MILES to GO || before I sleep

Work wasn't bad.

Met Shawn after work; we hung out and snuggled. It was nice.

Found out at my cousin Josh and his dad Jim were in a plane accident (not sure where, though it sounded like Arizona...) on their way to a long-awaited fishing trip. They escaped fine and swam out to a rock (makes me think this was a hydroplane, not a 737 or anything), but the conversation just before I was leaving for dinner with Melina had me scared and pacing-- I hate "phone calls at weird times," because they always spell death for my family-- that's how it was with my sister, my uncle, and countless other relatives.

Had a decent time at Islands with the other NSCS members from Philly; we're going to be at the Clubs & Orgs fair and hopefully plotting ways we can make use of what little we learned there. I was one of the few (if any) that finished the survey post-convention, and I gave the leadership crew there an earful! But I hope it actually does good/helps.

Finished reading my latest book, "Secret Society Girl." It was an incredibly juicy read, very much targeted toward college students, something that I think is a rare find these days. Even better, there's a sequel, "Under the Rose," which is already out! To Borders!

Actually, I'll probably read "Shopaholic and Baby" first. I've already read 2 books in the past 2 weeks (HP being longer than SSG should give me some more credo in saying that), which is a pretty good record, if I do say so myself. :)

Re: computer -- still planning on getting a new one, since 512 of memory just isn't cutting it, and I really don't want to risk anything else breaking by putting a larger module in the one slot I do have working. The question is, when will I have the dough to get said new computer, and what horrible things will I be thinking I could have gotten with said money AFTER it's been too long for me to do anything about it (besides regret it)? At least Erin (cousin) is looking into getting her friend who works at a third-party retailer to see if I can get a good deal on THIS one.

The backup did finish, by the way-- it must have been at least 36 hours though, since it wasn't done until around 6:30 or so AT LEAST. The only error I got was something weird about my Parallels VM, but all the "necessary" files seem to have copied over fine, so I'm not too worried. Even if that is somehow messed up, I can always reinstall and redownload everything on that half, which thankfully is not a lot.

When you can't sleep, what do you do? Any of these:
-Light incense
-Drink warm milk
-Meditate
-Listen to classical music
-Something else?

My usual routines aren't working, so I'm looking for advice in other areas. I know my sleep schedule isn't the best anyway, but trying to change that hour by hour (trying to go to bed at progressively earlier times) hasn't worked too well, either. I haven't fallen asleep at work yet, but it's weird being off the meds that normally knock me out an hour after I've taken them (at night). However, my mood is fine and I don't feel stressed, and that's primarily what said meds were for. I guess if I'm really a lunatic and there's a problem with my sleeping, I should get Lunesta or something.

I do have an eye appointment on August 9th (relatives arriving on the 11th and 18th; wonder if I'll have a stylish new pair of glasses by then?), and I need to make an appointment for my wisdom teeth before school starts on the 23rd (YARGH!)... ugh, medical stuff SUCKS.

I want mochi.

A little over an hour (and a half?) ago, my uncle Neal, Baba, Grandpa and I got back from UCLA, where we attended my cousin Erin's double-graduation. Double because she got two bachelors degrees: one in design, and another in anthropology, with a minor in urban planning. The first one was big and huge, but we cut out as soon as Erin got her name called-- the second dragged on despite it being "smaller" --they started late, and the speakers all just kept GOING AND GOING. Erin even had time to pass back a note to her mom (my aunt Joyce) that said "I thought I graduated already, so why am I getting lectured!?" when the dean just kept going and going and going...

And I still like all the excitement of graduation, even if the prospect of paying off student loans, finding a "real" job and moving out on my own (really, for the first time) is a bit daunting. I wonder if keeping my Japanese minor just to put that off for a bit longer is a good idea... I'm still undecided on whether I want to keep it as a minor.

Before the graduation, we went to my grandparents' cousin's 90th and 94th (!!) birthday celebration at this fancy restaurant in Westwood called Lawry's. It was very dark and wooden, though I think some rather rich kids (perhaps Beverly Hills ilk?) were having a party in one half of the restaurant, while various branches of the Sweet/Goldberg families filled up several tables in the other room.

Baba had chicken, Grandpa had fish, and I had this massive steak the size of my head that was so overdone (I asked for well-done, not BURNT TO A CRISP) that it was dry, and I ended up eating more creamed corn and mashed potatoes than I did steak. There was also a ton of fat on the steak, which... well, looks like white jelly, and is not appetizing to eat. So I tried to cut some of it off. I gave some steak to both Baba and Grandpa (because they asked), but even then, I got so filled up off everything else-- salad, a bread roll, and what little steak I could eat. Then I had to try and eat some dessert, but by then, we were running late to meet Erin for her graduation, which began at 4pm.

All in all, it was a very filled day-- fun, but filled. Toward the end, I was so cold and hungry, it made me irritable and a bit more complaining than I usually am (or would like to be). What's frustrating is how UCLA, quite unlike CSUN, is very wide and spread out, and not the least bit flat. It's all over hills, with major thoroughfares passing through it. They have traffic lights WITHIN the campus! CSUN just has a million stop signs. So it took a while for Neal to get the car after the second graduation (because Erin had to show him how to get to where he'd parked), and then he drove RIGHT BY US when he finally DID come and find the place. >_< We had to call to get him to turn back around and find us.

When we got home, I made myself a yummy nectarine-and-raisin bowl of Cream of Wheat and watched "Legally Blonde" with my aunt Joyce and my uncles Neal, Fred, and Dan. It was kind of fun, though IMDB.com says that the sequel wasn't all that great. ;_; Too bad.

Other cool stuff:
* Working on customizing more skins for Epiphany (which I *MUST* get up by the end of the summer) and Dragonfayth, including all new ones, like WritingPlus3, a new version of Safari, and maybe more!

* Fixed Epiphany's "elegance" skin using the oh-I-can't-believe-I-forgot-that CSS Box Model. Okay, so it still needs a bit of work. Can anyone on a PC with IE6 (*not 7* as I can test for that on my end) test for me? Let me know if you can check for me, please... :)

* Managed to convert (using CrossFont, a shareware program for Windows) HUNDREDS of Windows-only fonts into Mac-readable ones, which I immediately imported using the super-nifty FontExplorerX, which even detected duplicate fonts for me! Because I managed to actually USE said fonts and delete the duplicates, I saved some disk space.

* Talked to Scott (aka fountain_the) today-- it was nice hearing from him again! Plus he sent (in an email) photos of his tiny (looks like a loft) apartment. Cooking is apparently impossible there... which I can't blame him for thinking. It took me a while to get used to the tiny fridge, itty-bitty cabinet space, and minuscule cooking area myself. I told Fred that Scott missed his old job with SDMM, and Fred smiled (in that Fred way...) and said he would tell the gang at SDMM that Scott said hi, and YES, they did get his postcard, which everyone read. :)

Not-so-cool stuff:
* I've been trying to install more games on my Windows side, since I upgraded to Parallels 3. I managed to get the Doom Collector's Edition working well (in fact, I spent most of Friday at work blasting Imps and Demons), but when it came to one of my favorite simulator games, "Pharaoh" with the Cleopatra expansion, I couldn't do it. The first attempt stalled at 37%, the second at 80%. I read a tech support tip on the Sierra forums that said to try copying the CD contents to the HD and installing from there, but it tripped up on the LAST, most important file, data2.cab. :( I guess I could try finding the game again (my CD is somewhat scratched up), but I'm hoping there's another way to get this ONE stupid file. No one on this FL happens to have that game, do they?

* Room is a horrid mess. Haven't had the motivation to clean it, assemble my bookcase, put my clothes away... it's funny, because I have motivation for coding, but little else. And I *NEED* to have that motivation, because there's a lot to be done (Semester at Sea app, preparing for Philly, among other things).

* I tried selling my Hot Gimmick set on eBay and there were a bunch of problems-- I thought it was because of seller fees owed to eBay, an old B&N order where PayPal saw the authorization as still pending... but in the end, I think it was because eBay saved my old Yahoo! address under the listing. After finally figuring this out, I notified the seller with step-by-step instructions on how to pay to my PROPER PayPal address, but she said it still didn't work and she wasn't interested in buying them anymore. :( I hate to think if she'll negatively feedback me, but I can understand her frustration. The problem is, I relisted the item for Second Chance, and I had no opportunity to indicate my proper email. If the runner-up wants it, they might have the same problem unless I can notify them where to send the payment! Stupid eBay... they should change email addresses EVEN ON ACTIVE OR CLOSED LISTINGS the minute a user changes it in their profile. Or I could blame PayPal, for not catching the payment even though the Yahoo! address is listed as an alternate email on my account now. Of course, the user didn't say she GOT the same error, and she wouldn't say what she did get... methinks she was just so frustrated, she didn't bother with it. Shame.

Silver lining:

* Got Dad a killer trio of Father's Day/birthday presents. Can't wait to call him tomorrow and hear his reaction. I just hope he doesn't bring up some of the drama that's plagued us earlier this week... which I suppose I'll get into in another entry, when I figure out just what to DO about it. Have to talk to Joyce.