MILES to GO || before I sleep

I know what it's called (mondegreen) when you mishear the lyrics to a song ("'Scuse me while I kiss this guy"), but what do you call it when you misremember the lyrics? I misremembered a line from Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive" as "chamois killing machine." WATCH OUT FOR THAT SNUGGIE!

( Long sleep, weird dreams )

I wonder what it all means? (Could me starting to have read Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" yesterday have anything to do with it? Hmm...)

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.

You Are A Green Girl

You feel most at home in a world of ideas. You're curious and logical - and enjoy a good intellectual challenge. You're super cool, calm, and collected. Very little tries your patience. Your only fear? People not realizing how smart and able you are!

( ETA: dragonfayth, dreams, food, mentality )


Which Egyptian God are you? Find out at egypt_stamping
Sorry, Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon are not valid Gods and will not be used in the results.

Today I finally got the chance to go to Japantown (although not back downtown to H&M, where I wanted to get some more clothes... *le sigh!*) since Dad called this morning and said since he didn't have a place for me to stay in Alameda overnight, he could just pick me up. Yay to that, because it means I can take more things with me than I could have if I had just gone to meet him at the Ferry Station today... actually, I thought I'd be in LA again by now, so by leaving tomorrow morning, we are cutting it a little close, since the big Passover dinner's tomorrow, and I bet Dad'll be tired from the drive.

In any case, I'm glad I got to go shopping and enjoy a crepe at Sophie's. Truthfully, there wasn't much in the way of manga that I wanted. I almost bought all of the current releases of Skip Beat!, but a) I have many of those volumes in Japanese already and b) I can probably get a discount by buying them en masse at Borders in Northridge, rather than Kinokuniya. Still, I ended up buying a new "DIY: Design-It-Yourself" book that looks kind of interesting, and the two Sailor Moon S and SuperS DVD boxed sets from the Japantown Video Store.

...And, as the subject line says, they're faker than... well, the most fake thing you can think of. Sad thing is, I halfway knew it even before I put the money down for them, because I noticed several things:
(1) The wrong cover for both of them (which I knew from looking at the eBay guide to spotting fake SM DVDs)
(2) Bad spelling on the covers
(3) "MEPG-2" format listed on one box (though so far they play in my DVD player)
And then when I finally bought them and cracked open the plastic, it was "waxy cardboard" with glued-in (albeit not too sloppily) DVD holders, and the covers of the Uncut SMS DVDs (since that was the one I started with) inside, rather than individually-sleeved DVDs or anything like that. Then the back of the DVDs said the most incriminating thing of all: Made in Taiwan.

So they're fake, but I got so fed up of trying to find the legit things through legit channels (and I surfed a lot-- I went to all the DVD sites I knew of, anime stores, C&C Central here in S.F., Pioneer's own website, and countless other places), so when I saw the boxed sets for right there, I grabbed them. I paid $162 for them both, which is probably a rip-off, all things considered... and I *am* halfway tempted to tell Mom to try and return them for me (even though I know the store has a policy of no refunds on opened DVD boxes), but then I would not only NOT have the money (because again, I doubt the store would refund to my credit card, and what good would $162 in Jtown store credit do me in LA?), but I wouldn't have *ANY* Sailor Moon to get my hands on.

If someone could truly promise me a legit source of SMS and SMSS, I'd gladly fork over the money, because I believe in supporting the original creators of a series whenever and wherever possible. But sometimes distributors here on this coast make it awful hard. I'm not saying they should perpetually renew licenses, but I do think for things as big as SM, it would pay to do "anniversary editions" or something if they could. Who knows how relations are now between all the big companies, anyway...

I checked out the first episode of S, and aside from a few lines of dialogue getting unsubtitled, they're not too bad. I even tested the English audio track, and sure enough, it's the annoying S-dub I remember getting glimpses of back when it was on Cartoon Network. I think the main menu is supposed to be animated and a bit crisper looking than it is, but aside from those few peeves, I guess everything's all right.

I've been feeling kind of ill off and on this whole week, which sucks (and is at least partially my excuse for not having caught up on my Japanese, bad girl that I am). Tonight after Mom, Gary, and I saw "Zodiac" at the 1000 (I think only ONE person from when I worked there is still there now, and he didn't see me), we went to Mel's near Parker (or whatever that street before the old Coronet is called), and I couldn't even finish a whole half of a grilled cheese. Admittedly, I had a Kid's Pack of popcorn and a soda at the theatre, but still, I was hungry after the fact... it's been like that for days, where I feel hungry, and I can even feel my mouth watering, but I just can't eat. The thought alone almost makes me nauseous. I don't know why though. It's not like I *want* to not eat, to lose weight (I'm already underweight or on the low-end scale of "normal" for my height), or anything. And I hate wasting food.

I felt so shitty yesterday, I thought for sure it was some form of hangover from my one lousy mango margarita (admittedly, I think it really *WAS* a whole pint), and Mom was saying something about how tequila isn't exactly a trustworthy liquor, but... who knows? My whole body's just on the fritz.

It's been nice being back here in S.F., in a way, and I do wish I could stay longer and help out more, see more people, and get more done (both doing stuff-wise and finishing things that should have already been done a while ago-wise). But I do sort of look forward to the big Sweet family gatherings. Shaina I know is going to want to trim my hair and probably pluck my eyebrows, but that's about as far as I'll let her go. I honestly think my time is better spent catching up on homework. Now that I don't have to worry about people butchering the computer (because the PC really isn't my problem anymore; I only use it for the rare PC games I have the random urge to play), they can park themselves on it and I won't care. Wireless is nice... :D

That said, I better try and sleep, since I will be waking up in less than 6 hours to shower. But I guess I can always sleep in the car ride back to LA.

Oh yes, and my birthday is in 7 days. :D :D :D :D :D

Okay, so I've been religiously checking my WaMu account back in the States everyday for the past week, to see if that transfer I made from my last paycheck cleared. Well it did today, as promised by the girl at the post office. And of course, WaMu took $10 from it as a fee (and I'd paid something like $23 just to MAKE the damn transfer in the first place. Geez, how useless!). But hey, the money's in there, and it's enough to pay for the rest of Hong Kong.

Here's my pickle.
(1) If I go to the post office today, withdraw the money I need (about 63,000 yen) and pay for the trip today, I will have something like $40 left in my bank account. I have $25 in Savings. That's it. But I have to pay for the trip by 12/5 (Tuesday), or lose it all.
(2) I have a $121 phone bill to pay by 12/10.

BUT!
(1) I do get paid on the 8th. If I go to the post office and make a transfer again, I *MIGHT* be able to pull something off... this time I actually know the Bank Code, so theoretically I could do a wire transfer. But wire transfers STILL might take up to 5 days, and even if American and Japanese banks/post offices are open on Saturdays (for a limited time compared to weekdays, aka "business days"), the money might not get there in time for me to pay my phone bill.

(2) Dad said he'd help me out after I emailed him, but he didn't say when or how much he'd put in. And while I could easily ask Mom, I've ALREADY DONE THAT, and for a SHITLOAD of money, and I DO NOT WANNA DO IT AGAIN.

The bright side is that any leftover money I have from the next 2 paychecks I'm going to get, I'm saving for the actual trip to Hong Kong (food, transportation, etc). Of course I also have to save some for my December (and possibly portion of January) bill for Yahoo! BB, since I only get the first two months (October and November) free. I don't expect it to be much, but that doesn't mean I can go out and buy Louis Vuitton purses and Prada key holders.

GAAAH, WHAT DO I DO!?

At last, the San Francisco recap post... assuming I can actually remember most of what happened.

Saturday, July 15th - Scott came over around noon, not long before our shuttle was supposed to have arrived. He was originally going to come over earlier, except his friend Brett got a job back down in San Diego, and since all of their other mutual friends were off partying, Scott decided to help him pack up, so he stayed the night in Burbank. It was weird for him to already be near the airport where WE needed to be, just to come 20 miles up north so he could take a shuttle BACK DOWN to Burbank, but oh well. :P

It was awkward at first, but the shuttle arrived soon enough and we were off. After wandering out the paltry selection of stores and restaurants (read: less than half of each) in the United/American Airlines terminal, we sat down and had some snacks, at which point it was silently "decided" that to hell with it, call us whatever you will, we are what we are and we feel the way we do, so screw it. So yes, I suppose we were acting like boyfriend and girlfriend, even if that "definition" hardly applied to us. He was very sweet and affectionate to me, and even though initially I was scared of that meaning I would have a harder time of saying goodbye to him when the time came (Peace Corps taking him to Central Asia, me going to Japan), I'm not stupid enough to deny affection and attention when it's offered and WANTED.

We managed to get to San Francisco just fine; the plane was horribly small and the drink selection terrible (Pepsi! EEEUCK!), but at least we made it on time. We took the BART (I got a little lost at the SFO station) to Daly City, and bought a 7-day passport at the airport for $24/each. Then we took the 28 to Fulton and met my mom at the house. :} We hung around for a while, got dressed, and then headed out to downtown, where we'd take another BART to West Oakland to go to the Fire Arts festival. Aside from the usual loonies hanging around at the BART station, there was no problem. We got off at our stop and, just as dad said, we knew immediately where to go-- right toward the pillar of fire.

*grin* The Fire Arts festival is something my dad raved about last year, hosted by The Crucible, a fire-arts school that focuses on things like metalwork, electric work, glass blowing, and the like. We had to work our way through a windy, twisty line, but at last we made it in -even though a group of snotty bitches cut us in line. I hate that! I really do! But anyway, we got in, met my dad at the bar, and then looked around. The first thing I noticed was DDR on a wide projection screen, so we headed over there-- and sure enough, they were doing something called "Dance Dance Immolation," a modified version of Stepmania with "fire" themes. The modes were renamed (Light was Burner, Standard was Raver, and Heavy became Asshole; the description of the latter was "Your arcade misses you") and the gauge became a danger thermometer-- you know, like you see on nuclear reactors, or on the modified DeLorean in Back to the Future part III?

We watched a few people in flame retardent suits attempt to DDR, but needless to say, they all sucked. No one seemed to know what DDR was or how to play it... so when the event coordinator walked around and asked for volunteers, I surprised myself by speaking up. I was wearing leather pants and a vinyl tube top and 3-4" Tommy Hilfiger leather boots, but I shimmied out of the tube top and into a red cotton sleeved shirt, and after much waiting and confusion about suit sizes, I was up there, an oxygen tube strapped to my back, a silver suit concealing my identity... and I DDRd while flames shot in my face.

I shit you not. FLAMES. IN MY FACE.

The guy I was playing with said he'd DDRd before, but we agreed to let each other pick songs. But they'd renamed all the submenus too, so I couldn't find the song I wanted, so I got stuck with Mobo*Moga or something for my first song. I aced it anyway. ;} I got Breakdown for the second song, and aced that, but by the third stage, I was so tired from the heaviness of the suit and my sore feet, I started to stumble while playing Butterfly. The guy controlling the game refused to let me do any speed or step modifiers, saying "This isn't DDR, this is Dance Dance IMMOLATION!" And immolation is right, because even though I still did okay on Butterfly, I got flames in my face plenty of times. It wasn't until the suit was off that I realized how grateful I was for the oxygen tube. I was sweating terribly but DAMN that felt good!

Not too many people can say they aced DDR while flames shot in their face. :D Boo yeah, baby.

( Read more... )

Happy Birthday Nightbringers!


Geez, airplanes are confusing. So I finally got the tickets to Hawaii... but the cheapest flights leave from SFO. So Mom doesn't have to think much about getting to the airport; she can either take Bart or have Gary give her a ride. Me, though? I have to take a plane to take a bus to take a train to take a plane! In other words, go from Burbank to Oakland, from Oakland Airport via AirBART to the Bart station, then BART to SFO. Then from SFO, I meet up with Mom, and we take a 6:10pm plane to Hawaii. Though the flight is 5 hours long, we get there by 8pm. :D

So I printed out all these itineraries for myself for both sets of flights. I've also got to take Southwest back from Oakland once Mom and I get back to SFO, but it can't be the same night, because no planes seem to run after 10pm! So I'll stay at the house for a night, get back on the bus/train/plane deal again the next day, and be back home in SoCal by the following afternoon.

Still, this is after a week of luaus, shopping, beach combing, snorkeling, and other assorted fun activities. I already booked 2 passes for a 6 hour luau with dinner, a welcome breakfast orientation, and a book of coupons to print out beforehand. I have to remember to call this company and find out the exact times, and if pickup is available from the Sheraton Waikiki. Then I also have to remember to print my coupons 3 days from now. o_o;

BUT YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! *sings* Spring break, spring break! (For the record, this is damaging me a little over $1200. Good thing I get paid from the bookstore on Friday, and next month's paycheck from ITR should be substantially more than the one I just got yesterday.) Mom also still owes me something like $800 for the remainder of the laptop, so I'm hoping she'll be treating me to a shopping spree while we're there. ^^; Hey, what? It IS my 21st birthday. :P

AAAAAAAND, best of all, Scott's going to be here in 50 minutes or thereabouts! *squeal* I have to act professional. *hem hem* I don't know what to do! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Black Magician Girl


Which Yu-Gi-Oh Girl Character are You? ()Includes Pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh yes: Look into my window, what do you see?

Six years ago today-- on a Saturday, too, in fact, I got the worst news a ten year old could receive in her life. My half-sister Michelle died six years ago, and it changed who I was forever. I'm a different person because of it-- for better or for worse, and for the first time in all that time, I went to the place where she died.

It's called Land's End, and is basically a rounded cliffside that drops-- over 200 feet-- right into the Pacific Ocean. When Michelle died, it was shocking... unexpected, to say the least. She might have only been my half-sister, but she meant the world to me, and I had a hard time expressing it, because I was so childish. Like all people who lose someone, I had a million and one regrets-- things I wish I could have said, or could have taken back. I wish I could have apologized for that stupid argument the night before, wished I could have thanked her for all she'd ever done for me, and told her, above all, that I loved her.

Six years later, I'm still sad, but I guess the need to hide my sadness and loneliness isn't so great. My sister was the only one I could relate to about a lot of things, was the only one I could talk to when I had problems with boys, or mom, or my own friends. My mom didn't understand any of that.

When Michelle died, I felt the need to be strong for my mom-- not show any weakness. People passed by us, offering their apologies and condolences, but it all seemed so empty then. I kind of get irritated even now, when people get nervous just *asking* me about my sister, or when they do find out about her dying, say "sorry," as if it were their fault. I suppose it's only natural to react that way, since people who haven't experienced loss at such a young age (Michelle was only 19) don't know what to say-- they couldn't have known how it felt.

Over the years, there's a lot of things I wish I could talk to Michelle about... things I wish I could simply ask her, or maybe tell her. It tears at my conscience to try and imagine her voice in my head, and not come up with anything solid. All I have are memories, and they mean so much to me, good and bad alike.

When my sister died, there only seemed to be two people in my life who cared that *I* had lost someone too- my dad and my then-crush/boyfriend (if you can call it that in 5th grade, but that's another story), Chris. Chris is probably in Santa Cruz right now, doesn't even remember what DAY this is-- and we parted on bad terms, so I can't expect anything on his end. But I do kind of wish, even with all the hostility between my father and I that he would have called me today.

Even if he doesn't, in the last forty-five minutes there are LEFT of this day, I know that I take comfort in at least knowing that I *have* a father, whether he talks to me, thinks about me, cares about me at all, or not. I hope that he does call me one day-- or maybe write.

I know my sister didn't like him much-- even convinced me several times that my father was a downright bad person-- but now that both of them are out of my life, and Michelle is gone on a permanent basis, I can't help but want to talk to my father. If something happened to him, I'd still feel loss... regardless of us not talking in so long.

I'm glad my boyfriend was with me today. I found myself apologizing and saying thank you more times than I thought I would, and I especially thought he'd be uncomfortable with the whole idea of being with me on a day that held significance only for my mother and myself. We took a long walk all the way past the beach to Land's End, and just sat there for a while. I'm not ashamed anymore to say that I cried... I missed my sister, was angry at the world for taking her away from me, and was angry at myself for not saying what I should have that day six years ago. But the one thing that stays in my mind-- all this time-- is that you never know how much someone means to you until they are gone.

People hear that all the time, and never take it seriously enough. But it's true. People may lose grandparents, or distant relatives who die of old age, but when someone as young and close to you as a sister is suddenly *ripped* from your life, it's a greater shock than anyone can imagine. I told my boyfriend to go home today and tell his sister that he loved her. Even if she was mad, even if it didn't sound like he meant it, it would matter to her-- it would COUNT, in the end, regardless of how many days, weeks, months, or years passed between him saying that and the inevitability of death. 'It's the thought that counts' has never had more significance than now. So, unlike my other rant-like entries, I ask you, dear reader-- go home today-- or if you are home, leave this page, get up, and find a family member. Be it a mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle... anyone. Walk up to them, hug them as tight as the both of you can stand, and tell them you love them. There doesn't need to be any celebration, or any explanation. But just telling them will make the day a bit brighter... even if it doesn't seem that way.

If you're in any kind of English class, one of the things you're bound to learn about it how some people are just evil. Classically so, in a Shakespearean sense- meaning, with no reason at all.

There are "those days" when everything goes wrong-- as Meredith Brooks and Murphy say, "and then it all goes down the drain--" all at once. I'd been desperately trying to improve my grades coming the onset of the finals-- and I had! By some miracle I had gotten the highest grade in my Japanese class on the final, and a pretty good score on my last test in ROTC. I was hoping these grades would bring my Bs up to As, so my GPA would at least be a 2.5.

I don't know about my GPA just yet, but my grades were notched up slightly because of my finals-- except in Math, which I am amazingly beginning to understand and do!

I go home, expecting to watch a movie, eat a nice fresh artichoke-- but there's no mayo! I go out to Safeway to get it and AUGH! in the mayo aisle I discover my wallet -complete with $23- is missing! I go home, praying that it fell out in the pantry or on the stairs, but with no luck. I remained in a rut for three straight days, and then when I finally called to report my ATM missing, I was told the card had already been blocked. Huh? Then, miraculously, I was told the next day that my wallet had been found! I went to the bank it was located at the next day, and I was ecstatic-- even my $23 was intact (even if my mom made me give it back to her). Earlier, I'd ordered a pizza and the people at Round Table discounted $5 from the total cost because they'd shortchanged me last time (damned delivery people who don't get English). This, of course, wasn't revealed to me until WAAAY later, and it turned out I was shortchanged (again) of $8 or so dollars-- so my next pizza is free. (Does happy dance)

My fanfictions are going great, I'm bursting with new article ideas, and I *might* (read: pray) be able to work on the March runoff elections to pay off my long-standing debt to Columbia House (jackass creditors are so deceiving!)

Ooh, and I've even come up with more fic (and song) ideas in the past three days-- a song called "Transparent Brain" (kooky, I know) and another called "Standing Here/Waitin'" and a fanfic based on what I'm learning in History known as "Sheared" for now.

I hope this semi-good-luck/mood streak continues-- I've been waiting for Friday all week long, and now that it's here, I hope everything goes well.

Things to do today: see "A Walk To Remember," or "The Majestic," preferably with Mom because she never goes anywhere or does anything with me anymore, prep for "Digital Horizon" tomorrow, and GET MONEY to pay off debt! Research colleges! Write articles! Eat healthy! Wai-wai!