Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Return!
I've given this page a long-overdue makeover, updated the information, added some links, and I'm am now ready to give this whole "blogging" thing another shot. You'll have to forgive the choppiness of these first few posts as I get into the grove again, but hopefully I can keep it going at a reasonable pace - at least once a week, probably Saturdays. I realized that having the chance to organize my thoughts could be pretty fun, and I might as well utilize a site that I already have, instead of resorting to *gulp* mySpace, or trying to figure out something new and then getting other people to join.

The site that I use the most these days to keep track of friends and the like is Facebook, so if you have a page on there and haven't added me, DO IT NOW!! lol I also made an OtakuBoards group, so while this isn't OB, the group is about the overall Otaku community. Of course, I never update it, so that should be the next thing on my list. XD

Enough of the formalities, let's get into what I'm doing these days. The most relevant topic is probably school, naturally. I'm currently a Junior at UMBC University in Maryland, having just finished my Fall semester with a 4.0 overall gpa still *crosses fingers*. I should have managed to retain that after my last 6 classes, but I'm still waiting to hear on 3 officially (2 are basically guaranteed). I am still majoring in Philosophy and Psychology, and am thinking about looking into what I can get for Japanese.

Philosophy is pretty cool, but after college I think it'll be primarily just a hobby for me. I love thinking about many of the topics that philosophy tackles, and I truly believe that some of these abstract concepts are more relevant to life than anything else I've studied; it's like, they deal with the underlying elements of the way we live, but it's hard to describe unless you've had philosophical problems as well - how can I be a good person? what is life? what is knowledge and how can I know things? Having said that, I spent this semester in an independent study course reading Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and that is some thick shit right there. It really reinforced this feeling I've been having that I wouldn't be able to stand being a philosophy scholar. haha

I could always apply philosophy to whatever my career ends up being, which looks like it's going to relate to psychology. The area that interests me the most right now is Clinical Psychology - helping people with psychological difficulties on a personal level - and I'll be taking a class on it next semester. The professor who teaches it is actually one who I took an independent study with this past semester, which involved reading a short book entitled Soul Searching: Why Psychotherapists Must Promote Moral Responsibility. Needless to say, I felt right at home with this book. haha It really echoed a lot of the feelings I had about psychology through presentation on a very practical level, and opened my eyes to issues in the profession that both psychologists and clients should be aware of. For example, while we should naturally promote individualism, we can't do so at the expense of others whom could be included in our concept of the "client" - such as the person's family and community, which he or she should feel a healthy responsibility toward.

Lastly, Japanese is a subject that I've grown very fond of lately, and I suppose it isn't that surprising. haha After all, it fits nicely into my other interests of Japan, but it also stands alone as a goal that I want to see through to the end. My school only has four classes (101, 102, 201, and 202), and I'll be taking the last one next semester. What am I to do afterwards?! Well, I'm planning on studying abroad in Japan in the Fall. Intensive Japanese, culture classes, homestay family, practical application, the whole deal. I'll keep you guys updated, but I have the paperwork to do over the break and it really looks like it's going to happen. ^_^ A free semester to work on my Japanese, then when I get back maybe I'll take up some classes at another university.

I'll cut my post here for today. There are tons more I'd like to talk about, but I'll save them for another time and give them ample attention. heh Here is a preliminary list of ideas I could talk about:
-Extracurricular activities (clubs and the like)
-Video Games
-Anime
-Other Hobbies
-Podcasts? o.O
-Upcoming classes
-Career goals
-Studying abroad (thanks, Azure! I do have more to discuss)

Let me know if there's anything else you want me to talk about. Thanks!

P.S. Lately I've also been on AIM a hell of a lot more than usual, so get on and say hi every once in a while! ~_^ OR MAKE A FREAKING CHAT, FOR OLD TIME'S SAKE!
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