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wStuff You Don't Wanna Know But Are Reading Anyway |
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I dunno how you found this, but alas, here you are. So enjoy the frightening fruits of my troubled little brain.
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wMonday, December 30, 2002 |
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feeling: hot and bored
listening to: nothing... gotta find something...
I won Love Hina >:D ...sadly though it probably won't get to me before I move back to the dorm next weekend. My Utena DVDs were shipped somewhere between Dec. 18-23, but they haven't arrived yet either. Blah. *stands by window gazing down the road until the Big Brown Truck comes a-calling*
Also I found out that Daria is still on :D Every night at 10 and again at 1 a.m., on Noggin. I get that channel in the dorm too~ *dance* Oh, but this is interesting. Remember my obsession with the Japanese block (Wedding Planner/Nurse no Oshigoto 4/Home and Away followed by Hey Hey Hey) every Sunday night on the International Channel? For several weeks I was enjoying the ability to watch it in my dorm room instead of having dad tape it for me every week, because it took me a couple weeks to discover that OSU's cable service includes the International Channel. 9,9; Anywho, then, the last Sunday night before finals week and my returning home for winter break, I flipped to the right channel when it was time for Hey Hey Hey to come on... and there's some Robin Williams movie going off instead of the usual Japanese drama. After a few minutes/ confusion, I realize that this is no longer the International Channel. I go through every channel on the TV, but it's gone. Disappeared from the lineup for no apparent reason. >< You'd think the biggest single college campus in the freaking nation, of which the population is probably at least 1/3 non-American, would include THE International Channel in their foreign network cable block. What a dippy change. ¬_¬;; So it looks like now I'm back to having my dad tape it for me every week. *mutter*
I'm bored... I could play Sims again... Brett and Katy need a baby and a dog :P... but, dangit. *sigh*
Hey, yeah. They need a baby and a dog. *goes off to give them at least one of those*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/30/2002 06:41:00 PM
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feeling: tired and hot
listening to: nothing
Holy fruit, did Enetation go Frenchie or something? I swear by all things purple the comments link under my posts says 'poseurs' instead of 'comments'... O.o
I have nothing to blog about anymore. Heh, remember the good ol' days when I posted almost daily? And to think I thought I had no life THEN. Well, actually, I'm trying to spend a bit less time on the computer lately *gasp*... or less time online, anyhow. Still play lots of Sims since I got the Unleashed expansion for Christmas. But I've actually been doing better. Whereas a couple years ago I'd spend about half my waking hours per day on the net, I'm down to a couple hours a day now, if that. Generally. Kinda.
And as you may have guessed, this is another of those totally random boredom blogs with no meaning or point whatsoever. So yay.
Wanna know what I got for Christmas? :P Like, umm... a Garfield book, a Calvin & Hobbes book... Calvin & Hobbes is freaking awesome, by the way... the four Lord of the Rings books, a throw pillow with what appears to be an ocelot on it, some clothes... including a nightie thingy I'll probably never wear... shampoo and weird lotion from a certain gaki cousin in cahouts with a certain grandmother, a kwoote stuffed white tiger *cuddle*, the Final Fantasy movie, some Snoopy stuff from Mommy including a hot cocoa gift set thing, the annual Hallmark collectible ornaments, and a couple cute candy boxes, a bit short of $300, and a DVD player that's as close to top-of-the-line as anything I've ever owned. *hugs Daddy* I think that's all. Oh, wait... and a teensy little NY souvenir keyring-a-ma-bob that Dumplin' hid well within my gift bag and that I wouldn't have remembered if Mom hadn't gone through the bag as soon as we got home that evening.. XD;;; And also, eps 1-13 of Utena on DVD, but we got them from eBay and they haven't arrived yet. And I'm about to bid on the full Love Hina series. In abooouuuut... an hour. Guess I'll cover that with a bit of my Christmas money. :P
I can't wait to hang up my 2003 calendar. I still can't believe I actually found a calendar that features white tigers EXCLUSIVELY. *purrrrr*
Okuda Tamio looks too cute. I want his song 'Marshmallow'. It's supposed to be hilarious. But no matter how many times I tell Kazaa to download it from the 4 or 5 different people I've found who have it, it tells me more sources are needed. No one has Love Potion by Mizuki Arisa either. >< Kazaa can bite my toe.
I just finished reading The Hobbit... and coincidentally (actually not coincidentally at all... it just sounded cool), I also downloaded the old cartoon movie of it. My brother used to love that movie, but when he watched I kept a good distance. Partly because I had no interest when I was 6 or 7 years old, and partly because Bilbo had the creepiest looking face I'd ever seen. It still creeped me out when I watched it this weekend, but I appreciated it more. Wasn't near as good as the book though. It's bad when stuff that takes up 4 or 5 chapters of a book only takes up 4 or 5 minutes of the movie. *mourns the loss of Beorn and the Arkenstone*
On a final random note... my Phoenix is the cutest little fishie alive. ^.^ I should've named him Bubble or something. He is obsessed with bubbles. Occasionally a fairly big one or two will appear on the surface, and as soon as he sees one, he'll rush over to it, stare at it, swim circles around it, push it around with his nose, and finally attack it with a grand little leap in an attempt to either devour or destroy it. Unfortunately for him though, the little splash caused by his jump usually creates even more big bubbles to torment him. XD Man, I'd smooch this fish on the nose if I could... he is too bloody cute~~
...well, I lied. THIS is the final random note. :P Ok, it's been 2 1/2 weeks since I got my new betta - the incredibly gorgeous red and white butterfly/marble/combtail one - and still he has no name. Silfy-chan suggested that I call him... *snort*... Gackt *giggledie*. Frighteningly that seems to suit him all too well XD;; But... well, I always feel weird naming animals after people, especially real people (as opposed to just selecting a random human name, which I don't do either). Still thinking about it though. 9u9 But that made me think if there were any Gackt songs I could name him after... first one that came to mind was Seki-Ray, a sweet song... I'm not sure though ><; Also, a while ago when I was thinking about names, for some reason Bel Air popped into my head. That happens to be the name of a song by Malice Mizer, the band Gackt was once a member of. Bel Air is a weird name for a fish O_o ...but, I'm down to those 3 possibilities, it seems. Gackt, Sekiray, Bel Air. Or maybe I'll think of even more in the next few days... *rips hair out*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/30/2002 01:04:00 AM
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wTuesday, December 24, 2002 |
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feeling: like slumping into a corner and staring at the opposite wall for a few days
listening to: nothing
I'm having one of those days. Namely one of those days where I actually TRY to get myself depressed. I read some of my more depressing blog posts, I read through old arguments and slugfests I was involved in at forums (that works really well, cause I never won a single one), I review in my mind the growing list of enemies I've unwittingly made in said slugfests who have a permanently set opinion of me as an inferior and non-worthwhile being just because I don't think like they do... and instead of going and doing something fun to cheer myself up, like maybe writing those people's names on little strips of paper and burning them and stomping all over the ashes, I just sit there quietly in a chair or on my bed and just... well, sit there... for as long as I can stand it. Or until I have to go do something. Basically this is my own little version of reacting to acute depression by getting dead drunk. But the advantage is that within 10-16 hours, instead of being stuck in bed with a hangover the size of Siberia (on Christmas day, no less), I'll have forgotten all about it again and will feel better.
See? My methods work. Trust me, I've tested them enough times to know.
In other news, Sunday night I watched the final episode of Nurse no Oshigoto 4 - "Leave it to Nurses 4" in English. This was Wedding Planner's successor, i.e. the comedy/drama/dramedy that premeired immediately after Wedding Planner, which I loved, ended. I didn't really get into Nurse no Oshigoto 4. Just watched a few eps toward the end. And at first I didn't think that'd be enough to make me regret missing the beginning, since the storyline didn't impress me that much... but guess what? I was wrong. :P It wasn't a bad show, really. I just wish I could have seen Nurse no Oshigoto 1-3 so I'd have been able to be more into part 4. The main character was goofy but cute, and she was played by Mizuki Arisa, the J-pop singer who also performed the show's end theme, Love Potion. I LOVE that song. But I swear it does not exist on any website or P2P server anywhere. I can't even find the lyrics. >_<
Well, looks like it's about time to go visit family for Christmas Eve. Let the good times roll.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/24/2002 04:21:00 PM
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wMonday, December 16, 2002 |
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feeling: really freaking peeved
listening to: nothing
Unbelievable.
Our house was broken into AGAIN this afternoon. My dad was at a doc appointment, and my mom and I were in town also for appointments, and when we came home nearly every room in the house was ransacked - including mine, upstairs. This is the second time in six months. Last time they took a jewelry box and a purse, this time they took $25, an antique drill press, and some jewelry that they actually picked out of my and my mom's jewelry boxes. The front door and storm door were broken/kicked in, doors are open, and my room's an even worse mess than it was before. They walked right by priceless (well, nearly) computer equipment, camera equipment, gaming equipment, and antiques, and even went through our Christmas presents and places where guns are kept, and they made a huge freakin' mess of our house in the process, but all they took was $25, an antique drill press, and some random bits of cheap jewelry. And possibly the key to my dorm room. Joy.
Last time it ended up costing us a couple thousand dollars just to replace the locks and stuff, not to replace mom's jewelry... but this time the whole front door is destroyed. And the great thing is, insurance won't help. Last time they said they would cover it BUT they would cancel us immediately after. Because you can only make 2 claims every 3 years, or some such crap, and our first 2 claims were taken (broken water heater, stolen lawn mower). Same story this time.
We should probably consider ourselves lucky we didn't lose more. But this is the second time in half a year, and if they did take my dorm room key, they may think that's their ticket back in here. Even if it's not, they could likely come back to try it out. If it was the same jerks as last time, they probably think we're easy targets now and can't wait to go for round three. They might come armed next time too. Sorry, but that doesn't make me feel too lucky.
Interestingly though, the sheriff who was here said there were about 3 other houses in this area reporting break-ins today, just like ours. He said several guys on the force are after them. Like that'll make a difference. They probably skipped town the second they saw the first cop car. They'll never find anything or anyone, another stupid jerk will go free, we'll never get our stuff back, and this'll probably happen again in the future, and AGAIN we won't be able to do a bloody thing about it. I'm really getting sick of this. I'll never feel secure in this house again. Or even in my dorm, since that douchebag has my room key now. Not that he'll ever know what that key opens, but still... there are ways of finding that stuff out. Not only that, but that key will cost me $100 to replace.
I don't even want to go back up to my room. Because I'll have to clean up the mess that waste of human flesh left me. And because that'll tick me off even more.
If they ever find who did this and let the worthless jerk in my sight, I'm gonna tear him apart, eat his eyeballs, and feed his intestines to wild rabid opossums.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/16/2002 04:46:00 PM
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wSunday, December 15, 2002 |
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feeling: headachy
listening to: Utena - Rekishi Bourou (Moji Sabaku)
And he's mine! ALL MINE!! *SWOON*
Ok, allow me to clarify last night's blogged sentiments.
Yesterday evening the ever demonic Gaki and her ever youthful (as in never aged past age 12 or so) father invaded our home. Even better, they came bearing Stuart Little 2 and Lilo & Stitch. And I learned that the company you watch a movie with really, REALLY does affect how you feel about it.
So first came Stuart Little 2. And of course every time something happened that was supposed to be funny or important or cute, Gaki would make some dumb remark about it, or re-quote it or something, quite well ruining the experience. Not to mention halfway through, she decided she wanted some chips. So Mom gave her our last can of Pringles, and for the next I don't know how long, I couldn't hear the movie over her chomping and snarfing and devouring handful after handful of Pringles. Did I mention no one ever taught her to chew with her mouth closed? I never realized how gross that was when I was younger... anyway, this didn't end until she put the can down, at which point her father asked "Did you eat that whole can?" To which she vehemently replied "No!" and shook the can, proving the existence of about two crumbs she'd left to rattle around in the bottom. And her dad accepted that answer. Sad.
I should also mention that Gaki's father repeatedly told her to stop chattering incessantly throughout the movie like she was an expert on it, while doing the exact same thing himself. Only his comments were even more obnoxious. At one point, toward the end of the movie when Stuart's putting together the model airplane out of garbage and uses an old comb for a tail fin, Gakidaddy of course had to share with us his aerodynamic intelligence by launching into a big ol' shpiel about how a plane with a comb for a tail fin would never fly. And he concluded his lecture with "But, I guess most people don't know that. Ehehehehehhh." I was within a nanosecond of getting up and slapping him across the face when my dad gently reminded him that this was just a kid's movie, and of course it would never work in reality. When was the last time he saw a talking mouse, after all? Oh, and at some other point in the movie, the kid's dad told him he wasn't in trouble - he was in BIG trouble. Gakidaddy found this greatly amusing. I quote: "Heheheh! Busted! Hehehehehhh." I wanted SO MUCH to reply with "Yeah, that's called discipline. Some parents do that to their kids when they screw up." It was very hard to hold my tongue.
Oh, it gets better. After that ended Gaki popped in Lilo & Stitch, and for the first 10 minutes all she did was warn me not to be eating (I was eating ice cream) during the beginning. "Becky, you might wanna stop eating on this part." "Becky, you might wanna not look now." Over and OVER. See, she seemed to think the first 10 minutes, which involved a substantial amount of drool and snot and spitting and the taking of a blood sample from an alien, were absolutely disgusting. And she warned me not to eat during all this. Lord, I really hope no one ever lets this child see Akira or Bio Hunter.
Anyway, from that point on, all she did was make obnoxious comments about what was happening and what was about to happen. Complete with requoting every single line she found amusing. And her dad, ever the master of stating the obvious, threw in the occasional "He bit 'im on the finger! Hehehehhh." and "All the dogs are hiding in the rafters! Hehehehhhh." Gaki added further insult to injury by singing and humming along with every single piece of music played in the movie. Even when no music was playing. This greatly ruined the part where the big sister sang 'Aloha Oye', which should've been one of the sweetest, most touching moments. And as if I didn't want to throw Gaki into the next century already, for the rest of the movie she felt the need to throw in her stupid obnoxious remarks and comments EVERY FREAKING FIVE SECONDS. I do not exaggerate. I couldn't hear the last half of the movie because of her constant drumming/singing/humming/blabbing/spoiling/remarking/obnoxiousness every freaking five seconds.
I could have thoroughly enjoyed that movie if I'd been watching it alone or with people above the age of seven, into which age group Gaki and her father do not fit. But nothing that movie had could overpower their obnoxiousness enough to make me smile even once. Nothing on earth could overpower that, period. Really ruins a good movie, especially one's first viewing thereof, after one has been looking forward to seeing it for months. It's kinda like when you've been waiting for ages to see a movie in a theater, and as you're standing in line to buy tickets, some jerk in front of you keeps saying "Oh, I've seen this movie a dozen times now, it's great, you'll love it when *insert huge spoiler here* and when *insert even bigger spoiler here* and especially when *insert spoiler that gives away the whole plot here* and etc etc". Kinda makes you want to rip out the guy's tonsils and feed them to your fish.
WHY did I have to be related to these people???
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/15/2002 01:40:00 PM
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wFriday, December 13, 2002 |
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feeling: better and... sleepy
listening to: Maaya Sakamoto - Hemisphere
I am going to memorize every word of this song if it takes me my life.
Anyway... here's a funny and very long and probably boring story. :P
Way back about 4 weeks ago, I noticed my betta, Phoenix, was acting sluggish and itchy (rubbing himself on things) and had his fins all closed up tight. Knew he was sick, but didn't know what with. One of the foremost possibilities was velvet, an external parasite that looks like a fine golden dust all over a fish, usually only visible with a magnifying glass or under a flashlight. I couldn't see any velvet, but I started medication for it anyway, because it is often fatal if untreated. So for 9 days I used this stuff called Maracide that's supposed to kill pretty much all external parasites. But it didn't work, so after consulting with betta expert I decided he had ich, another external parasite that's tougher to kill (I guess). We decided I needed Rid Ich, which is stronger, to cure it. Well, by then it would've been day 10 of Maracide - this was Wednesday - and I was to come home for winter break. Parents came to pick me up, and we left Phoenix in my dorm, intending to come back for him after doing some shopping. Eventually we went to Aquarium Adventure, where I bought Phoenix, and I had some water tests done but they didn't have Rid Ich, so we went on to a little crummy pet store around the corner. They didn't have Rid Ich either. Finally we went to Petco. I don't like that place much, but I knew they'd have Rid Ich, so in Dad and I went while Mom stayed in the car.
Now the fun begins. On the way to the fish supply aisles we passed by the bettas, and of course I had to stop and look. There's all the usual red, blue, turquoise etc. bettas you see for sale everywhere, in those evil little cups of doom, flaring at each other. But then... standing out above all the rest was this GORGEOUS fish with a body color I couldn't begin to name - lavender, pink, and red all layered on each other, I think - and fins that were red and white marbled. I'd never seen coloring like that, except at professional betta breeders' websites under a color strain called Apache. Also, it looked like both a combtail and a delta tail, which means its fins were almost show quality compared to the standard veiltail bettas local pet stores sell. Anyway, this creature was gorgeous. Even my dad thought he was pretty. THAT is a sign from the heavens. :P
So... guess what?
I bought the fish.
Knowing full well that I had nowhere good to keep him.
Well, we left the store with the Rid Ich and the new betta, and as we returned to the car I asked dad to slap me, but he wouldn't. He was terribly amused by the whole thing, I think. :P So then when we got back to the car, Mom slapped Dad for letting me buy it. 9u9;;
And then we went on to Media Play, where my parents intended to let me pick out at least part of my Christmas giftage. Sadly I had to leave the new betta out in the car, in the freezing cold, wrapped in my dad's insulated coat. Fortunately that was enough, and he wasn't a fishsicle when we got back. And after that Dad wanted to get dinner at a nice sit-down restaurant. I couldn't leave the fish outside again... so I brought him inside with me. *~* Hey, he stayed warm and the waiter didn't say a word :3
Sooo, finally, a couple hours later, we got home. I realized all I had to put the new betta in was the vase Mitsu lived and died in. It had been nuked with bleach, so I dechlor-ed it and set it up. I didn't wanna have to use that thing again. It's too small and it's a pain to keep up because of the narrow top. -_- But I had no choice... hopefully before break's over he'll be in his own 2g tank like Phoenix. He seems all right for now, though. But he still deserves better. He's gorgeous. I just made him flare at a mirror for the first time, and HOLY FARKIN' CRAP @__@ I tried to take pics with my webcam but they all came out crappy T_T... I must keep trying... this guy is WILD *ultraswoon* and he deserves to have his pics hawked all over the internet *o*
...also :P, this afternoon I started Phoenix on his Rid Ich treatment at last. 10 hours later, he was already looking more active and had his fins more opened up than I've seen them in weeks. ^^ Naturally I am encouraged, for the first time. Understand, this has been going on for I think well over 4 weeks - a month or so - and for the last half of that period, every time I looked in his tank I expected to find him dead. He looked that pathetic. Now suddenly, within half a day, I see this much improvement. Pardon my rejoicing. :3~
Ok, that ends my long funny story. I'm gonna go to bed now.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/13/2002 12:57:00 AM
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wTuesday, December 10, 2002 |
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feeling: sick of studying
listening to: tiger documentary on Animal Planet
So I was doing some pH testing tonight, with my fish's water, because he's been sick for 3 weeks and I think low pH is a partial cause. Anyway, I test it in a little 5 mL test tube, and the solution you add to the water in it turns greener or bluer depending on the pH. After the first pH test, it turned blue-ish, which means average to high pH. 7.2 to be exact. So I took the test tube to the restroom to rinse it out, and some girl saw me dumping and cleaning it, and while studying my gut...
...she asked if it was a pregnancy test.
I didn't know whether to laugh like a hyena or cry like an infant. So I went for a happy medium and just widened my eyes about threefold and snorted and chuckled like I'd just caught Dumplin' drawing yaoi in her class notes. And, of course, I informed the girl that it was just a water pH tester. After which she turned about 10 shades of red.
THEN I laughed. :P
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/10/2002 08:45:00 PM
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wFriday, December 06, 2002 |
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feeling: really, really bored
listening to: Utena Movie - Fiancee ni Naritai
I have officially gone off the deep end. I just had an undeniable urge to draw some shoujo ai. T___T *looks for a sharp object with which to commit seppuku*
Not that I will, of course. I'm too lazy. But... the URGE was THERE. *whimper*
Still no Friday Five this week... wonder what they've been up to that's so involving they couldn't come up with 5 simple questions once a week... well, anyway. I'm really, really bored. I've played FF9, watched TV, watched the Utena movie, watched my fish, played a couple different games online, went to a few different message boards online, and I'm bored. My fish is sick, by the way. We're entering the third week now. I don't know what his problem is... all he does is sit around on the bottom between the plant and his hidey-hole, he's clamping his fins shut so tight they look glued together, and he keeps flashing. Which basically means he's itchy or feeling some other kind of skin/scale discomfort. So I've been medicating with an external parasite killer for a week now and absolutely no change. If he doesn't come out of this soon I'm gonna *insert clever threat of self-harm-infliction here*
Oh, forget it. I give up. I'm gonna go draw now. Smack me please. =_=
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 12/06/2002 10:07:00 PM
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wSaturday, November 30, 2002 |
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feeling: slightly headachy and stiff
listening to: nothing
I've been a bad blogger lately. Bad me. Baaaad.
Tomorrow's December 1. I need to start shopping. *sigh* My parents never tell me anything they want, so I always end up getting Mom a little box of souvenir chocolates or something, and usually nothing for Dad. Dang them. I gotta find something for my nephew too... and his birthday's on the 8th, so 2 things really... and I know what I want for my sis-in-law's first son, but I doubt I'll be able to find it. Next best thing will probably have to do. Blah. I hope my parents take my advice and get me a PS2. No, seriously... I don't want much at all this year, and don't need anything. Last year I needed a stapler and an umbrella, and I got them... this year everything on the list my mom and grandma forced me to make falls into the hobby/entertainment category. Nothing I could really use. But the most expensive thing on it is probably a PS2, so I'm hoping for that, even though there're currently only a few games I want for it. Hey, it's a DVD player too, though. :P
I really love the Christmas season. Mainly for the same reasons that everyone else hates it. The cold, the snow, the commercialism, the shopping rush and sales that I barely even take part in, the carols... really, who likes those? :P Well, there's also the food, the family, the no school for a month, and the getting, so I guess that balances out... heh. I like Christmas.
This is a fun game. I could play this for hours on end. I have, in fact. Heck, the whole website is fun. Go there. Spend a few hours frying your brain. You might even have almost as much fun there as you did reading this post. Maybe. :p
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/30/2002 08:59:00 PM
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wTuesday, November 26, 2002 |
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feeling: bored and impatient
listening to: Ayumi Hamasaki - I am...
I'm bored~ sooo here's a little lesson in Japanese for all you gaijin out there who think you know a word or two. Ready? Brace your brain. :P Today we will discuss to concepts which are very simple and basic in the English language: Please and Thank You.
HOW TO SAY PLEASE IN JAPANESE
Douzo ~ people are probably more familiar with this term than any other 'please' form. But what you may not know is that this word means 'please' ONLY in the invitational sense. Translated examples: 'please help yourself to some sake', 'please accept this gift', or simply 'here' (as you're handing something to someone).
Onegai shimasu ~ THIS is the 'please' that you think of when you think of the word 'please'. In other words, you use it to request something. Examples: 'please write your name here', 'please assist me', 'please turn on the light'. This is the one you'll want to use if you ever want to make a request using 'please' in Japanese. If you want to be exceedingly humble and polite and stuff, replace 'shimasu' with 'itashimasu'.
Onegai ~ same as above, but more casual. Can be followed by 'desu', which is a little less casual. Literally means something like a desire or a wish; so the above is like, 'please grant my wish'. Just stick with the above, unless you're good friends with your acquaintance or talking to some 4 year old kid.
Kudasai ~ Use of this depends on what you're asking for. Based on a polite verb that honors the person you're referring to (as opposed to humbling yourself to them; the referents are different) and literally means 'give (to me)'. But 'Tabete kudasai' means please eat it, 'Matte kudasai' means please wait, and 'Kore kudasai' means please give me this one. Pretty polite. If you want to be extremely polite and gentle and such, you'd change it to 'kudasaimasen ka' - so 'Tabete kudasaimasen ka', and 'Yonde kudasaimasen ka', etc.
Nasai ~ Uses can overlap with kudasai, but meanings are different. Nasai is based on a polite verb that honors the person you're referring to and literally just means 'do'. I think nasai is usually more polite, also. 'Omachi nasai' is a slightly more formal, stiffer equivalent of 'Matte kudasai'. Also, like the above, you can change it to 'nasaimasen ka' if you want to be extremely polite and humble and gentle. Don't interchange nasai with kudasai on a whim; they each carry their own connotations. Remember that this one's based on 'do' while kudasai is based on 'give me'. If you have to use one or the other, I'd use kudasai.
Douka ~ This one's a bit odd. More literally it's like, 'one way or another' or 'in any way/in all ways'. Something like that. But when used to mean 'please', it seems to me like it holds a tad more... desperation, maybe, than the forms above. Maybe that's just me. Like, a good example I've heard: 'Douka wasurenaide', which means please don't forget. Anyway, I've only heard it in casual contexts, but one might be able to make it work for formal contexts. Don't try it though. Just stick with 'onegai shimasu' and 'kudasai(masen ka)'.
There are many, many more ways to say please, depending upon what you're asking for and how formal/polite/humble you want to be. It's highly dependent on the situation at hand. Some words even have their own forms that stretch them into a 'please' request. Examples: 'Ikitamae' means something like 'please go'. Bottom line: stick with 'onegai shimasu' and maybe 'kudasai' when you have to request something, and remember that 'douzo' is only for invitational requests.
HOW TO SAY THANK YOU IN JAPANESE
Arigatou ~ Yeah, just about everyone's heard this. Pretty basic. But what you don't know is that there's a better way.
Arigatou gozaimasu ~ This is the better way, assuming you're not good friends with whoever you're saying it to. It's more polite/formal while the above is more casual.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu ~ Same as above, but with a little more enthusiasm. Like, 'thank you very much'.
Arigatou gozaimashita ~ Same as above, but refers to something that someone has done for you and that is completed and in the past. Example: if a colleague wrote you a letter just to say hi and be nice, and if you're nice enough to write a reply, you'd open by saying this to thank him/her for the letter. You can add 'doumo' to the beginning for emphasis.
Doumo ~ This is a highly schizophrenic little word. In most cases, it's very casual, but it can be used in formal settings without earning you weird looks. It's often used after 'douzo' when someone has offered you something and you want to accept it, especially if you requested it (you'd want to be more polite than 'doumo' if someone just gave you a gift out of the blue). Of course, it's always more polite to say 'arigatou gozaimasu', but you can get by with 'doumo' in SOME formal settings. Avoid it with your superiors (teachers, bosses, etc.) though. Also, you can double it up: 'doumo doumo'. But whether used alone or doubled up, this word has loads and loads of meanings. Used alone or doubled, it can mean everything from 'hi' to 'thanks' to 'bye'. Used in front of other words as part of a longer phrase, it usually has a 'very' connotation: 'Doumo hen' means very strange, etc.
Osore irimasu ~ This one's more formal and very ritualistic, and thus not used as broadly as those above. Literally, it means something like being in awe, or suddenly feeling about as large as a peanut. Usually it's used in the apologetic sense - 'thanks for your trouble', 'sorry for bothering you', etc. It's commonly used when you phone someone and their secretary/mother/etc. answers and offers to fetch the person you want to talk to for you. But if you're not on the phone, you're safe avoiding this one.
Okagesama (de) ~ Also ritualistic. Literally means something like 'in your shadow', so it carries a 'thanks for your consideration' or 'thanks to you' connotation. If you run into someone on the street whom you haven't seen in a while and they asked you how you've been and you want to say you've been well, you'd say this to mean 'thanks for asking'. Another context... if someone's just helped you move furniture around in your home and commented on finally being done, you'd say this in a 'thanks to you' or 'thanks for your help' sense. Always implies or accompanies pleasant information, as above.
Osewasama ~ Ritualistic, again. Literally means 'your help/care/assistance', and ritualism has made it a gratitude expression. It's a fragment, but it's polite. If you want to be even more polite and formal, add 'deshita' to the end. Note: 'deshita' is a past tense word, but if you're using 'osewasama', you're referring to something someone's already done for you anyway, so you're safe with past tense. You're even safer sticking with 'arigatou gozaimasu'.
There are many, many more ways to say thank you, depending on what you're thanking someone for and how polite/formal you want to be. Bottom line: stick with 'arigatou gozaimasu' unless you're in a very specific, ritualized situation, like a phonecall or running into someone you haven't seen in years.
There! Just that easy, you can now express the very simple fundamental concepts of 'please' and 'thank you' in Japanese! Now when you take your vacation there to meet your all time favorite anime voice actor, director, or mangaka, you'll know exactly what to say when you ask for their autograph. And you have me to thank. You even know how to thank me. ^^v
...and now you hopefully understand why someone who is only interested in learning Japanese for easier understanding of anime and manga should NOT make it a major objective in their life to learn the language. I happen to be a Japanese major, and I still love the language even though it's a pain in the neck to learn, so I'm allowed to say that. :P
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/26/2002 04:37:00 PM
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wMonday, November 25, 2002 |
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feeling: tired
listening to: Utena - Watashi Kuusou Seimeitai (I Am an Imaginary Living Body)
Well, the two people I normally steal the Friday Five from every week didn't do it this past week, and I'm too lazy to go all the way to the homepage to get it for myself. Hence no Friday Five from me. Everybody make little disappointed noises now.
I actually felt somewhat needed on Saturday... *snort* ...no, cause see, my original plan for the weekend was to stay on campus, since this week's only 3 days and all. But as it turned out, my parents planned to visit my grandpa for his birthday (the one they almost thought had cancer), and I wanted to go, cause I never get to see him. Also, they'd been talking about taking my nephew along with them, which made me want to go even more. So I went home, and joined my parents and nephew to visit good ol' Grandpa and Jan. Now, see, their home is... well, not exactly ideal for those who have just learned to walk. There are two side by side stairways leading from the ground floor, one going up to a hallway with some rooms branching off, and one going down to a living room area. Well, Nephy being the adventurous little 11 month old squirt that he is, was absolutely fascinated with the stairway that led down. I lost count of how many times he tried to lead himself down there, before I stopped him. Yes, me. Only me, for the most part. In fact, of all the probably dozens of times he made for that stairway, I only remember 3 occasions where I wasn't the only one around to grab him. The first two, the other person took off running to grab him at the same time as me and managed to get him just before I could, and the third time I couldn't jump off the couch in time and no one else was looking so I had to yell for someone else to grab him. Every other time, though, it was all me. I couldn't believe my parents, especially my obsessed-with-the-happiness-and-well-being-of-her-grandson-and-constantly-watching-him-like-a-hawk mother, let him out of their sight so many times. See, if I had stayed on campus, he more than likely would've gone rolling head over heels down those stairs at least once (a dozen times, if the first time didn't deter him) and really hurting himself.
Go me. :>
To change the subject, have I mentioned that my dad is an extremely cool person? Yeah, I have. But I am again, so there. My dad rocks. The word 'worry' does not exist in this man's vocabulary. Even though he's struggling to pay off a house, two kids' worth of college, and loads of other debts, he is convinced that he is one of the luckiest people in the world, and that he has everything he wants and needs. He is extremely smart in the stuff that really matters in life (which doesn't include the spelling of 'medieval' :P ), he has the most rational and logical mind I've ever known, and I have never seen him in a situation where he didn't know what needed to be done. He gets out, he experiences the real world, he knows what's going on - but not so much so that he tried to strike up conversation with me about the latest oh so hott *choke* boyband to hit radio stations all over the world. He always shows an interest in things I like; heck, he's even asked me several times stuff about the Japanese language, and thanks to me he watches Hey Hey Hey! - a non-subtitled Japanese music/variety show - even though he doesn't care for any modern music and has no clue what they're saying. He even likes it, sometimes. He's supportive, he'll work his fingers and other limbs to the bone and beyond to feed his family and utter no complaint, and he's amazing with kids - he can settle down the most insanely hyper and misbehaving of toddlers and make them sit quietly for an hour or more and STILL have them love him enough to want to come home with him after church (yes, this has happened :P). And sometimes he can even talk sense into my extremely pessimistic, stubborn, constantly fretting mother - somehow. There's more, of course. I couldn't type it all if I wanted to. He just rocks. I didn't realize till I left for college just how much my dad rocks.
So why is it that a guy as cool as my dad can have some kind of huge lymph gland enlargement that could be anything from nothing to life-threatening? And why are they making me wait ANOTHER 3-4 weeks plus before I'll know which end of that spectrum it falls in? -_-
*becomes a praying woman again*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/25/2002 12:16:00 AM
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wMonday, November 18, 2002 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: Utena - Kakuu Kakokei Majinai (Utopian Past Tense Incantation)
Survey. Nothing better to do.
1. Beatles or Elvis?:
Beatles. Beatles Beatles BEATLES. \>
2. What is your secret spy name?:
I don't remember. I'm not even sure if I've seen that clever online name generator yet.
3. When you were a kid you wanted to grow up to be:
A teacher. Then an artist. Then an author. Then a radio DJ. Now, I have no freaking clue. Which wouldn't be so bad if I planned to marry, cause then hubby could bring in the cash. But since that's not gonna happen... I guess I'm screwed, no?
4. Ever had an odd pet (anything other than dog, cat, fish, bird)?:
No. I want a ferret.
5. Boxers or Briefs (interpret this as you will)?:
Boxers.
6. List the strangest town name(s) you've ever seen:
I always thought any town with the word Christmas in its name was asking for it. And there's a ton of them, in case you wondered.
7. Ever taken the purity test?:
Uh huh, a few of them.
8. Is your hair color currently your natural color?:
Yeah. Poop brown.
9. Your current celebrity crushes:
None. There's no point in celebrity crushes. If you are hopeless and desperate enough to have one, chances are you'll never even see the person face to face. That said, I haven't had a celebrity crush since I was like, 14 or so. Devon Sawa. :P
10. Do you own any Tupperware?:
Me, myself, personally... no.
11. Ever re-gifted an item?:
Probably, but not to the same person who gave it to me. That's just heartless. :P
12. Your favorite Stooge:
Oh, I dunno. Larry.
13. Daffy Duck or Donald Duck?:
Donald.
14. Favorite game to play (not sport, just game)
Don't ask me that, cause it'd take me about 4 years and the wearing down of 2 or 3 keyboards to come up with a complete answer.
15. You do a GREAT impression of:
A log. Oh, and a zebra.
16. Most recent celebrity spotting:
I've never spotted a celebrity. I've been to, like, 2 concerts, and that's it.
17. Strange skill you have that not many people know about:
I can brush my teeth so fast it looks like I'm running in fast-forward. :3
18. The body part you like best on yourself is:
My... eyes? Futch, I don't know.
19. A bad habit you have is:
Nail biting, gluttony, extreme sloth, and introversion.
20. The last concert you went to:
Don't ask. You don't wanna know, and I don't wanna tell. :p (no, it's not THAT bad, but you still don't wanna know)
21. Kinkiest location you've ever done It:
Done what? Lunch? Shodou? Photography?
22. What is your drag name (name of first pet with mother's maiden name)?:
FYI, that's how you form your porn star name, not your drag name. Though I guess it would work for either, ne? :3 Yeah... it's Sissy Schrader. Cutesy woo woo.
23. Your favorite fast-food burger is:
I don't care for burgers. Fast food chicken sandwiches I like, but not so much burgers. Big Macs are ok though.
24. Worst job you've ever had:
Worst what?
25. In the movie of your life, whom do you want to play you?:
...well, first off, I sincerely hope there will never be a movie of my life. As for my answer, I don't know and don't really feel like thinking about it.
26. Your dream car:
One that runs. Actually, I'm quite fond of my current '91Thunderbird. If he ever dies I'll probably just get another one of the same color, only made in '96.
27. Your favorite comic strip is:
Peanuts, Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes (RIP), and The Far Side.
28. Do you still have your appendix?:
Yes, I do. In my body, even.
29. Toilet paper: rolled under or over?:
Over. Don't ask why, I dunno.
30. Your favorite donut:
Eclair eclair eclair eclair eclair eclair eclair eclair. *droolfest*
31. Favorite basketball team (if you have one; pro or college; men or women):
No thanks.
32. Favorite Simpsons quote:
Too many to think of and type here right now.
33. Do you collect anything interesting?:
Not really.
34. What are your hobbies?:
Drawing, writing, anime, Playstation, kanji practice, eating, sleeping, and (growing interest) bettas.
35. Your favorite form of chocolate:
Chocolate is chocolate. If it's chocolate and doesn't contain coconut I'll eat it.
36. Your guilty pleasure:
I still enjoy the occasional Pokemon fix. 9_9 I even wish I had Pokemon Crystal, but that'll never happen. Oh well.
37. Your favorite piece of sushi:
The only bite of sushi I've ever had I don't know the name of, and I didn't like it much anyway, so no answer here.
38. Your favorite way to blow $20:
A Media Play run. $20 miiiight get me one of the many DVDs I've been wanting for months. If not, I'd just buy another little trinket of some sort to throw on one of the many trinket piles in my room. Stuffed critter, maybe.
39. Ever slapped someone who was not a blood relative?
Yeah, a couple people. Just on the arm though, as I recall.
40. Your favorite Girl Scout cookie:
Thin mints.
41. Your personal theme song:
Used to be Pinch Me by BNL, but now... I really can't think of one. There's an Ayumi Hamasaki song that describes me somewhat well, but I can't remember which one it is now.
42. Do you have any jewelry in your birthstone (and what is the stone?)?:
I've been told by different sources that my birthstone is pearl, opal, and/or a couple other things I can't remember. I probably have some jewelry in one or two of them, but I never wear any of it.
43. Your favorite sandwich (or sammich, if you prefer):
I'm quite content with simple deli ham on white or wheat with Hellman's mayo. Or even just good ol' grilled cheese.
44. The farthest place you've ever traveled to:
South Dakota, I think. And I was, like, 3 at the time. ><
45. What would you do with a million dollars?:
Pay off my college, buy a not-too-huge house and pets... and that would probably just about take the whole million. If not, I'd throw the rest in the bank and build some interest.
46. What is one of your life goals (have you achieved it yet?)?:
I never really had any, except to own a horse and a Great Dane. Haven't achieved them, and probably never will.
47. Have you ever seen the movie "Free to Be You and Me" in elementary school?:
I don't believe I have.
48. Your favorite Muppet (from any Henson production):
The Swedish Chef rocks your socks. X)
49. In 10 more years, you want to accomplish:
A bachelor's in the humanities, a job by which I can house and feed myself, and a trip to Japan.
50. Your favorite foreign-language film:
That's a tossup between Utena: Adolescence Apocalpse and Mononoke Hime. Difference is I've only seen the latter dubbed in English, so I don't know if that counts.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/18/2002 12:57:00 PM
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wSaturday, November 16, 2002 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: the Hamtaro theme is stuck in my head >< HELLLP
BEWARE - the following post contains several totally random and probably stupid thingies strung together in no sensical fashion, because I am bored. Just a heads-up.
And no, I didn't miss the Friday Five. There was none this week. Other people took the liberty of making up their own questions in its absence, but I don't think I will. My brain doesn't feel like it.
I don't think I mentioned it here before, but in case you didn't know and are interested, I named my new betta Phoenix. And I think he's older than I thought he was when I bought him, because his fins are really, really long. Well... even if he is older than I wanted, as long as he doesn't get sick he'll probably be with me longer than Mitsu was... murr. Mitsu was great. Phoenix is great too, but... he ain't Mitsu. *shrug* Not that I expected him to be... but... oh, I gotta design Merman Phoenix soon... I still love drawing Merman Mitsu x)
Speaking of randomness, this is cool: I now know how produce a total of 100 Japanese kanji. *mini-jig* Yay, only 1900-odd more to go~
Oh, and I received some interesting and slightly disturbing news today. The middle brother of the late 90s band Hanson that no one's heard from in 2 or 3 years... Taylor, a.k.a. the girly one... has... a... baby. X_X What is this world coming to...
The cool thing, though, is he and his wife named the kid Ezra. That's a cool name. You could call him Ez for short. Ez sounds cool. ^^v
Hmm, more random stuff... tonight I saw my nephew for the first time in 4 weeks. He's now 11+ months old and walking is his main mode of transportation. *sigh* He can also come close enough to saying words like ball, cookie, and kitty that you can understand what he's trying to say, as long as he's looking at the object he's naming. 'Baa' is pretty easy, but it can be hard to distinguish 'Gaaghhee' from 'Gaee-gaee' unless there's a cookie or kitty-kitty right in front of him. But then again, a whole lot of things are 'kitty' to him - little stuffed critters that go in a Noah's ark toy we keep here for him, the big light-up Christmas Snoopy we're currently storing in the computer room, etc. It's amusing.
*running out of ideas*
Muhahaha, my newest Sims Brett and Katy finally got married the other day 9~9 I tried I dunno how many times to get those two hitched, but every time Brett proposed Katy gave him a different excuse as to why she didn't feel like it... odd little buggers they are. But now they're married and filthy rich and soon I'm gonna move 'em into the biggest preprogrammed house in the Sim neighborhood, and they're gonna have kiddies and maybe Katy'll become a nurse someday and then I can create Audra the woman-who-looks-like-a-cop-but-isn't and *ramble*
...I really don't have anything else to say. I had nothing to say in the first place, to be honest. Just thought I'd blog. I hardly ever do anymore.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/16/2002 10:34:00 PM
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wSaturday, November 09, 2002 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: Cowboy Bebop - PAPA Plastic
Ok. Tonight I went with my parents to a play at my former hig school, right? The play was in the "old gym", which is on the second floor. So we were heading upstairs - Dad first, me behind him, and Mom behind me - and we were just getting to the top, entering the middle of the gym itself (middle as in between the main floor and the 'bleachers'...not really bleachers but yeah), in plain view of everyone seated within... when my mom, behind me, pipes up "Your pants are dirty!" and... begins to brush off my butt with her hand. *twitch* I'm just hitting the top of the stairs at this point, so I whirl around to escape her hand and give her a death glare, nearly knocking over a table or something in the process. And in response, she says this... "How did your pants get dirty?? It brushed right off, but still..."
>____<;;;;;;
Ye gods, and here I thought when I turned 20 this past June that I was getting too OLD...
In other news, if you tried to look at the pics strategically linked in my post below, you may notice that they don't show up. Sorry. If this isn't fixed within a day or two, I'll try something different. *puts on Dad's steel-toed work boots and kicks Ofoto into the next decade*
~EDIT!~ Ok, the pics in the post below work now. I moved 'em.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/09/2002 09:13:00 PM
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wFriday, November 08, 2002 |
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feeling: decent
listening to: Cowboy Bebop - Don't Bother None
Readin' my paper in Roy's cafe
The old guy next to me is loud as day
Rambled and rambled while eatin' his pie
He dropped his wallet, now its mine uh-huh
Sorry old man, but that's jus' the way that it is
Don't bother none
Won't help at all to worry 'bout it
Picked up the wallet and slipped outside
Walked around and walked around and walked around town
I found my nerve and a good place to hide
Only to find no cash inside uh-huh
Oh well, I guess that's jus' the way that it is
Don't bother none
Won't help at all to worry 'bout it
I got thirsty so I went to a bar
Met a lil' darlin' with the face of a star
In the mornin' woke up to find
She stole my car along with my heart uh-huh
Oh well, I guess that's jus' the way that it is
Don't bother none
Won't help at all to worry 'bout it
Wish she'd give me back my heart uh-huh
Oh well, I guess that's jus' the way that it is
Don't bother none
Won't help at all to worry 'bout it
This is such a cool song. I could put lyrics to PAPA Plastic and Pushing the Sky here too, but... that'd take too much space. Just download them. Along with Yo Pumpkinhead.
Hmm... I'm not doing the Friday Five today, because it's all about those good ol' politics, something that means very little to me.
So.
Well, my new betta is healthy and happy now. It was official yesterday when I discovered his first bubblenest. :3 His fins are nice and long and his dorsal fin rises up and arches back and has these 3 individual rays in back that trail behind... so freakin' pretty. *swoon* And sometimes, on seemingly rare occasions, that dorsal just sticks straight up - it is too funny. >u< It's weird though... he's almost constantly squaring off with his own reflection in the tank walls, but I've never once seen him flare at it. Very weird. And he's still unnamed. I got to thinking though... the rainbow rock in his tank reminds me of those painted rock canyons and stuff you see in Western pictures, and his coloration reminds me of early dusk/twilight/sunset... so together they make quite the Western American-ish color scheme. It's kinda cool. So I thought maaaaybe I'd try to find a cool Native American or Western-ish name for him. Now I need to find a Native American dictionary or something...
So, can you tell all the pics linked above were taken with a cheesy little webcam? ¬-¬ Fish wouldn't stop wiggledancing around showing off for it, the little ham... made it very hard to get clear shots. I think this may be the beginning of a bee-yoo-tee-ful friendship. *tips hat and strolls off*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/08/2002 07:33:00 PM
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wTuesday, November 05, 2002 |
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feeling: =_=
listening to: nothing
I've felt all icky since mid-yesterday. Tired and headachy and weak and bluh. I think it's the weather. Like, I noticed when I started feeling like that yesterday, it started raining, and today it's been raining most of the day. When it's sunny and cool (or mild) I feel spiffy. When it's really freakin' hot, raining, or (sometimes) cloudy, I feel gross. Interesting.
And I finally got me a new betta~ *squee* He's pwetty... head's kinda golden, body is brilliant lavender (think brilliant as in UV light on white ink), and fins are dark red... makes me think of early dusk. Great time of day. ^o^ It'll take me weeks to decide on a cool name for a fish this pretty though. :P But, I worry about him... all he does all day is hide. In a corner, behind his rainbow rock hidey-hole, or under a clump of moss. Only comes up on occasion to breathe, then goes right back down. I guess I can't blame him... he was all settled in that little death trap bowl on the store shelf, then he was dumped in a bag and transported here and left in that same bag for over an hour, during which time he fell on the floor under my dad's *ahem* watchful eye T_T ... then all of a sudden he's dumped into this 2.5 gallon tank that's a freakin' jungle compared to what he's lived in probably all his life... he probably thinks there's something lurking around every corner ready to ambush him and tear his poor fins up. So I wrapped a couple T-shirts around his tank, cause I was told that that would help him calm down and settle in... but it doesn't seem to be changing anything yet. He didn't eat well this morning either... had 4 wiggly lil' thawed wormies (betta's favorite food) for dinner though, with more vigor and movement I've seen from him yet (that's not saying much, really - it just means he hung around the top during feeding and eventually ate 4 worms instead of hiding under the moss after sampling one bite) which encourages me... but he's still a skinny little guy. I just hope he's not harboring some sickness I can't see. *sigh*
And you know what? These frozen bloodworms are HARD to feed. >< They come in these little cubes less than an inch square. The process: I peel off the foil on the top and use the single tine of a plastic fork (my alternate for toothpicks, which I don't have) to dig out a chunk, which I drop into a spoonful of his tank water to thaw. That normally leaves me with a big ol' pile of teensy little worms - today I probably got over a dozen - out of which I'm only supposed to feed him the nice juicy red ones. But I'm lucky to see anything remotely red in that clump. Most of them are brown and skinny and bleh. Anyway, then I stick one on the end of the fork tine and dangle it at the surface till he takes notice... he zooms in straight for it, and just when I think he's gonna finally show a little vigor, he freezes and just stares at it. 9_9 But eventually he does snatch it up and look for more. Today I managed to get him to take four - which, I'm told, is probably too much for a guy his size, but he still looks so skinny, and I was just happy to see him eating with SOME degree of eagerness. Still though... I swear, for every 'juicy' red worm he eats, half a dozen not-so-juicy ones get pitched. Oh well... he eats it. Works for me.
...yeah. Mmmmmm, bloodworms. Well, at least they don't stink.
Anyhow, he should perk up in a few days or so, after he gets into the routine and learns where those nummy little worms come from. :3 He BETTER, anyway. Bettas aren't supposed to be this scaredy and inactive. -_-*
And now, I am off to the Japanese club's special encore showing of the original Japanese version of The Ring. I almost want to see the American version of that already... :P
(edit~ forget The Ring. I got there and some Vietnam War movie was playing. -___-)
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/05/2002 07:07:00 PM
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wSaturday, November 02, 2002 |
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feeling: -_-
listening to: nothing
Computer broke for no outwardly apparent reason on Thursday afternoon. Nice way to end a week of days loaded with 5-6 hours of homework and studying each. Most all of my files were backed up between 3 CD-Rs, except a song or two (one that took me about a month to download, conveniently) and, I believe, two Photoshop files with maybe a few days' worth of hours between them. If I lose those two files, I'm going to tear that machine apart, eat its circuits, and feed whatever caused it to break to my worst enemy's dog.
This sucks royally. I actually have a few things I'd like to look at/add to/start - I even have TIME to do them, for the first time in weeks - but any of them require my computer, which I won't see again until possibly next weekend. *throws random small objects out window*
Anyway. Friday Five.
1. Were you raised in a particular religious faith?
Yes, Christianity. United Methodism to be exact. The most boring kind.
2. Do you still practice that faith? Why or why not? Yes, for reasons that would make little to no sense to people who read this. In a nutshell though... because it works for me.
3. What do you think happens after death? Initial judgment and a foretaste of either paradise or the lake of fire, followed by the real, permanent judgment of EVERYone, dead and alive, at some point in the future. But I don't see how souls in Hell could be re-judged and then moved to Heaven, or the other way around, so... yeah. Heaven or Hell.
4. What is your favorite religious ritual (participating in or just observing)?
...ok, I dislike the word 'ritual' in terms of religion. It makes any traditional or somehow repeated component of any religion sound... I dunno, demonic or something. Just makes me think of monthly blood-drinkings and sacrificial ceremonies by moonlight, you know? Maybe I'm the only one... then again, a lot of people think that about the term 'religion' itself, so... oh well. Anyway, no, I don't really have one.
5. Do you believe people are basically good? The way I see it, every human comes into this world 100% innocent. It's the world - how they learn to view it, and the things that TEACH them how they view it - that makes people evil.
Why on earth does something in this room smell like my nephew? I haven't seen him, nor has he been in this room, in at least 2 weeks...
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 11/02/2002 02:41:00 PM
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wMonday, October 28, 2002 |
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feeling: about as ^_^ as I've felt in weeks
listening to: Escaflowne - Cubic graces the shuffled playlist
Seriously. Walking outside after dark when the temperature's in the, oh, mid-40s is one of those little simple pleasures for me. I'd rather be nice and warm out in the cold wearing a heavy, soft jacket than be warm wearing a T-shirt out in the heat. It's kinda like how so many people seem to prefer sleeping with a blanket even when it's hot, I guess. It was kinda funny... I was just out for one such walk (in case you couldn't tell) and behind me was a pair of girls walking in the same direction, one of whom kept whining about how freezing it was and chattering her teeth for effect and such. While there I am, feeling the chilly air but still nice and cozy and wishing I could make such outings more often here on south campus without, you know, fearing for my life. *sigh*
And you know what's funny about all this? The fact that this week could very well end up being just as cruel to me as last week was. Check my last couple posts for my accounts of that. No, but... I dunno, for some reason, even though I know studying for that midterm and doing all the homework I'll have to do this week is gonna kill me, I still have some kind of happy outlook right now. Took a walk in the cold after dark to make me realize it, but hey. Not that I wouldn't do that again anytime.
Anyway. Some random tidbits...
Yesterday whilst picking up a few things from K-mart, I actually saw the freaking Bearded Lady. Seriously, this woman had hair on her upper lip, chin, and neck that was longer and heavier than my leg hair can get in winter. And now that you realize how big a waste of my time I think shaving is, shall I also share my other possibly-positive physical health outlook o' the week?
...nah. :P
So also, yesterday I popped through 3 pet stores and a fish store continued my search for Betta #2. Still no luck. But while wandering around in Petco, I stopped by the ferret cage around feeding time. All I had to do was stick one hand down into the cage, and next thing I knew, half a dozen squeaky little furry critters were latched onto my arm and hand, searching for food. One of them, though, completely overshot my hand, sunk his little claws into my sweater sleeve, and scurried right up to my shoulder. He then proceeded to sniff all around my face, my hair, my ears... and you know what? There is no cuter sound in the world than that of a ferret sniffing your ear. *squee* Anyway, I tried to put the little bugger back in his cage, but he wasn't done with me. Soon as I put him down he whipped around and latched onto my sleeve again, climbed up, sniffed around, begged me to take him home, etc. I put him back, and we repeated the cycle 3 or so more times before I finally got him to stay in his cage so I could leave, as the store was closing. I swear, if I weren't still a jobless college grunt living in a dorm and dependent on mommy and daddy, the little bugger would be curled around my neck munching a pellet and sniffing my ear even as I type this. *double sigh*
It's those little things in life... ^u^
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/28/2002 07:20:00 PM
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wFriday, October 25, 2002 |
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feeling: ...let me sleep...
listening to: Whose Line's on
Don't feel like doing today's Friday Five. It's Halloween themed and I'm not exactly the biggest Halloween fan you'll come across.
So... let's take a little account of how my week went. Because you care. You know it.
MONDAY: Scheduling Hell. BAD BAD BAD. Also, emailed a Japanese advisor for help... more on that later.
TUESDAY: Philosophy lecture cancelled. GOOD. Got my schedule taken care of, GOOD, but it's nowhere near what I wanted and it sure won't make these next (and last, with luck) 5 quarters any easier. BAD. Also, spent nearly 3 hours on homework for Philosophy alone, then who knows how much for Japanese. BAD.
WEDNESDAY: Was late to my first class due to the fact that I forgot to set the freaking alarm. BAD. Went to philosophy recitation and discovered that the homework I did Tuesday night was wrong, so I spent another hour correcting it, then spent a few more hours on additional philosophy and Japanese homework. BAD. Also, got an email saying that the form I turned in when I declared a major stating that I had... well, declared a major... was incomplete and has to be redone, with my faculty advisor. BAD.
THURSDAY: Finally got a reply from the Japanese advisor I emailed Monday. What does it say? "You can come see me during my office hours." When are his office hours? Wednesday. And what's today again? Yeah. BAD. Then I spent the entire afternoon doing homework. And I mean entire. BAD. And just when I'd begun the online component of said homework, the power went out all over campus. BAD. Then after dinner, I did more homework. Philosophy. BAD. But... I actually somehow managed to ace that stupid thing. GOOD. And then after my homework was done (or done enough), I spent approximately 4 hours helping decorate my floor for Halloween. GOOD, even though it ate up any free time I could've had yesterday.
TODAY: This week is over and even though naturally there's tons of stuff I need to do (BAD), I'm allowing myself to sit around and vegetate today because I think I deserve a short break. It's Friday, for crying out loud. GOOD GOOD GOOD.
Let's see, what all do I have to do in the near future... talk to my Japanese advisor AND my honors advisor to try and figure out my exact schedules for the remainder of my college duration *snort*... spend a couple hours on Japanese homework before Monday's class... read a chapter for philosophy, do the problems at the end (I think that's next week...), and do another of those stupid online homeworks... plus spend a couple solid days and nights studying for the freaking midterm Thursday. Or maybe longer, depending how long it takes me to read all the online homeworks again and memorize their every component. All the while allowing at least 2 hours a day EVERY day for Japanese homework.
BAD.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/25/2002 11:23:00 AM
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wTuesday, October 22, 2002 |
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feeling: my head hurts
listening to: Nanase Aikawa - Bye Bye... this song's WAY too fun
I think someone heard my pleas for help concerning scheduling last night...
So, today's silver lining: philosophy lecture was cancelled. Which rocks in itself, but in addition it left me time to consult with my honors advisor. And from her I found out, firstly, that Astronomy H161 would still be an option after all, because whereas I thought it said it wasn't open to students with credit for Math 150, it actually meant Astronomy 150. Makes sense 9_9 but, see... what confused me was that there IS no Astronomy 150. Hasn't been one at this school for many years. They should really change that before anyone else has a nervous breakdown. -_-; Anyway... still can't take it in winter though. It's already full. And it conflicts with my Japanese classes, of course.
So then we moved on to rule out Geology, Geography, and Anthropology, again. Then there was a considerable period of silence as we both tried to figure out what the heck I could do. Finally I asked about a class called Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology 235 (mammalian anatomy, abbreviated EEOB), so she looked it up for me. Lo and behold - it's offered in winter! AND there's no conflict with my Japanese classes!
However, I'm still not exactly relieved. For one, that still means I'll have to wait and hope that the two geology (or perhaps astronomy) courses I'll still need will be available to me AND not in conflict with my Japanese schedule next year. For two, EEOB wasn't excatly my first choice for a science - wasn't even my 4th or 5th choice. But... it's waaay better than physics or chemistry, which would otherwise have been my only other options. So I guess I should be satisfied.
*sigh*
In other news, I finally started Final Fantasy 4. I've had it in the form of Final Fantasy Chronicles since last Christmas, but hadn't played it till Sunday. About 5 hours in now, and it seems pretty fun. I wish I could find better art of the characters though... from their icons, Rydia, Rosa, and Paladin Cecil look like people I'd love to draw. :P I'm kinda stuck now though... well, not really stuck, I don't think... but I need to go back. The dungeon-ish area I'm currently in is way harder than it should be - I missed several weapons and some other stuff, and I think I'm a few levels behind. And the next boss is hyper-strong. I didn't have a chance when I fought him the first time.
I believe I'm done now. *clutches head* ow...
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/22/2002 09:08:00 PM
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wMonday, October 21, 2002 |
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feeling: frustrated
listening to: Ayumi Hamasaki - Hanabi
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Ok... I'm supposed to schedule my winter quarter classes online tonight, right? It's pretty much a given that I'm taking Japanese 310 and 311, the continuation of the intensive course I'm taking right now... and next quarter it will take up the hours between 9:30 and 11:18 because that's the only time slot available, right? So, my plan was to take one of the 4 or 5 general curriculum courses I have left to take - I need 3 more sciences, anthropology 597.03, and maaaybe a 500-series political science. Anyway, I was planning on getting one of those sciences out of the way. I have several choices that somewhat interest me AND are 'strong' enough to please the honors department, including geography, geology (possibly 2-course sequence), and astronomy (also possible 2-course sequence). Yay, lots of options.
Plan #1: Astronomy 161, honors. I check it out in the course bulletin and I find that the course is not open to students with credit for Math 150. Which I have. So astronomy is out.
Plan #2: Geology 121, honors. To be followed by honors 122 in a sequence. So I look that up in the course bulletin - and, of course, honors 121 is not being offered this quarter. Moving on.
Plan #3: Geography 220, honors. This was not on my honors pre-contract, while astronomy and geology are, but I figured I could take the geol. sequence instead of the astron. sequence since I have credit for Math 150, and leave geog. as my third and final science course. So I look THAT up in the course bulletin. Honors version... not available.
So, getting worried at this point. That means I can't take any of the 3 sciences I still need. What other options do I have? Oh yeah...
Plan #4: Anthrop. 597.03, honors. So I look THAT up in the bulletin. Lo and behold, the honors version is available winter quarter.
BUT!
...only from 9:30-11:18. The exact same time slot Jap. 310-311 go into.
AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGG!!!
FOUR original options, all down the drain. That leaves... pretty much nothing in the general curriculum department. Unless I settle for chemistry or physics, which I do NOT want to do. I HATE them. I refuse to associate with them if I have ANY other option. Which I do. Or I SHOULD. But not next quarter. >_<
So... what am I supposed to do? Fill the spot with another Japanese class, I guess. I really didn't want to have to do that. Partially because the monotony of only studying one thing for a whole quarter might just wear me down, partially because I want to get my general junk out of the way for good, and partially because that means I'll have to meet with someone in the Japanese department to see what the heck I can take at the same time as 310-311. 251 (a literature course) comes to mind, but I'm not sure...
Well, anyway... as I look again, I see that honors geog. 220 MAY be available in the spring. I might be able to work with that, as long as it doesn't conflict with the times of my last Japanese language sequence which is that quarter. And how much are you willing to bet that that's EXACTLY what will happen? -_____-
I'm never gonna get out of here by spring '04... *pounds head on desk*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/21/2002 10:19:00 PM
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wSaturday, October 19, 2002 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: Gackt - Seki-Ray is stuck in my head
Forgot about Friday Five yesterday. So here it is.
1. How many TVs do you have in your home?
Right now, 2 - my parents' floor model in the living room and my year-old 19" in my room. I also have a crappy little 12" in my dorm... I've used it for copying tapes before, but I don't think it'll ever do that again... piece of junk.
2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week?
Not as much as I used to, really. Actively, maybe 20 hours or so. Inactively (i.e. listening cause there's nothing else to do), maybe 25-30.
3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children?
Not if they can only watch a couple hours a day or so.
4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you're heartbroken?
I get a tad cranky when I miss my Whose Line. I also try really hard to catch the first hour and a half of Adult Swim every Saturday night.
5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like?
Weekday mornings begin with a random hour-long nature documentary followed by an hour of Pokemon (you heard me XP), then Animal Planet's Big Cat Diaries and That's My Baby back to back, then two hours of Whose Line - an hour of Drew's, an hour of Clive's. At noon, a different subbed anime movie every day followed by episodes of DiGi Charat and other short-episode animes for filler as needed until the next even hour begins (if the movie ends at 1:45, it'd show a DiGi Charat ep or two until 2:00, etc). Afternoons would consist of an hour of Simpsons (this could be cropped or removed depending on the length of the preceding movie) followed by an ep of Family Guy followed by an ep of the Drew Carey Show followed by an hour-long block of anime... regular 22-odd minute episodes, 2 different series in the block, a new series beginning when one series ends. Like, I could start with daily Escaflowne and Eva, then replace Esca with Utena and Eva with Cowboy Bebop, etc. Then the daily dinner hour would consist of a different random Disney animated movie (Lord knows there's enough to last a few years on this kind of schedule), followed by some classic Disney shorts for filler till the next hour begins. After that, an hour of AFV (this could be cropped, extended, or scrapped depending on the length of the preceding movie, again), then a Powerpuff Girls followed by a Rocko's Modern Life (whatever happened to that show?), then another hOur of anime (like the afternoon block, but 2 still-different shows), and then a random daily movie that's anything but Disney animation, followed by some quick news and weather reportage for filler, then an hour of Hey Hey Hey! (starting from the very first ep so the reruns can last a year or so before getting to premeires), then another anime block for series with hour-long eps, and finally, several hours of Japanese music videos and concert footage till the next morning's programming begins. Weekends would be 24/7 anime - an hour of Pokemon in the mornings, then a full series marathon during the day followed by movies and filler until midnight, when more Jap music videos would run till Sunday (or Monday) morning. Longer series like Ranma and Sailor Moon... hmm... I can reserve those for the weekday afternoon block.
Okaaaaay... that aside. I'm tired. Nephy spent the night with us last night for the first time, and he's sick. Ear infection in both ears, and a cold (don't know if that's part of the ear thing or not). So even though I slept upstairs and he downstairs, I woke up every time he did. About 3 times I think. Had a few cranky spells too. Other than that... he's quite the little walker now, he's always jabbering, he adores chocolate milk, and today he learned to climb the stairway and find my room. And after he did it once, he did it 4 more times, getting faster and more confident each time. He only stopped cause Dad made him. X_X And we're talking full sized, 12-step stairway here, not just a few little steps. They grow up too fast... *sniff*
He's about to go home now, so I should probably put in one more appearance before his mom shows up. Ja na.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/19/2002 01:29:00 PM
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feeling: *shrug*
listening to: nothing
Ok. For at least a month now Blogger has been giving me crud. Every time I've wanted to send a new post I've had to go through a process similar to:
~Post and publish, and see "Error 503" failure message
~Go to Template page and "save settings" without changing anything
~Return to Posts page
~Edit the most recent post, and re-post/publish it
~View my blog, and see that the new post isn't there
~Repeat above process up to 2 times before new post shows up
Pain in the neck. Also, my archives have been screwed up pretty much from the start. Well, eventually it got to where my entire template devoured itself, which explains why my comments were gone for a while. Well, finally I had to totally reset my template, then go back to my comments-hosting site to get my codes, and paste them into the appropriate sections of my template code. It took several tries. Now, finally, everything is in order. Posts are posting, comments are showing, and for possibly the first time, ALL my archives are in view. I asked it over and over to archive them monthly instead of weekly so they'd take up less space over there, but I never could get it to comply. Oh well.
Point being, I'm back, and everything works, so I might be blogging a tad more regularly now. 'Might' being the operative word.
Sooo... my quest for Betta #2 began on Sunday with visits to the largest specialty fish store in Ohio followed by stops at two more general, though good-sized, pet stores. I was hoping to at least get the aquarium, but I couldn't find a simple 2-gallon with four simple, flat sides and no built-in filter. Filter's useless for a 2 gallon tank. So I thought, maybe there's some other stuff I can get. But then I remembered that I didn't really know what I was looking for, so I left empty-handed. But now, finally, I have all the information I need except one detail that's up to my parents and that they'd better get done sometime this week... so I'm ready now. :P
Anyway, also in my search I checked out the bettas at each store. The fish store had roundtails and the normal veiltails you think of when you think of Siamese fighting fish... none really jumped out at me though. Except one roundtail that wiggledanced at us when we looked at him. But I don't really want a roundtail, and he was probably at or around a year old already, and they only have 2-year lifespans. So, then Petmart only had 4 bettas, all of which looked quite depressed. I think one was Cambodian (a pretty color combo of flesh-colored body and bright red fins), but it was just lying on the bottom, and darted once when I got close, then just sat there again. Poor guy. And, finally, Petco had a decent selection, but they were the least well-kept - they were in these sickening little tiny cups, many had brown, green, blue, or cloudy water, and two were dead. But they had two multicolored ones that were absolutely gorgeous. The bigger one, especially, had a little of EVERY color I've ever seen in a betta, I think - blacks, whites, golds, reds, shiny light blues, dark blues, purples... *drool* I really wanted to snatch him up, but he was already full-grown... and of course, I didn't have a tank yet.
So I left, again, empty-handed. Hopefully within 2 more weeks I will at last have my new betta. And in case you're wondering what the fook I'm talking about concerning colors and tail types and such, check out this site and the sale catalog at this site to see just how many gorgeous betta types there are out there.
Yeah, I'm done rambling about bettas now. New ramble subject.
So my intensive 10-credit-hour Japanese course is going pretty well. Lots of daily practicing required, but I have an A so far, and it looks like I should be able to keep it that way. The teachers are pretty cool, but none of them are the ones I had last year, sadly. I miss Kasihwagi-sensei and Angles-sensei and Kumakura-sensei and *sigh* Anyway... but the main teacher this quarter is always picking on me because - get this - my spoken Japanese lacks emotion. 9_9 I haven't informed her yet that I speak with just as much bloody emotion in Japanese as I do in English. Doesn't help that just about everything we say aloud in that class comes directly from a text that we have memorized word fr word. I'm not an actor, for Bob's sake.
But still... when I was thinking about all that, something else occurred to me: given the fact that my normal speech is very low and quite monotone most of the time, plus the fact that my brain just freezes and takes a flying leap onto the floor anytime I'm expected to say something, which usually results in me saying little or nothing in response to other people... I probably come across as very cold to people who don't know me. I don't mean to, I swear. -_-;; My friends wouldn't notice it, because I'm totally different around them... brain still takes a flying leap to the floor, but it seems I can function without it in the presence of friends. :P
Well, anyway. Pointless ramble.
I have to schedule next quarter's classes at the end of next week. Which means I have to meet by appointment with at least one advisor between now and then. This is a problem because meeting with an honors advisor won't be a problem... but meeting with an advisor in my department will be, because there are dozens of them, all with different areas of specialization, and I don't know which one I'm supposed to talk to about scheduling. Arg... I hate having a major... ><
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/15/2002 01:48:00 PM
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wTuesday, October 08, 2002 |
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feeling: not bad... yet
listening to: Ayumi Hamasaki - M
Nifty little survey thing I found...
The Unreality Quiz
1) What is your favorite unreal land? (Middle Earth, Narnia, Raccoon City, etc.)
Ohtori Academy (the movie version) isn't really a land, so I guess it doesn't count... so um... Mirkwood? *shrug* Oh, or the Final Fantasy 7 world. It's cool.
2) What is your favorite unreal animal?
Chocobos, gryphs (not just gryphONS... all gryphs... hippogryphs, vulpegryphs, all gryphs), good ol' classic dragons, phoenixes... lots.
3) Would you be an unreal creature that must murder to sustain itself?
If killing is for sustenance, then it's not murder. Lions don't murder antelope - they live off them. Anyway... hmm. That's tough. See, if I was a non-humanoid creature, humans wouldn't matter to me, and ya gotta eat something :P... so I'd probably say sure. But if I was humanoid and actually had the mental capacity and whatnot of a human, like vampires and such, then I'd say no. I can't consciously kill people. It's a curse.
4) What unreal creature would you like to be most of all?
Catgirl. Winged catgirl. But if I were allowed to have a counterpart, I'd scratch the wings and just keep some sort of felinoid gryph around to fly me everywhere.
5) How would you dress if humanoid, and popular style were not a concern?
Well, I'd be a catgirl, and therefore I'd be skinny and adorable, so I'd wear skimpy cute stuff just because I could. Nothing exceedingly, like, modern-trendy, though... just stuff that reveals ze midriff and legs.
6) In your own ideal world, what color would the sky be?
You know what'd be pretty? A, like, perpetual sunset kinda scheme. Lavenders and fiery oranges and golds and the like, all day long. Night would be very, very, very deep blue. And swirly. But no black.
7) Would it be a peaceful land or a war-torn one?
There'd be peaceful peoples, and there'd be warring peoples. More peacefual than warring though. And they'd be very clearly separated and would be unable to go near each other due to some kind of impenetrable natural boundary. Mountains, ocean, caverns, something. Well, check that... they would be penetrable... just not by lots and lote of people at one time so armies can't invade the peaceful and whatnot. You know.
8) What would be the government of this land?
Monarchy. There is waaay too much fun stuff one can do in literature with a monarchy. >:3
9) How technologically advanced would you like it?
Who needs technology? My people have beasts that are stronger than oxen and faster than falcons and range in size from the mouse to the dragon at their disposal for transportation and companionship and trucking. Occasional magic doesn't hurt either.
10) What is your favorite unreal form of currency?
"I don't believe euros really exist :P" ~GlassShard *snortchuckle* That is a good answer. I prefer good ol' gold and silver coinage though, I think.
11) Would you rather deal with robots/androids or living beings?
Living beings. Robots can be made too close to invincible. No fun at all.
12) What form of undead creature would you like to be?
Hmm... a ghost, if I could touch and move stuff and only be seen by seers and the like. I could tap people on the back forever and they'd never know what hit 'em. x)
13) Would you take eternity as a ghost in the living world or would you go into the light?
I hear nice things about that light. I think I'll take that. Stuck on earth for eternity but forever invisible would get boring after a few decades.
14) What is your favorite unreal language?
I like lots of unreal languages. Unreal languages are fun. That said... I don't really know any. :P
15) What is your favorite unreal humanoid race?
Elves are always good... and any kind of demihuman.
16) Do you have a bias against creatures with pointy ears?
Dude, I WANT pointy ears.
17) Do you long for the future, or a return to the past?
Past. But the problem with that is I wouldnt' want to go back there if I'd already had a taste of the here and now. I'd miss computers too much. Still though, I have very little if any hope for the future, so I really don't want to be part of it.
18) What is your favorite period in our reality's history?
Geez, I dunno. The Renaissance is fun, when you leave out the rampant disease epidemics and such. Anything with lots of cool art and writing and minstrels with scribes instead of typewriters is cool with me.
19) What means of unreal transportation would you most prefer?
Flight. Either with my own wings or with some kind of big winged critter. Gryph or dragon, maybe. Or of course, for short distances, chocobos are nice.
20) Would you want to have wings? If so, what would they look like?
Bird-style. Or actually, more like angel-style, probably. Just... feathery, not leathery.
21) What would you arm yourself with?
Swords are cool. Crystal swords. Or magic swords made of, like, beams of holy magic.
22) What is your favorite magical spell?
Heheh, so many possibilities... I can't imagine how useful Silence and Confuse would be X3... but then, gotta have the healing/holy magic
23) Would you rather have only one hand, one eye, or one foot?
One foot. Eyes are the window to the soul, and hands can draw.
24) Would you be a creature of the air, the earth, or the sea?
I think earth, but I'd spend a lot of time flying around checking things out. Sea would be fun too though, dangit.
25) Would you enjoy being an immortal creature? Why/why not?
Yes, but only if aging wasn't involved. If I aged like a human, after a couple centuries I'd be a useless, desensitized husk, and that is not cool.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/08/2002 02:37:00 PM
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wSunday, October 06, 2002 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: Queen - Under Pressure is stuck in my head
My Taps-partner who played my echo saved me >:3 heh... for some reason he couldn't get it to play right with only the first valve (which, because trumpets are cool, is the only valve needed to play the version of Taps I've always played), sooo he asked me if I could play it with the first two valves instead... and I eagerly agreed because that means every note would be one pitch lower. No high F~ *dance* Of course, then he kinda startled me by echoing a part of the song I've never heard echoed before, then I spotted a spider trying to build a web between my playing arm and my trumpet... T_T Other than that though, I suppose we did all right. Could have been better. See previous blog if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
And on another note, last weekend's Hey Hey Hey! was possibly the funniest thing I've seen since Gackt became the Billiard King. >u< First, they were playing a larger scale version of this music quiz show game where they play a slightly jumbled version of a famous Japanese song, and a team has to ring in to guess the artist and title... there were 5 teams... one of the cohosts (Matsuhara; the other, Hamada, hosted the game), Ayumi Hamasaki (the first guest I've recognized on that show in weeks!), some group I didn't see the name of, some chick younger than me named Hiro, and a girl group called... Melon something, or... something. They reminded me of the Spice Girls, but less slutty. They even had nicknames for each member; Sexy and Natural, for example. Well, at one point Ayumi tried to ring in to guess a title but her buzzer didn't work so Melon beat her in, and she was all yelling and flailing and such... but then Melon answered wrong, so Ayu buzzed and got in this time, and got it right... heh, it was funny... "NAN DE?!! ATASHI JA NAI NO?!" *giggle*
Anyway... Hiro won... then they talked to her, then she performed, then they talked to the Melon-whatsit girls, and they performed... then they showed a clip of the hosts with Ayumi out... somewhere... looking at a bike. In that she said she'd never ridden a bike, so of course the rest of the episode was devoted to teaching her. It was too funny... she's such a wuss 9u9 First they tried to put her on the bike and just have her take off, but with one host pushing and one pulling... but after about a second of that she started screeching and whining "Kowai, kowai, atashi kowai!" (I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared!) *snort* So then they moved on and tried to teach her balance... in other words she'd sit on the bike but push it by walking instead of pedaling. That went fine, so then they moved on to a bike with training wheels... she got on, took off, and promptly veered so far to the left, she had to stop and start over. She finally got going straight, but while she was busy watching the hosts tell her to look forward (they were behind her), she just about crashed head on into a wall. >v< Then they tried teaching her... um, to use the brakes, I guess... by putting her in the bike seat and having her walk it down a slope. She got to the bottom no problem, but right when one of her 'teachers' complimented her on that (ah, jouzu desu nee), she made this really short, staccato little screechy noise (captioned as "A!") and... fell off the bike. >u< I about died.
Well, then they brought out this goofy looking dog-shaped three-seater bike thing where the person in back pedaled and steered and the two in front just rode. And as soon as she saw it, of course, Ayumi squealed "Aa, kore naritaaai!" (Aah, I wanna ride that!) So she popped herself into the front seat while Matsuhara got in back to pedal, and she pointed between them and ordered Hamada to sit where she was indicating. I swear, through this whole bit she was just like a little kid... once they got moving she kept yelling "Yaaaay! Faster, faster!" and whatnot... then when the driver steered them toward a water trap thingy she started screaming again... she has a hilarious scream X3 And for the last thingy they brought out this insane double bike where the riders sit side by side pedaling but only one of them steers... looked like a pain to balance. x_x Well, at first Matsuhara steered while Ayumi just sat and pedaled... but that lasted about 3 seconds before she started screaming and leaped off the bike. Poor Matsuhara. X3 Anyway, then as an example Hamada rode with Matsuhara, and they had Ayu push them up this upgrade, but I guess they were veering too far to one side for Hamada's comfort so he put his foot down to stop them, but his foot missed the ground since they were a good way up the slope the next level, so he kinda lost balance... luckily Matsuhara kept them upright, but Ayumi, who was pushing them, let go and took off running the second something seemed to go wrong 9v9 Then Matsuhara caught his foot on a pedal or something, so he started screaming "ITAAAI!! Itatatatai! Itatatatatai!" (OWW!! ow ow ow ow! etc.) and dove to the ground, rolling around and clutching his ankle and whining... it was funny XD I still haven't figured out what the heck hurt him though *shrug*
Anyway... I do have a point. :P Recently I've heard a lot of people saying how Ayumi Hamasaki has... changed in recent years, and not for the better. I'm not sure if they meant in terms of her music, or her personality, or both... but anyway, I've heard some say she's more like Britney Spears than Utada Hikaru is. And Utada's pretty much nicknamed Japan's answer to Britney. >< I've blogged my two cents on that before too... but anywho, my point... in this Hey!3 ep, Ayumi seemed nothing like that. She was fun, she was goofy, she talked and acted like a little kid, she wore casual sporty clothes for the quiz game and bike-learning sequences... and when she performed she wore a floor-length, very loose/poofy-skirted dress and just stood there singing, no dancing, no flaunting, nothing else. Just sang. Her bass player moved more than she did. Hah, it was great... the guy had a mohawk and was bopping and bouncing around like a heavy metal bassist... and the song she performed was a ballad. XD So... there's my opinion. Ayu-chan seemed pretty cute and modest and kiddie to me. So I guess I have yet to figure out why J-pop fans' opinions of her have deteriorated of late.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 10/06/2002 04:33:00 PM
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