Tomorrow, we're finally getting a repairman from the nice people at SBC to come by and fix our internet and phone, which have both been working very poorly or not at all for a while. They should be here between noon and 4, when I'll likely be the only one home.

...Dad just came into my room to tell me I should be up and dressed by 11:30 or so, just in case they show up at noon on the dot. WELL FUCKING DUH?!?!? He used to get mad at me for saying "give me SOME credit for intelligence"... AMAZINGLY STUPID STATEMENTS LIKE THIS JUST MIGHT BE WHY! When I said "Yeah, I was planning on that," in a very pained tone, he got annoyed. Okay, I'm flighty and forgetful and sometimes lazy (especially when it comes to chores) but dear gods, I'm not retarded.

Discover you do, actually, have a packet of much-needed painkiller in your bag!

I've started writing again! I looked at my stories, picked one that had something resembling an actual, workable plot, and got a good few paragraphs. It's everything a first draft should be--an opening that catches potential readers' attention, brings up questions that will only be answered later, and hints at things to come.

It also SUCKS, but like I said, everything a first draft should be. XD

Hopefully I'll pull off NaNoWriMo again this year; it's kind of debatable, but the one year I did it, I figured out the secret, at least for me: write 30 or so scene ideas in advance to have something to go on. I also got something to help--now I have my own Alphasmart! (For anyone who doesn't remember the first one, scroll down a few entries.) I just prefer typing to writing, so I'm hoping it'll help... despite its many, many shortcomings. ^^ The worst one at the moment is lack of transfer cord; it's not the same as the one I was lent, and I can't find any that work with it. Still, it was totally worth it--the Alphasmart itself was all of $4.26, tax included. ;-) I LOVE thrift stores.

Once again, it is WAY too early to be awake. My body suddenly deciding "okay, that's enough sleep!" at 5 am isn't completely unheard of (which makes NO sense, given that most of the time I'll sleep twelve hours straight if given half the chance), but I didn't manage to get to sleep at ALL tonight.

If it were virtually any other day of the week, fine, whatever, but Tuesday is one of my long days... internship (at a Housing Aid office), then a night class. I don't want to look like a total flake by not showing up for the internship, since I only started TWO WEEKS AGO, but I've already missed three classes, the teacher is not always terribly reasonable, and in a once-a-week class that IS a lot. Plus my grade is probably not what I'd like, to say the least... ARGH!

I think I know the culprit--just started on ADD meds again to see if they help this time, and it IS a stimulant. It doesn't help that I stayed up until 4 am because I'm an IDIOT, either... maybe I'll go to the internship with said medication on hand just in case. ^^ Hey, when I started the other stuff (which also kept me awake at first), I ended up operating on three hours of sleep the next day and I felt fine! On the one hand, THAT was only four hours total, and I did collapse that evening, but on the other it involves chasing seven-to-nine-year-old special ed kids around for most of it. Then again, staying on my feet likely helped... sitting at a desk for three hours? If I can't get to sleep in the next hour I think I'm calling in sick. T_T

I just happened to glimpse an ad that had me nearly choking with laughter.

From Executive Producer Justin Timberlake

What would you do to win $50,000?

T HE P H ON E

...I have no words.

I've been working on cleaning my room, yet again; you can tell because it looks even MESSIER than usual. T_T The new bookshelf I figured out how to cram in should help me actually keep the place clean... once I have the floor cleared off enough to get it in. On the plus side, I also realized I can fit in even more shelves if I just move my bed to the other side of the room! Of course, it isn't exactly on wheels...

I've also been trying to work on my usual craft projects, especially since some of them are for friends, but... argh, I have more than enough time, not nearly enough motivation. Even when the friends in question know I'm working on things for them! (One friend does not. The present in question is ALMOST done, but I keep getting discouraged by little screw-ups and such.)

My walkthough also just informed me that from here on out, Tales of Destiny is largely mazes. And so far I've been getting attacked more often than I EVER did in Final Fantasy 9. If ToD2 is anything like this, I'll stick to the manga, thanks...

No date this year, as usual, but I woke up to find a bag of candy outside my bedroom door, so I'm happy. XD (My stomach, however, will be protesting shortly.)

Most amusing memory of this time of year: I used to work Foothill College's GSA's "Ye Old Safe Sex" booth around this time of year. We didn't sell anything, just had a bunch of condoms/info sheets/etc up for grabs.

Once when a guy came up to the table to look, and I have no idea where this came from, I said "Happy Singles Awareness Day. Would you like a Good Vibrations flier?"

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

There's something either ironic or fitting about standing up to one of the people in charge at Disabled Student Services to assert that you don't need to take a class on... how to be assertive enough to get what you need. XD Backstory: It's required at my college that people registered with them take certain classes. However, when I took the learning-assessment test to see if I'm learning disabled and could get any accommodations (see early 2007 entry), the class didn't yet exist; the one that I did have to take was on how to use a special help-with-studying program.

Which I didn't use nearly as much as I had to claim to in order to pass the class, never used again after it, and IN class I got myself kind of in trouble when I finally burst out that the advice on the assignment sheet re: effective studying was the most patronizing thing I'd seen in a workbook since middle school. (I was smart enough not to say what I was really thinking, which was "How can you get to college and NOT know this?!") So... somehow I don't think taking another class offered by their department would be of much benefit. Honestly, I know what to say already, but I freeze up when someone's being a jerk; I really couldn't do more than sputter when my Bio teacher, last year, said to my face that arranging my testing accommodations is a pain. (Well... I could think of a few things, but telling him "All you have to do is drop off a copy of the test in the next building over, suck it up and deal," wouldn't have gone over very well.)

Besides that, I said exactly what I was supposed to when one of my teachers this semester pointed me towards someone to talk to about copying their notes for me... that she's supposed to make an announcement to the class regarding that, and she's not supposed to say who needs the notes copied, but that they should go to Disabled Student Services to arrange everything (and get a gift card for the campus bookstore at the end of the semester). The guy in question actually couldn't help, so when I told the teacher this--and the whole thing about being anonymous--she CALLED ME INTO THE HALL FIVE MINUTES LATER TO TALK TO THE PERSON WHO HAD AGREED. Okay, yes, us being able to talk is useful, but a) I hate being put on the spot, b) I'd just told her she's not supposed to do that! It's not just my preference, it's the policy that she's not supposed to!

The irony: the class she's teaching is on the legal system, and ethics are important enough to be the subject of the textbook's second chapter.

At least I have a label to put on said learning disability now? After I finally found a doctor who would LISTEN to me (and, incidentally, coming prepared with a filled-out checklist) I had my suspicion confirmed--I'm autistic! Well, okay, if you insist on being specific I have Asperger's Syndrome, but still. This really explains a hell of a lot! ^^ The obliviousness isn't so fun, but having Spock Speak as a native language is coming very much in handy--reading legal documents isn't taking much time to get used to. XD Plus, in legal matters one is supposed to be super-precise to avoid misunderstandings. I like this concept. (Of course, I already had to be a smartass in one assignment and comment that I had to wonder why a legal textbook was only implying that we were supposed to elaborate on our answers instead of just saying yes or no!)

In more randomness, last night in class we ended up watching the presidential-hopeful political debate; I really liked Obama's answers, but aside from that I was pretty bored (and occasionally enraged). Which would be why my mind went in the direction it did... at one point it was mentioned that they had a question from the internet. I cracked silently that I would love said question to be "do you liek mudkips?"

In happy news, I discovered I can study for decently long periods of time without wanting to explode/throw my textbook at the wall/go watch paint dry instead; the trick is have something to listen to instead of having something to read. I just need to record myself reading the textbook and I'm good! Though, as anyone who's met me IRL knows, I can't pronounce things for crap... case in point, I got something from the SFSU Alumni Association and wondered aloud what the heck they were contacting me for, at which point Mom had to correct me on the pronunciation. Turns out "alumni" and "aluminum" only look alike. ^^ This combined with the fact that I think I sound like a six-year-old should hopefully add in some amusement factor, considering the text I'll be reading!

So, with the job market as horrible as it is, and me feeling like I have no job skills anyway, I'm back in school. In an effort to NOT procrastinate until the last possible minute, I looked up and ordered my textbooks today.

...at least, the ones I actually could. One of the ones I needed but couldn't quite find on Amazon is listed as "CHILDHOOD & ADOLESCENE". This does not inspire confidence in me!!

Ironically enough, another book I was supposed to get (different class) is "English Simplified". I looked up a sample page, stared for a while, and tried to console myself with thoughts of an easy A... I suppose this is what I get for going to a junior college again. ^^

Sometimes, I love my subconscious. XD Anime dreams that involve slash are fun!

I apparently walked into the theater late, so no idea if there WAS any context, but Ed Elric was standing at a second-floor window somewhere in his office building, having a conversation with Russell Tringham--in sign language, because Russell was outside and the window was closed. I could understand what they signed, even only some of it was actual ASL, but they were both kind enough to voice-interpret as well for most of it! Would have been a bit ironic if I'd needed subtitles for their speech as well...

Russell: "Are you getting off work soon?"
Ed: (smirking) "You wish."
Russell: (dryly) "I love you too."
Ed: (freezes, then signs slowly with no voice interpretation) "...I have to go." (turns and walks out of sight)

I'd write it out a little better, but hard to when it started mid-scene, there is virtually no way I can explain them knowing sign (any sort of military hand-signal code would likely not be complex enough for what they were saying), and Russell apparently thought nothing of the fact that he was looking up at Ed. XD

The really odd part? Winry was in the theater too (what, were we watching a security cam video?) and protested when Ed didn't voice the last part, because she couldn't understand it. I was just thinking, Go figure. It's a Bilingual Bonus! (Except it kinda wasn't...) But still, HA. I haven't woken up grinning like that in a while!

Like most people right now, I think, I've been following news about the Virginia Tech shooting for the last few days.

Something about public safety in the face of violent nutcases must make people stupid, I swear, because oh my gods... from Yahoo news:

"In virtually every regard, Cho is prototypical of mass killers that I've studied in the past 25 years," said Northeastern University criminal justice professor James Alan Fox, co-author of 16 books on crime. "That doesn't mean, however, that one could have predicted his rampage."

...

...

WHAT THE HELL?!?!?

Okay, maybe he means it's just as likely he only would have killed one person, but the guy was a ticking time bomb.

Then again, this is the same news media that brought us, after every school shooting, "We don't know why they would do something like this! They were complete social outcasts, tormented mercilessly every day for years... how could they have turned out so disturbed?"

¬_¬ Gee. I wonder.

Well, this has been an interesting last few weeks. I've had several interesting ups, downs, and "Errr... both? Neither?"

Probably most important, at least by most people's standards--I got tested for any learning disabilities I might have. Basically I got my head examined and they found nothing concluded that yep, something unusual's going on in there. I was hoping for a diagnosis, but nope, they just look long enough to determine if a student needs accommodations, and if so, what. The most I remember about the "okay, here's what we know" meeting is that... I have definite memory problems. T_T Yeah. Thanks, I kinda noticed that. Yet even though I ASKED, I don't get to use notes on tests! I do get extended test time, which would have been nice back when I had the occasional essay test... in my lone class now, Biology, it's almost entirely multiple choice. At least I also get to take tests in a "distraction-reduced" environment (I am my own distraction, but that's another story).

What really makes me wonder is that they said I don't read very well. Whaaaaat? I've been reading since I was three, and learned to read in Japanese without all that much trouble (that I remember...). Then again, I am just starting to realize that my reading comprehension is on the low side, so maybe that's what's being referred to. Whatever, I don't know... next month or so, I start using a screen-reader to help me study. Let's see if it helps. The problem with THAT is that apparently I have to take yet another class to learn how to use the thing... uh, yeah, I LIVE on my laptop. I think I can figure out a new program!

I also got lent an AlphaSmart to take notes on, since aforementioned laptop is awesome, but a bit heavy for me to actually carry around. For those who have NO idea what I'm talking about, it's pretty much a full-sized (or close to it) keyboard with a 1" x 6" screen attached. It displays all of four lines of text, but in about size 12 font, so it's fairly easy on the eyes... despite the green-and-black LCD display being slightly reminiscent of the original Game Boy. It has a spell check, which is nice, but you can't add words to its dictionary. Then again, it can only hold eight files of up to ten pages each--yeesh, how many KB of memory is that?! Obviously, it's pretty simple; to get familiar with it, I used it to type this entry! I was told they're like PDAs, but I don't know... for one, every PDA I've ever SEEN had more memory and functions than this by far. If anything, AlphaSmarts seem like a throwback to the original laptops, which looked and functioned pretty much exactly like this...

(Edited after transferring to my own computer: also, it transfers text at maybe twice the speed that I can type it. >_< Which is also reminiscent of the first-ever laptops.)

...I think I just wrote my longest nonfiction journal entry to date, online or off. If you're still reading, have a cookie! Anyway, the other thing I learned recently was that actually, I CAN indeed still draw! I can't do realistic-style to save my life, but anime-style is EASY. My comprehension of perspective is still lacking, but I can kinda get around it, and models help. I finally did use Sims 2 as a make-a-model program! All I have so far is line art, but I've done something like five pictures in less than 24 hours. For me, that's freaking AMAZING. I'll see if trying to color them gets me anywhere (I also suck at shading), and if not--anybody miss their old coloring books? ;-)

Yet another shameless plea for critiques - yep, this is for class. R&R? Please? ^^

For a change of pace, this is my attempt at a horror story, done as sort of a homage to Edgar Allan Poe. First draft and I'm not nearly as good as he is, nor what one would call experienced at horror writing, but hopefully it works well enough...

( text )

For those who aren't aware, November is National Novel-Writing Month, aka the Month of Insanity for those of us who decide to attempt it! In short, participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That's about 1,667 words a day, every day, all month. I missed a day ONCE and I'm still behind (thankfully not by much, anymore). It's brutal, to say the least.

The award for finishing? A nifty graphic.

Yeah, good thing for us writers that being insane goes with the territory, right?

Anyway! Twelve days of frantic writing later, I'm actually doing pretty good - and think I've improved at it. NaNoWriMo emphasizes quantity over quality ("editing comes later"), but I've somehow gotten to the point that I like what I've written, mostly... ignoring the filler scenes I did at 2 a.m. for the sake of inflating my word count and nothing more. Tonight I did something new, too - I wrote my first real battle scene. It isn't done (it's late, I did my quota for the day, and I ran out of steam!), but I think it's good - at least for a beginner. So, here it is for your reading/critiquing pleasure! (Seriously, if you have suggestions I want to hear them. Unless the suggestion is to stop rambling. XD)

Second half now added, so hopefully it makes a little more sense!

Tentative book title: Rise From the Fire
Rating: who the hell knows, but safe for work/school
Warnings: completely unedited and incomplete rough draft

( Read more... )

Yeeeeeeah, I should post more... I might have some real entries once in a while if not for how pretty much everyone who reads my blog actually knows me. ^^ Leaves me a little uncertain of what I should write here...

Oh, well. School started again, so maybe I'll actually get some writing in! Watch this space for random new fiction.

For this month's today's entry, I just had to share some really, really crazy stuff I've stumbled across in the last few days.

Seen at a pharmacy: "UltraSoft" Lancets.

From a legal-type sheet regarding hormonal birth control, that must be filled out to attain said birth control: "Do you currently want to be pregnant?"

From a Dear Abby column: "I just can't believe he is gay. I am heterosexual (when I get the chance)."

Girlfriend, over the phone: "Remember when you said you cut yourself recently?" (We'd been discussing shaving accidents.)
Me: "Yeah?"
Girlfriend: "How'd you say you stopped the bleeding?"
Me: O_o

Please, feel free to add your own. I think I'm going to spend this week taking notes just so I can add more of MY own. XD Comments are fun.

I wrote this in about two hours after a fanficrants entry, um, inspired me. XD I only just started the game, so don't kill me for any OOCness!

Title: Bottle Blond
Genre: Complete and utter crack.
Series: FFX
Timeline: I have no idea. Presumably sometime during the game.

( drabble )

Last night I was trying to get to bed early (for me), so I left a few things around the kitchen to take care of later. I knew I'd left the silverware rack on the counter, but what I didn't mean to leave was the open dog food can, 3/4th full after giving the dog her evening treat.

In the morning I found it on its side on the floor, empty except for a few globs in the very bottom. Ivy's a German shepard who's too big and old to even THINK about jumping up to grab something off the high counter, which leaves the cat; Tarius likes Ivy's food too, but there's no way he could have eaten a nearly full can by himself.

Which means that they teamed up to get the can down to the floor and scarf it down before anyone could stop them. I knew they're friends, but damn! What really boggles my mind is where on the counter I left the can - behind the silverware rack. I have NO idea how Tarius got it down off the counter and past the rack. I'd also love to know how he got it to the floor without accidently dumping it into one of the two open drawers just below the counter...

I didn't scold them; it was a little late by the time I found the can and realized what had happened. Besides, after an escapade like THAT I'd say they earned their treat!

Been meaning to sit down and, gasp, write another entry for a while now. May as well start with the usual holiday tradition of squealing over my loot. XD I got books, a bunch of knitting stuff (that was a surprise, now I just have to learn how!), a scarf, and an FMA keychain I need to take apart with pliers to sew the symbol onto a hat. I also got books 2 and 3 of Gouhou (Legal) Drug, which is a GREAT series - CLAMP finally gave up on the subtle gay and made it obvious! I read the entire 3rd book to Aya over the phone... had to hang up after I'd finished because my voice was gone, but it was fun to die laughing with a friend.

And with all this great new stuff, I spent the day... playing Final Fantasy VII. Still. I spent at least ten minutes running around in the forest trying to find Yuffie, and when I finally did I shrieked in joy... to the unhappiness of everyone else in the living room. ^^ Recruited her on the first try, since my walkthough gives you the responses she wants. In other game news, Yuffie is probably the one Cloud will be dating after my most recent talk with Aeris... she was going on about her birthmother and being an Ancient, and asked Cloud what he thinks of her. I flinched when the answer I had to give (since I'm aiming to not date her) was "nothing much". What Cloud actually said wasn't quite THAT bad - something like "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it." Typical... but Aeris actually got mad, snapped that she can't believe him, and said to leave her alone; she kept repeating the last part when I tried to talk to her again. Congrats, Cloud, you're a moron.

Anyway, after Christmas dinner, most everybody stayed in the kitchen talking (although I have no idea where my brother went and I was, uh, fighting my way through a cave), and Grandpa called out to me rather randomly, "Ever heard of this website called Google?" Me: "....yes, I'm quite familiar with it." -dies- At least he knows what e-mail is...

Three days after Christmas, and I still have something like five presents to finish. I was SO not on top of things this year. T_T At least most of the presents I got for my friends are ones they should like (I failed miserably in getting good stuff for my parents, although I tried; my shopping luck just didn't hold this year). If anyone wants to help me out, know any fairly simple World of Warcraft symbols? Or where I can get the NES font? ^^

Happy what's left of the holidays, everyone!

Never posted one of these before, but I just HAD to when I saw the results . . .

If You Ruled the World: by oomarilynmonroe
Username
national religion	Jane BuddhistMuslimCatholicJewishProtestantAtheistAgnostic"yourname"ism!SexismAdult SwimismWiccaPaganismTarantinoism
Type of Government	CommunismDemocracyFacismAnarchy(I know this doesn't exactly make sense)RawlsismFuedal SystemMonarchy
How you take over	You are voted into powerYou lead a millitary uprisingYou lead a slave uprisingYou string together a post apocalyptic societyYour father was king
You would name it
You would overthrow	sherina
Your second in command would be	jz_smith
Your sex slave is	oniko
Commander of the military:	arianna_kathryn
Put to death for insubordination	limyaael
Figure head in the puppet government	babykangaru
You are overthrown by	alcira
Quiz created with MemeGen!

limyaael, I'm really, really sorry, but at least whatever you did to deserve it was probably very creative and unexpected! XD Everybody else . . . Bwahahahaha.