(40) Books of Love

Well it looks like we're nearly half done, plus 10. I certainly hope my writing has improved, but I'm not sure whether or not I count as a critic to my own work. One thing I've noticed after publishing and re-reading is my insane use of commas.
I'm a very slow reader. Not slow as in illiterate or anything; maybe I should instead use the term "enthusiastic". Instead of quickly skimming a paragraph or quickly reading to obtain all the information as soon as possible, I take my time and truly read each sentence. I've never read anything in a dull, flat, monotone manner, and surprisingly I think a lot of people I know tend to do this. Whenever I read something, its always been in an energetic manner and full of emotion, as if I'm listening to the perfect narrator tell a good story or teaching me new things in a textbook or article. And when I read like this, I take short and quick pauses every-so often, thus when I write things, I think about those pauses and over-use the commas when they're not necessary.
I doubt I sound the least bit unique; I'm pretty sure most of you read this way too. I guess the first thing that popped into my mind are the people that don't do it this way. I just find it so unusual.

So I've at least tried to lessen my use of commas, and I think there's been an improvement. Now, instead of commas, I use over-use hyphens, and I barely even know how a semi-colon actually works, and yet I use that all the time, too. So the process repeats!

I've really been trying to keep reading Random Family, which is the book about the young girl caught up in gangs, but so far I've fallen a little behind on that. And the Lovely Bones? Totally lost track. As for Random Family, my falling-behind is mostly blamed on my recent busy schedule and my lust for the television.

The biggest annoyance I have of myself is picking up a book and never finishing it. If it doesn't catch my attention at least in the first 4-5 chapters, I usually get bored with it and give up. This is a major flaw because sometimes, things add up in the middle, or even the end of a book, thus creating huge scenes and putting all the "boring" things together and ultimately creating a fantastic story. I know this, and yet I still put books away and never touch them again. Maybe along with my fear of being watched by ducks, I have a fear of wasting time with a bad book. All the reading, all that fluff in between chapters, all that anticipation for a huge turn of events and it never happens. Its almost like dating, I suppose. Weird analogy, I know, but let me back it up.
You find someone you think is really interesting, so you flirt, and talk, and always wonder "whats going to happen next, and when?". After days or weeks of putting forth your best effort with barely one mention of the first date yet (though perhaps some unfair teasing or hard-to-get tactics), you decide that it's really not going anywhere. So you move on and find a better book. Though you always wonder what could have been, you never quite look back. Eventually it was going to end anyway; you saved yourself a heartache!

Maybe I need book-relationship therapy. I'm missing out on all kinds of potentially great books. I over-use commas and don't know 100% how a semi-colon works, and I've been feeling the wrath of hyphens everywhere. Save me!

(38) Muzik

One of the most common questions to ask when getting to know someone is the type of music they're into. Well, my taste of music isn't really all that ordinary. I like/can tolerate just about every genre, but the ones I actually enjoy the most aren't the kinds you hear on the radio.

One of my favorite genres is techno, or electronica, whatever you want to call it. I've never been able to distinguish the difference between all its different sub-genres. I love the fast paced music, heavy bass, the melodies, and I love it when there are good vocals. Oddly enough, when people think of techno they just think of drugged-up club music, but I've been noticing the exact opposite. A lot of the techno I have is just as artistic as the other, specifically in regard to lyrics. Finding love, losing love, going through changes, etc.

I'm also absolutely in love with anything that falls into an ambient, spiritual, slow, jazzy, earthy type music. I've barely met any other person who likes it as much as I do, and the fan-base for these bands, such as Delerium, Blue Stone, or Enigma is pretty small.

Female-fronted metal bands are what my Zune mostly consists of, and that's probably what you'll catch me listening to on any given day. I don't know why. A lot of time I find it so unusual and unique how well it works that you can take gothy, dark, heavy sounds and then top it off with a woman's voice. Its odd and definitely not for everyone's tastes, but I love it!
A lot of time the women have really opera-like vocals, hitting notes that you won't hear too often in any other genre. So mixing that with the symphonic orchestras, pianos and violins, electric guitars, bass and drums, it completely captures me. This isn't to say all female fronted bands are always pretty and peaceful, some can be right out there with the "boys".

Overall, I think my taste in music is dark, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but kind of has a feminine ring to it. As of recently, its also not unusual to catch me listening to DevilDriver, Children of Bodom, or other "manly" bands like that. Not so long ago, I never used to like them because they all sounded the same, but I guess I never gave them a chance and now I'm growing onto them. I also love Gojira, every song sounds different, and they use all kinds of sound effects, like birds chirping or wind blowing, and other environmental-awareness-through-metal techniques like that. Here are some fun ones;

Finntroll - Folk-metal
Battlelore - Lord of the Rings Metal
Nightwish - Opera Metal
Gojira - Tree-Hugger Metal

(37) Heavy Heavy Low Low

The heavy workload I've been fighting lately is finally coming to an end, and I can already feel the burden lift off my shoulders.

My inDesign Project - Done.
Japanese Extra Credit - 3/4 done
Website - Done; though still waiting for for constructive criticism from a peer
Econ Tests - Done
Studied for J103 Color Theory Quiz Tomorrow Morning - Oh, shit.

So I have about two hours or so left of working which I'll finish tomorrow (NO I'm not procrastinating!), 30 minutes of color theory studying before I go to sleep tonight, and then I should be good to go for now. I can give myself a little break before the next round of projects and tests come around.
I've been so stressed lately that I've literally lost sleep and have driven myself to tears. And I still have two years to go here! How pathetic is that!? I'm gonna dieeeeeee.

Anyway, I went to the Health Center today, and I was impressed by the service. Maybe its because they weren't busy; I only had to wait about 20-30 minutes (which must be rare, everyone I've ever spoken to had to wait hours!). But the nurses were all really helpful and professional, I felt like I was back home at my regular doctor.

Okay, time to learn about pretty colors.

(36) Good

Today was a good day. Woke up extremely rested at around 12:30PM, which sounds lazy, but it certainly beats Saturday when I woke up at 3:30PM. Anyway, I went to Goodwill to buy a new pair of work pants and it was really crowded. Must've been some sort of event or something going on. Anyway, I didn't find anything until the moment I was about to leave and tada! Found the perfect pair.
Then I mozied on over to the gas station and filled up, and the guy behind the counter was really nice and we had a conversation for a fer minutes. He was Indian and was asking about my work, if we ever had Indian food (which we did, once!), and blah blah~
He was a nice dude.

Later, I went to work. I picked up a shift as Dining Room/Tray Attendant, and I'll never do that again. It was too boring. I forgot I even picked up up until Saturday, which really stressed me out because I had an Astro assignment to do, and a website to work on. And the shift was 5-10PM :(
Luckily, the Astro assignment was a piece of cake, and I can finish my website no problem by tomorrow night. However, I have an extra credit assignment for Japanese I need to do. Ugh.

Anyway, it was just a typically day of working and errands' runnin'.

Anyway, sounds like HvZ is intense this semester... again. Wish I were playing, but oooooh life.

(35) Cats

I think Animal Planet must be my new favorite station, because I find recently that I'm always watching it. I never used to though, I used to think it was really boring. Maybe there's just a good streak of new TV shows on that I'm finding interesting on AP, but so far I love watching Animal Planet (even if some of the shows are terrifying).

Cats 101 is on right now, and it really makes me miss my cats back home :(

I love cats. I don't know what is is about them, especially since they're often considered to be boring, unfriendly, and "stuck-up" when it comes to domesticated animals. But I disagree. I grew up with cats my whole life, and all the cats I've ever had were really friendly. But, naturally there was an exception.

Let me tell you the tale of Snow and Dallas.
Snow was a stray cat. We got her when she was a little kitten, and one of my elementary/middle school friends, Jaquese, was going door-to-door asking if we knew who it belonged to, or if we wanted it. Our old cat Mr. Bojangles had just died, and we're the type of people who say "We're not getting any more cats", only to wind up with a new one within the next few weeks/months. And here we go!
A brand new, beautiful white kitten, and we named her Snow. Boring name, yes. but I was around 13 and unoriginal and I got to name her.

So after awhile, maybe a month or so, we decided that she probably needed a little friend around since she was so little and full of energy. Unlike adult cats, little kittens aren't so independent and don't usually like to hang out alone. So we took off to the Humane Society and got a new cat, named Dallas.
If you can picture a cat with a personality, think of someone who never leaves their house, and is probably people-phobic; but at the same time, tremendously curious of every little thing that takes place around her. This is what Dallas was like. Sure she was nice, but she usually ran away and hid somewhere whenever we tried to go near her.
Anyway, Snow HATED this cat from the beginning. It's probably because Snow was there first, declared herself the dominant feline, and Dallas was the #1 threat to her royalty.
They got into some nasty cat-fights, and they both started "marking their territory" all over the house. Dallas wound up getting really skinny, and Snow got huge because she was eating all of Dallas' food.

Eventually, we had to get rid of both of them. They were causing too much drama and were ruining all the furniture. They weren't even friendly anymore. It was not a pretty place anymore for kitty-cats :(

So we decided to get rid of them, and took them both to the Humane Society and had to make excuses like "We're moving". The Humane Society likes to ask personal questions to try to talk you out of getting rid of your pets, and moving doesn't really slide as a good excuse these days. But it worked, because we certainly couldn't tell them why we were really getting rid of them, otherwise we were afraid no one would want them... Even though we thought the public deserved to know Snow (specifically), wasn't really house-broken.

I know that kittens born from or raised by domesticated cats can be easily house-broken since the mother teaches them everything, so that's how we learned that stray cats are a much different story. With Tigger and Harley Quinn however, we took in Harley as a stray that some of Jimmy's friend's were giving away, and because Tigger was the older, thus "dominant" one in the household, she wasn't threatened a bit by puny little Harley Quinn. Was she pissed that Harley was there? You betcha, but it certainly wasn't a Snow & Dallas case.

At the time, it was after Snow and Dallas that my dad put his foot down and declared "No more cats!"
About a year later we adopted "Honey Cat", now known as Toby. He lives at my dad's house, and he absolutely loves attention. Its hilarious. He knows his name so that he'll come when you call him.... actually, if you even look at him he'll come over and start begging for attention.

I Love Cats.

The End

(34) TV, Homework, and Health Rants

I got my haircut! I kinda like it. Though it feels different. I can't remember that last time I had my hair this length.

I have/had no plans for tonight, and its actually kinda nice, surprisingly. I'm taking this time tonight to work on my website for J101, and get a head start on my Astro homework for Monday. As I'm doing this, I'm wacthing some more terrifying shows on Animal Planet such as I Shouldn't Be Alive, and Monsters Inside Me.

Earlier, I was watching an interesting show called ....Someone-Oliver's Food Revolution, something like that. I learned how processed food and chicken nuggets are made, and as much as I love chicken, I'm starting to think twice about the kind that's served on campus, or that I eat when I make microwaved meals. He literally pulled out a raw chicken, cut off all the good meat, and then demonstrated how chicken nuggets were made... And it wasn't with the good meat. x_x

It mostly featured this Oliver man at a preschool/kindergarten, and some of the kids were so uneducated about basic healthy foods, that they couldn't even name vegetables that Oliver held up in a classroom (potatoes, tomatoes, celery, etc). I understand that they're 5-6 years old, but they must know the names of things; especially foods.
There was a scene where the lunch ladies, principle, and Oliver were arguing about utensils. Apparently, the kids don't get them because there's no need to have them. The lunch menus consist only of finger foods like sloppy joes, fries, tater tots, burgers, etc.
Though I can't remember, it makes me wonder if it was any different when I was in elementary school :/

How about you guys? Was healthy food ever available when you had lunch in school (assuming you were buying lunch, of course)? If so, did you ever actually eat it? x_x

(33) Scarecrows

Well it looks like its going to be sunny, but cold tomorrow. So long Spring weather... Until the day we meet again on Saturday.

I ate the unhealthiest dinner today. 3/4 of a persona pizza and some pop, and now I'm eating powdered donuts. I'm trying to flush out my body by downing glasses of water, but I don't think it's gonna help much. Salads and healthy foods tomorrow!

Anyway, today was completely average. Usually there's at least something interesting that happens on a daily basis, but I've got nothing to share today.
Well, there is one story, but its really embarrassing and I don't want to get into it. Usually I'm able to laugh off all of my embarrassing moments, but this was just totally unacceptable. Nothing happened in the aftermath of this embarrassing moment, but still.

In other news, today in Tei-sensei's class, Tei decided to confuse me and make me translate things. First he wanted me to translate something, but I thought I heard him say he wanted the translation of something else. So I translated something else, which was wrong. He then lectured. Then, he asked for me to try again, and to translate something else. I then though he wanted me to translate something, so I did, and I was wrong again. More lecture.
Its the difference between ~mashouka (shall we?) and "mashou (lets!)"
Easy as that. Well my lack of extreme Nihongo-knowledge made everyone turn around in their seats and look at me with faces like "Do you seriously not get this?"
Then I decided to act like a nuisance and be disruptive in class. My little comments like "Whatever.", or "OOOOOH.", and "No difference".
Seriously, if I translate something as "I like to listen to music", he'll turn around and tell me "That's not an A, what I'm looking for is 'I DO like to listen to music'". Hence my disruptive behavior. He didn't pay any attention to me though. Yay~
On my way out of class, he told me to study hard because I obviously have a new weakness.
BOO WHATEVER. OOOOH. NO DIFFERENCE.

Whenever I don't have subject material, it always falls back into my academic hardships. I'm sorry everyone. But it sincerely bothers me everyday :(

(32) Poverty Stole Your Golden Shoes, It Didn't Steal Your Laughter

I don't understand why so many Americans are oblivious to the fact that poverty does exist in Ameirca. I'd say I'm pretty pro-health care reform for the most part, but I know, and everyone knows, there's going to be a lot of work before it really starts making its impact, whether you see this as a positive one or a negative one.

Anyway, the reoccurring theme I keep seeing among citizens' opposers of the health care bill is obligation to pay for the health care of "high school drop-outs", "drug addicts", "deadbeats" and other fun things. We all know that these people exist, and its extremely unfortunate. But what no one wants to admit is that some people live in poverty completely void of choice. Most of it starts in the family.

Families are filled with drama. Deaths, fights, job losses, pregnancies, abuse, jail, money, marriage, divorce, you name it. So how someone can just assume that a complete stranger had all the opportunity in the world to attend college, or to forget about the bad things that strike their homes on a daily basis and make their lives a perfect fantasy world. How can people assume so easily that making decisions concerning your life are so easy? At the same time, once someone makes the wrong one, all credibility on their behalf is lost, you had your chance, you threw it away. They deserve it because they chose that path.
Use your last $50 to send in the application fee for college, or stock the refrigerator. Which is the right decision?
Regardless of the fantasy world people are living in, not everyone gets the same opportunities. If you're a college grad or a student, you don't know how lucky you are.
Poverty has a terrible connotation that all blame completely falls into the shoulders of the one who is affected by it. Its as if there is no excuse. But the reality is, there are plenty of reasons why someone might be less fortunate. People run away from abusive partners with nothing but a car and $20 in their pocket. Or people open up businesses that don't succeed. Young women who get pregnant usually keep their babies, usually end up as a single parent. People get into accidents and become disabled living off disability checks. People get their identities stolen, and never get them back. Any of these, and far more legitimate reasons, can eventually lead to... poverty.

It actually makes me wonder how a nation can be filled with such narrow minded people, and yet there's a charity for everything; and you're put up on a pedestal for donating to charities. Charities, many of which can benefit families living in poverty. Why is this okay, but not tax dollars? Because one can control the amount of money that's donated, and you get to pick who you think is most deserving? Sounds a bit sketchy, to me.
Call me overly compassionate, but I can honestly say that I don't mind that my tax dollars are going toward people who are less fortunate, especially considering health-care. If it winds up in the hands of drug-addicts or deadbeats, that's one thing. But if it helps out a family striving to make the best of their lives while working for and granted with so little in return, I'd say that's okay with me.
Besides my mom and my brother (though he's dropped out quite a few times), I'm the only one who reached a university-level education and had this opportunity to do whatever I want when it comes to my education and dreams for the future.

I'm definitely not the most politically-inclined person in the world, but I guess this is just my two-cents. I guess I'm basically trying to say that poverty does exist, and it strikes the homes of many of its least-deserving people. I don't understand the fantasy world people think America is.

(31) This Post Is About My Hygiene. Who Cares? But It's Still a Blog.

I'm thinking about getting my haircut this Saturday, possibly chopping off about 3+ inches. That doesn't sound like much, but it will certainly leave my hair at or just above my shoulders. Sure it won't be a dramatic change, but I guess there's something about the seasons' changing that makes me want to change my hairstyle. Every fall I want something new, every spring I want something new.
I've been trying to grow out my hair super-model style, with lucious locks to dance in the wind. But that hasn't been working out too well. I'm thinking the problem is all the crazy layers I have in my hair. So that's what I want chopped off, and they take up about 3 inches (what a coincidence!). If I get a nice clean cut without any distinct layers, hopefully it will have a better impact on how quickly and efficiently my hair decides to grow out. But, as some of you [hopefully] know, I don't like boring things, especially in terms of my haircuts. There are ways to make a clean cut "~edgy~" and "~dangerous~" and "~sexy~", and I will certainly make sure I obtain at least 2/3 of those listed adjectives.

So I took a shower tonight. Usually I take them every morning, but I want to see if maybe saving that extra 20 minutes every morning will put me in a better mood, thus making a better day. I've often considered waking up earlier, but there's just something about me that won't let me leave my bed anytime before 8:00AM.
So if those 20 minutes are saved rather than spent in the shower, I can stop downstairs for coffee/quick breakfast to-go, not having to rush to get ready and then run out of my room 10 minutes before class in the Cooper Science building only to realize I forgot something, I might actually make it on time to class for once, or even just sleep for that extra 20 minutes.
So far I'm liking the idea of taking a mere 5 minutes every morning to wash my face and brush my teeth first thing. Even 15 minutes is plenty!

I bought these great pair of boots off of Udresses.com. Awesome things, but also extremely questionable. Designer labeled clothes for $30? Really?
Anyway, I bought a size 7, which is my size, but it must be a little different than from what-ever-country-it-actually-came-from. They fit, but they feel a little too small and squish my toes. I'd return them, but I had to wait weeks for these to finally deliver. It would take much too long, I'm impatient, and I think their return policy includes a hefty re-stocking free. So I decided to still wear them in hopes that they'll break in and loosen up a bit, but there's been no improvement in the feel of the boots, yet.
Well I certainly hope they don't cause any health problems regarding my little footsies. Summer is coming soon anyway so I won't need them for long.

(30) Phobia

Well I certainly can't tell you about the Econ test, I'm sure you can imagine the grade I got. I know I didn't study for very long, but I didn't think there was any need to slave over it. His quizzes are based on all of the tests in the back of each chapter, and this one was no different. I feel like I should have passed. I can't even begin to wonder which questions I got wrong.

I'm not saying I just went ahead and avoided all the rest of the material, I reviewed all of my notes and went through the chapter and found all the key terms. Nor am I saying I just blindly memorized the answers on the practice quizzes. If I knew the answer, good. If not, I looked at the answer key and figured out why something was the answer for each question and by the time I was finished studying, I felt 100% confident that the test was going to be a breeze. But is this still not the right way to study?
I walked out of there thinking I did great, only to check my score and see that I missed a C- by 2 points. My grade was a D, therefore my grade stays the same. A D.
You all must be tired of this contstant "I can't take tests!" theme, but I just can't figure out what it is! And whether or not I pass this semester runs through my mind everyday.

I don't have a problem with other classes, such as literature or anything, but throw in some charts and formulas and I shift into to panic mode. I always end my quizzes and tests thinking I did great, when well... quite the contrary. I must have some sort of test-phobia or something, I read and disect every question as hard as I can, because I'm conistently under the impression that the instructor is trying to trick me; that the smallest detail in the most general question is going to fail me.

Well I'm just going to end it here, I've got a paper to write on health care that I really don't want to write about. But since I can write A+ papers with a breeze (including credible research and an in-depth thought process), at least I can focus on my actual strengths for the rest of night.
As a matter of fact, I rarely every recieve less than a B on a research paper, even opinion or analysis papers. See?
Research, research, research, present, success, A+.
Study, study, study, test, fail.

Ask me anything about a subject I've been studying, I can answer it for you. Hell, I'll write a paper for you based on everything I've learned, closed-book!
Ask me in 4-5 multipule choice questions, and you will learn nothing from me.

Okay, okay. Sorry I'm just getting arrogant now.

(28) Pants Pants Revolution

People seem to think that my type of style is "Business Casual", which sounds absolutely boring. Business causual sounds like it isn't associated with personality of any kind. I believe the culprit to this accusation comes from my pants; not jeans, pants. I love wearing pants (lol that sounds funny). Like jeans, they match just about everything, not to mention they're much more comfortable. Even though jeans are meant to be form fitting and slim, I feel nothing more than trapped while wearing them. But pants always look slimming to me, but still manage to be loose fitting.
I can't stand the way I feel in [women's] denim. Jeans are tight, they cling to your legs and almost have to be "peeled" off at the end of the day, they need to be "broken in" until they're decently comfortable, they shrink in between every wash, and the hem on the bottoms usually drag on the ground, which then can pretty much ruin them within a few weeks.

Denim is not soft. But good jeans with softer more "movable" denim are expensive jeans. Quality denim is well worth having over any other kind of denim, but the prices are pretty outrageous. I've had a few pairs of jeans well over $50, even $70, and they certainly lasted. But at the same time it saves me quite a bit of cash to instead go for the much more comfortable (even cheap pairs) and much more affordable pants. I can also find some super nice comfy pants at crazy low prices.

Also, I like wearing nice shirts most of the time. Although I love t-shirts, I can't wear them everyday, that's boring. I love to wear shirts that are more unique, like sweaters, cardigans, and the like. Now pair this with pants I love, and suddenly I'm business casual.
I think I need to come up with a plan on how I can wear nice shirts and nice pants without looking like I'm headed to an interview or a day at the office. People always seem to ask "Why are you do dresses up?", when really I'm dressed the way I always look. Its always fun with Kara when she responds with "Sam always looks nice!". Haha

Then there are the people who "don't get it" when people dress up for class. I'm probably one of those people they don't get. Well I don't get it when people just roll out of bed and go to class. You look awful. Take a shower, at least try to look like you care.
Actually, I do that sometimes. Especially when it comes to work on Sunday mornings. But that's a whole different story. And I'm just making an argument ;p

Anyway, I think I'm going to try and come up with some ideas from..... Lookbook!
I wonder what I'll find....

(27) I don't know anything about guns, Now let me tell you about them

I have so much to do this weekend, study wise. Econ test on Monday, Econ midterm on Wednesday. inDesign project due Tuesday, moon observations due Friday.
School is kicking my butt this semester, especially econ and astro!
If I don't pass those classes i don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I just gotta keep working hard and always keep a positive attitude!

Now let me tell you what I think about guns.
I think that some people become obsessive about their firearms, and the fact alone that they have the power of a weapon seems to fuel thier consistent fear that something terrible is soon coming to them, and that their gun is thier only tool for self-defense and survival. That they need it, that it needs to be there with the the moment they enter or leave their home. That the world is just too dangerous.
On the other hand, it is an excellent to tool to defend yourself if some vicious beast of a human being attacks you.
My dad loves his guns. No, he's not a redneck with a pick-up truck, though he does drive a semi-truck for a living and has a badass Harley. He's a super clean man, awesome man, with a nice townhouse and a friendly cat, Toby. Toby is also neat and tidy.
He took me to the shooting range over winter break and it was pretty cool if I do say so myself. Later he posted a status about it on facebook telling everyone he took is lovely lil' daughter to go shoot some guns, and then some man named Howard posted a response in complete shock; "Do you really think its a good idea to start arming the women!!!??"
My dad basically said "Of course! Everyone should be armed!! There'd be less crime" blabbity blah gun-rants~

I naturally agreed that sure, everyone could-but not necessarily should be armed, but Mr. Howard made my feminsist-infested senses go berserk. If anyone should be armed, I think it ought to be women!
I could've slammed Mr.Howard with all types of statics and the good-stuff, but because I didn't want to start a battle that'd I'd definitely win on my dear old papa's friendly facebook page, it just told him "I'M OFFENDED, MR. HOWARD" and left it at that. his response was "Well, I'm just sayin...."
Boooooo you Howard man.

Anyway, let me tell you about teen pregnancy.
OMG EVERYONE'S HAVING BABIES. WELFARE FOR EVERYONE!

And that's pretty much it.

(26) Bowling, Movies, and New Eyebrows

Today was good. The weather is great, I didn't have Japanese, I found some great deals at Plato's Closet, and I got to hang out with some friends that I haven't been spending much time with as of lately.

So lemme start with my fashion rant! I went to Plato's Closet today because I had some extra money to burn, and thought I'd spoil myself with some "new" clothes, while still making sure to do so in the absolute cheapest way possible. The moment I walked in I bumped into a super great quality pair of Express "City Shorts", more-so like capris, but end just above the knee. As a matter of fact, I found two pairs, both happened to be just my size!
I remember two summers ago when I was working at Express and the city shorts were just being introduced. All of us were encouraged to buy some so we can wear them to work and promote them, but even with the discount, there was no way I was coughing up $50+ bucks for a pair of fancy capri pants! Well, Plato's had them for $12 each. Take that.
On the shuttle bus-ride back to campus from the stadium, I bumped into Miho. We know each other from Club Japan, but we've never really spoken. For some reason I just decided to sit next to her and strike up a conversation. At first she had no idea who I was, but then I told her that I go to Club Japan, in which she responded, "Ahh! Snow White!".

Afterwards, Abe called me up to inform me that the good 'ol gang decided to go to the student center to bowl for it's grand re-opening. Even though all of us were pretty okay (except Mr. LOUIS, who pwned all of us), it was a blast. I beat my own personal record of, oh, anywhere from 0-20 and got a whopping 71 points by the end of the game. Within my first few turns, I realized how good I was doing and ultimately jinxed it; I then did as poorly as I've ever done. Most of us went to Abe's house and watched The Princess and the Frog. I ended up dozing off a few times, but once Abe came over and poked me I snapped out of it and remained awake. lol
There's just something about watching movies that puts me to sleep. I don't know if I don't have the attention span, or if its just one of things for me that puts people to sleep; like music or hot milk, or laying in bed with the TV on.
Basically we then had a big gaming party, everyone was playing a game of some type! I promise we'll play Power Lunch next time, k? ;p
I definitely missed hanging out with them. I've honestly been doing pretty poorly this semesters, especially with Astro and Econ, so I've been spending a lot of time studying, and then keeping up with a relationship, other groups of friends, apartment searching... it's been busy @_@

Afterwards, I came home and decided to watch some makeup tutorials on Youtube. There was a video about eyebrow tweezing, and I suddenly had the urge to reshape my eyebrows. So I did. For the most part I did a pretty good job (been tweezin' since elementary school; you could say I know the ropes), but I actually made a hilarious mistake on my right eyebrow, but I can just "draw" in the mission section with eyeliner and no one will ever know.... unless of course you read my blog.....

(25) Goodbye Facebook?

So I went to a PR meeting that my J101 professor mentioned today. I thought it was going to be an informational meeting about PR in general, but it discussed the changes coming to the Journalism Department and, well, how it's going to affect PR majors. Totally boring, totally a waste of time.

But one thing I found particularly interesting is that one of the professors mentioned that like MySpace, the reign of both Facebook and even Twitter will soon come to an end. There are already new social networking websites in the making, and its estimated that within 18 months, Facebook will be as dead as MySpace.
I wasn't able to find any links or articles about it, but the closest thing I did find was an article about an upcoming site called Ning. Check it out, seems pretty cool the way they described it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/technology/03social.html?ex=1330578000&en=f718f182170673a4&ei=5088

To me, aside from commenting on your friends' walls or posting pictures, and although you can kill some time looking through people's pages and reading the news feed, Facebook is really childish. This has taken a huge turn-around from the time it was still relatively new; back when it was the "sophisticated" alternative to Myspace, specifically for college students. Maybe it really was the addition of high school students to Facebook that snowballed into the distaster it is today. Different demands? Different attitudes? Different expectations? And when a high percentage of users are demanding change, well, its bound happen eventually I suppose.

For example, the fan pages are typically nothing more than vague, sexist, unoriginal, non-unique, or just plain unnecessary, such as the fan page "I write in a weird combination of cursive and print". Sometimes I just want to ask people "Who cares?"

And the games are probably fun, sure, but certainly no one cares about someone's else's progress, especially when your news feed is flooded with news about a game you don't even play.
And as everyone knows my now, your personal life can easily be taken to the news page, next thing you know, even if your statuses were meant to reach a small group of people, people seem to forget that users you haven't spoken to in years know all about your bad breakup, your new baby, your opinions of other people, your hangover, your bad decisions, and everything else that would otherwise be kept private if clicking "submit" wasn't so easy.
And with this, real life social networking is on its wasy out, too. No longer is it necessary to make friends first and then add them on facebook, its become socially acceptable to instead add them first. If rejected, er, ignored, we keep clear in real life.

So regardless of actual social issues, in terms of applications I really do think Facebook has plummeted ever since the introduction of the applications. Some were really fun and did make Facebook a bit more user-friendly, like the Music App, Graffiti, Places I've Traveled, and so on. I'd delete my page, but I do still use it to keep up with quite a few people, and I guess I can't deny that it is a pretty good time killer.

Anyway, if I do join the next big thing with social networking sites, I certainly hope it stays classy like Facebook used to be. A couple games here and there, some applications I suppose, but I certainly hope it stays away from all the hype of giving users every little thing in their wildest dreams they can think of.

(24) Okay, Back to Normal Business

So I just finished my InDesign project, which I poured nearly 8 hours into, and it looks terrible. I swear I've already forgotten everything I know. Its only the draft copies, so I'm sure that if at least its been done, I'll get some credit. Hopefully a decent amount T__T
Anyway, this is semester is kicking my ass. Summer break can't come soon enough.'

So I started lifting widdle weights to try and tone up my arms, and I'm kinda sore today. Its only day two of that, too. Oh well, soon I shall obtain sexy slender arms.

I'm in the Robert Bell lab right now and I feel really awkward because people are reading this as they walk by. I think I'm going to return to my dorm and go to bed. I've been in front of the computer nearly all day @_@

(23) Sorry Boys, But I Just 'Gotta Rant

Like the tag says boys, sorry. This post is going to be about tampons and feminine pads. Why you ask?
Because of their advertising. It seems to be a very serious issue among young women. Girls everywhere seem to be infuriated by the advertisements shown on TV, myself not included. The other day, Kara posted this link on my Facebook wall:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8JXNfn/open.salon.com/blog/velina/2009/02/06/so_funny_i_did_not_change_a_word

I'm not sure whether it was truely and actual letter or not, but tts purely meant to be funny in nature. I found it absolutely atrocious. This woman is honestly asking the maxi-pad companies to stop portraying women as being so happy and carefree during their cycles, and to start portraying them as animals; you know, the way all women really are during their time of the month. Not only is she making herself sound like an escaped mad woman, but she safely assumes that she's speaking for women everywhere. Now I've heard some girls complain about the commercials here and there, but no one seems to have a better idea on how these companies ought to otherwise advertise, Why hasn't anyone thought of the alternative?
The thing is, when something is really not fun but you have to go through with it, the first thing that one would do is shed some light on it. Make it seem like its not so bad, that there are still opportunities out there to live your life and, well, go bowling or swimming with your friends. So what if the companies did stop making the corny, pop-music infused, lively commercials that we see everyday? What would they be like?

Boring, most likely. It would be like advertising for Q-tips or dish towels. And if they did try to make them lively and interesting, I think it would be pretty easy for the commercials to somehow succumb to some type of sexism, such as the stereotype of "crazy PMS-ing women going on rampages" (the writer's suggestion of changing the slogan to "Put the Hammer Down").

If the advertisements were to change, the type of commercial I can imagine would be a girl sitting in a gloomy room, lifelessly looking out the window; watching children play, staying home as all her friends go out and thinking of all the great times she could have, "if only she wasn't on her cycle". Then, once you think it can't get any more depressing, the logo slowly and silently fades into the picture with their new slogan "We're here for you in your time of need"
Sorry tampon and maxi pad manufacturers, but I'm not sold. Even toilet paper commercials are more interesting than that, with babies, cartoon bears, and cute puppies thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, the furious letters from crampy teen girls everywhere must have finally caught the attention of the companies. Today, I saw a depressing period commercial.

It wasn't all about the doom-and-gloom on TV that soon awaits us women everywhere, but it was a young woman sitting in a chair in her bedroom talking about her period, and how the commercials are completely fake. She's completely unenthusiastic about, well, everything. She was just talking about bleeding from the crotch and trying to make jokes. Finally, the new [can't remember] slogan "Tampon commercials are lame!" comes about, with really abstract graphics.
Well ladies, you've won. I'm not advocating for the cheesy commercials that we once had, but I didn't understand the hype that came with it. While this company takes it upon itself to depress women everywhere in hopes of cheering them up, I'll anxiously await "Mother Nature" as she delivers her monthly red ribboned gift to women everywhere who've been caught off guard. They're cute and they've always made me smirk.

(22) Maxium Power

Greetings,

I awoke this gloomy morning feeling as energized as usual; typically at 80% of my maximum power source. Each night upon the midnight and witching hours, I like to charge for at least 8 hours for the opportunity of reaching my full potential the following day. Typically the 8 hours does quite well, thought often I will engage in the drinking of a Maximus Energy hot, caffeinated beverage. I was extremely close to shutting down into a hibernation state in the middle of a course on Economics of Earth, but my backup energy sources kept me stable and I made it to a safe-zone just in the brink of time before the shut down phase began. Because of this high-maintence emergency, I was forced to sacrifice the class of world languages' Japanese 102.

After a mere 3 hours of recharging in my resting lair, my energy took a fantastic spike. Due to my unconscious nature, it wasn't until I reached a 64% energy level that I was able to unplug and roam freely. However, I had missed a very important gathering. I wanted to learn all about robots at a place called AASA. I wanted to finally understand how they obtain this phenomenon of energy to move, and how its recharged when it runs low, or how much of this energy is used to let them move. I wanted to learn about all the fantastic energy that robots are filled with... But it seems as though I must leave these questions to conduct my own research. Perhaps one day I will learn the mystery of my kind.

By the time I left the Mothership known as Lafollette, my energy had slightly increased to a 73%. I was summoned to Noyer for a supercharge, and began to walk. There, I ate many delicious energy items with some great like-bodied company, and finally reached my goal energy level of about 90%.

When the super-charging was completed, we left the Noyer sheltering and feeding complex. Outside, we rendezvoused with other well-known fellow like-bodied individuals and initiated conversation. These like-bodied individuals were unique; they created unusual reactions and sensations in other people, causing maniac laughter...
With companions called Abraham and Kyle, I headed to the field of competitive sports, but Abraham departed upon the Johnson sheltering complex. Kyle and myself drove my traveling automobile to a pharmacy, where many body-enhancing, consumable, miniature pebbles are sold, as well as a wide selection of fantastic super-charging items. I bought myself and the like-bodied individual known as Kyle two bags of Jellybeans. But the real mission was to find some lustering finish for the proper wash and care of my unusual face. I obtained this item.

When the mission was accomplished, we later studied world languages in a lounge of the Mothership, focusing on Japanese. It was tough and time consuming, but surely the professors of doom-and-gloom will give us A's in exchange for such stressing behavior. As of now I feel my energy level of a current 67% slowly falling. I hope to retain as much energy as I can to continue my studies of Earth Media for tomorrow's test. It may be a long night ahead, but I do wish that the energy consumed shall result in reward.

So it concludes my day today of March 15th, 2010. Perhaps another day will come soon with such adventurous spirits.

Until then....

farewell.

(21) Tired and Hungry

What a long drive. It was especially long because all this time I've been told that this part of Indiana doesn't change their clocks for daylight savings!
I left my house at 6:30PM after dinner and a visit with my dad, so since my dad informed me that this zone doesn't change thier clocks and it was 6:30 in Muncie too, I thought I'd make it to BSU by 10. Plenty of time.
Well, I guess I actually got here at 11 because eastern time zone totally changes their clocks every year like the rest of Amurika. So, that means I missed the shuttle bus from the stadium to Lafollette....
Well, at the Bus Stop I bumped into Aenea and Ralph! So it wasn't so bad. We chatted and came to the conclusion the bus was obviously not coming, so I called Mr. Kyle and he came to pick us up so we wouldn't have to walk. Thank you buddy~!
So even though its still relatively early, I thought I was wide awake but suddenly I feel very tired. A little hungry too, but there's nothing I can do about that part.
So I'm off to bed! Off to enjoy an agonizing session of Astro 100, followed by work, Econ, and Japanese with Hara-sensei. Then, the highlight of AASA will come. Then, I will slave away and study for my Econ midterm on Wednesday. Which I should have been doing all break, but.... you know. It was spring break...

(20) A Day of Colors

The highlights of my day today were visiting my grandma again, and bleaching a lampshade. Both my grandma and Chuck seemed really chipper today, so I was glad to be there. It was a short visit, only about an hour and a half, but a good one. She gave me snacks! ;D
Afterwards, I came back home to pick up my mom and we went to Home Depot to pick out a paint color for my room. It was a tough match between Gypsy Magic and Hourly Phantom, but the Phantom won against the Gypsy. Both are lavendar-violet colors, but I liked the phantom color more because it had a red tint to it, but it's still very light so that one will not be "consumed" by the room once its fully painted. Yay pretty colors.
Then we came home to a lovely dinner awaiting, my mom had been cooking a roast all day and it was finally ready. Good home cookin', soon to be abandoned again for schoolin' and cafeteria food ;(

As I went down to my room to check my email, I looked over at my favorite antique lamp and suddenly I became really grossed out by it. By a lamp, you ask?
Yes, because it used to belong to my dear old gramma before she gave it to me, and let me remind you she smokes a lot. So even after all the years I've owned this lamp, its never quite dawned on me that the color of the lampshade is more than likely supposed to be a light yellow color, not orange.
So I bleached it. I bleached a lampshade. It took a lot of work because I didn't have a big sink to submerge it into, but I was able to restore it back to its natural color. With a little scrubbing and finally deciding to just let it soak in the washer for about an hour, it sure made a difference. I wish I could say it looks as good as new, but that would be such a lie. It kinda fell apart in a few places on the inside, but it's nothing that a little scotch tape can't fix.
Anyway, its made all the difference in lighting up my room. To think that all the smoke residue has been sitting there all this time, and I never even noticed. Makes it sound like I live in a really questionable house, but I swear my house is totally sanitary!

(19) Mitsuwhat?

I went to Mitsuwa today! Its a giant grocery, book, food-court, bakery, and etc. Japanese themed store. Mostly grocery, but it has plenty of perks.

I went with Kyle, and it was super fun. I finally got to have some anpan (and Kyle never tried it before), which is bread filled with sweet red-bean paste. Sounds terrible, but its fantastic. Also, bubble tea!
I really wanted to buy something, but nothing really stood out, surprisingly. There were some CDs I would've bought, but $27 for a Gackt CD with 4 songs? $30 for a W-inds greatest hits album? I don't think so.

Afterwards we returned to Kyle's place and watched some scary shit on Animal Planet, like "Monsters Inside Me", which are stories about people who have been infected with parasites, along with a documentary-like theme of describing the effects that those parasites have on the human body. Then, we watched "I Shouldn't Be Alive", which are more true stories about people getting into terrible, usually intensely painful, life-threatening situations, but living to tell the tales. After those were over, we switched the station over to MSNBC and watched Locked-Up about some ordinary looking man, nice glasses, nice neatly trimmed mustache, and very well spoken and intelligent. Minus the full body tattoos, he continued to tell the interviewers about the gang he was in and all the rival gang members he casually decided to slaughter while in prison.

And now its 3:17 AM, I'm home, and I oughta go to bed.
Also, I received a fantastic gift. A super soft, fluffy lil' Bunny. Stuffed animal, of course. I love rabbits. I just re-read this post and it's so full of fail. That's okay, more motivation to start updating at a better hour.

(18) Chicago, a Place For Love....?

So I'm downtown at UIC with Kara and Lindsay. So far, we've had a blast! We (tried) to go to the Art Institute, but didn't quite make it before it started closing. So we headed on out to Boarders, and this is where we made some odd discoveries about a few couples in the downtown area.

First, there was the Myspace couple. We're calling them this because we have a feeling they must've met on Myspace or some other online dating website. Anyway, the woman was extremely disappointed. It looks like she was expecting someone "different" and that "he looks shorter" in real life. Lindsay is the one who overheard the conversation in the opposite aisle, so I don't know any of the dirty details.

Once Lindsay told us about the juicy gossip she was over-hearing, we all casually decided to walk past the aisle. The guy kept asking her if she liked what she saw, and the response was usually along the lines of "Well...." It finally got the point where the woman asked to take the conversation outside.

Then, there was the liberal vs. conservative couple in the table behind us at a fantastic little Greek place called "Artopolis". Arguing about health care and the like. It was hard to tune into because of all the noise and commotion in the restaurant, but amusing nonetheless.

On the opposite side of our table was the double date with a mean lady. Again, I didn't quite hear anything except for "I don't even want to talk about this anymore. You're so small-minded".

On our way out from the restaurant, there was the PDA couple. Up against a brick wall making out and excessively touching each other on a public street. w00t.

Then of course, there was me. Tomorrow I've got a busy day going to Mitsuwa and Valplayso, and someone decided to give me the bad news that he wasn't able to get the car for tomorrow. Well I couldn't text him back because I was driving, so I called him (which I guess isn't too much safer) to try to work out the details of how we'll do things tomorrow. He didn't pick up his phone, so I thought it would be funny to leave him a "crazy girlfriend" voice mail, yelling that there was no way he was smuggling himself out of our day tomorrow, and that I was coming to get him tomorrow, and that he better be ready when I get there. And then I hung up.

My biggest flaw with these "funny"things I do is that I forget to make sure to imply that my intention is to be funny and playful, rather than angry and obsessive. So I guess he took it the wrong way until I sent him a text message an hour or so later letting him know that I was only trying to be funny.

(17) Depressing Post

Nothing too much out of the ordinary. Went to go visit my gramma today, and she's doing okay I suppose. I have both a strong happiness and a sadness whenever I go to see her. I'm extremely close to her, and she's always been a huge part of my life ever since I was a baby, so I'm always happy to see her. But it makes me sad seeing her in the helpless state she's in, because she's so sick. Everything is a struggle for her. But at least she doesn't live alone, my uncle Chuck is there to do all the things she needs, like grocery shopping, doctor visits, and of course she's always got someone to keep her company.
Whats really depressing is that I seem to be the only one in the family who actively makes sure to visit her as often as I can, as well as helping her out with all the little things and chores around the house that she can't get done. It seems like everyone else has just given up on her, like they've expected her to be gone by now.
Well I'm visiting her again on Saturday before I leave on Sunday, so it will be nice. My grandma is such a chatterbox, too. So at least its not like we have long, sad, awkward visits. My grandma may be sick but somehow, she still manages to bring all the life to the party.

In other less depressing news, I went to go apply for a job at Hooter's today. Yeah, the one with the girls in orange short-shorts and well, boobs. They seem to be one of the only places around that are willing to hire me for the summer and other breaks while I still attend school. I read a couple stories online from girls who have worked there, and there seems to be a re-occurring theme of "fun". I didn't come across anything about daily harassment or anything of the sort, and overall it seems like a lot of the reviews were pretty good. Plus, I figure a job is a job. I'd only be there for about three months.
I asked my mom if she'd be mad at me if I worked there, and her first response was that she wouldn't be mad, but doesn't think I've got what it takes "on top". lol, mom.

(16) I'm Talkin' 'bout Chi-Town

I must have taken the world's most magical nap today. Usually, after naps I feel tired, groggy, and usually wind-up with a headache. But today I took a one hour power nap and woke up feeling completely energized and ready to go out and do something dangerous! Starting with a coffee-shop catching up with my dear ol' buddy Nick Fedora, and then a super spontaneous drive to Chicago!

I absolutely love Chicago. Its such a beautiful city and I've never appreciated it until I moved away from it. Every time I'm home now, I make sure I hop on the train and go downtown at least once, but certainly aim for a few visits. There's so much that it has to offer, and even though I usually have everything I need in the suburbs, Chicago just gives everything a different feeling.
I may not know the whole city like many of my friends do, but I think I'm getting used to making my way around on my own. I'm starting to get to know most of the downtown area, such as Michigan Avenue and State Street, among the other main downtown-roads. But I want to get to know all the surrounding areas so that eventually I can confidently drive there myself without driving myself in circles trying to get around. Though I think I did pretty decently well when we drove to Utada, I was pretty surprised myself that we made it to Michigan Avenue without a problem. ;p

One day, I want to live there. Sure,the suburbs (which even include NW Indiana) are great, and it's only a 30 minute drive to downtown from my house, but living there would allow me to really experience things from a totally new perspective.

I've always had the feeling that after school is done with for good, that I'm going to have a lot of opportunities and a lot to look forward too. As of right now I'm sort of just going with the flow and taking things as they come, so I'm really looking forward to finally taking control for myself and creating my future.
I cannot get over how optimistic I'm feeling right now. Its like nothing can go wrong.
Best nap ever!

(15) Can I Say That to You?

I never knew that having best friends could come with such a great disadvantage; Having to be without them, and having to start over.
I don't mean starting over as in replacing them with others, but its been really hard trying to find another face in the crowd that could fill in that gap I've felt ever since we all parted for school and off to face our dreams. Not to mention we're all in different states of the country. Kara is in Illinois, Lindsay is in Michigan, Chelsea is in California, and I'm in Indiana.

Women dominate my life at home. Nearly all of my friends here are girls, given a couple awesome guys here and there, too. I've certainly met a few great groups of people at Ball State, but the one thing that seems completely opposite of me is that I barely have a single girl friend. I find this so ironic because truth-be-told, I'm generally pretty girlie. There are plenty of girls at BSU I'm acquainted with of course, but I have yet to meet a real genuine "hey, lets go shopping, rent chick-flicks, and sneak martinis in my dorm room", kind of girl. I know soon I'll meet some cool chicks to introduce to all my friends and hang out with, but that little girlie gap just keeps pullin' at me!

As far as I know, my friends at home and I don't have any deep dark secrets with each other. We can talk about anything and everything. From our lives, to school, to romance, to relationships, to people we hate, to health, politics, food, travel, anything.
For example, sometimes its so personal that I feel like I can just blurt out "I have gas and menstrual cramps, and my feet are itchy!", and they would totally laugh with me (and or, at me) and assure me that I will overcome my current hardships, no judgments. But when it comes to other people, can I say things like this?
Probably not, because having these close relationships to people has another disadvantage. Maybe we're too close for our own good. How many other people in life are going to let you be this open about the most unusual things? Probably not many. That takes years of friendship and commitment before anyone gives a damn about your bodily functions. Gross!

This leads me to an entirely new concept of commitment, which is relationships. I was seeing someone, unfortunately it was a little on-and-off, for about two years up until this past November. But we were so close I could tell this person my whole life story; I could go above and beyond with so much useless information and he could probably come up with a whole book full of blackmail on me if he wanted to (just an exaggeration, don't start thinking I'm an axe murderer).
And once again. I have a new boyfriend now, and I feel like I'm just jumping back into the game as though nothing ever changed. Instead of being more cautious and plan everything accordingly like I do with friends, I seem to just say whatever is on my mind without a second thought as to what this person might think. Its like I don't know how to rewind and make progress from a new beginning. Maybe I just don't have the patience or desire to rewind; I want to start right back where I left off.
So when I say the strange things I say or do the weird things I do, I forget that maybe this person wonders why. I never think about it at the moment I do something bizarre, because there's still that little voice in my head that says "oh, its okay! He knows that you're just funny like that, no worries!" but at the end of the day I'm always look back thinking wow. I am such a little freak.

So with the general public, I'm cautious. With personal relationships, I have no shame. I'm wondering why I do this.

(14) So Long

Looks like our favorite coffee shop in Willow Springs is about to go under. It truly must be the only place in the suburbs that has a different event each week, open mic nights on the second floor, a frikken TV with a Super Nintendo, shelves filled with books, artwork on every wall, and even stays open until 1AM every night. This place is always hoppin' and yet its soon to be no more. Why?
Because they don't advertise. Unless you or your friends actually go there or are from the area, I'm pretty sure the Ashbary is relatively unheard of throughout the rest of the 'burbs. And yet whenever I describe this place to people, they're amazed that a place like that actually exists outside of downtown Chicago.
Its such a shame. Advertising could be so easy! There are all kinds of free magazines like the Red Eye that feature tons of advertisements for all the locally owned, suburban, downtown, you-name-it businesses in the Chi-town area. It'll cost a little, that's given. But that money will all come straight back to them.
So I guess its a shame that its going to burn out so easily, but it was sure fun while it lasted.

Kara just-so-happened-to-be in town last night from UIC, so we got together to hang out and it was pretty fun. We met this guy at Ashbary named Bob who was a complete moron, so that put a big dent in the night. I don't want to get too into it, but this guy was drinking Blue Moon's all night (ohay, this coffee shop sells beer!) and went on a verbal rampage about politics for entirely too long. The debate, discussion, whatever you want to call it just never seemed to end.

So that was stupid, and we finally went back to Kara's house at around 12:30AM. We called Lindsay, and she came over at around 1:30AM. We watched a little bit of Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and then maybe the first 20 minutes of Nick & Norah's before we all crashed.

Woo Spring Break!

(13) Amittyville Horror

I absolutely love the house my mom bought. It's pretty big, has wallpapered closets with light bulbs and dangling strings, old oak doors with black doorknobs and keyholes you can see through, one of the bedrooms has a big crack in the wall that's been painted over, and the stairway is dark, narrow and steep with a single light bulb as its light source. There are lace curtains throughout the house, a few chipped white-painted windows, an indoor porch with a swing, and old appliances and furniture that the previous tenants gave us. It even sits on a hill (do any of you have the chills yet?).

Has anyone ever seen Coraline? Remember the doorway that she entered the "good" life in? Those little doorways are in every closet, kept closed with nothing more than a cut-out door and twisting locks (that's were the spirits lurk). There's even a "coal room" in the basement where families used to shovel in the coal for the furnace in order to heat the house. There's another room right next to the coal room with shelves filled with tools and paint. A workshop.
I would like to hereby dub this home "The Amittyville Horror House".
Anyone think I'm crazy yet?

Whether its going to wind up being haunted or not, its really a beautiful vintage country home (even though Munster is pretty urban). The first floor has tons of windows and the sunlight falls into the house perfectly through the windows. During the day, we won't need a single light. The carpeting is clean and the house has been well kept, and my mom even plans to finish the basement and remodel the kitchen. We're throwing in new carpeting, painting/adding wallpaper, and overall modernizing the house; but keeping a vintage, country theme. On top of moving in our own furniture and once its remodeled, this house is going to be gorgeous.
I can't wait to move in!

(12) Drive into the Sunset

The drive home was fine. But I hate other (Indiana?) drivers! I can't even tell you how many times people just randomly slammed their brakes for no reason. And when I finally got into town... Green: it means go.

Well when I got home, no one was here, and then I made the amazing discovery that I forgot my face wash! So I had to run to Meijer and spend an arm and a leg on that $5 face wash, and then when I got back home Jim was here (my mum's.... ex? current? idk boyfriend-man person, but we live with him).
I guess my mom planned on doing something for dinner, but she accidentally hopped on the wrong train home and didn't get home until around 10PM. Poor mommy.

Well, Jim was starving. My mom literally called me when Jim was upstairs to ask if I'd be willing to go out to dinner with him. I guess he was too afraid to ask me. Well I really didn't want to, but I said yes anyway and I'm glad I did. I sort of see Jim in the same light as Tei-sensei. Tei-sensei is a very nice man, but too harsh on the grading process. Jim is also very nice, but a little too harsh on the alcohol.
We wound up at Texas Roadhouse, and we both had salmon. It was good, but a little awkward. We mostly just talked about school and what not. He paid for the meal too, so it was fiiiiine.

My mom just got home a little while ago, and we had a nice little conversation. She seems really stressed out, maybe even a bit depressed. I just felt really sad the whole time we were talking just now. She seems like she's really lonesome. She/we will be moving out of here sometime in May, and my brother will be moving with her. My brother will made good company! Except Kelly.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited to move. Supposedly its a really nice place over in Munster (less than a mile from this house).
So that was really my whole, day really. Class, three and half hours of driving, and it was a terrible day at work! We had to scrub down the kitchen until it was spotless. I don't mind cleaning, but add chemicals and the fear of the health department, and cleaning the kitchen is no joke around there!

God, my blogs are already boring.

(11) Death Metal on a Thursday Night

TEI-SENSEI I HATE YOU.

I took the midterm and scored at least a B/A-, somewhere in between, and my grade?
F

An F! A bloody little F!
Anyone want to know why?
He divided the midterm into three different sections. Miss one question on any of the sections, and you recieve a 0 on that entire section. Uh, he didn't tell us this fun little fact prior to the Midterm. What a fantastic surprise, ne?!
Well I missed two (out of 12) on the first, and another two (out of 28) on the second. So oops! Those were worth 30-points-a-section, so I guess I just lost 60 points! But at least he felt sorry for me and let my mistakes "slide" on the third section. Whoo hoo, 30 points. And I guess he was in an especially chipper mood and threw in an extra 5 points for using the kanji correctly. So there I have it, a total score of 35/100 for my midterm exam.
What more can I do than be happy that I received a score at all?
I don't care what anyone says anymore, I absolutely cannot stand Tei-sensei's method of teaching this course. I've been studying the basics of Japanese and have wanted to continue my studies of Japanese since I was 12 years old, and having to go through this much stress when I almost entirely understand the material is completely unnecessary. So I messed up conjugating one of the verbs. Big deal. It's fucking Japanese. No one can learn this shit overnight - let alone a a semester and a half.
I have all of my work and assignments stored in a a binder. It anxiously awaits the day we recieve our grades, so I if and when I see an F in Japanese 102, I'm going straight to the Liberal Arts/Japanese/what-the-fuck-ever department and demanding to have another instructor (or whomever) evaluate all of my work. My grade is consistently fluctuating between D's and C's, and I knoooooow I've been doing a hell of a lot better than that.
ARGH!

So that blew off some steam. And now I almost feel guilty for bashing poor Tei-sensei. I mean he's a nice guy (NO. NO NO NO SAM WTF ARE YOU THINKING. EVIL MAN LURKS!!!!!) In other news, the roommates and I aren't going to go see the apartments tomorrow, Kara has a client coming in, so we're all going to just look around after Spring Break. I cannot wait for break! Only problem is that most of my friends don't have theirs until later this month. What am I gonna do? :(

I'm also getting tired of campus food. I never know what t eat anymore. I can only have so much spaghetti, salads, cereal, and granola bars on a daily basis. Don't even get me started on the fried foods, no thank you!

Well, that's all I've got!
Talk to ya'll soon!

(10) Looking at A Boring Photo

So its my 10th post and i'm already running out of material. Went to Club Japan tonight and watched about 20-30 minutes of Lupin III Castle of Cagliostro. Beforehand, I met up with Katie for dinner, and we got to know each other better. She's really nice! On Friday we're going to look at some Winemear apartments (supposedly more expensive), and the the University Apartments. In Winemear, its cheaper for a 4 bedroom, so one of Katie's friends might join us all well. Yay no boys!

Sorry folks, but I ought to update at an earlier time. These late night/midnight posts just ain't cuttin' it!

(9) Sometimes I Wish I Was a Bitch

Tei-sensei pisses me off. He posts everyone's homework up on the board and points out our weaknesses. He tries to humiliate us into doing better work though he insists its "encouraging" us, and helping us apply ourselves to the material. He's already picked out certain students that he favors, while everyone else is practically just a disappointment. I dread going to Japanese now. He's one of the most de-motivational teachers I've ever had. His lectures are almost entirely made up of criticizing us for our faults, when maybe we wouldn't be having those problems if he'd actually take the time to teach lessons!

His criticism of the students has gotten so bad, that a lot of students consistently ditch class and some have even said that they "just can't handle" the material anymore. He tries to get us to compete with one another, while at the same time insisting that we work together. Its like he only has one A+, and only one of us is going to get it.

There was a situation where one of his favorite students read the Reading section for a test, and made a few mistakes, like everyone did. He told her that she did a fantastic job and could tell how much she had applied herself, studied, blah blah blah. When I read the reading section, I made no more or no fewer mistakes than this student. When I was finished, he paused, and asked me to translate the last sentence (no one else needed to translate...). Apparently, my translation wasn't good enough, so he just shook his head and said "Not quite. I'll give you a 9".
I'm not complaining about 9/10, that's a good score! But I cannot get over how rude he is. There were students who dreaded having to read for him, not because they weren't prepared, but because his criticism is completely out of line.

He especially loves "B"san. B-san is his pride and joy, and she can do no wrong in his eyes. He's constantly telling all of us to ask her questions and learn from her. Not to sound conceited, but there's nothing I can learn from someone who's constantly asking me to translate the material for her. The only reason she gets A's on all her homework is that she studies with a Japanese person!

I know it's wrong to talk about people but I am so fed up with Tei-sensei. The absolute biggest problem I have with him is that outside of or before and after class, he cares about us. He tells us he believes in us and that we have so much potential to succeed and move on to Japanese 2. He tells us his office is always open if we need help, and that if there's ever conflict in our lives that will interfere with Japanese, he will always help us. So.... he's a terrible person, and a terribly nice man!?
I miss Ishiyama.

(8) I Am Smart, I Am Stupid

I am so tired, I can barely even describe it. I accidentally overslept this morning by 40 minutes, and wound up 20 minutes late for class. I absolutely had to take a shower before I left, because combined with class, work, and then two more classes, I wanted to be at least a little decent for the day (there I go bein' all fabulous again).

Well I finally took my Astro test, and even after all that studying, I scored a 40%. Not even a D, just a flat out F.
I am officially convinced that I can't take tests. These past two semesters, I've poured hours into studying for tests only to wind up failing them. It seems like everyone else just reviews their notes and magically wind up with A's.
Even though my grade says I'm an idiot, I dare anyone to ask me anything about the subject, and I can guarantee that I can tell you anything you need to know about it, especially last semester in my health class.
So are the professors solely out to trick us? Or is it just me? It seems that I can fully comprehend the subject material, but once I sit down for the test, I know nothing. Its that, or the professor is testing me on things that were never in the textbook (believe me, I've noticed a trend with this). Its so frustrating because I need to pass these courses in order to actually go anywhere in school!

I'm too tired to write anymore. I hate school.
I also really like school. I can't wait to get past these core-classes ;(