The Princess and the Frog and Up

So, my first semester of college is over and done with. Rather bittersweet if you ask me. So far I've been home two days, and pretty much all I've done is watch movies with my mother, lol. I suppose now would be a good time to say SPOILERS ALERT! :D In case anyone cares.

First was Up. I loved it! The first ten minutes made me cry, and I loved how it didn't have a typical romance or anything. The animation was lovely, as is to be expected from Pixar, and the characters were all so funny and engaging. Pixar seems to have their formula down pretty well, and while I'm waiting for them to do something completely out side of the box, Up was a step in the right direction.

Now, The Princess and the Frog . . . what can I say? I am so happy that traditional 2-D animation is getting some love again! For Disney's return to their traditional format, I think it delivered. Seeing as the movie was risk in and of itself simply because it was 2-D, Disney seemed to avoid taking too many risks concerning the plot devices and the animation itself. I loved the vintage animation when Tiana was singing about her restaurant, it was a nice contrast to the very bland, very quintessentially Disney canon style the rest of the movie had (but again, they didn't seem to want to take too many risks with this being their 'return' to 2-D), the design of frogs included. Especially bland were some of the background characters, particularly the trio of girls Naveen was wooing towards the beginning of the movie; they really bugged me for some reason. Charlotte, however, was very thoughtfully animated. Her personality was apparent in everything she did, and it was really a treat to watch. Her voice acting also cracked me up in a good way.

Aside from Charlotte, Dr. Faucilier (spelling?) was my favorite. I wish, as I think most people do, that there was more of his background and more of him in this story. I think he was a great character, and some of his potential was wasted on a slightly hurried plot. Much of the second half felt like a climactic play, in which cause and effect directly move the plot forward and every line and all the action are absolutely key as far as the audiences understanding is concerned.

Ray the firefly was one character I was fully prepared to hate and tag as annoying, but I found I actually didn't mind him so much. The whole Evangeline thing was very cute, and the whole ending up as a star thing actually made me a little teary!

Overall it was a cute movie and I think it should have enough commercial success to fuel at least one more 2-D animation from Disney! (The Snow Queen, anyone?) Whether it will be the start of a retro-revolution is hard to say at this point. It was certainly better than many of their failing features from the early New Millenium (such as Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire; both of which I personally like, though they're not my favorites by a long shot!)

The next movie my mom wants to watch with me is Moulin Rouge, a definite favorite of mine :) I wonder if she'll be able to make it through the twenty minute whirlwind in the beginning. . .

Well that's it for now. Bye!

P.S. Christmas in a week, yay!

Finals Week

Dun dun duuuuun! It's finals week!

It's really only just hitting me now that I don't have any more classes left this semester, only those horrible, dreaded exams. For me, they aren't horrible because they're an Uber-Test, they're horrible for me because I never know how much time to spend studying. In high school, I would almost always study either too much or too little. I can never find the happy medium between sluffing off all my studying by procrastination and getting into full-out Hermione Granger mode where I study so much my mind completely shuts down and I can't retain anything.

So, today being the Saturday before finals, the day my friends are gone, and the day that I'm all alone at work, I feel like I should be studying . . . but I can't seem to get into the mood. It feels too early; I'm more a "night before" kind of gal. Occasionally I'll study a few nights before hand, like for my super tricky psychology tests, but genarally, spending a few hours studying the night before with a relatively large break in between study times has been the best method for me.

However, seeing as I'll be having a lonely night up in Smith Hall, I should probably do the audio parts for my Spanish workbook and do a bit of Spanish studying (which is one subject where you pretty much have to cram!)

Well, this was a rather boring and pointless post (aren't they all? well, some more than others I guess) but I have nothing better to do on a slow day at work anyway. Two and a half more hours to go . . .

Thanksgiving in Retrospect

So, I've just gotten back from Thanksgiving break, and I'm not sure what I thought of such an extended time in good ol' Manitowoc.

Wednesday night was good, we went to Manitowoc Coffee, watched Glee, and had a little reunion at Perkins. Thanksgiving itself was only so-so, I didn't eat much, which is weird for me because I usually pig out on Thanksgiving, though Lisa's cooking wasn't up to par so whatever. Thursday night was lots of fun though! Drinking with your closest friends is so much more fun than with people you hardly know or don't know at all! And we even got a ride for the night, hooray! And we have some goodies left over, hooray! Lol, so yeah, must do that again!

Then there was Friday, the day I got my hair cut. I like it, tis a good hair cut, so all was well there. Then, my mom made my family our own little Thanksgiving dinner since the boys had to work on Thanksgiving proper, and she even gave me two presents for Saint Nick's day early: Scribblenauts and the Star Trek DVD. I played Scribblenauts for hours and, though it can be frustrating to say the least, it's a lot of fun! So then, Saturday rolls around and I have to get up early yet again for an eye appointment at noon, tee hee. They upped my perscription and discovered there is nothing wrong with my right eye so that's good I guess. I can finally see! Anyway, so then my mother and I went to Maurice's and Kohls and shopped a little bit before getting Starbucks and returning home, where I played the Wii while I still could and more Scribblenauts of course. By the time my mom left for work, I was home alone and decided to watch Star Trek on the HD TV with the sweet sound system cranked up. It was epic! I love that movie! I didn't think I'd like it at all but I did! So once the movie was over I went to hide in my room (as my dad so kindly puts it) and drew some random comic thingies of some of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) characters from Dragonlance. . . which somehow included a quote from Hunchback of Notre Dame in them, lol.

Sunday I ate brunch with my mom (and a surrogate sister!) at Time Out, a place that I actually miss, though I hardly admit it. (Oh, my God, this guy just came in with Lady Gaga's Bad Romance playing really loud on his Ipod and he totally doesn't look like the type to like Lady Gaga...I am amused!) Anyway, I packed up all my crap, played the Wii one last time, then joined up with Catey to head back to Point.

Once we lost and found Catey's car keys, smuggled in the goodies, and got all our crap back into our respective rooms, Catey, Aaron, Adam, and I went to Perkins for dinner since Debot was apparently still closed. We discussed the mysteries of cheese on apple pie and just how weird Catey was . . . Then we went back to my place to "watch" Thoroughly Modern Millie. We ended up watching videos on Youtube including The Onion, the Berries and Cream guy, and Eddie Izzard (love!). I didn't get any of my paper written but whatever, twas a fun night.

I've just remembered that my fanfiction updated yesterday and I haven't read it yet! Must go do that. . . bye!

Edit: So I just started reading it and there's quote from Star Trek in it . . . hooray! :D

R-Patts In My Dreams and I Didn't Vomit?

So I had a number of crazy dreams last night, the most memorable of which involved a certain actor in a certain vampire teen romance series. First of all, get your mind out of the gutter, it wasn't that kind of dream (I would have vomitted for sure then) but still a rather odd one. It seemed R-P was a good friend of my brother's, and I was meeting him for the first time. It was me, Catey, Alyssa W, Jarid, and a friend of his that I don't know all in a room that sort of looked like my dorm room but we were all in Manitowoc so that doesn't make any sense (but this is a dream after all...) Anyway, so R-P comes in and we're all talking, and apparently Catey and Alyssa W already knew him and had met him before and they were friends with him too, so I was the only one who didn't know him, lol.

So, then we all wen to MacDonald's in Manitowoc and hung out. I sat next to R-P and I have to admit my dream persona thought he was pretty darn cool. We didn't talk about his career or anything, just whatever we usually talk about (which is weird considering we seem to talk an awful lot about Harry Potter, lol) and he said that we were all pretty cool at one point. This is where the dream gets fuzzy for me. Suddenly my whole family complete with distant relatives shows up and we have to go walk somewhere and drop something off before walking back across town to go to Time Out. All of the non-Lees left except for R-P, who walked next to me through the whole thing. It was weird, because my whole family was fighting about the fastest way to walk from somewhere around the Hospital uptown towards our house and Time Out and R-P just kept hanging out with me and we kept talking. Eventually he and Jarid left to go drink or something, lol, I'm not sure why they just didn't come to TO with the rest of the family but whatever. I woke up somewhere around here, and had another strange dream when I went back to sleep, but I can't really remember that one so I shan't recount it.

Right, so this weekend I had two close brushes with death, both due to extreme cases of boredom. The first one occurred on Saturday when Aaron had to work from two till eight. We ate lunch at noon and played some Smash Brothers before he had to go. So then I picked out classes and then had about three hours to laze around and go crazy . . . and yeah, I was basically dying until he finally got done (not before earning himself a poop!) and ate and watched some movies. (So far he and I have watched Muppet Treasure Island, The Goonies, Elf, and half of the Producers, which we have to finish sometime). The second severe case of boredom occured at work yesterday when my shift was from 11:00 till 4:00. It was so boring. I only checked two people out and only two people had questions to ask me. What made the whole thing untolerable was that I couldn't connect to the internet for whatever reason (seriously, what the heck? I've done it before at work!) so I basically just played solitaire on my laptop and occasionally drew on MS Paint. Towards the end of my shift I remembered that I had Maya's PDF on my laptop and had to stiffle my laughter whilst reading Amazing Bouncing Rat. It was too little, too late though, and couldn't make up for the four and a half hours I spent sucking at solitaire. I suppose I could have grabbed a magazine (you know, since I work in the periodicals department and all) but I just didn't feel like it. It would have been a perfect oppurtunity to look at the Ladies' Home Journals from 1911 till the mid '30s that we have behind the desk but...eh...as much as I would have liked to I didn't, for whatever reason. I hate it when that happens. Too bored to make yourself un-bored. Oh well.

Sigh, I wish I could have gone to Madison, but I had to work on Sunday and I had to get some classes picked out because I have my advising tomorrow. Also, I wasn't really in a party mood ( I blame my period!) though it turns out that all they did in Madison was eat food, lol. Oh well, I survived, in any case, and Thanksgiving is fast approaching! That means good food, a chance to go to MC and get a really awesomely good caramel macchiatto, hang out with the whole gang, and go out to a birthday dinner with my family. Twill be much fun, I hope.

Oh, I should pose this question, are we going to watch Glee and then go to Perkins this Wednesday as per usual? It does seem to be a tradition now :P Oh, poop, that made me hungry! And I don't get to eat until two and all my bowls are dirty! Ah!

Well, I'll leave you on that distressing note. Wow, it's almost time for Spanish! When did that happen? I suppose this was a bit longer than I had first supposed it to be. . .

Bye!

College Killed My NaNo

Well, okay, it was a combination of a severe bout of a cold and the resulting exaustion that really killed my NaNo, but college did play its part. Suffice it to say that my would-be novel is now resting peacefully in the back of my conciousness, hopefully to be resurrected at a later date.

Sigh, and, a week and a half later, I'm still sick and my eyes still gunk up overnight . . . some residual side-effect of the pink eye that I alone (out of myself, Catey, and Alyssa O) seem to still have. Like I didn't have enough eye problems before! Oh well, I guess I just can't wear my contacts until I get my eyes properly checked out. It's not terrible, wearing my glasses, but it does make putting makeup on damn near impossible, what with me being blind as a bat and my only mirror firmly attached to the wall behind my rather large desk, preventing me from seeing what I'm doing. . . Oh well, sub-par makeup is better than permanant eye damage, right? Well that's poopy.

So, I guess I have four exams this week. . . I thought I only had two: Spanish and Teatre Appreciation, both on Tuesday. However, in reality, I have an additional two exams: Eastern Religions and Geology, both on Wednesday. So . . . I'm fucked, I guess. Well, not really. Those are all easy classes except for Spanish, and I have a good handle on them all except for Spanish and Geology (becasue I've missed like three geology classes due to sickness and other things). Also, this morning, while in Geology, getting ready to take a quiz, I spy my Eastern Religion syllabus, which is opened to the assignment page and lo and behold, our second reflection paper was due in less that two hours.

So, I took the quiz then skipped the rest of class, not entirely desirable since we would be reviewing for the upcoming exam, but whatever. I went back to my room and wrote an okay paper reflecting on the way Zen Buddhism is interpretted through modern popular culture. It sounds more scientific than it actually was, lol. My last paper was so much better, but whatever, I had had more than an hour and a half to write it. So I get to class, and we review for the exam, and he doesn't say anything about the papers, and I'm sitting there thinking "If he doesn't collect these I'm going to get so pissed!" But he did collect them, and about half the class didn't do them, which is understandable because he didn't remind us last time and really, who looks at the syllabus? Good thing I happened to glance at it. Perhaps someone is looking out for me? Or someone really wanted me to write a crappy paper about Zen in pop culture? Meh, probably not.

So now I am sitting in the lab on the third floor of the CCC killing time until Spanish, which will be yet another review class. Sigh. Boring, but necessary. Really, who gives a test that includes all of the preterite, the imperfect, the subjunctive, formal commands, and informal commands? Way too much to keep straight. (haha okay, the kid in front of me is playing some farm game on an Asian website and is petting cute little sheep! tee hee!)

Oh, and I just realized that I won't be able to say goodbye to Kory :( Sad. Well, I guess I'll say it here. Goodbye Kory! *hugs* Have fun in Twin Cities!

I think that's all I've got for now, toodles!

At Work

So, right now I'm at work, I just made my Personal Quota Part 1 for the day (I do quotas in two parts now. . . yeah . . .) and there are only five or six people on this floor and no one is checking anything out and I have nothing to do! I fear lingering on the internet as I probably shouldn't be on here, but oh well, I'm bored.

So, last night my mom calls me and informs me that the weekend everyone is coming to Point (the 14th?) is when my parents, Jarid, and my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa are going to celebrate Jarid's 21st birthday, which is on the 9th. This makes me sad, because I will miss out on the festivities. But oh well. Tis fine.

Oh, also, my mother said that one of the ladies from Chairs for Charity called and is going to mail me some copies of my poster for me to sign. Supposedly, people will be bidding for them at the auction! Yipes! I have a crappy signature though, so that's not cool. You need a long name (or at least, not a ridiculously short name like mine) to have a cool signature. Sigh. Oh well.

I think I'll do some microfiche now, as I can't seem to make myself write any more in my NaNo at the moment.

Toodles.

Edit: Oh, so I guess I just agreed to work an extra hour today from 4 till 5 to help somebody out. Why do I do these things? All I'm going to want to do then is take a nap! But I figured that Catey had choir anyway until 5:30 so whatever. Sigh. I really should be NaNoing! And I have a really hard psychology exam on Tuesday! AAAAAAAGH!

NaNo Time! A Quick Update!

Hey all! This is just a short little update/ disclaimer to tell everyone that I probably will not have much time this month, as it is National Novel Writing Month, for blogging. (As opposed, to Alyssa, who appears to be doing a NaNo log on her blog, I haven't seen it yet but I swear I will as soon as I've made my personal quota for the day!)

The only thing of interest lately in my life was this past weekend, where Kory, Catey, and I drove down to Madison to join up with Dana and Alyssa for some Halloween partying: Madison style. After a memorable Friday night (well, more memorable for me than for certain members of our party) we had a rather tame Halloween night due to dead parties and the cop infested Freakfest bringing the whole vibe down. Oh well, we stuck it to the man by sneaking Dana and Alyssa into out hotel room anyway. :P The photos are all up on Facebook; most of them hilarious! Though of course wall know what happens when you drink to much (coughCATEYcough)! Really though, it was a fun weekend, even with all the not-so-fun and slightly terrifying parts.

Oh! I wish I could see the pictures those Indian fellows took of us as we were waiting in the bus shelter to warm up. I'm so sad that I forgot his name :( Vashim? I don't know. Something with a V? Does anyone remember? Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. Goodbye!

Kirby Rules!

So, last night was one of the highlights of my life . . . Okay not really but it was pretty amazing! So, as you may or may not know, sometimes Catey and I head over to Aaron's place to play the N64. Now, my favorite game we tend to play is Super Smash Bros. I would pretty much always be Kirby, Catey would be Link, and Aaron was usually Samus and we'd always have a fourth computer player and the game would usually go like this: First we take out the computer player, then Catey, then Aaron and I would dual to the death and he would always win with like three more lives left. (We play on stock mode; 10 stocks each.) Oh, and we always play the Sector Z stage. Well, last night things went a little bit differently.

First of all, Adam took Catey's place (we only have three controllers! but she watched :D) and picked Samus, so Aaron picked his second best, Mario. I picked Kirby as usual and I think the computer was DK for this round (maybe Captain Falcon? I don't know for sure.) So we start battling and I start out strong; I was actually in the lead for once! Then it all evened out as we decided to stop fighting eachother and team up on DK. Once the ape was finished, Aaron and Adam decided I was doing too well for my own good and began to team up on me. (I think we all had around three lives left at this point. ) But, try as they might, I still managed to kill Adam three times and Aaron twice while they only managed to kill me twice. Believe me, this part of the battle was epic! Two against one going all out with Slippy occasionally joining the fight, lol. Yet even with the double team I managed to dominate something fierce!

So, it was down to the wire. Me versus Aaron. Kirby versus Mario. One life left each. I was slightly ahead in the damage count and things were looking in favor of Aaron when suddenly, what should come to my aid but a Maximum Health Tomato? I quickly took advantage of the situation and went from around 146% damage down to 22% damage with Aaron still up in the hundreds. Then, after a few minutes, a mine falls from the sky and I pick it up and try to throw it at Aaron. However, I missed and instead it hit the ground behind him, just waiting to explode. With a quick B+up move (Kirby's little blue sword thing) I hit Mario and he goes flying backwards and land directly on top of the waiting mine. Victory was mine! After weeks of losing humiliatingly to Aaron I finally triumphed! I dominated! I ruled!

Okay so it wasn't as dramatic as all that but I was pretty excited! :P

Now, onto other things. Today I shall update you all on the happenings of that peuliar class called Eastern Religions. One of Those Girls (I dont' feel like typing it all out, lol) asked a grand total of 9 questions, 2 of which were absolutely WTF worthy (though the rest were random and not really pertaining to the subject we were talking about at the time.) These were:

"So, not to be inappropriate or anything, but with this whole Tantric tradition... [It's a Hindu and Buddhist religious practice involving disciplined sex that is meant to bring you in unity with God] You said there was a master that had to teach his disciples the practices so does that mean, like, there's some creepy old guy that watches you and instructs you while you ... do the dirty?"

Yes, she actually said 'do the dirty.'

The professor's response was basically, "Now, you're really generalizing and depreciating the whole point of tantra."

Then the professor went on to this rather beautiful, romantic explanation of how tantric sex is the ultimate union and is practiced or years how it could be emotionally dangerous if used wrong and how we don't appreciate the real value of sex in the West etc. During which One of Those Girls was basically giggling like a schoolgirl. Sigh. Kids these days.

The other WTF question was something much simpler and, perhaps, much worse in a sense.

"Now, two main aspects of this type of Buddhism are Compassion and Impermanence. Now, can anybody tell me what these two have in common?" The professor asks the class as he's writing on the board.

One of Those Girls raises her hand, "Wait, what does impermanence mean?"

The Professor then goes on, "You tell me, what does impermanence mean in the contexts of Buddhism? How does it relate to compassion?"

One of Those Grils replies, "No, I meant, like, what does the word impermanence mean?"

We are in college people.

Surprisingly it wasn't me who then barked, "The opposite of permanence!" (It was some girl in the back.)

This explanation, simple and clear as it was, was not enough for One of Those Girls and the Professor had to actually define permanence . . . then impermanence. The entire time I'm sitting there thinking Good Grief! By the end of the class the professor must have been thinking the same thing since he gave a really snippy answer to one of her last questions (I can't remember what he said though so I shan't try to recount it.) and actually ignored her last question and said whatever it was she could ask him after class.

Well, that's it. I have to go to lunch now. Goodbye!

Ugh: Story of a Girl

So I won't bore you all with the details of my day (since Catey has already blogged about that) but I would like to tell you all a little story about what happened after I left May Roach last night.

So, at around ten I get a call from Gretchen. She had left her keys in our room and was wondering if I was coming back anytime soon. Not quite ready to leave yet, I told her to come over to Roach and pick up my key. The deed was done, and I told her, specifically, to stay in our room and that I would call her so she could let me in the dorm (since it was past eight, you see.)

Well, the time came for me to head back (around eleven; I had an exam the next day to study for yet) so I give Gretchen a call...and it goes straight to voicemail. I call again two more times to the same effect...thinking that maybe she had accidentally turned it off or something. I walk back to Smith Hall and call again. Still straight to voicemail.

I get angry.

So, I'm standing outside in the cold, waiting around the front door like a creeper for some other fellow Smithians to let me in since apparently Gretchen had turned off her phone. Eventually some people did come and I snuck in behind them. Then, I trudge up the stairs to forth floor and try my door, thinking that Gretchen was inside, working on her art project like she said she would be. She's not. It's locked. WTF? I check the bathroom...she had just had dance practice, maybe she was showering? Nope. Not a single person in the bathroom either.

I get pissed.

Seeing that Gretchen was nowhere to be found, I trudged back down the stairs to the front desk so that they could get me back in my room. It took them forever (at least 15 minutes, I kid you not) because they were all laughing and shooting rubber bands at eachother. The one girl who had the key and was walking with me up the stairs to my room was saying "Oh, we don't normally do that. So-and-so is just hyped up on coffee."

"I'm sure," was my cold reply. I was seriously shaking, I was so livid.

So the girl opens my door, and I get inside and see my freaking keys laying on my desk.

I get fucking nuts.

I call my mom, whom I know very well is asleep at this hour, and start on a half-hour tirade. How could she be so stupid? How could she expect me to get in the locked room if she left my keys inside? How did she even expect me to get into the building? Why did she have her phone off, when I specifically told her that I would call her? She's a fucking retard! This is fucking ridiculous! I can't fucking stand her! (I feel rather horrible about disgracing my poor mother's ears with such cussing; I haven't said 'fuck' this much in many months, I'm sure.) I just went on and on about how stupid she was for doing this and how inconsiderate she was all the time and how ditzy she is and how all her little friends always come over asking for her when I'm trying to play my DS or read fanfiction or do homework and how she has never once even offered that I could hang out with her and her friends (not that I'd want to anyway! but still!) and how she must think so little of me and blah blah blah I felt like CAPSLOCK!Harry!

So then she comes back while I'm still on the phone with my mom, though I had calmed down quite a bit by this time, and, as usual, she's chatting coquettishly with some guy or another. Seriously, this girl is such a tease, and the guys just fall for her. It's so ridiculously unfair. So once she's done chatting up this guy she comes in and I've got my angry face on and she must have *sensed* the danger because she looks like a deer in the headlights.

So I, as calmly as I can, explain what happened, to which she replies, "Why didn't you call me?"
And I said, "Because you're phone was off!"
"No it wasn't!" Seriously, she looked like a lost, confused fawn.
"I called you five times, and it went straight to voicemail!"

Here she got out her phone and, lo and behold, it was actually on!

She was like, "Well, I was texting for a while so maybe that was it...."

Damn, fucking technology!

So then I apologized a bit and she apologized more and said that she would have stayed in the room but she had to go get her charcoals from Monica's room in Thompson and blah blah blah I'm so sorry blah blah blah. I'm still angry at this point and she still had yet to even start her latest art project and it was already midnight so I asked her, as politely as I could muster, if she would mind using a study room since I had and exam in the morning and needed to be up rather early. (Lol, though this morning she was up before me....whatever....I'm still tired as hell and I don't survive on energy drinks like she does.) She said sure, as if it were no big deal, yet her tone indicated that she didn't really want to, but too bad. She hadn't even started this rather massive charcoal perspective drawing and I knew it would take her hours; hours during which I wanted to sleep with the light off, for once.

So this morning, we didn't really talk, but then again we never do. It's weird. I don't think she's mad at me and I'm not really mad at her. She annoys the hell out of me and I'm sure I annoy her too, but we've managed to coexist so far without incident (besides the aforementioned one, obviuosly.) We're good with every aspect of sharing a room besides the fact that she locks herself out (at least biweekly!) and that she tends to stay up till three doing art. I know that I like to go to bed rather early, but trust me, I am much more pleasant that way. I get so fucking crabby when I don't sleep that it's scary, lol. So for my own sanity I'd like my sleeping patterns to be taken into consideration. I mean, when I get up earlier than her, I am always painfully careful to not wake her up. Gretchen? Nope. She just does whatever, including talking to people at the door and on the phone. Sigh. I know she isn't malicious, just ditzy and inconsiderate. Hopefully we'll work on all this though. I'm capable of compromise if she is.

Well anyway. /enddrama/endrant/endbutthurt/

P.S. I should mention that no matter how annoyed I get and how much I complain to Catey and Aaron, I don't hate Gretchen by any means. There are far worse roommates out there and I know it. I'm just extremely introverted so I need my recharge space, and when that is denied I get saucy, lol.

Ok /endrant/ for real this time. Next time, expect pictures! :D

WTF Question of the Day: Wanna Hug?

So I'm in Eastern Religions class, and we are discussing the Hindu preacher/saint/guru/whatever-term-you-want-to-use Amma, a woman who gives darsham by hugging people. Now, our professor has spent several months living in Amma's ashram in India, and thus has been hugged by this blessed lady many times. Thus, a (disturbing) conversation occurred that went something like this:

Random Classmate: So you've been hugged how many times?

Professor: By Amma? I'm not sure. She's hugged me quite a few times. It's like a blessing of redemption.

One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor: So, does that mean that I could recieve her blessing by hugging you?

Professor: ...

Me:...

The Whole Class: ...

Professor: Um, no.


And there you have it. Things are getting just a little creepy these days.

That Autumn Itch

October! The last month before November and the absolute madness that is NaNoWriMo! My fingers are itching to type! My mind is racing with possiblities! My characters are chattering excitedly in my head about finally being able to manifest themselves! My inner masochist is grinning with delight at the thought of writting 50,000 words this November on top of the usual college load! I'm scared stiff and it feels wonderful! lol

Speaking of being scared, October also means Halloween! This Halloween, we are contemplating a trip down to Madison for the infamous State Street romp; the pinnacle of college debouchary! I hope we end up going, because that would be so much fun, and I haven't dressed up for Halloween in ages! This year, I think I'd either do a zombie version of Marie Antoinette, a flapper, a turn of the century circus performer, or a fairy. Oh, the possibilites!

Well, that's pretty much all that's new with me. I'm home in Manty for the weekend and I have a couple of major exams coming up that I should be studying for...yikes! Oh well, I'm sure it'll be alright if I put a little effor into it. If being the operative word there, lol.

Well, toodles!

You'll Be Dumb with Wonderment!

Hey there!

So, after a lovely weekend in the Twin Cities, I didn't get the Monday blues that bad yesterday... at least until the time had come to do my laundry and homework, ugh. Anywho, I had a few really weird dreams last night that I thought I'd blog about. So, here goes!

Dream number one: My mother and I were in some sort of mall and we walked into this store that reminded me of Hot Topic but it wasn't. We looked around a bit and then decided that I needed a dress for some upcoming dance. All of a sudden a slew of upperclassmen from Roncalli were in the store as well, like Angie Gust and Allie whats-her-name, and Mel Holzinger etc. They all started to tell me which dresses were the most like the ones they had worn to prom. I'm not sure if they wanted me to get the dresses that were like theirs or not but my mom disagreed about everything. Eventually the other girls left so it was just me and my mom, and my mom decided to buy me a red dress. However the shopgirl said that we couldn't buy that one. Then the dream ended. Lol kind of lame but it was really confusing as it was happening.

Dream number two: I went on poupee and everthing was normal, but suddenly I refresh the page and I have this crazy hair-do where the hair is half-covering my face and looks likes it's kind of blowing in the wind and I'm wearing yellow knee high socks over flared jeans with the black starter heels and a yellow tank top and my calender shows that I've been wearing this all through the time-travel event and the background for the event was all messed up and pixely in my snapshots and nearly all my ribbons were gone....It was very sad and alarming. Thank goodness it was only a dream! (goes to check poupee) Yep, only a dream.

Well, that's all I feel like writing for now...Bye!

STFU WHORE! And the WTF Questions of the Day.

So, this blog will mainly revolve around the awesome guy in religion that I'm in love with, lol, who shall be known only as Awesome Guy. (Since Awesome Guy is pretty much the only thing that Catey doesn't cover in her blogs from my life besides work and classes which aren't too exciting right now.)

So! Yesterday I arrive outside of our Eastern Religion classroom, but there's some class about Judaism in there before us and we have to wait until they are done to go in. So everyone is sitting around outside the door just chilling, including Awesome Guy. I sit down a good distance down the way from him, since I'm shy and am afraid to really talk to him (sigh.) Suddenly One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor arrives and plops herself down next to Awesome guy and starts chattering away with him!

"You said you were a writer! So am I! That's so cool I thought I was the only one!" says One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor with enthusiasm.

Awesome guy smiles and nods.

"So me and some of my friends were going to get together and to a little writing and meditation circle sometime and you should totally come join us, it would be like, so spiritual and cool!" One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor continues.

Awesome guy replies, "That sounds good. I'll have to see."

"Cool!" One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor responds, clearly enamored.

This entire time I'm sitting there like "What? I knew he was a writer too! And I'm a writer too! I just don't go parading down the street saying that I like to write! Get away from him! Shut the fuck up you whore! He's mine, MINE!" And I hope to god that Awesome Guy doesn't start to hang out with One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor because she's really annoying and weirdly into Buddhism without really knowing much about it... and that just doesn't seem like Awesome Guy's bag to me. Lol because I know what his bag is...I've never even talked to him!

So, a little more information about how One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor got her little nickname. Every class, her and her counterpart The Other One of Those Two Girls Who Always Ask Stupid Questions, Waste Our Class Times, and Act Like They are Smarter than the Professor will, without fail, ask one or two questions about the reading that are either completely irrelevant to what we are talking about, really stupid with obvious answers, or are simply preludes to relating some anecdote that they feel is essential for the class to hear and discuss (believe me, their anecdotes are completely pointless.) They do all of this with an air of intellectual superiority that just makes the situation even more ridiculous. Plus, the proffessor tries to answer their little queries sincerely and thouroughly, all the while sighing and glancing at the clock. Needless to say we have fallen behind the syllabus's schedule.

Because of this amusing, if rather exasperating, situation I have set aside a section in the back of my notebook entitled "The WTF Questions of the Day." I already have two lovely gems including:

"If the Hindus worship the Ramayana, why don't we worship the Odessy and the Iliad?"
and
"Didn't everyone have to wear bells so people knew you were coming?"

You should have seen the professor's face.

Anyway... I sit at the end of the same table as Awesome Guy, so there are only two people between us, yay! Maybe I'll talk to him sometime? I think I'll have to. He is also in my Theatre Appreciation class, but he sits nowhere near me. Still, there's another oppurtunity for us to chat, if I work up the nerve. He seems very nice so he's not likely to like...I don't know... shoot me down for making awkward conversation. Right! I'm going to do it! I'm going to talk to him damnit!

Well, I've got nothing else to say. Tata!

My Gift is My Song!

So at Kory's request, I shall write another blog!

Well, since Catey has already written about most of the time we've spent here, I guess I can talk about all that goes on when Catey's not around, lol.

First of all, classes. I really, really like Theatre Appreciation! The professor's awesome and we're reading mostly good plays! I say mostly because the first play we're looking at is Oedipus Rex, though he does make it fun. We watched a clip from a film version of Oedipus that was waaaay better than the one we watched in junior year English class! What the heck Mr. Waak?! Anyway, I finished reading Oedipus and (in an attempt to procrastinate reading icky Psychology) I went on to reading Othello, which I like so far and which we are reading after Oedipus. Yes I know, I like reading Shakespeare, and that is odd. However, I embrace it.

Psychology...I've only had one class so far, and although the professor is pretty cool, I do not like the whole reading one chapter between every class, especially since I have class two days in a row. :(

Geology is meh. The professor isn't exciting nor however is he boring. We've only had two lectures which were very basic and introductory, but there's a lab coming up on Tuesday, so I'll have to reserve judgment until then.

Spanish kind of scares me. I can listen to people speak Spanish but it's hardish for me to formulate what I want to say in time to say it, lol. Also, lots of homework. I have no idea if this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing...my backup would be either English (really scary!) or Arts Management. Sigh, we shall have to see.

And finally, Eastern Religions. I'm still in love, by the way, with this guy in my class. He's a writer, who can talk. Lol. The class is pretty cool. But I don't like the rest of my classmates. They all have like...obvious fanatic interest in Buddhism and are all upset that we're starting with Hinduism. It's rather pathetic. Some of them are kind of weeabooish too. But hey, whatever.

So yeah. That's pretty much it. In my spare time I've been drawing and writing and reading and the usual. Just hanging with Catey and lately Aaron and...whoever his doormmate was, lol. Copper Boom!

Well, Catey and I are off to the DUC. Later!

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Muuuusic!

Well, despite what the title says, this blog will be about my first two days of classes....

So! On Wednesday at 9 in the morning was my Geology Lecture. It was alright. We just looked at the syllabus and talked about what to expect. We got done a little early so I had about an hour break until Eastern Religion at 11. It seems like it will be a good class. I like the Professor; he's young-ish and Italian lol. The only thing I didn't like about him was that he seemed to have already picked favorites in the half hour that we had class. BUT! I sat next to this awesome guy and I'm in love! Haha. But seriously, I want to be friends! He's just so awesome, I can't explain! Hmm then I don't quite remember what I did for the rest of the day... Hung out with Catey? Yes I believe so. Oh yes, I also went to the Library to train for my job. My supervisor reminds me of Mrs. Guay...and she's like in love with me or something. She says that I "have such good taste. And you look so professional and I love the way you do your make-up and you sounded so polite on the phone!" And yadda yadda yadda and now I'm totally afraid that she's going to realize I'm not that good and I will let her down....so she should stop complimenting me! Tell me you hate me! lol.

Right, so then yesterday I had Theatre Appreciation at 11. As I was walking up the stairs to class, I hear someone call my name behind me. I turn around and lo and behold it's Garret! So we talked as we walked to class about our halls and classes and what not. Then we got to class and went our separate ways. I began to read the syllabus. It seemed really super strict and I was begining to dread having chose this class...but just then the Professor got up at the front (which was a stage) and said, extremely campily, "Welcome to Theatre Appreciation!" And I was like "Yesssss!" on the inside. He's so funny and engaging and really seems to know his shit so I can't wait for more of that class! It's like film and theatre but with no film and more theatre! After class Garret and I talked again and both shared how the syllabus scared us but were both pleasantly surprised by our awesomely gay Professor! He's like a bigger Emmett! Haha.

After Theatre App Catey and I had lunch during which we decided to rescue Aaron. Twas a very good idea on her part as it wasn't awkward at all. I think we might be friends by the end of the year, lol. And we finally got his number, yay!!!! (haha, four exclamation points!)

Then it was time for the dreaded Spanish, where I discovered that, for as well as I can read and listen to Spanish; I can't speak (or probably write) it worth crap. :( I'm definately going to have to work on that. We talked about the Syllabus and D2L and the $72 work books we had to buy and then got with a partner and introduced them to the class.

Then I came back to my dorm and read my Religion stuff before Catey and I went to the DUC to get the rest of our books, get mochas, and buy tickets for Inspektor General and Rent (both of which are required viewing for Theatre Appreciation.) Later we chilled in Catey's room before coming over to my place to watch OotP and talk with Gretchen a bit, which went pretty well if I do say so myself. Then the movie ended and Catey went back to her place and Gretchen and I went to sleep.

So! I'm really liking college so far. I like the freedom and the free time. It's actually forcing me to not do my homework at the last minute! Weird concept I know, but it's actually really nice! I'm actually starting to think of my dorm room as "home" too, which is weird after only one week, I must admit.

Well, here's to the college life! May it be fun and informative, and never more than we can handle!

P.S. I miss everyone and can't wait to see some of you this weekend! Love all around!

Moved In

Hi there!

So, right now I'm sitting in Catey and Molly's room in May-Roach Hall which is conveniently located right next to my hall, yay! I'm all moved in back and Smith, except that I still need to get my internet working, though that might have to wait until tomorrow. For now I guess Catey's computer will suffice.

We got moved in without any major problems, so that's good. Also, all my crap fit and Gretchen and I seem to be getting along fine, so that 's coolie.

So far, college life is alright lol. Not much going on. Catey still has unpacking to do...lots of unpacking! And I'm not helping much I guess, but eh, I promised I'd blog more so here I am with this short meaningless entry. I'll probably write something more meaningful as it all starts to hit me later and once I get my own internet working.

Well, that's all for now I guess. Bye!

Procrastination: The Reason behind the Blogging

So I've thought a million times about updating my blog this summer but I just never did...I guess I had better things to do? I don't know. Not a whole lot happened....graduation parties, orientation, Millie, Half-Blood Prince, my trip to Michigan, and now PACKING.

That's probably the reason I'm updating right now...procrastinating the packing. It's just too soon...summer was just getting good, but I'm sure that's how it always feels by the time late August rolls around whether it was actually getting good or not.

My dorm fears...I'm mad that my floor is alternating guys and girls. I mean really, that's just added pressure and added annoyance. I'm horrified that I'll end up next to a bunch of jocky idiots who fart in each other's faces... on the other hand, they could be perfectly nice and nerdy or they could be awesomely campy queens...that would be so cool! Slim chance of it, I know, but the hope keeps me going. Another dorm fear is my roommate, who despite being an art major seems unyieldingly perky and blonde...not sure how I'm going to cope with that but eh, she seems really nice at any rate; hopefully in person we'll hit it off well enough to manage living together for a year. My last fear, I suppose, is the classes and homework...it can't be that bad can it? Oh, and work...kind of nervous about work but hopefully I'll be able to balance my job and my homework....sigh. Blah. Ugh. Cry.

Well, here's to hoping things aren't as bleak as my disposition would have me believe! I guess I have to start packing now, so...So long!

Graduation! and other things...

Well, I am officially a high school student no more! I have my diploma and all of my awesome awards (though I didn't get any cords...) and I am so enjoying the summer!

It's been great so far. The other day I found out that I won the Chairs for Charity poster designing contest. I got $100 that I immediately spent on an awesome 72 pack of prismas (they ROCK!) and my poster will be seen all over town from now until the event happens in late November. It feels pretty cool. I've never won anything before! Yesterday I went to the art museum to have my picture taken with my supervisor and the founders/coordinators of the Chairs for Charity event which should be in the paper some time soon. Not that I've never made the paper before, but this totally beats random pictures of me playing soccer!

So I went to the library yesterday and got a bazillion different books on fairy tales and folk legends, and I'm currently working on the works of Hans Christian Anderson. Some of them are rather cute, and some are rather sad, like the story of the Fir Tree. :(

Anyway, I also decided to break in my new Prismas yesterday and started this sort of trippy picture of Alice stomping through the grass when she's three inches high. It's not coming out exactly how I wanted it, but hopefully I'll finish it up later today and we'll see how it turns out.

Now, as for my graduation party, it was a blast! We had good food, a good server, and we played beer pong! My grandparents were playing for goodness' sake! I was really bad though; I didn't get a single one in! Oh well. My brother was very good though (cough, cough). Oh, and just for the record, we under-twenty-ones did not drink (even though I could have since I had parental consent and hand-to-hand transfer, which is legal in Wisconsin, :D). I got some nice gifts, mostly money, which will really help out and most likely go towards a laptop for college this fall! It was kind of embarrasing though, because after I left, my parents stayed and drank with some of the other parents there and got smashed :$ Oh well. They sobered up so all is well.

My only complaint about this summer so far is that all my friends are busy with Millie, so I hardly talk to them, much less see them anymore, though the summer is admittedly young. We never seem to be online at the same time, lol. I guess I just don't stay up late enough to catch them and I'm up way too early when they sleep in. But hey, there are lots of grad parties coming up so we're bound to party together once more! It's only, what, the second week of vacation? We simply must go to the beach when it gets nicer out! Tis always fun to go swimming in the lake!

Well I should wrap this up. Bye!

Four Years

Well, that's it. High school is over for good. It seems like it could be any other day: gray, rainy, cold (in May!). But today was truly our last day at Roncalli High School. I'm caught between sadness and excitment, which has left me just feeling detached and indifferent. Life goes on. We must move on too. Still, some things I'll miss; like all my friends that I'm leaving behind in the fall to attend Point. While some I'll take with me, some I'll leave behind, and some I'll make anew. I don't think a sense of total freedom will hit me until graduation...or maybe tomorrow morning when I wake up at whatever hour I please. Still...one era of my life is over, but I'm glad it was in the first place. Some have said that high school is the best time of our lives...but I don't think that's true at all. Anyone who says that has just never grown beyond those four years as teens in their hometown. As a senior, I've enjoyed feeling like top-dog, but I know I'll get more than a taste of humble pie when I arrive in Point this fall. Hopefully I'll be ready to take it, and makes some new friends, have new experiences, and grow in the next set of four years.

Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Anyway, just a short update here. Two more days of high school left, YAY! As soon as summer roles around, I expect that I'll write more updates, hopefully detailing all the drawing and writing and reading and sewing and whatnot that I'll do. I bought some fabric today and I am SO EXCITED!

Oh, yes, we saw Star Trek on saturday. That was good. SPOCK WAS HOT! :D And the whole movie was awesome! Seriously everyone (except the bad guys, who were kind of meh) was so good. I was really iffy at first, but I need not have worried. They kept true to the spirit of Star Trek! Oh, and did anybody else catch the not-so-subtle references to a certain other sci-fi universe? Made me laugh a little inside. I'll always be a Star Wars girl, I guess. Still, Star Trek rocked. It made me really want to watch Next Generation for some reason.

Well, I probably won't hit the theatres again until Half Blood Prince finally is released. Stupid fucking Warner Bros. assholes making us wait half a year for a movie that's just been sitting there, finished, so they can supposedly make more money. >:(

Here's to the last two days of high school. Goodbye Roncalli. Hello Summer of Oppurtunity. College is just on the Horizon.

Oh Happy May!

Happy May everybody! It may not feel like it yet, but summer is on its way, along with sweet sweet freedom from highschool forever!

That aside, today I spent four and a half hours doing half of the "tpcastt"s that I didn't do before. Man, those are just a tedious pain! But I am done, yay! Now I need to make a presentation for physics and figure out how to build a boat! Not yay!

On a different 'note' (just wait, there's a pun coming) I've discovered a new (to me) musician! Emilie Simon! She's funky, trippy, cute, and French so you know she's good! ;D I'm absolutely in love! I don't know why I've never stumbled across her before, but I love how she's kind of a strange cross between Olivia Lufkin and Etro Anime... And her videos are so creepy/cute! She's so perfect for Lolita! lol.

As for many things, we turn to the annals of Youtube for audio/visual reference:

Desert (French Version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI_nkXUpvJk

Fleur de Saison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMDunGVx7uU&feature=related

Dame de Lutus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf5olM0v9-w&feature=related

And my favorite: Flowers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_1MR2XOjz4&feature=related

There are so many awesome others though! I just keep watching them over and over and over and over! Plus, she gets major props for creating music that I can actually do homework to. Not that it doesn't capture the attention, but it also makes great thinking music. :P

Well, that's about all I have to say!

Dani

P.S. Oh yeah, I really want to make something for my mother (perhaps draw her something?) for mother's day this year, but I don't know exactly what I should do, so suggestions are appreciated! I'm actually looking forward to Mother's Day this year, since we'll be going down to Campbellsport, which is usually fun, and then I think my mom and I are going to stop at the Sheboygan Falls Mall thingy (you know, by Chili's!) and see if we can find some things for graduation. I want to wear Lolita, but we'll see how that goes. No need to be scaring away the relatives I hardly see who will come and give me large sums of cash for finally getting the hell out of school! XD

P.P.S. Ugh! AP English test this weeeeek! :O

A Quick Update While I Procrastinate

Weeeeelll,

So, we went to Mexico, it was a blast, did not get the swine flu (really, blown out of proportion much?) and returned home safely! Then it was time for prom, which was pretty fun and we all looked amazing and preeettty! :D No seriously, we rocked. Anywho, I'm behind in homework (AP English, Calc, Physics, Psychology) and I seem determined to wait until the end of the year to do anything since I don't have any motivation at the moment. I've lately been spending my time playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal, which has been interesting, to say the least.

We're going to Mr. RHS tomorrow night, which should be fun, but we'll have to postpone our Chinese and Disney night ...perhaps until the summer! :O

Well, that's about it for now. Ciao!

I AM SO EXCITED I'M GOING TO MEXICO TONIIIIIGHT!!!!!

:D

Holy Period of Absence, Batman!

Ok, so I haven't been gone too long, but it has been quite a while nonetheless. You see, I meant to write, but then my internet went bonkers and finally stopped working alltogether. Anyway, now it's fixed and I can fill you in on what's been happening.

The boys lost state, I went shopping on State Street: it's a win-win situation really, lol. I had forgotten how much I loooove Pop Deluxe. Next time I go there (visiting Dana and Alyssa next fall perhaps?) I am sooo stopping buy and buying the whole freaking store! They have the absolute best selection of knick-knacks. Period. That's the second time I've said period. Period. (need mine to come before Mexico!)

Let's see, what else... oh yes. I ordered a different prom dress than originally intended. I like this one too, though it's not my dream dress, sniff. After my pinning session at the tailors, though, I feel like it'll end up looking pretty nice on me.

Eight days until Mexico! This countdown has kept me going for the past few weeks. I am in desperate need of this vacation.

Hmm, I decided to quit soccer and keep my job; a good move seeing as some of the other seniors quite too, Jenny included.

I think that's actually going to be it for now, I have a world history test tomorrow and I have a ton of AP English homework to attempt to get done. Really, if I can just make an attempt, I'll be happy with myself. Maybe. Probably. Not.

Umm, bye!

On to State!

First of all, the boys basketball team is going to state! It feels so good to be back, especially when we weren't even supposed to make it to the playoffs! I feel kind of bad now for not going to any of their games this season (though I did watch a few on the TV). Oh well, we shall all be there to support them on Thursday, not to mention going shopping in Madison! It's weird, this is the first year I will be staying with friends at state rather than my parents. Odd. More fun, but odd.

So anyway, the soccer issue has been decided in favor of work, though I feel bad for Katie and especially Jenny since they were by soccer buds. :(

No use crying over spilt milk though, the show must go on and all that jazz. The weather is getting nicer, I'm in desperate need of Nair, and I think I'll start walking daily again. That is, of course, if I stop being bombarded by homework! Anger at AP English, so much anger....though going to the library today for AP English was fun. We should do it more often! I love it at the library!

Hmm, not much else to say (that I can think of at least) right now. I should really be getting to my Commercial Art projects. Sigh. Much to do. Adios! Good luck Jets!

My Birthday! And Other Things.

Sooo, yesterday was my 18th birthday. Wow. I can't believe I'm a legal adult now. I don't feel any different except for this sort of looming responsibility I sort of see on the horizon. It feels odd to know that if something were to happen to my parents (God forbid) that I could legally just live alone and have to take care of myself. Wow. Scary thought. Enough of that.

So, I celebrated my birthday by going shopping with my mom on Saturday. It was a very quick, though successful, shopping trip up to the mall topped off by (what else?) Olive Garden! I now have tooooons of clothes to take pictures of and post on poupee girl, after a streak of having nothing new to post. I was mostly looking for things to wear in Mexico/ over the summer, so I got to go crazy with the fun colors and prints! It felt kind of odd to be shopping for regular clothes once again, rather than looking for things to go with my Lolita outfits. While I did splurge a little in Claire's, I walked right on past Hot Topic (le gasp!). I figure that I don't really have the money to spend on the overpriced mall-gawthy-ness, even though I do occasionally find lovely things in there.

Anyway, I spent my actual birthday lazing around the house in sweatpants, occasionally helping my mother clean the house. My mother then made one of my favorite meals (pork ribs, twice-baked potatos, and onion casserole mmmm!) and we had a proper dinner (by proper I mean that my mother, father, and I all sat and ate dinner together at the same time, lol). Shortly after that, I realized that I had a ton of homework to do...only part of which I actually did. Really now, some of these classes are just getting silly.

Overall, it was a pretty relaxed and low-key birthday for me.

On an unrelated note, I have my eye on this dress here for prom: http://www.nexteve.com/shop/evening-dresses/cream-off-shoulder-satin-F08_532.html
I'm unsure what color I want, but I'm leaning towards black. I would really like it in lilac or pink, but pastels are always soooo overdone at prom and I think the dress lends itself to a more refined and mature color. I need to make up my mind by Friday. Must ponder.

Also, I've been forced to make another decision in the next few days. Soccer or work?

After assuring Jenny that since I have always been able to do both in the past, it would definately work out for me to keep both my job and play soccer, it turns out I was wrong. After mentioning that I would only be able to work weekends to the management, it seems that I need to make a choice. They didn't really say it in so many words, but there's only one other person in my position that could cover all the weekday shifts, and it wouldn't be fair to her to have to do all of that work on top of school plus having to work the other weekend shifts. It's something I never thought about before, since there have always been more than just the two of us for the job in previous years.

I'm really stuck.

I NEED my job, it's where I get all my spending money, and I really need all the cash I can get to use as spending money in Mexico this spring. But I've played varsity soccer for three years, plus doing the badger state team in the summer, plus working at the soccer camp in the summer. I mean, I'm not passionate about sports as a whole, and I'm really not that good, so it shouldn't hurt the team much at all, especially considering we only lost two players from last year and are gaining a whole bunch of freshmen. I just don't want to be seen as a quitter, and I don't want to regret not playing later on. I've had some fun in the past, and I've made some contributions to the team, but I'm not irreplaceable by any means. When it comes right down to it, I need to look at my priorities. Keeping my job is more important to me right now than playing on a school sports team, especially when I was never a star player or anything and we were never stellar. The things is, too, that my coach has always been of the opinion that kids in high school shouldn't have jobs (lolwut? but whatever, he grew up in Belgium so perhaps they have different work ethics and age expectations, or maybe it's just a personal opinion). I remember when my brother had to miss practices and stuff for work, and our coach was not understanding at all. I also would feel bad about quitting soccer because of all the people I've been trying to recruit for the team and how excited I've been for the past few weeks leading up to the first practice (next week Monday). I've been encouraging all my friends to join and have been so excited about it lately, that I feel I would come off as completely fake or completely wishy-washy if I just up and quit.

Sigh. I just wish this wasn't such a tough decision, but hey, that's what BEING AN ADULT, means. Is it in any way ironic that the day after I turn 18, I'm faced with such a difficult decision? Meh, my life odd and often not fun. Case and point, I have one week to weigh my options about this issue, though I'm pretty sure I've made up my mind. Perhaps someone can convince me one way or the other or help me make the best decision?

If you are still reading this, I'll give you a cookie. XD

It's the Final Countdown!

Well, in one week, I shall be eighteen! An official adult! Legal! lol I don't know exactly how I am going to celebrate, since everyone is busy, but hopefully I'll find some way to have some fun! And so the countdown begins, seven days! :D

In other news, work was crazy busy today because of three different basketball teams plus parents who came in all within the span of three hours plus the other tables we had, one of which was a party of eight. What made matters worse was that our staff consisted of two cooks, a bartender, a waitress, and a hostess (me!), that is until we called in my mother to help waitress when the last huge group came in. It was pretty crazy. No, it was REALLY crazy. My poor, poor feet.

Anyway, today I fell in love with Meta's Surprise Party tiered skirt. I am going to reserve it, but I shall have to trust my mother to send in the reservation email since I will be at school when the reservation period starts, and I do NOT want to miss out on this. I'm not sure how popular these items will be/ whether or not other people are excited about them, so I'd rather not take the chance and make sure that my mother sends in the email RIGHT AWAY. Haha, I'm really abusing the CAPS LOCK today. XD

I went make up shopping today. Didn't get anytning too exciting.

Oh, and Happy March. I don't have to look at Rupert Grint's mug anymore, but Slughorn isn't any better, lol. (I am a nerd with my HBP calender of awesomenessssssss!XD)

Well, that's enough for today. Now I have to write up my paper on Frida Kahlo. Ciao.

People Make Me Crazy

Greetings,

Ever have one of those days where you just HATE people? Well today is one of those days. Maybe my lack of going out (due to the snow storm) had something to do with it, but as soon as I woke up this morning I knew that whomever crossed my path would feel my wrath!

This lady at work had the nerve to order nachos from me (I'm not a waittress, I'm a hostess, lady!) and then when she wanted more chips she just leaned back and snapped her fingers "MORE CHIPS!" and I had to meekly comply while I'm screaming "Get your own goddamn chips, woman!" on the inside. Besides this incident, this lady was talking obnoxiously loud and being a total bitch to her husband and her friends and I really had just wanted to snap at her. Believe me, when it's not busy at work and there aren't many people there, you can hear everyone's conversations, and this lady was getting on my nerve. It's the one thing I hate about slow days, having nothing to do but listen to the boring or rude people that come in.

But anyway...

When I ran errands with my mom, it was no better. It seemed to be everyone's personal mission to walk/drive/scooter as slow as they could directly in front of us. >:( At least I got some cute underwear on sale though... But at the grocery store, I swear, some people should not be allowed to push shopping carts. Every idiot who does not know how to stear or does not understand the concept of walking on the RIGHT! (it's how we drive here, it should be how we walk here too) was at the store the same time we were. And then you have the people who stop and chat with somebody else in the middle of a lane or an aisle and it's really crowded and they are completely oblivious to the fact that they are blocking the flow of traffic. Fools.

Lol, no, I do not have anger issues and I am totally not bitter. What are you talking about? ;P

On a completely unrelated note, last night I ended up watching Repo with the first audio commentary on. It was quite interesting, and also very entertaining. I really want to find out more about the twenty-some minutes they cut out of the end and the whole Marni's body subplot. Shame they had to cut it. Also a shame that they had practically no budget for that movie. Perhaps I shall watch the other commentary tonight. Who knows. I have homework to do. Random thoughts. Who's all coming shopping on my birthday (well, the day before)?

Can't think of anything else to say. Goodbye.

Coraline!

Hola!

Well, this little blog post will be full of my gushing about Coraline! ;'jd;lkjgaolsdfasda Ah! It was amazing! So I think it would be safest to say SPOILER ALERT!

The animation was superb and not painfully stop-motiony. It looked so beautiful and creepy at the same time! The perfect balance! The character designs were pretty sweet too. Coraline herself rocked that blue hair and her starry outfit was so cute, as well as her raincoat. I loved Wybie's bad posture and his helmet/mask/skull thing. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible were very uh, special, might be a good word here. ;) I wasn't really a fan of the parents' designs, (the Other Parents included) they had personality, but I don't know, seemed on the bland side. But! My favorite design was Mr. Bobinsky! I don't know if it was the fact that he was blue or that he had a major beer belly. . . but I couldn't help but love him so much!

The story was pretty good, especially in the beginning. After her second night with the Other Parents, it didn't seem to progress as it should. In the end, when she is playing the game with the Other Mother, it seemed like the standard video game plot. (You must collect the three eyes before facing the final boss...!) Despite this, it was still interesting and exciting, especially since it didn't really end there.

There was surprisingly alot of action in this movie. Now, mind you, I wasn't fortunate enough to see the 3-D version, though I am happy, in a way, because I think the 3-D ness might have been distracting. Anyway, it was definately creepy and bordering on scary. I know there was a group of kids that had to leave (when the Other Mother's needle hand came out from under the door) and I myself was creeped out by the buttons, the terrior dogs, and (most of all) the ghosts, specifically the tall girl ghost. I'm not sure why I was scared of her, perhaps the terrifying expression on her face... Oh, and I was also rather creeped out by Miss Forcible and Miss Spink when Coraline was getting the eye from them, how they were shouting for her to give it back. That, and when Coraline closes the door on the Other Mother after escaping from her web, when the Other Mother is pleading with Coraline. I always seemed to get the willies from that sort of thing.

SPOILERS OVER!

I loved this movie, and I really want to see it again! (ahem, Carrie, ahem) In addition to this, I also really want to check out the original book, since books tend to be better than movies. (That would make this book pretty freakin' sweet if you ask me :P) Also, I wish there were more movies like this: intersting, good animation, easily enjoyed by all age groups, not cheesy. Like many people (I hope) I'm sick of movies that consist of "Let's put some CG animals in a movie, give them some celebrities to do voice-overs, set it to some popular music, add some dancing and random, stupid, pop-culture funnyness and viola!" :(

Here's to hoping that Coraline might inspire more awesome animated films!

AP English

Hey there!

Well, right now I'm sitting at school in AP English class. I should be working on one of the many papers I have due for this class, but instead I find myself here, blogging.

I just checked out Lolita Charm, where Victoria was mentioning BABY, Angelic Pretty, and Metamorphose's new spring lines, and I can't help but love all of them! So far, Meta's is actually my favorite, if you can believe that, but I'm excited for the rerelease of BABY's Snow White Print, too.

Anyway, I've decided to do my research paper on Poe and his short stories. I figure that he writes interesting/creepy things and I would have fun reading his works, so it's all good.

I really want to see Coraline! Carrie! Will we see it tonight? You sounded like you didn't want to...but anyway. Everywhere I look, everyone says that it rocks, and it looks so awesome! Gah!

Let's see, what else is there to randomly remark about... Oh my goodness, I still have fifty mintues left of this class! Too much! Whatever shall I do? LJ? Sure, let's go with that!

Oh yes, last night, I had one of those mini-freak outs of mine where I feel so overwhelmed with business that I don't know where to start. What's worse is that I took a critical eye to my NaNo novel and decided that it is complete crap. I suppose that's what you get for writing in a month... even with the editing and rewriting that I'm doing now it is just so....lifeless! Sigh, but I suppose that I won't really know until somebody else reads it.

On that sad note, I leave to go divert myself from doing homework. Fare thee well!

Mini-Rant on Nothing of Importance

Heeeellllllooooooooo! (say it like that one episode of Seinfeld, ok? XD)

First of all, congrats to Kory and Alyssa for making Aida, and to Catey for having the guts to try out. Here's to hoping that her and I can do something backstage!

Right, now for my ranting....

Work today was the most boring day I have ever experienced! Though we had more tables than usual, I had nothing to do but sit people and buss the tables once they were done as I had cleaned and wrapped all the silverware there was the night before. This being the case, I just stood there most of the time, when I could have been at home working on one of the many AP English assignments I need to complete or commenting on poupee girl! I know, I have nice priorities :P

There's not much more to say, as I need to get ready while Catey is in the shower and think of something for us to do. I haven't written since last week, and I plan to do that tomorrow, alongside the tons of homework I must do. Oh, and skirts need to be sewn; if not this weekend then hopefully I can start next weekend, or even during the week if I don't work too much, though I'm almost certain that next week will be the same as this week. :( Ah well, it's not like I don't need the cash for Mexico, which I cannot wait for!

Oh, and today it is nice out, though I hate slush, even though it is a sign that spring is coming! I can't wait until everything is nice and green again! :D It's kind of scary, but it's almost soccer season! I hope we have a good team that can not only play well together, but that can also have fun together, though that may be a stretch! :

Well, I must get changed now. Goodbye!

Sneezes Cause Diseases

Hey there!

Sneeze. Sneeze. Sneeze. Why does this always happen to me? Why can't I sneeze like a normal person instead of thirty-some times in a row for three minutes straight followed by a fifteen mintue break then another three-minute burst?! I must have some sort of disorder :(

Anyway, noveling has been going alright, I guess. Today I've written 1005 words, which is very good considering I've been averaging about 500. This is also bad because a) none of this was new material, but rather fixing a plot detail that I had overlooked and b) because today is February 1st, the day we were all (Alyssa, Carrie and I) supposed to have our novels all edited and ready to go. Obviously, this did not happen. I broke 100 pages today and am currently at 64813 words, yet my novel is still nowhere near completed. There's still a two and a half chapter junk that I skipped over before that must now be written in as well as the ending of the novel that needs to be finished plus an epilogue. After that's all written, I have the pleasure of reading over the entire thing and editing once more. Fun.

Not.

But it's worth it I guess. This year, I'll finally have something to show for all my hard work! Yay! I want to have it all printed nice and I want to do an illustration or two for it as well. It's going to be awesome!

If I ever finish it . . .

Moving on! Today I got my fabric for my Mexico skirt as well as some really cute, sparkly, mint cupcake fabric for a new spring Lolita skirt (even though I already have a mint green skirt...still, this one has CUPCAKES AND POLKADOTS AND GLITTER!!!! ahem, Angelic Pretty anyone?) With all of this fabric laying around, I currently have four skirts to be sewn plus accessories. I'll have to have a sewing weekend one of these days, but work is making that a little difficult. Ah well.

Today is also the Super Bowl. Weird. I don't even know who is playing, but that doesn't surprise me because I hate football. I also have come to hate UFC fighting or whatever. Because of the supposedly important pay-per-view match last night, work was uber busy and I killed my feet running around trying to make sure things ran smoothly. I succeeded, though, so it's sort of worth it. And besides, watching two fit guys in tight shorts grabbing at eachother isn't all that bad :P

Here's to hoping I stop sneezing sometime soon. Now, where did I put that disinfectant?

Socks, Socks, OMG! Socks.

Hello there!

Well, after the craziness that was midterm exams/ finals, I emerge with a sickness. After waking up with a splitting headache and a mild cough, I stayed home rather than drag myself to school. At home, I slept, read, wrote, drew, window shopped, watched tv, and watched Repo! The Genetic Opera again. (Which is highly recommended, by the way, especially if you're in to gothy musicals, lol.)

Anywho, I've become obsessed with looking at different kinds of socks. Socks! Of all things I could find interesting on my day off, I choose to focus on socks! I think I'm suffering from lack of sleep, because I spent hours looking at the damn things... Why aren't socks more popular anyway? They're cute and interesting and sexy! I wish more people wore them... Then I could wear them more often! I used to wear black knee-highs all the time, but lately I've opted for tights instead. I have a pair of nice, plain white knee-highs that I wish I could wear with my sweeter outfits, but I have a feeling that the administration would be all over me then. :( Stupid hick town where practically everyone is the same! And I really want to wear my pink and white striped knee-highs as well, but don't have the guts or the patience to deal with stupid people and I dress odd enough as it is. Still, I can't help but devising plans to subtly wear awesome and cute socks in my daily outfits...I snuck in some black and white stiped ones yesterday under a pair of slacks with some flats... and there wasn't any lashback, so I'll take that as a good sign.

Anyway, sock rant over... Now I shall rant about NaNo...

As I continue to write and edit my novel from NaNoWriMo, I continue to wonder if it's any good at all or if it's just a pile of steaming crap. I'm hoping for the former, but can't help but think the later more likely. One reason for this is the fact that I took a years old story idea that I had forgotten about and tried to make it work last minute, which wasn't exactly the best approach for me, though I surprised myself in many instances by somehow making things work and connect when it seemed that I would lose all continuity. Next year, I'm going to make sure I write something with which I'm a little more comfortable, something young-adult and probably focused on teenage relationships with a hint of the supernatural thrown in, rather than the sword and socerey-esque thing I've got going on this year. I personally love to read that sort of fantasy, but I don't think I'm any good at writing it. So for the sake of sanity and probably lots of time as I will be writing my first college NaNo next year (woot!) I'm going to go for something a bit easier.

I don't know if I shall return to school tomorrow, for my headache keeps making miraculous comebacks, though my cough has been reduced to next-to-nothing. I fear, though, that if I stay home tomorrow, I shall be sitting at my computer, once again browsing socks...

Oh! One last shopping related note: My cute red heart purse from Forever21 has apparently been shipped! I never got a confirmation e-mail, much less a shipping e-mail, so I had been afraid that perhaps the transaction hadn't gone through. On a wimb I decided to check my account there and checked my recent orders and, lo and behold, it said that it had shipped two days ago! It should be here Friday, and I'm uber excited. I think I have a thing for purses too... mainly tote purses though. Hmm, totes and socks.

Rants over. Is anyone still reading? I salute you! XD

Back to Ye Olde Life

Happy New Year!

2009 is a much anticipated year for me; it's the year I graduate from high school! Yay for moving on and going off to college!

It bums me out though, leaving many of my friends behind, maybe even all of them (I'm looking at you, Catey!) and having to rough it out all alone. It's gotten to the point where I come to the song "For Good" on my Wicked soundtrack and I have to skip over it because it's just too damn sad, and I cry everytime! I remember them playing it during the senior slideshow a few years ago, and I hope they don't play it for us this year, otherwise I will be there crying in front of everyone! That would not be good. . .

Well, anyway, I had a nice, loooooong Christmas Vacation that has come to an end. In the morning, I shall have to wake up at some ungodly hour and resume my life as a high school student, if only for another semester and two weeks.

Despite my procrastination, I actually got a few things accomplished today! I drew out my storyboard for film and theatre class, not exactly the most difficult thing to do, but at least I did it! I also wrote about 2,500 words in on my NaNoWriMo Novel, which has been neglected lately. It makes me so happy that I'm finally getting around to writing in the scenes I had to cut before! I feel like it will finally come together and work!

Speaking of work, I work tomorrow night. Weird. I usually don't work Mondays.

Well, here's to another pointless post and the last few months of my high school education!