Police Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim!
Apr. 19th, 2003 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteWOW! I AM BACK! And the above subject is inspired by a collection of hilarious newspaper headlines. Unless I forget or don't have access to the headlines, they should be taking the place of my rather passe subjects from now on. But I have a lot of updating to do, so let's cut the small talk, shall we?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Yep yep, this weekend I went to LA (well, Northridge, actually) for Passover. This is with the side of the family that I haven't seen or contacted all that much in the past two years. You know, the estranged side? The one my dad's part of. Well, after seeing my cousins Brooke and Shaina a few months ago and going with them to Benihana, I pretty much made up my mind that I'd like to see my grandparents and cousins again, and that if the aunts, uncles, or my dad gave me any shit, I'd be a big girl and ignore them. I called my Grandparents and arranged to get a flight out a day before the Seder was supposed to begin, in the hopes I might avoid my dad... >_> I already said that part and everything in the last entry anyway, so let's make this concise, shall we? Or as concise as I can pack 3 days, anyway.
Fast forward to the Seder-- it came pretty early, and it was no surprise that dad showed up early. I didn't get to help cook like I wanted to, but that was because Baba said everything was already made! ;_; Ah well. I'd spent the beginning of the day shopping anyway, and BOY did I feel happy! I guess I'm what you'd call a lone shopper, since I didn't stick around with Shaina, Brooke, and Mike (aka Honus, Brooke's fiancee) much. I didn't get to go to ALL the stores I wanted, and in fact, spent more time WAITING for Shaina and Brooke (it's why I hate stores like the Gap) than I did shopping. When I finally broke off and did my own thing, it was to buy a purse from one of those kiosks-- oh, and it's such a cute purse!! If you read my wish list from way back when, you'd know I wanted a denim purse real badly, but my only options were the weird cowboy-style ones from Gap or the too-tiny ones from Claire's. But this one is easily 6 inches tall, and is CUTE AS HECK! It's dark denim (my favorite) and is embroidered "jean style" with pockets on the front and the back that you can actually put stuff in! One of the pockets has a most adorable cherry on it too! ^_^ I've never felt so satisfied after going shopping. I blew roughly $40 on that purse and the matching wallet, but it was discounted about $16, so that's a good thing. Besides, with all the cash I had on hand (roughly $60) I felt like I needed to REALLY splurge and not worry about what I *needed*... after all, it was my birthday weekend, and I wanted to be happy.
That was about all I'd purchased that day, except for Eva's birthday present. *giggle* I hope she likes it, it took me forever to pick it out! I rushed up to meet Brooke, Shaina, and Honus at Thisit (read: This Is It, Macy's juniors section made into a separate store) but they weren't THERE yet... >_> I wanted to go to Border's still and pick up some stuff, but since we'd eaten at the food court (read: $$$!) I didn't have much money left. The sense of satisfaction was still there, so I wasn't too disappointed. With my leftover cash, I bought the first issue of I.N.V.U. -- a manga by a Korean mangaka! The artwork is a little weird, but pretty nice all the same (kind of Miwa Ueda-ish) and the storyline is fairly interesting. But now I have to get volumes 1 and 2 of KareKano! *whines* More on that later.
Anyway, I've gotten horribly off-topic. Seder. My dad woke me up at 5:45, saying the Seder was supposed to start in 15 minutes, and I had that amount of time to get dressed. I'd planned specifically for this event, and dashed into the hall bathroom faster than lightning strikes, and finally got my chance to change after Kathleen came out (I don't think her hair CAN be unfrizzy!). Changed into the same outfit I'd planned on wearing to Will's boatdance-- a nice number, if I do say so myself. Quite vintage-fem. =} My fashion sense is NOT YET DEAD! OHOHO! *cough* Anyway, I couldn't get my damned contacts on-- and I'd tried for well over a half hour. I've lost it. No matter how good the outfit looks without my glasses on, I end up having to add an extra hour just to get my damn contacts in. I want the same ones Erin has-- the stay-in-for-30 days one. That would make my life so much simpler. Or maybe I should raise a couple thousand bucks and try to get eye surgery. *guffaws* Right.
So a little while later (later than 15 minutes, I'll tell you that much) everyone was all settled and eating dinner-- and the arrangement was different than I'd remembered, as the "kids" were at a circular table, and there wasn't enough room for all of us. It was primarily girls-- Brooke, Erin, Shaina, Gail, me, and of course... Honus. Opposite our table was David (who is, at rough estimate, 6'4" and probably one of the best swimmers and/or soccer players in all of CA), Josh (whose voice is starting to get deeper ^.~), Sam (who is still SHORT), Adam (who, even at 10, still can't seem to read right... poor guy) and some of the aunts, uncles, and second cousins who are adults... Sally, Jackie, Jackie's husband... @_@; Lots of people. I wish the other Josh (the older one) was there, he's cute! But married... even though his wife, last time I was there, was kind of a biatch. -.-;
So we were all getting lost as to where Grandpa was in the Haggadah, the book that the Passover ceremony is all laid out in. And, as usual, I feel pretty lost for not being able to even PRONOUNCE Hebrew words. David, Josh, and Sam are so SKILLED! ;_; But to be honest, I don't wish I'd gone to Hebrew Academy or been Bat Mitzvah'd. I'm pretty happy with my choice of "religion" now, as it were. But that's another story. I was terrified of two things-- one, that they would make me read, or two, that they wouldn't. They'd been going in a circle at my table, and luckily stopped right before me-- but everyone kept prodding me to read the next part when Grandpa resumed again after the parsley-saltwater part. And of course, they didn't want to make me read one of the tiny red paragraphs on the side of the page, but the LONG ONE! ;_; I was terrified and fighting back (which I'm sure surprised some people, since most people know I love to read and get attention) for a while, but I finally relented and read-- at a decently fast pace, doing my best not to stumble over Hebrew words, of which there was only one, Hashem. Which I mispronounced as "Hasheem," but oh well. -.- People were happy after I was done, so I sort of melted into my chair with relief.
As usual, things went by kind of slow-- and Mookie (sp? It's pronounced Moh-kee), Erin's miniature chocolate poodle was running around trying to mooch (appropriate of her name) food off of us. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to Honus when he was about to feed the dog the white horseradish. -.- Knowing that annoying dog (who, despite appearances, is NOT a puppy!) she would have swallowed it and yipped for more. -.- I miss Rapunzel, Gene's old dog. She wasn't so demanding. But *sigh* Gene and Rapunzel are both gone now...
Anyway, food soon came, and everyone was rushing in the kitchen while Sally (who you'll later learn, I dislike the MOST out of the aunts I'm actually related to on that side of the family) yelled that it wasn't ready yet. -.- I was snacking on Charoses for the most part (YUM!!!) until Mazto Ball Soup was served, and then we got chicken, salad... etc. Big big dinner. Much yum. Everyone kept trying to get me to eat fish! >_> I still don't like it when I KNOW fish is in something, and it's like, blatantly obvious. You know, pink flesh and everything. *shudder* Eew. The kids started running around; I was torn between hanging in the den reading and helping the younguns look for the afikomen. Josh found it in record time, as usual, but the prize was only a dinky $5, so it's not like I missed out on much by not earnestly searching.
People came and went so quickly, and we didn't do much. I wanted to go out and DO something since everything had gone by so fast, but we ended up watching a movie (Sorority Boys, laugh out loud hilarious) instead. The boys never went to Blockbuster (I'd wanted to get the Robin Williams Live on Broadway that I'vr already seen twice too, but there wasn't enough $$) and so they watched the movie with us girls. All buena in the end. People were falling asleep by the time it finished, and I was all alone in the den...
Fast-forward, since it's already been 6 days and I'm a bit rusty at this point... most people started to leave Sunday afternoon. Shaina had decided to dye my hair Saturday night after the Seder and before the movie, so there's no more of that reddish-blonde two-tone going on. She also fixed my poor hair-"cutting" skills and gave me a nice layered cut-- I even managed to sit through her eyebrow plucking without crying. No ugly purple splotches, either, though I won't be letting Shaina near my blackheads with HER nails ever again (long story from long ago-- don't ask). My dad and I finally had our "talk" shortly before he was supposed to leave-- he's still stuck on the past, but for the most part, I think we're speaking again. I was pretty upset that, despite my having been nothing but nice to him all weekend, he was so FRIGGIN' MEAN TO ME! Gaugh, let me explain. So 'Net access was hard to come by in the house, and with my inbox, it fills up like nothing else when I don't check it. And to add to that, I have two emails that I use regularly, and at least five that I *should* check more often! Plus I'd wanted to update my LJ more often, not to mention catch up on fics. I knew I couldn't be glued to the comp, regardless of how new or cool it was... but still... Baba even was getting on my back about it, as if I'd had my eyes taped to the screen! I was barely ever on the damned thing for more than an hour! IF THAT! Not to mention, if they didn't want people using it, why did they go and by a new one? Why are they getting DSL?! ANYWAY...
So I had to thread the telephone wire all the way into the kitchen. But the jack in there was kind of loose, so I tried cording it through the rec room, across the main hallway. Dad comes in and yells at me as I'm getting offline, saying, "I don't know if you care about anyone else here, but with the way you have that cord running across the hallway, it's really careless and Grandpa could trip over it and HURT himself!" (implying that Grandpa would be stupid enough not to see the white cord on the black floor; would somehow trip on a flat cord pressed firmly against the floor, and also that Grandpa would DIE of such an injury) I hated that. I pulled the cord immediately, shut the computer down and just did anything I could to avoid him-- which constituted taking the long way and running upstairs to Gene's old room and crying my heart out. I feel like I've already mentioned all this already. Maybe I have. It stings every time I recall it though. He didn't even come upstairs until maybe ten minutes later, and nothing he said was of much comfort. All he kept repeating was how upset he was that when I was 16 and had the choice between who to live with, I didn't choose him. I'm not sorry (honestly) when I say WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING!? At that age, am I going to give up the life I've known for most of my 16 years. I'm not going to transfer from the urban life I'm used to and LOVE to a rural, unstable life in the much colder part of NorCal, into a school with people I don't know AT ALL. I would HATE that. I made the choice that felt right to me, but he never understood. Even when I'd written him, he'd never written back, just sent me back a box of my stuff. And not even all of my stuff, either. I'm glad he's moved on and isn't such a stick-in-the-mud-- but all he ever does is bash my mom and the choices I made in the past. Me, I like to recall all the FUN I had spending with my dad. All those times at the JCC, all the camping trips... cooking, playing with my dog Perkins at the school, going to the beach... having Fourth of July BBQs and fireworks... but all he remembers is the bad stuff. I want to have more fun experiences with him-- it'll be my own choice, with my own money-- but it saddens me that he still acts so immaturely. He's rather inconsiderate of other's emotions, playing and picking on them when it suits him to. I'm proud of my dad for choosing to become a teacher-- it's a respectable job, and very hard to do, and my dad's going out there and getting a CREDENTIAL for it, even when the state of California doesn't require him to have one. It's hard on him financially, but he's never been the giving up type. That is, except for giving up on me. I wonder if I have the courage or support to actually go out and see him on my own. Or what will happen when I go? I can't speculate. I need someone for this.
On the plus side, there's a whole crapload of stuff I walked away with. I went to so many stores that I rarely get the chance to check out here in NorCal, so I'm quite satisfied with my purchases. The general rundown--
* Multicolored blank-page book
* Dear Mom book (had to return it since mom already had it; bought her a different one by the same author)
* Denim-covered lined journal (free, because of the "buy three, get fourth book free" deal at Borders)
* Amy Brown FIRE FAIRY antique-styled pendant (this girl can't be much older than I am, but she's got clothing, cosmetic, and jewelry lines!)
* Red bandana
* Black tie
* Cream eyeliner-eyeshadow duo
* I.N.V.U. manga
* Denim purse with wallet, purse, cell phone case
* Earrings (hoops with beads)
There's probably more I'm forgetting... but is it important? I walked away feeling satisfied and happy. That's what matters.
To be honest, I felt like people forgot about my party. I guess my LJ isn't as well-read as I'd hoped. I told people about my dinner at Chevy's weeks in advance, but even then, people forgot. I called and emailed people in advance, and people forgot. I was quite happy with those that did show up-- Joe, Kripa, Stephanie, Eva (!), and my mom. Eva showed up late, so we stayed at Chevy's longer, but her being there at all made me quite happy, since I thought she was going to UCLA. -.- She actually went Tuesday, and didn't even stay a day! Talk about rough traveling... >_> I wish Vince and Will could have come... they are dear friends to me as well, and Joe wouldn't have been so singled out as the only guy. Stephanie told the Chevy's guys that it was my birthday, and in an unexpected turn of events, the waiters kind of sang or cheered or something, and gave me this ice-cream thing in a strange cone-cup. My fajita had already been quite filling (even though I kept trying to put it together and having it fall apart on me... >_>) so I was "fat and happy." Afterwards, we saw 'Phone Booth,' which was quite good. Colin~~! HOTT!! ^_^ Kind of a demi-thriller, too.
Oh... and I forgot to mention this. This was the best part of my birthday. Joe picked me up from the airport and drove me home, and as we were getting everything out of the car, he revealed the birthday present he'd gotten for me. Mom was standing in the living room wondering why we hadn't come up yet, and I was just staring at the trunk in shock. A DVD PLAYER! *runs around screaming like a chicken with her head cut off* OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! *whimper* Now what am I going to do with those 1000-some-odd tickets from RTA? (*Will pipes up* "But the DVD player at RTA was mysteriously gone anyway...") Gawd, I'm so ecstatic now, though. I'm SO SPOILED! He told me I was going to want to kill him, and I did. But that quickly changed to guilt and exteme thankfulness. He even gave me the first DVD of "His and Her Circumstances" (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou). I'd originally had that DVD a while ago (found it in J-town) but gave it to someone (Will, I think... O.o Or someone) since I didn't have a DVD player. But now I do! I've been nuts about it the past few days, watching ALL of His and Her in one sitting, not to mention messing with the angles, subtitles, and audio options. AND THE SPECIAL FEATURES! WHEE! Joe lent me his Back to the Future (my FAVORITE MOVIE TRILOGY OF ALL TIME!) set, and I just finished exploring and watching everything yesterday. I'M SO HAPPY! ^_^ So now everyone can give me DVDs! And I can rent DVDs! ALL IS WELL IN THE SWEET HOME! ^-^ YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~
The only disappointments... today at RTA, not too many people noticed me, despite my two-week absence. I had to remind nearly everyone that I'd turned 18 on Monday, and YES, it was a big deal to me! I barely got any Happy Birthdays-- until after I said something. I had fun in the end I guess, even though I spent most of my time dueling outside in the bitter cold. -.- Cris takes forever to duel, since he's so sneaky! I finally managed to beat him with only 1200 of my own life points left! So anyway, no cake, no candles, no wishes... and the only person who even got as far as the first verse in the "Happy Birthday" song was Mitch at Wednesday's Anime FX. I was so late to yesterday's FX that it was all pretty pointless. The best part was when we left, Joe and me, since we went to Borders and got tons of stuff (the All About me Book, the new book for mom replacing the "Dear Mom" copy, Kareshi Kanojo manga #1, and Kodocha #6 as a present for Joe)-- then went home and just relaxed. Quite nice.
I miss it though. I mean, well-planned parties with cake and balloons and tears and wrapped presents. I haven't had any of that, and I regret it, even a silly 5 days later. Half of me wants to cry, but the other half insists I'm an "adult" now and shouldn't care about such trivialities. It's not the material things -the presents- that matter. But I wish someone would have sung "Happy Birthday" to me. The way I did for Mike, or for Will. *sigh* But we can't win 'em all, can we? Besides, the bonfire's tomorrow, and I'm sure that all will go well there. I hope.
Yep, she gets a special section. Actually, I forgot to mention it after writing the passover rant, so here it is. After dyeing my hair, there were SOME purple splotchies on the wall that Shaina and I didn't notice. And after I'd showered Sunday night, Sally had the gall to bitch me out for the water that had dripped off my legs and had caused faint purple stains on an already-stained white bathroom rug. Shaina and I had gotten worse stains on the rug the night before, and washed it off with a cloth and some water, and here Sally was bitching me out for stupid stains that I hadn't even meant to cause! Argh!!!! Then, when I went to dry my hair, she couldn't even tell me how her damn dryer worked, and when I didn't see the lower switch, she rolls her eyes at me when she flicks it on without saying anything. If there's one kind of person I hate, it's the condescending kind. I usually hate EVERYONE on my dad's side of the family for that reason-- I've always felt left out no matter which family I'm with-- but they're just richer, farther away, younger... blah blah. Bigger families. Not so much death in the family. So much money and skill. Not like my life at all. BUT GAUGH! Sally just takes the cake. SHE SUCKS.
Watching the Sailormoon Sailor Stars season has turned me into a Seiya-loving bishounen-aholic. If Mamoru had stuck around in this, the 5th and final season of Sailormoon, maybe I wouldn't be such a big supporter/theorist of the Usagi/Seiya relationship, but it has such a great dynamic that is unlike anything Usagi and Mamoru's! Besides, the girl hasn't even played the field, so true love, destiny, etc. aside, why shouldn't a healthy 16 year old give a shot with a handsome, funny, sex-changing alien a chance? *snigger* I hate the Mamoru-bashing fics that pair Seiya/Usagi, and the decent ones that effectively remove Mamoru from the picture and pair Seiya/Usagi are hard to come by. I might just end up writing one! *shock* I've got too many ideas in my head now though. But to be honest, I applaud Toei for making the Starlights guys in the anime -in the manga, they were female all the time, just crossdressing- it keeps the whole Seiya/Usagi relationship (the hetero one, not the yuri/shoujo-ai one that the manga has) intact and canon. ^_^ So NYAH!
I won't put the entire book of the "All About Me" fill-in here. There's lots of reasons. One is obviously that it's copyright infringement and YES, they CAN find out! Not to mention that a lot of the questions are personal. They're not the kind of things you want everyone to know. I recommend buying the book though, as it's a mere $12.95, and the questions can be quite thought-provoking. If I cut out the questionable stuff, all that would be left would be a skeleton quiz that you see everywhere. So just buy the book. And if you're in a relationship, buy the "All About Us" companion. And buy a second "All About Me" to put in a time capsule and open when you're 35.
Back in my ye old freshman days, when I was a newbie member to Anime FX, I took all the tapes I rented and recorded the OP and EN songs onto a cassette tape that I dubbed "Sounds of Anime." It was great, even if the recording quality wasn't close to specatctular. Well, that tape just died today, because the stupid tape got wound around the wrong part of the wheel. And, until I find the REAL tape box with the listing of all the songs, I'm stuck with what I remember-- I'd like to burn them onto a CD or series of CDs. My DVD player plays MP3s, so I could do it that way and save space (and time) but I don't have my portable MP3-CD player (or any CD player, actually) working... so... >_>
But I'll write what I have listed (not the MP3s, I don't know which ones I need yet!)
* Moonlight Densetsu (full length) - Sailormoon OP (Seasons 1-4)
* Tuxedo Mirage - Sailormoon (Sailormoon Super EN)
* Catch You, Catch Me - Cardcaptor Sakura OP
* Groovy - Cardcaptor Sakura EN #1
* Fancy Lala OP
* Fancy Lala EN
* Moonlight Densetsu (strong percussion beat) - Sailormoon
* Ai no Senshi - Sailormoon
* The Power of Love - Sailor Moon "Lunarock" CD (I WANT THE 3rd CD!!!!)
* I Want Someone To Love - Sailor Moon "Lunarock" CD
* The One Named Sailor Moon - American Sailor Moon OP
* My Only Love - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Call My Name (And I'll Be There) - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Oh, Starry Night - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Rainy Day Man - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Only a Memory Away - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* You Are Just My Love - Sailormoon Season #1 EN
* Ah! Megami-sama OP
* Congratulations! - Ah! Megami-sama EN
* Kiseki no Umi - Record of Lodoss Wars EN
* Record of Lodoss Wars OP
Geez, there's so many more. I wish I could find the other box. Or fix this damned tape! ;_; On another musical note (haha) I'd like to find the songs on the original Turkey Tape and put those onto a CD. So far I only remember:
* Radar Love
* So Happy Together - The Turtles
* Caravan
* Fire on High - Electric Light Orchestra
And I remember other melodies and organizations (there was one short one that was a joint project with ALL these musicians like McCartney, Bowie... etc.) but not titles. Most were from the 60s. HELP!
I should get to sleep. But yeah, happy birthday to me, and yay, summer's almost here.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Yep yep, this weekend I went to LA (well, Northridge, actually) for Passover. This is with the side of the family that I haven't seen or contacted all that much in the past two years. You know, the estranged side? The one my dad's part of. Well, after seeing my cousins Brooke and Shaina a few months ago and going with them to Benihana, I pretty much made up my mind that I'd like to see my grandparents and cousins again, and that if the aunts, uncles, or my dad gave me any shit, I'd be a big girl and ignore them. I called my Grandparents and arranged to get a flight out a day before the Seder was supposed to begin, in the hopes I might avoid my dad... >_> I already said that part and everything in the last entry anyway, so let's make this concise, shall we? Or as concise as I can pack 3 days, anyway.
Fast forward to the Seder-- it came pretty early, and it was no surprise that dad showed up early. I didn't get to help cook like I wanted to, but that was because Baba said everything was already made! ;_; Ah well. I'd spent the beginning of the day shopping anyway, and BOY did I feel happy! I guess I'm what you'd call a lone shopper, since I didn't stick around with Shaina, Brooke, and Mike (aka Honus, Brooke's fiancee) much. I didn't get to go to ALL the stores I wanted, and in fact, spent more time WAITING for Shaina and Brooke (it's why I hate stores like the Gap) than I did shopping. When I finally broke off and did my own thing, it was to buy a purse from one of those kiosks-- oh, and it's such a cute purse!! If you read my wish list from way back when, you'd know I wanted a denim purse real badly, but my only options were the weird cowboy-style ones from Gap or the too-tiny ones from Claire's. But this one is easily 6 inches tall, and is CUTE AS HECK! It's dark denim (my favorite) and is embroidered "jean style" with pockets on the front and the back that you can actually put stuff in! One of the pockets has a most adorable cherry on it too! ^_^ I've never felt so satisfied after going shopping. I blew roughly $40 on that purse and the matching wallet, but it was discounted about $16, so that's a good thing. Besides, with all the cash I had on hand (roughly $60) I felt like I needed to REALLY splurge and not worry about what I *needed*... after all, it was my birthday weekend, and I wanted to be happy.
That was about all I'd purchased that day, except for Eva's birthday present. *giggle* I hope she likes it, it took me forever to pick it out! I rushed up to meet Brooke, Shaina, and Honus at Thisit (read: This Is It, Macy's juniors section made into a separate store) but they weren't THERE yet... >_> I wanted to go to Border's still and pick up some stuff, but since we'd eaten at the food court (read: $$$!) I didn't have much money left. The sense of satisfaction was still there, so I wasn't too disappointed. With my leftover cash, I bought the first issue of I.N.V.U. -- a manga by a Korean mangaka! The artwork is a little weird, but pretty nice all the same (kind of Miwa Ueda-ish) and the storyline is fairly interesting. But now I have to get volumes 1 and 2 of KareKano! *whines* More on that later.
Anyway, I've gotten horribly off-topic. Seder. My dad woke me up at 5:45, saying the Seder was supposed to start in 15 minutes, and I had that amount of time to get dressed. I'd planned specifically for this event, and dashed into the hall bathroom faster than lightning strikes, and finally got my chance to change after Kathleen came out (I don't think her hair CAN be unfrizzy!). Changed into the same outfit I'd planned on wearing to Will's boatdance-- a nice number, if I do say so myself. Quite vintage-fem. =} My fashion sense is NOT YET DEAD! OHOHO! *cough* Anyway, I couldn't get my damned contacts on-- and I'd tried for well over a half hour. I've lost it. No matter how good the outfit looks without my glasses on, I end up having to add an extra hour just to get my damn contacts in. I want the same ones Erin has-- the stay-in-for-30 days one. That would make my life so much simpler. Or maybe I should raise a couple thousand bucks and try to get eye surgery. *guffaws* Right.
So a little while later (later than 15 minutes, I'll tell you that much) everyone was all settled and eating dinner-- and the arrangement was different than I'd remembered, as the "kids" were at a circular table, and there wasn't enough room for all of us. It was primarily girls-- Brooke, Erin, Shaina, Gail, me, and of course... Honus. Opposite our table was David (who is, at rough estimate, 6'4" and probably one of the best swimmers and/or soccer players in all of CA), Josh (whose voice is starting to get deeper ^.~), Sam (who is still SHORT), Adam (who, even at 10, still can't seem to read right... poor guy) and some of the aunts, uncles, and second cousins who are adults... Sally, Jackie, Jackie's husband... @_@; Lots of people. I wish the other Josh (the older one) was there, he's cute! But married... even though his wife, last time I was there, was kind of a biatch. -.-;
So we were all getting lost as to where Grandpa was in the Haggadah, the book that the Passover ceremony is all laid out in. And, as usual, I feel pretty lost for not being able to even PRONOUNCE Hebrew words. David, Josh, and Sam are so SKILLED! ;_; But to be honest, I don't wish I'd gone to Hebrew Academy or been Bat Mitzvah'd. I'm pretty happy with my choice of "religion" now, as it were. But that's another story. I was terrified of two things-- one, that they would make me read, or two, that they wouldn't. They'd been going in a circle at my table, and luckily stopped right before me-- but everyone kept prodding me to read the next part when Grandpa resumed again after the parsley-saltwater part. And of course, they didn't want to make me read one of the tiny red paragraphs on the side of the page, but the LONG ONE! ;_; I was terrified and fighting back (which I'm sure surprised some people, since most people know I love to read and get attention) for a while, but I finally relented and read-- at a decently fast pace, doing my best not to stumble over Hebrew words, of which there was only one, Hashem. Which I mispronounced as "Hasheem," but oh well. -.- People were happy after I was done, so I sort of melted into my chair with relief.
As usual, things went by kind of slow-- and Mookie (sp? It's pronounced Moh-kee), Erin's miniature chocolate poodle was running around trying to mooch (appropriate of her name) food off of us. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to Honus when he was about to feed the dog the white horseradish. -.- Knowing that annoying dog (who, despite appearances, is NOT a puppy!) she would have swallowed it and yipped for more. -.- I miss Rapunzel, Gene's old dog. She wasn't so demanding. But *sigh* Gene and Rapunzel are both gone now...
Anyway, food soon came, and everyone was rushing in the kitchen while Sally (who you'll later learn, I dislike the MOST out of the aunts I'm actually related to on that side of the family) yelled that it wasn't ready yet. -.- I was snacking on Charoses for the most part (YUM!!!) until Mazto Ball Soup was served, and then we got chicken, salad... etc. Big big dinner. Much yum. Everyone kept trying to get me to eat fish! >_> I still don't like it when I KNOW fish is in something, and it's like, blatantly obvious. You know, pink flesh and everything. *shudder* Eew. The kids started running around; I was torn between hanging in the den reading and helping the younguns look for the afikomen. Josh found it in record time, as usual, but the prize was only a dinky $5, so it's not like I missed out on much by not earnestly searching.
People came and went so quickly, and we didn't do much. I wanted to go out and DO something since everything had gone by so fast, but we ended up watching a movie (Sorority Boys, laugh out loud hilarious) instead. The boys never went to Blockbuster (I'd wanted to get the Robin Williams Live on Broadway that I'vr already seen twice too, but there wasn't enough $$) and so they watched the movie with us girls. All buena in the end. People were falling asleep by the time it finished, and I was all alone in the den...
Fast-forward, since it's already been 6 days and I'm a bit rusty at this point... most people started to leave Sunday afternoon. Shaina had decided to dye my hair Saturday night after the Seder and before the movie, so there's no more of that reddish-blonde two-tone going on. She also fixed my poor hair-"cutting" skills and gave me a nice layered cut-- I even managed to sit through her eyebrow plucking without crying. No ugly purple splotches, either, though I won't be letting Shaina near my blackheads with HER nails ever again (long story from long ago-- don't ask). My dad and I finally had our "talk" shortly before he was supposed to leave-- he's still stuck on the past, but for the most part, I think we're speaking again. I was pretty upset that, despite my having been nothing but nice to him all weekend, he was so FRIGGIN' MEAN TO ME! Gaugh, let me explain. So 'Net access was hard to come by in the house, and with my inbox, it fills up like nothing else when I don't check it. And to add to that, I have two emails that I use regularly, and at least five that I *should* check more often! Plus I'd wanted to update my LJ more often, not to mention catch up on fics. I knew I couldn't be glued to the comp, regardless of how new or cool it was... but still... Baba even was getting on my back about it, as if I'd had my eyes taped to the screen! I was barely ever on the damned thing for more than an hour! IF THAT! Not to mention, if they didn't want people using it, why did they go and by a new one? Why are they getting DSL?! ANYWAY...
So I had to thread the telephone wire all the way into the kitchen. But the jack in there was kind of loose, so I tried cording it through the rec room, across the main hallway. Dad comes in and yells at me as I'm getting offline, saying, "I don't know if you care about anyone else here, but with the way you have that cord running across the hallway, it's really careless and Grandpa could trip over it and HURT himself!" (implying that Grandpa would be stupid enough not to see the white cord on the black floor; would somehow trip on a flat cord pressed firmly against the floor, and also that Grandpa would DIE of such an injury) I hated that. I pulled the cord immediately, shut the computer down and just did anything I could to avoid him-- which constituted taking the long way and running upstairs to Gene's old room and crying my heart out. I feel like I've already mentioned all this already. Maybe I have. It stings every time I recall it though. He didn't even come upstairs until maybe ten minutes later, and nothing he said was of much comfort. All he kept repeating was how upset he was that when I was 16 and had the choice between who to live with, I didn't choose him. I'm not sorry (honestly) when I say WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING!? At that age, am I going to give up the life I've known for most of my 16 years. I'm not going to transfer from the urban life I'm used to and LOVE to a rural, unstable life in the much colder part of NorCal, into a school with people I don't know AT ALL. I would HATE that. I made the choice that felt right to me, but he never understood. Even when I'd written him, he'd never written back, just sent me back a box of my stuff. And not even all of my stuff, either. I'm glad he's moved on and isn't such a stick-in-the-mud-- but all he ever does is bash my mom and the choices I made in the past. Me, I like to recall all the FUN I had spending with my dad. All those times at the JCC, all the camping trips... cooking, playing with my dog Perkins at the school, going to the beach... having Fourth of July BBQs and fireworks... but all he remembers is the bad stuff. I want to have more fun experiences with him-- it'll be my own choice, with my own money-- but it saddens me that he still acts so immaturely. He's rather inconsiderate of other's emotions, playing and picking on them when it suits him to. I'm proud of my dad for choosing to become a teacher-- it's a respectable job, and very hard to do, and my dad's going out there and getting a CREDENTIAL for it, even when the state of California doesn't require him to have one. It's hard on him financially, but he's never been the giving up type. That is, except for giving up on me. I wonder if I have the courage or support to actually go out and see him on my own. Or what will happen when I go? I can't speculate. I need someone for this.
On the plus side, there's a whole crapload of stuff I walked away with. I went to so many stores that I rarely get the chance to check out here in NorCal, so I'm quite satisfied with my purchases. The general rundown--
* Multicolored blank-page book
* Dear Mom book (had to return it since mom already had it; bought her a different one by the same author)
* Denim-covered lined journal (free, because of the "buy three, get fourth book free" deal at Borders)
* Amy Brown FIRE FAIRY antique-styled pendant (this girl can't be much older than I am, but she's got clothing, cosmetic, and jewelry lines!)
* Red bandana
* Black tie
* Cream eyeliner-eyeshadow duo
* I.N.V.U. manga
* Denim purse with wallet, purse, cell phone case
* Earrings (hoops with beads)
There's probably more I'm forgetting... but is it important? I walked away feeling satisfied and happy. That's what matters.
To be honest, I felt like people forgot about my party. I guess my LJ isn't as well-read as I'd hoped. I told people about my dinner at Chevy's weeks in advance, but even then, people forgot. I called and emailed people in advance, and people forgot. I was quite happy with those that did show up-- Joe, Kripa, Stephanie, Eva (!), and my mom. Eva showed up late, so we stayed at Chevy's longer, but her being there at all made me quite happy, since I thought she was going to UCLA. -.- She actually went Tuesday, and didn't even stay a day! Talk about rough traveling... >_> I wish Vince and Will could have come... they are dear friends to me as well, and Joe wouldn't have been so singled out as the only guy. Stephanie told the Chevy's guys that it was my birthday, and in an unexpected turn of events, the waiters kind of sang or cheered or something, and gave me this ice-cream thing in a strange cone-cup. My fajita had already been quite filling (even though I kept trying to put it together and having it fall apart on me... >_>) so I was "fat and happy." Afterwards, we saw 'Phone Booth,' which was quite good. Colin~~! HOTT!! ^_^ Kind of a demi-thriller, too.
Oh... and I forgot to mention this. This was the best part of my birthday. Joe picked me up from the airport and drove me home, and as we were getting everything out of the car, he revealed the birthday present he'd gotten for me. Mom was standing in the living room wondering why we hadn't come up yet, and I was just staring at the trunk in shock. A DVD PLAYER! *runs around screaming like a chicken with her head cut off* OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! *whimper* Now what am I going to do with those 1000-some-odd tickets from RTA? (*Will pipes up* "But the DVD player at RTA was mysteriously gone anyway...") Gawd, I'm so ecstatic now, though. I'm SO SPOILED! He told me I was going to want to kill him, and I did. But that quickly changed to guilt and exteme thankfulness. He even gave me the first DVD of "His and Her Circumstances" (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou). I'd originally had that DVD a while ago (found it in J-town) but gave it to someone (Will, I think... O.o Or someone) since I didn't have a DVD player. But now I do! I've been nuts about it the past few days, watching ALL of His and Her in one sitting, not to mention messing with the angles, subtitles, and audio options. AND THE SPECIAL FEATURES! WHEE! Joe lent me his Back to the Future (my FAVORITE MOVIE TRILOGY OF ALL TIME!) set, and I just finished exploring and watching everything yesterday. I'M SO HAPPY! ^_^ So now everyone can give me DVDs! And I can rent DVDs! ALL IS WELL IN THE SWEET HOME! ^-^ YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~
The only disappointments... today at RTA, not too many people noticed me, despite my two-week absence. I had to remind nearly everyone that I'd turned 18 on Monday, and YES, it was a big deal to me! I barely got any Happy Birthdays-- until after I said something. I had fun in the end I guess, even though I spent most of my time dueling outside in the bitter cold. -.- Cris takes forever to duel, since he's so sneaky! I finally managed to beat him with only 1200 of my own life points left! So anyway, no cake, no candles, no wishes... and the only person who even got as far as the first verse in the "Happy Birthday" song was Mitch at Wednesday's Anime FX. I was so late to yesterday's FX that it was all pretty pointless. The best part was when we left, Joe and me, since we went to Borders and got tons of stuff (the All About me Book, the new book for mom replacing the "Dear Mom" copy, Kareshi Kanojo manga #1, and Kodocha #6 as a present for Joe)-- then went home and just relaxed. Quite nice.
I miss it though. I mean, well-planned parties with cake and balloons and tears and wrapped presents. I haven't had any of that, and I regret it, even a silly 5 days later. Half of me wants to cry, but the other half insists I'm an "adult" now and shouldn't care about such trivialities. It's not the material things -the presents- that matter. But I wish someone would have sung "Happy Birthday" to me. The way I did for Mike, or for Will. *sigh* But we can't win 'em all, can we? Besides, the bonfire's tomorrow, and I'm sure that all will go well there. I hope.
Yep, she gets a special section. Actually, I forgot to mention it after writing the passover rant, so here it is. After dyeing my hair, there were SOME purple splotchies on the wall that Shaina and I didn't notice. And after I'd showered Sunday night, Sally had the gall to bitch me out for the water that had dripped off my legs and had caused faint purple stains on an already-stained white bathroom rug. Shaina and I had gotten worse stains on the rug the night before, and washed it off with a cloth and some water, and here Sally was bitching me out for stupid stains that I hadn't even meant to cause! Argh!!!! Then, when I went to dry my hair, she couldn't even tell me how her damn dryer worked, and when I didn't see the lower switch, she rolls her eyes at me when she flicks it on without saying anything. If there's one kind of person I hate, it's the condescending kind. I usually hate EVERYONE on my dad's side of the family for that reason-- I've always felt left out no matter which family I'm with-- but they're just richer, farther away, younger... blah blah. Bigger families. Not so much death in the family. So much money and skill. Not like my life at all. BUT GAUGH! Sally just takes the cake. SHE SUCKS.
Watching the Sailormoon Sailor Stars season has turned me into a Seiya-loving bishounen-aholic. If Mamoru had stuck around in this, the 5th and final season of Sailormoon, maybe I wouldn't be such a big supporter/theorist of the Usagi/Seiya relationship, but it has such a great dynamic that is unlike anything Usagi and Mamoru's! Besides, the girl hasn't even played the field, so true love, destiny, etc. aside, why shouldn't a healthy 16 year old give a shot with a handsome, funny, sex-changing alien a chance? *snigger* I hate the Mamoru-bashing fics that pair Seiya/Usagi, and the decent ones that effectively remove Mamoru from the picture and pair Seiya/Usagi are hard to come by. I might just end up writing one! *shock* I've got too many ideas in my head now though. But to be honest, I applaud Toei for making the Starlights guys in the anime -in the manga, they were female all the time, just crossdressing- it keeps the whole Seiya/Usagi relationship (the hetero one, not the yuri/shoujo-ai one that the manga has) intact and canon. ^_^ So NYAH!
I won't put the entire book of the "All About Me" fill-in here. There's lots of reasons. One is obviously that it's copyright infringement and YES, they CAN find out! Not to mention that a lot of the questions are personal. They're not the kind of things you want everyone to know. I recommend buying the book though, as it's a mere $12.95, and the questions can be quite thought-provoking. If I cut out the questionable stuff, all that would be left would be a skeleton quiz that you see everywhere. So just buy the book. And if you're in a relationship, buy the "All About Us" companion. And buy a second "All About Me" to put in a time capsule and open when you're 35.
Back in my ye old freshman days, when I was a newbie member to Anime FX, I took all the tapes I rented and recorded the OP and EN songs onto a cassette tape that I dubbed "Sounds of Anime." It was great, even if the recording quality wasn't close to specatctular. Well, that tape just died today, because the stupid tape got wound around the wrong part of the wheel. And, until I find the REAL tape box with the listing of all the songs, I'm stuck with what I remember-- I'd like to burn them onto a CD or series of CDs. My DVD player plays MP3s, so I could do it that way and save space (and time) but I don't have my portable MP3-CD player (or any CD player, actually) working... so... >_>
But I'll write what I have listed (not the MP3s, I don't know which ones I need yet!)
* Moonlight Densetsu (full length) - Sailormoon OP (Seasons 1-4)
* Tuxedo Mirage - Sailormoon (Sailormoon Super EN)
* Catch You, Catch Me - Cardcaptor Sakura OP
* Groovy - Cardcaptor Sakura EN #1
* Fancy Lala OP
* Fancy Lala EN
* Moonlight Densetsu (strong percussion beat) - Sailormoon
* Ai no Senshi - Sailormoon
* The Power of Love - Sailor Moon "Lunarock" CD (I WANT THE 3rd CD!!!!)
* I Want Someone To Love - Sailor Moon "Lunarock" CD
* The One Named Sailor Moon - American Sailor Moon OP
* My Only Love - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Call My Name (And I'll Be There) - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Oh, Starry Night - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Rainy Day Man - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* Only a Memory Away - American Sailor Moon Soundtrack
* You Are Just My Love - Sailormoon Season #1 EN
* Ah! Megami-sama OP
* Congratulations! - Ah! Megami-sama EN
* Kiseki no Umi - Record of Lodoss Wars EN
* Record of Lodoss Wars OP
Geez, there's so many more. I wish I could find the other box. Or fix this damned tape! ;_; On another musical note (haha) I'd like to find the songs on the original Turkey Tape and put those onto a CD. So far I only remember:
* Radar Love
* So Happy Together - The Turtles
* Caravan
* Fire on High - Electric Light Orchestra
And I remember other melodies and organizations (there was one short one that was a joint project with ALL these musicians like McCartney, Bowie... etc.) but not titles. Most were from the 60s. HELP!
I should get to sleep. But yeah, happy birthday to me, and yay, summer's almost here.
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Date: 2003-04-19 03:20 am (UTC)XD
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Date: 2003-04-22 12:59 am (UTC)