MILES to GO || before I sleep

I recently spoke to a gentleman named "Itai." His last name might have been English or Welsh or something, but I've never heard of anyone named "Itai" before. It's funny because I have a splitting headache and I was thinking "Itai!" in my head, and so when this guy called, it was a bit amusing. I hope he never goes to Japan.

Got my paycheck, which means two things:
* Pay bills
* Get airline ticket to DC for August. Fares are only going up. Problem is, the rooms are only comped for 8/11 through 8/15, which means I could either a) pay an additional amount to stay on the night of the 16th and leave on the 17th (airfare's surprisingly not that different from Sunday to Monday; I already am paying $200 for a double room instead of a quad) or b) find a flight that leaves at an appropriate time on the 16th. "Appropriate time" is late afternoon or early evening, because I'd have to be there in the morning for the closing ceremonies and I want to participate in the Day of Service (and Sightseeing).

Most of the nonstop flights leaving DC are ONLY morning flights, so if I want to stick with that same plan for my return flight to the West Coast, I'd miss out on the last day (16th) of events. Since that's an icky plan, I'd rather save the money from staying an extra night (unless, of course, I could somehow get Associated Students to cover it as part of the travel expenses, but I'd rather use that for a student that wouldn't otherwise get to attend the Convention, e.g. a member that's not me) and leave the evening of the 16th on a flight that has one stop.

What do you think of Frontier airlines?

They have a semi-cheap, but there's a layover in Denver, Colorado for a few hours. I suppose I wouldn't mind the layover; it's short enough where I won't feel like I'm doing nothing, but it's not enough time to leave and explore (which might actually be fun, now that I think about it). But I'm more concerned about whether or not the airline is:
a) on time
b) the kind that loses or mishandles baggage
c) the kind that charges enormously for checked bags
d) has nice flight attendants

So, what do you think?

Also, part of the whole NSCS Convention is this Honor Gala, which is basically a formal event. I don't know how formal it is-- black tie vs....charcoal-gray tie or whatever, but I imagine ladies can't go strutting around in the same stuff they'd get away with in Vegas.

That said, I thought this dress looked divine. (What do you think? Any other suggestions for dress styles, colors, or stores to try?) The honor society's colors (and a color I look damn good in besides, if I do say so myself) is scarlet-- which is "Apple," by David's Bridal standards. I thought about adding a cute "Saffron" color sash and "peek-a-boo" slip/skirt, which would be in the honor society's colors. Cheesy yes, but I think I'd look fabulous in it. And the price isn't too bad, either. It's not like I'd be caught dead wearing my prom dress. I really ought to give that thing away to the Princess Project or something. o_O

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Southwest Airlines? I mean LUV LUV LUV.

A few things you should know (or could probably guess) about me:
(1) I am NOT a light packer; I've tried: I've failed.
(2) I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

Keeping those in mind, it's not hard to imagine that, despite having returned to L.A. prior to Thanksgiving, the stuff I brought back with me wasn't nearly enough. On the way from LAX to SFO the first time around, I got charged $25 for an overweight suitcase.

I've taken to checking in baggage because, with my back and the fact that people simply aren't courteous ANYWHERE anymore (not that I have low expectations of others, but it's easier not to assume and make an ass out of myself by whining when no one helps short little me get my bag out of the upper baggage compartment), it's just easier.

My suitcase, when full, just barely skims the 62 total inch limit-- it's 30 inches long, 20 inches wide, and around 9 inches thick. STUFFED, it can easily surpass the 62 inches, but I've never seen anyone whip out a tape measure and check my bag for that. Weighing it, on the other hand....

Anyway, I was nervous about how much my bag weighed for the trip back to L.A. today, because even though it was mostly vacuum-sucked clothes bags, I also had all my shoes, two hard drives, random books and papers, and a bag of cosmetics.

The total? 77.5 lbs! WTF!?

So I started by taking out my Jewish cookbook (it's sitting behind my CD album in my wheelie carry-on), and that knocked it down to 73.5. I didn't want to try and take out much more that wasn't flat, but was somehow still substantial enough to knock down three pounds, if only because I'd have no place to put it. I'm already hefting my PS2 and 2 stuffed animals (ssh!) as my "personal item." Thankfully, the guy at the baggage check outside was super-nice, and let me slide for the extra 3 pounds, so he said he'd have to take me inside to pay the $25 fee.

I gave the guy my WaMu debit card, because I checked the balance last night AND this morning, and there was enough in there to cover the fee (I KNEW I was going to get some fee) and my cab once I get to the Van Nuys Flyaway. But for some reason, it wasn't going through. They suggested I go to an ATM. I got to the ATM, expecting MORE fees, but it says "Card not authorized" or some shit. Freaking out (because my Macy's Visa wasn't working either, and that didn't surprise me; I owe the most on that card at the moment, and I think they've been calling me incessantly -but never leaving messages- but my payments haven't been the full amount. They've been whatever I could manage, but apparently THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH), I called my bank.

When I finally got hold of a live person, he told me that while my checking account was still open, my debit/MasterCard had been closed since NOVEMBER!? WTF!? They didn't even notify me, not even on the site, which I check fairly regularly! So I had to be transferred to another line, explain the whole situation again, and have them "reactivate" the card (with the stipulation that the "activation" might not actually take effect until midnight).

Then, by the time I got back to the SWA counter... the guy said "It's okay, go on."

NO FEE.

I LUV SOUTHWEST!

So yay to that, and yay also to the taxi ride from Van Nuys FlyAway that was cheaper than I expected. Yay to Grandpa shelling out $12 because the guy didn't want to try swiping my potentially-bad card.

NOT YAY to the fact that I may have lost my USB stick. I called Mom to see if she could spot it in the areas where I was hanging out, but she didn't see it. Then again, she was half-asleep. I'm hoping it turns up somewhere really obvious -here or there- and I can get it on my hot little hands again. I DON'T want to have somehow lost it at SFO or LAX or on the plane or in the taxi. I'll call the airports if I haven't found it within 3 days, because that particular USB drive is important, but hopefully it's extremely identifiable, WHAT WITH MY NAME PRINTED ON IT AND ALL.

Think positive, think positive.

YAY to the fact that Baba and Grandpa now have an iMac! Sure, it's a G5, but it's working pretty well! Plus Erin left all of her awesome software on it, so if for whatever reason I don't or can't use my laptop, there's this one. It's not on Leopard, but because it's a PowerPC, I can run old-school Mac programs! WHOO!

Anyway, mom's been nagging me to make sure I get enough sleep lately. My problem is that I stress too much about things (LITTLE things, both literal and figurative). I think I should just chill and be glad to be home safe and (mostly) whole. I somehow managed to scrape a piece of skin off my right hand earlier at SFO when calling WaMu. I don't know how, but it hurts. :P

Ah well. Emails to read and send, LJs to catch up on... I can only relax by feeling accomplished somehow.

I went to CSUN today. It made me feel a bit nostalgic, because even though it was REALLY FREAKIN' HOT (and I know it wasn't really, in the four years I've been here, it's been MUCH hotter than it was today; just, in recent history, today felt REALLY FREAKIN' HOT to me), it was nice to be back on campus.

The Science V building is well under-way; the Valley Performing Arts Center is a huge pile of dirt, the new second floor of the Bookstore Complex looks like the Apple Store in San Francisco (downtown) crossed with the Japantown Kinokuniya "fountain" entrance, and the new G3 parking structure is almost done-ish. The Orange Grove is beautiful with a new fountain and the relocated pond, but it does seem a bit more spaced-out than I remember. Still, there are a lot of new baby orange trees there, which is nice.

I swung by my old work-- they might actually be able to squeeze in some hours for me-- some over at the switchboard (which pays less, but at least it's something) and some with the Help Desk, but it depends. I really didn't go today asking for my job back; it was just the assumption made once I told them the Disney College Program didn't work out. But I won't say no if they do offer something, provided it's at least partially at my old work (and work rate). But I did tell by old boss I do want to go up to S.F. first, as soon as I get my financial aid check. I do want to get my books right away, and I could have applied for a $300 bookstore loan debit card, but... why do that and have to pay it back when I can pay less (a bit later), not have to pay anyone back, and get books cheaper? Yeah sure, for some of them, I won't be able to sell them back, but... well... it might be worth it! I'm just concerned that my financial aid check won't come soon enough. I would have asked about it at Financial Aid today, but the line for Admissions and Records, which I went into for my Enrollment Verification Form (necessary for my health insurance), was long enough.

After all that (and not necessarily in that order), I went to a meeting for GEOL 300, the only one of the semester. It was a simple meeting just to make sure everyone understood WebCT and explain how the quizzes and exams work; it doesn't look like it should be too hard, provided I get the book within the next week or so. With a full courseload, I don't want to be doing everything at the last minute.

The thing that happened actually had nothing to do with the class or the meeting-- as I got up to leave at the end of the meeting (which happened to be 20 minutes instead of an hour), I felt like someone has Tazered me on the left-hand side of the small of my back. For a second, I couldn't move my legs at all. I thought I might tip over, and the guy in front of me (who had turned around to grab his things) looked at me quite oddly. But then I was able to walk, but I felt REALLY WEIRD. It was basically exactly like the time in the Rossi Pool when I was 18, practicing for my swim test to graduate high school (yes, we had mandatory swim tests; I lived in San Francisco, remember? These days, a lot of things can be explained quite succinctly by saying "I grew up in San Francisco").

Needless to say, I was worried, but because I was able to walk and didn't feel any immediate, crippling pain, I continued on. Besides, I'd taken an Aleve (as Dad has me on, since he thinks aspirin and acetaminophen are useless) with my lunch from Subway, and I figured it'd kick in soon enough. My right ankle had been hurting off and on, as had my right shoulder, but I figured, again, the medicine would kick in soon enough.

I found out about a Matador Nights event up at the Satellite Student Union, so I found a way to the streets (waaaaaay at the northern part of campus, on Lassen and Zelzah) and got there in time to get some free In-N-Out. I didn't do any of the waterslides, but I did participate in a USU survey and a fun flying-money-in-the-box game to get some cute office supplies, like a mini stapler, a highlighter, a pen, and a fan. I didn't talk to anyone (conversation-wise), but it was still nice to just be back on campus, absorbing the atmosphere. But by the end of that, my ankle was back to hurting again, and even though my shoulder didn't, my back was starting to get pretty sore.

I came home and told Grandpa about what happened, and that the medicine didn't seem to be working much; he gave me a Naproxen (basically Aleve, but the prescription dose of 500 mg, instead of the OTC 220 mg), but it still didn't feel like it had kicked in after 30 minutes. In fact, my right knee down to my ankle is hurting pretty badly now; both shoulders are somewhat sore, and my lower back "kinda sorta" feels fine, but that might only be because I'm sitting upright. It's like I just can't win. I exercise (lots of walking), I take medicine, I eat well (milk! milk! more milk!), I get my Vitamin D from the sun (even though I slather on sunscreen so I don't burn, I trust I get enough with my outdoors-walking), I sleep on my own nice bed with nice sheets and nice under-bedding and such and I still hurt almost all the time.

I'm scared of being in pain almost constantly, of continuously upping the dosage of my medication, of going from OTC to prescription pill-popper (I have Vicodin, but I think my willpower's strong enough to resist taking that unless I'm in MAJOR pain; it's possible my pain threshold's changed dramatically since I first injured my back). I don't want to become some sort of a drug addict because I can't handle the pain. I'm hoping the Kaiser in Anaheim got my message about my canceled appointment and that I want them to send a referral to Kaiser in Woodland Hills. I might be here long enough to arrange for a proper Physical Therapy work-up (I refuse to see a chiropractor; they've fucked up enough people's backs throughout history; I don't need them to fuck up mine more than it already is genetically), and if not, I might be able to secure a primary physician's referral (on paper) to bring to Kaiser in S.F. for testing there. Dad also wants me to find out if I'm a candidate for a cortisol shot, which seems extreme, but if I have calcium overgrowth problems like he says he does (did?), then it's worth checking out now. The pain would only continue to get worse and limit what I can do.

It never fails to astound people (my uncle, my grandpa, my former boss at the Help Desk) that someone as young as me has such awful problems with my back, but I think a lot of things really come down to genetics. You can eat like a superstar, exercise like you're a personal trainer yourself, but you can't change your genes.

But I can make an effort to do better... I can try to swim more ($3/session at CSUN's gym, last I checked, and a pleasant thing to do when it's so hot out. Nothing but laps sucks, but they help. I hate to think that this all started with swimming, but I don't have to push myself nowadays the way I did back then, thinking my graduating hinged on 6 laps and some doggie-paddling), and I want to learn to ride my bike! I wonder if there's a way to get my bike up to San Francisco? I don't think Mom would let me use hers... she's got a super-fancy bike -_-.

But no matter what about being in pain, I feel good about getting stuff done today. I went to CSUN's library and got the book on the Middle Ages again, as motivation and inspiration for getting back to "The Rose Chronicles," went to the Northridge Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (which is apparently different from the Country of Los Angeles Public Library, but heck if I know how), got a library card, and reserved the third book in the Myst series, "Book of D'Ni," which I've wanted to read since I finished the first two, Atrus and Ti'Ana, respectively. I'm also working on getting this eBook about building Facebook Applications (ssh!), and did all that other stuff I mentioned...

I want to look back on 2008 and think "I got things done!" So, off I go to do more things, even if my spine hates me the whole while. (I could probably talk about the latest politics, as my grandparents seem to want to do all the time, but... well, see my icon.)

Blurbs of my day:

-Remembered at 7:29am when I accidentally woke up (I thought I'd heard a computer alarm go off) that today was the Sundial Orientation, which meant no Clubs & Orgs Fair and no work (well, I could have gone to work, but for one measly hour? It wouldn't have been worth the $8.45). I ended up starting work on one of my Sundial stories... (see below)

-Got pretty excited about working at the Sundial this semester-- 2 stories/week minimum might seem daunting, but it also means I'll be getting published regularly. And stories I thought might be sucky or boring AREN'T. My first ones are about the health effects of diet sodas, the upcoming meteor shower on 9/1, local restaurants offering student discounts, a possible third expansion to the Westfield Shopping Center in Topanga Canyon, and the new bookstore complex's food offerings (which, by the way, I saw today. I'll bring my camera tomorrow and take pictures, because IT LOOKS GREAT). None of that seems horrid or boring to me (unlike a CSUN student's murder or some project about mapping the wetlands). My editors so far are pretty cool-- people I know from class and just seeing around. It's a good feeling, and I hope it lasts.

-Finally got to watch "The Bourne Supremacy." It went pretty fast, I felt, and some bits went right over my head. It was also predictable in parts. I'm thinking if I'd rented "The Bourne Identity" WITH the Supremacy, everything would have made more sense, but both Shawn and I had seen Identity; he might have remembered it more than I did. In any case, we just didn't have the time tonight for multiple movies, and tomorrow we're going to some screening in West Hills for a new Owen Wilson comedy. But squee for two date nights in a row! I have no complaints about that~

-Didn't get my financial aid check. Grr. But I did get some of the things I ordered from Publisher's Clearing House (which I've become a junkie of): my new onyx and freshwater pearl necklace, bracelet, and earring set. Their jewelry is gorgeous, and I'm ordering more! Nothing pink, though... :P They wanted me to get some monthly cubic zirconia set that was PINK, and I was all "I don't care if buying this would make me part of your Elite Club, it's PINK!" So blech, no to that. I can wear rose blush and rose sweaters, but I draw the line at pink jewelry. I'm 22, not 12.

-I'm getting involved in a few more online projects too: editing a Draco x Hermione doujinshi, beta'ing for a few people here and there (if they'll have me), trying to work on my OWN fics and websites (always a challenge), and maybe even trying to tutor people (for a fee, of course) with web design-- I overheard someone in the Sundial mention that, so I KNOW there's a market for it, even if it's just a small one limited to the people that think Shapiro's Graphics class is impossible. :D

-Need to remember to call the internship people so I know who to address my cover letter to and how to write it! Good thing I have the book (and the smarts, of course), and even better that Manley (aka Prof. Witten from last semester) gave me a great idea for said cover letter! :D

-Finally reconciled my bank accounts (all four of them) after refusing to touch Quicken for a while. And now I'm relieved that it's done, because a few transactions WERE missing (big ones, too) and were driving me batty (I didn't see them in any of my statements online-- and I have a lot). There's a lesson to be learned in that: always stay on top of your finances. When it comes to money, it's better to be overzealous than lazy. It shouldn't be the touchy, sensitive subject that it is, comparable to asking a woman about her age or weight. People should be more open about their finances, and thus more comfortable dealing with them. If my parents had been comfortable about THEIR money situations when I was younger and just starting to understand it, I think I might have had a better grasp on things NOW.

-Gave the fuzzball a bath. She smells sort of like apples. Anyone want to take bets on how long THAT will last?

-Gotta swing by the optometrist tomorrow to see if they have my new glasses catalog! I "virtually" tried on a few pairs online at FramesDirect, and wrote a huge list of pairs and brands I liked. This is one time where I'm overwhelmed with choices that weren't in front of me-- I think in this case, it's paying to be picky. It's one thing to pay $5 and get an "okay" burger, but if I'm going to pay upwards of $100 for anything, it better be DAMN GOOD QUALITY. And why shouldn't it be? Especially where my health (eyesight) is concerned.

-Cleaned my room up more. Apparently I'm quite lacking in school supplies (well, dividers for my binders, at least). I mean, I have pens, erasers, white-out, pencils, lead, paper and all that jazz, but I still feel like I'm missing things. o_o I wonder if I'm becoming a hoarder! I don't want to end up like my mom in that respect (or in a few others, but I won't go into that now)... I DO need to go back-to-school shopping for clothes, though. I need new jeans and lighter-colored slacks (gray and light khaki, to be precise)! Also, in relation to the finances: throwing out old receipts is not "cleaning" unless said receipts pertain to CLEARED transactions in one's register!!!!!

-Gotta transcribe some of my old stuff from "The Eagle" (zomg) so I can POSSIBLY use it for my online writing portfolio. I'm thinking I should put them in PDF format or something and watermark them. Has anyone else ever done something like this before?

-So thrilled my jaw is feeling better. I had "real" food today-- a donut, pizza, ravioli, a plum, and iced tea! So at least this means if this trend continues:
a) I can at least eat normal for the rest of the week
b) I can recover from intense pain that fucks up my eating habits pretty quickly, given the right pain relievers in big enough doses :P
So I shouldn't be TOO worried about Friday... I hope... (but I want to make sure I get as much done before than as possible JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE)

I should be asleep by now, though. I've been staying up till 2 or 2:30 am the past few days, and it does NOT help when I need to be awake around 10am. I start dropping off like I did earlier today-- even sitting in the frontmost seat isn't motivation enough. When I'm exhausted, I will pass out. I've done it even when I've known better-- and that's been in plenty of places besides college! (I will not start drinking coffee and/or Pepsi, so don't even mention it.) I have to get my Circadian clock in gear for the upcoming semester, anyway. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Jaw still hurts like a bitch, and it's a pain to eat practically anything (that includes soft foods like yogurt, ice cream, and cheese, btw), but at least I didn't make a fool of myself while brushing my teeth tonight. Grandpa switched the medication he was giving me from a light narcotic (which made me loopy but killed the pain) to this other stuff that works a bit, but not completely... I still feel like I have lockjaw.

I joined this other organization Joe B. mentioned at the Clubs & Orgs Fair the other day-- the NSLS, which is the National Society of Leadership and Success. Sounds a lot like NSCS, for all intents and purposes, but it's smaller, was founded more recently, and offers things a bit differently. Either way, I figured it's an opportunity, so I joined up-- for the $65 lifetime membership. This time I didn't have to waste time researching whether it was a scam or not, since I *KNOW* the chapter founder.

Speaking of NSCS though, apparently I won some sort of American Express prize (I don't know what, though) for participating in the post-convention survey. They even mentioned my name in the post-convention update email-- huzzah! I hope it's a hefty gift card, what with my recent plane ticket purchase up to Seattle... I mean, Baba offered to pay for it, but for some reason that made me feel awkward. Besides, she already paid for my clothes at H&M the other time, and I never paid her back (and if I tried she'd bop me upside the head).

I've managed to clean my room a LOT these past few days, which is weird but gives me a great sense of accomplishment. I've been shredding lots of useless papers, sorting things out into specific bags and boxes, and trying to figure out what I need/don't need, what itches to the point of me never wanting to wear it again (which is unfortunately a lot of things lately... am I becoming allergic to some sort of fabric?), and what I'll need for the upcoming semester (vs. what I already have which is, of course, a lot).

Today I got the Hercules Hooks in the mail from PCH, and... sorry Billie Mays, they're not as cool as they seem on TV. Maybe it's just me with my wallpapered 1.5" thick (and I know that's thick, but STILL it's not like it says "limited to 1/4" thick walls and less" on the packaging or anything) walls, but it took a good half hour of twisting and pushing to get ONE pin into the wall, and even when it did, the hole it made was not "pin-sized" by any stretch of the imagination. True, I did manage to get my photo collage and Happy Bunny whiteboard hung up without too much of a problem, but I can't see myself devoting any further hours to getting those things through the wall, even though I *DID* use the stud finder to help me find the "thinner" areas of the wall without studs, just plaster. It makes a mess and wastes my time, so I'll stick with nails and a hammer, thankyouverymuch. I've decided at this point that if Baba and Grandpa DO end up selling this house once I graduate, they'll have to re-wallpaper more than just THIS room, anyway. I never TRY to damage it, it just happens. And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so nyah! :P

Shawn came over tonight and helped me put the sliders on the rec room couches and adjust my bookcase (which I'd moved in desperate search for one of my hairpin's dislocated rhinestones), and then we watched "The Prestige" together. He said it was very good, and I wisely kept my mouth shut during the whole thing-- and because of that, I was able to "get it" more than I had the first time I watched. At least... I think so!

Anyway, I'm back to being loopy-tired, which is finally appropriate given the time (I'd been tired like hell earlier, but I resisted and cleaned instead, since I didn't want to screw up my sleep schedule MORE). So I'm off to bed!

( Penned at 6am )

Besides that, my right wisdom tooth is hurting. Either it's "really good" (sarcastic) timing, considering I'm scheduled to get my teeth out on the 24th (DAY AFTER SCHOOL STARTS!!! AUGH!), or it's psychological, and if the latter, I'm hoping to distract myself enough today to not think about how weird it feels (and how it hurts). It feels like I have a Skittle stuck in the upper right corner of my mouth.

For those of you that have already had your wisdom teeth out, what did you eat in the days afterward? I was thinking yogurt will probably be safe, but I'm one of those people who doesn't like to eat the same thing too many times in a given period, so I need a bit more of a variety. Okay, yogurt, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, soup... any other suggestions?

I have 10 more icon slots available, and every now and again, I find myself saying, "I need icons from Z fandom!" and then I promptly forget what those fandoms are. But right now, I totally want to make some for the Secret Society Girl books! :D I already have a few for Meg Cabot's "The Mediator" series on azurite (formerly known as Delishidoodle), so maybe I should finish them up and make a whole big collection of book-inspired icons!

I have yet to hear back from the book publisher whose internship got me all excited-- basically, I want to know what the positions I was interested in entailed, and who to address my cover letter to. The deadline is August 31, so assuming they don't get back to me but I still want to make deadline, does anyone have any suggestions for what to say in my cover letter, or how to find the hiring manager's name (or address the cover letter some other way besides "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam")? I'd appreciate any help I could get...

Possibly going to hang out with Shawn (squee?) later today; maybe the Bourne Supremacy will be back at Blockbuster? That and I want to play more FFX, since I have many more fiends to capture, weapons to customize, and Gil to get. :D

I think I must have slept something like 14+ hours last night. I got home from work shortly after 7:15pm, and because my shoulder (and stomach) were hurting, the first thing I did was take my Darvocet and Levsin. I sat in front of the computer doing a few more backdated entries for 2002 (oh, the nostalgia) and then decided to read my latest Newsweek. About 75% through the issue, I couldn't focus anymore, so I turned off my light and decided to "take a nap." I put that in quotes because, while I had every intention of waking up again at 10:15pm to have a late dinner and maybe get some other stuff done, instead I ignored said alarm clock and went right back to sleep.

I woke up again around 1am to go to the bathroom, and it occurred to me that while I'd taken my night pills, I forgot to wash my face. :P Bad, bad idea. But I was just SO exhausted, I couldn't even imagine standing in place for five minutes to do that, so I collapsed when I went right back to bed. And now I'm up now at 7:40am. Not exactly perky-awake, and I'm still a bit sore, but at least I have my physical therapy appointment at the Klotz center later. Maybe after that (since the appointment is at 10:30am and I have no class again until 2pm), I can either head home or go to WaMu and talk to them about a bank credit card, to see what they offer.

That said, I had a weird dream that (as some dreams do) may inspire fanfiction. Let me preface this by saying I don't believe I've ever written Disney fanfic. Not for Little Mermaid, not for Beauty and the Beast, etc. But I had this weird pair of ideas revolving around the latter, and maybe someone can slap me upside the head and either tell me they're junk, they've been done before, or what the hell am I still doing in Yu-Gi-Oh, write those fics!

( Tale as old as... er, last night )

Yesterday when I was helping someone at work I saw an article on Yahoo! (as in, the main Yahoo page, not search results or another page) about internships, but when I tried to find it myself, I couldn't! And trying to do a internships site: yahoo.com search produced plenty of results, none of which I think were the article I'd seen. Does anyone have suggestions on how to find things like that?

I also heard from Scott via email-- if he's reading this, dude, are you fountain_the? I'm dying to know here, since the birthday matches, but there's no user info, there are no entries... I wanted to help him get started with an LJ (so he doesn't have to be clicking CC: to a million emails), but I don't want to pay for an LJ if it's NOT someone I know! So come forward, yo! Say some sort of secret phrase to confirm your identity or something. :P

All that said, I think I'll try and get back to sleep and hope the pain in my shoulder wears off... I've been careful not to wear my laptop-loaded purse on that side, but still, even an "evenly-balanced" backpack causes it to hurt. Just what I need, pinched nerves AND Sciatica. I think if I save up, I can get a monthly massage at the Student Health Center so I can avoid all this! (Maybe.)

I'm almost done with my 2002 FreeOpenDiary entries, and I'm going to poke into my old Greymatter ones soon too, so if you ever wanted to know what I wrote like back when I was an emo high schooler... *laughs* Well, it's all there. I'll do a recap entry of my favorites when I finish, but until then, happy hunting (should you be so inclined)!

I can laugh at the funny on GaijinSmash (thanks Jimbo for the link), but it hurts. As does eating, talking, and anything involving the slightest bit of jaw movement. And I probably shouldn't be here in the International Center right now; I should be heading to the Suzuki Hospital to get checked out and see if I'm going deaf or need my teeth removed. But Maeda-san took my laptop away again, claiming yesterday's technology dude misunderstood the system I have set up. The concept of Networked adapters confuses me too, but once I get NTT, ALL WILL BE WELL (or it damn well better be).

In the meantime, can someone be a saint and email me TTFs of Digital Strip, Wild Words, Anime Ace, and all them other comic-book style fonts? I know I could download them now, but I can't save them to the desktop here and email them to myself to smehow get on my laptop whenever it DOES get hooked up, but if someone emails them to me, I can save them to my Flash drive and transfer them that way. I do still need Matrix Book and Suburban (Bold and Light), but those are paid fonts on my computer back in LA, and I don't think Grandpa will have the slightest clue how to get them off and email them to me, even if I instruct him step by step. -_- If there were another way to get them, I would take advantage of it, but...

Also, does anyone know why ZSNES (my favorite emulator) does not want to work on my prettyful Intel-based Mac? SNES9x does, but I can't open up ROMs from the dialog menu, because the Network drive doesn't show up in the list of places to search, so to open games I have to drag them onto the 9x icon. What a pain in the ass.

And tomorrow I have to be up by 6am so I can go to Tokyo. Yay pictures.

Oh, and THERE IS A TOTAL AZURESHIPPING MOMENT IN YU-GI-OH R VOLUME 3 WHICH I BOUGHT NEW HERE IN JAPAN YAY YAY YAY I AM NOT TEH SHITTING YOU!!!!! Whee. It's short, but oh-so-very WUNDERBAR!