Monday, August 20, 2007
ZOMG DIGIMON
This is brilliant. There was a period of time in high school when I listened to this song multiple times in a day. I guess I either didn't realize or had forgotten that this was the theme to the first movie. Wow, it's so good though. The video there is someones carefully put together amv, but I'm just so into the song.
Anyhow I watched Digimon Adventure (the movie from 1999) and actually liked it. Taichi and Hikari are adorable. I'm supposedly researching for this game I am playing, since I've never done anything Digimon before, but now I sorta just want to watch some Digimon anime, as if I'm not watching enough things already haha
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Photo Dump
If you go to flickr and search for "Company Halt" (under people...with the space between "Company" and "Halt") you will find that I have added a crud bucket and a half of pictures. In sets, even. These are the long lost zoo and bay cruise pictures, as well as the most recent pix from the Palm Springs trip I took.
None of them are terribly exciting or of any consequence, really. I feel like I take very drab pictures. I am uneasy photographing people I don't know, so unless my friends and I decide to have a photo-op, I don't generally take pictures of them. And I would never ask someone to take a picture of me, and sort of forgot to do the self portrait myspace thing...
Ah well :D
Enjoy if you would.
None of them are terribly exciting or of any consequence, really. I feel like I take very drab pictures. I am uneasy photographing people I don't know, so unless my friends and I decide to have a photo-op, I don't generally take pictures of them. And I would never ask someone to take a picture of me, and sort of forgot to do the self portrait myspace thing...
Ah well :D
Enjoy if you would.
Friday, August 17, 2007
さよなら絶望先生
I'm in love with this show and I know I've spoken of it briefly before, but here I will try to maybe describe some of its appeal and brilliance, and maybe some of its oddities as well.
First off...
It's still on TV in Japan. That means that as fast as the fansubbers can crank them out we will see them. Or at least I will, but I doubt you will not be able to stop watching once you start.
The premise is wonderful: a teacher who is incredibly negative and depressed (as you may be able to guess from that flattering shot of him hanging from the tree by his neck) and a student who is positive to the point of ridiculous naivety. In fact, she suggests (and you get the feeling she's almost OC positive because of her past, maybe...could be some interesting developments in store, either that or it's just more goofy fluff) that he is only trying to make himself taller, and not attempting suicide at all.
As the show continues it becomes a parade of strange classmates such as...
in episode two. There is also an exchange student, a bandaged girl (which is apparently out of style according to), a crazy cell phone girl, and others. You may notice they are all female. It seems only incidentals are male. OH, let us not forget the stalker! That episode was terrific.
The opening and closing themes are rather emo and a bit punk, or at least alternative. Definitely not your typical happy fly J-Pop love and bunnies. Of course, if you couldn't tell by now, the show is primarily dark humor.
Each episode also features a moment like this:
wherein our handsome scholarly hero descends into despair, crying, 「絶望した！」And followed with the reason. He really does get upset about everything and even visits the school counselor regularly, to her annoyance.
Apparently the show started off as a manga, and the creators are very open about the fact that they won awards and have met with much success. Comments are included that almost make you think they are a little put out to be doing an anime, but I'm sure it's meant jokingly. Hopefully they'll get over the little asides, though, because it's a bit tiring. I'd rather just enjoy their work.
Also of note are the censor icons, which are not little black bars, but the face of...the director? Someone. Maybe just some random fellow. They are used sporadically, sometimes to shield an innocent's panties or the nipples of someone's daydream, but at other moments panties are flying with wild abandon, so it just depends on the context, really. It's more a joke in and of itself (he is often glancing off camera) than it is actual censorship.
Anyways, I feel like I've already said too much, but hopefully it will entice you enough to want to see the show. Episode five has just recently been subbed, so off you go to catch up.
The awful dream and its sequel
Well, of course I'm still behind on my blog. Quite behind. But I'm awake early enough that I don't necessarily feel compelled to start working right away (which is bad, because I really have way too much stuff to do) SO I'm gonna describe the creepy dreams I had.
First of all, there were two and I'm pretty sure they took place in the same city. What city that was or if it exists (doubtful) I have no idea, but in the first dream it was also apparently part of a video game. There were various characters, most of whom I seemed to trust, but with one in particular our relationship degraded severely over time.
Getting around the city was fun, except when you were bombarded with salespeople handing out fliers. This happened on occasion and it seemed to me (even in the dream) that these were the fodder enemies of the game. Just there to be obnoxious and slow things down a bit. But they could also come at you in huge groups and be very overwhelming. In fact, when I woke up (with an audible yelp, so you know it must've been pretty bad) I was struggling to get through a doorway and they were all holding me back, trying to pass me free samples and pamphlets.
That was not nearly the most disturbing part of the dream though. There was one point (I assume there was some kind of storyline, since it was a pretty detailed dream, but I only remember the most harrowing portions) where I was sitting with two guys. One was across the sitting area, but the other was on a couch next to me. The latter was upset for some reason. Can't remember why. Anyways, he started crying and I felt bad so I was trying to hug him and say something encouraging. I don't remember. Next thing I know he's not crying, but pawing at me. Like, literally. Scraping his fingers (and then teeth) over my ribcage. And it wasn't like a, "haha I'm joking this is silly" more like a "haha I'm going to rape you and check out my creepy fetish of wanting to rip you to shreds with my bare hands" It was immediately obvious that that was what was going on. He was trying to dig a hole in my torso and it was super disgusting. So anyhow I screamed bloody murder and somehow kicked him off (the other guy did nothing at all) and then ran away.
I ended up meeting one of my friends (in the dream, anyhow) and told him what happened and that's how I learned it was a game. He said there are some characters in there that are challenging, so you have to just learn how to deal with them. And I told him something along the lines of that yeah, I understood that, but it was just really distressing. He didn't seem to have too much sympathy, but by then he was one of the only characters I felt like I could talk to.
There was one other character near the end that I started trusting, but I don't remember what the scenario was. I ended up inviting him to my house for some reason, an Asian guy, I think he was in trouble and needed help as well. I forgot what happened, though...
Then came that scene where I woke up. I was pretty creeped out, mostly about the fetish rapist, so I wanted to wake up the boy and get a hug, but it turned out that I woke him up out of his own nightmare, so we really didn't talk much, but just tried to go back to sleep.
I ended up having another dream, and like I said, it took place in the same city, but then this time I don't think it was a videogame.
I was actually a games journalist (person, thingy whatever the hell) in there, too, but a friend and I decided to join a theater group. Well, I think we were sort of tricked into it (somehow, dunno how) but after the fact we decided it might be fun. My character was actually one of the main ones, named Quitty. The premise, or at least the opening premise, of the play was that my character was transformed to resemble a slightly larger version of this mouse-sized person with no legs. Then I guess the rest of the thing was the trials and tribulations or something of being in that situation. It seemed compelling at the time, probably because that little mouse-sized thing was real.
It turned out that practice was going to be from like 12 to 7 or 10 or something, nearly everyday until the show came out in...October? So we had like a month and a half or so to practice. I had no idea how I was supposed to do that and get all my tons of work done, but I decided it would be worth it.
Some other things happened, like there was a restaurant or a convenience store, but I can't remember what went on there. Also I remember going home, but I don't remember what it looked like (although I think there was a garage??) or what I did after that...
Needless to say, the second dream was much better than the first, even though it challenged my ability to get things done even further than I already am irl.
First of all, there were two and I'm pretty sure they took place in the same city. What city that was or if it exists (doubtful) I have no idea, but in the first dream it was also apparently part of a video game. There were various characters, most of whom I seemed to trust, but with one in particular our relationship degraded severely over time.
Getting around the city was fun, except when you were bombarded with salespeople handing out fliers. This happened on occasion and it seemed to me (even in the dream) that these were the fodder enemies of the game. Just there to be obnoxious and slow things down a bit. But they could also come at you in huge groups and be very overwhelming. In fact, when I woke up (with an audible yelp, so you know it must've been pretty bad) I was struggling to get through a doorway and they were all holding me back, trying to pass me free samples and pamphlets.
That was not nearly the most disturbing part of the dream though. There was one point (I assume there was some kind of storyline, since it was a pretty detailed dream, but I only remember the most harrowing portions) where I was sitting with two guys. One was across the sitting area, but the other was on a couch next to me. The latter was upset for some reason. Can't remember why. Anyways, he started crying and I felt bad so I was trying to hug him and say something encouraging. I don't remember. Next thing I know he's not crying, but pawing at me. Like, literally. Scraping his fingers (and then teeth) over my ribcage. And it wasn't like a, "haha I'm joking this is silly" more like a "haha I'm going to rape you and check out my creepy fetish of wanting to rip you to shreds with my bare hands" It was immediately obvious that that was what was going on. He was trying to dig a hole in my torso and it was super disgusting. So anyhow I screamed bloody murder and somehow kicked him off (the other guy did nothing at all) and then ran away.
I ended up meeting one of my friends (in the dream, anyhow) and told him what happened and that's how I learned it was a game. He said there are some characters in there that are challenging, so you have to just learn how to deal with them. And I told him something along the lines of that yeah, I understood that, but it was just really distressing. He didn't seem to have too much sympathy, but by then he was one of the only characters I felt like I could talk to.
There was one other character near the end that I started trusting, but I don't remember what the scenario was. I ended up inviting him to my house for some reason, an Asian guy, I think he was in trouble and needed help as well. I forgot what happened, though...
Then came that scene where I woke up. I was pretty creeped out, mostly about the fetish rapist, so I wanted to wake up the boy and get a hug, but it turned out that I woke him up out of his own nightmare, so we really didn't talk much, but just tried to go back to sleep.
I ended up having another dream, and like I said, it took place in the same city, but then this time I don't think it was a videogame.
I was actually a games journalist (person, thingy whatever the hell) in there, too, but a friend and I decided to join a theater group. Well, I think we were sort of tricked into it (somehow, dunno how) but after the fact we decided it might be fun. My character was actually one of the main ones, named Quitty. The premise, or at least the opening premise, of the play was that my character was transformed to resemble a slightly larger version of this mouse-sized person with no legs. Then I guess the rest of the thing was the trials and tribulations or something of being in that situation. It seemed compelling at the time, probably because that little mouse-sized thing was real.
It turned out that practice was going to be from like 12 to 7 or 10 or something, nearly everyday until the show came out in...October? So we had like a month and a half or so to practice. I had no idea how I was supposed to do that and get all my tons of work done, but I decided it would be worth it.
Some other things happened, like there was a restaurant or a convenience store, but I can't remember what went on there. Also I remember going home, but I don't remember what it looked like (although I think there was a garage??) or what I did after that...
Needless to say, the second dream was much better than the first, even though it challenged my ability to get things done even further than I already am irl.
Monday, August 06, 2007
AH ha ha
SO at least ONE avid reader has called me on my failure to inundate, although if you look closely you'll notice I wasn't really promising so much at all!
The real problem here is that I am much keener on being out doing things than writing about them. Writing is certainly important, but being out doing things is MOREso. In fact, if you never did anything, you wouldn't have much to write about.
So in the case of today I was off eating a mountain of cheesecake while pretending to know Japanese and messing up on the movie times, causing us to instead end up in my living room with a Genki II book between us, translating dialogs for bilingual practice. YAY!
Also applying for that Nintendo job finally NOT after being endlessly pestered-- although I did try last night to no avail-- NO, the final straw was that one of the OTHER ripten writers got a phone interview. That's INSANE. I would very much like in on the action, so my hand is on the table. We'll see what happens!
AS FOR:
my personal anime club - I wanted to spend some time taking screenshots of the appropriate shows, but this is time consuming and ultimately not that important besides a little jazz on this otherwise TERRIBLY WORDY blog. So, erm, not happening. The crux of the post was going to be how I was introduced to this GREAT WEBSITE by my friend who is now in Japan. With all the streaming anime and drama goodness, my schedule is...well, actually my schedule is pretty manageable at the moment. This is two days in a row that I have worked, watched anime, studied Japanese, and read more Harry Potter--way to go!! *flash of the two-fingered victory*
There are so many shows to watch and I keep finding more and more that are MUST SEES. For instance, Kayo told me today that for those 25-30 (or for those who would be culturally aware of the...erm...generation?) Touch is a must-see/read. Currently, I'm checking out Kimagure Orange Road, which I've been wanting to watch for just about ever. Retro anime ALL THE WAY. Or rather, half of the way, because the show I'm watching it back to back with is Denno Coil, which as you could see if you clicked the link, is brand spanking, not-even-through-its-original-run new. How exciting!
Both are wonderful in their own special ways. The former in that ORIGIN OF ALL CLICHES way and the latter in that funky character design, fluffy cyberspace way. Maybe I'll talk about them more later. I'm only up to the fourth ep...
three weekends ago (or whenever that was) - The problem with this post is that I am too lazy to take the pictures off of my camera, fiddle around with them, and post them finally to the Internet. What happened is actually quite simple. The boy and I had an outing to the Zoo, which was pretty brilliant besides their near complete lack of reptiles. We also ate Chinese food!
Then the very next day I forgot to wear sunscreen ON A BOAT (!) with Ian and his visiting friends. We sailed around the bay like a band of merry rogues and then indulged in Ghiradelli sundaes. After gallery-hopping down the street, we decided it was time to head further afield, but not so far as J-town. Eventually settled on Washington Square Park, which according to Ian looked bigger in the painting (or was that his friend who said that? Someone was dissatisfied with the size of the park...hmm hmm hmmmmm) In any case, we weren't there long because the idea had been to have a walk to get hungry for dinner. But after that we decided not to have any, so I got a ride home and put aloe on my face!!!
THE END :D
The real problem here is that I am much keener on being out doing things than writing about them. Writing is certainly important, but being out doing things is MOREso. In fact, if you never did anything, you wouldn't have much to write about.
So in the case of today I was off eating a mountain of cheesecake while pretending to know Japanese and messing up on the movie times, causing us to instead end up in my living room with a Genki II book between us, translating dialogs for bilingual practice. YAY!
Also applying for that Nintendo job finally NOT after being endlessly pestered-- although I did try last night to no avail-- NO, the final straw was that one of the OTHER ripten writers got a phone interview. That's INSANE. I would very much like in on the action, so my hand is on the table. We'll see what happens!
AS FOR:
my personal anime club - I wanted to spend some time taking screenshots of the appropriate shows, but this is time consuming and ultimately not that important besides a little jazz on this otherwise TERRIBLY WORDY blog. So, erm, not happening. The crux of the post was going to be how I was introduced to this GREAT WEBSITE by my friend who is now in Japan. With all the streaming anime and drama goodness, my schedule is...well, actually my schedule is pretty manageable at the moment. This is two days in a row that I have worked, watched anime, studied Japanese, and read more Harry Potter--way to go!! *flash of the two-fingered victory*
There are so many shows to watch and I keep finding more and more that are MUST SEES. For instance, Kayo told me today that for those 25-30 (or for those who would be culturally aware of the...erm...generation?) Touch is a must-see/read. Currently, I'm checking out Kimagure Orange Road, which I've been wanting to watch for just about ever. Retro anime ALL THE WAY. Or rather, half of the way, because the show I'm watching it back to back with is Denno Coil, which as you could see if you clicked the link, is brand spanking, not-even-through-its-original-run new. How exciting!
Both are wonderful in their own special ways. The former in that ORIGIN OF ALL CLICHES way and the latter in that funky character design, fluffy cyberspace way. Maybe I'll talk about them more later. I'm only up to the fourth ep...
three weekends ago (or whenever that was) - The problem with this post is that I am too lazy to take the pictures off of my camera, fiddle around with them, and post them finally to the Internet. What happened is actually quite simple. The boy and I had an outing to the Zoo, which was pretty brilliant besides their near complete lack of reptiles. We also ate Chinese food!
Then the very next day I forgot to wear sunscreen ON A BOAT (!) with Ian and his visiting friends. We sailed around the bay like a band of merry rogues and then indulged in Ghiradelli sundaes. After gallery-hopping down the street, we decided it was time to head further afield, but not so far as J-town. Eventually settled on Washington Square Park, which according to Ian looked bigger in the painting (or was that his friend who said that? Someone was dissatisfied with the size of the park...hmm hmm hmmmmm) In any case, we weren't there long because the idea had been to have a walk to get hungry for dinner. But after that we decided not to have any, so I got a ride home and put aloe on my face!!!
THE END :D
Catch-up blog day
PREPARE TO BE INUNDATED. Ok, not really. But I'm hoping for like three posts today of which this is clearly the first.
1 (this one) - most recent happenings
2 - my own personal anime club
3 - three weekends ago (or whenever that was)
Obviously I've been REALLY BUSY. That seems to be what I tell people, what goes in my blog, and how I feel. QUITE busy. This weekend I finally got to a point where I had some free time and it was weird. I studied, I read some Harry Potter, I got ahead on work, I played a game that wasn't work, I watched anime (to be elaborated on later), and even got ahead on work because I was BORED.
The thing I really meant to blog about, though, was how my friend left for JET on Saturday. It's a weird feeling, because I probably could've been going right with him if I had applied. It's pretty much the same feeling I get while not applying to this Nitendo job that I stupidly explained to everyone (so now they expect me to get it). Just because you think you're good enough for something, does that mean you have to do it? I like doing what I do now. I'd rather be doing it full-time for someone, or at least I have an idea I would, but writing reviews and especially previews of videogames is a job I can continue doing for quite some time. Maybe that makes me boring.
We went out for lunch in J-town, before his orientation on Friday. He had beef curry and I had some fusion spaghetti. For dessert, we split the most insane crepe (which I believe I have had before with Scotty and which is probably the only one I will ever order at that place because it's delicious and amazing) with green tea ice cream, red bean, kuromitsu, strawberries, and whipped cream...am I forgetting anything? It's pretty intense. Anyways, the point was, he was leaving the next day for a year+ in Japan and I was not. Well, no, that wasn't the point, but it's my point now. It just felt weird, like I wasn't living up to my potential or something. Not like JET is a measure of THE MOST EXTREME POTENTIAL LIMIT or anything, but I had always envisioned myself living in Japan, at least for a while, and I'm not there.
I'm here, of course, which is something I had never imagined. Well, I guess I did at some point, since that's how it all happened, but it wasn't something I had ever wished for on a star in high school or something. My life pretty much rocks, so I feel like things are good. Am I getting stuck in a rut? A six month rut? Is that even possible? I dunno. Change is great, but I want to make sure I'm moving in a direction that goes somewhere. Ideally, living in Japan doing what I'm doing now. That would make sense. But I wonder if I'm screwing myself over by not trying to get more opportunities.
But that's ridiculous anyways. I've made myself a ZILLION opportunities in the last month alone. I dunno. When it comes down to it I'm partly envious, but I know it's dumb to be envious, especially with a job like mine. My friend said I could always apply later and that's totally true. I dunno. It's just a weird feeling, seeing other people carrying out plans you used to have.
1 (this one) - most recent happenings
2 - my own personal anime club
3 - three weekends ago (or whenever that was)
Obviously I've been REALLY BUSY. That seems to be what I tell people, what goes in my blog, and how I feel. QUITE busy. This weekend I finally got to a point where I had some free time and it was weird. I studied, I read some Harry Potter, I got ahead on work, I played a game that wasn't work, I watched anime (to be elaborated on later), and even got ahead on work because I was BORED.
The thing I really meant to blog about, though, was how my friend left for JET on Saturday. It's a weird feeling, because I probably could've been going right with him if I had applied. It's pretty much the same feeling I get while not applying to this Nitendo job that I stupidly explained to everyone (so now they expect me to get it). Just because you think you're good enough for something, does that mean you have to do it? I like doing what I do now. I'd rather be doing it full-time for someone, or at least I have an idea I would, but writing reviews and especially previews of videogames is a job I can continue doing for quite some time. Maybe that makes me boring.
We went out for lunch in J-town, before his orientation on Friday. He had beef curry and I had some fusion spaghetti. For dessert, we split the most insane crepe (which I believe I have had before with Scotty and which is probably the only one I will ever order at that place because it's delicious and amazing) with green tea ice cream, red bean, kuromitsu, strawberries, and whipped cream...am I forgetting anything? It's pretty intense. Anyways, the point was, he was leaving the next day for a year+ in Japan and I was not. Well, no, that wasn't the point, but it's my point now. It just felt weird, like I wasn't living up to my potential or something. Not like JET is a measure of THE MOST EXTREME POTENTIAL LIMIT or anything, but I had always envisioned myself living in Japan, at least for a while, and I'm not there.
I'm here, of course, which is something I had never imagined. Well, I guess I did at some point, since that's how it all happened, but it wasn't something I had ever wished for on a star in high school or something. My life pretty much rocks, so I feel like things are good. Am I getting stuck in a rut? A six month rut? Is that even possible? I dunno. Change is great, but I want to make sure I'm moving in a direction that goes somewhere. Ideally, living in Japan doing what I'm doing now. That would make sense. But I wonder if I'm screwing myself over by not trying to get more opportunities.
But that's ridiculous anyways. I've made myself a ZILLION opportunities in the last month alone. I dunno. When it comes down to it I'm partly envious, but I know it's dumb to be envious, especially with a job like mine. My friend said I could always apply later and that's totally true. I dunno. It's just a weird feeling, seeing other people carrying out plans you used to have.
Monday, July 30, 2007
B-day Pie GET!!
So after having this crazy craving for banana cream pie for pretty much 3 years, I think, the boy and I finally made one today. Usually I would have Stoughton Cake, but since I had that recently at my grad party I decided to go to the pie route.
We used a recipe in the cook book I got for X-mas, doing it the real custard way with egg yolks and everything. We switched to a graham cracker crust, though, instead of macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. You have to be very patient to make the kind of pie that results from not using instant pudding. I suppose that goes without saying, but really. There were about 4 hours of waiting around for custard to cool and the pie to set. Even in the end it wasn't really set. I wonder if it will set tomorrow. Didn't matter so much. It was tremendously rich and delicious and I'm looking forward to having a second (slightly smaller, I think @_@) slice/scoop of it tomorrow.
PS - This is not the entry that is supposed to contain pix of the zoo and other sites.
We used a recipe in the cook book I got for X-mas, doing it the real custard way with egg yolks and everything. We switched to a graham cracker crust, though, instead of macadamia nuts and shredded coconut. You have to be very patient to make the kind of pie that results from not using instant pudding. I suppose that goes without saying, but really. There were about 4 hours of waiting around for custard to cool and the pie to set. Even in the end it wasn't really set. I wonder if it will set tomorrow. Didn't matter so much. It was tremendously rich and delicious and I'm looking forward to having a second (slightly smaller, I think @_@) slice/scoop of it tomorrow.
PS - This is not the entry that is supposed to contain pix of the zoo and other sites.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
At SOME point...
I'm going to blog about last weekend and how the boy and I went to the zoo and how Ian and Co. came up from Santa Cruz on Monday to see some sites. I have pictures. I will post them...just not right now.
This is the thing about bloggin! Takes so much time! For instance, I am now 22. I have been blogging since I was...18? Not here, but yeah, since then. Four years of blogging. I can still go look back at those first posts and wonder how the hell I even made it.
Basically, I'm sort of a workaholic. I even went to the IRS in the Federal Building yesterday (which is only slightly less difficult to get into than an airport) to discuss whether or not I have to prepay my taxes. ACTUALLY, as it turns out, I don't, because I didn't file taxes last year (didn't make enough.) On the one hand, that's great. On the other hand, even if I don't, I don't think I will make enough money to pay back my student loans much less cover the expenses of Tokyo for two weeks even if I do have that super affordable and awesome homestay now. NOTTINGHAM! I want to go to Gamecity, but I have a feeling it won't happen. I need a fundraiser.
Fundraising! Writing about videogames, at least at this juncture, is not terribly good at that. Yet, I hope? I think maybe once I start getting paid for things from some people it will turn out ok, but I still don't have the money NOW to do things in October, and I probably won't until like March, if even then. And how am I supposed to be pick up the last two consoles in the midst of all this mayhem?
Anyways, writing about videogames IS a really good way to suck up your Friday night, or every night! I guess it's good to have a job that you don't particular MIND doing your every waking minute, but it would still be nice to read Harry Potter since we did end up picking it up (the day of) at the grocery store...
and study Japanese...
and get some laundry done...
and watch some movies...
cartoons...
maybe!
One thing I don't have to do unless I strictly want to is run all over town. I've been out and about quite a bit more than I ever expected this week, making the trip to 1up (or further!) twice in a day at least two days of the week. Honestly, I can't believe that it was just Monday that Ian was here and Tuesday was my birthday. Feels like a month ago @_@
Anyways, I'm off to putter about or something. Maybe read a bit before locking myself into a Sword of the New World marathon...
This is the thing about bloggin! Takes so much time! For instance, I am now 22. I have been blogging since I was...18? Not here, but yeah, since then. Four years of blogging. I can still go look back at those first posts and wonder how the hell I even made it.
Basically, I'm sort of a workaholic. I even went to the IRS in the Federal Building yesterday (which is only slightly less difficult to get into than an airport) to discuss whether or not I have to prepay my taxes. ACTUALLY, as it turns out, I don't, because I didn't file taxes last year (didn't make enough.) On the one hand, that's great. On the other hand, even if I don't, I don't think I will make enough money to pay back my student loans much less cover the expenses of Tokyo for two weeks even if I do have that super affordable and awesome homestay now. NOTTINGHAM! I want to go to Gamecity, but I have a feeling it won't happen. I need a fundraiser.
Fundraising! Writing about videogames, at least at this juncture, is not terribly good at that. Yet, I hope? I think maybe once I start getting paid for things from some people it will turn out ok, but I still don't have the money NOW to do things in October, and I probably won't until like March, if even then. And how am I supposed to be pick up the last two consoles in the midst of all this mayhem?
Anyways, writing about videogames IS a really good way to suck up your Friday night, or every night! I guess it's good to have a job that you don't particular MIND doing your every waking minute, but it would still be nice to read Harry Potter since we did end up picking it up (the day of) at the grocery store...
and study Japanese...
and get some laundry done...
and watch some movies...
cartoons...
maybe!
One thing I don't have to do unless I strictly want to is run all over town. I've been out and about quite a bit more than I ever expected this week, making the trip to 1up (or further!) twice in a day at least two days of the week. Honestly, I can't believe that it was just Monday that Ian was here and Tuesday was my birthday. Feels like a month ago @_@
Anyways, I'm off to putter about or something. Maybe read a bit before locking myself into a Sword of the New World marathon...
Friday, July 20, 2007
snacktime
I am supposed to be taking a break from staring at games, but I decided I had to blog about this is the worst hummus and carrots I've ever had. This brand of hummus is just way too plain. Needs some spices.
Since I got my first job from IGN I've been working pretty hard. Well, I got a pile of stuff for GamePro, too, so basically I've been working on one game all day and will switch gears after dinner to the MMO project.
Then again, it's Harry Potter night, so I'm guessing (well I was guessing, until I was told) that there are to be not a small number of festivities occurring. I'm not sure the boy will be up for that, but it's possible that we may go out and run amuck. I'm almost tempted to get the book, because I would really like to read it. I don't have any of the other ones, though, as the HP series was a family collection (or mostly my brother's I suppose, in a prominent family location so we could all have access).
Kinda hoping I can leech once someone finishes. I know plenty of people who are getting it and they all intend to read it straight through without stopping, as is the fashion.
Since I got my first job from IGN I've been working pretty hard. Well, I got a pile of stuff for GamePro, too, so basically I've been working on one game all day and will switch gears after dinner to the MMO project.
Then again, it's Harry Potter night, so I'm guessing (well I was guessing, until I was told) that there are to be not a small number of festivities occurring. I'm not sure the boy will be up for that, but it's possible that we may go out and run amuck. I'm almost tempted to get the book, because I would really like to read it. I don't have any of the other ones, though, as the HP series was a family collection (or mostly my brother's I suppose, in a prominent family location so we could all have access).
Kinda hoping I can leech once someone finishes. I know plenty of people who are getting it and they all intend to read it straight through without stopping, as is the fashion.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
THE PAST
I received an e-mail today from a fellow who didn't think I remembered him whereas, in fact, I remember him rather more clearly than most because he had a crush on me and it was a source of some distress when we were paired together for a history project. Then he moved away which I guess was sort of sad but also relieving. We were sort of friends, though, so probably more sad. There was probably much geeking out to be had that was missed.
Anyways, I am supposed to be on my way to lunch with my friend and got sidetracked by this whole thing. Now he'll think I'm a flake!
Anyways, I am supposed to be on my way to lunch with my friend and got sidetracked by this whole thing. Now he'll think I'm a flake!
Taxes o_o
Mmm, so it turns out that I should be on my third tax payment this September...I think. That's bad. And really it's more like my fifth and sixth because I owe both state and federal. Hell, I half wonder if there aren't San Francisco taxes. So much for...anything, I guess. I feel sort of doomed. Taxes are very complicated and it's not like I can afford to hire an accountant (much less much of anything anymore. Gah, I wonder how much I owe. It must be hundreds of dollars...
I don't really want to think about it, but I should probably go down to some offices tomorrow and figure out what I'm supposed to do...
: /
I don't really want to think about it, but I should probably go down to some offices tomorrow and figure out what I'm supposed to do...
: /
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Good day - the coffee
I made the mistake of drinking coffee with caffeine in it today. Forgot to ask for decaf espresso in my mocha. Aiie.
Other than that things were quite good. Met up with a friend from UOP for lunch and we had a bit of a wander. MOMA wasn't open, so we ended up at the mall that is near but not actually the Metreon. There are fancy clothes there.
One of the stores in particular has a rather interesting set-up, but alarmingly all their male manikins had seriously stuffed "packages". Like overly so. I was tempted to mention this at that moment to my friend, but thought he would find it odd that I was putting so much thought into the crotches of manikins.
He (my friend) seems to have evolved his tastes. Or maybe he always had good taste and just wasn't able to afford them. In particular, I enjoyed his exchange with the staff at The Art of Shaving. Apparently he's quite interested in getting a cleaner, more comfortable shave. Challenged that clerk's knowledge, and I think the guy did pretty well.
After that I stopped home quick to grab my J-notebook, the number of whose pages is swiftly dwindling. I need a new one. Anyhow, met Kayo, a neighbor of Shin's, who arrived from Japan almost two months ago. She seems really cool and I'm looking forward to not only studying with her, but also the possibility of just being friends and doing things that friends do like watching movies. She likes the outdoors, so I'm thinking we will maybe have the opportunity to visit parks together. I said we should go camping and wasn't really kidding, although I'm pretty certain neither of us have neither the equipment nor funding necessary for such a venture. Getting my mom to bring tennis rackets from Wisconsin, however, is probably a viable prospect. Until then, I think once the apt is a bit cleaner we will make do with Wii Sports.
Other than that things were quite good. Met up with a friend from UOP for lunch and we had a bit of a wander. MOMA wasn't open, so we ended up at the mall that is near but not actually the Metreon. There are fancy clothes there.
One of the stores in particular has a rather interesting set-up, but alarmingly all their male manikins had seriously stuffed "packages". Like overly so. I was tempted to mention this at that moment to my friend, but thought he would find it odd that I was putting so much thought into the crotches of manikins.
He (my friend) seems to have evolved his tastes. Or maybe he always had good taste and just wasn't able to afford them. In particular, I enjoyed his exchange with the staff at The Art of Shaving. Apparently he's quite interested in getting a cleaner, more comfortable shave. Challenged that clerk's knowledge, and I think the guy did pretty well.
After that I stopped home quick to grab my J-notebook, the number of whose pages is swiftly dwindling. I need a new one. Anyhow, met Kayo, a neighbor of Shin's, who arrived from Japan almost two months ago. She seems really cool and I'm looking forward to not only studying with her, but also the possibility of just being friends and doing things that friends do like watching movies. She likes the outdoors, so I'm thinking we will maybe have the opportunity to visit parks together. I said we should go camping and wasn't really kidding, although I'm pretty certain neither of us have neither the equipment nor funding necessary for such a venture. Getting my mom to bring tennis rackets from Wisconsin, however, is probably a viable prospect. Until then, I think once the apt is a bit cleaner we will make do with Wii Sports.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Six hundred posts
and this blog is such an emo train wreck! I studied some kanji today. There is one weird one that has a component that is like a stretched out kanji eye. Hard to write because you want to write it like a regular eye would be written.
Yesterday I met up with the guys from ripten for lunch at this Chinese place on Clement. Ate way too much food and it wasn't so much a business lunch as just a screw around lunch. He didn't bring the build he was going to (but we hadn't discussed it lately, so I suppose it's fair that he forgot) but he did bring his gf and his friend's gf and another friend. Ah well, we had fun, I guess, even if it was a bit awkward.
It's been a week since last Sunday when we all went out to the wharf for videogames and goofiness. Checked out the Ripley's museum. It feels like it's been longer, but I guess that's what E3 week feels like...even when you're not anywhere near or having anything to do with it? Maybe that's what a deadline week feels like then, how about that? I like deadlines, though. Keep life interesting.
Today I'll end up going to the grocery store and picking up this place a bit. The bedroom has turned into my creepy freelance nest and really needs some organization and just a good clean. Still have a lot of games to play before I start writing stuff. Worried that the feature is going to come up a little short, or at least feel half-assed because I only got to play half of the games I'm talking about. We do what we can, but I feel like it was a mistake to not import the PSP game, maybe, even though it would've cost me half the pay for the article... That's so silly, though. I hope we find an import sponsor soon. I mean, a discount is only a discount, but every little bit counts. And really, they'd probably be making MORE money off of us that way because once we have a discount we'll feel more inclined to buy things. Right now we just really can't afford it but every step we come closer to affording it makes us want to say, "Screw it! For the good of the magazine we shall import until our pockets are full of sawdust!" Hahaha, I hope not. Too much other crap to pay for, but not quite as much as I thought...at least, I think.
My mom mentioned that my dad got something in the mail that reports my monthly loan payments as a good chunk less than what I had anticipated (on purpose, of course-- always overestimate!) so that's pleasant.
I'm gonna get back to what I was doing now. Mostly I just wanted to get that horrible pathetic post off the top of my blog : / I should really just stay away from my blog when I'm in a bad mood. It never helps and it just makes me look stupid @_@
Yesterday I met up with the guys from ripten for lunch at this Chinese place on Clement. Ate way too much food and it wasn't so much a business lunch as just a screw around lunch. He didn't bring the build he was going to (but we hadn't discussed it lately, so I suppose it's fair that he forgot) but he did bring his gf and his friend's gf and another friend. Ah well, we had fun, I guess, even if it was a bit awkward.
It's been a week since last Sunday when we all went out to the wharf for videogames and goofiness. Checked out the Ripley's museum. It feels like it's been longer, but I guess that's what E3 week feels like...even when you're not anywhere near or having anything to do with it? Maybe that's what a deadline week feels like then, how about that? I like deadlines, though. Keep life interesting.
Today I'll end up going to the grocery store and picking up this place a bit. The bedroom has turned into my creepy freelance nest and really needs some organization and just a good clean. Still have a lot of games to play before I start writing stuff. Worried that the feature is going to come up a little short, or at least feel half-assed because I only got to play half of the games I'm talking about. We do what we can, but I feel like it was a mistake to not import the PSP game, maybe, even though it would've cost me half the pay for the article... That's so silly, though. I hope we find an import sponsor soon. I mean, a discount is only a discount, but every little bit counts. And really, they'd probably be making MORE money off of us that way because once we have a discount we'll feel more inclined to buy things. Right now we just really can't afford it but every step we come closer to affording it makes us want to say, "Screw it! For the good of the magazine we shall import until our pockets are full of sawdust!" Hahaha, I hope not. Too much other crap to pay for, but not quite as much as I thought...at least, I think.
My mom mentioned that my dad got something in the mail that reports my monthly loan payments as a good chunk less than what I had anticipated (on purpose, of course-- always overestimate!) so that's pleasant.
I'm gonna get back to what I was doing now. Mostly I just wanted to get that horrible pathetic post off the top of my blog : / I should really just stay away from my blog when I'm in a bad mood. It never helps and it just makes me look stupid @_@
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Snacky Slug's Stupid Fuck-Off Day
This is the syndrome of me as a stay-at-home freelancer. This is why I hate staying at home! That's why I thought wcities would be so great. Big walk to work every morning. Big walk home. Interacting with people IN THE WORLD instead of in the literal closet. (That's where my computer is, for those who've forgotten.)
I guess it's just one crummy day and of course it's compounded by the fact that I'm playing Japanese games I can't understand. I have no idea what I'm going to write about any of this stuff and it's really really discouraging, if not downright depressing. Then there's the matter of the mail, which should have been delivered and was not, at least not TO me. Granted, it's probably our fault that the buzzer doesn't work, but I specifically requested that the thing be sent in a way that made it end up in my ACTUAL mailbox WHERE THE MAIL SHOULD JUST AUTOMATICALLY GO. Yesterday the UPS managed to tag a note on my door in the building, so I figured they would just knock today, but it must've been a fluke. Found a sticker on the door outside when I went out to buy...chips...
Uhm...
Yeah.
So today is shaping up to be a spectacular failure in pretty much every way. And I'm tired. There is absolutely no reason to be tired, but I am. I hate not having a reason to be tired. The best days are the ones where you absolutely kick your fucking ass and then go to bed feeling like you deserve it. I dunno if I'm gonna get many of those...
I guess the only upside is that I've been lent a copy of Lumines and enjoy that quite a bit...guiltily, when I know I'm supposed to be doing something else.
Thanks for stopping by the emo post of the week! Regularly scheduled programming to return tomorrow...or the day after.
I guess it's just one crummy day and of course it's compounded by the fact that I'm playing Japanese games I can't understand. I have no idea what I'm going to write about any of this stuff and it's really really discouraging, if not downright depressing. Then there's the matter of the mail, which should have been delivered and was not, at least not TO me. Granted, it's probably our fault that the buzzer doesn't work, but I specifically requested that the thing be sent in a way that made it end up in my ACTUAL mailbox WHERE THE MAIL SHOULD JUST AUTOMATICALLY GO. Yesterday the UPS managed to tag a note on my door in the building, so I figured they would just knock today, but it must've been a fluke. Found a sticker on the door outside when I went out to buy...chips...
Uhm...
Yeah.
So today is shaping up to be a spectacular failure in pretty much every way. And I'm tired. There is absolutely no reason to be tired, but I am. I hate not having a reason to be tired. The best days are the ones where you absolutely kick your fucking ass and then go to bed feeling like you deserve it. I dunno if I'm gonna get many of those...
I guess the only upside is that I've been lent a copy of Lumines and enjoy that quite a bit...guiltily, when I know I'm supposed to be doing something else.
Thanks for stopping by the emo post of the week! Regularly scheduled programming to return tomorrow...or the day after.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Day-Job-Less
Well, that's that. I called wcities and told them I had been offered some exciting opportunities doing more writing (which isn't entirely untrue, and maybe be even less untrue in the hopefully near future) and had to quit on the spot. Which they were totally fine with. They even want to pay me 20 bucks for last Friday.
Anyways, I'm free! Lancing! This is it. I just have to work super hard now and write as much as I can and then hopefully I'll be termed something akin to A SUCCESS. Even if only within my own little realm. Feels good, though, to be on the way to that.
I wish I were at E3 because that would've been a huge opportunity to write tons of stuff, but so it goes. There are other events to head out to, so hopefully I'll get to check out one of those. In the meantime, especially this week for some reason, I have plenty of stuff to do. The magazine deadline is a week from today and I've got tons of stuff to get done. Of course, after that who knows what I'll do, but so it goes.
Anyways, I'm free! Lancing! This is it. I just have to work super hard now and write as much as I can and then hopefully I'll be termed something akin to A SUCCESS. Even if only within my own little realm. Feels good, though, to be on the way to that.
I wish I were at E3 because that would've been a huge opportunity to write tons of stuff, but so it goes. There are other events to head out to, so hopefully I'll get to check out one of those. In the meantime, especially this week for some reason, I have plenty of stuff to do. The magazine deadline is a week from today and I've got tons of stuff to get done. Of course, after that who knows what I'll do, but so it goes.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Bloggy blog
Man, I always feel like I'm stealing time to blog. Like, right now I should be doing a hundred other things, but I'm sitting here typing about nothing. I should be studying Japanese or reading or working on a feature or getting ready to leave! Blah!
But no, I should really blog about the weekend before it's next week because Sunday was such a good day. I got the bathroom clean, so if we do what I did and split the place into four "rooms," then we can almost say I got 3/4 of the way done cleaning this weekend. Of course, laundry is a very big chunk of that and I only got a tiny bit of that done, so it probably equals out to more like half.
Also went on a shopping quest for cute clothes, but they didn't have the skirt I wanted in my size. Not a complete failure, though, because I found a cute tank that it's never going to be hot enough for me to wear *sniff* That's another thing I liked about Wisconsin. It was summer and you KNEW it. HOT out. Oh well, I mean it's not like not sweating and sitting around like a lump was any good for me, but I liked being hot for a change instead of cold or accidentally too hot because I expected to be cold.
After shopping we dropped our stuff off at home and went to the newly remodeled and re-everything'd Nob Hill Grille. Used to be a diner, but it's turned all swanky and expensive. We had a date. The boy had steak (which was so tender and delicious) and I had chicken (which was equally so.) Everything was so good that we didn't have room for dessert, which we'll have to do another time because I bet they have something crazy good like mocha cheesecake or something. I'll be disappointed if they don't ;p
Ok ok ok, and now, WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE THE SEASON WAS OVER? The boy brought it up all nonchalantly and I nearly cried. It really snuck up on me. Thirteen episodes all blown by like nothing. X-mas is too far away! We decided to watch oldies until then. Sundays just need some Doctor Who.
Anyhow, yeah, Sunday was pretty dreamy. Even managed to fit in a little gaming. It was a perfect balance of yucky chores and fun happy.
As for today...it will be my first full day at wcities. I hope I can take seven hours. It can be a bit of a slog, but I think the break schedule is definitely fair. And at the end of it I get to wander over to 1Up and have anime club, so I think it should be ok. We'll see...
And then Wednesday is my last day at the grocery store! Sweet. I will maybe have more to say about that later. I had some things to say, but you can't blog instantly from your head yet, so I forgot them.
But no, I should really blog about the weekend before it's next week because Sunday was such a good day. I got the bathroom clean, so if we do what I did and split the place into four "rooms," then we can almost say I got 3/4 of the way done cleaning this weekend. Of course, laundry is a very big chunk of that and I only got a tiny bit of that done, so it probably equals out to more like half.
Also went on a shopping quest for cute clothes, but they didn't have the skirt I wanted in my size. Not a complete failure, though, because I found a cute tank that it's never going to be hot enough for me to wear *sniff* That's another thing I liked about Wisconsin. It was summer and you KNEW it. HOT out. Oh well, I mean it's not like not sweating and sitting around like a lump was any good for me, but I liked being hot for a change instead of cold or accidentally too hot because I expected to be cold.
After shopping we dropped our stuff off at home and went to the newly remodeled and re-everything'd Nob Hill Grille. Used to be a diner, but it's turned all swanky and expensive. We had a date. The boy had steak (which was so tender and delicious) and I had chicken (which was equally so.) Everything was so good that we didn't have room for dessert, which we'll have to do another time because I bet they have something crazy good like mocha cheesecake or something. I'll be disappointed if they don't ;p
Ok ok ok, and now, WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE THE SEASON WAS OVER? The boy brought it up all nonchalantly and I nearly cried. It really snuck up on me. Thirteen episodes all blown by like nothing. X-mas is too far away! We decided to watch oldies until then. Sundays just need some Doctor Who.
Anyhow, yeah, Sunday was pretty dreamy. Even managed to fit in a little gaming. It was a perfect balance of yucky chores and fun happy.
As for today...it will be my first full day at wcities. I hope I can take seven hours. It can be a bit of a slog, but I think the break schedule is definitely fair. And at the end of it I get to wander over to 1Up and have anime club, so I think it should be ok. We'll see...
And then Wednesday is my last day at the grocery store! Sweet. I will maybe have more to say about that later. I had some things to say, but you can't blog instantly from your head yet, so I forgot them.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
A week ago
I was at home : /
I dunno why I miss it so much now. It's ok, but it's not spectacular or anything. I guess I'm just really not a kid anymore and it's kind of a bummer. I mean, it's cool to grow up and I've been not a kid for a while, but maybe it's more pronounced now that I'm done with school. Plus I just had a really good time visiting and I miss my mom. I didn't used to miss everything so much...
Anyways, it's not like we've been having a crappy weekend or anything! Quite the opposite. Yesterday got a whole ton of stuff done, like most of the kitchen and the living room are clean. Could fix up the coffee pot and touch up the fridge, but other than that it is pretty awesome-looking in there.
Today the challenge will be the bathroom and this bedroom. The bedroom is only a pain because all those clothes on the floor have to be washed, which is its own separate pain in the neck. Luckily we have lots of stuff to sandwich in between the lame stuff, like going shopping (*crosses fingers*), playing games, watching Doctor Who, and the boy's other b-day present finally came the other day so we can rewatch alllll of The Venture Brothers, too :D
Gotta go to the grocery store. Dunno if I'll be able to carry everything, but I should at least try. And then after today it's MONDAY again...a week after my fillings. Oh, and it's July. The summer is moving along, I guess, but I can't wait till my mom comes to visit in August. That'll be sweet. And jeez I'll be 22 by then @_@ Hmm : / 22 is a lame number. Then again it doesn't necessarily mean anything. 12 is the best number and nothing spectacular happened that year. Yeah, I'm gonna quit screwing around and try to get some stuff done...
I dunno why I miss it so much now. It's ok, but it's not spectacular or anything. I guess I'm just really not a kid anymore and it's kind of a bummer. I mean, it's cool to grow up and I've been not a kid for a while, but maybe it's more pronounced now that I'm done with school. Plus I just had a really good time visiting and I miss my mom. I didn't used to miss everything so much...
Anyways, it's not like we've been having a crappy weekend or anything! Quite the opposite. Yesterday got a whole ton of stuff done, like most of the kitchen and the living room are clean. Could fix up the coffee pot and touch up the fridge, but other than that it is pretty awesome-looking in there.
Today the challenge will be the bathroom and this bedroom. The bedroom is only a pain because all those clothes on the floor have to be washed, which is its own separate pain in the neck. Luckily we have lots of stuff to sandwich in between the lame stuff, like going shopping (*crosses fingers*), playing games, watching Doctor Who, and the boy's other b-day present finally came the other day so we can rewatch alllll of The Venture Brothers, too :D
Gotta go to the grocery store. Dunno if I'll be able to carry everything, but I should at least try. And then after today it's MONDAY again...a week after my fillings. Oh, and it's July. The summer is moving along, I guess, but I can't wait till my mom comes to visit in August. That'll be sweet. And jeez I'll be 22 by then @_@ Hmm : / 22 is a lame number. Then again it doesn't necessarily mean anything. 12 is the best number and nothing spectacular happened that year. Yeah, I'm gonna quit screwing around and try to get some stuff done...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
"Hello. Going out tonight?"
I couldn't tell if he was actually hitting on me or just making fun of how frumpy I looked. Really though, I had every right to look frumpy. It was Friday night of a rather ass-kicking (meaning it kicked my ass, although there was nothing wrong with it) week. Scary, considering it only really started on Wednesday. Those three days, though, were pretty much full to the brim with work and as much play as I could smash in.
I guess the biggest news item is that I'm going to be at wcities until something better comes along. That could be taken as a given, really, except I was hoping something had perhaps come along already, which it hasn't. Wednesday morning with them was no sweat. A five hour Thursday shift was cake, compared to five hours at Nijiya, which of course, sometimes turns into six because (as the argument recently goes) "It's still light out." Yes, so let's continue to let people in until 8:30 after close because the sun hasn't gone completely below the horizon. Not like anyone notices I'm only scheduled 'till 8. Not like anyone notices how often it is PAINFUL for me to stand there. I was thinking about it. It's not really the cashiering that bothers me. I like that. It's just people and incidents and being kept past my schedule, etc.
For example (and this has already been vented on a billion times irl, but for those who haven't heard it yet...) there was this older lady the other day who came in and I checked her out, packed up her groceries the way I normally would. Well, normally for Nijiya. You may remember that post that I'm not going to bother linking to (sorry) I put up when I first started about all the various wrapping practices that go on there. It's pretty lame. Anyhow, I tried to do an ok job and she bit my head off, "ZEN ZEN DAME No experience! You're so bad!" She then proceeded to unpack all her stuff at the end of my lane for like 20 minutes, wouldn't let me help, kept repeating how bad I was, how I can't wrap anything, and making sure every customer who came through during that time knew it too. "This girl is so bad. She can't wrap anything!" Flaming hell!
At wcities if you make a mistake that gets noticed an editor will come and somewhat sternly request that you change it, but at least there are no crabby old ladies. The job isn't quite as engaging as the fast paced cashiering, but for some reason it also goes by a lot faster. Maybe just cuz I'm used to sitting at a computer? Thursday all I did for five hours was work on a spreadsheet google doc. There was this ginormous list of fnac venues that a bunch of us French speakers were asked to check the database for. If it was there, we listed the entry number and display title. If it wasn't, we put "create" and tried to find a website for it. That's what I did for five hours. Got a couple breaks to hit the bathroom and have lunch. Was pretty ok.
Of course, I can think of things that would be better.
Like writing about video games all day. Speaking of which, I think I'm probably supposed to be doing that now before we launch into the Doctor Who/Cleaning marathon.
I guess the biggest news item is that I'm going to be at wcities until something better comes along. That could be taken as a given, really, except I was hoping something had perhaps come along already, which it hasn't. Wednesday morning with them was no sweat. A five hour Thursday shift was cake, compared to five hours at Nijiya, which of course, sometimes turns into six because (as the argument recently goes) "It's still light out." Yes, so let's continue to let people in until 8:30 after close because the sun hasn't gone completely below the horizon. Not like anyone notices I'm only scheduled 'till 8. Not like anyone notices how often it is PAINFUL for me to stand there. I was thinking about it. It's not really the cashiering that bothers me. I like that. It's just people and incidents and being kept past my schedule, etc.
For example (and this has already been vented on a billion times irl, but for those who haven't heard it yet...) there was this older lady the other day who came in and I checked her out, packed up her groceries the way I normally would. Well, normally for Nijiya. You may remember that post that I'm not going to bother linking to (sorry) I put up when I first started about all the various wrapping practices that go on there. It's pretty lame. Anyhow, I tried to do an ok job and she bit my head off, "ZEN ZEN DAME No experience! You're so bad!" She then proceeded to unpack all her stuff at the end of my lane for like 20 minutes, wouldn't let me help, kept repeating how bad I was, how I can't wrap anything, and making sure every customer who came through during that time knew it too. "This girl is so bad. She can't wrap anything!" Flaming hell!
At wcities if you make a mistake that gets noticed an editor will come and somewhat sternly request that you change it, but at least there are no crabby old ladies. The job isn't quite as engaging as the fast paced cashiering, but for some reason it also goes by a lot faster. Maybe just cuz I'm used to sitting at a computer? Thursday all I did for five hours was work on a spreadsheet google doc. There was this ginormous list of fnac venues that a bunch of us French speakers were asked to check the database for. If it was there, we listed the entry number and display title. If it wasn't, we put "create" and tried to find a website for it. That's what I did for five hours. Got a couple breaks to hit the bathroom and have lunch. Was pretty ok.
Of course, I can think of things that would be better.
Like writing about video games all day. Speaking of which, I think I'm probably supposed to be doing that now before we launch into the Doctor Who/Cleaning marathon.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Lots of cousins and cake
and some other stuff. Barely got to see my Dad at all the whole time I was here, but definitely lots of cousins. Played some cool games that I'll talk about later, I guess...
Mostly I just wanted to worry about my teeth since they are apparently all rotting and breaking. Or something. I had three cavities at the dentist this morning which would seem a little overkill considering I do actually brush AND even floss at times. I don't think most people floss everyday. Do they? I never used to, but now that I do I have cavities. Go figure.
I'm not saying you shouldn't floss. Obviously I just have to floss EVEN MORE.
Anyhow, I was numb and drooly and didn't get to have lunch with my friend. My other friend came over for dinner, which was cool...
This whole weekend has been a bit of a food fest. Lots of grill-outs, cookies, cakes, pies, bagels, chips, zomg. I decided to just take advantage of all the celebratory whatever and eat the food. This strategy always works ok until you're done eating.
Oh well.
To not dwell on that we will continue on with the sad teeth story. So yeah, in addition to the 3 cavities that just got fixed today, I have 4 or 5 other spots that are in danger of becoming cavities unless I stop screwing around with my teeth. I really thought I was doing an ok job, so this is rather disappointing.
I'm hoping the fillings are ok. The one in the back seems fine, but I'm worried one of the ones closer to the front is hitting my bottom teeth weird. But then, my teeth may have always done that. It's hard to tell and I don't want to waste their time looking at it if it's fine. I think maybe I'm just still sore from all the everything. They polished and water-jetted and drilled and I think maybe I need more recovery time.
Of course, I leave tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.
Anyways, what else. Well, there's a boat at the lake sometimes now. I didn't ride in it because when I got there they were already out, but when they went out a second time it was right after dinner and I was too full as well as supervising some cousins on the Wii. Ah well.
That was at my graduation party. We had it at my g-ma's house on the lake. Very nice. One of my Aunts made this spectacular strawberry pie which didn't exactly show up my mom's Stoughton Cake-- I mean, it's impossible to do that-- but since it was a new experience I was very excited about it. In fact, we have some leftovers which I will partake of tomorrow morning alongside ham and eggs. It'll be glorious. Can't wait.
Then I'm getting on an airplane, ready to outsmart Kansas City by buying TWO water bottles in mke before I go and not stepping off the plane for one second. Stupid Kansas city. I left the waiting area and saw the guard. Didn't realize the guard wouldn't let me back in! There's nowhere to buy drinks or anything once you're through security, so you have to go outside, but then you can't bring anything back through security!!! It's a nightmare. Luckily I was in the mood for some orange juice or I would've been one thirsty kid. Everyone knows airplane water sucks.
teeth teeth teeth
I had a dream last night that I was at a game press event party thing with some of the guys from 1up. It followed the theme of everyone being horribly ill. In particular, Jeremy was trying to not feel throw-uppy. I don't remember anything else happening except a lot of people dancing while I stood around, which is weird, cuz that never happens. Also a tall guy. Maybe he was a videogame character? There was something surreal going on, that's for sure.
Xav just left a while ago. I guess it was almost an hour ago now...
Mrrf.
It was good to see him. We played games and watched youtube. Just as we should, I guess. Also ate steak which my mom grilled expertly, but which sort of hurt my tender teeth.
Mostly I just wanted to worry about my teeth since they are apparently all rotting and breaking. Or something. I had three cavities at the dentist this morning which would seem a little overkill considering I do actually brush AND even floss at times. I don't think most people floss everyday. Do they? I never used to, but now that I do I have cavities. Go figure.
I'm not saying you shouldn't floss. Obviously I just have to floss EVEN MORE.
Anyhow, I was numb and drooly and didn't get to have lunch with my friend. My other friend came over for dinner, which was cool...
This whole weekend has been a bit of a food fest. Lots of grill-outs, cookies, cakes, pies, bagels, chips, zomg. I decided to just take advantage of all the celebratory whatever and eat the food. This strategy always works ok until you're done eating.
Oh well.
To not dwell on that we will continue on with the sad teeth story. So yeah, in addition to the 3 cavities that just got fixed today, I have 4 or 5 other spots that are in danger of becoming cavities unless I stop screwing around with my teeth. I really thought I was doing an ok job, so this is rather disappointing.
I'm hoping the fillings are ok. The one in the back seems fine, but I'm worried one of the ones closer to the front is hitting my bottom teeth weird. But then, my teeth may have always done that. It's hard to tell and I don't want to waste their time looking at it if it's fine. I think maybe I'm just still sore from all the everything. They polished and water-jetted and drilled and I think maybe I need more recovery time.
Of course, I leave tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.
Anyways, what else. Well, there's a boat at the lake sometimes now. I didn't ride in it because when I got there they were already out, but when they went out a second time it was right after dinner and I was too full as well as supervising some cousins on the Wii. Ah well.
That was at my graduation party. We had it at my g-ma's house on the lake. Very nice. One of my Aunts made this spectacular strawberry pie which didn't exactly show up my mom's Stoughton Cake-- I mean, it's impossible to do that-- but since it was a new experience I was very excited about it. In fact, we have some leftovers which I will partake of tomorrow morning alongside ham and eggs. It'll be glorious. Can't wait.
Then I'm getting on an airplane, ready to outsmart Kansas City by buying TWO water bottles in mke before I go and not stepping off the plane for one second. Stupid Kansas city. I left the waiting area and saw the guard. Didn't realize the guard wouldn't let me back in! There's nowhere to buy drinks or anything once you're through security, so you have to go outside, but then you can't bring anything back through security!!! It's a nightmare. Luckily I was in the mood for some orange juice or I would've been one thirsty kid. Everyone knows airplane water sucks.
teeth teeth teeth
I had a dream last night that I was at a game press event party thing with some of the guys from 1up. It followed the theme of everyone being horribly ill. In particular, Jeremy was trying to not feel throw-uppy. I don't remember anything else happening except a lot of people dancing while I stood around, which is weird, cuz that never happens. Also a tall guy. Maybe he was a videogame character? There was something surreal going on, that's for sure.
Xav just left a while ago. I guess it was almost an hour ago now...
Mrrf.
It was good to see him. We played games and watched youtube. Just as we should, I guess. Also ate steak which my mom grilled expertly, but which sort of hurt my tender teeth.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Wherein MTV does something good for the girl here
ZOMG!!!
Robin Thicke, formerly just "Thicke," has released a new CD as of this past February. Of course, I would have no idea. I pay no attention whatsoever to these things. But then there he was on MTV Live and you wouldn't even recognize him with that short hair, yadda. Yikes yikes yikes. Gonna go get that CD like...tomorrow, I hope. Can't wait o_o Guess it's one time that secondhand MTV has done me some good. W00t.
Robin Thicke, formerly just "Thicke," has released a new CD as of this past February. Of course, I would have no idea. I pay no attention whatsoever to these things. But then there he was on MTV Live and you wouldn't even recognize him with that short hair, yadda. Yikes yikes yikes. Gonna go get that CD like...tomorrow, I hope. Can't wait o_o Guess it's one time that secondhand MTV has done me some good. W00t.
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