Since I very rarely get to see all of my family in one spot, it was really fun today to spend the day with them being childish.

Robin came by with the majority of my siblings for some help with some health assignments, and then we decided to run out and grab some lunch. I also got two (two! Talk about splurging) pairs of new shoes because I completely killed my last pair of tennies yesterday by ripping the entire left side out of my left shoe.

We grabbed some Chinese at a buffet place we like that actually has good Chinese buffet food. I always feel so wasteful at buffet places though.

Then afterwards we all decided to revert completely to nine year olds and go to Wunderland, a five-cent arcade that, like most arcades, is loud, stuffy and smells of kid-sweat. It was a blast. They have a Dance Dance Revolution machine (not my favorite remix, but hey, DDR is DDR), so I spent the majority of the time playing rounds of DDR, shooting zombies in House of the Dead (my second favorite arcade game) and giving the evil eye to my arch-nemesis, skeetball.

All in all, it was a hoot. Those five-cent places are killer though, it's easy to buy twenty bucks worth of nickels before you even realize what you're doing. No, I did not spend twenty bucks in the DDR machine...I only spent like five bucks in it...so there. I play a pretty mean game of DDR, people. Partly though because I cheat and play it at home, but the Playstation version is nothing like the arcade machine. Those arcade machines, they are addictive. Think I could get away with buying one, instead of paying my rent this month...and next? Yeah? Oh...nah, I didn't think so either.

Now, I'm going to spend the rest of my Saturday doing absolutely nothing productive at all. I so rarely have time to myself where I don't have to be somewhere or do something, I want to take advantage of it while I've got it. Plus, I've got all those tasty, tasty books to read. Mmm...books.

HotD:

It's raining outside.
Little droppies falling fast,
Plunking on the roof.

I, being a complete slacker, wasted a fantastic day off from the SL Office and classes in the best way possible: by going to the library.

Because I'm a book addict, I only got one of the books on my Winter Reading List, and nine more that weren't on it, but are going to be added for addings sake. Yay! Ten crunchy, juicy, tasty books to read!

I need help. Like a 12-step program or something.

HotD:

I am nervous, yo.
Applying for new positions,
And not told the old.

Further proof that I'm a gigantic dorkwad that has some pretty screwed up views on what's exciting in life: I got a new vacuum! Isn't that exciting?

I know it shouldn't be exciting, but I'm very happy about it. My last one went to the giant suckfest in the sky ages ago, so I've been forced to beg and plead to borrow vacuums and then just having to suffer with how filthy I really am in between borrowings. It's amazing how gross carpet gets even when nobody's home to make it a mess. I don't have a clue how some of this stuff even gets tracked in here. Perhaps Imaginary Boyfriend is throwing parties while I'm away.

So, yay. I got a new vacuum. Too bad I'm so lazy I don't want to clean, I just want to enjoy my day off and do nothing. I'll give the first person to come clean my living room floor thirty-eight cents and a cookie. Anyone? Anyone?

HotD:

Come eat some soup, man.
It is tasty and delish,
And will just go bad.

I have four days (count them, preferably in your Count voice, one, two, three, four! Ah-hahahahahaha...erm...sorry) off from my night job. Four. I'm so excited, how pathetic is that?

I don't know what to do with myself though. It's all so overwhelming.

HotD:

Hurray, hurray, yay!
Rain, dark, and driving.
None for four whole days.

Swimming, is by far, one of the funnest (funnest is so a word, hush it) weekly activities I do. Granted, I do more laughing and swallowing of water then I do actual laps, but in my mind, laughing while in the pool burns just as many calories as a zillion laps does...maybe even more.

I don't even mind going at 9, and not getting home until 11. I'm not so old that I can't stay up until 11, right? Even if I do have to be up some mornings at 4 AM...and early mornings make me a big crank. Mmm...crank...I mean, drugs are bad, don't do drugs.

My goal with swimming, however, is to be able to do at least two miles a night by the end of this term. It's not going to happen. Not because I can't, but because I'm so easily distracted my swim buddies' fantastical wit and cute swimmer guys doing laps. The young swimmer guys, not the old ones, lets just get that straight right now.

I just have one question: why is it people insist on wandering around the locker room naked, and then squatting? Seriously. I mean, it's not like they've got parts that I don't see on a daily basis, but it still totally heebies me out.

Just curious. Though, I bet the whole squatting thing would be much more uncomfortable in the guys locker room. Thank Jebus for small favors, I suppose.

So, I've read 12 out of the 58 books on my Winter Reading List, which isn't bad for a list that is only four weeks old. That comes out to three books a week, which is really good considering I work three jobs and go to school full time...and whatever else. Yes, so I spend a lot of my time at one job reading, but that's a defense mechanism to save me from the brain melting westerns. I also read with mutant-like speed, it's the only thing I've got going for me.

Last night I finally read Alice Seabold's The Lovely Bones in one sitting. Much like Savanna said I would, I bawled like a gigantic baby through the majority of it. I do have to say though, it's one of the few books that has actually lived up to it's hype for me. I really enjoyed it. I have a tendency to stay away from hyped books because they're never as good as people say they are.

I guess somehow judging a book by it's hype is probably akin to judging a book by it's cover.

Now (aside from Jane Eyre which I'm reading for a class, and am loving!) I am finishing up Pride and Prejudice and starting Emma Donoghue's Life Mask I read Slammerkin and liked it, so I'm hoping this next book of Donoghues will be just as good.

Man, I'm such a nerd.

Ever notice how when certain people on a certain Fair & Balanced news source want to avoid having to explain their actions to other news sources the first always says the reason why they don't respond to the second is because the second is 'not doing well' or 'will be off the air soon', so why bother owning up to their idiocy?

Just an observation.

HotD:

Swimming is cool beans.
Even though some people stink,
Or pee in the pool.

I've been reviewing medical schools with a more critical eye lately. As much as I want to stay in Oregon and attend OHSU, I would really like the opportunity to attend a someplace else. Maybe even someplace out of the country...someplace tropical...with cabana boys. Really, really tall and tanned cabana boys...with accents. That's not too much for a girl to ask for, is it?

It's about time to start deciding for sure where I'll be sending applications. Only about 21 more months and it'll be time to start crossing my fingers and plastering the higher education world with my pleas for acceptance. 21 months isn't going to take long to fly past me at all, and I know if I don't decide soon, then I'll just be stuck attending the only school that will accept me last minute: The Antarctica Medical University, with an attendance of 3 students, and two of them are seals.

That, if you'll excuse the language my dear figments, would suck.

A very happy 21st birthday to Miss Savanna! Friday the 13th is a pretty good birthday to have, if you ask me. Now that she's over the hill, I can start having samples of Geritol and Depends sent to her house.

We had a meeting of V ET L today, in which I presented to the Captian a chocolatey cake and the first seasons of both House and SeaQuest. Absolutely no meeting business was conducted, but fun was had by all, and pictures were taken, which I'm trying to track down so I can post them here and embarrass the birthday girl even more. Yay!

Have an awesome rest of the day Savvy! Myself and all my personalities love you!

In other news...a fantastic three-day weekend looms on the horizon. I plan on doing as little as possible, and a good time shall be had by all.

HotD:

It is still raining.
My shoes are always squishy,
and feel really gross.

It's completely stormy outside. All blustery and rainy and wooshing. I got completely soaked going from the car to the mailbox to my apartment.

What's most amusing to me? My mailbox leaks, and in my mailbox tonight was a sample package of coffee. So, I got the pleasure of pulling a giant wad of coffee-soaked envelopes and catalogs out of my box tonight. My box is going to smell like a Starbucks for days now.


HoTD:


Swimming is so fun.
Even at 6 AM man,
It is so worth it.

"Brokeback Mountain" was good. I enjoyed it, because lets face it, gay cowboys are hot.

I read the short story ages ago, so I knew how the movie would end. The movie also stayed really true to the short story for the most part, which I enjoyed. Since I knew the ending, I didn't cry nearly as bad as I thought it would. It was still sad, but a good movie.

Unfortunately, the theater was jam packed, including a ten or eleven year old girl in front of me who kept running commentary through the majority of the movie until a woman in front of her told her to shut her yapper. Then she only talked about every ten minutes or so. What was worse, is she was talking to her mother who was talking back. I love how people teach their children manners.

Sitting next to me was a guy who came with his wife who spent every scene where any male contact was present either rubbing his eyes, covering his eyes, or looking down at his feet. I thought the was hysterical. The amount of uncomfortable male vibes that were swimming around the theater was amazing. One guy got up and left and told his girlfriend he wasn't going to come back. I think that guys kissing should be the new way to combat terrorism. Throw a couple of tongue-swapping guys out and bingo, you've got yourself a surrender. Men are such insecure wussies.

I'm off to finish my math homework and do some laundry. What a lovely evening for me!

So the first week of classes have gone by in a whirlwind. So far everything looks like it will be a snap this term, which is a good thing. I ended up dropping Woman's Studies. Not because I'm adverse to studying women - seeing how I am one - but because it was an on-line class, and I know that I'll put it off to do things for lecture classes instead. Laziness is my friend. I've found with myself that I really just have to have either lecture classes only, or online classes and nothing to distract me from their deadlines. Because I'm only home about 6 hours a day (and it's spent sleeping) it's far too easy for me to thumb my nose at online class homework and hide under my covers instead. My covers don't judge me with mean letter grades.

We invaded the Courthouse Athletic Club on Friday for our swimming orientation. It looks like that's going to be one of the funniest classes this term. We plan on going in the wee hours of the morning, before God is even awake, three times a week. I absolutely love to swim, and so I'm very excited about it. Plus, once my diabolical plan is in place, I can drown the people whom I'm attending swimming with (and want to take over their identities) and make it look like an accident. Or, if in a pinch, lock them in the sauna.

Also on Friday we all went and saw "Memoirs of a Geisha" which although not as good as the book (movies from books never are), was still a fantasticly enjoyable film. I suggest you all go see it! I'm proud to say I didn't cry...much. I also forced nearly everyone to play a game, begrudgingly, of Dance Dance Revolution with me. There are pictures of this floating about somewhere, that I might try and get copies of. I didn't take my camera with me, so I didn't get to snag pictures of anyone defacing the theater chairs, or stealing movie posters.

Yesterday I succumbed to my shopaholic side and bought myself some wonderful regaping of holes in my head, some really cute new clothes, including a bunch of jeans. This was fantastic because (to my horror and dismay!) I found today that my very last pair of favoritist jeans ever has a hole in them. I loved these jeans so much I bought four pairs of the very same kind, all of which have died horrible grisly deaths over the past two years. Plus, the store was completely out of the brand in the right length. I, being a giant, can't wear average length jeans. Do you think anyone ever stocks tall ones? Of course not. I should sue for discrimination!

I'm planning a farewell ceremony for my jeans, as they depart this world to become scrap blocks for my quilt. True symptoms of packrat disorder, I can't part with anything, not even stupid jeans. I need medication before I die smothered in the piles of crap stacked about all over my house.

I'm going to a matinee showing of "Brokeback Mountain" today, where I'm going to blubber like the girl I am. I know I'm going to cry, because I cried over the story...plus, I'm pathetic and cry about everything. It's pretty much a given now. I'll let you know how it was when I get back.

HotD:

It is ten-twenty.
My house is quiet and dark,
Because it needs cleaned.

One of my goals for this year is to set up a very small balcony garden, so I can grow some fresh tomatoes and maybe some herbs. Contrary to popular belief, I have a pretty wicked green thumb. Heck, I have a decorative 'tree' that's just a bunch of birch limbs spray painted silver with gold bows in a pot of florists foam that's sprouted roots and leaves. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but gee, if I can make desecrated limbs that have been tagged silver grow, I can surely make tomatoes grow with my magical mad phat plant growing powers!

Here's the thing: I've done ground gardens, and raised bed gardens, but never a pot or troph type garden. Have any of you ever set up something like this? Do you know how to go about it? Especially with drainage and soil nutrients. What's the best way to set something like this up? Especially since I have a patio right under my balcony, I don't want water dripping all over their stuff down there all the time. Urine yes, water from pots no.

Plus, what should I plant? Any suggestions? Anyone?

HotD:

It's not even ten.
I am not a party girl,
I'm going to bed.

Proving time does fly when you're having fun - even doing nothing at all - the 3rd has arrived and it's time for me to go back to classes and the other job.

Damn.

I, however, have made a New Years Resolution to post at least three times a week so that you, my dear figments, have all sorts of boring and worthless things to distract you from your classes and/or work. Think of it as my New Years gift to you.

In other worthless news, I strained my eyes from sitting at the computer too much last week. I'm at a computer maybe an hour or two a week anymore, so my eyes were not used to staring at the screen for sixty million hours on end! So now, my right eye won't stop ticing, and it's driving me nuts. People are going to think I'm just randomally winking at them. It's going to be a long day.

HotD:

Tic, tic, tic, tic, tic.
James says my eye is a bomb,
And is gonna 'splode.

Today, with the birth of a new year, NaNoWriYe officially started. NaNoWriYe is National Novel Writing Year. Which is basically National Novel Writing Month, but in a year, and you can pick the amount of words you want to write. From 50,000 to 3 million. Yes, 3 million. No, I didn't sign up for it.

All you have to do is send in your monthly wordcount to the person leading your 'club' (the amount of words you're writing) at the end of the month, and then the whole thing at the end of the year.

This year I'm writing 100,000 words, which is only 273 words a day. That is only about 15 minutes of writing a day, which I can do no problem. Honest. In fact, I've already written 349 words. I think smaller day goals are better for me, because if I have too many words I get overwhelmed with the "have to write" and then I can't write. With having only 273 words (which is like five paragraphs or something) I can just blurt it out there and write more if I want to. Plus, having a year means that I can tweak and edit to my twisted little hearts content, which is part of what kills me about NaNoWriMo.

I will, most likely, be posting the novel to my various writing groups, and will send it to you, my dear figments, if you're interested. I'll be doing it at the end of each month. Just give me your E-mail and let me know that you want a copy.

Good times, figments. Good times.

Another storm front is moving in off the coast, and things are getting mighty blustery outside, adding more rain to the already flooded streets and some nice wind gusts. If you live in my area, be careful if you're driving anywhere, yeah? I need all you figments intact, otherwise who else will read this garbage?

Happy New Year! What am I looking forward to the most this year? Why 6/6/06 of course.

HotD:

The rain trickles down.
The wind is blowing in gusts.
Way to start the year.