎｘｉｏｕｓ　ａｂｏｕｔ，ｔｏ　ｈａｖｅ　ａｐｐｒｅｈｅｎｓｉｏｎｓ　ｏｆ
知らない	知らないしらない	ｓｈｉｒａｎａｉ	ｕｎｋｎｏｗｎ，ｓｔｒａｎｇｅ
騙す	騙す瞞すだます	ｄａｍａｓｕ	ｔｏ　ｔｒｉｃｋ，ｔｏ　ｃｈｅａｔ，ｔｏ　ｄｅｃｅｉｖｅ

Woot! I think it'll work!
みんな、がんばりましょう！

French Vocab Week 1 and 2

2012-01-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

French vocabulary from L'Etranger d'Albert Camus and Hunger Games de Kathryn Stockett (ben, la traduction français) Find them both, with some of my snark, after the jump!

Salut mes chers! Donc, j'avais mal commencé ce projet. (Quel choc ¬.¬) Ben que j'ai raté la semaine dernière, j'ai lu L’étranger d'Albert Camus et ici les mots de vocabulaire du premier chapitre:

veiller	to watch over, stop up, wait up
en deuil	in mourning
étourdir	to stun, daze, dizzy, bewilder
emprunter	to borrow
un brassard	armband, floaty?
s'assoupir	doze or nod off
tasser	to tamp or pack down
athée	atheist(ic)
bégayer	to stammer
le corbillard	hearse
s'épaissir	deepen, fill out, get thicker
commutateur	switch, flash, changeover, automatic
aveugler	to blind
éclaboussement (éclabousser)	splashing, to splatter
éteindre	to put out, blow out, switch/turn off
tricoter	to knit
grinçânt(e)	creaking, grating
dodeliner	to sway
bredouiller	to mumble

Et quelques phrases zarbis-

on n'a qu'une mère
un jacassement assourdi de perruches
un nid de rides

Aidez-moi les comprendre D=

C'est difficile pour moi de lire seulement une chose à la fois, donc j'ai commencé aussi l'Hunger Games en français. Oui, oui, je sais - ce n'est pas un vrai livre français. Mais, je peux trouver la traduction anglaise plus facilement? (En vérité, je l'ai choisi seulement pour m'amuser. ) Voici quelques mots de vocabulaire. Ces mots sont pour cette semaine (9 janvier) et les mots de L’étranger pour la semaine dernière.

se faufiler	to edge out
carquois	quiver
tronc creux	hollow tree trunk
carnassiers	carnivores
tâtonner	to grope about/around
la Moisson	the Harvest
nez aplati	flat nose

Et quelques phrases que j'aimais:

"J'ai tenté de la noyer quand Prim l'a rapporté à la maison. Un chaton famélique, au ventre ballonné, infesté de puces"
"J'ai appris à tenir ma langue, à montrer en permanence un masque d’indifférence afin que personne ne puisse jamais deviner mes pensées"
"Je fourre ma longue natte brune"--- I roll up my long brown mat.
"J'attrape ma gibecière" --- I caught my satchel.
un coup de grisou --- a firedamp explosion
la grosse toile du matelas large mattress cloth?

Il faut que je trouve plus de mots à ajouter! A bientôt!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-28T21:07:00.001-08:00

Bonne Année! あけましておめでとう! 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

     I can't believe it's 2012! I've been on this earth for more than two decades! But I don't feel accomplished enough. Not yet. So my resolution for this year is to get a little bit closer to the me I so achingly desire to be. What are the goals then?

     I guess the first would have to be setting concrete goals. As it stands now, I have only a vague image of "future me." She's more confident, happier, has a much healthier self-esteem, and has a better idea of where she's going.

    There's a grad school I've been dreaming of, way off on the west coast. In my head it's a beautiful consortium of arts and language, right on the beach, with people from every country and culture imaginable. If I slap myself with the reality wand then I can tell you that it's more like a rigorous, expensive, 2-5 year cage match to the death! That I would willingly participate in! So while I'm solidifying my personal goals, I'll work on the pre-requisites for said cage match. Which would be:

Money. I'm gonna need a job and penny-pinching habits if I want to not only get my Masters and move to the west coast! Not to mention, I have a feeling I'll need to study abroad again before I can qualify for the combate a la muerte¹
Skills. Which is where this-here blog comes into play. I'm gonna have to seriously buff up my language skills. So here's the plan - French Mondays, Japanese Wednesdays, and Korean Fridays. I'll throw in random international affair articles/ summaries/ opinions on the in-between days. All of this will hopefully help my writing skills as well! The school also suggests working on economics, politics, history, law, natural and social sciences, analytical skills and computer skills. That's a full education! I'm not sure how I can incorporate these into my blogging syllabus, but hopefully everything will fall into place.
Confidence & Discipline. If I can believe in myself, then I can push myself to go for this goal. If I start to let the pessimistic sub-conscious me take over, then I won't be able to follow through on my own plans. And there should be some sort of punishment for that. So if I miss a day, I should have to make up that day three-fold! I won't get the weekend off! So no slacking!

If I can make it to 2013 with money, skills, confidence and discipline, then there's a good chance that I can either a. get into my dream school or b. be happy enough with myself that I can figure out an even better path!

So bring it on 2012! Let's do this!

¹ Fight to the death. I think. I didn't study spanish.