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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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wFriday, February 28, 2003 |
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feeling: ever so slightly... genki... >_o;;
listening to: Gackt - Papa Lapped a Pap Lopped
Heh. A few months ago I was...
I am a casual Gackt fan!
But now I am...
I am one of Gackt's eternal Dears!
What kind of Gackt fan are you?
quiz by  mcvarmazi
I've been upgraded! >:3~
Hm... I'm not sure if 'eternal Dears' really suits me though. Dears, if I recall right, is Gackt's fan club, or some kind of groupie following or some such. I'm not one of the Dears. I probably would be if I could. I don't even own any Gackt CDs or merchandise, but again, I'd own lots if I could find them. Yet I'm one of the ETERNAL Dears? Not just normal Dears?
Heh, not that I'm arguing. XP *glomps Gac-chan till the cows come home*
And this is the sign that I am now an official genuine fangirl: I had my first Gackt dream last night. *anime-style collapse* Read no further if you wish to be spared the fangirl-y details. XP
I don't remember much of it, really. All I know is that Gackt along with Hamada and Matsumoto (the Hey Hey Hey hosts, a.k.a. Downtown) were staying with my family for... some amount of time. A few weeks or something. I don't know why. I don't even remember actually doing anything with any of them, speaking to them (in Japanese or otherwise), or even hearing them do any talking, until the end, when for some reason the 3 of them along with my family were sitting around our dining room table playing some card game or something. I don't even remember the game. Next thing I know, it was time for them all to leave, and Gackt was the last to go. Everyone in my family gave him (as well as Hamada and Ma-chan, I guess) some kind of little parting gift, and my gift to Gackt was a little... thing. Umm, I can't describe it right... not quite a paper doll, not quite origami... but sort of a little 3D-ish model of him made of paper. Anyway, that was his favorite gift, so he stood around talking to me for a few minutes before he left... thanking me, telling me how much he appreciated my hospitality and... stuff *shrug*... and the next thing I knew, he was hugging me and talking as though we'd known each other forever and we'd never see each other again... kinda choked up, kissing the top of my head, clutching me to his manly pecs... *not sure whether to be utterly weirded out or to just perma-swoon* SO, then... x_x;; Next thing I know, me and my parents are arriving in Japan. Why, I'm not sure... but my parents are leading me around as if they'd been there several times before. Our destination seems to be this big banquet building thing... like a banquet hall, but with multiple connected rooms, not just one hall with one big table. My dad went to the front desk and, in English, requested seats as close to 'the Lincoln' as we could get. What something called Lincoln was doing in a Japanese banquet hall, I've nooo idea. Anyway, the lady (who, frighteningly, resembled my current Japanese teacher, Terashima-sensei) led us to the place, which we saw was directly below and in front of a big TV or projector screen. Apparently, this was 'the Lincoln'. A screen. And not only were we as close to it, we were sitting right in front of it, against the wall (i.e., facing away from it so we couldn't even see it). Imagine wanting a front-row seat at a movie and ending up sitting right along the movie screen with your back to it. Yeah. Anyway, we claimed our seats and then went back to the... buffet? serving line?... to get our food. It resembled Chinese, with some curry on the menu as well. And somewhere along the way, who should we spot standing around the buffet/serving area but Gackt. We walked over to say hi, and he kinda waved at us and gave us that little lazy, bored, I'm-the-hottest-J-rock-boi-around-and-the-world-better-know-it smile *starry eyes*... and a couple insane fans just had to walk up and glomp him, and I'm not sure, but I don't think one of them was me... :P;;;
Weird, yes. But at least it wasn't ecchi. 9_9;;
Eeeeuck, they're waxing the hallway floor, and it STINKS. *closes door* I hope the fumes don't screw with my fishies' water...
comment! (0)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/28/2003 12:42:00 PM
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wSunday, February 23, 2003 |
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feeling: yuck
listening to: nothing
Studying sucks. I've been studying for... probably 5 hours now, not counting the very brief period where I dozed off... and in all that time I managed to stumble through approximately 2 1/2 pages of notes. 6 or so to go. Not counting the stuff I still have to read in the textbook. And tomorrow I'll have... oh, maybe 4 or 5 hours to study, if I'm lucky. Then maybe 3 hours Monday afternoon right before the stupid midterm. Think I can get through 6 pages in the same amount of time it took me to get through 2 1/2? -_-;; Not that it matters, of course. I could study for the next 24 hours solid and still not be ready for this test.
You know, it seems like all I do is complain, doesn't it? But in all honesty, I love college. If you gave me the choice between 1) college with all its scheduling woes and impossible classes and long nights of cramming, or 2) high school with its cake classes and spending no more than half an hour studying for any given test... I'd take college in a heartbeat. In college I don't have to put up with the preps, the jocks, the jerks, the angst, the backstabbing 'friends'. In college people would rather wear an enormous wool coat and fuzzy mittens and a scarf and a ski mask AND earmuffs and look dippy than to wear nothing but a trendy jacket for the sake of looking cool. Because people in college have common sense. Well, most of them. A lot of them. Enough so to sacrifice fashion for well-being. Another great thing with a big college like mine is, you don't know anyone. Even if you made some mistakes or bad impressions in the past and turned some people off, whether you meant to or not, college is a totally fresh start with people who neither know nor care who you were before. Heck, even I could've made friends at college if I'd cared enough. :P
Not only that, but I swear, I love my major. I don't care how weird it is or how hard it'll be to find a good money job in it when the time comes. I don't even care anymore that every single person reacts to learning what my major is by shrieking something along the lines of "JAPANESE??!!!" or "WHY???". You wanna know why? It's FUN. The more I learn, the more I want to learn. Even when I have to spend 3 or 4 hours per night on Japanese homework, it's not work to me, because I love it. They say if you do what you love and love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. And that is why I decided to pick something I like and find a job based on that rather than pick a career path and base my entire college experience on it and risk losing interest in it. That's also why I didn't major in art or any of the other ideas I left high school with - I took a course or two in the field of each of my original ideas, and found they weren't what I expected them to be. And I didn't want to spend the next 4 years wasting my time doing something that's supposed to be fun but turns out to be nothing but a chore. Ruins the experience, as well as the rest of your life, unless you're willing to spend four MORE years preparing for another career track.
There's a lesson here. Don't base the entirety of your life around a decision you made during your teenage years - the most turbulent years in every human being's life. Don't decide on your major years before you even start college. Go undeclared for a year. Take general requirements and electives in the field(s) of whatever you're interested in. THEN, after you know what to expect, make your decision. It's a whole lot easier than following your childhood dream only to learn that it's just gonna drive you insane in college and changing your major halfway through and dooming yourself to more years in college than you ever bargianed for. I mean, look at me... I left high school extremely interested in art, writing, journalism, and classics, and ended up declaring a major in Japanese - after taking two courses of it purely as electives. I had NO Japanese experience prior to college.
Bottom line - Don't be in a freakin' hurry. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't risk throwing it away.
Heh, look at me, lecturing high schoolers. I only know one high school person who regularly reads this blog, and she's already too level-headed to need to hear this. :P
Hmm. The only thing that sucks about college is the general curriculum requirements. I'd be on cloud nine if I could take nothing but Japanese classes. But instead I'm stuck in this stupid mammalian anatomy class, tearing apart a poor pretty kitty and memorizing the names of every freakin' bone and muscle and organ and gland and major vessel in it, busting my butt studying for a midterm I know is going to chew me up and spit me out. All this only shortly after getting all depressed over scheduling problems, which came right on the heels of 3 other midterms. At times like these I often catch myself muttering 'College can bite my toe' or 'College sucks' or some such. If you ever hear me say that, do not take me seriously. Think of how a couple very close friends might act... like when one has something cool happen to them and the other is jealous but at the same time happy for them, they'll affectionately mutter 'you suck' and bop them on the arm. Yeah, it's kinda like that.
*bops college on the arm*
Back to studying now. Ugh, my neck hurts.
comment! (0)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/23/2003 12:37:00 AM
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wMonday, February 17, 2003 |
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feeling: mmf
listening to: nothing
I made a big long post the other night, but Blogger ate it and I didn't feel like doing it over again. So yeah.
It has been snowing like mad here for about 4 days now. So much so that my uni got a SNOW DAY today. I swear that happens, like, once every decade. It makes headlines all over the frigging STATE when this university gets a snow day. And this is NOT a state that doesn't see much snow in winter - we're talking central Ohio here. We average maybe 3 blizzards per cold season. So now I know what it takes before Ohio State will cancel classes for snow: a level 2 snow emergency. Or maybe it was level 3 by that time... I forget... yeah, anyway. It takes a whole freakin' LOT of powder. They've been trying to clear the roads, but I still see nothing but white out there, and I think the stuff's still coming down, albeit in tiiiiiny little flakes you can barely see. Heh, It'd be funny if we got a few more inches overnight and they canceled again tomorrow. I'd be part of history. :P
On a final note...
Are You Lilo or Stitch?Quiz By Chloe
Your Heart is Grey
What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla
You are a descriptive writer. An avid reader of
Robert Frost, perhaps, you LOVE to use flowery
words and use the paper and pen as your canvas
and paintbrush. You prefer to paint a mental
image rather than simply toy around with
people's minds. A very inspired person, you
love to be in nature and usually are a very
outdoorsy type of person. A writer with a
natural green thumb, perhaps?
What's YOUR Writing Style?
brought to you by Quizilla
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/17/2003 08:22:00 PM
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wSaturday, February 15, 2003 |
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feeling: not as tired as I should be
listening to: Day After Tomorrow - My Faith (what? again? :P)
MUHAHAHA!! I translated My Faith!
...well, sort of. :p
No, I'm proud. First I actually managed to find this song which doesn't exist on Kazaa, THEN I actually managed to find the lyrics. They're in Japanese, of course. But I actually kind of translated them. >:D Of course, my problem is that I know what most of the words mean... it's just how they're put together - structures, phrase constructions - that throws me off. So on that much I kinda had to... well, guess. But most of the meaning should still be there. :P
Ok, here are the original lyrics, courtesy Cori's Jpop Lyrics Homepage~
Machi no koe o kikinagara tashikameatta
Futari de kaku azayaka na kioku no PEIJI
Katachi mo nakute fureru to kiete shimau mono
Dakara kotoshi mo mata kimi to mitai to negau
Kokoro ni takusan no hi ga tomoru seinaru yoru nara
Chippoke na sou kiseki de mo okiru ka na?
Ai suru kimi no soba ni iru dake de ima mo towa ni zutto
Mune no oku wa atatakai hikari de tsutsumareru
My Faith
Mitsumeru shisen no saki ni utsutteru mono
Futari onaji de aru you ni sotto inotta
Omoide no kakera o hitotsu zutsu hiroiatsumetara
Isshun no samishisa sae kiete yuku
Aenai jikan sore wa iroiro na kimochi o sodateru ne
Fuan dake de ippai ni natte shimau mae ni
My Faith
Omoi yo todoke kimi ni itsumade mo kawaranu manazashi de
Shinjitakute musubareta kesshou o
Kisetsu wa meguri toki wa nagaretemo kono uta o tsutaetai
"Kimi o ai shitsuzuketai" sore dake ga subete da kara
Ok, and here's my translation, if you could call it that...
As I listened to the voices in the town, it became clear
The two of us are writing the page of a vivid memory
Something lacking even form, that touches me and completely disappears*
That's why, this year, I want to see it again with you
If in my heart so many days alight, and sacred nights,*
Could even so small a miracle arise?
Just to be by your side, always, now and for eternity
Wrapping my heart inside with a warm glow
'My Faith'
Something reflected in the look I'm seeing in your eyes
The two of us, as though we were one, silently prayed*
If we each gather up just one piece of that memory
In a moment, even the loneliness will disappear
That tragic time brings up so many emotions, doesn't it?*
Before I become completely filled with nothing but anxiety...
'My Faith'
Reach out, memory! to you, with that unchanging expression*
Wanting to believe, that binding oath...*
Even though the seasons keep flowing by, I want to sing this song*
"I want to keep loving you" - because that alone is everything...
Verses/lines with a * by them are the ones I had the most trouble with. I'm still quite unsure about the wording of those. There's a lot of them, ne? I wish I knew this language better. -_-;;
*listens to the song again*
~EDIT~ I forgot my Quizilla results! Get back here, I'm not done! :P
Feline Person
You are the cat that changes into a human (usually
female) that seems to be apperant in almost
every other anime\manga. You may be called a
slut, or just be very very bouncy. You may wear
skimpy clothes, but people shouldn't be
looking, cause your a cat. You may be arrogent,
but thats also ok, 'cause your a cat. Pretty
much all of your behavior can be explained away
like that. You probably will get along with
exagerated expresions and hentai people, but
that's not always your fault. You might not
like censorship, can't be recognizd, and blows
up on contact.
What Aspect of Anime\Manga are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Like the internet? Both Lain (from "Serial
Experiments Lain") and you seem to have
the motto that the computer can connect you to
another world and that you can become a
different person when connected.
What's Your Inner Anime Motto?
brought to you by Quizilla
More whenever.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/15/2003 02:20:00 AM
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wThursday, February 13, 2003 |
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feeling: meh
listening to: Toshinobu Kubota - La La La Love Song
This is a fun song. ^_^ La la la laaa looove sooong~
It has come to my attention through sources such as myself that I rarely if ever have anything to say here anymore. And I stumbled upon Quizilla today. We have here the ultimate lethal combination. :P So be prepared over the next few days/weeks/seconds/etc. to see lots of those random pointless amusing quiz things taking up space here. In fact, here's the first handful:
-Perfect- You're the perfect girlfriend. Which
means you're rare or that you cheated :P You're
the kind of chick that can hang out with your
boyfriend's friends and be silly. You don't
care about presents or about going to fancy
placed. Hell, just hang out. You're just happy
being around your boyfriend.
What Kind of Girlfriend Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Cougar
What Is Your Animal Personality?
brought to you by Quizilla
Where do you fall on the liberal - conservative political spectrum? (United States)
brought to you by Quizilla
You are the mystery woman
Which Ultimate Beautiful Woman are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
avoidant
Which Personality Disorder Do You Have?
brought to you by Quizilla
...I feel that's enough for now. More whenever.
I need to study tonight. Japanese oral midterm tomorrow morning. The bad part of that is, some of the material we've covered for this thing is exceedingly tricky. New honorific registers, transitive/intransitive verbs (sorta like passive/active voice, but not quite the same... we learn that later :P), half a dozen different ways to say 'give' plus a few extras for 'receive' AND how they all combine with other verbs and/or nouns in big long continuous strings... and a ton of new vocabulary. Like, here's one utterance we might be expected to know:
I wanted to put the new desk in my bedroom, but I hurt my back, so I had my little sister help me.
Doesn't sound too complicated, no. But translated into Japanese...
Atarashii tsukue wa shinsitsu ni motte itte oitakatta kedo, koshi ga itaku natchatta kara, imouto ni tetsudatte moratta.
First we've got a string of verb words - 'motte itte oitakatta', which involves words for 'take/hold', 'go', and 'put/place'. Then we see 'koshi ga itaku natchatta', which is actually closer to 'my back [regrettably] ended up becoming painful' or some such. Finally we see 'tetsudatte moratta' - words for 'help' and 'receive', which literally translates to something like 'receiving the act of helping'. There are, of course, more polite ways to say this - a way that honors the person helping you, a way that honors the person you're talking to, a way that humbles yourself, and ways that combine all of the above. This applies for pretty much every component of the above sentence, so there are about a dozen different ways to say it depending on who's helping, who you are, and who you're talking to.
And THAT is why everyone thinks this language is impossible to learn. :P It's not, though, really. It's intimidating, but only because it's so totally different from English and other languages that are Latin or Germanic in origin. That includes most European languages - if you listen to a simple conversation in Spanish, French, German, or Italian, chances are you'll be able to pick up at least a partial meaning from it even if all you know is English. With Japanese, though, even if they use a borrowed word from English in said dialog, you're usually totally lost. Then of course you have the one characteristic of the Japanese language that's so tricky even native speakers often never master it: honorifics. There are about a dozen different ways to say pretty much any sentence you could imagine, depending who you're talking to, who you're referring to, and who you are. Honorifics are a pain. Other than that though, Japanese really isn't that hard. And it's hecka fun.
...end rant.
Time to study now. I need chocolate. *sigh*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/13/2003 08:09:00 PM
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wWednesday, February 12, 2003 |
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feeling: *dances in the halls*
listening to: Day After Tomorrow - My Faith... again... or still
YAAAAY!! I'M NOT SCREWED!!!!
...YET!
I have scheduled Geological Sciences 121, honors, for spring, and my schedule is thus complete~~ There were exactly two available seats left in the class, and I have just filled one of them. MUHA! *polka*
Now I just have next year to contend with. Luckily I have a few more months to worry about that. *glares at next year*
My Faith by Day After Tomorrow is a sweet song. It is the ending theme to the Japanese drama currently playing Sunday nights on the International Channel, titled Home & Away. I likes it. And this time I'm not gonna make the same mistakes I made with Wedding Planner and Leave it to Nurses 4 - this time I'm watching the WHOLE series. No more taking chances. XP I'm not regretting it so far... it's a pretty good show. About this girl named Kaede who's supposed to get married soon but all kinds of bizarre stuff happens and gets in the way. First she's in China, just visiting with a couple friends, and as she's boarding the plane to return home to Tokyo she realizes she's lost her engagement ring. She runs back to the restroom, and lucky for her, there it is on the kitchen sink. She gets back to the plane, but lo and behold, it's taken off without her. So she gets on a bus, where the guy she shares a seat with steals all her food/souvenirs from China and scares her to death by waving a knife around. She gets ouf of there and somehow ends up in the middle of Hokkaido, loses her address book (or checkbook or something), and ends up spending the night in some rickety ancient shed in the middle of nowhere... no food, no contact with anyone, storming outside and she keeps hearing someone lurking around... anyhow, so now all she has is her funky green-themes triangle-patterned-mosaic suitcase and a purse thing, and over the next... well, a while... she sees pretty much every part of Japan except for Tokyo, her goal. Everywhere she goes something new goes wrong, but at the same time, everywhere she goes she meets someone who's in pain for one reason or another. She convinces a young couple to follow their hearts and earn the girl's mom's consent before eloping, she acts as a motherless boy's mother for a while, she brings families back together on 4 or 5 occasions... etc etc. Everywhere she goes she becomes an angel for someone new. Nice story. It's only 10 episodes though, and about 4 to go now, I think. *sigh* The best ones are always the shortest...
I need a shower. But I don't feel like it at the moment. I'm in too good a mood to waste time bathing. :P
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/12/2003 02:38:00 PM
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wTuesday, February 11, 2003 |
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feeling: like curling up in a corner and weeping
listening to: Day After Tomorrow - My Faith
I was right. I'm screwed.
Just got back from seeing my Jap advisor about what the heck I can schedule for next quarter to fill in the one class slot I have left. He suggested Jap 251. Can't do that. Time conflicts with 510-511, which I have no choice but to take next quarter. I suggested Jap 252. Can't do that either. It's not offered again until next year. I asked if there was ANYTHING else among the page-long list of Japanese major requirements and options that I could take, and either they're not offered next quarter or I don't have the necessary prerequisite(s). He suggested that I fill the slot with whatever GECs I still need. There are three of those - Anthropology 597.03 and a two-course physical science sequence. I'd greatly prefer either Astronomy or Geology, because Physics and Chemistry are the SUCK. Anyway, guess what? NONE of those are offered next quarter. And even if I find one that is, it's most likely filled up by now since all the honors students were supposed to have scheduled last week.
Screwed.
I have 3 other options that MIGHT still allow me to still graduate when I want to, in 2004:
1) Fill the slot with a non-honors GEC. Pro: they're offered all the bloody time, and they're easier. Con: if I do that, there's a BIG chance I won't have enough honors credits to graduate with honors. And if that happens, I'll have to do a senior thesis. Ugh.
2) Spend one or two quarters next year taking 4 classes at a time, instead of the average 3. Pro: I could get done in time. Con: I do believe that kind of schedule would kill me. 3 courses is enough of a pain. Plus, there will always be those freaking time conflicts.
3) Take summer courses. Pro: I could get done in time. Con: ...like... who wants to go to school in summer?? Particularly when I don't have a place to live, and when even if I do find a place it won't be air conditioned. YUCK. I could commute, but that would mean driving to and from Columbus, a 3-hour round trip, most likely EVERY DAY. Inconvenience aside, I'd have to get a job just to cover gas money. And if so many hours of my day are taken up by classes, it'll be that much harder to find a job. Stupid vicious cycles.
So there we go. Either I do one of those three things, or I miss Spring Commencement 2004. Or I say screw the honors program and do a thesis instead. Um, no. I've come too far in honors to quit now. I didn't talke that stupid stats-wannabe philosophy class last quarter for nothing. Not to mention this quarter's cat-hacking biology class and the evil snooty honors English classes.
Bite me, college.
comment! (0)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/11/2003 02:17:00 PM
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wFriday, February 07, 2003 |
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feeling: bored
listening to: nothing
I am bored! Bored bored bored!
Sorry, it just feels nice to be able to say that after midterms and exams and scheduling and housing contract and fish water param problems and etc. Not that I'm done with all that, by the way. I should be cleaning the tanks right now, and I'm meeting with my advisor Tuesday hoping he can save my pathetic scholarly soul from the flames of eternal senior-dom.
I'm trying to convince my parents to get a fish tank. I have made it a goal to get them to get a fish tank. Not just to facilitate my growing obsession, either. Dad WANTS one. He wants a big monstrous one, anywhere from 65 to 225 gallons. I would LOVE to live under the same roof as a tank that huge. But there's no way we could afford it. *sigh* He says a 65 would be the best seal, comparatively pricing, but still quite pricey. Pushing $100 just for the tank alone, never mind substrate, decor, plants, filtering, aeration, heating, lighting, and of course, fish.
But the biggest problem is, dad says he's too lazy to upkeep a tank. Of course I reminded him that I, the Supreme Queen of Slugdom, have TWO tanks, and if he gets a big one he'll have a lot less maintenance to do than I do, because he could cycle it. Once a tank is cycled and fully stocked, pretty much all the owner has to do is change 10-20% of the water weekly or biweekly and toss in food every day. Whereas I have to do 100% weekly changes on both my tanks because they're too small to cycle.
Anyway... actually, dad's 'laziness' isn't the biggest problem. Mom is the biggest problem. Mom is the epitome of pessimist. There is NO bright side with her. Unless, of course, she's telling ME to look on the bright side when I don't want to do something she wants me to do... but that's different, hey? But, no... she wouldn't mind having a nice pretty tank either... she's just under the impression that she'd have to set aside an hour plus every day to maintain it, or something. Plus she seems to think she doesn't have the time. I felt it wisest not to inform her that she's at home ALL day EVERY day ALL year round.
So yeah. Mom doesn't want to be stuck with the responsibility of keeping a tank. Even though there wouldn't BE much responsibility on her part. And because mom thinks she doesn't want a tank, dad absolutely refuses to even consider getting one. What mom doesn't want, mom doesn't get. Number one rule in our home. :P
Keeping all that in mind, here is the plan I came up with. I told my parents to get a 20 gallon tank - not so big as to be hard to maintain, but not so small as to be limited to too small an amount of pretty fishies. Anyway, to be more specific, I told them to get that 20g at the beginning of this summer. I said to also get substrate, some plantage, decor, filtration, aeration, and heating, but no fish yet. I then said to give me control of the tank for the first month or so, and that I would do all the cycling work. Because a fishless cycle requires pure household ammonia in place of fish, it takes a bit longer, but you don't risk losing any fish early on to huge ammonia and nitrite levels. Sooo, then I told them that once I was finished cycling the tank, they were to buy a betta and 2 or 3 otos (bottom-dwelling algae eaters), plus whatever other kinds of fish they wanted as long as they were compatible with otos and a betta. Pretty big range there. Anyway, see, from that point on the tank would be fully stocked and fully cycled. Which means from that point on, the only necessary maintenance would be biweekly 20% changes and daily feeding. Does that sound so difficult?
Of course, they had their complaints. What about algae? What about scummy calcium waterlines left by evaporation? What about when fish die? I told them the otos would take care of the algae, and that proper, regular maintenance would keep algae and calcium deposits from turning up anyway. I also told them to look for symptoms BEFORE fish die so I can use my meds to help them. And finally (or not so finally), I told them that I would do all the 20% water changes when their times rolled around, most likely when I came home on the weekends. That way ALL they would have to do is feed them. Really, does that sound so hard?
But... arrrrrgh... there is NO getting through to these people. They are under the solid impression that I am crazy. The real problem is that when they had a tank 15-odd years ago, it was a huge chore because they didn't know what they were doing. The tank was sorely overstocked - dad said they liked to keep about 5-10 each of bottom dwellers, middle dwellers, and surface dwellers. That's like, at least TRIPLE the recommended stocking capacity, which is 1 gallon per inch of fish. I'm positive that THAT was the major reason why they had problems with algae, calcium deposits, and fish suddenly dying. That and they just didn't know what they were doing. But I've spent the past year, nearly, learning all the info I can cram into my brain about freshwater fishkeeping, especially bettas, and I could take care of the hard stuff for them. I told them I'd be glad to, because I know they both want a tank... they just don't think they can handle the maintenance. So if *I* handled the maintenance, what would be the problem?
*end fish rant*
Did I mention I'm bored?
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/07/2003 09:31:00 PM
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wThursday, February 06, 2003 |
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feeling: um...
listening to: Evangelion - Fly Me to the Moon
I was gonna say something here... but I have forgotten what... *slaps forehead*
Anyway, I read recently that our fearless leader Dubya uttered the word 'nucular' TWELVE times in the state of the union address the other day. ¬_¬; Did I ever mention I can't stand that clod?
In other news, I am quite screwed. I was supposed to schedule next quarter's classes on Monday the 3rd, but I only got 2 out of my minimum 3 class slots scheduled. I have no idea what to do for the third slot. None of the general classes I still need are offered next quarter, and there are plenty of Japanese classes to take, but either they're not available to me next quarter or they're only offered at the exact same time as the 2-class sequence I DID schedule. I emailed my advisor for help on Sunday but he hasn't replied. Already I've lost my priority as an honors student to schedule before almost everyone else, and soon enough scheduling will be over and there'll be nothing more I can do. Basically if I don't hear from my advisor soon I won't qualify as a full time student next quarter, which would mean there's no way I'll have the necessary credits to graduate in spring 2004 with the rest of my class. I mean, really, I wouldn't mind staying here longer than the standard 4 years... I could complete the fourth and fifth year Japanese sequences that way, and maybe even beyond... and I can take more electives to fill in the holes and generally do a lot more cool stuff. Beef up my bachelor's degree some, at least. But... I want to graduate in spring with the rest of my class, at the huge spring commencement ceremony that people all over Ohio watch on TV just because it's cool. I could graduate in fall or winter, but the ceremony would be a lot smaller and indoors and nowhere near as cool, and we wouldn't get a cool famous speaker like the spring commencements do. Last year's doesn't count. :P But this year they were trying to get Robin Williams as the commencement speaker in 2004... would that not be sweet? :\
*mutter*
I just wanted to be out of here in 4 years...
Oh, and I have one more question to pose unto you all:
WHO THE F@#! CARES WHAT A LUMBRODORSAL FASCIA IS!!!!!!!!! *tantrum*
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/06/2003 12:47:00 PM
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wMonday, February 03, 2003 |
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feeling: frustrated, dreading, and ignored by people I don't even know
listening to: Escaflowne movie - Sora
Earlier today on the way back to campus we spent a bit of time on the tail of a little old Datsun pickup upon which was plastered the coolest bumper sticker I've ever seen. It read, and I quote: "HONK IF ANYTHING FALLS OFF!"
*die*
...sorry, maybe you'd have to know my family to appreciate that one... XP
Oh, this is good too... the other day my parents and I ate at a Chinese buffet place, and we each got a fortune cookie, naturally. This is highly amusing if you know us. My dad's fortune read "You have a very lively family". He read that, took one look at me and my mom, and laughed like a hyena. :P And this is even better: I opened mine next, and it read something like "Leave your cares behind and enjoy yourself". Goes so well with the one my dad got, ne? And I'm not even going to say what I personally think of it. If you've even read a single entry in this blog o' mine you should KNOW the bloody cookie was right. :P
And now I'm off to continue stressing over my lab exam, Japanese homework, scheduling, honors contract, housing contract, graduating, and the health of my two fish in their stupid evil too-soft dorm water. No more disturbing me as I stress. There's not enough time in the day as it is.
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/03/2003 01:05:00 AM
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wSaturday, February 01, 2003 |
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feeling: sick of everything
listening to: Final Fantasy X - Suteki Da Ne, Rikki's single
Last night I was lying there in bed, having just shut off the lights and gotten comfy, and you know what I thought to myself? I thought, I'd like to have a nice happy dream tonight. So I thought back to what I considered at the time to have been the happiest dream I've ever had. It was a few years ago, and all I really remember was that it was set in... a school, ironically. Back when I had that dream I LOATHED school. High school was and is the bane of my existence. I still don't like going to sports events and such at my former HS. Anyway... it was in a school... but everyone was happy, everything was bright and colorful, sunlight was pouring in through the windows as it can only in a dream... and the teacher of the class I was in bore an eerie resemblance to Kelly Kapowski from the old Saved By the Bell. >_O;; Anyway... and this guy in the row next to me was sitting there all kicked back and relaxed and smiling, and the teacher said something to him pertaining to the class, and he responded with some kind of joke. Not a dirty joke, just a joke. And everyone laughed. In MY high school days the only jokes students laughed at involved reproductive organs, bodily excretions, or farting. ¬_¬; Anyway, and everyone was laughing, including the teacher. Another joke or two, and the teacher finally said that was enough and we had to get to work... but she seemed reluctant, and even after that everyone kept on smiling. Then in the second part of the dream I was walking down the school's hallway for some reason, and I looked into a nearby room which must have been the principal's office. The only person I remember being in it was this kid I knew at the time (I won't even say who he was because it just ain't right... but here's a hint... yellow parachute pants with matching Docs :P)... and he was sitting on the desk and - guess what? - smiling. That dream was nothing but happiness and fun... but not the wild, demented, lets-go-party-hopping-and-get-drunk-and-do-some-DDR-on-the-roof-of-my-dad's-car-till-we-collapse kind of fun. Quiet, calm fun. Bright colors and warm sunlight and good jokes and all-around relaxed-ness fun. I woke up smiling from that dream. That had never happened before and hasn't happened since.
But then I got to thinking, okay, that was then. I want to have a happy dream now. But, at this point in my life, what exactly is, or would be, a happy dream for me? What, for me, constitutes 'happy'?
I seriously could not answer that question.
I mean, what would be a happy dream for you? My bet is at least 95% of the people who answer that question (speaking hypothetically, of course) will say something involving a group of friends (note the use of the word 'group' :P) or a significant other.
But see, I don't have those.
So what else is there? Non-human things that make me happy, of course. But there's a problem with that too. There are very few things that really seem to make me happy anymore, and as of right now, they all involve me sitting or lying down. Computer, video games, anime, drawing, reading, etc. And what the heck kind of dream do you just sit around in the whole time and still call 'happy'?
So I never did find an answer to my question. And I was getting tired, so I just figured if I was gonna have a happy dream, I'd have one no matter how I defined the word 'happy'. Figured I'd recognize it when I saw/heard/felt it. So I told my brain to shut up, conjure up something happy for me over the next few hours, and went to sleep. And I didn't get my happy dream. I don't think. I can't really say, since I don't even know what constitutes 'happy' for me. But I didn't immediately tag it as 'happy', so it must not have been.
I think too much.
So remember how in the past week I had a biology midterm Wednesday followed by a lab quiz on Thursday that required me to memorize the names and locations of literally around 200 bones and muscles o nthe cat body, including the functions and points of origin and insertion of the muscles? I got into the lab on Thursday to take the quiz, dead tired and head throbbing because I'd been cramming since Monday afternoon and had actually fallen asleep studying earlier that day for the first time since, like, high school... and the teacher decides to tell us at that point that the 'big quiz' would only consist of 10 questions, worth 5 lousy points. Of EXTRA CREDIT. Extra credit to be applied to NEXT week's lab exam, which will be worth ONE HUNDRED points.
Needless to say I required a couple additional doses of Tylenol after I got home that afternoon, and my lab teacher was lucky I felt so crappy that day, or she may have required five times the pain killers I took.
I have to schedule next quarter's classes on Monday night. Freakin' ey. Who remembers the LAST time I had to schedule and what a wonderful mood it put me in? Oh, but this time it's gonna be even MORE happy-happy fun-fun. The number of classes I have left to take is even more limited, as are the times at which I will be able to take them. I really will be lucky if I manage to graduate in spring 2004 with the rest of my class.
So... HEY!! *snaps fingers!* I just remembered something that makes me happy! WOOT!! *scrolls down to previous blog and gazes in a pathetic slobbery fangirl stupor for a few hours imagining the occurence of much glomping*... muuuuuch better... x)~
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/01/2003 12:16:00 AM
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