aphrael's travails

Linguistic poems from the SpecGram

2012-02-18T00:24:00.000-08:00

I hope you enjoy these poems as much as I have. http://specgram.com/earlyedition/vday12.html

Homesickness

2012-02-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

I do not know if it is the full moon or something but I feel terribly homesick today. Anyway, I was listening to this song in my sorrow and wanted to share this beautiful piece. I hope you like it.

A Used-to-be in Need of Sunshine Person by Wuthiphong (Hai) Laoriandee

2012-02-06T00:48:00.000-08:00

[Beril--Our guest blogger this time is Wuthiphong Laoriandee. As I was reading what Hai had written about his teaching experience as a first year graduate student, I went back to the first day of teaching when I was a first year graduate student. (I cannot believe it was more than four years ago. Why oh why we always remember those bad memories so vividly and forget about the good ones so easily)

Little Prince and the fox

2012-02-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Today was a normal day, nothing special happened, nothing extraordinary was said or done. This would have been a lost day but it was not meant to be. It was late and I was reading a student paper. It was a regular student paper but then I read these lines "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need for you. And you

Long Story Short by Engin Arik PhD.

2012-01-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

[This time our guest blogger is none other than my dear dear husband, who, of course, completed his Ph.D. already. In addition to being the most wonderful husband, Engin is the person I admire the most in the whole world. It would be a long list if I explained all the reasons why, but, for our purposes, one reason would suffice: He gets things done very efficiently and makes it look easy,

Life does not wait for anyone by Crissy McMartin-Miller

2012-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } [Here is another narrative about grad school! Ah, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as

Where to begin? Money? Time? Autonomy? Community? by Veronica Jayne

2012-01-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

[Ah, I cannot tell you how delighted I feel each time another friend emails me a personal narrative about graduate school. It makes me wonder why on earth have I not thought of asking my colleagues/friends before. After all, misery loves company ^_^. Anyway, our guest blogger today is my dear roommate, Veronica, so her remarks about the furniture applies to me as well. When I read Veronica's

Reflections by Elena Lawrick Ph.D.

2012-01-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

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A horror story

2012-01-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

I read this horror story about a graduate student defense. It is scary so don't tell me I did not warn you if you freak out as I did. It made me wonder, what am I going to do if I fail my prospectus defense?

A Few Words about Graduate School by Xun Yan

2012-01-08T01:08:00.000-08:00

[Ah, I'm very excited that one more graduate student narrative has arrived. I'm so happy to share them with you. I don't know about you, but as I read these narratives, I remember my own experiences. Ah, all those bittersweet memories rush into my head leaving me restless and exhausted, somewhere between laughter and tears. I want to write my own narrative soon too, which might end up being

Confessions of a Recovering ABD By Kyle McIntosh

2012-01-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

[Today, I checked my mailbox and saw many emails from our first year composition program for the teaching assistants like me, reminding me the semester is about to start. Am I ready for a new semester? Well, not really, but ready or not, it is around the corner. But I'm digressing as usual. In my bombarded mailbox, I saw one of the emails I had been anxiously waiting for, an email from Kyle with

The Keys to the (Graduate) Kingdom By Joshua M. Paiz

2011-12-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of, I hope, many narratives to come. My special thanks go to Josh for being the first brave contributor to my little personal project. @font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size

From Monologues to Dialogues

2011-12-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hi there, It has been a long time since the last time I published something on my blog. It's a long story but I'm back. I started writing for this blog because I sometimes feel lonely and just need to share my experiences. I consider my blog as my imaginary friend, her name is Sophia if you must know ^_^. She certainly kept me going for the last two years we have been together but I also owe a

I'm listening

2011-11-26T20:49:00.000-08:00

Can we download our brains?

2011-10-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

I do not know if you will be relieved or disappointed to hear the answer but check this out!

Wittgenstein

2011-10-27T02:35:00.000-07:00

"Something that we know when no one asks us, but no longer know when we are supposed to give an account of it, is something that we need to remind ourselves of. (And it is obviously something of which for some reason it is is difficult to remind oneself)" (Philosophical Investigations # 89) "These are, of course, not empirical problems, they are solved, rather, by looking into the workings of

from Berlin's The roots of Romanticism

2011-10-27T01:34:00.000-07:00

"What occurred was a kind of retreat in depth. It sometimes happens in human history--though parallels may be dangerous--that when the natural road towards human fulfillment is blocked, human beings retreat into themselves, become involved in themselves, and try to create inwardly that world which some evil fate has denied them externally" (p. 37). "You gradually hedge yourself round with a kind

a poem by Shira Lipkin

2011-10-26T00:29:00.000-07:00

Here

Words-a podcast from Radiolab

2011-10-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

(function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})();

PhD Movie

2011-10-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait to see this movie. Here is the trailer of PhD Movie.

Zorba

2011-10-15T15:54:00.001-07:00

The Living Bridge

2011-10-15T00:26:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. It's like a scene from a fantasy fiction movie. Watching this is a sublime experience for me. So here is the living bridge. Hope you like it.

On Herder

2011-10-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some quotes on Herder or of Herder from Isaiah Berlin's Three Critics of the Enlightenment Vico, Hamann, Herder Herder is one of the originators of the secular doctrine of the unity of fact and value, theory and practice, ‘is’ and ‘ought’, intellectual judgment and emotional commitment, thought and action. (p. 178)I'm wondering if this view can be connected to Damasio's conception of

On Schiller

2011-10-14T00:49:00.000-07:00

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On Kant and mirror neurons and affordances

2011-10-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

I was reading Kant's Critique of Judgment or rather some sections of it and some passages made me think of mirror neurons. It seems like the discovery of mirror neurons can explain the problem Kant brings up, that is, the subjective universal communicability of mental states without concepts. Of course he mentions this phenomena only in reference to judgments of taste and what is beautiful

Plato--Necessarily ;-)

2011-10-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

This dialogue made me laugh. 'So the part of the mind whose views run counter to the measurements must be different from the part whose views fall in with the measurements.' 'Yes.' 'But it's the best part of the mind which accepts measurements and calculations.' 'Of course.' 'The part which opposes them, therefore, must be a low-grade part of the mind.' 'Necessarily.' Plato, Republic

Two Foucault quotes from AK

2011-10-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

Do not ask who I am and do not ask me to remain the same: leave it to our bureaucrats and our police to see that our papers are in order. At least spare us their morality when we write. I would like to show that 'discourses', in the form in which they can be heard or read, are not, as one might expect, a mere intersection of things and words: an obscure web of things, and a manifest, visible,

Some Nietzsche quotes

2011-10-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

From Thus spoke Zarathustra “Greeting, Great Star! What would your happiness be, were it not for those whom you illuminate! “Behold! I’m overburdened with my wisdom: like the bee that has gathered too much honey, I need hands outstretched to receive it! p. 11 I teach to you the Overhuman. The human is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome it? p. 15 I say to you: one

On Hamann

2011-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

In his book Three Critics of the Enlightenment, Isaiah Berlin describes Hamann as @font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; The most passionate, consistent, extreme

a quote by Fichte

2011-10-09T00:17:00.001-07:00

What kind of philosophy one chooses depends upon what kind of human-being one is. For a philosophical system is not a "dead" utensil which one could reject or accept as if it were arbitrary. On the contrary, the philosophical system is enlivened by the human soul that one possesses. Fichte

On Economics

2011-09-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

I read some sections of this book by Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered (I loved the title by the way ^_^). A friend of mine recommended me this book and I was not sure if I could read it. Due to my painful first encounter with Economics in college when I was taking finance and economics classes (I majored in Business) and my traumatic experience with real life when I

on Kant

2011-09-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

Now, unlike Descartes, whom, despite myself, I disliked with a vengeance, I respected Kant's ideas. You know what they say about people we do not like; we do not like them because of something we dislike in ourselves. That might very well me the reason why I disliked Descartes, since in order to think ecologically I have to get rid of Cartesian thinking that I'm so accustomed to, which still

on ecology

2011-09-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Canagarajah, S. (2005). Conclusion. Toward a more inclusive applied linguistics and English language teaching: A

Advice for Your First Year on the Tenure Track

2011-09-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I am not very optimistic about finding a tenure track job but I still have hope. Anyway, I read this blog entry on how to survive the first year on the tenure track. It made me laugh out loud at times and admittedly it terrified me a little. I wonder what you will think of it.

On science and Descartes

2011-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have been reading on the history and philosophy of scientific inquiry and I am enjoying this activity very much. I do not know if I'm going to have the time to write my reflections but I can at least write the list of things I'm reading. I hope you write something and then we can discuss. Shapin, S. (1984). Pump and circumstance: Robert Boyle's literary technology. Social Studies of Science,

The Tyger

2011-09-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

I like this poem The Tyger by William Blake Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart

Queen to Play

2011-09-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

Loved this movie. Here is a review of the film.

2011-09-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Ah, this melody is breathtaking...

Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition

2011-09-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Check this out.

On prospectus

2011-09-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Krathwohl, D. R., & Smith, N. L. (2005). How to prepare a dissertation proposal: Suggestions for students in education and the social and behavioral sciences. New York: Syracuse University Press. I just finished reading the second and third chapters of this book, which is about the functions of dissertation proposals. The authors list several functions: justification, work plan, evidence of

People will Talk

2011-09-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, I watched this old movie, which I enjoyed very much. @font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple;

Landmark essays on ESL writing-Intro

2011-09-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

I read the introduction chapter to this volume edited by Tony Silva and Paul Kei Matsuda Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (Eds.). (2001). Landmark essays on ESL writing. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. In their own words "What we have presented here is a brief historical sketch of developments in the field of second language writing since 1960. We hope this introduction provides a sense of how the field has

On citations

2011-09-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

I finished reading Telling a Research Story: Writing a literature review by Feak and Swales. One of the tasks in the book gives a list of reasons why scholars cite each other (p. 7-8). I found the list quite interesting, not because these reasons were new to me (I begin to realize that it is really difficult to find a how-to source that fits your needs, level, and preferences. I'm open to

On second language writing

2011-09-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about this questions, "What is second language studies?" and realized that it is difficult to find a direct answer to this question. What do you think? Anyway, I will keep reading on this question but below are some of the articles that mention second language studies. I enjoyed reading or re-reading these articles today. Matsuda, P. K. (1998). Situating ESL

On prospectus--probably the first of many entries to come

2011-09-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Now that I passed my prelims, I can focus on the next rite of passage, the prospectus. I would like to document my experience, hoping that it will be helpful to someone out there. It's a little bit risky to share such an experience since I will probably try something and fail and then find new and better ways to get stuff done and fail again. In terms of projecting a successful academic identity,

Facebook status of a friend

2011-09-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

"I’m not going to entomb myself in some straight particularism. But I don’t intend either to become lost in a fleshless universalism. There are two paths to doom: by segregation, by walling yourself up in the particular; or by dilution, by thinning off into the emptiness of the universal. I have a different idea of a universal. It is of a universal rich with all that is particular, rich

On composition studies

2011-09-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

After reading Fulkerson's 2005 article, I decided to read his earlier overview articles. I read the articles in reverse chronological order just because I thought it would be a different experience. I like the fact that reading Fulkerson's articles one after the other shows how things wax and wane and theories and dominant views and methods all interact and change. Who knows where they are headed

On composition studies

2011-08-31T23:57:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading this article by Fulkerson, which gives an overview of composition studies. It's a useful article for people like me who look at composition studies from a distance and want to understand what is going on in this neighboring discipline. Fulkerson, R. (2005). Composition at the turn of the twenty-first century. College Composition and Communication 36(4), 654-687.

On preliminary exams

2011-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today, I learned that I passed my preliminary exam and celebrated it by going to dinner with a friend and a glass of Bailey's, my favorite drink. Since I recently took my preliminary exam, I want to share what I learned from the experience, though I'm not sure if any of this is applicable to other people. At Purdue we have two options for prelims; we can either take an exam or write papers. I

on slowing down

2011-08-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

Chomsky-Does language exist?

2011-08-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Check this out. From Babel's Dawn, one of my favorite blogs, on Chomsky's talk. Here. For those of you interested only in Chomsky's talk please check the video out. I found his talk quite informative especially about the basic assumptions of Chomsky about science, language and the fundamental distinguishing features of generative grammar. I want to note that the views in this video are quite

Some sources on book reviews

2011-08-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

I have given a list of some sources on book reviews before. But here is a longer list of sources on book reviews. Please feel free to add to the list. Bondi, M. (2009). Historians at work: reporting frameworks in English and Italian Book review articles. In K. Hyland & G. Diani (Eds.) Academic Evaluation: Review Genres in University Settings (pp. 179-196) London: Palgrave-MacMillan. Cortada, J.

World Englishes and Turkey 2

2011-08-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

Last semester I wrote my final paper for my English in the Expanding Circle class on Turkey. I learned quite a bit in the process. It is kind of ironic that I learned so much about the spread and use of English in my country while I was on a different continent. But anyway, I just wanted to share my bibliography for that paper since I spend quite some time finding sources on the topic. Not all

On dreams

2011-08-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Now I'm back in the US. As always, I feel like I'm on the other side of the rabbit hole. When I'm here, Turkey feels like a dream world and when I'm in Turkey, the US feels like a parallel world. They cannot seem to coexist, or rather, I'm two different people in each and hence I cannot be two things at the same time without feeling some sort of dissonance. I feel the dissonance most

Blue umbrella story continued-photos 4 my favorite sculpture

2011-08-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

My favorite sculpture! She is a seeker... Then I came back home from Chicago after immersing myself with beauty and relaxing by reading a good book at one of my favorite places. Of course I got back my passport too. (If you are curious about the beginning of the story see this. And she lived happily ever after ^_^ ..

Blue umbrella story continued-photos 3 Marc Chagall

2011-08-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Please check the earlier ones too. Simply beautiful!

Blue umbrella story continued-photos 2

2011-08-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here are more photos from my trip. Please check the earlier ones too.

Blue umbrella story continued-photos 1

2011-08-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

I found the photos I had taken when I ran away to Chicago in Spring ^_^ This park is my favorite place in Chicago and this is where my strange encounter with a stranger had taken place.

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago

2011-08-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering what I was doing other than attending the presentations. I skype'd with my husband, I spent time with a friend from Purdue with whom I shared a room at the hotel (she was a wonderful roommate), had lunch and dinner with friends and went to Navy Pier. These are the pictures I took around the hotel. As you can tell by looking at the pictures, I am a sucker

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Monday afternoon

2011-08-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 28 After lunch, I attended the roundtable organized by Canagarajah. LANGUAGE LEARNING ROUNDTABLE: Monday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 PM Knowledge Construction in Applied Linguistics: A Reappraisal Summary: Six applied linguists from around the world will reflect critically on the state of the art. They will analyze how social and philosophical changes in the context of globalization shape the

another poem

2011-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have the first section of my prelim, in other words it's going to be a 24 hour writing marathon. What do I do as preparation tonight? I translate a mystic poem from Turkish to English. Ha ha I bet you did not see that coming ^_^. This poem is by Yunus Emre, a mystic folk poet. What he is searching for in the poem is not his beloved as you might think but the creator, the light, the

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Monday morning

2011-07-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 28, 2011 Monday was a long day. I woke up early with every intention of going to the colloquium on identity. As I was walking toward the room I saw an old friend from Purdue, Karyn. We had taken a course together on Postmodernism. AH, that was my dream class! Anyway, that's another story, back to the conference. Karyn was standing in front of a room. We exchanged greetings and she

a poem

2011-07-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is a poem I like, however as my translation efforts prove, at least to me, the beauty of the poem is lost in translation. Some notes on the poem, in Turkish "Neyse/ne ise" can mean "what X is/means" or "anyway" similarly "her neyse" which is the title of the poem and appears at the end of the poem might mean "whatever" or "anyway" depending on the context. In this poem I think it means

Signs- a short film

2011-07-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

I have seen this film but I do not remember if I have posted it before or not. Such a romantic short film. Enjoy.

On affordances

2011-07-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

I loved this. Please watch the video on the website too. Here I think astrolabe is a remarkable tool, not to mention that it's beautiful!

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Sunday afternoon

2011-07-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the afternoon attending the colloquium on Complexity Theory/Dynamic Systems Approach. Verspoor, Marjolijn (University of Groningen, m.h.verspoor@rug.nl) Individual differences and variation from a Complexity Theory/Dynamic Systems Theory perspective This colloquium brings to bear a CT/DST perspective on individual differences in second language development. From this perspective,

A website on ecology

2011-07-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

This website looks interesting. I found this there.

Earthquake?

2011-07-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

I think there was an earthquake in Istanbul just now. I was working and just felt something. I wonder if this is something I imagined. Maybe I'm working too much.

a new book

2011-07-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

Foreign Language Writing Instruction: Principles and PracticesI had the good fortune to attend the Symposium on Second Language Writing in 2008. I was one of the graduate student conference chairs. Good times. Anyway, if you missed the symposium you can read the book based on the symposium edited by Tony Cimasko (my former class/office mate at Purdue. Again good old times) and Melinda Reichelt.

Farewell Amy

2011-07-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

another quote

2011-07-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

“We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” Aristotle

a poem by Anne Sexton

2011-07-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today I read this poem and thought about my struggle with writing nowadays. I'm hoping that eventually my disgusting RATS will turn into a shining STAR ^_^. Anne Sexton - An Obsessive Combination Of Ontological Inscape, Trickery And Love Busy, with an idea for a code, I write signals hurrying from left to right, or right to left, by obscure routes, for my own reasons; taking a word like writes

a confession and special thanks

2011-07-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

My special thanks go to the person who invented the 'Find' function on my computer. Today I think I used it like a million times and I'm truly grateful for making my life easier. I think I will have a dream tonight where my cursor constantly goes to 'Edit' and then 'Find' and I type 'ecology'--just like good old Tetris syndrome/effect. Please do not tell my husband but I love you 'Find' function

On a glass of wine and ecology

2011-07-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about ecology as a metaphor for second language studies for some time now but I feel like the thought of it is more elegant than my words can ever be. The idea itself is beautiful but words betray me (and no Platonic philosophizing is intended here). I simply cannot flesh out my ideas. Perhaps I need to approach it from a different angle. Perhaps I just have to call its name

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Sunday morning

2011-07-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I could not wake up early so the first presentation I attended was Kubota's. Kubota, Ryuko (University of British Columbia, ryuko.kubota@ubc.ca) Seeking refuge: Language learning as a means to escape Language learning is linked to not only sociocultural or psychological perspectives but also symbolic meanings such as desires, emotions, and values. This qualitative research in Japan

Genre 2012 Rethinking Genre 20 years later

2011-07-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

I do not think I can go but this conference makes me all excited. If only I could attend the keynotes. Check it out.

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Saturday afternoon

2011-07-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday, March 26 (evening) After lunch, I attended the colloquium on emotions. It was very interesting. Kasper, Gabriele (University of Hawaii at Manoa, gkasper54@gmail.com) Prior, Matthew (University of Hawaii at Manoa, prior@hawaii.edu) Discursive Approaches to Emotions and Affect in L2 Talk and Interaction The panel extends the existing research traditions on the discursive construction

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Saturday morning

2011-07-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday, March 26 (morning) I woke up early feeling ready and excited for the first day of presentations. I had decided which presentations to attend to beforehand so I knew where I was going. After a good breakfast and smoking my cigarette I went to the colloquium entitled Exploring the Interactional Instinct. I have read and written about the book The Interactional Instinct and I was really

Reflections on AAAL 2011 Chicago--Prelude

2011-07-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have been putting off writing about AAAL for some time now partly because I do not know where to start. Since the semester is over I do not have any excuse anymore. So here it goes. First let me begin by my general impressions. For the most part I was happy with the organization and presentations. I have to say that I was like a kid in a candy store; I was so excited about seeing the people I

On genre by Kamberelis

2011-07-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

I recently read a very nice article on genre by Kamberelis. It's more like a literature review and a very long one at that, but I think it's definitely a worthwhile read. I am familiar with most of the sources he reviews but still it's very nice to see all those sources together. I enjoy reading big picture articles and this one's coverage is pretty impressive. I would like to put the abstract

On brain

2011-07-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool documentary on brain. Pretty amazing stories.

My favorite animes

2011-07-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

My escape from harsh reality is anime. Watching animes helps me quite a bit in coping with reality so I wanted to share my guilty pleasure with you. Here are my favorite anime series so far (in no particular order). Please feel free to make recommendations since I cannot get enough anime ^_^ Air Clanned Fruit Basket Elfen Lied Kazeno Stigma The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Angelic Layer Avatar

Everything is a remix

2011-07-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Everything is a remix. Check this out.

to be or not to be

2011-06-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today I started reading Bateson's Steps to an ecology of mind and the first paragraph hit me so hard that I'm sure my heart skipped a beat or two and I froze in front of the computer unable to continue reading. So I decided to write about my reaction instead. "Some men seem able to go on working steadily with little success and no reassurance from outside. I am not one of these. I have needed

I'm linguistically yours

2011-06-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite favorite journals is Speculative Grammarian and as I was reading it on Google reader here is what I saw. A linguistics love song. And since my husband is a linguist I thought it would be great to share it (after all public humiliation is good for you now and then ^_^). So here it comes for special linguists in your life and for my personal linguist...my minimal pair...

An interesting NYT article

2011-05-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

Could Conjoined Twins Share a Mind?

Universal Subtitles

2011-05-23T15:59:00.001-07:00

check this out

Symposium on Second Language Writing

2011-05-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to the Symposium on Second Language Writing :-( but I checked the program, which is now available here, and if I could go these are the presentations I would attend. Thursday, June 9, 2011 8:45 Opening Ceremony 9:10 Participating in Academic Publishing in the Inner Circle: A Taiwan Perspective Min Hui-Tzu 10:00-10:30 Complexity of Genre-based EAP: Context, Content, and Concept of

Another last

2011-05-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

It's 4:31 AM and it's raining again. This is my last night in my apartment. Tomorrow I'm moving out. All those memories will be gone in less than a day. Here I'm sitting in front of my computer...so late...I should have said so early...listening to the rain and the first birds of the day...can't sleep...thinking where memories go when I do not look them...do they disappear...does the universe

The last supper oh sorry I mean the last class

2011-05-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

This Spring semester was my last semester taking courses. Last Thursday, I attended my last class EVER. I am a little sad a little relieved about not being a student student anymore. I have been a student pretty much my entire life and now I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. Of course, I have a long way to go before I actually graduate but still it is going to be different. Next semester I

time lapse video

2011-04-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's breathtaking. The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Runaway graduate student is back

2011-04-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today I ran away from everything. I woke up at 5:00 am, took the first train, and went to Chicago all alone. Okay okay I'm just joking. I guess I just wanted to sound a little more adventurous and bolder than I really am. But this story is not so far from the truth either. I did go to Chicago by the first train today but I was not really running away. Perhaps I should start from the beginning.

AAAL Conference

2011-03-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid the ball is over and I managed to come home just in time before my carriage turned into pumpkin. Joking aside, I managed to get on the train five minutes before its departure from Chicago (no kidding and no I didn't leave my glass slipper behind but who knows if I forgot something in Chicago). I'm home before midnight. Tomorrow I am going to wake up as Cinderalla and get back to work.

AAAL Conference

2011-03-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in Chicago for AAAL conference and I'm enjoying every minute of it! It has been such a wonderful experience. I hope to write my reflections about it later. Hope I will have time for it though. I have so much to do when I get back that I'm not looking forward to going back to West Lafayette tomorrow. End of semester madness is waiting for me :-( Let me know if you have specific questions about

Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to all Japanese people. I'm impressed by the way Japanese people deal with this very difficult situation. They will recover from this too I have no doubt. I follow what is happening in Japan here.

A Great Proposal

2011-03-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

Several times in my blog I have told you that I was a romantic. Apparently, my friends are romantic too. Please join me in sharing these happy moments of my friends. Here is the video to Daniel's amazing marriage proposal to Veronica, my dear friend. I wish them a wonderful wonderful life together. Oh no, I think I'm gonna cry.

Steven Pinker on language

2011-03-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Something funny

2011-03-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

from my favorite journal ever Specgram

Linguist List Fund Drive 2011

2011-03-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2011/target="_blank"

I'm tired

2011-03-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

I'm tired. But this is a good kind of tired. I had a very productive day. Now, I'm ready to go to bed and I feel light for some reason--even though I'm sleep deprived as usual and feel very tired. I'm beginning to think that even though I'm not a Protestant I have Protestant ethics. Work almost gives me the feeling of a religious ritual. When I work well I feel so light. Especially when I work to