New Zealand, man. Fuckin New Zealand

I aint got much to say, except

You're in the Wrong Part of Town, Buddy

I can taste the sweet freedom of winter break.  I have completed the treacherous Nine Project Week.  I have lost several days of sleep, survived many hours of car-sick feelings, and thwarted some minor hallucinations.

I return to this mortal realm only to see all of you struggling, and I would like to give you words of comfort.  It is hard!  You will be tired!  But you CAN do it, because you are all fucking fantastic.
You all make me as happy as this cleavage bird:

Please let me know if you guys need any help!  I have a lot of free time until the end of the semester.  I can research for you.  I can distract.  I can recommend games or movies or TV shows.  I can chat.  Let me help all of you!

When I was working on my projects, I found that ingesting too much caffeine and listening to instrumentals really helped me focus and write.  Also, video game music.   Lone Star is a song from a quirky indie game I picked up in a Humble Bundle.  You can tell it was designed for a touch-screen tablet or phone, but is workable on a computer as well.  It's kind of like a puzzle/action/mystery game, where the main character is on a quest to conquer some unconquerable power at great cost.

It is full of interesting, original music and incredibly silly and witty one-liners.  Colorful, yet dark pixel scenery sets a good tone for the gameplay.  The world is a little small, but there is a lot of originality behind the way it is laid out and the events that occur in it.  It's even a thought-provoking game, in a "what the heck is going on and whyyyy" kind of way.  Most indie games these days are platformers, puzzle, or physics games, so this was a refreshing game to play, and something I'd recommend to others.

Ugh.  Rainbows.  Scythians loath rainbows.

On the Merits of Procrastination

Sometimes you just can't keep going.

Your brain is fried, your mind is tired, and no matter how long you stare at the blank Word document nothing comes to mind. You can't do it. You're tapped out.

You can do one of two things in a situation like this. The first is to sit there with grim determination, gritting your teeth and trying to force your brain to do what you need it to do. This method has iffy results in my experience; more often than not I wind up sitting there for hours until my inner thoughts become silent screams of frustration. I get tense, I get sick, I go a little nuts thinking about all the work I have to do and how my life's purpose has been reduced to sitting in front of a computer trying to write something that just doesn't want to be written.

I imagine none of this is particularly good for your health.


The second option is procrastination.

Play a game. I find puzzle games in particular to be the most useful. There's this one I play on addictinggames called 3-D puzzle something or other and it calms me down every time. Organizes my thoughts. It's pretty great.

Talk to someone. Vid chat, over aim, texting. I guess you can make a phone call if you absolutely have to. If you're lucky that person will be willing to spend four to five hours on complete nonsense with you, but it will be quality nonsense and you'll wake up in the morning and crank out another 3,000 words for that novel project you've been working on all semester (Thanks, Rachel!)

And when you need just a little break, write a blog post. Write a blog post on procrastination. Get all meta on that shit.


And then get back to work.

Countdown

17: days until I come home
10: places I STILL haven't been and want to go
5: assignments for creative writing portfolio
2: essays to research and write
1: theatre journal to finish up

But we all know I Can't Math so it is possible these calculations are inaccurate and the countdown may be a failure - blinking lights, drumroll, anxiety, and Large Multimillion Dollar Light Up Countdown Board all a waste. I suppose we'll see.

I don't feel like I've done a whole lot here, but I've grown to love London anyway, and in quiet moments between paragraphs about the First World War and Trade Unions I stare out my flat window and find myself desperately wishing that I could stay. But then I think of pumpkin pie and my family and you lovely people and I can't wait to get on the plane. I miss you all more than I can say, darlings.

ALSO WHAT ARE MY EMOTIONS DOING. ESSAYS AND MINI-MENTAL BREAKDOWNS OVER THE FUUUUTURE AND UGH ESSAYS AND FUCKING ESSAYS AND FUCK EVERYTHING I am going ice skating. 

I almost posted this on the Other Blog, because OH MAN SARAH you are such an eloquent writer it is most definitely Not Fair. And how could I mar that gorgeous prose and those stories that give me hope and what can I say in response I've been trying to think of how to phrase the sensation in my ribs when I read it, but can't quite get it down and now here I am, puking up a hasty update but I figured I should let you all know I'm alive and can we all do a little honeymoon when we're all in the same state again, just for a night because hey! We're Just Married!

But, then, I've been listening to this song for days and days because why  not and no gif really encapsulated the weird headspace I'm CLEARLY occupying here (Overuse of Capitalization and Run On Sentences must lead to some horrible diagnosis oh god forgive me guys) SO YOU GET A SONG AND A HORRIBLE POST.  NOW I HAVE TO GO I AM HONESTLY GOING TO GO ICE SKATING ILU ALL.

I feel like we're all playing a game of hide and seek except we forgot to pick a seeker.

Hi! Remember me! Hi! I am such a terrible person! I always read and never post because, don'tchaknow, I'm so so so busy.

So here I am, a few hours before second thanksgiving when I will be able to spontaneously embrace all of you after....months? years? and despite that it always feels like I saw all of you yesterday. Who does that? Who has that?

So I have to be honest, I haven't kept up with the last...two months of post? So I went back and read them and was just crying, because it made me miss all of you. I just, I think, get so wrapped up in my life, and being the Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper and a responsible person who suddenly writes a senior thesis and reaaaaalllyyyy lonnnngggggg papersssss about poetry, and has every hour of her day scheduled down to the minute because otherwise I will drown instead of doing the slowly sinking thing I'm managing now that I just FORGET that there is something else out there.

Looming. 

What I meant by my title is this (answered in a circular way that will probably find its way back to some holistic theme):

My super smart brother, who spent literally his WHOLE life saying he was going to be a theoretical physicist, is now applying to get his masters in education and will probably teach high school physics in Boston. How perfect is that for him? it is!

His friend Andrew, who wanted to go to seminary and be a pastor until suddenly he didn't is getting married even though he cleans malls right now or something like that. Doesn't have a clue what's next.

My friend from school was dreading spending thanksgiving with her family because her cousin is in nursing school and she's only an English major and well, we all know who's going to have a nice job don't we heh? *insert snide comments, pointed questions and knowing looks*

My mom said to me yesterday, out of the blue, "You know, I was thinking the other day, when you girls move back in after school, that small bathroom will be yours and you can keep all your stuff in there. Isn't that perfect?" And I was literally stunned because me moving back in with my parents after school suddenly just became a thing that was happening. (and because that was a perfect idea even though there isn't much counter space in there...)

The best laid plans...My brother stopped coming back home after his freshman year. He just always seemed to have ideas. I feel like I have tons of ideas but no will to act on them. All this real world stuff just makes me so lethargic. Grad school is a huge no. I'm done with school for a while, and I'm broke to boot. Plus, I literally just skipped two days of school to come back early and was like, FORGET SCHOOL MAAAAN. so clearly further higher education is not for me right now. Do I get an apartment in Chicago and work in the book store (which is a very very very real thing). What if that becomes a thing? What if I really like it? What if I just pick up and move to Taiwan where I learn Chinese (mandarin) and teach English? That's also a really really real thing. But what if these really hard months between seeing you guys become really hard years? I'd be lying if I said I didn't still hold the bookstore we all need to open as the ultimate goal in my life, but I feel like that's a lot of pressure to put on people.

I guess the thing is, no one really knows what the next step is, because no one has planned it for us. That is so so terrifying isn't it? Its all on us, you, me now and I'm floundering. But I'm also pretty stoked for it, ya know? And, well, we have each other and I don't think I need much else right now. Except maybe someone to write these papers for me.

So, if that doesn't make up for months of not posting, I don't know what will (besides more consistent posting of course).

A quick catch up for my life atm: My favorite bar in town burned down and I am DEVASTATED. I'm writing/illustrating/designing a children's book for my book design class and it's going to be printed like a real book. In hard cover! I also have finally hit my academic stride and am earning all A's this semester...though I have some pretty big research papers coming up. I'm still figuring out what my next step is, and I'm so so scared. I have bubblegum pink pants that I'm wearing tonight and I love them, even though I never thought I would ever wear pink. Like, ever. I'm also working a lot at the bookstore this winter break, so please come visit me and prove to my co-workers that I have friends. You can all buy some wine and books while you're there.

I have also been listening to Blind Pilot a lot, even though it makes me sad sometimes. I like to think this is one of those songs they play in the last few minutes of a movie where the heroine has gone through some life changing moments, and even though the future is so uncertain, she's a better person for the experience and moving forward. You know, she just walked out of some building and is looking into the distance (the universal movie sign for thinking ahead to the future) with a small, hopeful, slightly embittered smile on her face--I am not projecting at all.

Music, Mostly

My life atm: projects, nano, and hopefully seeing most of your lovely faces in the very, very near future.


I like this song more and more each time I hear it:

On What You Really Want

 Man I am so glad for this semester to be over.  Or at least for November to be over.  I am not excited at all for my last semester at college because that means I have to face the real world?!  What???  My friend who graduated last year with only one major (Entrepreneurship) is currently making a living by being a custodial engineer and selling bodily fluids (plasma).  I am not excited for finding a job.

I mean what do I even want to do?

What do you even want to do?

In other news, one of my projects entails launching a professional KickStarter page.  That means making a demo video of the product we're raising money for.  And since I can't understand all of these Royalty Free/Creative Commons rules, I figured I'd write my own song.   We'll see how that one goes, but I am a little excited.  I just can't seem to get the right sounds on my came-with-the-computer music creating program though... prepare for disaster!

Also, it looks like Walk Off the Earth released the first single from their EP:

High Quality this shit!

Well, that went fast

So I registered for my final semester as an undergrad this morning!

It's so insane. I swear high school took way more time to finish. What is this madness.

Next semester should (hopefully!) be fun, though. More fun than this current semester at any rate. A lot of my classes I picked because they sounded interesting, not necessarily because I have to take them. I'm stuck the extra semester thanks to Spanish anyway, so might as well, right? Right!

So next semester's adventure includes:

• a foray into film and literature
• Studies of the novel (in its natural habitat, I assume)
• Theories of Gender in Lit Analysis (which has the very unfortunate shortened name of "Theories of Gender in Lit Anal")
• MY FINAL SEMESTER OF SPANISH OH MY GOODNESS
• And an 8 week course in which I learn how to make books. Not write them. MAKE THEM. 

All of which is very exciting! Yaay!

Have a song:

This cookie done got crumbled

C-c-c-crossposted from Tumblr. Because I need all the eyes on this shit.

SO, as it turns out, I am not making as much money as I need to be in order to… well. Sustain myself. I thought this job was going to be amazing like rainbows flying out of a unicorns ass, but as it turns out, unicorn poop is a lot like regular poop and is not all that it is cracked up to be. I WAS working around 50 hours a week before, and this was well and dandy. I was making good money even though I was not doing very much massage because of the sheer number of hours. NOW I am working around 20 hours a week and still not doing massage and I am making less than I was when I was at Warnimont's and as you can imagine THIS IS HELLA STRESSFUL. I've been dropped to working 3 days a week, from 8-7, but with a huge lunch break in between so while I'm tied up for the whole day, I'm not actually getting paid for all of it. FINANCIAL WOES, OH~

So, I am tearing my hair and wondering what the fuck to do because I have done oodles of online advertising and shit and have literally had 12 clients since July (one of them has been here multiple times but three of them were given free vouchers by my boss so I didn't get paid for them). RIGHT NOW I'm in the process of handing out fliers at the local business districts and hanging them up in like... the library and Starbucks, and leaving them around at the local deli and stuffing them in toilet paper dispensers so they drop out suddenly in public restrooms (okay, not that last one) but if it doesn't work and people still aren't coming... I will be looking for a new job. UNTIL THEN:

The point of the story is that I am a fully licensed, self-insured massage therapist with both a table and chair that is willing to travel. I know Swedish and deep tissue massage and can assist with conditions like PLANTAR FASCIITIS and CHRONIC MIGRAINES and CARPAL TUNNEL and OH MY GOD MY MIDTERMS ARE HELLA STRESSFUL.

If you guys are interested, or know anyone that might be, please let me know. I'm going to be running some mad sweet specials because at this point, getting underpayed for massage is better than my dog getting rabies and killing my family before getting put down by the National Guard because I couldn't afford to take her to the vet. >:C If I can think of a way to set up at a college campus and do chair massage for a dollar a minute without getting bodyslammed by campus security, I’d gladly do it.

I am generally free Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hit me up.

And a Critter named Ralph

So the other day I was driving to school for Spanish and this happened:

And I was like, shit, I don't know what to do. I didn't want to just keep driving (thankfully I was still in my apartment complex, so I didn't stop traffic or anything terribly inconvenient) because what if he fell off! And got crushed under my wheels! He's too cute for such a cruel fate! And while I sat there trying to figure it out, he crawled under the hood.

So yeah. Ralph came to school with me. Haven't seen him since, but he was not dead when I left him, so that is hopeful!


November is going to be intense. I'm in the midst of midterms this week, and like, everything is due and my head hurts because the weather is being stupid. Also, Nanowrimo.


But today in particular was interesting. I was hanging out in my first class, and when I went to go check my student email I discovered that some asshole had flooded the VERY BUILDING I WAS IN Saturday night, and that the other end of the building was still actually flooded. Apparently some dipshit thought it would be hilarious to turn on the chemical shower on the third floor and leave it on, expending a total of 6,400 gallons of water that spread from the third floor all the way down the BASEMENT (where my second class is supposed to be held). The damage is rather extensive, but in addition to the money this asshat is responsible for the relocation of tons of classes (a lot of them science, and several of them rather large), the destruction of a lot of science faculty's property and RESEARCH, and money-costing delays on others' research. All in all it was a super shitty thing to do and not, in fact, hilarious at all.

So yeah. Two of my classes have to be relocated, and quite a few of my roommate's have to be changed as well (which really sucks for her since she has a heavy load filled with science, and the hall that flooded is the damn SCIENCE BUILDING). And I guess the AV room got damaged, too, so the computer tech people are furious, and thanks to the construction that has to happen, there have been some serious delays in the scheduling for next semester which in turn screws up people trying to register next week.

The only positive I saw in this situation is that I discovered the secret awesome classrooms in the basement of another building (where my class got relocated) and holy shit are those rooms snazzy as hell. I kind of hope this is a permanent move, not gonna lie. There are giant TVs on like, two or three of the walls, and I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT THEY MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A SPY SO WHATEVER MAN. Classy shit.

And that's all I got for ya. I apologize if this post isn't terribly eloquent, but my head is killing me and I just wrote ten pages for my class tomorrow so I no longer care.

Here, have a song:

And by song I mean exciting as hell trailer for BioShock Infinite. I'm pretty excited for February. I should have Borderlands 2 playthrough 2 done by then, along with Dishonored. Woo! Song in the trailer is "Beast" by Nico Vega. Enjoy!

On Fading Hearts

After a refreshing weekend visit from my dear Mouse (dat pumpkin), I have realized that wow I certainly have a lot of stuff to do in November.  So you know what I decided to do?

Post.

Because that is the proper action to take in such a situation.

Tomorrow I have this fantastic test on 150 pages of a textbook I have yet to read, along with 10 articles I have skimmed. 

In the coming two weekends, with the 'help' of a group, I must conduct primary (focus-group) and secondary (internet!) research on a project of my own devising and create a survey that will reach 80 potential consumers.

I've got some ridiculous phone case project, which started out okay, but now  my grade hangs on the ability for a somewhat incompetent adult to actually make a decision on his own and give me a prototype to create a KickStarter webpage for him.

Then I've got another three exams, two quizzes, and two fifteen-page group essays due, which are ten times worse than any normal essay because I have to work with people who literally write like they are in the fourth grade like honestly Missy my friend you would shed so many tears over this writing I mean this ridiculous run on sentence displays more elegance and grammatical propriety than some of the things these terrible excuses for scholars vomit from their fingers.

But the best news is that I only have one final.  And then I have fifteen more credits. 

...and then what?



Is that even good news?  Then I graduate?  And get a job?  And go somewhere?  Alone?  With someone who won't be any of you guys?

I feel like everyone has their shit together and I am sitting here not reading a textbook, listening to this ridiculous song on loop and regretting life decisions.  Sometimes I think the only thing I ever did right in life was meeting people like all of you (and also Brendan I guess).

What are your plans for the future?



This song is super catchy, except for the way it just cuts off at the end.  Either it's designed for mad-sweet looping, or it just becomes part of another song which is super sweet.

Man I just wish I knew what this dude was saying.

Q is for Queen Anne, the Notorious Anklegator of the Wilds

Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate people?  Not any of you, no, of course not.  You are all fine examples of human beings, and a general exception to this rule.

But aside from you all, I really don't like people.  So you know what that means?  That means that I MUST have at least five group projects this semester, with five different groups.  That's twenty people I'm working with that I don't know and probably don't like.

So far it's all been okay.  Half of the teams are usually pretty nice, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather just be writing all of these group term papers myself.

Positives: there is this foreign exchange boy from Belgium in one of my groups.  His name is Jelle and he is sweet.  And a girl from South Korea, named JiHyun.  She is quiet.  They are my favorite group members, probably.

Negatives:  There is one overbearing girl in a serious group project we are conducting.  She does not know how to compromise and is full of generally terrible ideas.  She also doesn't understand punctuality or responsibility.  No, you can't call in sick when your group is giving a formal presentation in an hour.  We discussed this last night.  You said you were taking the last two slides.

Anyway, it's getting chilly out!  Time for sweaters and tea and hot foods.  Crock pot season.  I'm looking forward to being generally cozy around my house.  Also, snow.  Also, winter break!  I won't be home until New Year's though, so I hope you all keep that night clear for some more basement shenanigans!

And for those of you wondering what an anklegator is, they look like this lovely lady below:



In any case, I've been doing a bit of game-playing recently.  I acquired Bastion last semester, and didn't sit down to play it until last month.  It was a fantastic game.  Bright and colorful art, good game play, nice plot with all sorts of hidden information, and a few moral considerations here and there.  Also an awesome narrator.  I highly recommend it.




Before I even played the game, though, I listened to the soundtrack.  All summer long.  It's what got me through work and sad times.



And just for the heck of it, here's the whole soundtrack:

Guh, What Have I Done?

Seriously. What the hell was I thinking, scheduling my classes this way. Wednesdays are AWFUL.

Posting as per Morgan's request. I've not been up to much except school stuff and video games. A quick list:

• Wednesdays are awful. I cannot stress this enough.
• Borderlands 2 is giving me so many feels. I am nearly at the end, and oh my god. I think...I think it may have done the impossible for real. I think it just took BioShock's place as my most favorite game ever. I know I said I thought it might a week ago to some of you, but after that mission last night....Holy shit. I have never had a game fuck with my feels like that before. 
• My OCD is experiencing an upsurge in inconvenience. Hopefully it'll knock it off soon. 
• Writing another novel (maybe I'll finish it? hahaha what am I saying) for my lit class.
• Speaking of writing, got a few things in the works with Mouse. We'll see where it goes!
• I can't wait for winter break (Morgan returns! Everyone returns! HOBBITS!)

And that's...pretty much it. Would appreciate some Autumn-appropriate musics, por favor, and some reading recommendations. Is anyone else on Goodreads? Get on Goodreads. Friend me. Send me recommendations. DO IT. 

The Violet Hour by the Civil Wars~

What Year Is It? An Update

So I'll have been in London for two weeks tomorrow and my brain doesn't know what year it is. Two weeks alternately feels like two years and two days. And morning doesn't yet feel like morning, though night is definitely night because, shit, it's dark. On top of that, even though it's October, classes just started Monday and all the trees are still green. WHAT YEAR IS IT.

But at least I'm beginning to settle in at long last. The first week I was a walking ball of anxiety and tears and now London and I are getting on pretty well. Who knows where we'll end up. London has got excellent biscuits though (oh my GOD I'm bringing as many Hobnob packs back with me as can fit in my suitcase - and then I will make you eat some), so it's made the adjustment easier hahaha. Enough about me and my strange process of settling in.

HOW ARE YOU LOVELY PEOPLE DOING? Even though I'm really loving this city and my classes are great and my flatmates are good people, I miss you all terribly. Since everyone can speak English and England looks very similar to the bit of US we're from at certain moments, so sometimes in the early morning it's easy to forget where I am. It takes me a minute to remember I can't just drive two hours to see Amy or four hours to see Sarah and Megan, or take a jaunty walk down the street to visit Trisha, etc.

So, when you get a chance, let me know what you're all up to! Even the everyday stuff! Especially the everyday stuff! Or just music! While the UK has got wonderful, chocolate covered cookies at every turn, they don't have Pandora. I'm trying to make friends with Spotify. We'll see how it goes. I did find this, though.

An update, now with 67% of your daily requirement of statham

SUP CHICAS. Here's the run-down on the life of ye olde mouse.

I have a job. It rocks. I love it. It is kind of stressful but damn do I love it. Volunteered my time (or my time was volunteered is more accurate because when your boss says 'hey there's a race coming up, you should tend the booth and bring the massage table, "no thx" is not an appropriate answer) at a 5k run for the local theatre. That was cool. I felt that I really made a difference, even if it was only for twenty or so folks.

Things are still going well with Mike, too. He has rekindled my desire to create! I have been writing little snippets of stories every day, even when I'm tired or listless. I've come to realize that I won't have time to do the things I want, so I have to make time which is less about time travel and alchemy, and more about gritty determination to get something done. Like a classic American cowboy or Jason Statham in CRANK 2. Because life will try to poison you, cut out your heart and replace it with an artificial one, and you will total some cars, and people that you thought were your friends might betray you, and people that are your friends will stick by you in bloody shootouts, BUT BY GOD, when your precious time is limited, all it takes is a mess of determination to get what needs to be done, done.

And if life lights you on fire? PUNCH IT TO DEATH.

Tl;dr I am happy with my job, I am writing and drawing again, and I am setting aside to SEE YOU FOLKS AGAIN. So beware, the mouse runneth over.

Welp it's 2a.m. and I've stayed up writing this so I guess I'll post it even though it's ridiculously overdramatic why do you guys put up with me the music's in the links

I have not been doing too much. July was a weird blur with some lovely colorful bits of wonder mixed in. Like a Passion Pit song. I avoided some responsibilities. I made a habit of sleeping too late. I worried over the question of what I’m going to do with my life (no really oh my God what am I going to do with my life). But I also wandered about a twinkling fair ground and ate delicious food with some of you lovely people. I traipsed about the city with some more of you – someone tell the story of the parking victory! Maybe I will next! – and we danced together in the street with strangers. Here, have some Foxy.  

And suddenly it is August? And suddenly it is 67 years since Nagasaki was nuked? So I am Even More of An Adult now?

Or something? Birthdays, man. I never know what to do with them when they are mine. But I came home, poked at another email, checked the blog and realized that I haven’t written in a while and I don’t know what else to write about so here, hear about my day?

It was a quiet birthday, but a good one. I got some Official Stuff done (writing thank you letters for scholarships, emailing about visas, stuff like that), plus a bit of cleaning, and ironing which I actually find quite calming. Ironing, I mean. Cleaning only sometimes. And I listened to a couple chapters of The House of Mirth which is so fucking Edwardian and shit. Like damn it's so Edwardian you feel like you're drowning in Gibson Girls and dapper gentlemen. 

Thursday birthdays are weird, especially when there are Things That Must Get Done to do, but even though it was a normal-ish day, it felt special anyhow. Like, in addition to the usual electronic b-day wishes (I love you all by the way), I got a card from my next-door neighbor who is an old, tiny, Austrian lady. It contained exactly 21 dollars and was signed “love Ann and Oliver.” Oliver is her surprisingly talkative, very friendly orange tabby cat. She was not a cat-person a year ago when she got him and now he co-signs her b-day wishes and is her constant companion. We go over to visit her and she brings us up to date about his kitty life, as if he is her third, furry child. Ugh. How is life that gorgeous?

And the sky was so lovely today. Like the ocean had dissolved into a mass that hugged this little bit of world for the day; it was faintly rainy and gently cloudy, cool and clean but not exactly crisp. It smelled beautiful and felt like a waking dream.

It was one of those strange days where life seems balanced and you smile because you’re happy for reasons that exist, but whose exact specificities elude you. Where you feel effortlessly at home in your own skin without realizing it until you suddenly don’t feel that way anymore. Where there are things you should be freaking the fuck out about, but instead life seems do-able.

So I made dinner and polluted half of the block with garlic fumes – and all for nothing because the green beans burnt but oh well the crab cakes were delicious – and then my mom got home from work and we ate the edible food before I was whisked away.

I poured funfetti mix into tiny ice cream cone, slapped some more paint on my little wooden box, and molested Amy’s couch. So there were crafts! And baked goods! There were twins! And adorable movies! Which was excellent! And a tequila shot! Which was not quite as excellent actually my throat hates me now BUT WHATEVER MAN IT WAS FUN. I GOT TO PUT THE SALT IN… what was it again, nature’s snuff box? Hehehehe!

And then, sometime around the Taking Leave of the Werner Residence and the Drive Home the weather and the date on the calendar and the conversation about Second Thanksgiving and New Years and my own overdramatic nature – everything sorta hit me.

I got to wear a sweater today, guys. Sure, yeah, it was paired with jean shorts BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT IT WAS STILL A SWEATER. And I layered that sweater. And my little sister got her class schedule and is starting sophomore year next week. And I keep day-dreaming about hot chocolate. And my tumblr dashboard keeps giving me pictures tagged #autumn, featuring fiery, sunlit trees in all their September glory. And slow songs with acoustic guitars keep caressing my earlobes.

And I keep pressing the replay button.

The way I feel is like when you bite into a blackberry; it’s fucking delicious, but hell if there isn’t a bittersweet aftertaste. So you reach into the plastic carton for another one, but the minute you’ve devoured the thing the deep purple shade of want and regret has stained your tongue.

The way I feel is a half-embarrassed echo of June, a half-whispered wish for December, even though I can’t wait for September to come and close. The way I feel is that day-dream with the hot chocolate, except expanded. Like, not only have we all got a cup, but the picture’s hazy edges are widened to encompass an old Victorian fitted with a wraparound porch. There’s a swing and a white wicker rocking chair. There’s a bowl of plums in the kitchen. I don’t know who owns the old Victorian.  

I know there’s a word for it – or maybe a made-up word for it – the way I feel, but leaving it unnamed does the feeling more justice than if I cracked open a dictionary with the intent of pinning down every syllable. And I feel like I should be able to deal with all of this shit that my weird, overdramatic nature is harping on about, but despite the date on the calendar and the inner calm I felt all day, I do not feel like Even More of An Adult now.

But I guess that is normal or something? Or I will adjust?

In the meantime, please, somebody take me dancing.

ALSO! Rachel, your adventures sound magnificent and I look forward to the stories you will tell me. Because you will tell me. What day are you coming back and when are you leaving again because Things Need to Happen while you are here.

AND! Those who are going back to school etc should post dates of when they are leaving AND returning for fall breaks, weekends, Turkey Feastings, ETC.

I am leaving September 19th and will tearfully Skype you all at Second Thanksgiving. So the etc. up there includes addresses because I want to send you people letters. So enable me? Maybe? 

This has been a ridiculously long-winded, all-over-the-place post. I have to get up tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

A Strange Morning

You know the sounds that houses make? Apartments make them, too. Things settle. Things creak. The air conditioner kicks on with an almost vehement force if you bother to pay it any attention. What's unique about apartments, though, is that you can sometimes hear what your neighbors are up to. You can sometimes catch the murmuring undertones of a television set. The muted slam of a closing door. The stampede of footsteps climbing up and down the stairs, the jingle of keys in the hallway outside your door. It's comforting, actually, those noises, those presences of other living, breathing people all around you. I suppose it's more comforting if you know your neighbors (I know not a one). But for those like me who never bother getting chummy with the people who live literally on the other side of your hallway or even walls, the comfort comes from the ability to blame certain things on the activities of those other people.

It is therefore intensely uncomfortable when you find that you cannot.


I woke up at one of my usual wake up times (I think it might have been arounddddd 7 am? That sounds about right. The sun was most definitely up). I don't know about the rest of you, but whenever I wake up I have to immediately use the bathroom. Every time. Like an imperfect clock. So I grabbed my phone, shoved my glasses onto my face and wandered into the bathroom.

I knew that my mother was already gone, it being Saturday and all, and she'd mentioned that she'd be heading to work even earlier than 5 am because we had somewhere to be in the early afternoon. So that left me, my step father--who was out cold, sleeping in their room--and the cat.

So I was very, very puzzled when, as I was in the bathroom half-asleep, I heard a distinctly familiar tune. At first this did not bother me. I barely recognized the tune at first, but the more I thought about it, the more familiar it became. I strained to listen--had it just been my imagination?--and it played again. I frowned. I blinked. I knew that song all right--Twisted Nerve. A song used in the Kill Bill series, and more recently known as Tate's theme from American Horror Story.

I thought, well, that's odd. But it didn't trouble me, not then. I was still half-asleep, you see, and I rather liked that song. It didn't even occur to me to find it strange that it did not, in fact, seem like it was coming from any of the neighboring apartment units, not even the people above us (who I tended to hear most often).

The TV, I had assumed. Mine or perhaps my mother's. Or a phone.

Then I wandered back into my bedroom, and what I saw woke me up far more assuredly than the first few bars of Twisted Nerve.

My blinds were open.

They weren't open entirely--maybe about five inches. But still. I had not done it. Had they been like that before I wandered into the bathroom? I honestly couldn't remember, but I feel like I would have noticed, seeing as they are right next to my head when I sleep.

Maybe my mother did it when she came into my room this morning (something she always did before she left to work, whether I remember it or not). I immediately dismissed this as possible. My mother hated it when I left my blinds open like that when I was still sleeping. She certainly wouldn't have done it when she left at 4 am, with the sun not even up.

Still, I called her. Asked if she'd been in my room (she had). She had no idea what I was talking about with the blinds--maybe it was Frankie? she'd asked. He did like playing with the strings. But Frankie had been in the sink when I'd gone to the bathroom, and he'd been in there with me the whole time--and her solution for the music--perhaps it had been John's phone?--did not make any sense. His phone is old. He does not know how to put ringtones on it. And if he did, I seriously doubt he would have used Twisted Nerve.

Maybe it was the people upstairs, she suggested. Maybe it was your TV.

The TV was the likelier cause, and when I turned to consider it, it was indeed still on. But the volume was on low. Even standing two feet away from it I had to strain to hear what it was saying/playing. There was no way I would have been able to hear it all the way in the bathroom so distinctly. My mother's TV? No dice. It wasn't on at all.

But like I said, I was half awake. Maybe the whistling tune wasn't Twisted Nerve at all, but had jostled something in my brain to make me think of the song, and my memories, in cohoots with my half-asleep brain, played it again for me. Maybe I just imagined it.

But that doesn't explain the blinds.

(I know, I know, I posted this song already. Here, have another:)

I'd also like to add that my strange morning probably was a result of my being not-quite-awake. It is entirely possible that I opened the shades my self, and just didn't remember. Either way, I just wanted to write out how it felt cuz why not.

An Invasion of Cats and Other Potentially Exciting Things

Firstly, Frankie:

Cat, what are you doing.

Other Potentially Exciting Thing:

Giulia and I have contemplated different versions of this for like a year and a half now (though originally we wanted to do something more in the vein of 4 Player Podcast), and have finally decided to band together and make a site (via wordpress and tumblr) dedicated to reviewing/discussing/highlighting books, video games, movies, TV shows/miniseries, and whatnot, through written posts, podcasts, and videos. If this sounds like a thing you might be interested in doing, let me know, and I will add you.

Wordpress: http://stirfrynoodles.wordpress.com/

Tumblr: http://stir-frynoodles.tumblr.com/

Nothing is on there yet, though. But soon. Soon.

GANGNAM STYLE

GUYS SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THIS SONG I AM LEARNING THIS CRAZY HORSE DANCE. SHHHH. SHHHHH. If you can't stand it, you must skip to 1:55 because it kills me every time.

Where is everyone?

Why don't I ever hear from you?

I miss you.

On Doing Nothing

This summer has largely been uneventful and relatively unproductive. Turns out my brain works better when I have something to consistently do every day. Shame the job market sucks (though kudos to you clever folk who managed to beat the system and stay employed this summer!) but school will be resuming soon and hopefully then my mind won't seem so utterly stagnant.

Let's see...

Daytime television is the worst.

Thank god for DVR.

The horror movie franchise is more lacking than ever.

Despite the fact that superhero movies kind of suck (seriously, they're all set-up movies and you can TELL that they are!), I have been enjoying them of late. Saw the Hulk back when it came out because of Reasons (okay, because of Edward Norton) and thought that would be the end of my Marvel-inspired movie watching until Certain People insisted I see Thor, Captain America, and at least the first Iron Man. I have finally done this, and now I can FINALLY see the Avengers. So that's good. Also, Dark Knight Rises was a relatively satisfying end to the trilogy. Not as good as Dark Knight, of course, but still! I thought it was going to be uber shit-tastic, and was pleasantly surprised.

Also I kind of want to write about superheroes now. But where to start! And lord knows I don't need another project on my plate, but when have I ever been reasonable?

Alrighty, hopefully this is a sufficient enough post for Rachel to not feel awkward about posting her Very British Adventures, which is what we all really want to read about, right? :D


Musics:


This is not a new song for any of you (I hope!), but Jen showed me thissss weeks ago, I want to say, and I LOVE IT. Howl's Moving Castle and Florence+The Machine? Yes, please!!

cabinet of curiosities

i got a new bookshelf.
by which i mean my mother bought a new cabinet at an estate sale, didn't want it, and offered it to me in exchange from my desk. i agreed to the swap because i think it's adorable, even if it's top drawer smells profusely of parchment. which is weird, but oh well.
the cabinet is meant for displaying commemorative dishes or porcelain plates from china (made circa 1763 or something, maybe before then, whenever it was that the chinese had the secret of how to make porcelain and no one else did).
but instead of dishes with niagara falls on them or prettily painted porcelain i am putting all of the books that currently reside on the surface of my desk in the cabinet. plus some weird nicknacks i've collected throughout the years, so there you go. 
the title has been explained.
in the process of moving books i have also gotten, like, three spider/mosquito/mystery bites. thankfully i'm too sleepy to have a panic attack. 
also it is far too late early in the morning for capitalization. fuck that shit.
 future me is probably experiencing regrets about the lack of proper capitalization. well, whatever future me.
you'll be fine.


so! here we go!

music!

 or 

portions from the soundtrack of me moving books and nicknacks and sneezing like the seventh dwarf

"always gold" by radical face
rating: omg feelings, what is this doing to my heart, this is gorgeous

"stubborn love" by the lumineers
rating: i love this band this is my favorite song holy kitten tits i love this song

also, it has been taken from youtube last i checked so follow the link below
http://supercon.tumblr.com/tagged/%5BThe-Lumineers%5D


"would you go with me" by josh turner
so, i often stuff notes, b-day cards, and other papers of importance in between books. i found a lot of stuff tonight and one thing was a typed letter addressed "To my good friend Rachelle, who has found the way," and was signed in windings, but, because of the writing in between, we'll just take a wild stab in the dark and - aha! i have accidentally stabbed a trisha.
how it ended up in my room i have no idea, though it had been next door neighbors to a map of the paris metro and two birthday cards from when i turned four. idek.
but anyway, the note was comprised of quotes and a line from this song was one of the quotes and the only reference i couldn't figure out. thank you google.

rating: fuck this song is cute, omg cute, now i will attempt to sing along - oh god how does your voice go that deep?

"oh dear!" by good for grapes
rating: instrumentssss - let's dance and spin around a camp fire

"forever" by walter meego
rating: yes, yes good

"runaway" by mr little jeans
rating: what kind of band name is that?, more awkward dancing than book moving happening

i also listened to ridiculous things which i won't post here because they are very silly. like, "call me maybe" was included, the opening song to the film boondock saints made an appearance, as did the incredibly sexy female cover of "whatever you like"... which, actually, if you're unfamiliar with the anya marina version you should probably go listen to it and possibly swoon a bit. or maybe it's just me lol.


so i started proofreading this. why do i allow myself access to the internet this late? i'm at the point where if i keep fixing shit i'll just delete everything so i'm gonna just post it.

apologies for excessive obnoxiousness. 

i love you all, darlings

Summer Songs

Guys.
Guys, I need more summer music.
What's going on in my life is inconsequential.

Just post some friggin' music.

Aziza showed me this the other day and I friggin' love it. Easily sitting at the top of my "Favorite Music Videos of the Summer" list. Think you can top it? :3

First Lazy Week

So the semester ended and I barely noticed. Seems like I notice less and less after each school year, to be honest. One day I'm hustling off to class, and then suddenly...I have nothing.

The first week is always super lazy for me. I sleep a lot more than I usually do, and I attempt to make schedules for productive days that never really happen. Hell, I still haven't unpacked most of my crap from the car(s) yet.

But next week I should be more active, so I hope we can get to some of the excellent things Rachel has listed in her post. I feel like we're running short on summers where everyone is going to be here, so let's try and take advantage, yes?


Also, this kid. Holy shit.

I was completely thrown.

NaNo in the Summer

So I'm just going to spam all of our blogs with this--Camp NaNo is now open, and for those of you who don't know, it is essentially NaNoWriMo, but in the summer. This is great since November is always a tricky month for a lot of us who still have to deal with finals, and the months of June and August are blessedly finals-free! The rules are the same as standard NaNo: write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I personally intend to participate in both June and August, and I really hope some of you will join me. It's a great experience, and one you should definitely have if you've ever entertained even slightly the thought of being a writer.

Here's the link:  http://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in

You really have no excuse. So do it.




Song: 

I apologize any potential creepiness. 

Sunshine, Celery Stalks

Woooo summer is almost heeeere!

When do you all finish up with your finals?  I will be done by the 11th and in town by the 13th or 14th, I am thinking.  I will probably bring the Brendan with me at some point in May, so if any of you have yet to have an official encounter, we can plan something.  Maybe a city day.

Also, my dilemma is over.  My indecision is gone.  I will be returning to Chicago for the summer, as I have received a really nice, solid job offer (something I was unable to find in Milwaukee).  It's official.

But I don't think I'll be able to sublet my apartment because I made this decision too late, so it will still be available for visitations, summerfest purposes, etc.  I think that will be nice because the only things you can really do in Milwaukee are eat and drink... and a lot of us are turning 21 this summer (or are already 21), soooooo that might be a lot of fun.

Finally, I figured it was time to divulge a well-kept secret.  Not really, this isn't even a secret probably: I think My Little Pony is so cute.  Season 2 just ended, and I watched it all.  The animation is just really cute, and it is not bad for a children's show.  It restores my faith in cartoons, to be honest. It makes me smile.  I even like the songs.


But I do not like to talk too much about it because I am not a huge fan of the community members sometimes.  I do like some of the shitty pony music they make, though.  It is so catchy.  Here is an example:

Blargh

Haven't posted in a while. Don't have much to say, really. I have one more full week of classes before finals, and then freedom--well, freedom of a sort. I'm still trying to figure out my summer plans--working, and all that business, as I have to get ready to move into my off-campus apartment with my roomies come August. So that'll hopefully be fun!

The only interesting things I've done in the past week or so is throw caution to the wind and write a paper on BioShock. I was terrified when I handed it in, but we'll see how that goes, haha.

I'm in a bit of a weird mood at present--I want to write something, anything, but I seem to be permanently stuck in the plotting/scheming stage, and no matter how badly I'd like to move on and actually start writing...I can't.

It kind of sucks.

Maybe some new reading material and music can help; both have certainly helped me before. But I'm starting to think this is one of those cases where I need a change of scenery. Sitting in my dorm, all I can think about is all the things I ought to be doing, and not doing any of it because my laptop broke and my netbook can't handle much and the stupid computers in the lounges here on campus haven't been updated to include the versions of the programs I need in order to do half of the crap I have to do anyway.

So I play Kingdom Hearts instead.

Blargh.

Any reading and/or music suggestions? I bought a new book the other day that is quite lovely, but maybe having a nice stack of new things to read once I'm out of the dorms will get me out of the constant state of doing nothing I'm finding myself in.

Occasionally my mom and I will delve into the past and listen to the stuff we listened to in the 90s. Alice in Chains (original line up) was one of our favorite bands.

Adjust Accordingly

Hey, so I'm back to deviate again--though since a lot of us are more or less involved/invested in the Writing and Publishing world to begin with, this stuff isn't *too* off-topic. I hope.


So a few days ago Macmillan's CEO posted a message on Tor.com, and I put it in the back of my mind to consider and deliberate over later. Then I got super distracted with school things and replaying Kingdom Hearts until this morning, when Amazon and Tor posted on Facebook and their blog, respectively, that the new JK Rowling book was to be released in late September of this year.

So that was exciting for about five seconds.

And the reason my excitement took a downhill turn is this:

JK Rowling's book costs twenty dollars. As an EBOOK.

The hardcover version is about thirty something dollars--that's five bucks more than most hardcover Stephen King books go for. And while five bucks really isn't THAT much when you think about it--thirty bucks for a friggin' book is nonetheless ridiculous. (Hell, I won't pay in the 20-25 dollar range for a book unless it is a hardcover and/or special edition of a book or series that I love from the bottom of my heart).

That the hardcover version is 30 bucks is ridiculous. But that ebook price? Have they lost their damn minds?

I mentioned this to a few of you via text already, and Jose mentioned to me that the price wasn't that shocking. I knew more or less that other ebook vendors charge more than Amazon typically does, but I wasn't aware the gap was that friggin' big (and to be honest I'm still not--I have yet to check how much ebooks go for through Barnes and Noble, and theirs is the only other market I see in the bigger picture of competition, though I know that there are others). Point in fact, Amazon's Kindle store is selling JK's newest at 20 bucks for the ebook, too.

So all this bullshit brought me back to my consideration over Macmillan's current predicament with the DOJ and that whole collusion problem.

Apparently the Department of Justice has gone after some publishing companies for changing to the agency model, which influences the prices of their ebooks. The DOJ accused them of collusion, and according to Macmillan's CEO, the other companies have agreed to settle while Macmillan, claiming against the collusion accusation, has decided to duke it out in court. Here's the CEO's message regarding the matter:

http://www.macmillan-speaks.com/2012/04/11/a-message-from-john-sargent-3/

The part of the issue I'm most interested in though is the pricing of ebooks in general. Personally I think they should NEVER cost as much as a physical book--and why the hell should they? They're digital. You produce them once--and that's it! All downloads from there! There is no cost of reproduction after the initial production. They simply don't carry the same amount of value that a physical copy does--physical copies that can be autographed, easily loaned out, and resold. I mean, you can cuddle with your Kindle or Nook or whatever--but in your heart you'll know it just ain't the same.

All joking aside, what do you guys think? Are the big publishing companies right for what they're trying to do, or should they stop being such big babies and learn to adjust their marketing model for a digital product, and stop treating said product like a tangible set of goods? I'm not saying what Amazon is doing is necessarily right--they ARE undercutting the set price, and they are gaining a monopoly in the ebook industry by doing so--at least, it certainly seems that way. But on the other hand, I'd argue that Amazon's prices are generally fairly reasonable for what they're selling. 5-10 bucks for an average ebook sounds reasonable to me. 15-25 bucks does not, especially if you can't even inhale the new-book smell and sleep with them next to your head all night. Not...not that I do that. Often.

I know I don't have all the facts at the moment, so if any of you know more about this topic, please share!

Uhh, music, music...Any Once Upon a Time fans on here? Here's two music vids Jen showed me a week or so ago (potential spoilers!).

First one is RumBelle, and features some footage from other things Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin have been in, like LOST, and whatnot. Second one is OUAT in general:

Enjoy!

OH HEY THERE BLOG

It's not that I haven't been reading every single post on this website eagerly, I have.  I just haven't been commenting or posting because I wasn't really sure what I wanted to talk about. Despite the fact that that really hasn't changed, I guess I can talk about...summer plans?

This is the first year that I haven't known exactly what I'm doing for the summer (seeing as how I totally quit that darn pool job...FINALLY).  Don't get me wrong, money is nice and all, but I think I'm getting a little old to show up to work with no pants and not be, like, sliding up and down a pole or something. I will miss the no shirt, no shoes, no pants, no problem job though. A little.

So I've been forced to range pretty wide for jobs, including Alaska (horse guide, zip line instructor, and dog musher being the positions applied for), New York City (publishing internships...Penguin started recruiting this week!), and good ole Chicago, where a friend wants me to move in to an apartment with her. All this is cool, but I would like to know like...NOW what I'm doing for the summer.  The suspense is killing me.  KILLING ME. On top of that, I have a lot of work to get done, and way too many end of the semester projects that I've been putting off. Yikes!

What are everyone else's plans for the summer, anything exciting? concrete? hopeful? Let me know!

In the meantime, listen to this catchy little ditty about how much I REALLY JUST WANT TO GO OUTSIDE. The video is actual footage from the church that later became the cult that drank all that poisoned koolaid. The band superimposed themselves on the footage...ah!  Still a very catchy song though :D

Suddenly, Bees.

Man I can never think of a story long enough to make into a post.

I just never do interesting things for extended periods of time. Except go to China I guess, but whatever man. What happens in Shanghai stays in Shanghai.

Anyway, I think I mmmiiiiiight be staying up north for the summer. It is just way easier to find shitty summer jobs on campus. I hope no one is too crushed by this, and you are all welcome to come and visit whenever. We can play more tactical laser tag. It is pretty bitching.

As for music:



I just finished playing Skyward Sword the other week.
I loved the game. It was beautiful.
I know they shoved motion controls down your throat, but I liked them. It felt pretty natural to be moving how I was moving.  
I know the graphics were worse than they were in Twilight Princess.  That was disappointing, but I liked the art style.  I thought the character's faces were the most expressive they've ever been.

I just thought it was too easy. There. I said it. They held your hand through the whole damn game. It blew.  Sometimes I just want to figure things out for myself! And the fairy-esque guide, Fi, was a steaming pile of shit. 

Also, I thought the ending was dumb. The final boss battle was like..... the easiest fight in the whole game. Like seriously.  Super dumb.

But it held a lot of value to me, because Zelda is one of the franchises I have followed from the very beginning.  It gave me lots of feelings, this game.


By the way... who else is totally grossed out by the Oocca now?!

Brief Deviation

I know I already posted this week, but my class got canceled for the second time and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands this morning.

I wanted to deviate a little from what we usually do here to bring this to your attention: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/03/is-fan-fiction-ready-to-go-mainstream-thanks-to-fifty-shades-of-grey#more

I posted it on Sarah's FB wall, but having discussions on FB these days can kind of be a pain the ass. So I'm putting it here. And I wonder--what do you guys think of this business?


My initial reaction is to reject the idea entirely. I don't know if this is because of my mass media law influence or for some other reason, but things like this scream copyright issue to me. Of course, I know nothing about the book Fifty Shades of Grey, so this is definitely a knee-jerk reaction. (and looking it up on Amazon, I am assured it's not the kind of book I would want to read anyway).

According to Tor's article, I guess the book spawned from some Twilight fanfiction? Aside from what sounds like a bad relationship model based on the one in Twilight, I can't really tell how valid that claim is, though the article's author assures me its there or whatever. But my issue isn't so much with the book itself, but rather with what the article goes on to say about our generation and "sampling," and how our digitized age makes this even easier. I have to agree with the article on this point: it's definitely easier and more common for people to share their fanfiction online, in communities and forums and whatnot. I'm not a huge fan of the whole process (as a reader and as a writer), though even I'll admit I have had some fun playing around in other writers' backyards.

But to me, that's where that sort of writing belongs: in the backyard, free to read online, forever. Fanfiction is a great way to develop your own writing style and voice, a perfectly valid way to exercise your budding writing prowess. The websites and forums you find it on are fun places for fans of the universe created by another author. It crosses a line for me when money gets involved.

I'm not saying that this has happened already--again, from what I can tell from the plot blurb on Amazon, I can't quite see the Twilight connection aside from a super shitty idea of what a functional relationship is. But on the other hand, if what Tor's article says is true, then the work was borne from a Twilight fanfic and simply changed to cut all ties with Meyer's less-than-thrilling universe as created in Twilight. Does that make it okay? Maybe, but in all honesty I'm leaning a little towards "no." No, it does not make it okay. And not necessarily because of the whole copyright infringement thing.

I lean towards no because more and more often, I encounter novels and stories and TV shows that are all THE EXACT SAME THING AT THEIR CORE. Seriously. How many re-imaginings of the supernatural hunter/detective story are we going to see before we finally move on to something different? How many more authors are getting caught up in this trap? This sampling business, to me, is a potential catalyst for the continued destruction of original ideas. I know that having an "original idea" is fairly impossible--pick a novel, any novel, and you can trace an idea back to something else--but I feel people did and could still do a better job if perhaps they "sampled" less. Don't take a core idea--the detective story! with demons and banshees and bears oh my!--take something smaller, some tiny little fragment, and mix it up with something completely different. It might end up being disastrous--or it might end up super fricking awesome.


What do you guys think about all this business? My argument isn't exactly stellar, I know, but there it is.

Oh, and here, have a song:

Love me some Shinedown.

Ffffff...

When I was a freshman, I took a night class. It was Greek Philosophy, and it lasted from about 6 pm to 9 pm. The class was interesting, but I hated hated HATED the time slot like nobody's business, and was so relieved when that first semester finally ended. I swore from that moment on that I would never take another night class ever.

No such luck.

Because my school is known for being a science school, the science program is the biggest, and its majors tend to have more time slots. For the other majors, however, there is often only ONE slot available for any given Lit or Comm Arts class. I've managed to be lucky in this regard so far, but this coming Fall I will be saddled with not one, but TWO FRIGGIN NIGHT CLASSES.

Fffff.

Alright, enough complaining. Today marks my first Monday back from spring break and I can definitely feel myself in the home stretch. My break, while not exactly wondrous (though the Hunger Games premiere was great), gave me enough time to recuperate and get ready to close this semester out. And man am I ever ready for it to be over.

The Hunger Games-inspired album had some pretty good songs on it, this one included. Hope you enjoy as much as I have been, though I admit I'm not very familiar with this band.

Guys I'm So Tired

Guys

Guys
I am so tired.

I have just been doing a bunch of work all of the time
and when I should be sleeping, I just think "Man you know what would be fun?  Dicking around with some people I know."

Sleep is for the weak.
I can sleep when I'm dead.

In other news, I think this video is absolutely hilarious.





I also really want an Alaskan Klee Kai.
Maybe his name will be Keanu.
Definitely he will wear a bandana
Probably he will wear some sweet sunglasses.

Is that the sleep deprivation talking?  Most likely.

Finally, a song.  I almost forgot how much I loved Eric Clapton, until my history of rock and roll class made me remember.
Ughhhyessssss like nobody listens to that bass but seriously listen to it. And this is actually Clapton fucking up. His solo is on the wrong beat. Still...
So good.

Spring-like Side-Effects

GOOD LORD it is gorgeous out today. I woke up at my usual early hour (is seven even early? seems fairly late to me, but I also might be crazy) and IT WAS ALREADY 55 DEGREES OUTSIDE. I love winter and all, don't get me wrong, but there's a certain place in my heart for ideal hoodie weather, too, and despite the insane amount of wind whipping around out there, today's weather was/is that kind of weather.

My iPod shuffled to this song as I made my way to Spanish:

and it just seemed perfect.

The weather also reminded me that Spring Break is almost upon us. Anyone got any plans? Coming home, maybe? I know we all have different breaks, so when are yours? Mine is like the week of March 20th or something.

So many Colors. So many Numbers.

When I first started my web design class, I was a little nervous about the color system. Colors, as some of you may know, are represented as hexadecimal numbers and oh my goodness there are a lot of them (16,777,216 according to my text book, and only SIXTEEN OF THEM are allowed to be called their own names). And of course, I want nothing to do with the named sixteen, because frankly they are all garish and horrible. Which means as I'm sitting here writing this post, I am also deliberating over the best shades of the colors I want to use for my first web project, due on Tuesday.

But despite my freakout over the colors, I must say that I am deeply in love with this class. If I ever doubted myself when I chose to be a Writing and Publishing major instead of just a lit major, this class is more than enough to convince me that I made a good decision. The combined degree lets me write and study lit theory as I would as a lit major (minus the need to take standard lit classes, like American Lit, Brit Lit, etc, though I am taking the former for fun this semester) and also lets me study media law, editing, layout design, and coding for web design. That's a win-win right there, especially since the world seems a bit eager to get ahold of young ladies and gents who know the languages needed for coding.

I'm also going to look into going beyond what my current class can teach me (we're learning XHTML at the moment, and we'll cover CSS and I want to say some Java), but I also want to learn HTML5 and Ajax. Learning how to write things like apps for the mobile technologies would be nice, too :D

Hopefully, if everything works out, I can make money doing web design things in order to support my career as a fledgling author. And if the author thing doesn't work out, I'll still have a good job regardless.

As it is, I need to start taking a closer look at grad schools, too. I mentioned to my mother that I wanted to take a year off to dedicate to working to put a dent in my student loans before I pile on more money I owe the banks, and she about had a heart attack. So the year off thing seems unlikely, or I'll never hear the end of it. I'm hoping to find a program that will allow me to take a certain number of credit hours for a set price per semester that will allow me to work practically full time as well without me wanting to shoot myself in the foot. One school in Maryland seems to fit the bill in this respect, but I want to do more research before I decide to go for it. The program in question is dedicated solely to creative writing, which isn't an issue, but I'm hoping to find something similar to what I have now that also allows me to branch out into web design more.

I am a little bummed out that I can't travel abroad like all you other lucky folks. Changing my major halfway through sophomore year like I did means I can't take a semester off to do it, and my school's fees shoot up pretty insanely in the summer, so that's out. Blargh. That's alright. Once I get settled in Maryland and pay off a good chunk of my other debts, I can start saving to go to Ireland or England or something. In the meantime, the rest of you must take ALL THE PICTURES EVER.

That reminds me--I've only got my senior year left and then I'm heading to the East Coast. That's one more year with all of you--let's make it count, eh?

Music:

I've known this song for a while now, but I ran into it the other day and remembered that while sometimes I don't like it, other times I do. Just gotta be in the mood for it, I guess:

I've also been on a bit of a Borderlands kick, and to appreciate the next song I feel the first game's trailer should be watched:

Here's the song in full (I just really like the beat, haha):