azurite: (deadlines whoosh)
*points frantically up at subject line* WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Well, sort of. I sent in a fanart of Nana Osaki (from the hit Ai Yazawa manga "Nana") to Shoujo Beat a few months ago, in the hopes of winning a contest. I don't think I won, but my art got published in the December issue of SB anyhow! I'm quite happy! ^_^ You can see the online version at DeviantArt.

Since it seems more often that not that a music buff resides on my FL, I'm going to ask yet another "What is this song from?" question: What is the name of the classical-sounding song used in the new Kodak commercials? These are the commercials you see both on TV and at the movies, where a docent leads a bunch of kids around a photography museum. He tells them to listen-- listen. They can't hear anything, so he says, listen to the pictures: they are saying, keep me, protect me, share me-- and I will live forever. Then this very touching crescendo of classical music starts up, and it really is enough to move you to tears. Alas, I don't think I can't find it through Google, maybe because I don't possess l33t keyword skills. Anyone know? (I have heard that it might be an original score composed by the folks in Santa Monica known as "Ear to Ear". I didn't find that particular commercial for Kodak on their website, so if anyone knows if they release their tracks or whatever, let me know!)

I've also discovered that I am a walking contradiction. I went for a driving lesson with Scott on Saturday, and he was obviously hoping I would be more confident and motivated about it. Truth was, I was hoping it would rain so we wouldn't have to do it. No one seems to understand that despite really wanting and needing to learn to drive, it scares the shit out of me. I'm serious. I put driving on the same level as spiders. I think I can get behind the wheel and do through the motions if I need to; same as if I see a spider I can kill it instead of screaming. But I don't like doing it, it makes me feel icky, and I often have nightmares about it after the fact.

And Scott said he wants me to have more confidence-- not just with driving, but with all that I do. And so I'm talking to [livejournal.com profile] shockman tonight, trying to give HIM a pep talk, and I end up thinking "Why is it so easy for me to give advice and try and help others to be confident, but I can't be confident myself?" Being in the car with Scott really stressed me out, to the point where I did cry (when he wasn't in the car). I had this big goal to have my license before New Year's, and I really don't see that as happening. I know I need to practice more, but I can't always rely on Scott; he'll be gone before the end of the month, and Baba and Grandpa will probably not let me touch their car. And to save up for a car of my own would be totally time-consuming, and is NOT one of the things I want to think about right now. I'd rather worry about getting into Study Abroad and paying for that!

Anyway, I've been in a holiday mood today... which is nice. I think I'll replace some of my older 100 icons with some of my own, made with fanart by Lin Kuruzu (pnayshoujo69 on DeviantArt) and touched up to be wintery. The question is, what is wintery? Ice? Snow? Peppermints? Glittery lights? Help me out here! I have a few fics overdue for [livejournal.com profile] ygo_lyricwheel and for [livejournal.com profile] yuugiouxmasfic. But I have to work on my submission for Creative Writing, because my group is way behind, and I have 20 some-odd pages to condense down. The story ("Goodbye, Hello, Who Are You?") still won't be finished, but it will be a better, polished version that takes into account everyone's notes and such. So I have to get to that now. Since I was absent on Thursday, I might have to memorize some Japanese, but also do some reading and writing.

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we've never spoken) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you.


Any updates and stuff that I do between now and later will be posted... well, later.
Ja~
azurite: (seto needs a hug)
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I expect "great" things from you... :P

Uggggh, Mer doesn't feel well. Frozen over ravioli with badly melted Parmesan = not happy. Oh, that and four hours of sleep. But yay to the fact that:
a) all of the governator's propositions were soundly defeated, with the majority of my hometown (San Fran!) doing the dirty work! Yay for the Bay!
b) I got an A on my last story; 4 more points than the highest I scored on my other stories with A-'s.
c) I got a ride home from a grateful Esmeralda, who got an A- with our work!
d) I'm 2/3 done with HP4: GOF. I'm reading faster than I should, but it is my favorite book, and I LUBS IT!
e) after tomorrow, I will have a one day break... Friday I might get to sleep in a tad, but then I'm helping Scott with a shoot, then I have my driving lessons from 3-5, and I'll probably go to anime club out of sheer boredom (unless I can significantly distract myself by trying to beat Via Infinitio again)
f) Saturday: KING TUT! I don't know where I'm going to get the money from, so I guess it's time to sweet talk the Grandparents. Needless to say, I hate borrowing money from anyone, so I'm hoping that on Nov. 15 I get that job at Red Robin and paychecks start coming my way. I won't get my FinAid check till the middle of January at the earliest. Boo! How am I going to get anyone Christmas presents!?
g) I planned out the rest of my classes according to what I can actually take and what actually works for my GEs, plus or minus a few courses for 80/65, and the upper division GEs rule. But I have several semesters worth of classes planned out, so yay.
h) I got someone to critique my essays for Study Abroad! Now to make the changes and pester more people to check them out (I posted them here on LJ... help me out by reading them, please!)

*yawn* I am tired. I am going to bed. I will do the critiques for Creative Writing tomorrow morning, before school. And I will likely eat Maple Pecan Crunch again, because I LIKE IT.
azurite: (pretear where are you?)
I went to Graumann's Chinese Theatre with Scott for the first time last night, and I saw Jarhead. It wasn't as great as I would have expected, but I liked it. And I'm obsessed with that song they use in the trailer, but I can't figure out who it's by! And it doesn't look like the soundtrack will come out until December. o_O

I liked the movie just because I sort of connected with so much of it. I feel stupid saying it, but ROTC really did mean a lot to me, even if I did end up quitting in the beginning of my junior year. But it was an adventure, and a memorable one at that. Even despite the yelling, the demerits, the stress, and the getting-rained-on during the Veteran's Day parade, I think it was worth it. I can still left flank, right flank, double to the rear, MARCH! with the best of them! ^_~ And it was fun seeing Camp Pendleton on the silver screen. Heh. Remember when we went there, [livejournal.com profile] cutieme4u?

It was quite cool how Scott and I went on this "date" like adventure in Hollywood, and Scott was a total fluffball all night. ^_^ I like it, and I hope it doesn't mean he'll be an asshole this week (or at any time in the future). He also treated me to popcorn, a drink (which we shared), and a milkshake at In-N-Out once we got back to Northridge. Not being the type to throw a good night down the drain, I ended up staying over at his house. *wink wink* So all in all, a pleasant weekend that ended today on a good note.

I slept in as soon as I got home (around 11:30am), worked on some fanfic (WDKY22 is currently 62K, which bodes well for all of you that like your chapters looooong) and tinkered around with some homework... my magazine cover for VComm (underwent a new revision, needs some tweaking still, along with sample "articles"), my facilitator packet for Creative Writing (just have to read some critiques and grade them), and then 2 new analyses for CW. Tomorrow is just Japanese and Mythology; I remember the dialogues best when I read them in the morning, and I already posted a lengthy submission on Poseidon and Apollo for Mythology. :)

Did I mention that I passed my permit exam for Driver's Ed, and I scheduled my 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training for the weeks to come? I feel like a bit of a baby, being 20 and not having a license yet, but at least I'm on the way there! Whoo! I hope I do well and don't clam up and get scared when I actually have to take the test... and I wonder whose car I'll use? Both Dad and Scott have said they'll help me out between practice sessions with Driver's Ed Direct, though.

I'm also working on 3 pieces of fanart:
* Happy 2nd Anniversary, WDKY! (also the thank-you art for [livejournal.com profile] winterwing3000, my 1000th reviewer, and the base for her SxA custom icon from me)
* The White Rose Gang/The Royal Azureshippers (me [The Fog Princess], [livejournal.com profile] rhapsody_dragon [The Prophet of Mist], [livejournal.com profile] guardian_kysra [The Hentai Goddess], [livejournal.com profile] atlantian_magic [The Steam Queen], [livejournal.com profile] geniusgirl [The Vapour Marquis], and [livejournal.com profile] winterwing3000 [Needs A Name!])
* Special fanart for WDKY (My lips are sealed!)
azurite: (atemu's determined)
Today's The Big Day. I finished Japanese and managed to breeze through my dialogues and response drills; next is facilitating some poetry readings and responses in Creative Writing. Easy enough. Then comes hand therapy at 2:45 (I hope whoever I get is nice...), and my written DMV test at 4:10. Watch as I kick ass and take names!

Tomorrow? I'll go to Red Robin and anime club. Phil's a bit of a prick for changing his mind twice about whether or not the club should participate in the natural high fair, and supposedly we're going to try and set up a table to do origami-- if it's not too late. The fair is about 10 days away by now...

In any case, if I do get the Red Robin job, I can say goodbye to Friday nights. As I thought with last semester, I don't think there's too much I'm going to miss. Alas, Ben is gone. There's no one else there that captures my attention, and everyone there either takes me for granted, treats me poorly, or ignores me. Besides, if I make server and I get $400 in tips every weekend, do you think I'm going to give a rat's ass about ANIME club? Shit, I'll be able to buy anime from Japan on DVD, or get boxed sets from Suncoast and stuff! I'm sure there's some way I can keep up on fansubs... Hmm, I wonder if there's an RSS for d-addicts and animesuki?

I think I fixed [livejournal.com profile] betasquad's security problem, though. I edited two of my past entries to be friend's only, but to test and see if I really made all the entries community-only and not just friend's only, I need someone on my friends list who is NOT a member of [livejournal.com profile] betasquad to go to the community and tell me what they see. I would really appreciate some help, guys!

Also, I can't get my layout to work right. Anyone have experience tinkering with layers, because I checked it out yesterday, and they changed the editing system for S2 when I last used it, and I am lost! I tried contacting [livejournal.com profile] unfloopy, who made the 3-columns layout, but I can't get ahold of her.

Time to work on some critiques!
azurite: (yuna wasted)
Okay, so I'm stepping up my process for going to Japan again, be it through study abroad, internship, or post-graduation, as a career to teach English. I have to admit, with Scott having interviewed for NOVA (and possibly GEOS or ECC coming up in the future), I kind of lost my thunder and mojo for the job that had been my dream for a while.

I still really want to go back to Japan, I'd love to interact with people, immerse myself in the culture, and even live there for a while... my desire to be an International/Foriegn Affairs journalist is still strong, so I'm going to go for it!

I have Takase-sensei my Study Abroad recommendation form today; she should have enough time to get to know me and fill it out (it's a short form) by Thanksgiving. I'm also going to give one form to Professor Salido, since she's already known me a year, and I need a letter from a teacher in my major. If worse comes to worse, I can also try asking Professor Blumenkrantz, the VComm teacher who likes to pick on me :P

There's a Study Abroad Fair today at school; I picked up some info on the JET Programme. The Japanese director/coordinator here at CSUN happens to be a JET interviewer and a professor I will likely have next semester for my minor/Japanese courses. So I'm getting prepared now! JET recommends taking the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foriegn Language) test, and they do have courses here at CSUN taught by Oxford Seminars (and others in the area, I'm sure), but the cost is a whopping $800! You can get minor discounts if you register early, but the next week-long session coming up is in January, and I don't know when I'll be getting my second financial aid check (though it WOULD be able to cover the cost of said course). Does anyone know about any cheaper certification courses for the TEFL? On that note, how long does certification last? Should I not bother getting it now?

Professor B also passed along some info from the State Department about internships... how cool, working for the CIA! :O Or something like that, anyway. I had to email myself the PDFs though; they're over 40 pages long!

I have to get going to Mythology class now... we have a quiz. Hopefully when that's over I can come back here to the library, catch up on my driver's ed, do some VComm reading, get some lunch, and head to my next class at 2pm... I still have to figure out if I'll be missing some VComm or canceling the workshops I registered for a while back, for the Leadership Institute. Same goes for my WRP2 class... I'd only miss an hour of both classes at most, but still, I only have those classes once a week... >_>

I'd also like to mention that the story of FFX/X-2 is melting my brain. I'm confused about how Sin appeared, what Yevon has to do with anything, who picks the Guardian that becomes the sacrifice that becomes the big bad, what summoners actually do... and all this jazz. I think I'll post a what-I-know story over to [livejournal.com profile] fanthropology later on today.
azurite: (anzu & kaiba play the bondage game)
Well, I never thought *I* would be doling out sex advice to anyone. But there's a first time for everything I guess, and in retrospect, it made me laugh.

I took my Japanese Lesson 4 test today; not bad, but the fact that I cut off circulation to my fingers (accidentally, mind you) had be feeling a bit weird about writing. I still haven't turned in my Reading and Writing for Lesson 4; I wonder if she'll still accept it? >_> Probably not, considering we get our grades tomorrow... Ugh.

NO ONE (not a single person) has gone to [livejournal.com profile] betasquad and said A THING about WDKY19. With WDKY, I'm very apprehensive about posting without a beta; even moreso for this chapter. Volunteers? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? (Old jokes die hard.)

Scott got back from San Francisco; he supposedly had a good interview and a decent grammar test, so I'm hoping he did well and will get the job. At least, I think that's what I'm thinking. I'm not really sure... see, we don't have an established "relationship" of sorts. It's not exactly platonic, but... Well, let me put it this way: I don't always think of him, I don't always define myself or the things I want to do/places I want to go with him, and I don't always feel some obsessive compulsive need to call him, hear from him, or see him every day. But occasionally, I do wonder.

And while it's nice to know that he really respects and admires me (and "loves" me in that weird way of his), I don't know if that's what I want, or if I can even GET what I want. Imagining scenarios in my head again will only lead to heartbreak, so I'm trying not to. But no matter what happens, he'll be leaving somewhere, at some time, and then what? Argh!

My Horoscope for today: A long-term period of great big dreams has fallen upon us all. In your case, the matter involves relationships, and in particular, on deciding whether a certain platonic or business attachment should stay that way.

Yeah, like that makes me feel any better.

Ooh, pretty meme with decent questions! )

On the bright side, I did win both eBay auctions for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and FFX-2: International + Last Mission. Part of me wishes I could see the original Japanese FMV, where Yuna actually turned INTO Lenne, and she sang 1000 Words solo, but! alas, that's Japanese version only. I wonder if some site has it online... I spent much of yesterday hunting around various FAQs sites looking for all the extra data I need to make this New Game + worth it... and that includes getting all the garment grids I can possibly get (I sided with the Youth League again... geez, the attitude of the Yevonites mekes me sick!). So I'm trying to get The End by oversouling all the monsters I can. I have a checklist, and so far, I've encountered all but 3 of the monsters that CAN be oversouled (non-oversoulable monsters don't appear on Shinra's Bestiary list, right?), and I have maybe 20 or so that NEED to be oversouled.

Too bad it's not by Enemy Type... because I have to face Concherer again (evil ugly tongue thing) in Via Infinito. Which means not only do I have to face whatever type Concherer is until I face him/her/it, but when I do face Concherer, s/he/it has to oversoul... which may or may not make it harder to beat. Concherer is a pain in the ass, if you recall my previous entries on the subject.

Anyway, I'm still at 94% complete in Chapter 2... I think that remaining 6% comes from the Den of Woe, correct me if I'm wrong... >_> I also have to get moving on the Publicity and Matchmaking Campaigns. I always forget about those. Publicity: score = 40, Level = 1 - Matchmaking: score = 16, Level = 1.

Because I'm a nice girl, I'll put this freakishly obvious HPB/Harry Potter 6 spoiler behind a cut )

Yu-Gi-Oh fans, go check out [livejournal.com profile] playthedamncard, because someone posted a mini-drama of the Prince of Tennis' Inui (same VA as Kaiba) interviewing TeniPuri's Ryuzaki (a girl with a crush on PoT main character Echizen).. anyway, "Inui" says that when he takes off his glasses (which he doesn't even do in front of his parents) he becomes... Kaiba-shachou! Complete with maniacal laugh. It's great.

On Madonna and angry rabbis: Some rabbis are upset because Madonna's next album features a song called "Issac," which is (supposedly) about a 16th century rabbi. It's against Jewish law to profit off the name of a holy rabbi. Madonna, like many other celebrities, is a practicioner of Kabbalah, a sort of sub-set of Judiasm that's branched off into a whole new sect of its own. It's become a bit glorfied, if you ask me, but I'm sure there are still devoted, true believers out there.

Personally, I think the rabbis are on the wrong. They think that Madonna should be expelled from the community and that she will suffer divine retribution. I think if Madonna felt the need to write the song in the first place, she could say her inspiration came from God, and therefore he wouldn't punish her for telling Issac's story/singing about him. Also, all artists in general have their own beliefs, and they express it in different ways. Did anyone rag on Da Vinci for painting Jesus? (Maybe...) But still, why should someone be expelled from a religious community for expressing their beliefs through their art? How many other people do you know would even want to inform the masses about Issac, anyway? I haven't heard the song though, so who knows?

On Yu-Gi-Oh, paganism, and satanism: It's an anime!!! (I'm tempted to throw "chrissake" and "Geez" out there repeatedly, knowing full well what they mean) I wish people didn't get so worked up over named like "Sorcerer of the Doomed" or the shape of the Seal of Orichalchos (which changed from the original Japanese, mind you!). Kids that get into dueling (and older fans, including myself), regardless of their religion, are not TEH EBIL!

Check it out:
A forum post on XeroCreative (makers of Yu-Gi-Oh Virtual Desktop)
Yu-Gi-Ho!?

The latter page infuriates me, not just as an ardent fan of the show and anime in general, but a pagan. I hate people who identify paganism as the worship of false idols or false gods. That definition comes from YOUR dictionary, not mine, BUSTER! And who's to say your gods are any truer or better than mine!? I have friends that are very religious or very unreligious, and while I love a good debate, if they say something that doesn't sit well with me and it DOES NOT require my commentary, I will withhold it. Religion does not have to interfere with friendship, having fun, or watching anime. -_-;

Anyway, I've been neglecting Driver's Ed, so I'm going to work on that for the next 50 minutes or so, until I have to go to Mythology. Quiz 2 tomorrow, which means I have lots of reading and note-taking to catch up on. No gym for me today; I think I'll try and see Marta in the Studies Abroad department, and then walk home. X_X It's going to be got though, so that means I'll need to take off my sweater... And...

I'm not wearing a bra. Ooh, I'm a rebel!
azurite: (Default)
My body picked a lousy time to catch cold and have my period. I've been feeling like I'm walking on another planet all day long-- gravity must be sucking me into the center of the Earth. If that meant a free ride to Japan without worrying about molten magma, I'd be all for it, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

I've been so sleepy, I've actually done what I thought was unthinkable-- I not only fell asleep in mythology class (I missed the entire lecture about how Sigmund Freud connects to the Electra complex) but I went to the library afeter class and conked out on the 4th floor near my locker. It was only an hour nap, and I didn't really feel all that better afterward. But I was okay after visual communications; I went and grabbed some lunch with my requisite iced tea, and now all is well. I still feel a bit tingly and weird and out of it, but at least I'm not passing out and drooling all over my keyboard.

ATTENTION SAN FRANCISCO-ITES! Yeah, I'm talking to YOU, Stephanie, Eva, Lindsay, and everyone else whose names I can't remember or whose user SNs aren't accessible to me now! Go sign up for the schools feature here on LJ! It's so quick and easy, you just search for all the schools you've ever gone to/are attending, and it automatically sorts you by username. You can input the years you attended and all that fun stuff, and even see other LJ users associated with your schools. I've already added mine: CSUN, Lafayette (EVA!!!!!), Presidio (EVERYONE!!!) and Wash House (zOMGcleanlaundry!) so you hop to it! Besides, I wanna know who else I know here on LJ that went to any of my schools... *peers*

Also, I wanted to randomly show up in San Francisco from 10/7-10/9, since Scott's going to be there anyway for his NOVA or GEOS interview... not that he'd stay with me or even have time to spend with me, mind you, but if he's going, I could use it as an excuse to go to. I know that doesn't make sense, just trust me on this one. But of course, since it's only 2 wks. before that departure time, tickets are expensive! $214 min. on SWA, and $260 on JetBlue (which, for some stupid reason, only flies from Long Beach to Oakland, and not Burbank to Oakland, even though Oakland is its Northern California major way-station. Durrrr, DUMB!). Hm... wish I could go...

I'm having trouble finding a speech to go to for Story #2 for WRPII. The ones at CalTech already ended; besides, Pasadena's too inaccessible on the weekends. There are supposed to be some Executive Speakers coming here, but I'm not sure if they've already made their speeches in the past week (when they started) or not, and even if they didn't, would I be allowed/able to go? The speech I'm interested in going to is by CBS Studio Center president Michael Klausman, but he's speaking primarily to Cinema, Television and Arts students-- which is in my college, but it's not my department. There's also a speaker from NASA's Mars rover program this Friday at 7:30pm, but that would mean missing Anime Club and possibly my 2nd cousin Joey's (oops, call him JOE now, he is 20!) birthday party-- if he wants to have one. Grr! And the story is due Oct. 5th! What do I do?!

...Hmm, there was a thing downstairs about the opening of the Guitar Research Archives here at the Oviatt, but I don't think that's the kind of speech I'm looking for. Besides, it's rather impromptu and more about performances than information, so I think I'll pass (and spend another hour here on the comp! :P)

Someone on the eFiction board helped me look at a problem Dragonfayth was having on its new modded Authors page; I've been tinkering with some of the mods offered there, and one of the people is named 'Lazuli.' o_O No relation to OUR Laz, right, [livejournal.com profile] smrff!? o_O Anyway, what the new mod does (or is supposed to do) is differentiate between Authors (people who have submitted stories) and Members (people who sign up to read fics and recommend fics, not write them).

I'm sure there are all sorts of other mods that I would like to implement; as they're a lot more feasible for eFiction than InkTank, I'd like people to check out the list over at http://efiction.wallflowergirl.com/forums, under Mod Releases. There are about 3 pages of mods, 2 or so individual mods of which I've implemented already. The full release list (not sure whether this includes all mods and requests, or just completed/tested mods) is located here: http://efiction.wallflowergirl.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=875.

Go check it out, mmk?

So apparently I can only study driver's ed at school (which I like doing, because I don't have the distraction of my MP3s, fanfiction, chatting, the television, my grandparents, food, or my bed) on the WHITE GST computers here in the Collaboratory. o_O I wonder why? Anyway, I'm almost done with Lesson 3 of... er, I think it's 10 or 11. Sure, that's not a whole lot, but I think I'm learning. I've done well on all my quizzes so far, and all the interactive lessons. Still, how do I memorize this stuff? Do I take notes? Print the pages out? ;_; Eeek! There seem to be many laws regarding feet estimates: signal 100 feet before turning, never enter a bike lane more than 200 feet from the turning corner or driveway, and stop at least 15 feet in front of a railroad crossing. How do you estimate that distance, anyway?

Also, if I'm still awake and somewhat coherent tonight, I have a short list of things to do:
(1) Reformat the damn laptop... again. Maybe the clean install will work better this time with more memory?
(2) Add a scene or two to WDKY19. I wanted to end it on a somewhat happy/teasing note, as I have been alternating between zOMG cliffhangers and "aww." moments lately. But I'm also neglecting other characters and relationships in the process, along with some teasers I need to work in, so I think the addition of this one scene I've been thinking about will do the fic good. I might even get doubly inspired.

I'm hoping that if all goes well and I can make it to the CTVA Exec. Speaker, then on Friday I can go to anime club as usual and FINALLY get a DVD from Phil of Adam & Joe Go Tokyo. Various specific Google and BitTorrent searches have turned up bupkis in the way of actual episodes, so it really *is* as rare as Phil said. A right shame, but he better keep his promise this time around and get me the episodes. In the meantime, I'm downloading episodes 3-9 of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, Chibi and I are arranging an exchange of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and Trick, and I need to see Last Order and probably read "The Complete Story of FFVII" or something like that on GameFAQs. Unless one of you l33t gamer guys (*stares at [livejournal.com profile] staplerx, [livejournal.com profile] zigx, [livejournal.com profile] psyjoe_dilandau etc. etc.*) wants to inform me... MMM?

Only 15 minutes till I have to leave for class, so I might as well update this and catch up on my reading for class. The good thing about WRPII is we don't have any pop quizzes or tests based on the reading-- whether or not you read shows in how fast you can get in-class exercises done and in the stories you turn in. So far, so good. I'm glad I made the decision to stay in Salido's class, even if the rest of my body is protesting today. Oy!
azurite: (love & hate - seto & anzu)
Okay, so it turns out that:
a) I have to finish up all my online courses at DriversEdDirect.com before I can take any behind-the-wheel courses
b) I can't get a license without first getting a permit, which I have to take a written exam for... which is likely going to be based on everything I learn when I finish the online courses.
So I have to finish all my online lessons before I can do ANYTHING. X_X more studying. Ugh.

But damn it all, I AM GOING TO HAVE MY LICENSE BY DECEMBER 31st!!!!


*ahem*

Now, before I head off to Mythology class today, I would like to say:
(1) I mourn for Alicia Blade. I really do. Maybe it was my age, my mind-set, or some internal Fangirl Gene that made me adore her, but... this newest fic of hers leaves me in an absolute stupor. IT SUCKS. It could be worse, granted, but I find it very hard to compare it to her older works (not that I've read any lately, so I'm really comparing it to what I remember, on the assumption that they're still good and I wasn't imagining things) and not cringe. I wish I could be the honest reviewer who doesn't use a Swedish Ego Enlarger on her, but something in me doesn't want to be the brat of the SM fandom, all over again. ^^;

(2) I am in need of some damn good hentais. Het, please, because I'm going to take my first baby steps into writing more "adult" fanfic. Violence, language, and angst I've got down- and [livejournal.com profile] kitesareevil, do you remember when I thought I couldn't write angst to save my life? *grins* Well, I think I'm pretty good at it now... *cough* Anyway, so I figure, I'll practice what I preach and do some research. I know there are steamy/lemony fics out there that I enjoyed, but now I want to re-read them and find out WHY I enjoyed them, so I can try that style for myself.

I'd especially love any lemons (or as we used to call them way the hell back when "sekkushuru romans" a term which made me think of very long white candles) from the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. Jounouchi x Mai, Yuugi x Anzu, whatever. Seto x Anzu would best, since that IS the pairing I'm writing for... *smirks* Atlantis, Kysra? Be aware, I'm going to assault your Memories and be doing intensive research on this subject.

World, watch out-- here I come! Bwahaha.
azurite: (Sinister Duckies)
Why is it every time that I listen to the Spice Girls' "Move Over(Generation X)" I get this complete AMV in my head of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX with splice-scenes of Yu-Gi-Oh interspersed in there? I mean, I can even see certain scenes:

Hold it down, feel the noise, let 'em know it's a fight, pick it up it's alive
Juudai meeting Yuugi and receiving the Hane Kuriboh card, and hearing it "talk" to him for the first time

Next phase, next stage, next grade, next wave
From different duel phases, different duel stages, different dorms, and then the gang getting washed off their rock by a wave, as in the OP theme

Every color, every creed, teach, never preach, listen up and take heed
All the different students and the various dorms (Ra Yellow, Osiris Red, Obelisk Blue) and the teachers

Take the heat, feel the flow, 'cause you're ready to burn and we're ready to go
Juudai's Elemental Heroes-- a fire-based one, and a water-based one. If not that, then someone else's monsters of similar attributes.

You gotta know the rules if you wanna play the game, respect and dedication never riding on the fame
Oh, isn't this one obvious? Rules of Duel Monsters, the revealing of Spells and Trap cards; the use of the Duel Disks. "Respect" in the form of Duelists like Yami no Yuugi and Juudai, and "Dedication" with ones like Manjyome Thunder and Jounouchi. Fame, on the other hand, might be Kaiba. ^^;

^^;; Oooh, I should do it (and at the end, have Pharaoh the Cat paw-print the screen).

Anyway, I called Dell-- and they didn't send the CDs (of course). Turns out the technicians I spoke to aren't allowed to authorize the sending of CDs; only Spare Parts can do that, but according to the lady I spoke to, it's not covered under my warranty, which means I MIGHT have to pay for it. X_X Ugh... And I also apparently did NOT do a clean install with Microsoft, when I deleted those 3 partitions from my original Dell set-up and installed Windows XP Pro on what I thought was a completely blank hard-drive/system. So I have to call them back tomorrow between 7am and 7pm Central, talk to Spare Parts, and get my bloody CDs. -_-; I have a 90-day warranty; if this doesn't pan out by the time I get the CDs (and I will give them no more than a week to get those CDs to me) then I will return the damn laptop, demand my money back, and either buy a better one someplace else, or save the money for something smarter and wiser. I guess...

Did I mention Mom paid for my driverseddirect.com courses? I'm on Lesson 2 of 7 right now, and I can schedule the first of my two-hour behind-the-wheel driving sessions at any time, but I don't know whether I should do that AFTER I've completed all the courses, halfway through, or at certain intervals. Has anyone who's taken a Driver's Ed course with behind-the-wheel done something like this? ^^;; Any advice would be appreciated, because I'm starting to get the heebie-jeebies about this, even if I am excited and determined.

I have no homework for most of my classes; Mythology is an online assignment that I'm sort of working on now; I finished my work for Journalism; there's some simple typing up for Visual Communications; I have a bit of story-writing for Creative Writing (we're getting into drama/plays now), and a skit to make up this weekend for Japanese class on Monday. Also, I might try and finish "I'm Listening" (one of my original fiction pieces) for the Northridge Review, a CSUN literary publication. :> Can I do it before Oct. 1? I have tons of reading/writing to do already...

Speaking of writing, WDKY in particular, here are some interesting factoids )

Oh yeah Mamono I had some ideas for upcoming YOT icontests (aside from the ones we already talked about). Try deciphering these words to see what I mean; otherwise, IM/email me.
* Rehash
* Grimm's Brothers
* iPod
* Gobble Gobble?
*< /insert gobbledygook here >
* [livejournal.com profile] iconfiend100
* [livejournal.com profile] 7sinvirtueicons

Oh, and could you do me a HUUUUGE favor and tag your past entries with:
* Challenges (for the challenge entries)
* Voting (for the voting)
* Results (for the results, whether or not they include banners)
* Banners (for the banners, even if they're posted with the results)
* Extension (for extended challenges)
And anything else that might be applicable?

...I have the feeling I'm forgetting something, but I can't think of what now. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow before I work (for a measly 2 hours), and then, at last! The weekend! More studying to be had on the Driver's Ed front, but that's okay. :) Soon, I'll have the whole house to myself...
azurite: (pgsm mars)
Well, today was better than yesterday, purely because:
a) I didn't embarrass myself in Japanese class and lose credit (when I shouldn't have)
b) I got to see Scott (even though he was rather difficult to get along with, let alone TALK to)
c) I woke up determined to make this day better, and I think that actually made the difference.

The downside is that I'm still very much worried about the laptop that I blew so much money on, and my current sorry state of funds. I also find myself getting bored by everything I do, lacking inspiration or motivation to do the things I want and NEED to do, and generally becoming very cynical about everything around me. I want a challenge, I want freshness. That doesn't mean I want to change my religion, rearrange my room, or start eating an all-sushi diet. But I *AM* trying to be more fit (I signed up for the gym at last and had my first workout session of this week; I would have done another today, but I thought it would be yucky to get all sweaty and then go to class), eat better (note: foods I once enjoyed make me sick now-- that's how healthy my body is!), and do things that will improve my life, even if I don't see some immediate benefit to me.

With the laptop, I'm still waiting on the Drivers and Utilities CD. It's not that I think I'm lacking much in terms of drivers; all the necessary devices work just fine. But I do want to have all the original Dell programs that were likely included in the cost of my laptop (Norton and WordPerfect excluded), and the Owner's Manual. I also wonder if maybe some obscure driver NOT listed in the Device Manager has something to do with why the computer is so sporadically slow to shut down, open up some programs, or download email. Worse, when I try to use Firefox on my laptop now, I get the browser with the title bar of the webpages, but no tabs, no screen-- just white! It's freaking me out, and I don't know what to do.

I'm also waiting on my new Kingston 1 GB memory chip (which I paid a lot for, so it better damn well make a difference), my PS2 (I pray that it got to Dave okay; he hasn't emailed me back yet), and a bank statement, because WaMu online is being a bitch.

I want to have more time to myself, to actually SLEEP, perhaps get some more writing/work (icons!) done, webpage design, and the inevitable CLEANING OF ROOM. The right side of my room is all paperwork; the leftside is all clothes that need to be put away or hung up. ;_;

When I finally DO finish my icon sets for [livejournal.com profile] iconfiend100 and [livejournal.com profile] 7sinvirtueicons I want to pimp them over at the usual places: [livejournal.com profile] goodygoicons and the like. The same applies to my fics; when I release a new chapter of WDKY, I have to remember to post announcements at [livejournal.com profile] setoanzulove and [livejournal.com profile] pro_anzu_fans along with [livejournal.com profile] ygowritersguild (any others?). Same goes for the completed [livejournal.com profile] 30kisses set! X_X I really think I need to make lots of colorful to-do and checklists that are laminated or something.

I really want to be enthusiastic about October and November:

* October 1st is the all-day Clubs & Organizations Recognition Conference. Workshops and free food = fun!
* October 1st-5th, Baba and Grandpa are away in Seattle. PARTAY!
* October 3rd is the Student Development and International Programs (SD&IP) workshop for potential Study Abroad students. I plan on commanding and conquering the competition!
* October 3rd or the 13th I can apply at Red Robin. Hopefully that will lead to a new, more challenging job where I can make friends, get good pay, and learn more.
* October 30th is Daylight Savings Time-- one more hour of sleep!
* October 31st is Halloween/Samhain, my favorite holiday EVAR! If only I could come up with something cool to do/dress up as...
* November 1st-2nd, there are two Leadership Institute workshops I'd like to attend.
* November 20th is Mai's birthday, and I'd like to have several of the late 20s WDKY chapters out by then, when Mai has some pretty big, kick-ass roles.
* November 21st is Scott's 26th birthday, and even if we're not together, he is still technically the best friend I have down here, and someone very dear to me, so I want to think of something special to do/give.

There's cool stuff coming up this month, too. September 25th is both a speech about the miracles of twins (too bad it's at CalTech; I have to find a speech to attend for Story #2 for my WRP2 class), plus a scrapbooking workshop at this lady's house in Granada Hills. September 26th, Eva comes back to SoCal. September 29th, UCLA starts and Alias premieres.

The big kicker, as I kind of mentioned before, is my lack of funds. Food, clothing, treats (manga), and all the computer stuff I bought has added up, and now I don't have the $400 to take a Driver's Ed course, which I really wanted to do before December. So I sent Mom an email (early Xmas present?) and asked her to call me back, but I haven't heard from her yet. I can't ask her over the phone... ;_; If I get the money (regardless of who) I will take and pass that damn course. I want my driver's license, dammit, even if I don't have a car.

A slight update on my 30kisses )

I have to do my [livejournal.com profile] ygo_lyricwheel entry soon, plus there's (as I said before) all those icons... and hey, [livejournal.com profile] rhapsody_dragon, we need to brainstorm more themes for [livejournal.com profile] ygo_offtopicon ne? I have a good idea... ^_^;

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