Random bits for a random foreign holiday

So, today's Bastille Day over in France... once upon a time, I actually knew the words to the Marseillaise, but that was many years ago, when I was taking entirely too many French classes.  Side note, I checked that Wikipedia entry I linked to, and the bit I forgot is more than a touch racist... but then, that's a hallmark of the times, I suppose.  Look up the lyrics to "Rule Britannia" sometime, if you have any doubts.  Of course, these days I'm all into Japanese instead, but nowhere near good enough at it to worry about things like song lyrics.

That's a good place to start... since my last post back in October, I've gotten a bit farther in my studies.  First, I switched to a program called Human Japanese, which I found worked better for me, for all it's not "perfect".  Mainly, I expect that's because it's written with the quirks of learning that particular language in mind, rather than trying to force-fit it into software written for learning European languages.  I've gone through all the lessons in that program, and am now finishing up my first of what I expect to be several "review rounds" to help vocabulary stick.  Beyond that, I've acquired a few related books, which help with different aspects of learning this language... I now have a pretty firm grasp on the "simple" writing systems (reading, at least... I still draw the occasional blank when I'm trying to pen a particular character), so I've started in on kanji, where I've got about 70 characters' worth known in detail... out of 2000 or so required to be officially "literate".  Basically, I've almost got as much down as a first-grader in Japan, except that I'm sorely lacking in vocabulary and grammar... oh well, I'll get better, given time.

Time... that's always the trick, isn't it?  Time spent learning Japanese, the better to enjoy the time I spend watching anime... and of course, a new season of simulcasts is starting up over at CrunchyRoll (it's been a while since I last mentioned them... they're still going strong, and there are a few more legal streaming services like theirs out there now, each with their own spin... I do so love true competition).  That cuts into other leisure activities severely, but some things just can't be ignored... in case any of you weren't aware, Steam's summer sale is in full swing, so some amazing PC games that you might have missed/put off are now available for cheap (haven't spent $20 yet, and snagged 4 good-to-pretty-good games so far).  Sure, you might never play them all the way through... but you'll probably get your money's worth in an hour's play anyways.

I think I'll just finish up with a quick recap of Mr. Snowden's exploits... seems appropriate, given the day and all.  Basically, the US tried to extradite him from Hong Kong, but apparently couldn't get their paperwork in proper order in a timely manner, so he was allowed to board a flight to Russia... he's lived there (or, more precisely, in a not-exactly-considered-Russian-territory pre-customs area at one of their airports) for about a month now, while more embarrassing details about what our country's been doing to its citizens and other nations that it should never have been doing continued to leak out.  His current aim appears to be "temporary" asylum in Russia, until more permanent asylum can be attained in one of South America's less-than-US-friendly countries... which should be interesting to see how that unfolds, given the apparent denial of airspace to Bolivia's president on a return trip home from Russia by multiple European countries, on the rumor of Snowden being secretly on-board.

Well, that's the non-work-related things keeping me entertained these days... happy Bastille Day to one and all!