A Cold Spell

It is rather chilly outside today. I am concerned about the beautiful flowers I planted on Saturday. Since it is very windy, walking at a fast pace is almost impossible.

This past Sunday I was finally able to meet with a dear childhood friend. I had not seen her in more than 40 years. We both moved away and went our separate ways. She settled in Argentina and I came to the US to study journalism. The photograph above shows what we looked like when we were 15!

It was so good to see her after so many years -- a lifetime! She has six children and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have only one son, Ivo, who lives on the West coast. We talked for about three hours reminiscing about our escapades as children. We loved to go to "El Jiron de la Union" in downtown Lima. As teenagers, we dressed up and wore high heels just to prance around the downtown area and pretend to be grown ups. We also enjoyed going to the movies every other Sunday. Today, no teenage girl would think of dressing up just to go to the mall. That was then.

This is us today. We are both boomers, with lots of gray hair and all the problems people experience as they age. But we are still having lots of fun!

After we said goodbye, I felt sad. It has been a very long time. I hope to visit her in Buenos Aires.

A Beautiful Day!

I am altering my exercise routine. I could not get out of bed before 8:00 a.m. because I used to go to bed at 1:30 a.m. Now I go to bed around 11:40 p.m. and am out walking by 7:00 a.m. I think I enjoy doing this a lot more than going for a walk at 10:00 a.m. Everyone is getting ready to go to work and some of my neighbors are out walking or jogging around the park. I feel really happy and optimistic when the sun is out. I believe I can be a lot more productive this way.

Spring Has Arrived

It is April and the flowers are in bloom. I am so glad winter is over, though there is the occasional danger of frost in certain areas of New Jersey. We have three more weeks left, so please do your best. Complete the video assignment and submit it as soon as possible. We need to do more work on intonation, stress, and pronunciation.

What have you learned in your other classes? Have you been asked to do an oral presentation by some of your instructors? Are you working with small groups on different projects? Is technology used extensively in your other courses? If so, what type of technological tools are your instructors using?

Student Blogs

ESOL 171 Students,

Please post a comment below and insert the link to your own blog. You should try to keep a blog and post entries every day. It is a very good tool for improving one's writing.

Once I get the links to your blogs, I will add them to this blog. See you Thursday in our regular face-to-face class. I know it is going to snow tomorrow night.

Remember to prepare questions about the video clip you plan to show in class. Listen to this beautiful music from Ireland. Can you understand the lyrics?

Daniel Tammet's video clip

Here is the information about Daniel Tammet, a prodigious savant. Please click on the following URL in order to access his video:



Daniel Tammet:
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/_SAVANT/_PROFILES/daniel_tammet/_media/video/brainman/video.html

Look what I got for St. Valentine's Day

My sweetheart gave me this for St. Valentine's:

It is a necklace with tiny hearts and pearls.

Next Friday

Caprica was preempted by a horrid horror movie. The next episode will be shown this coming Friday. I really enjoy this series because it deals with complex social and philosophical issues. For example, one of the issues indirectly addressed is the interface between technology and organic life. Are artificial intelligences (Cylons) entitled to human rights? What makes us human? Do we see any relationship between some of the issues raised in Caprica with what is actually going on in contemporary society?

Caprica's Third Episode

I will be watching Caprica tonight. I have always been fascinated by the biology/technology interface. Caprica represents a challenge to our dearly held beliefs that we are the center of the universe. As sophisticated artificial intelligences evolve, will humanity change or adapt?

And these changes are coming probably within the next 10 years. Some have already been implemented. Will we ever be able to create sentient machines? Will these artificial intelligences have human rights? What issues, ideologies, or religious beliefs from our own society are dealt with in Caprica?

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I finally found some free time to post to my Academic Speaking blog. I have a daily routine. Every morning I get up at 7:30 a.m. I do stretches for about 10 minutes and then lift some weights for about 25 minutes. If it is a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I go to the YMCA in Montclair to an aerobics class. On Tuesday and Thursday I walk around the park for about 45 minutes. This is a great workout except when the weather is very cold (i.e., below freezing).

Today it was the perfect day for walking. At about 1:00 p.m. I went out for a long walk because the sun was shining. After my walk, I had lots of reading and writing to do. It is hard finding time to record one's own thoughts about life and work in general. I look forward to a productive week. Valentine's Day is next Sunday and the commercialization of love is part of this ritual.

Campos de Almas (Spanish Songs)

The lead singer is my nephew. I adore him!

DAIYA DAIYA-BEST HINDI MOVIE SONGS

I love this music! The women are really beautiful.

Ukranian Love Song

Ukrainian song by Vitaliy and Svitlana Bilonozhky

Cantonese Song

A Cantonese classic sang by Adam Cheng (鄭少秋) & Liza Wang (汪明荃).

Gujarati Song

Beautiful singer and costumes:

"Love Story" sang in Korean

This was one of my favorite songs when I was a young woman:

Beautiful song by Tiaolong:

German Entry for Eurovision Song Contest

Roger Cicero sings:

Japanese Song by Alexandra

An incredibly beautiful and talented singer:

Common Place -- Lugar Comun

This is a beautiful song by Jovanotti - Sergio Mendes:

Beautiful Music

Since one of you is from Brazil, here are two magnificent singers of all times: Chico Buarque and Milton Nascimento

Meet Jules

I am fascinated by new technological developments, especially in the area of robotics. I wonder how long it would take to develop a Cylon. Here is someone that approximates an evolved generation of Cylons:

Jules is a delightful humanoid, who is very eager to achieve full consciousness.