gaming the system

[solarbird]

Today's Japanese midterm was pretty comical, rather like I anticipated it would be; the grammar half was no problem, of course, but anything that involved actually having a good handle on meanings was right out, so the conversational parts were just kind of, well, um, yeah. So I threw every bit of test-gaming I had at it - and that was fun - so this'll be a good test of exactly how much I can gain on a language exam knowing grammar and gaming but not vocabulary.

Seriously, I'm really looking forward to getting it back. I hope we can see it on Monday. There's no reason I couldn't get an A on it, and there's no reason I couldn't get a D! It'll come down to a question of how good a job I did taking meaning out of grammar instead of vocabulary. On the section that was multiple-choice, I could usually eliminate half the possible answers on grammar alone, taking my odds from 1:5 or 1:4 (depending) up to 1:2.

And yes, I did study my ass off for this exam. I spent almost eight hours studying and working Japanese language stuff on Thursday alone - almost nine if you count class. So at least nobody can accuse me of slacking!


What Remaining Fire
Anyway, sorry for the no updating. I had a CWU about ready to go on Monday when I screwed up and, um, it went away. @_@; So I'll be recreating that, now that I've given that second midterm my best shot. There'll be one tonight, and another later this weekend, which I hope will get me caught up.

It's better than nothing, ね?

Assloads of miles over the last several days: 20.5
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1512.8
Miles out of Rivendell: 1055.8
Miles out of Lothlórien: 600.8
Miles past Rauros Falls: 182.9
Miles to Isengard: 283.8

Here, this is wacky - the magazine I've been writing for lately has an edition in the FSU, so now my little articles have Russian translations.

I wonder how my accent sounds? Am I unknowingly the Jerry Lewis of technical writers in Russia? Christ, I hope so. That would rule.

Okay, time for links:

Here, this is amusingly devolved, if you're into things like that.

From ysabel. Former Coalition Provisional Authority financial advisor retired Admiral David Oliver:

Bremer's financial adviser, retired Admiral David Oliver, is even more direct. The memorandum quotes an interview with the BBC World Service. Asked what had happened to the $8.8bn he replied: "I have no idea. I can't tell you whether or not the money went to the right things or didn't - nor do I actually think it's important."

Q: "But the fact is billions of dollars have disappeared without trace."

Oliver: "Of their money. Billions of dollars of their money, yeah I understand. I'm saying what difference does it make?"

Sometimes I kinda think that, aside from control over oil fields, half the point of the Iraq war was the looting and profiteering.

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The Harlequin You scored 36% Cardinal, 38% Monk, 50% Lady, and 45% Knight!

You are a mystery, a jack-of-all-trades. You have the king's ear, but also listen to murmurings of the common folk. You believe in the value of force and also literature. Truly you are the puzzlement of the age.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Cardinal You scored higher than 99% on Monk You scored higher than 99% on Lady You scored higher than 99% on Knight

Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

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Comments

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes I kinda think that, aside from control over oil fields, half the point of the Iraq war was the looting and profiteering."

To quote Manny, from _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_: Hope not. Would show.

[solarbird]

I'm still desperately, desperately clinging to the idea that, as former secretary Rumsfeld said in Korea when he didn't think American media was listening, it had a lot to do with Iraq "floating on a sea of oil." Because that's the only reason left that isn't insane.