MILES to GO || before I sleep

So, I haven't updated in what seems like ages (that HSM post doesn't count, because I'd written that more than a week ago and just saved it, hoping for a time when I COULD post it) because The Powers That Be were conspiring against me or something, and Murphy's law was in full effect-- all that jazz. So I decided to start doing something about it.

( Keyboard Mayhem! )

( Michael Moore is hard to find )

( A little lost memory card and some movies )

( Noconnectlink )

( An HTC Dream G1 deferred )

( MELTING, MELTING! and other problems )

( Fics that like to f*ck with your brain )

And that, as they say, is that. For now, anyway.

1 - "Eagle Eye" kicks "Body of Lies" ass. Also: Billy Bob Thornton should forever be an action hero. I like him much better that way.

2 - CSI: Season 1 for $20! Target rocks! Now all I need are 7 friends to get me seasons 2-8 on DVD for X-mas/Hanukkah presents (for hopefully that same price and not the rip-off price of $46.95 like they were over at Borders). Also lovely: CSI:NY. I loves me some Mac and Stella.

3 - Heh, my new Nancy Drew game takes place in San Francisco. Half the street names are wrong, but it's funny anyway.

4 - I suck at Diner Dash. Seriously, I can't make it past Level 6 on "Flo on the Go," or Level 5 in "Diner Dash 2."

5 - Thinking about leaving DeviantART. It's seriously starting to suck.

6 - Coming someday in the not-too-distant future: "Astrology, Blood Types, and Yu-Gi-Oh! - Ryuuji Otogi." I don't have my Mystical Cards or EZ-Astrology-Report book here in SF, but I can make do without it. :P

7 - Working on WikiFic and dealing with idiots (who also happen to be minor vandals.) Teh fun!

8 - In just two days of being on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Top 50, "Blue Eyes and Apricots" has soared from #299 on the ranks to #20! WOW! Now I seriously need to update it. I've actually thought of a way to replace the Fanart section, too. What I can't do is make up my mind about the style of the new layout-- dark and autumny, or light and... colorful?

9 - After playing Nancy Drew and reading Skip Beat! #14, I got to thinking that it'd be funny if Kyoko had to do some sleuthing at LME. Moko, of course, would get dragged into it, and there'd be humor (c/o Yashiro and Lory and Kyoko's own antics), potential angst and drama (because it ain't Skip Beat! without Ren and Sho), and maybe even some Vie Ghoul smashing!

10 - I reserved "Star Ocean: First Departure" for the PSP, but since I don't want to buy an Entertainment Pack with the new PSP-3000 and a stupid game I'll never play and a Memory Card I don't need, I think I'll end up waiting until November before buying a standalone PSP-3000. It's agonizing to wait that long when I'll finally have the game in my hands come the 21st, but if I've waited this long, I can wait another month or so.

( Filktastic )

The "Grissom's Gone" marathon on Spike was pretty damn good. Everything I'd heard about Keppler on the 'Net made him out to be some sort of nerdy-but-badass guy that had some sort of chemistry with Catherine... and while it's not on the level of Cath/Warrick, I DID see something there. Sucks that the way he had to go was... well, bloody.

Still haven't heard back from Chase, which can be a good or a bad thing. Good if I do, because Yay! that would mean I could go to Washington, D.C. and score this possibly-really-cool internship. Bad because, well, a loan is money you have to pay back, and that sucks no matter WHAT it's for. Also bad because I neglected to use the URL for Student Advantage cardholders, which means I might have gotten a better rate or different plan options. I wonder if I hear from them again, can I mention that after the fact?

Anyway, if I don't, I've set the deadline of the 21st. If I hear from them by then, huzzah, I can go. If I don't, tough nuggets; I let the people at the WII know and I stay here and stick to my nice job, wonderful honor societies and friends, and the schedule and courses I've already picked out. It would suck if all that planning and running around (and paperwork: egads, PAPERWORK!) was for nothing but at least not for want of TRYING. And unlike Yoda, I do think the effort counts for something. Every experience is a chance to learn, and that includes those experiences where you don't succeed or get exactly what you wanted.

My aunt Sally and uncle Dan think that I ought to write the CA Congress representatives and senators (or at least the ones in my "district," which could be either Los Angeles or San Francisco, I suppose) and see if I can get them to give me any money-- do you think I ought to write an old fashioned letter (more formal, seems more appropriate) or an email (assuming I can find one for the people in question; it stands to reason they probably get a lot of junk mail, yeah?)? I *am* on a deadline; if I go, I have to be in Washington by January 16th, which doesn't leave a lot of time for actually GETTING the money, paying WII, and of course, getting plane tickets to get out there-- which will be ridiculously expensive not just this time of year, but at such short notice.

So while I've gotten a bit more accepting of the possibility that WII won't work out, and ISLP won't happen this summer, it's not like I'm HAPPY about these great possibilities just passing me by for lame reasons. So then I get this email from someone in the Tokyo American Center-- a part of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. They want to know if I'm interested in being a summer intern during the period for the G8 summit.

There's always a catch, ladies and gents: I have to respond by Tuesday, Japan time. Well, I responded already expressing my interest, and my question about housing if I come earlier than the expected start date (since apparently the G8 affects housing, so if I came "on time," which equals early July, then I'd be SOL for housing)... but I doubt this means they still have ACCEPTED me. It's more like they're pressed for time finding appropriate candidates and are weeding them down. It's great to be considered for something like that (and huzzah for Washington these days; someone out there must like me), but of course, money is an issue. Is it a paid internship? You can't really survive in Japan on a stipend. Hell, how would I get money for the plane ticket out there and back? It's not cheap!

So... we'll see who says what and what happens.

In the meantime, I've been busy with crafts (need more Fimo), fanfics (strange urge to read Nick/Sara, write "Speed of You," that Initial D/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover I thought up ages ago), reading (started on "His Dark Materials," which I got for cheap in a humungo paperback from Costco), and cleaning (finally got the rec room looking semi-passable, though there's still a huge pile of ancient bills to sort through). Also paid off my bills, which is always a refreshing feeling. It's better to get that stuff out of the way as soon as you get it, I think, so that you can always consider the amount of money you have "what you've got to work with," rather than an amount that is going to dwindle BECAUSE of bills.

Tomorrow I've got to finish cleaning and packing (and hopefully go to JoAnn's to get more Fimo and possibly to exchange my Amaco flattening machine, because the turn handle and table clamp are too loose and keep falling out), since I leave for S.F. on Tuesday afternoon, have yet to get my shuttle (I'm thinking from now on, it's better to leave by LAX, because the Van Nuys Flyaway is always cheaper to get to than the damn Super Shuttle), and when I come back, fountainthe is swinging by! squee!

I'm also working on clearing up 30kisses (apparently I need to hire a huge mod squad, because honestly? Keeping just one person on Claims List maintenance could probably considered a modern form of Internet torture... I'm so sorry, svelterose!).

And then there's my End-of-the-Year resolution: get Epiphany UP AND RUNNING by New Year's Day. That would be Super-Speshul-Awesome.

Actually, there are a lot of things that would be Super-Speshul-Awesome, but I can only handle so much good karma at once. I just hope it doesn't fail me anytime soon.

Hey, dqbunny and guardian_kysra? Keep your eyes on your mailboxes, ladies. ^_~ And I don't mean the virtual ones.

I've just realized I have another squick besides slash: threesomes. I LOVE triangles, because it's human, and adds a lot of drama, but when I read about halfway through the first of only TWO Grissom/Sara/Nick (or G/N/S, as it may have actually been... I'm too afraid to go back and find out) fics on geekfiction, I had a sinking sensation that Grissom-the-voyeur (spying on Nick and Sara practically getting it on --though I'm a GSR fan to the last, I can totally see Nick and Sara together for a bit, and even Greg and Sara. They're both a bit out of Sara's league, IMHO, but considering how they both seem to like her, I could see it for a brief fling. I can also see them being okay with it ending and her "ending up" with Grissom, too; with anyone else, I don't see that working out: it'd be too awkward) wouldn't be satisfied just watching and/or feeling up Sara once he revealed that he'd been spying on them the whole time. I mean, it's (er, I hesitate to use this word) "doable" for Nick and Grissom to BOTH get Sara at the same time, but... well, ow. So I stopped reading, even though part of me wonders if my gut instinct was right. And you can only know by reading, but... well, I'm in no mood to be "scarred" for life. There are some times when hitting the back button is just TOO LATE. (And why read what's not up your alley?)

So I'm perusing my FL and read a rather interesting fanficrants "rant" about someone who got a review making reference to an old 4chan thread about "the Holders." It's basically an original forum "series" of sorts-- a choose-your-own-adventure mixed with mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Good shit, in other words. There are 538 objects in the world-- originally 2538, but 2000 were lost. They appear in a number of forms, everything from what looks like your average everyday Rusty Keychain to an actual woman. Some people seek the items to see what they do; others seek to keep them forever separated. Once they were one, but they were separated. Something will happen if they are ever brought together again, but what? You can only know by embarking on the journey...

Okay, so you'd really have to be mental to actually do some of the things the prompts say to do (going to a mental institution or halfway house to ask for someone who is the "Holder of **" (** in this case being whatever the item in question is). But the items and whoever came up with them and what they do is actually pretty bitching, and... well, if CLAMP weren't doing something (with a lot less humor) in Tsubasa: RC and xxxHolic, I would say it could be a kick-ass manga.

Failing that, fanfiction. (Now, supposedly, the spammer in question, FBI-san of FFnet, will be writing this story. This person is pretty much just spamming FFnet with the snippets which may not even be his/hers, and has no other stories to indicate there is any experience in writing said fic-- or what universe it might be in. So, who the hell knows? One thing's for sure, with these as prompts, it can go ANY direction. Maybe it should be a community for a fic challenge, a'la 30kisses? Or I could always invent a new list... except not, because that'd be Just Plain Wrong) I'm talking THE ULTIMATE CROSSOVER. Consider this a dare for the bored or masochistic. ( What happens when you bring them all together? )

Let's see, five or so minutes until clean-up time (or at least until Jamie is supposed to get here to help me clean up) for the NSCS Garage Sale, and we've made about $85 over the course of two days. Not too bad. The leftovers I suppose we'll give to the Goodwill, though some stuff (namely some sports cards and some manga) I think I can sell online for a decent amount. Hopefully.

Joyce also said she'll buy all the stuffed animals; she works in family law, and when kids get adopted out, they get to pick a stuffed animal, but she says "they're" (I don't know who "they" are) always running out (of stuffed animals to give away). Right now, we have about 10 left, so hopefully Joyce will be willing to fork over $20 or so for the lot, including a brand-new, super-soft dog-pillow thing.

It hasn't been bad, sitting out here pretty much all day. As per usual for me, I've been reading a lot of CSI fic (I think I've read almost everything by Mossley, at this point), chatting with Joe and Jamie when they were here (Jamie is helping me clean up before we meet Joe and the others at Starbucks for an NSLS meeting), and checking my email.

I'm applying to another internship that might meet the Journalism department's standards for credit (for a journalism internship)-- the Washington Internship Institute. Okay, it's not free, but housing is actually part of the package and I *hope* that it's a paid internship. Anyway, Prof. Shapiro (last semester's JOUR 331 - Graphics professor) agreed to write the required faculty recommendation form for me, so yay to that. :) I think it's bull that I should have to pay all these fees and deposits for things I supposedly qualify for because I'm so active in volunteering, have such a good GPA, etc. -_- Whatever happened to REWARDING the smart kids? I feel like all the good opportunities are just beyond my reach, all because of cash. Well, there's loans, fundraising, and scholarships, and I'm sure as hell not a quitter, so I'll have to look into a variety of things.

Personally, I'd like it if the Target internship could still work out somehow for Journalism credit, because not only is it local and sound fun (but also challenging), but it pays well. Plus there's a strong chance of being hired full-time after the fact, which is nothing to scoff at. Even Target needs a media/press relations department, and while I'm no PR concentration, you never know the needs of a corporation like that.

I have decided I'm going to drop Japanese as a minor, though. On the one hand, it's sad, because I've always been so dedicated to the study of Japanese language and culture, and I enjoyed it a lot when I was younger. When I got into college and DID declare it as my secondary minor, I thought of it as the thing that would set me apart from all the other Journalism majors with their required collateral fields or minors. But the classes are terribly timed, stressful... and to be honest, just thinking about it makes my chest hurt. I can't handle the professors, the workload... anything. I get this sickening guilty feeling whenever I read the japanese community, too. I know that I said just a few paragraphs above, I'm not a quitter-- and I'm not NOW. But I was, because Japanese stressed me out that much.

Even though I look back on going to Japan as a great experience, one I learned a lot from, to be honest, I can't see myself living there anymore, like I used to. I don't think I could work at Shonen Jump or Shojo Beat as a translator; an editor, maybe (and they do need one...). And when I really look back on it, I remember the fun times with my friends, but I also remember how cold and lonely I was. I remember crying the first few days I got there, because I felt like the stupidest person there, not remembering certain things. That was especially true when I finally went to Tokyo on my own and I didn't understand what the clerk was telling me when she said Sarah Brightman had already left the store. I must have waited there for an hour, all because I forgot what the word "sakki" meant.

I don't want to feel that way again. I'd like to think that I learned from my experiences --both in class and in Japan-- and now I have a better grasp on my limitations. I know a bit more about just what defines my breaking point: at which point I get so stressed I make myself ill. I have to say, I really have been getting pretty sick over the past half-year, and if it's really all psychosomatic, I'm disappointed in myself. I'm not exactly the paragon of healthy eating and regular exercise, but it's not like I pork out in front of the TV all day with a bag of chips and guac. But stressing out does things to your insides, and I was getting pretty close to either being a hypochondriac or being genuinely ill with something like an ulcer. Scott had that, and just judging by what I heard from him, I don't want to go down that route.

I have yet to really un-declare the minor, and I'm not 100% sure of the consequences- after all, I got that Presidential Scholarship which I really never did anything with, though it saved my hide in Japan after that idiotic phone escapade. Part of me still thinks I'm more than capable of writing that book, but it's not like I ever had this great relationship with my supposed mentor, Hirota-sensei, and I hardly think I would after I un-declare the minor. That's especially true if I have to get her signature on any forms and explain just why I feel the way I do. I don't like getting emotional around professors.

Anyway, other stuff:
What's your preferred domain registrar? I've been with Register.com, and while they were good, they were too expensive. Same goes with InterNIC. I'm with Yahoo! Small Business for meredithsweet.com, and GoDaddy for seventh-star.net, but today at the NSLS officers' meeting, Jamie told me that GoDaddy sucks and he won't have anything to do with them, directly or indirectly. I've had a great experience with them so far, despite their supposed lousy TOS and policies. Nonetheless, if I wanted to get a CSUN NSLS website that's not hosted by CSUN (because apparently that requires funding which we currently do not have), I need to find a good registrar. Suggestions are appreciated!

WDKY25 is like, seriously, almost done. Whee! I actually was working on it last night-- a storm of writing! Please let it continue...!

Here's a thought: In "Living Doll," when Grissom essentially makes the admission that reveals his (long-standing) relationship with Sara (e.g. something that isn't co-workers-only, acquaintanceship, or anything else so simple and friendly), the two people that look THE MOST SURPRISED are Catherine and Warrick.

The least surprised looking ones are Greg and Nick, though later it's revealed that supposedly Greg knew (via hints) from Sara, but Nick didn't have a single clue. Catherine... she always SEEMS like she knew, and I can see Warrick not being so blind. (Point in fact, Catherine is the only one besides Sara to be able to see Grissom in a friendly/non-supervisory light, so it makes sense why in so much GSR fic, she always knows about GSR before they announce it. Even in canon, she pretty much KNOWS that Grissom likes Sara as more than a co-worker/friend.)

Is it because they "acted" too much? It's curious. It's possibly even fic-worthy. Except no, because that'd be bad for my fic karma.

I watched the CSI marathon today (it looks like they were all Season 5 episodes), and I came back upstairs to read some more GSR fic (*squee!*) and I start seeing more mentions of a supposed TV guide interview implying that Sara Sidle (played by Jorja Fox) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will die/leave the CSI lab in Las Vegas. Considering she survived what would have most likely been the tidiest death with the season 8 premiere, and Fox has neither affirmed nor denied the allegations, I have no idea what to think.

What bugs me is the detail: apparently the interview said that Fox's contract ends in November, which is when her last episode would air. They'd have to be filming it NOW. As in, oh, last Thursday? Plus, the supposed episode title was "Goodbye and Hello," while the episode title for the one filmed at my campus was titled "Goodbye and Goodnight," according to the script the Key Set Production Assistant showed me. It's pretty close, and while CSI episode titles can go all sorts of ways, most of the time they make sense in SOME sort of fashion. Hence, it's the "goodbye" that has me worried.

But I saw Jorja Fox in that episode, and based on what I knew about it, there didn't seem to be any reason for her to just up and leave. She was clearly investigating a case in her scene with Juliette Goglia. And though the CSI sets and scripts are all very top-secret, I'd think if Fox was leaving for the episode they were filming, it would have slipped out somehow. It's not like the vic in the episode WAS Sara, though her having a brush with death (and actually dying this time) is entirely plausible, given that most episodes have 2 cases. But something with a main character dying off is a big deal, which is why the season finale of 7 and the premiere of 8 were solely focused on Sara.

After the great turnout of Season 8 and the firm establishment of her relationship with Grissom, why would she leave now? I don't think they could kill Sara off without really messing with Grissom, but there could be several reasons why she might leave/relocate. Theoretically, it could be like a Buffy/Angel thing, where it's not like Sara goes far, but far enough not to do anything but guest star. That would still suck, though.

I eventually found a Dollars for Sense flyer to download, though I'm really worried it might be too late, since the supposedly-definitive episode is the one they wrapped at CSUN; 8x07. What I was reading on the update site SOUNDS like plans may have changed... *shrug* I don't know. I printed the flyer, wrote a letter on it, and attached my dollar to it, anyway. USPS willing, it'll make Universal Studios by tomorrow evening.

I'm going to just pray from now on and keep reading fantastic fics by mossley, my new favorite CSI GSR fanfiction author.