MILES to GO || before I sleep

I was so, so excited to hear about Amazon Fresh expanding outside of Seattle, but when it first debuted in Los Angeles, it wasn't in my area. Now it is, and I'm contemplating whether or not it's worth it to even try it for 90 days for free (because I'm an existing Prime member) and then upgrade to their Prime Fresh program, which is a whopping $299/yr (vs. Prime's $79).

Here's my attempt at breaking it down.

Grocery delivery is only available through Vons, a supermarket chain affiliated with Safeway. They're located a few blocks from my home. However, being the oddball Los Angeleno who doesn't drive, if I go grocery shopping, it either has to be with someone who has a car (infrequent) or get only enough to fill up my vertical cart. It's not a huge cart, but it works for laundry, so it should work for groceries, too. Intermittently, I'll run to the grocery store late at night to get one or two things that I can fit in my backpack or carry.

Vons delivers in 1-hour, 2-hour, or 4-hour timeslots. A delivery of $150 or under (which would be my usual, since I'm only buying for myself) costs $12.95. I can sometimes save $3 (for a 2-hour window) or $6 (for a 4-hour window), which means the cheapest that delivery fee would be is $6.95. Sometimes the delivery fee is free--if you buy participating items. Obviously adding these random, probably-don't-need items to my cart would probably add up to at least $6.95, if not more.

However, not every item that's in their stores is on their online site, and sometimes even their stores don't have what I need.

Assuming groceries every two weeks or so, I'd be paying a minimum of $166.80 just in delivery fees from Vons every year. Maximum, I'd be paying $310.80, if I only used the one-hour timeslots (or otherwise picked timeslots that didn't have "save $3/6" on them). If I factored in the occasional grocery run on my own or with someone, that might mean Vons is more cost-effective than Amazon Fresh. This also applies to if I go to Costco, where buying in bulk means I don't go shopping as frequently. That membership is $55/yr.

But what Costco and Amazon have in common is the variety of items; even if Vons has sales for club members, I have to admit, tallying up the coupons, promotional codes, special items, and stuff is a pain in the butt. Costco and Amazon simply have low prices, and that's it.

Considering all the stuff I usually buy on Amazon--I recently renewed my Amazon Prime account because of it--this is where it really determines if Amazon Fresh will be worthwhile TO ME. I'd still get all the benefits of regular Prime, plus free delivery for any order over $35 (for groceries, that's pretty much a given), and the option for early-morning delivery.

The selection includes local fare, which is a huge bonus--supermarket chains like Vons tend to get as much stuff as possible from out-of-country, it seems, so prices get driven up by the cost of gas trucking all this stuff from warehouse to warehouse to store. Plus, organic and fresh items are expensive as heck!

So, aside from all the grocery stuff, Amazon Fresh gets me the usual Prime benefits of:
* Free two-day shipping
* Access to Amazon Instant Video

I ordered 7 things in 2010, 15 things in 2011, 50 things in 2012, and 28 SO FAR in 2013. Considering how much I use Subscribe & Save for "necessities" like bulky items that would be a pain to get at the grocery store OR Costco (or Target, or wherever), I'd wager I'm on track to surpass my total number of orders in 2012. Of course, not all of those orders were for ME, so there's a margin of error to be had.

I'm sure there's a way to look at the CSV reports Amazon can generate about which orders ARE mine, and just how much I spent, but I don't know if that alone would justify the jump from $79 to $299.

I can always try it free for 90 days, but I don't know how long they'll be offering that promotion to existing Prime members.

So, what to do? To Prime Fresh or to not Prime Fresh?

Ah, another Ed Hardy sale! The discounted prices at ideeli are actually quite reasonable, but it's for two things I'd never use/wear: purses and a scarf!

Of course, upon graduating I assume I'm going to have to alter my wardrobe a bit to fit in with the so-called "real world," and maybe then I'll get into things like accessorizing with scarves, but until then I'll just stare at the beautiful art that is the Ed Hardy line and imagine a day when something I'll actually use/wear will come out (without making me look like a total conformist!?).

(That said, I saw a clip of Zac Efron's "17 Again" with him dressed ENTIRELY in Ed Hardy, and telling his friend-playing-father that "Kevin Federline wore this!" as if that was supposed to make it "cool" to wear in a high school. But yeah, it's K-Fed... So now it makes me wince to think of someone showing off "too much" Ed Hardy.)

Keyword Manager for iPhoto (by Bullstorm) has finally been updated to 1.5! This means it's compatible with iPhoto '09. Huzzah! I already downloaded and installed mine; since I'd purchased a previous version, the upgrade was free (I think). Another way of getting organized: labeling all my pictures with metadata tags!

I added a few old entries (some of them Friends Locked, because let's be honest here: I was stupid not having protections on my old blog back in the day) from my old Blue Reflections blog, back when it was powered by Greymatter and on the rosedreams.org domain. I'm working my way through 2002, and it's sadly amusing, the kind of stuff I wrote. I've got a lot more to go before I'm all "caught up," though.

Finally signed up at Ping.fm (thanks to an article on helpful websites on GeekSugar). As I was going through the various websites/networks to add, I was surprised at a) how many I'm on and b) how many I'm not on. I guess there's something to be said for simplicity: I mean, what's the point of being on too many of the same site? (That sounds lame. I'm on every big name social networking site because of the fact that, the more places you are, the easier it is to find you--for better or for worse!)

Let's see, my networks are: Twitter, Facebook, AIM, GTalk, MySpace, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, LJ (duh), Delicious, Friendster, and Yahoo 360. Hey, that's actually not that many! And some of them (e.g. Facebook and LiveJournal; FriendFeed and... well, everything) are already connected, which gives me the mental image of playing cat's cradle with something very sticky.

Finally had my appointment at the Klotz Student Health Center dental clinic-- they kept having to reschedule my appointment! I got worked on by a student intern today, but everything looks/feels fine; I'm just hoping the numbness on the entire lower right-hand side of my face goes away soon.

As I was leaving the Health Center, they were showing "Armageddon" on DVD. I thought it actually looked cool, and, shockingly enough, I've never seen it. So that's to be added to my list of movies to see (both on DVD and in theatres). I also want to see "17 Again" and still "Fast & Furious" as well as "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and probably "The Soloist" (even if Jamie Foxx is a touch-and-go kind of guy; sometimes I think he's a great actor, other times I think he's a bizarre, if downright rude man).

I also decided to shift gears on my as-yet-unwritten submission for sm_fanswap. I was originally going to do this dark, political piece, but I think I'm going to shift that to the back burner and work on an older idea that still fits the requirements for the swap. Of course, I can't say more.... :X

DeviantART finally has gotten its act together-- or at least part of it. I don't know if there have been any HUGE changes in policy or significant changes in management (such as firing the douches that make dA look like it was being run by a bunch of bigoted idiots), but there is a new category for doll edits, which are one of my primary forms of fanart submissions. It's nice to be recognized! I still disagree with their policy that they should be "Scraps," because they say that they're prepackaged and there's no effort involved. Uh, excuse me, the dolls are a collaborative effort! On top of that, a lot of the ones I post are heavily modified in Photoshop, and I think the hours spent count as EFFORT. That said, I have put most of the dolls into the new category, but some of them won't go in, supposedly because the only filetype allowed is GIF. WTF, dA!? Since when are PNGs a bad file type for dolls? Not every dollmaker uses GIF files, and on top of that, if we DO "tool" the dolls ourselves, we should be able to save the resulting file however we like! GRR!

Do any Mac users have a recommendation for a good time-tracking utility? Specifically, I'd like something that integrates with iCal so I can keep track of how much I should make from the hours I spend at work. If I ever did freelancing or consultation stuff (for web design or just general tech support), it'd be nice if this tool had an invoicing feature, too. I've heard of several, but I want to know if anyone on this FL actually HAS one and used it, and of course, liked it.

Ah, so much to do, so little time.

aelibia, I will willingly accept whatever punishment you see fit for me for reneging on my promise to be online by 2pm today. My grandparents and I ended up going to the mall at 1:30, and what was supposed to be a short excursion turned into an all-day affair because my hair stylist no longer works on Sundays, and I couldn't think of a time during the coming week to go see her, so I opted for a last-minute appointment that took 2.5 hours (I got a cut, highlights, and my brows done)! After that, I went on my search for shoes, and... well, that didn't go so well.

So yes, still searching for the perfect, sexy, comfortable shoe. I went to Macy's first, since I had to return something there anyway (well, get it "fixed" is more like it), and I saw a lot of cute shoes, but cute ≠ comfortable, and I've got to apply my same standards that I do for clothing as I do for accessories and shoes. A variety of brands had nice designs, but I was going for a few specific traits:
* A medium-to-high heel; no more than three or four inches
* Heel support-- there has to be something in the back of my heel other than a strap or straps
* Over-the-foot support, preferably in the middle-- a series of straps or one thick strap to hold my foot in the shoe while I'm walking
* No pinching of my toes at the front-- I love peep-toe shoes, but these kind of shoes tend to squish my toes into a very uncomfortable shape, meaning blisters later on, which are NEVER fun

Other pluses would have been:
* A candy color or something different from my usual black (patterns are okay! I actually saw a pretty flower-patterned pair by Jessica Simpson and a paisley-patterned one by Carlos Santana --what is it with musicians and shoes!?-- but the heels were a bit too crazy-high for my tastes)
* No sequins, rhinestones, or other "bling" that can either leave imprints on my skin or fall off and ruin the look of the whole shoe
* No bows or ruffles of any kind
* Good arch support-- nothing TOO curvy or wobbly, like a platform shoe. But platform heels and/or toes are okay, so long as it's not platform from front to back, with the tapering in the back-- those kind of shoes are like asking for a broken ankle!

Anyway, I checked out Sheikh, Bakers, Love D, Guess, JCPenney, Sears, Reflections, and any other shoe store I could think of or saw. The only "for sure" one I didn't get to (but might try to tomorrow) is DSW. All were a bust except for Reflections, where I did find two cute pairs that I might go back for. Sad thing is, the cute color one (Qupid) doesn't have the over-foot support, and the cute style one (Delicious) only comes in black. I went to Guess and also found a cute pair of the right style shoes, but they only came in black and pinched my toes together too tightly at the toe.

Despite what the measuring thing at Macy's said, I'm a size 6 shoe, though with some brands I'm a 5.5 or a 6.5. Sometimes I need a wider shoe, as my feet, when put together, resemble a heart-- arched and wide near the top, and tapering down toward the bottom. I have a high arch and pointy heels (as in, the back of my foot), so I require support for those, and don't want to be tottering around in something that can give me foot AND back pain.

I would go for kitten heels or ballet flats as Morgan suggested, but any ballet flats I've ever had ALWAYS fall apart from the toe (I guess I'm a toe-tapper) and don't help me -5'1" at the most- look any better. At least heels give me a bit of a boost. As for kitten heels, I have worn a pair, and they just hurt my ankles like crazy. I'd rather go "all or nothing" if it comes to heels. That doesn't mean I'd go crazy with pencil-thin stilettos, but I'm fine with a few inches of height. Dressy, sexy shoes doesn't mean "thick-heeled clunkers" in my book.

The search goes on! As always, advice appreciated. I hope my feet aren't "too weird" for nice shoes. It's either a new pair or I have to break in the ones I already have (praying that they CAN be broken into).

Good news? Well, my hair looks great if I do say so myself, and I did get myself some new clothes-- a new outfit for yoga and a cute top and vest from Anne Taylor LOFT (couldn't resist). Plus, I picked up the latest Susan Wiggs "Lakeshore Chronicles" book for Baba and I to read together (as soon as Baba's done with her latest thriller romance that she can't stop raving about and which title escapes me at the moment).

 Aankh Milaoongi by Asha Bhosle from See You Breathe - Sight Through Sky-Eyes Disc 1 (Rating: 0)

Well, back in L.A. from San Diego. Thanksgiving was nice-- delicious food, got to meet (and hold!) baby Eva, play some games with the cousins (needed David's help to beat Lemmy's castle #3 in Super Mario World...), and went shopping with Dad. No big huge drama that I was a part of or witness to, so I'd say it was a fairly successful adventure. Yesterday Dad DID get a little teed off that I wasn't back at the hotel when I said I would be, but that was because the bus from Scott's place was super-late! Not my fault-- we looked at the bus schedule and everything!

It was WONDERFUL having my own room. When I stayed one night at Dad's in Alameda before we left to L.A. on the way here, I had to suffer through his snoring. He woke me up and then KEPT me up with his snoring. To make matters worse, the next morning when he woke up, he said something to me that I barely remember-- I was so exhausted. So of course as soon as he left and it was all silent again, I fell back asleep! Dad came back and was furious that I hadn't done anything he had told me to do, and he didn't believe me when I said he snored and I fell asleep because I was so exhausted from not sleeping all night because of it! I think now he does (Baba and Grandpa said he did too, because he fell asleep at Fred's yesterday), but that doesn't mean he's going to do anything about it. -_- So yeah, it's always nice to have my own space. I don't like snorers. Sorry.

There were little annoyances here and there, but nothing HUUUGE. I'll get into it in another post. Right now, I'm actually kind of eager to get back to S.F., even if I have a workload ahead of me:
* Study for the next Biology quiz due Tuesday
* Study for the big exam tomorrow for my Women's Studies class
* Start writing my papers for my Outdoor Recreation class
* Hope that my Geology teacher gets back to me re: the 3rd assignment, because the CD that said assignment is on has mixed-up maps, and we can't complete the assignment without knowing which maps we're supposed to look at.

Some cool stuff I picked up in SD (most of it gifts):
* Yu-Gi-Oh Vocal Duel
* Yu-Gi-Oh Sound Duel I
* Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong"
* Mannheim Steamroller's "Christmas Celebration"
* Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "The Lost Christmas Eve" (it was a tough choice; there were 2 other CDs by them I wanted at Target that I didn't get, so I limited myself to one album from each artist I liked)
* "The Tipping Point" (book)
* "How To Read Literature Like A Professor" (book)
* A new sweater + turtleneck (one $20, one free!)
* Clinique's "Black Honey" almost-lipstick
* Some more Clinique Moisturizing Gel
* "The Greatest-Ever Jewish Cooking" (book) --anyone in S.F., wanna come over and be my guinea pig as I attempt to discover my Jewish heritage through food?

Right now I'm just waiting for Dad to come back from breakfast with his buddy Steve (and hopefully remember to bring me the Raisin French Toast I requested). I think I'm going to play me some Super Mario World now, though... I love the Forest of Illusion!

Well, it's my last evening in San Francisco, and I feel semi-accomplished. I went to the flasgship (?) Apple Store in downtown San Francisco today, intending to buy a new hard drive for use with Time Machine. I do have Apple's Backup program, but for making a "bootable clone" or something similar of my hard drive, I would need to spend far too much time specifying exactly what "folders" I want copied and to where. I've used Retrospect Express before (which comes with a number of portable hard drives), and I didn't like it-- too clunky and complicated.

Thus, my requirements for a new portable hard drive:
The Duh
* Compatible with Mac OS X 10.5.2
* USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 at the minimum

The Good
* FireWire 800
* Slim and lightweight
* Quiet
* At least 160 GB, which is enough to make a single copy of my entire HD (which is not filled to capacity, mind you) and still have some wiggle room

If only...
* Solid-state format of the HDD
* Less than $200

I'd been leaning toward the Iomega UltraMax 500 GB, which is pretty huge and pretty cheap for the size. One model even comes with FireWire 800, but reviews I've read say it craps out after a few uses, and I don't want to have to deal with that stress. I'd rather put up with something ugly that doesn't break.

The question is, should I be looking at more-expensive, larger-capacity drives, as "preparation" for the future? Or should I just stick with what I need, which is basically something to backup all my important stuff (music, photos, applications, websites, documents) quickly and easily, in case my HD needs to get reformatted?

All this pretty much came into play when I tried to play a CD (brand new), found out my Super Drive just may be crapping out on me but it's covered under warranty, which means I can send it away to get "fixed." If I do that, it'll be an agonizing X amount of time without my laptop, but it's worth it to get a better-working Super Drive. The Apple warranty explanation page says, "expect to get your HD reformatted." As if that's logical for every repair... -_- Well, I'd rather not take the chance of them doing that, as some users have said they did for a supposedly simple Super Drive replacement.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Remember: The ONE DAY CONTENT STRIKE is tomorrow. Don't post on LiveJournal. Don't comment. Don't fill out polls. Read if you must, but don't do anything else. Let them know that their removal of Basic accounts was a BAD IDEA!

I'm posting now to get my last-ditch LJ posts in. :P

I don't know whether it's me or just the state of American society (retail society? The industry as a whole?) today, but I've just had some pretty horrid experiences both with customer service and with just plain ol' shitty shopping.

First, my household has recently switched to Time-Warner Cable's "All The Best" package, which includes the cable service we've had for years, digital phone service, and Internet. We switched from AT&T because, frankly, they were ripping us off.

The first problem was in the install-- we have two rooms with TVs in this house, and only one of them is an HDTV with a digital HD box. For some reason, the technician that came in and did the install decided that, for whatever reason, he couldn't put the cable in to the rec room (though from phone calls to their tech support, it seems like he wouldn't have needed to; he just needed a new set-top box), and therefore the cable modem couldn't be left in there, the way it's been (or at least the broadband modem from AT&T was) for years. So it got moved to the den. Since the modem wasn't a router, I attached my $175-AirPort Extreme Base Station to it, and for a while, all was well.

But then the Internet started to cut out intermittently, even though the modem said it was still sending/receiving, and the AirPort said it was still broadcasting just fine. Tech support said I needed to get the modem replaced, but then when the technician came out, he said, if it ain't broke, he can't fix it-- and won't replace it. So it happens again after a few days of decent connectivity, and when I call and mention this, the agent says that we're not marked as a "wireless" household, and that it involves a separate installation from the first one, along with a $49.95 FEE! WTF!?

Apparently, they'd replace the modem with a modem/router combo, but I said I already had my own which I like better-- better security, more compatibility with other devices, etc. That's why I paid the price I did for the Base Station-- it's better than any of the included routers that come with Internet packages these days. But then the guy said that they can only guarantee service for their own equipment (probably because of liability issues, which I can understand... it still pisses me off, though).

To top it off, I have to wait until the cable guy comes on Wednesday to get the rec room set up like he should have the first time he came before I can request anyone to come in and change our modem out for the wireless one. I'll pay the fee myself if I have to; I'm just sick of having to reset the modem every damn day. I'm sure there'll be a workaround for using the Base Station anyway-- I want to be here for the installation so they don't jerk my grandparents around like they've done with the past two technician visits. I'm the one that knows tech, I'm the one that deals with equipment, bills, tech support calls, etc. I'm not going to be fooled into thinking these idiots get a four-hour period of time in which to come here UNPREPARED. I wish I could be here for the Wednesday install, but Wednesday is my busiest day. :(

Anyway, to add to the mayhem, Baba saw an ad for some cheap topsoil at K-Mart today. So Grandpa and I go, even though part of me is grumbling that cheaper isn't always better and that they have this terrible tendency of buying things just because they were cheap-- whether or not we actually NEED the damn things. Well, we get to the store and park near the Lawn & Garden section entrance but noooooo, not only is it unmanned, but the door is LOCKED. My grandpa's 86 years old-- he couldn't walk all the way to the other entrance! So we had to put up with the hassle of going back to the car and re-parking. Another (probably older) lady had also arrived and saw us trying to get in, and said "Well, they lost a customer" and drove off.

We went in through the whole store, but when we finally got to the L&G department, it was in TERRIBLE shape. Bags of soil were opened everywhere, everything was caked in dried mud, and maybe 1/4 of the stuff there had a price tag on it. It was no surprise there was no other customers in the area; the stock itself was horrid. We managed to find some cheap topsoil, but it was only after trying to get three or so bags that we got some that DIDN'T immediately rip open. When we finally got back into the regular area of the store, intending to tell a K-Mart person about the mess, the guy we encountered pretty much ignored what we said and tried to sell us some home "estimates" for retrofitting cabinets and the like. (I am so proud of my grandpa for playing the "I'm 86 years old young man, and I don't need your services" card.) Then, the lines (only 3 were open) were at least 10 people long EACH! Even other portions of the store were falling apart, unmanned, or were horribly messy.

Seriously, I am never shopping at K-Mart again.

We tried to pull a similar thing with TWC, telling them we'd switch back to AT&T if this was all the hassle we had to go through with them for the sake of supposed "convenience" (for having everything "All-In-One"), and Grandpa hung up on them, saying they could have a supervisor call HIM back when they got things straightened out. Needless to say, they didn't call back. Maybe I'm just a pansy or a pushover in this respect (tech), but I don't see any other way of getting around the fee, or the fact that this wasn't explained before. Just gotta live and let live, and try and use my own smarts to get around it, I guess. Doesn't make it any less stressful or less of a pain in the ass, though.

*sigh*

I'm almost done with His Dark Materials, the trilogy by Philip Pullman including "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," and "The Amber Spyglass." I do think they read together better as an omnibus-- or at least 2 and 3 do, because the ending of 1 was "okay," while 2 just sort of... well, "cut off," pun not intended.

I've got a ton of other books to read at some point, many of them purchases from when I was in San Francisco, including Candace Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle, The Thirteenth Tale, the second In Death book, "Glory In Death," "The Historian," the rest of the "Book of the Dead," Susan Issac's "Long Time No See" (at Baba's recommendation), and "Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her," which I'm finding is a very fun, informative read on one of my favorite childhood heroines.

Today at Borders, I also picked up a bunch of manga (another one of those 5-for-4 sales), though I'm still holding off on Fullmetal Alchemist and its associated novels, since I want to wait for the whole series to be finished. Besides, I technically don't have enough bookshelf space for what I have... it's kind of embarrassing (but cool! Because who doesn't want to have their own personal library? Mine is killer! :D). I also picked up "Codebreaker," about -what else?- codes and ciphers and their history. That purchase was, of course, inspired by seeing "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." I actually love puzzles (logic puzzles are my favorite-- I'm not much one for crosswords, though I am a little good at Sudoku), and I think that's sort of come out in WDKY's Téa, because I've had her solve her father's riddles in order to unravel a family mystery (and save Seto on the side, of course). In thinking about the future of WDKY, I'm thinking, if Téa didn't become a dancer, what would she be? There could be any number of reasons why she might not dance, and I thought she might end up as a cryptanalyst or similar. It'd be a fun way of having her one-up Kaiba in many ways-- genius of one area vs. genius of... well, Kaiba's sort of an all-around guy, but hey! :D

Speaking of fanfiction, I've started revisions on an old Sailor Moon fic of mine, "Hogosha no Kokoro," or HnK for short. Originally, the title was SUPPOSED to translate to "Guardian of the Heart," but that was back before I fully understood Japanese and the function (and positioning) of noun modifiers. So technically, it translates to "Guardian's Heart," or "Heart of [the] Guardian," but I guess that's okay, too, even though the meaning is a bit different from what I intended. In any case, I explain the mixup in my Author's Notes, and add "Guardian of the Heart," as the story's subtitle. I figure I could change it to what it was meant to be (Kokoro no Hogosha), but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it, and besides, if I were to abbreviate it the way I do for my other fics (like WDKY), it would be GotH. o_o Yeah, I have a "Goth" story. Great.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I picked this one over any of my other SM fics-- heck knows they all need revising, but HnK has great possibilities as an AR Silver Millennium Fic. No, I'm not going to try and make it fit with the current theme of sm_monthly (which I've almost consistently had ideas for, but never gotten around to actually writing/posting).

( Read more... )

I got back just a short while ago from the mall/movies, where I saw both "Rush Hour 3" and "3:10 To Yuma," both GREAT movies. Since I don't particularly feel like spoiling either movie, I will say that they were both a joy to watch, though for entirely different reasons. RH3 was practically non-stop laughter, and I gotta admit-- Jackie Chan speaks decent Japanese! (I'm fairly sure the bulk of the audience thought he was speaking Chinese, but I knew better; also, "Inspector Lee" did mention at one point that he knew a person who'd been raised in Tokyo, so it would make sense that if he was close with said person, he would have learned *SOME* Japanese)

3:10 was fabulous, though... honestly, I think Christian Bale deserved top billing. He really was the main character, and had more screen time than Russell Crowe, anyway. What I think is that Crowe is just better known, so he got top billing (or perhaps he's snooty about that kind of thing; what do I know? I mean, is he still chucking phones at people?) I do think Crowe was a DAMN good actor in this, as he was in "The Cinderella Man." I haven't heard anything bad about him lately, so I'll say he was likable and leave it at that. Christian Bale was superb, a refreshing change from the last movie I saw him in, "Harsh Times" (DVD), which I mentioned... he just wasn't suited for. It wasn't him, it was the story as well. But "3:10" was based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, and it was pretty damn good.

I also returned my spare copy of xxxHolic 7 and in exchange got the new Full Metal Panic novel, along with the first volume of Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne (YAY! More Arina Tanemura! I'm only semi-into Gentleman's Alliance+, though) by CMX. I will say, CMX has done a pretty good job with this, so props to them! What I want to know is, why does "A Look into Arina Tanemura's Private Life" begin with Part 5 in the first volume!? Where are the previous 4 parts!? (And before you ask, YES, I looked throughout the volume-- they're not there!)

I also got 3 new calendars (what can I say, I'm obsessive AND indecisive)-- the Bad Girl's Rage-a-Day desk calendar and two wall calendars-- one for the Egyptology book that's so pretty (and fun! and interactive! Have you seen it yet? It's from the same people that did Dragonology and Wizardology... and possibly Pirateology, though I'm not sure about that last one), and one for the Disney Princess magazines-- something I saw and wanted in Japan, but didn't buy, because it was a day planner and almost all in Japanese-- aka useless for me that needs at least a LITTLE English to get by on. In any case, I'm so glad the Disney Princess "magazine style" art is finally out here, even though they're all ones I've seen (and I love the Villains one, too, so I hope if this calendar is a success, they'll either do more versions or introduce more art).

I also discovered a new store in the strip of stores near the mall-- Sugoi Life, which is surprisingly NOT a shoe store or something like I expected-- it's actually an anime and other Asian-goods store! I saw a Death Note (with feather) there, a bunch of HK-rip DVDs (no urge to buy those, even if they did have an Asian-language version of the Yu-Gi-Oh movie), and... YAN YAN! Which is now trans-fat free, apparently. I only had $1 in cash on me when I went into the store, but a guy on his cell phone in front of me in line was nice enough to lend me the $0.39 I needed to buy it. :) (He was faking out whoever he was talking on the phone to, which I found concurrently amusing and pathetic.)

Tomorrow I might meet up with Shawn-- he went to his grandparents for Rosh Hashanah (when Baba found out he was Jewish, she went "Aw! Now I'll have to be nicer to him!" Of course she was being sarcastic, because she's never been anything BUT nice to the boys I've introduced her to, but I found it amusing nonetheless), and I guess he was still eating dinner there tonight when I called him back after RH3.

I got a package from mom today, too-- my old fleecy purple blanket, a bunch of canvas bags for Baba and Grandpa to use when they go shopping (Baba is awful stubborn about continuing to get double bagged paper-and-plastic, which I had to remind her costs her extra and kills trees), a bunch of bookmarks, a new passport holder (even though I already have one...), a card holder and keychain set (I hurt my thumb trying to put the keychain on my bag) and... a PINK iPod case. >_< It doesn't properly fit my headphones, but that's really a minor point compared to the fact that it's PINK. I can't believe she thought it was purple. There's a kimono-patterned one I want from Amazon, but I don't think it has a belt clip, which is like a pre-requisite for me and an iPod or iPod case. So I'm thinking I'll invest in a sturdy clear case and just get a skin from the store at the mall. They might even have them both.

So tomorrow I might go back to the mall just to get any missing manga from my last mega-spree (or at least special order them and hopefully get them before the 5 for 4 deal ends), plus the iPod case if they have it at the Apple store or the nearby kiosk, and perhaps a refill of some of my necessary Clinique stuff. I got my Macy's Star Rewards credit card today in the mail, and while it does have a crazy high interest rate (I got the Visa, though I didn't get to choose and I have absolutely no intention of using it outside of Macy's, let alone NOT paying my bills on time), I did get a 15% off coupon through November. Problem? It's not usable in most of the places I shop at Macy's. -_- Real genius. I might as well just walk into the store and say "Hi, where CAN I use this?" Hell, I wonder what I might even NEED that's not Clinique? (Well, maybe shoes.)

*yawn* I think that's it for now... it'll be nice to sleep (in) on my own bed; last night I fell asleep for HOURS AND HOURS on the rec room couch. I didn't even have dinner! But tonight-- my own bed! YAY!

...I need an Arina Tanemura icon. Or six. (And more xxxHolic! Yuuko owns my soul!)

It seems a side effect of my surgery is that I got a cold-- a nasty one, too, that has me sounding like a frog (well, I think-- Steve at work and Shawn both said I sound pretty good) and blowing my nose all the time. Thankfully I have my own personal box of tissues, and no matter how big, I'm going to start bringing my Vaseline with me to work so my nose doesn't get TOO dry and red/flaky.

But I'm taking Zyrtec for the congestion, Vicodin for the horrid headaches from hell (hey, alliteration!), and Keflex for the general antibiotic. I feel like such a pill popper... :P

Also, it seems I couldn't get my new laptop today because my check hasn't cleared YET... but it will in... 47 minutes. Not that the Apple Store's open now, but that either means a) I can get up early... which I may do, just to get used to my new schedule starting this Thursday, and take a shower and head to the mall to get the new laptop so I can actually go to school with it... or b) be a bit more patient and wait until AFTER school so I can bring both the old laptop AND get the new one, so I can hang around the mall while they transfer the data from the old laptop to the new one. I think I should do b), no matter how gung-ho I am.

A few questions of random:
What do you think is more effective at school, a binder with tabs dividing each class, or a notebook for each class? I've always gone with the notebooks as of late, but plenty of classes have paperwork, so notebooks that DON'T function like binders (which is the majority of them, except that new "Flex" note-binder I saw at Rite-Aid last week) are useless. What do you use?

What do you think are the most flattering words to be called in reference to your appearance? (Girls only, please) I got to thinking about this because after the new shopping spree and my haircut, Baba (like grandmother, like father... my dad does this too) said that all the guys would be staring down the front of my (low-cut) shirt. Well, none of the guys at work did do that, but Zack surprisingly called my new haircut "cute." And only because I was so congested and miserable-feeling did I not go "squee!" on the spot. It's always nice to be complimented. But if I had to rate my squee, then here's my Top 5:
5. cute - not as in "fluffy kitten pink cloud" cute, but cute like attractive, but without all the syllables.
4. hot - always nice to feel sexy, yeah? (applies to all derivatives thereof, such as "hottie")
3. sexy - for someone that spent years thinking she'd die a virgin spinster, this one always makes me happy.
2. gorgeous - flattering, but it can sound somewhat plastic depending on the tone.
1. beautiful - the word just makes you feel wonderful inside and out, like nothing else can. And said the right way, it can do a whole lot more!

I got my NSCS gift card today-- it wasn't as large as I hoped (just $25), but it's money I didn't have before. Maybe I'll buy that "Diner Dash: Flo on the Go" game I saw at Game Stop the other day with it. I mean, I'm already going to be spending my own money on:
* new laptop (with no extra bells and whistles though-- the new default packaging for the MBP Core 2 Duo is fine by me)
* new iPod video (what color!? And should I get a dock...? Maybe I should wait till Christmas/Hanukkah)
* iLife and iWorks '08
* Renew my ProCare membership
* Casing for the computer, so I don't have any more "accidents"
That alone might get me close to the $2000 range, and since I only get paid once a month, I want to make sure everything STAYS in great condition

Today I learned that deadline means deadline, not one minute after. Even if my EIC was trying to show he had a sense of humor (and I doubt it, if he's anything like me... which most fellow journalism students seem to be in terms of "sense of humor," a quite scary thought) by threatening to drop my grade by 10% when the semester hasn't even started... well, I'm guessing they ARE anal about deadlines. 12:00 means 12:00, not 12:06. :P Well excuse me for being sick! On the bright side, I do have my other stories mostly done-- I'm waiting to hear back from a representative from the Klotz Student Health Center for my soda health article due on the 23rd, and then I have to contact people at the Topanga Canyon/Westfield mall and an astronomy teacher for the articles due on the 29th.

Just another reason to get to bed now so I can kick this cold that much sooner...

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?

*yawn* This weekend started out Not Too Bad, unless spending money is a bad thing (and it probably will be, come next month, pre-financial aid check)-- Baba, Grandpa and I went to the Topanga Canyon mall, which is shaping up to be a killer place to shop-- they have an H&M! :D :D :D I went there and got some things, and I also snagged some new things at Victoria's Secret (they were having a SALE, I couldn't resist!). But the mall was so huge, after that, Baba and Grandpa were so tired, we ended up leaving... :(

Baba dropped Grandpa off at home and then Baba and I headed to Target to return the supposedly-faulty shredder we'd gotten the other day. I also picked up my photos-- turns out on camera was from my cousin Adam's bar mitzvah way back when, the other was from Hawaii (my underwater camera), and the last one was the Target cam from the DLP. The pictures look good, though the best ones might take a while to scan in... I was a cheapskate that didn't feel like getting the Kodak CD. As for the shredder, it turns out it wasn't faulty at all-- the manual just CONVENIENTLY neglected to mention that the emergency off switch also happened so SLIDE to the left and right to turn into Power/Auto and Reverse modes, something I didn't know about! I'd been plugging the damn thing into seven house sockets, to no avail, and then bam! At Target, it just works. Color me embarrassed! Anyway, it's working quite well, and there'll be no more worry of Baba and Grandpa throwing out things that have their identity or special info on them.

I have lots to shred myself, once I'm done doing Baba and Grandpa's papers.

The best things in life are free
da da da dah
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Give me money!
That's what I want
That's what I want (That's what I want)
That's what I waaaaaaaant
That's what I want (That's what I want)

So today I went with Mom to the Semester at Sea Open Ship event aboard the MV (formerly Universe) Explorer docked at Pier 35, and WOW! That ship is AMAZING. Mom's been on cruises before on luxury liners (I haven't) and even she was saying the ship was impressive. Okay, so the dorm rooms are about the size of my closet and the beds aren't even a twin, but the rest of the ship is just AMAZING. The classrooms have glass tables and soft, round, rotating chairs. The whole ship is wireless for internet and satellite phone, and there are snack bars, entertainment centers, a small pool, fitness centers, a full SPA! It's really incredible. And to get to travel/see the world and learn at the same time, sometimes from incredibly renowned people? Chance of a lifetime.

The catch? It's about $21,000. I have about $5000 in scholarship and loan money at the moment (not counting my Presidential Scholarship... for reasons which should be obvious), which has always been enough to cover for CSUN. I think as a senior, I can take out more money from the loans, but that's really a last resort. I'd rather get more scholarships and grants. The Institute for Shipboard Education has scholarships up to $7000, and work-study, but the latter programs are only available to students with an Expected Family Contribution (on their FAFSA) of $0. And while I've never actually received any money from either my mom or my dad for college, that's NOT what it says on my FAFSA, which is calculated according to taxes and such. Things that I have no control over, basically, since I can't be an independent student until I'm 25, even if I don't live with either of my parents, and, as far as I know, neither of them claim me (and though my grandparents *CAN*, they don't).

I thought I could apply and be notified of my status on the spot, but they want EVERYTHING ready-- not just the transcripts and clearance form, but the application (which had to be done on paper, because the computers were being fixed) and the attached essay. But because I went to the event, I can at least get the application fee waived, which is nice. So I can write that essay and mail everything out soon.

...So Dad (whom I saw today after the event) lent me his giant Peterson's Guide to Grants, Scholarships and Prizes. It's several hundred pages, with millions of listings, so let's hope I can get at least a few of them if I get accepted into SAS so I can actually *GO.* That and maybe I'll stage a fundraiser. ^^;

That said, the suckiness of today was that I lost my 7-day bus pass. Where, I don't know. Maybe on the ship, maybe on the 47 on the way to the Pier... I don't know. I went back to the ship to look for it, but I couldn't find it in any of the places I remember going or sitting, and no one in any of those areas had found it. I even left my number with an alum, but no call back. :( I know I'm only here for 2 more days, but still! What a waste of $24. I didn't take nearly as many bus trips as the value of the card was worth, and I'm really disappointed in myself. And my pants, with their stupid shallow pockets.

But the F-train that I took to the Embarcadero Bart had a really amusing driver, plus the cash box was broken, so I didn't have to pay anyway. I got enough money for the BART, and I met Dad at the Crucible. We went out for supper at this cute hole-in-the-wall Mexican Wrap place in Alameda, where I had 2 delicious enchiladas, and a kindergartener that learned the Mexican Hat Dance performed for us. He got a flan for his trouble-- so cute! And before I left, I had two of the very friendly servers speaking Japanese! :D Haha~

I then went with Dad to his new house (this is the 3rd place he's lived in since moving to Alameda; the last one was the one that burnt down/got flooded), which is a very nice place with a nice backyard of sorts, pretty stained glass windows, and big polished wooden columns. Very "Dad." And Roy (the cat) likes me! He meowed at me a lot, and liked to let me pet him. :) But he's a very big and somewhat irritable cat-- his tail was always swooshing!

We all watched "Chronicles of Riddick" (which I didn't really get; I guess it would have helped to have watched "Pitch Black" first, eh? But Dad said it was pretty scary), and had some Kettle Korn and Mexican Coca-Cola from the wrap place we'd gone to. Mexican Coke is the best! :D None of that high fructose corn crap-- it's REAL SUGAR! (Real teeth rot! YAY!) and then Dad took me to the Fruitvale Bart.

So here I am back at home, mildly amused because I saw a restaurant named "Namu" (as in, Malik's alias during the beginning of Battle City) on my way back home on the 31. I guess it was a good day-- I hope I can do a bit of shopping tomorrow and maybe hang out with people some more.

Recent Acquisitions:
* "Chew on This" by Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation." It's more on fast food, but it's not as difficult a read as FFN. Very good! Makes me want to teach it! There are a lot of good ideas for using it in various subjects in classes.

* Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters for PS2. (It was $9, I couldn't resist)

* Enya: Shepherd Moons. Nice music to fall asleep to. I got it at Goodwill for only $3.49, and it was in perfect condition!

* "Diary of a Mad Bride" and "Mermaid Saga 1," also obtained at Goodwill-- both in brand-new condition, for only $1.49 each. The manga even had the original Borders barcode sticker still on the back! :D

* Do Not Disturb lavender-and-rice-filled warming relaxation wrap. It takes 1 minute and 20 seconds to heat in the microwave to a good temperature that totally relaxes my shoulders, soothes headaches, and helps me sleep or relax. It was only $25 at the Discovery Channel store, which is unfortunately going out of business (except online).

I've also been editing WDKY as of late-- Chs. 9-12 all have been fixed, but not uploaded anywhere as of yet. I figure I'll do everything in order to get a sense of the story up until now (Ch. 25) and then just re-upload everything everywhere, all at once. It'll also be nice to work on the various portions of the WDKY website, so I can remember all the things that inspire me for particular parts of the saga.

That said... I think I'll look at Ch. 13 and then go to bed.

Aaahh, what a wonderful feeling. This is weird. I've bid on eBay before, but never was I so "obsessed" (I put that in quotes for humor's sake) with refreshing the page to make sure *I* didn't get sniped. And lo and behold, with less than 30 seconds left, someone tried to outbid me, thinking that I foolishly wouldn't get notification in time. Little did they know I was parked right in front of my bidding page, watching like the "eagle-eyed editor" I am! (Compliment from Prof. Witten this morning. Yay!)

BUT I SNIPED THEIR ASS!

Okay, so I paid a bit more than I wanted to for Mom's Mother's Day present, but considering it's so much cheaper than list price, I think it's worth it. Plus it's a practical gift, and when Mom gets it and she'll be "...I can't believe it. You actually bought it." it'll be the greatest day ever.

I never thought I would like sniping! I was channeling Weird Al, that's for sure. What fun!

Speaking of happiness, yesterday at the Pub (eatery here on campus), I overheard a group of high-schoolers (don't know what they were doing on campus, but they were definitely too young to be students here at CSUN) arguing about something that sounded suspiciously like Sailor Moon. I sort of skulked around as I was waiting for my order, seeing if I could overhear something that would confirm it-- and sure enough, I heard "Mini-Moon!" Now, I may not be the biggest fan of the dub from Super onward (not that Stars ever got dubbed-- or ever WILL), but I just started giggling. Then I asked the trio what the argument was and none-too-modestly said I could probably help settle it (being an expert on Sailor Moon... but... what? It's sort of the truth! I mean really, short of individual names of youmas and the like -and I do know *some* of them-, or anything about the musicals, I don't think there's much about Sailor Moon that I DON'T KNOW!).

Turns out the argument was over whether Mini-Moon was Sailor Moon's daughter (*snorfle*). The lone girl thought yes, yes of course she had to be! While the two guys with her doubted it, because after all, Mini-Moon appeared when Sailor Moon was *still in school.* (Oh, the scandal!) So when the question was out I said, "Damn right." (I really ought to watch my language around younger kids. I mean if they really were in high school, I'm sure they've said/done/seen worse things, but you never know who's got the most impressionable mind) And then I explained that she traveled back in time whenever we saw her, although technically she's over 900 years old...

And the girl triumphantly said "SEE!?" I told them I was surprised they'd been talking about Sailor Moon, and I thought it had to be impossible/coincidental that what they were saying SOUNDED so much like Sailor Moon, but it turns out the conversation had some roots in the fact that I have a small Sailor Mars charm on my backpack, and that spurred the subject. It's good to know that even though Sailor Moon ended well over 10 years ago, it's still very much alive here in the USA. :)

I found diaphanus's (aka Ian) LJ through a search of DIES GAUDII, the "famous" site that explains some of the interesting naming schemes, myths, and mix-ups throughout the Sailor Moon universe. I decided to check out some of the things Ian wrote, and I found this interesting video from 1967 about what they predicted kitchens in 1999 would be like.

They weren't TOO far off, but I wish more people had computers (or fridges, etc.) that could watch their calorie /mineral/etc. intake to better take care of their health. It's already 2007, and anything remotely like that (if it even exists) would probably cost a fortune. I'm not promoting being obsessive about that sort of thing, but if there were a way to be both proactive (not lazy) and have an easy way of understanding what you're putting into your body when you eat that cheeseburger or drink that soda, I don't think America would have quite the obesity epidemic that it does. Or maybe it would, what do I know?

I'm also thinking I probably shouldn't dig too intensely into summer internships since I *will* be working, at the very least, at the Call Center/Walk-In Center, and possibly also with Apple as a Campus Rep (though I have yet to receive some package from the agency, Volt). But I still have a MonsterTRAK search agent set up, and I can do the same at Yahoo! HotJobs. I didn't find the Yahoo! internship article I was looking for, but Yahoo! does have some other good resources on the subject, including Yahoo! Answers and their directory of Internships.

That said, another thing I found via Ian: Argh, it's L-U-T-H-O-R you dimwits! Which reminds me, I need to get S4 of "Lois and Clark." I actually "need" a lot of things lately. It's good I haven't gone and bought them all yet; I'm not broke, but there are so many things, and prioritizing them in order of real "need"/importance is actually pretty hard.

Opinions? What should be #s 1, 2, and 3?
eBags.com Kensington wheeled leather laptop case - $71.99
Japanimation.com Sailor Moon Memorial Music Box (10 CD Set) - $75.99
Amazon.com (or cheaper) Lois and Clark, Season 4 Boxed Set - $36.52-$41.99
Adobe Creative Suite 3 (Universal Binary) for Web - $499.00
Amtrak North America Rail Pass - $899.10 for 30 days of unlimited travel throughout the US, including a leg in Canada on VIA Rail
Something else...?

Thing is, if I'm saving up for the Rail Pass, I have to save up for where I'm going to stay, necessities like food, and souvenirs, too. Who knows how much that'll add up to? I know I can stay at hostels, and Mom might even hook me up for at least one location (hopefully Washington D.C), and if I visited New York, I might be able to stay with a relative (though staying at the Essex House again would kick ASS, especially if I weren't SICK this time around!). I'd probably need to budget at least $1000 just for that, which brings up the possibility of getting a credit card to fund it, rather than just let that idea slip away based on my current funding. Getting paid once monthly isn't fun, and this month, because I missed a few days of work due to doctor's appointments, I didn't get paid as much as usual. :( Or I won't get paid as much as usual, I should say. I haven't gotten paid yet; I just filled out the time sheets. Feels kind of old-fashioned.

Still waiting for my bookcase in the mail. Need to clean my room. And this weekend I wanted to go to Topanga Canyon to look into more pantsuits (and jackets), but James (cousin, son of Jill) is having his birthday party (Pirate-themed! Wahaha!) which I should probably go to (and what could I get James that he probably doesn't already have? I mean, all the games I know he likes are ones he already owns! Unless I get him Katamari or a GameStop gift card...). And now Apple ProCare members also get this One on One training, so I can sit down with an "Expert" and find out all there is to know about iPhoto and GarageBand without waiting for a workshop with a good time to show up on the Northridge store calendar. They have sucky dates for this weekend though-- nothing on Sunday, only Friday and Saturday evening, which is cutting it close if I have other plans at Jill's. But that can wait, I guess.

I don't know, I guess I just feel kind of busy and addled lately, but I don't want to get stressed. I want massages more often. And appointments with cute physical therapists at school. *impish grin* Alas, I don't get to see said cute guy at my next appointment on Tuesday. :P But maybe someday... Hehe.

So any Sailor Moon fans on my FL?

HA HA HA.

So I went to my cousin Jill's last night for some scrapbooking, but after dinner, we ended up playing charades and comparing the original Sailor Moon to its dub. My cousin was actually hrateful for exposing her kids to culture! :D But the whole experience has me itching to rewatch Sailor Moon Super and SuperS, so I think since I have the money, I'll finally give in and buy the box sets.

Alas! Most places don't carry them any more, because they've been out of print since... what, '05? Anyway:
(1) Does anyone know where I can get them?

I found a few reasonably-priced sellers on Amazon, and when I asked if one of them could send me images, they sent me a generic Sailor Moon SuperS DVD cover image... but I'm not sure if it'll be legit. Even The Oracle warns that Amazon doesn't do anything about Marketplace sellers passing off forgeries as the real deal. But if I can't GET the real deal anywhere, what ELSE am I supposed to do!?

(2) Hoping for the best, can anyone who currently OWNS the Sailor Moon Super and/or Sailor Moon SuperS boxed sets (I believe they were called the Heart Collection and Pegasus Collection, respectively) snap a picture for me of the outside of the box and of one of the DVDs, so I know what to expect?

I know that Geneon recently CHANGED the boxed sets-- apparently what used to be 3 DVDs is now 6, but they're all in a slim-line case, rather than the thicker cases that I remember, with reversible artwork? Or were they originally 6 DVDs? It seems improbable that the entirety of SMS could be crammed onto 3 DVDs... even Sailor Moon Classic had 6 eps. a disc on 8 discs...

I used to actually collect images of all the Sailor Moon products, and it makes me sad that I stopped doing that... if I hadn't, I might actually HAVE the image I need. I'll hunt around, but I doubt I have it... still, it'd be nice to build Mare Serenitatis again. :)

Okay, so today was essentially a good day. Holly made me silver dollar pancakes topped with a cute strawberry, as promised, and we took the earliest bus/train possible from Akatsuka to Nippori, and then the Yamanote Line trains in Tokyo to Shinjuku first, then Hamamatsucho (to the Ryutsu Center via the monorail), and then back to Shibuya. We accidentally took the "long route" to Shinjuku, so we got our time messed up a little, but we had fun-- as soon as we exited the station, we looked for a place to eat, so we decided on this small cafe/restaurant that had apparently JUST opened that day (it was pretty busy, and there was a "GRAND OPEN!" flyer on the cashier) called "Ducky Duck." I had a Foccacia pizza and a blueberry bagel (with blueberry cream cheese), the latter of which I got at the train station because I was so ravenous, and the former with a thoroughly lemon-soaked Coke.

After that, we wandered around Marui Young looking at the Gothic Lolita clothes; we'd gone there for a few minutes before Ducky Duck, but I was so hungry I convinced Holly to get grub so we could do some power shopping. While I find the various Lolita styles interesting, I can't really see myself wearing anything except maybe the most tasteful and plain (i.e. as few bows and hearts as possible) dresses. I saw one gorgeous Santa-inspired red coat with white fur trim, but it was over $315! Yeah, WAY out of my budget. But Holly found lots of things she liked, and we found out that if you spend over 10,000 or so yen at Marui Young and are a foreign visitor, you can get the consumption tax (5%) back! So we did that, and then went to look for Okadaya, a craft store.

We finally found it after some wandering, but it was a bit of a disappointment to me-- floors 4-6 were mostly about sewing, with things like rick-rack, buttons, small bolts of fabric, yarn, and the like everywhere. Not my cup of tea, to be honest. Floor 7 had some magazines and books, but they were all over-priced; floor 3 had some cool makeup and wigs, so I bought some nice cheap nail polish and some Victorian-style scrapbook stickers. I also bought some things from the other floors for Baba and Joyce. Floors 1 and 2 were all about beading, and while I was totally tempted to get some things, they were way expensive, too. I might have been reading the signs wrong, but I'm pretty sure the signs had a price "per bead."

Next up we headed to Hamamatsucho; the monorail was a very interesting ride, and it took us through Tennozu Isle, the same place that inspired Infinity Island in Sailor Moon S. I even saw the building that inspired Infinity Academy! :D I just read about it the other day in one of my new books: Warriors of Legend: Reflections of Japan in Sailor Moon, so it was pretty cool actually seeing it in person, even if it was just for a few moments.

The antique fair was pretty easy to find, and it was nice that it was all indoors (I thought it might be outdoors based on the description and warnings from the PaperLantern.net page). But everything was so expensive! I was hoping I would find things for both my Dad and Scott (and maybe Grandpa), but of all the incredible things I saw, only one thing "called" to me as being perfect, and that was a present I snagged for Dad. The guy I bought it from even gave me a small discount! I think he was just surprised that I was being so picky and interested in what he had to offer. I thought about getting Scott a Buddha statuette, or maybe some Japanese ukiyoe art, but with prices running in the low thousands for STAINED stuff, I said no. Besides, nothing "called" to me as being perfect for him. I'm hoping I think of something soon, or see something in Hong Kong. I feel kind of guilty having not gotten him anything for his birthday or Christmas yet, save the one small-ish, kind of silly thing I already bought (which I hope to mail this week, along with the other boxes and cards).

Holly and I split up through most of the fair, and even though the exhibition hall was large, we found our way through the whole place pretty quickly. It was mostly housewares (plates) and genuinely antique-y stuff like samurai armor, swords, prints, toys, and things like that. EVERYTHING was very expensive. One Buddha statuette I looked at was 10,300 yen (over $90 USD, about)! And it was barely the size of my palm!

We ended up leaving before the fair actually ended, and we headed back to the monorail to go to Shibuya. I wanted to go to the NANA 2 museum and cafe "Lotus and Strawberry," but we didn't have a whole lot of time; we were also hungry, so we stopped at a Royal Host and had dinner (I had Mexican tacos along with some honey & wild berry ice cream). After that, we tried to find our way to the Jewish Community Center, but because we weren't coming directly from the station, the directions we had (and the lousy map) weren't very useful. We asked for directions at a koban (police box), and managed to make our way there, but only after TONS of walking. And according to the hours, they were closed on Saturdays! I found that hard to believe, given that synagogues and the like are usually OPEN on the high holidays, and the front door was open, too. Another guy came up and asked us if we were there to see the movie; we said no, we just wanted to see the place, we'd come from Mito, etc., and sooner than later, a guy working for the JCC came and let us in. I saw they had a table of goodies set up-- alas, the dreidels (glass) were too expensive, so I ended up buying matzoh and coconut macaroons instead. YAY! :D :D :D MATZOH! IN JAPAN! :D :D

But all that walking took so much time, so we had to run to catch a bus (flat rate of 170 yen, how cheap!) and get back to Shibuya so we could take our train to Nippori and then back to Mito. But my stomach started hurting on the bus, so at Nippori I found a bathroom and stayed sick for a good half hour. :( My stomach was still finicky when we finally boarded a train, but thankfully it was a Rapid train, so there was a bathroom (which was surprisingly clean). I'd taken a Pepto from Holly back at Nippori, so my stomach started to feel a bit better... but I think the fake Mexican tacos did that to me. :( I'm still feeling kind of queasy.

The guys at the JCC told me about a Hanukkah party going on tomorrow at some Otani Hotel, but there are LOTS of Otani Hotels in Tokyo, and I can't remember which one/where they said it was! I want to go, since the whole point of me trying to find the JCC was to do something Hanukkah-y, and plus you get free food and a free menorah! But since I'm not feeling well *AND* since it costs extra money (plus even if I use another day from my Seishun 18 ticket, I'd have to buy another one for use with Bonnie when we're in Tokyo! It's totally worth it, since it pays for itself if you spend more than 2500 yen or so in a single day, which I do just coming from Mito, though), I might not go. I'm waiting to see if anyone emails me back with the exact address, or there's no point.

I also want to try and start writing more for my scholarship paper/the book. It occurred to me that there are LOTS of books on anime, but not very many on manga, it seems. Mine wouldn't be the first, and perhaps not even the first to explore the connections and dissimilarities between manga and Japanese novel writing, but I'd like to give it a shot.

Anyway, since my tongue is brown and my head is achey, I think I'll get to sleep now.

Well, no one can say that my last few days have been uneventful, because frankly, they've been anything but. Some of them aren't exactly EXCITING!! but "stuff happened" nonetheless.

First off, I went shopping in Uchihara yesterday, which is always nice-- even when I'm on a self-imposed budget because of all the bills I had to pay earlier this month. I still ended up buying two new pairs of shoes (oh my god) and some scrapbooking stickers, along with a Christmas card for Mom. The Christmas/holiday/New Year's cards here are gorgeous! For a while there, I thought I could make a deposit at the postal service ATM in the mall, but I doubt it. I didn't actually try it because I had no money TO deposit, but I might go back there after payday just to see. Still, I don't think I can, and my best bet is *sigh* to pay for a wire transfer to my bank account in the States. I don't understand what PayPal's linkup is with Japanese banks, but I know that I don't have a Japanese bank account and don't intend to get one (even if I could; I'm pretty sure student =/= resident). Why do I need to bother with that when I get paid in cash? Simple-- for when I want to buy things online, like books, food, gifts, or travel. :P

I also found out that Gina Reams (zOMG, remember her?) is here in Japan too, going to Temple University. Her winter break is a little bit longer than mine, but they overlap, so hopefully if we both have some time, we can see each other. That would be fun.

I've been having some weird dreams lately, too (this morning's latest dream was undoubtedly influenced by baine's "The Temptress" and "Star Trek," the original series), but I guess that's to be expected when your brain just says 'You have had a WACKY day, and I am going to try and organize all this...' and does that in the form of some very strange dreams.

Ah, I'd love to find another pair of my old Oxford (Low-Cut) Purple Satin Chuck Taylors (Converse), but it appears they were a special series from 2004, and the likelihood of me being able to find them again in my size is pretty slim to none. Technically I already replaced them with the rainbow-colored hi-tops I bought at Shoe Plaza, but nothing quite replaces a pair of shoes that have seen me almost everywhere, doing all sorts of things, and in my favorite color, no less! You can make a custom pair of shoes at Converse's website, but the fabric isn't really an option, much less the pattern ON said fabric, as far as I've been able to see. I HAVE to make myself get rid of these old shoes! ;_; But it's so difficult...

For anyone curious, the new shoes I bought are downright GIRLY. I got a pair of slip-on wannabe-ballet flats in shiny vinyl red, complete with two knit cherries on the left corner of each opening, along with a pair of fuzzy violet and gold low-heels, with a strap just over the toe (but a closed toe). The great thing is, both of them would look great with jeans OR a fancy dress! I'd much rather have a shoe fetish than a purse fetish, like my mom!

WaMu is idiotic. They're either powered by robots or by people that don't speak English, because when I sent them an email yesterday asking them the SIMPLE question of "how can I make a deposit from Japan?" they kept responding with "you can go to a WaMu branch!" and I'm like "THERE ARE NONE HERE!" Even the Citibanks are all the way in Tokyo. I just wanted to know what the rules were regarding wire transfers, but even though I *KNOW* you can do them (for example, from any place that DOES wire transfers, such as Western Union and its ilk), WaMu didn't mention them as an option at all. Seriously, STUPID!

Also, that thought: how come there aren't any "purikura" programs for PCs or Macs? I mean something that takes your existing pictures (or if you have an iSight/Photo Booth like I do, one that lets you TAKE snapshots) and then lets you decorate them with a wide variety of frames, text, and other decorations? The only thing I can think of that would come close would be a range of Photoshop filters. It wouldn't be hard to make them, necessarily, but not everyone has Photoshop. On top of that, determining a size would be a pain, because I know I would like to "print my own" purikura (you can buy sticky photo paper at most office supply stores). My favorite sizes are the 2.5cm x 2cm ones, or the smaller, 1.5 cm x 1cm ones (roughly). I don't know, has anyone heard of anything?

Okay, so BBTV was a bust-- you need a TV or another device that accepts video input for it to work... stupid me thought that you used your BBTV connection to view TV on your computer, kind of like how my roommate does. So I have this massive BBTV box which I cannot do anything with. Thankfully, my roommates said they'd call Yahoo tomorrow and find out what they could do.

Second is, someone on SMRFF suggested I try and get the SM episodes I'm missing via this website... which uses Sendspace, rather than their own domain/bandwidth, so of course, there aren't enough slots for me to download one episode, let alone 60 or more. I noticed they had an IRC server, so I made to get myself an IRC client for the Mac, but even the most simplistic one (made to look like iChat) doesn't seem to want to connect to irc.rizon.net (the server with a bazillion and a half channels) via ethernet OR wireless. So I don't know what to do. Maybe LimeWire, or Torrents, if I can find them. I'm pretty sure Sailormoon is no longer licensed in the U.S., but I don't know if that means VKLL's old subs will suddenly reappear or what. (If anyone knows where I can snag some, let me know!)

Also, if you think Japan is "land of the anime," you're not too far from the truth-- every grocery store, clothing store, etc. has anime in it-- well, sort of. Pretty Cure, Toei's latest magical girl series, is everywhere in some form or another, and the boys' equivalent ranges from Dragonball Z (most of the time) to the occasional One Piece. I have yet to see Yu-Gi-Oh *ANYWHERE* in great abundance. What I find baffling about Pretty Cure is that the new season is a spinoff-- called Pretty Cure Splash Star, and though the girls look and almost act exactly the same as their predecessors, they are a) from another universe, b) have different titles, powers, and mascots, and c) have no discernable relation to the original Pretty Cure seen in the first two seasons of the show. COLOR ME CONFUSED. Why not make the "new" Pretty Cure look different, rather than long-haired versions of the old Pretty Cure? And what HAPPENED to the old Pretty Cure, anyway?
I don't know anything about the series and have never watched it-- that's just what I've learned from looking at products. :P

In other news, WDKY25 is coming along-- I've got 2-3 scenes done already, with something like 3-4 left to go, if that. I think I'm having way too much fun with Bakura in this fic. If anyone is up for beta'ing (assuming I get it done this week), please let me know.

Blue Eyes and Apricots is back to functionality, I've noticed; before, for some strange reason, notification emails never made it to me about new members joining, and even when I checked the panel, it didn't list new members. I added several members manually, and since then, 3 members have joined and I've been notified. So we're nearly 450 members strong! The Fanart section is still gone though, because there doesn't seem to be a method I can think of for hosting the fanart short of doing a password-protected ML/email account or folder on the domain-- and even then, I know people will skim "the rules" and inevitably end up using the images in ways they shouldn't.

Today Holly and I went out toward Akatsuka; I ended up buying a new pair of hi-top Converse (even though what I *REALLY* need are new boots and ballet flats) that are so dorkalicious (dip-dyed rainbow colors!) that I'm a dweeb just for thinking about buying them (and worse for actually doing it). I also bought a new purple long-sleeved shirt (when can I resist?), the elusive Ginger for my Pumpkin Pie this week, and a few random things at the glory that is Daiso (the 100 yen store). But I'd say the best part of the day is how we went to this Italian restaurant called GROOVY.

I saw it, and Bruce Campbell's voice just came into my head. Over and over. It kept me grinning the whole time, even though I didn't understand the concept of "Set A plate" fully. I ended up getting chicken and tomato spaghetti, corn potage, and a salad with a rather funny-tasting dressing. I ate as much as I could, and felt no guilt about leaving leftovers. It was good, but the portions here are huge for me. Maybe moreso considering they don't do takeout!

Well, I better get to sleep so I can finish up my homework in the morning, have a decent breakfast, and spend Monday running around like a chicken with its head cut off (as I always do). Hopefully I'll get inspired enough to finish WDKY25 in one sitting!

Uh... hi! It feels like it's been much longer than it probably has, but as everyone knows, I have an excuse. But first, MORE excuses!

If you got a SPAM email or two from me (or sent to any of your MLs, whatever), I apologize... I had a bit of a browser malfunction in regards to my email client (GMail) and it sent this mass email to all 129 people in my GMail address book, when I wanted to select only a few. -_- Again, I apologize-- please don't think any less of me for it. If it makes you feel better, I got 129 x 2 messages too, plus a lot of "bounced" emails from dead emails, and the occasional "YOU SPAMMED ME, BITCH!?" emails. Okay, none of those, but a few O_O YOU SPAMZORED? ones.

Yes. Anyway, this is my first LJ entry posted using xJournal on my shiny new Mac Book Pro! I'm still navigating my way around this thing, but I'm actually LIKING being a Mac person now. o_o Someone shoot me, I think the world has inverted and I'm really Teews Htiderem! I got suckered into getting a free printer and iPod Nano (I let Mom keep the latter, but it seems to be befuddling her, which I find adorable), but so far the ProCare and the Apple Protection Plan have proved worth it. I got all my PC data transferred onto here, though all my pictures and music are horribly disorganized (IMHO, compared to my PC). Things that SHOULD have been on here are mysteriously NOT, and I don't know why-- so rather than try and find each and every individual file (with the exception of a few songs detectable in Playlist comparisons), I might end up burning a whole spindle of CDs to backup my PC files.

...Then I have to clear ALL my settings from the shit Dell, move the computer BACK downstairs, and clean up my room. I've already got my new bed (formerly Scott's bed) in here, with a rearranged endtable set up, but other than that, it's the same mess as it was before Scott and I spent our weekend in Costa Mesa, at the very nice Westin South Coast Plaza.

So yes, that was my not-so-secret plan for the weekend-- and at first (scarily, almost as predicted... I mean, I tend to envision the worst case scenario, so short of Scott acting like a troll from FFR or an OOC character from an anime...), what happened at first was almost my Worst Case Scenario That's Realistically Possible. Basically, it took a lot longer to get to Costa Mesa than expected, parking was hard to find and not clearly marked, and they were doing loud and dusty construction on the revolving door right as we arrived.

But a good half hour into us getting into our room, things calmed down. Admittedly, I liked the Heavenly Beds (Westin's signature bed and bath collection is called "Heavenly" and for good reason) more than Scott did-- he said he had headaches and insomnia most of the weekend, but somehow we still had a good time. We didn't go to Universal, or go anywhere to a super fancy dinner, but I did still get to wear my dresses and spend precious time with Scott-- and that's what counted. Hell, I even got to go shopping as a bonus-- and I got the purse that I've wanted for years now (for no apparent reason), the Dooney and Burke "It" Alto Bag with the rainbow printed signature line on ivory weather-coated leather! :D It's even cheaper from the official store than it is online, so I'm thrilled. I actually got away with "murder" (it's an expression...) in terms of shopping the past few days... clothes, purses, makeup... whee.

I've still got lots left to do before Japan though-- namely go back to CSUN to clear up some stuff regarding class equivalency, get a fax from the Graduate Studies and International Programs director, email Prof. Hirota, and PACK! Euuugh. And of course, I have to be on my freaking rag. LOVELY. *gnaw gnaw*

So after seeing The Devil Wears Prada with Baba and Grandpa today (great movie by the way; I also bought the soundtrack), I went to Borders to see if I could find any novelizations of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, or at the very least, look at the collection of books, even if they were targeted towards kids and pre-teens. What I found was a bit more interesting, though... (spoilers, obviously)

( Read more... )

Ooh, I forgot all about looking for the "Pirateology" book, which I still want. And I neglected to print out my 20% off one book with the purchase of $20 or more coupon, so in total, I spent $70 at Borders tonight (3 manga + 1 free, The Devil Wears Prada soundtrack, 1 necklace of sorts, 1 Bitty Book Light). Ugh, bad, BAD Mer! But I plan on returning the horrendous-ness that is Danielle Steel's latest, "Coming Out." It's drier than the Sahara, I'm telling you. You don't empathize for the characters at all, and they're about as wooden as the trees in my front yard. Worse, I have a feeling I know what's coming, so there's not really any motivation for me to finish the book except to see if I'm right or not. And even if I'm not, I doubt it'll come as a big shock. I'm over halfway through the book, and there's no real conflict (at least, the conflict seems pithy), no drama, no emotional strain. I think Danielle Steel's gotten so full of herself, she doesn't bother writing quality works anymore (oh noes! Anne Rice 2.0!). Some of her past things --especially the steamy romance novels-- were great reads, and you felt BAD about reading something so sinful. This? Waste of $15.

Now, onward to the topic of my post. So as I'm coming home, listening to my "He's a Pirate" remixes as always, and generally being in a giddy, happy mood (<= good movie + popcorn/candy/soda + Borders spree), I remember reading this tidbit about Johnny Depp from the latest issue of "Rolling Stone" ... which is, when Depp randomly gets "sick of LA" (or something to that effect, and either way, I know the feeling), he hops on an Amtrak train and goes wherever. Specifically, San Francisco, or maybe Seattle. I know exactly what train he means, and I've done that same journey before! (Actually, Scott and I were initially thinking about doing the train up to S.F. for this coming week, but we decided against it due to cost. That and after he broke up with me again -if you wanna call it that- I didn't want to bother being in any mode of transportation, comfy or not- with him for 10+ hours. STUCK. Talk about uncomfortable. But now that the ride's 45 minutes on an airplane, I wonder. @_o He's also been flirting with me again lately. Ugh, someone just... *_* I DON'T KNOW!!!) Anyway, back to my fantasy.

So I'm imagining that I'm back from Japan and on the Amtrak train heading up North, at some unspecified point during the year, and Depp decides to go incognito and take the train to get a breather from LA. And there are a variety of seats to choose from on this particular night-time train that we both happen to be on, and there I am, typing away madly on my laptop, listening to something on my iPod (Dead Man's Chest soundtrack, of course), and there are papers spread out all over the seat next to me. So he asks "Is this seat taken?" and as I busily save my work and try to move my stuff at the same time, I knock down the Dead Man's Chest CD (don't ask me why I have it if the songs are on my iPod. And I didn't buy the CD; I bought the iTunes OST with the digital PDF visual guide). He picks it up and smirks, then asks "Pirates of the Caribbean fan?" and I take off my earphones, just to be polite (they were on low anyway; rarely do I blast my music loud enough to NOT hear someone speak to me) and I say "Yup, I'm so excited about the movie coming out [this summer, so it must be some time during 2007], so I'm writing a story for it." (Fanfic or novelization of what I think the 3rd movie will be like, I can't remember. But one of the two.)

And then he asks me to talk about the story, and being the dimwit I am, I go on and on about the story, about what fanfiction is, about why I'm all about Will/Elizabeth, but Jack/Elizabeth has its appeal, and I did read a rather good essay on Jack/Elizabeth/Will (OT3). In the end, he's gotten all quiet and I turn to look at him, all embarrassed that I've gone and railed about this... and then I realize who he is and I turn TOMATO RED (because that always happens when I get embarrassed) and I stop talking altogether. He smirks again and says "Promise not to tell anyone?" and I just nod all dumbly. Then he asks if he can read the story, and I just squeak and let him have my laptop.

I can't remember what happened from there, but then I remember him saying he'll get off in San Francisco too, and I mention my mom works at one of the luxury hotels, and he asks me if I think I can help him get a room at the last minute. So I call mom up and am trying to be incognito that HELLO JOHNNY DEPP IS WALKING RIGHT NEXT TO ME SQUEE and Mom is just "You're nuts. But okay, I'll call people." and I finally manage to cool it, and Johnny thinks it's horribly amusing how "sane" I'm attempting to be, especially after on the train, I managed to gather my wits enough to not squeal and ask for his autograph. That's actually how I envision meeting a celebrity --if I ever do. That is, being calm, cool, and collected. "I am a journalist!" after all or something, and that means doing my job first, not being some fangirl. I don't want to be lumped together with all the forgettable faces leaning and crying and shoving things over police barriers at Hollywood premieres. Yuck.

But that was the end of my foolish fantasy, and it made me smile. So there. :P

Yesterday I spent more money than I should have. And I still didn't buy all the manga I wanted. I read through Hot Gimmick #10-- and augh! Damn you, Miki Aihara! I haven't even touched Tokyo Boys and Girls, and who knows what happened with So Bad! and Teacher's Pet? And hasn't she released another one just recently?

I ended up buying "Geisha, A Life", as per a recommendation ^^, Tarot Cafe 3 & 4, and DeathNote 1. So who was it on this FL that did 30_kisses for DeathNote? I didn't think I'd get so into it! ^^ It's a very cool series... and it prompted an interesting train of thought. It seems almost all the anime/manga I'm into have a protagonist with an Object/Item of Power. Think about it:
* Sailormoon - We've got the transforming lockets/pens/wands, the Ginzuishou, the power-wands/talismans, the dream mirrors, pure hearts, sailor crystals... so many Items of Power!
* Yu-Gi-Oh - Millennium Items, much? Even the cards could be construed as Items of Power.
* DeathNote - The DeathNote, duh.
Only the more realistic (albeit super-drama) ones that I like lack Items of Power. These series include Peach Girl, Hana Yori Dango, and Hot Gimmick.

I also splurged on a Christmas present for Scott, but with the way my funds look at the moment, I don't think I'll be able to send it to him on time for Christmas, unless Mom helps. >_> Ehe, I had plenty of money when I got here two days ago; I went crazy by myself (see, this is why I need to go shopping WITH FRIENDS! They stop me from buying stupid things!) and now with the iPod skin, PayPal Transfer, and a movie ticket from last night, I'm just about broke. Actually, the bus fare has been getting me; $1.50/ride really adds up, you know! I wish I had a Fast Pass... (no, I'm not going to/can't afford one!)

Oh yeah, I saw "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" last night. I finished reading The Magician's Nephew and TLTWATW the night before that, and I have to say, the movie did NOT disappoint. Spectacular special effects, decent acting, FANTASTIC music, and *drool* Liam Neeson makes such a wonderful Aslan. I hope they do the other movies...! Book --> Movie-wise, this was probably the best adaptation I've ever seen. Sure, they changed some things, but nothing drastically important like they tend to do in the Harry Potter movies. Nothing to make you go "Hey! WTF!?" And of course, it's one of those rare movies where if you've read The Magician's Newphew first, it makes SOOOO much more sense. :)

I'm gettng closer to being finished with one of my fics for this dramione (HP) fic exchange, and one of the requirements is that I get a beta. Any volunteers? Otherwise I'll have to go through the community itself, in which case it might take longer... and the deadline was yesterday. 'Net access is pretty lousy, and as you know, I hate 56K.

( I had to register for my classes yesterday too, )

And then there's New Years. Seems Scott would like it if I could find a way to San Diego, but I can't think of any way of convincing Dad to drive down there (what reason would he have to go?) so I'd basically have to find my own way down there somehow. I doubt I will have gotten my financial aid check, and I don't even start work until the 9th. All of that compounded with the fact that I can't ask Baba and Grandpa for money, and it's sadly unlikely that I'll be able to go down there, whether it's cheaply (by bus) or nicely (by train).

Ugggh. I hate money.

Popular interests among the_sweet's friends

1. anime (44) 11. art (15) 2. writing (31) 12. final fantasy (15) 3. manga (26) 13. video games (14) 4. music (26) 14. movies (14) 5. reading (24) 15. japan (12) 6. drawing (20) 16. ddr (12) 7. harry potter (20) 17. j-pop (11) 8. fanfiction (19) 18. books (11) 9. computers (19) 19. singing (10) 10. friends (16) 20. stars (10)

Interests gestalt

My most interesting friend is the_sweet who has 18 of these interests, followed by mklutz (15), nekokilala (14) and tidus (13).

Normality Index

My friends are 124.51% normal.

Analyze me !

Username: Popular interests created by _imran_

Uh... yeah, I'm on my own FL. What of it? :P

Newsflash: Boys are stupid. Sorry, boys. (Why do I say this? Uh, gee, because I try to work/get along with the guys at my work, but maybe it's the atmosphere, or their age --younger, of course-- or something else, but they were ALL total jackasses today, and I left work without saying a single word to any of them-- even when I came back a SECOND time to pick up my shirt.)

Extra, Extra! I have found that it's great to be empowered and looking at the bright side of being single again. It's hard to imagine feeling that way again after a long, very meaningful relationship-- so it takes a bit of self-kicking-in-the-ass to get me in motion. And what did I do today to get me in that direction? Blew $200 on a pair of leather pants. :> But damn, I look good in them!

And I also went to Forever 21... which is ALAS! so very dinky compared to the flagship store in San Francisco. Why is everything big in San Francisco now? It's weird. I'm not sure who to blame for my new F21 addiction-- Steph for taking me there, Eva for being a shopaholic just like me (at least she seems like one...) or Tobey for working there and giving me a reason to be nice and stick around-- and get suckered into checking out all three floors and buying things. In this Northridge branch, I got myself a new tank top and a new skirt. The tank top will look FAB with my leather pants, my boots, and maybe a light jacket or something.

I have no work for the next two days, but since I managed to blow most of my paycheck today (it was measly, considering I'd been in SF for a week-- and I also got my finger stuck in the fridge fan at work, so I had to get my fake nails removed) and stupid "R" still has not done the tips, I'm holding off on any spend-a-thons until I get my financial aid check a week before school starts on the 29th. However, Baba is desperate for me to re-vamp my wardrobe and help me along for school, so maybe on Thursday when she goes to her swim class, I can go to the CSUN Jamba, find out about the transfer (turns out Red Robin doesn't open till October!), grab some textbooks, a pencil bag, and a planner... and ta-dah!

Still expecting in the mail: an azurite bracelet (or two...!?) and earrings, Baba's romance novels, and That Damn Check. It would also be nice to get reply emails from the Red Robin in Canoga Park, the PayPal people in charge of my name-change, the person whose azurite bracelet I accidentally bid on twice (I asked them if I could retract my bid).

I have lots of cleaning to do, plus I want to work on more icons for iconfiend100 and a fanart I'm slaving over for it (and guardian_kysra, the original artist) and of course, WDKY18. I still want volunteers for people able to beta FOR sure the week of the 18th. Please, please, please! It would make me feel loads better knowing I have people lined up.

Oh yes: tagged by seeshellirun (in no particular order):
List seven of your favorite songs of the moment in your journal and force seven other people to repeat this or God will kill a puppy.
1. Seduccion by Thalia - It's got such a great beat... and I just think it sounds better than the English version
2. Dance, Dance [The Mexican] Hex Hector Mix by Thalia - This song makes you want to dance, just like Thalia sings! ^_^v
3. Shuffle DV Mix by Masami Okui - I like this mostly because of the vocal intro by Some Nameless Guy. It's kind of like a trippy pep-talk, but with a Yu-Gi-Oh theme.
4. C'est la Vie - Watashi koisuru no bubun by Minako Aino (or whoever her actress is :P) - Only because I've been listening to it on my playlist.
5. Sakura Fubuki by Rei Hino (again, or whoever her actress is) - My FAVORITE SONG out of the whole PGSM series (so far).
6. Empezar de "0" by Thalia - Dab, dab, dabbity, dabbity, dab, dab, dab...
7. No Me Voy a Quebrar by Thalia - I don't understand a word of what she's saying, but I love the melody!

If you've already been tagged by someone else, feel free to ignore me:
1. schmollieollie
2. cutieme4u
3. ely_chan
4. katiat325
5. winterwing3000
6. rhapsody_dragon
7. staplerx (bwahaha.)

Finally, I have a new layout for my LJ (Dear Diary...) but I seriously want to tweak it so that:
a) The navigation for previous/earlier entries is at the bottom of the page
b) The links I've designated are separated by bullet points
c) The subject lines of entries are in a separate color/table row
d) The user pictures of posters (me, friends, community pictures) are to the LEFT of posts, not to the right

Anyone know where I could begin with this?

WDKYicons by rhapsody_dragon:
* WDKY (general) - the one I'm currently using
* WDKY 1 - The one with Téa looking off to the side, the bg looks a bit like yellow flames. "This Was Me"
* WDKY 2 - The one with Téa looking uncertainly at Kaiba. "Moving On, Moving Out...?"
* WDKY 3 - The one with Kaiba holding/dancing with Téa. "Call It A Personal Favor"
* WDKY 4 - The one with a half-profile of Kaiba and him and Téa kissing in the background. "Carry On Dancing"/"I Want You"
* WDKY 5 - NEW!!! The one with Téa looking off to the side, sad. "Dwelling"
* WDKY 6 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "Cooking with a Kaiba" (you've already got fanart for this, Mamono! ^_~)
* WDKY 7 - The one with Téa passed out on the beach, rays of sun on her face (how did you do that effect, Mamono?). "Love and Confusion"/"Happy Birthday, Seto Kaiba"
* WDKY 8 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET!
* WDKY 9 - The one with Yugi walking away from Téa, looking very angsty/pained. "Boy Season"
* WDKY 10 - The one with a very beat-up pair: Kaiba and Joey. "Separation, and then..."
* WDKY 11 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "All That I Need"
* WDKY 12 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "We Are Family" (This one HAS to have Mokuba in it somehow.)
* WDKY 13 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "Five by Five"
* WDKY 14 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "Stronger"
* WDKY 15 - The one with Kaiba growling at the phone murderously, and holding a gun to the receiver (fanart/flash-like). "Bah, Humbug"
* WDKY 16 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "Decisions, Decisions..."
* WDKY 17 - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE YET! "Sheer Torture...?"

...so now everybody knows. :P