That whole "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" thing? Yeah, unless they're talking about the Doctor, they're wrong. I bought some Fuji apples from QFC, ate them every day since Wednesday last week until I ran out Friday, and Saturday morning what happens? I wake up with a cold. So pooh pooh, apples-a-day people, pooh pooh.

There's apparently this "Greek Week" going on, and of course Hansee is pretty much across the street from the Greeks, so I've been hearing music, screaming, bull horns, and who-knows-what for the last week all day.

I went to bed early Tuesday night so I could fight off the stupid cold, like 11PM early as opposed to 1AM. What's my reward? A drunk someone (I know who, but no naming names) comes to my next door neighbor at about 2AM, has a conversation loud enough to wake me up, and tops it by somehow slamming into my door. Yeeeaaahh, was real happy about that. Thankfully I managed to go right back to sleep, but the rude awakening? Not cool.

On the bright side of things, I have a three day weekend ahead of me! Woo!! It's because, for second year, we don't really have a textbook because our teacher is still in the process of writing/publishing it. She gives bits and pieces of it when we get to the chapter, but... all the loose sheets get lost in the multitude very quickly, and it's really hard to keep track of what grammar is covered in what chapter so we can go back and review it for tests and such. So she's taking that Friday to work on it. Yay!

I'm kinda/sorta planning on going to Pike Place tomorrow (since I cancelled my plans last weekend to go due to the onset of the cold), mostly to go to the comic book store they have there to pick up the latest issue of Buffy. Hopefully the (second) latest issue and maybe even the final issue of Serenity as well. I looked at their website, and apparently they're also up to issue #4 of the Doctor Who comic, which I remember Nikki telling me about, but it sort of promptly flew out of my mind. Sooo...we'll see if there are any back orders of the other issues. Better yet, we'll see if I have any money to buy any of these issues *glances figuratively at Rome out of the corner of her eye*

I'll probably explore a lot of the Market aside from the comic store, and maybe I'll treat myself to a lunch/dinner there (I'm really interested in finding that Piroshky-Piroshky! place). I just need to make sure I avoid the cheesecake-place, because I'm going to all-too-easily convince myself that I deserve it after my injurous week+cold. And then I want to find the Elliot Bay bookstore, and if I find that I might be able to find that chocolate-dessert place I went to back in junior year of high school on a field trip....

*headdesk* I'm so terribly excited about Rome, and it's going to be even more intense when I get there, but....GAH!! I need money now.

Speaking of Rome, at the meeting last week (has it only been a little over a week???) when all the writers introduced themselves, they mentioned majors and the like. And I'm amazed at how many psych majors there were. Not even double English/Psych majors, but solely psychology. I believe there was one who was double-majoring in English/Psych, but I think about half of the ~26 who showed up were psych majors. Kinda makes me wonder if maybe the Psych department needs to step up their study abroad game. Biology was another major that was strongly represented, too, I think. 'Tis odd.

Oh, and just about a week until the University District Street Fair. *sigh* Money money money money....bwah. *headdesk*

And, random mention here that I shall not explain: I am not a photogenic person at all. =\


The Doctor: I'll have to get a house! With - with doors and carpets, can you imagine? Me, living in a house?!
Rose: [singsong voice] You'll have to get a mortgage!
The Doctor: No.
Rose: Oh yes.
The Doctor: No. That's it, I'm dying. It is all over.
Rose: What about me? I'll have to get one too. Or - it could be the same one. [uncomfortably] We could... I don't know... share. [The Doctor stares at her] Or not, whatever.
The Doctor: Anyway.
Rose: Yeah, we'll see.
The Doctor: I promised Jackie I would always take you back home.
Rose: Everyone leaves home in the end.
The Doctor: Not to end up stuck here!
Rose: Yeah, well stuck with you, that's not so bad.
The Doctor: [surprised] Yeah?
Rose: Yes.

Ood: The Beast and his armies will rise from the pit to make war against God.
Rose: I'm sorry?
Ood: [whacks communication sphere] Apologies. I said "I hope you enjoy your meal". --Doctor Who, The Impossible Planet

So. My Italian visa. Which I've been griping and moaning about and probably making a lot of you roll your eyes at me from all the melodrama.

But once more, with feeling: I HATE VISAS!!!!!!!!!!!

However, I recognize that had I been more informed and if I'd been made more aware of what all the components were and when they were all due, I would be less angry with the visa (yes, I'm speaking of it like it's a human being, roll with it!).

So, really, my anger is aimed mostly entirely at the IPE office. *fumes with the thought*

In order to obtain an Italian visa, I need to prove "financial security." The only way I manage to attend and live at UW is through financial aid. So, I submitted the document saying I'd show I have financial aid so the people at IPE could write a letter saying, "She has money. Let her go to Rome."

Admittedly, I dropped the ball a tiny bit on this part. I didn't realize I needed to have already applied for summer aid by the time I submitted my visa application so the woman working with us Creative Writers (we shall henceforth call her YoSaffBridge because I don't like either woman) could send the collective visa apps sometime in the last week, so that's my fault. But the financial aid office doesn't decide financial awards until May-ish.

Can we see the issue here?

I submitted my visa application the 10th of April. YoSaffBridge only emailed me about the problem on the 29th. I'm not even going to try and speculate what all she was doing in those TWO WEEKS she had it.

And now, comes the true source of my anger (because up until that point I was merely frustrated). YoSaffBridge's office hours are from about 8-11ish and then from 2-closing. I got there at 2PM, almost exactly.

She walks in about 2:15 from her break. Then proceeds to take about 15 minutes to do...something. I have no idea what. We talk, she says I need a visa even though the program directors said all we have to do is sign an indemnity form if we didn't get a visa and pretend we're tourists instead of students. I go down to the Financial Aid office, I burden a very nice woman (Lisa, her name was, who was MUCH nicer than the last person I went to about financing Rome) with estimating how much financial aid I would receive for summer, I go back up to IPE about 10 minutes later with the estimate....and YoSaffBridge is "out."

I get that sometimes "when you gotta go, you gotta go." However, YoSaffBridge was only available for....10 minutes out of the 45 minutes I was at IPE.

Mayhaps I'm at the wrong university. When your hours are said to be from 2-closing, you're supposed to be at your office at 2 o'clock NOT leaving wherever you took your lunch at 2 in order to get to your office whenever you get there. Isn't that how it works? Or am I just strange?

I'd heard that IPE was horrible, and you have to watch 'em like a hawk to make sure they don't screw you over, but from the few, brief instances I dealt with them before it didn't seem bad. The secretary/person in charge (she seemed to have more knowledge than all the advisors put together, but she was only greeting people and answering the phone...) was very nice and helpful. But after YoSaffBridge....yeah. *takes out her hawk eyes*

Blah. I don't even know how coherent some of that is. I just got onto the elevator to escape IPE and thought, "She is so going into my livejournal." Grrrr.

I went grocery shopping yesterday, and I now have some yummy French bread, pepperjack cheese, lunch meat, and apples. Oh, and Pepsi, too. *drinks Pepsi to make up for the bad, bad IPE woman* Also went to B&N to pick up a copy of issue 13 of BtVS for Freddie and the 2nd issue of Better Days, since B&N takes about 2-3 weeks to stock the new issues. But they didn't have Better Days, sadly. I'll probably go to Pike Place and see if a comic store there has it. *hopes*

And there'll be Korean food tomorrow! The KSA at UW is hosting a "Korean Food Market" on the HUB lawn. Thankfully the food is bought through tickets purchased at the Ticket Office, so I can use my Husky Card to buy food. *cheers* Since I don't have cash and I demand Korean food. I just hope it's good food, and not fast-food quality Korean food (though I will still buy it).

The Korean test I took yesterday was difficult. Thankfully, though, it wasn't difficult because I didn't know my stuff (though it was still a factor). There was one section where it says, "fill in the blanks to reflect the translation given." Problem? There was no translation. Just a sentence in Korean, a blank, and whatever the heck our brains could come up with. Kim-sunsengnim wasn't there for the test, too, because she had to survey her TAs or some such, so we had no one to ask. Then there was a part where we had to use a certain sentence connector and come up with a sentence based on cues given in English. I knew how to use the connector just fine, but the cues weren't working harmoniously.

Kim-sunsengnim noticed no one finished the test, though, so we get tomorrow to work on it after taking a glance at it today to refresh our memories what we had trouble with. We informed her about the lack of a translation to "reflect" from, so she'll fix that. I don't know what I'm going to do about the connector thing, but at least I'll have more time to B.S. it and get partial credit.

Had my Planets midterm today, too. I know I didn't get 100%, but I didn't utterly fail either! I'm predicting perhaps about a 3.0, maybe a little less if the TAs didn't get their coffee/chocolate/whatever. The labs are weighted more than the tests, though, and I've been getting an average of 9/10, so I'm not worried about my Planets grade (unless something changes for the worst in the class).

I'm feeling a little calmer now. Probably #11 on "You Know You're a Writer When" shirt: You write out everything that makes you frustrated/angry and you feel better afterwards. Heh.

And I gave Nikki her bday present, so now I can show the x-stitching project I did for her.
( David Tennant in sepia )


Buffy: You're right. Ooh! She's even affecting my work, now. She's the Titanic. She's a crawling black cancer!
[She brings her foot up, around and down onto a bench, breaking it in two.]
Buffy: She's... other really bad things.
Oz: On the plus side you've killed the bench, which was looking shifty.
....
Willow: [on the phone with Rupert Giles] Giles, I just talked to Buffy and, yeah, I think she's feeling a little... insane. [pause] No, not bitchy crazy, more like... homicidal maniac crazy. So I told her to come see you, OK? --S.4, Living Conditions

[takes place in the musical episode, so everyone's singing]
Anya: I've got a theory, it could be bunnies. [uncomfortable pause]
Willow: I've got a theor-
Anya [accompanied by rock music]:
Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes!
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses!
And what's with all the carrots?
What do they need such good eyesight for, anyway?
Bunnies! Bunnies! It must be bunnies!
[Long silence. rock music stops]
Or maybe midgets? --S.6, Once More With Feeling, Buffy

Finally had an information session about Rome today, at long last. And thankfully I wasn't the only one who was irritated it was so late; a girl came to the room early and mentioned how she hated it was held this late. and this being the 10th year doing this program, I don't understand why they don't realize the earlier the better...

Lots of information that I wanted/needed, yay-ness, and some that I kinda wanted them to be clearer about but they were sort of in their "it makes sense to us, we can leave it at that" even though (to me) it wasn't very clear. That mostly had to do with clothing, though, so it's okay.

They mentioned computers/laptops and how, if we don't need them, don't bring them; it'll make the experience that much better.

......Er, yeah. Okay. Sure. Right.

I kinda get where they're coming from with it, but....it's not like I use my computer to watch questionable videos on YouTube or use it to honestly stalk people. I use it to communicate to people at home. I use it to store my memories. I'm sure many other people do the same thing with their computers.

Interestingly it'll be something of a 6-day school week, with Saturdays having...I don't know what happening in the morning. Sunday will be the day off, and there'll be a week July 2-6 which we have off, but somehow I don't think I'm going to be doing a lot of the out-of-Rome places I wanted to visit. Sad times. I guess it just means I'm going to have to come back. The school days will be a few hours in the morning touring the city with the group of ~34 people, breaking for the afternoon heat, and reconvening in the evening until about 8-ish, which is dinner-time. It'll be interesting adjusting to such a schedule, but hopefully I won't be one of those people who are incapable.

Other things of (probably less) interest to note. Yesterday I was walking to my first class, and it had rained pretty heavily the night before so the ground was wet. But I was in my Nikes, I'm used to the wetness, I wasn't all that concerned. And yet somehow my foot still manages to land on a bump so perfectly that it slides out from under me and I pull off Mr. Rockstar-With-A-Guitar move. And this being cement and me without padding on my knees, I get to go the rest of the day with a bloody and bruised knee.

OHYAYZ!!!*cue overdramatic fanfare* </sarcasm> So, yes, stairs are a bit of an enemy now, moreso if I need to go down stairs than up for some strange reason. It's more bearable now, though.

Before I went to my Rome info session I went for lunch at the student HUB, because I like food and I'd only had little snack-type food earlier. I finished my meal, stayed sat to while away the 2 hours before the session...and the fire alarm goes off. It's the first time I've had to be evacuated out of a public building on campus. At least it wasn't the irritating, high-pitched screech of the dorms.

And that pretty much sums up the excitement of my day week. I was planning on going to a midterm review session later tonight for my Planets test this Thursday, but...it's wet, it's gonna be dark, it's gonna be held across campus, and I feel I've got a handle on the material enough that I can study on my own. Sooooo.....not gonna go.

I may have to go back to B&N and buy some more materials for the Rome program, but I may decide to go to the UBookstore to do that. There's an out-of-print text we're supposed to have that the UBookstore has in stock now, and I really don't want to bother with the shipping department again at B&N. But then again, I also want the newest issue of Serenity that came out weeks ago, and I don't think the UBookstore will have it. Bwah. I wanna stop spending so much money on this program but...unfortunately, it will not be.


I read this from cafepress.com, and....um.....*hangs head in embarrassment*

Top 10 Clues You May Be a Writer:

1. You would rather talk to the voices in your head than the person sitting by you.
2. You know the library's phone number, but not your work number.
3. Some of the letters on your keyboard are completely worn off. (only the 'h' and the 'n,' oddly...)
4. You have a favorite pen that no one else can touch. (kinda sorta...)
5. Books are your favorite scent.
6. If you could meet anyone in the world, it would be your favorite author.
7. You eat macaroni and cheese for a week because you spent all of your money at the bookstore. (I've spent all my money at the bookstore...but thank goodness I can't use my dining money for anything but food.)
8. Your/you're errors drive you crazy. (ABSOLUTELY.)
9. You named your laptop. (.......doesn't everybody....?)
10. You would rather write than go out.

...I think I need this T-shirt/whatever.......And really, I'd probably spend way too much money at cafepress if I were so inclined to do the online-shopping thing. I should avoid it at all costs.

50 Books in a Year:

6. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Beidler Ed. Includes:
*The General Prologue
*The Knight's Tale
*The Miller's Tale
*The Reeve's Tale
*The Wife of Bath's Tale
*The Merchant's Tale
*The Franklin's Tale
*The Pardoner's Tale
*The Shipman's Tale
*The Prioress' Tale
*The Nun's Priest's Tale

One of these days I may actually read the entirety of T.C.T., but at the moment I'm good with this. Yay.

So, I'm a bit pathetic. Let's just say it involves a window that is not completely sealed from the outside, a spider which crawled all over my window but never came near me, me cringing and internally wailing, a bottle, and a kindly neighbor who took pity on me and squashed the spider. And now one of my chores later tonight will be to tape up the sides of my window so it may never happen again. *shudders*

Lots of Autumn 2008 pondering/querying behind the cut.
( Yeah, I know I said I'd leave off about this until it got closer, but I'm a nerd. )

Official-Rome-Meeting in T-minus 5 days! ...Not that I'm, uh, counting down or anything....*shuffles* And I went ahead and requested a copy of the impossible-to-get-Rome-book assigned to us through the library. Hopefully we're only supposed to read the book by the time we get to Rome. If we're supposed to have it on hand and/or have had it read by the time of the meeting...then I'm just going to have to shrug and tell them they should've sent out notices/had the meeting earlier.

It was a little surprising/eerie to me, but in my Planets class Toby was covering the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars, and I was following along with him, almost to where I started predicting where he was going with his lecture. O.o Guess taking Weather101 was of some use after all. Though, probably not in the way Jerome meant it to.

And, hee, I wanna go live on Mars, with its dust-devils that put tornados to shame and sandstorms that encompass the entire planet. hey, future scientists, get to work on it; we wouldn't want to make liars out of the Babylon 5 creators with their Mars colony, do we? ^.~

I've suddenly developed a craving for Korean noodles. A particular type, too. Naengmyun, particularly the ice-water broth variety. Though now that I think about it, the spicy cold noodles sounds tasty, too. *wonders where the craving came from, then goes back to her ramyun*


Dennis Hutch had stepped up into the top seat when its founder had died of a lethal overdose of brick wall, taken while under the influence of a Ferrari and a bottle of tequila. --Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

After I got back from class today I checked my student page, and found they'd posted the next quarter's schedule up. And so, like the complete and utter dork I am, I went and tried to arrange my schedule about a month in advance. And I could very well make a schedule where I have classes ONLY on Tues/Thurs, but A) I would wind up having to make a mad dash across campus which would normally take me 15-20 minutes in 10 minutes, and B) I'm going to see what requirements there are for the Korean minor (which is FINALLY being offered!). If the minor requires a 3rd year, then I won't pursue it because I would go absolutely insane fulfilling all the other credits. If I only need to have taken through second year, then I'll probably take this Korean history class which also counts as a Writing credit, which would take care of all my GenEd requirements.

But, yes, I don't need to make those kinds of decisions until a little less than 3 weeks from now. Sooo....I'm not going to fret over Korean minor or No Korean minor.

I am going to (probably, if the teachers don't swap or something) be taking my Prose writing class from David Shields, an author whose books I have never read. I'll probably do that over the summer, before I take his class. I find it highly unlikely he would be so egotistic that he'd require us to have read his own book(s) for the class, but I'd just like to have some idea as to what his style is like.

I turned in all my visa stuff Thursday, one whole day before it was officially due, so that's over with. There was one tiny little section which the notary didn't know what to do with and I intended to ask the IPE person what I should do with it, but she wasn't there. >.< Sooo, I checked my email a little obsessively over the weekend to make sure there wasn't a message saying, "You screwed up. You need to come in PRONTO." As it's past the IPE's hours, now, I think I'm in the clear (at least for this portion of the application). If not, then it's IPE's fault, not mine. *sticks out tongue at IPE*

Washington weather really likes to be bipolar/insane. Over the weekend we got blue skies, rain, hail, and snow. In one day. With a few switches between them. *headdesk* My sister says she and Mom woke up to white on the ground in Olympia. In the UW's student newspaper, they forecast the weather in a little corner on the front page. They had rain, sun, clouds, and snow lined and bunched up to each other, and a little caption that said (roughly): "The weather's too wacky. We give up! Prepare for everything!"

See, this is why people in Washington/NW wear layers and all that. It's not because we think it's fashionable (though depending on what you do I suppose it can be). It's because of weather like this.

And now switching back to Rome topics...my first Official-Rome-Meeting is the 29th, so yay! I can actually jump up and down about it now since the visa thing is over with. So my Tuesday looks like:

9:30--Go to first class of the day.
1:30--Finish last class of the day.
3:00-5:00--Go to Rome meeting (YAY!!)
6:00-undetermined time--Go to review session for my Planets midterm on May 1st (and, on Wed., another review from the professor himself at 6:30). *twirls finger*

I'm not ecstatic about that last bit, but what can I do. The TA is supposedly going to hand out extremely comprehensive notes, soo...yeah. Want/need those.

I've also bought my flight ticket at long last, so now I know when precisely I leave the Seattle area. Huzzah for having to be at the airport 2-3 hours early, and therefore needing to be there by....well, actually, I'll have to wake up in the early early early hours of the morning just so I can get my stuff together, arrive at Sea-Tac, and be there for the 2-3 hour security check-in. @.@ Ooohh, I am sooooo sleeping on the plane. Or drinking an insane amount of caffeine. *headdesk repeatedly*

*Edit 7:25* My decree: Squirrels are much cuter than crows, and have my undying support over crows. Especially when 2 crows decide to bully one poor, cornered squirrel right under my window. And then proceed to stalk my window when I scare them off.


Zoe: You know, sometimes it sucks having a father who’s the town smokie.
Carter: Well sometimes it sucks having a daughter who’s the town delinquent. [Zoe glares at him] I take it back.
Zoe: Gee, thanks.
Carter: It always sucks. [exits the car] HA!

Zoe: Please, don’t make me do this. I hate old people.
Carter: You don’t do this, you won’t live to be one. --EUReKA, Dr. Nobel

After this week is over, I can look forward to Rome with such a lighter heart. It's a sad realization that knowing all the visa/scholarship/plane ticket stuff is going to be over with soon is the only thing that's keeping me going with the Rome thing at the moment.

On brighter news, 2nd Season of EUReKA is coming!! Huzzah, huzzah! Sadly I'll be in Rome when it comes out (July 15th), but then again I probably won't have the money for it at that point in time anyhow, so...yeah.

There is one thing which put a dampener on my glee for the 2nd season:

'Eco-Friendly' packaging made from biodegradable materials - "Designed in Eureka!"

It appears that Universal has not learned their lesson from the first season! If you purchased the first season DVD set last summer, you will be aware that the disc trays, made of biodegradable materials (more commonly known as potatoes...hey, they said it - on the back of the set!), are pretty useless at holding the discs. Sounds like this 3-disc second season set is gonna be exactly the same!

.....But as for the biodegradable materials packaging...expect to find your discs firmly OUT of their places when you buy the set in July...

*whimpers* I'm all for being nice to the environment, but....really? I would like it if I didn't have to handle my EUReKA DVDs like a tray with heirloom-quality china. I hope they've improved the disc trays' ability to keep hold of the disc.

I don't know if I've already said this, but....Hot food in Ian's = EXCELLENCE.

Okay. No more procrastination for me. *sigh*


First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me. --Martin Niemöller

I was going to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but of course I got sucked into "just making one last quick check on facebook." I, for some reason or another, went to the Addicted to Firefly application, and saw a discussion header that sounded interesting (or possibly just dramatic; I don't think I can tell the difference anymore).

I can't believe this person.

Congratulations for taking everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) out of context, and having absolutely no sense of even the slightest, vaguest, most strictest sense of humor, or opening your mind and opinion even the smidgest bit.

Why do people watch/read/listen to/etc. things they don't agree with, and then proceed to bash it completely all to pieces because "OH NOES I DO NOT UNDERSTAND SO IT MUST BE WWWRROOOONNNGGG!!1!eleven!!!"

If it weren't midnight, I might actually have gone through point by point and argue the person. But I like my time, so I won't waste it.

I'm all for men not treating women like possessions. But when women (and men) go as far as the person did in this rant, claiming everything and anything between a man and a woman is nonconsensual, it's just ridiculous. And then they go so far as to start committing libel against Joss Whedon himself in the comments, and making claims against him about his and his wife's personal lives!

I consider myself a fairly open minded person. I couldn't care less about most things people do so long as it's not completely morally heinous, although sometimes it doesn't come out like I am a nonjudgmental, unbiased person because I have a serious case of foot-in-mouth where my mouth doesn't realize what goes on in my head doesn't get translated right to other people. But I don't understand why people think taking things so radically is good.

Bah. It's all ridiculous. And here I wasn't going to post about this (or at all) for another few days, but I might as well just hit the 'post' button. Good night!


Women: their rights, and nothing less; Men: their rights, and nothing more. --Susan B. Anthony

So, yeah, er...here comes my inner English!geekness. I saw these icons and, well, yeah, needed to have them.

First one I got:


Essentially sums up every single pet peeve I have whenever I read fanfiction or, *facepalm* peers' papers or *facepalm harder* published works (i.e. newspapers, magazines, etc.).

And saw this one today:


Sadly....this is pretty much my rule of thumb when I write papers and I don't want to sound entirely stupid (whether or not using these phrases makes me sound even more stupid is up for debate). Is it sad that I laughed and thoroughly enjoyed these grammar icons? Probably.

So, here endeth my icon!squee.

I'm loving my Chaucer class, even though it's throwing me for a loop. I'm used to the teachers demanding that students speak up, that if we don't participate 'you don't get participation points, which is ZOMG bad for your grade!!1!1!1111!!' But Remley, he just kinda sits on the desk (I think it may have something to do with the fact that the chair's too low for him) and rambles on about the mechanisms of Med. Lit and about Chaucer's sources and parodies, etc. etc., and if there's ever a hand raised he lets them speak up when he pauses to take a breath. It's a new method of teaching an English class for me. I like it, since it doesn't penalize me for being a quiet person in class and for not being able to say my point before someone else does. And in spite of the fact that The Canterbury Tales is technically a poem, I love reading it. So, all's good in my English class as it should be. *waves a banner happily*

I got my pasaporte, huzzah. And..well, I opened it and saw the picture used for my identification.....*winces* I think I kinda forgot about how bad it was, and it was a huge shock to my system to be reminded. People at the airport are gonna look at it, look at me, and tell me that I'm a horrible person for stealing somebody else's passport, I'm sure. Or make some comment to the effect that I've changed quite a bit. At least in my driver's license the blonde is a lot more hidden; I don't even remember when the picture was taken.

I'm finding myself getting drawn back to Darkwing Duck, which is bad because...well, that makes one too many shows for me to be watching. True, DW--er, DWD is over (sadness) but there's still 91 half-hour episodes for me to watch (minus the....6-7 episodes I've seen now), on top of Torchwood (though I am 1 episode away from being caught up) as well as Life on Mars (5 episodes from finishing) and Doctor Who (3 more days before another episode, YAY!!!!!), and soon House will be back on (Monday 21st) AND I'm still doing the 50 Books in a year thing, and am still stuck at trying to finish #6 (which I think is going to switch from The Secret Agent to The Canterbury Tales [Beidler Ed.]). *headdesk* I'm not even going to touch on what I need to do for school/Rome.

I need to make a trip down to B&N sometime this week (probably tomorrow) to finally pick up the last of my Chaucer textbooks, and also to pick up Metamorphoses by Ovid for Rome, and then hopefully I'll be done with books and such! I love books, I do, but having to constantly go out and come back only to go back out again and repeat the process practically 6 times makes me a little weary. Of course, in addition to the Ovid Rome is requiring another book which is out of print! Why can't they pick a different book which isn't out of print which may still cover the same material is beyond me. The email the program director sent to us didn't say explicitly we needed to buy the books, just read them, so....maybe I can just check it out from the library and read it and do it that way, yes/yes? I'll ask him at the info session at the end of the month, and hopefully he'll be agreeable. If not....to Amazon.com/Barnes&Noble.com I go.

Which leads me to another point (sorry, sorry, I know my entries tend to ramble on): Why in pluperfect heck isn't this info session earlier?!?! As in, before the visa application is due??? It doesn't make sense to me why things are running late. Like the deposit? The application says the charge would show up a week after you send confirmation and you need to pay it then. That didn't happen. He later says in an email sent on the 4th, "but it is all straightened out and your deposit amounts should appear very soon". Um....no. Still nothing yet. *headdesk* He's done this at least once before, if not more than that....I'm not entirely certain why this year seems more behind. Did he do this last year, too? It doesn't seem likely to me, but....oh well. What happens happens.

I need to get out more, out to Seattle-proper and such. I'm thinking of a trip to Pike Place this weekend (not interrupting DW, of course!), simply so I can get out and about, but we'll see what happens. I tend to make plans and promise whole-heartedly that I will make good on them, but then it rolls around and I'm too lazy to get out. Maybe I need to drag Kathryn and Nikki and Freddie into it or something, who knows.

38% Geek

Col. O'Neill: I do appreciate that you were the one to come and see if I was okay. That... that means something.
Dr. Jackson: Ah... actually, no, it doesn't.
Col. O'Neill: No?
Dr. Jackson: Um... we, ah, we drew straws. I lost. --Stargate SG-1, Shades of Grey

Because I'm super-uber-totally-completely-withoutadoubt-insanely-indescribably excited about this:

DOCTOR WHO SEASON 4 BEGINS THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *FLAILS*

And because it cannot be emphasized enough:

21 EPISODES HAVE BEEN ORDERED FOR EUReKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE?!?!?!?!?! *FLAILS MORE*

Went to B&N and sorted out my book order and picked up the one they did have, and wound up....well, wound up spending far too much time there than I probably should have. I was sorta browsing through the "travel in Italy/Rome" books, and then I went up to the fiction section and was trying to justify buying more books, but....no. That road leads to my sister hitting me for overloading the car.

After B&N went to go get my lab manual for my Planets class, and passed by this used bookstore called Magus Books. I went inside to see if they might have the one Chaucer book B&N didn't have (either in stock or at their warehouse), and lo and behold....THEY HAD IT! The exact same edition, and from the UBookstore no less, so I'm fairly certain it was from someone who took my class previously. Heh. $4.50 instead of $11? Yes please.

Got my Planets lab thing, crossed the street to the STA/Council travel agency and got my ISIC (International Student Identification Card; it's for students and they get discounts and the like), then went to UTeriyaki and got some bibimbap. 'Twas yummy, but I think I may have added a little too much of the spicy paste, but it was still delicious, so it's all good.

All of that took about 3 hours, and when I got back I found I had apparently scared Nikki (and Alayna, and Freddie) with my April Fools message I left on my white board saying: "I am at Olympia indefinitely, call." Oops. *apologizes profusely*

Nikki and I watched another episode of Life on Mars (which you should totally watch even if you aren't into cop shows, because it is AWESOME), and about halfway through a friend of hers came to be given a tour of Hansee. She showed him around, he got to see hers and my room and Freddie's, and quite a bit of the rest of it, and he was bought. ^.^

Kinda odd. I make Hansee out to sound like an apartment or rented house or something when it's a dorm. But, it really feels like a house rather than a dorm.

One of the books I browsed through at B&N (which I couldn't for the life of me find again; drat!!!) had some really good information about traveling abroad, and touched on the subject of student visas. And, uh...well, let's just say my family's going to be tearing my hair out of my head when I get started on that process, because there's at least one thing that is down in Olympia that I need to apply for a visa that I chose not to take up with me because I didn't want to deal with my mother's fuss and bad temper. *headdesk*

I sent an email to the person in charge of the Rome program a few minutes ago asking if they received my confirmation that I am going to Rome (which I should have done way before today, probably....), because they say the deposit charge is supposed to show up a week after I'm confirmed, and....it's been more than a week since I've confirmed, and that little extra charge never showed up. *feels like she dropped the ball somehow*

Vincent: (about the customers looting Café Diem) First the utensils turned to gold, then the counters, then the silverware. And that’s when they turned against me. Like vultures. Greedy little genius vultures. I thought intelligent men were above such things.
Carter: (spots Fargo trying to swipe a gold cappuccino machine) Fargo! Really?
Fargo: It’s just so shiny. --EUReKA (go watch EUReKA as well if you haven't!)

First day of spring quarter!

Moving back in yesterday was sorta not very interesting (by this of course I exclude the AWESOMEness Nikki and I had watching Friday Night Project [think British SNL, with much less censorship] which featured David Tennant). For no reason whatsoever, though, I went to bed at 2AM, even though I thought I might have class at 9:30 (my wondering about whether I had class at 9:30 is explained below). I guess I just wanted to keep the spring break alive for just a little longer...

So, I am taking an astronomy class called The Planets, which is arranged in a way that quiz/lab sections are Monday and Wednesday and the main lecture is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Obviously, since today is a Monday, there is no possible way we could be doing labs and such since we haven't even begun learning anything. So, I didn't know whether or not the quiz section met. Typically at the UW, the quiz sections don't meet during the first week of the quarter. So, by this reasoning, this quiz section wouldn't meet, right?

I didn't know for certain, though, since there was no email stating which case was true. Because I'm a paranoid person, I chose to go to quiz section. I figure, if it doesn't meet, then I can go take care of other stuff. Or possibly even eat breakfast, rather than making it a brunch.

I suppose I was rewarded. Quiz section was meeting. Blegh. I did not approve, though at least the TA is bright and alert at that hour, and by her own words she's TA-ed for the class a "million times" so she knows what she's about. Still....really? Convening the QS before the first lecture? Not cool.

And, slightly deviating: They took away the broken obelisk in Red Square!!!!
( An obscenely big image behind the cut, because LJ refuses my attempts to resize it )
It was true!! I read a post about it in the uw community, but I thought they'd bring it back in time by start of classes, since it was taken away for "cleaning" (...really? Why do they need to clean it??). 'Twas not the case. I took pictures ^.^

The Quad cherry blossoms were out, too, and I took a picture of that as well. ^.^ Was very happy. And, really, UW has this "Hogwarts-esque" thing going on. There's Hansee, which is like the school proper, and then there's all these little artsy-architecture-sculptures/whatever-you-want-to-call-it that's all around the school. In the Physics/Astronomy building, there's this neat little pendulum that swings according to the Earth's gravitational spin or whatnot, and in order to get to my QS classroom I have to take this winding staircase. Seriously. Hogwarts-extension.

Anyway, back to classes. 2nd Year Korean is the typical 2nd Year Korean, with lots of me panicking about being completely stupid. And I never noticed it, but they moved where the class was meeting! Originally we were meeting in the basement of Smith, which was fine by me, but now we're meeting on the 4th floor. 4 flights of stairs? NO. Yes, with all capitals. Elevator? Most definitely.

Chaucer....is where my lots nerdiness comes in. I had to run down the 4 flights of stairs and then another bit of stairs to exit Smith, run up the big long hill to Denny, climb another bit of stairs to enter, and get to the classroom, which took about 5 minutes, and then the 2 hour class started. The teacher's a bit...I guess absentminded? He kept starting a topic, waxing on about it and a few tangents, and then restarted the topic again, but it was alright since I kinda do that, too. But then he got started on the timeline and history of Medieval literature, and what those years encompass in terms of people and such, and I was enthralled by it. *shifts eyes* I guess if I'd been more on the ball about my college experience I would've been a history minor (or double major, even), but I was interested in learning about the different names for the eras and people of them. History of English literature, I suppose they'd call it. I suppose it's the feel of it being trivia that attracts me to learning/knowing it. Maybe something to pursue in grad studies--except I'm not intending to faint in horror today, so I'm going to stop right there on that idea.

I think I'm really going to like Paul (the teacher). He kinda gives me a Mr. Hesse vibe, which sorta isn't a good thing, but Paul has a good Mr. Hesse vibe. He obviously wanted to talk at length about how bad the UBookstore is about textbooks and which professors ordered theirs. He ordered his weeks ago, but they claim to have not received it, and he went on at length about how much trouble he went to in copying and pasting the different ISBNs and finding them and how there aren't convenient options and so on and so forth. I found it amusing, at least. AND he gave a good reason for why he wanted specific editions of the texts, which was my main concern and grief with the class, so I'm at ease about it now. And there's an OPTIONAL multiple choice midterm exam (read: Extra Credit), and a choice between writing a literary criticism or research paper that's due at the end of the quarter, and the only required exam is also multiple choice, and I actually want to read the texts, and and and and and....!!!!!!!!

....is it obvious how much of a nerdy English/Creative Writing major I am now? *angles herself to hide under her desk from all the rolling eyes*

Speaking of books, I'm waiting to receive my email confirmation from B&N that my books have been shipped to them, which should be today since I requested 2-day shipping and ordered them Saturday. Since the UBookstore is being stupid and the only text we need for the next 4 weeks is the book I have, I'm not too concerned.

I've written it in my Facebook, but I'll reiterate here for emphasis: Joss Whedon is making me into a comics collector. *headdesk* Buffy Season 8 which will be going for FIFTY ISSUES and Firefly comics which seem to be coming out in 3s, and Joss has said/confirmed that there will be a Shephard Book series (in comics, I assume) after the Better Days arc.

*flails* I'm a college student! I'm going to Rome! I have no money for all this fandom!!! *flails more*

Speaking of....Info session for Rome nao plzkthnx??? Y'know...so I can prepare all the necessary stuff BEFORE June???? Like, visas and such?? (which, visas are apparently paper/authorization saying a person can enter/exit the country.)

Anything else? Wellll, the weather's turned rotten after a sun-shiney day of blue skies, but that's almost like saying the Earth revolves around the sun. It's Seattle/Western Washington (because all Washingtonians know that the Eastern and Western sides might as well be different states), we can literally have blue skies, puffy clouds, overcast skies, hail, and rain all in the same day, if not the same hour.

I'll probably be posting random pics up on my Photobucket account; when I do, I'll link them here. Just a lot of random me-stuff.

Edit 7:00PM: Added the pic of the missing broken obelisk above. And if you want to see more pics of different parts of campus, leave a comment and maybe I'll give links.

Edit 10:00PM: I TOTALLY FORGOT!!!! 21 NEW EPISODES ORDERED FOR EUReKA!!!!!!!!!!!!! *FLAILS* It may not mean 22-episode season(s), but...21 EPISODES!!!!! *FLAILS MORE*


{Asked by Mrs. Clark if he knew what day it was.]
"Oh, yes; it is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day. God bless it. God bless you all. [He then lapsed into unconsciousness. He awakened later, and mumbled] Thomas Jefferson..." --Pres. John Adams
John Adams died on July 4, 1826. He is often quoted as having said "Thomas Jefferson still survives." with some depictions indicating he might have not expressed the entire statement before dying, i.e.: "Thomas Jefferson… still survi—", but some research indicates that only the words "Thomas Jefferson" were clearly intelligible among his last. Adams did not know that Jefferson, his great political rival—and later friend and correspondent—had died a few hours earlier that same 4th of July, 1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

I added the non-quote bit because it's interesting trivia--trivia that I actually learned from a non-school source, though for the life of me I can't remember from where.

Happy Easter (almost 22 hours into it...)!!

Spring break is great so far; making progress on my Looney Tunes cross stitching (which I've been working on for, I believe, 2 summers...) and a lot of other stuff. And I've discovered that, no matter what I try, I will never have enough space for all my books and DVDs. Just the few books I brought home filled up my bookshelf. *headdesk*

Oh! I believe it was on my birthday when my sister and I went to IHOP and I saw a car with a Doctor Who bumper sticker, but I discovered I didn't remember what the sticker read when I got around to posting. I was very disappointed in myself, to be sure, but then yesterday.....THE SAME CAR DROVE PAST MY MOTHER AND I!!! ^.^ And her bumper sticker read: "So many species, so little time." ^______^ I am now satisfied. Hurray for small towns, bwahahahahahaha.

And I noticed something today about one of the gifts a friend of mine gave me from one of her trips in Europe. She gave me a mug, and this was way back before I was even aware there was a Rome program, but the mug has "Italy" on it. ^___^ I was highly amused when I finally realized it.

My mother is watching a Korean variety show, and for a few seconds they were playing music from FFX. .......Yes, I recognized it. .........Yeah, okay, I'm a little bit pathetic and lots geeky.

Gideon: Plato once said that for everything that exists, there is a perfect form of it somewhere. A perfect Human being, a perfect chair, a perfect stick; so that everything is a Shadow of that one perfect form. Now, if we follow that train of thought, that means that somewhere in the universe there exists the perfect form of an absolute and perfect idiot. And he left here an hour ago. --Crusade

Really, this is the last time I will make mention of LJ business-related stuff...Promise! But....the article the second comment links to?? Um...No. Just...No. That tactic is not going to work. At all.

Here is a full translation of the article cited in the above link. The contempt the guy has in the article is just....disgusting.

Beware all Apple users! If you get a MacBook Air, you may want to hold off on getting on an airplane if you want it with you:

Pats her nice and obvious HP laptop

It makes me wonder what's going to happen 50 years from now, when the MacBook Air's technology becomes "old news" and all laptops are as thin as that, without losing capacity. What's going to be making the old people scratching their heads, then? And I'm totally shutting out the fact that in 50 years I'll be 71.

Turned in my Rome contract/legality stuff yesterday. I kind of want to wait to let the person in charge to send out an email with a timeline of things to come (meeting dates, payment deadline for the initial deposit etc.) but if the end of spring break comes and there's no word, I'll take the initiative I just really don't want to.

I'm slowly gathering stuff that will go home with me so I won't overload the car come June when I move out. But now my bookshelf is so sad, 'cause it's not full any more. *sad face* I've had to stick stuff that don't really belong on the bookshelf in order to keep what remains from tipping over, and now the top shelf is completely barren. I think it's official: I am an Ultimate Booknerd. But I understand the necessity (so no yelling at me, sister!); let's just hope I remember why there are so few books on my shelves, and don't get possessed with the insatiable "OMG I HAS SPACE, NEED MORE BOOOOKSSSS!!!" force.

I click on my 'fanfiction' tag and, aside from a rant that has nothing to do with posting and the DW xmas gift to tinuviel428, I haven't posted fanfiction here since October '07. O.O I feel like a terrible fanfic writer. And...all my WIPs? Haven't been worked on, in spite of the fact that I absolutely love them. I bring up the documents on Word to work on them and....no Muse. None. Period. And there are people waiting for them (maybe....it's possible I've lost all my loyal readers from my hiatus which I told them would end in January...oops).

Soooo....to make myself feel better, Chapter 5 of First Steps! Since it's really the only multi-chaptered fic that's actually finished. And I've determined to finish posting that story on LJ before too long, so my apologies to my flist. You'll be getting a lot of MK-fanfic updates in addition to nothingness rambles.


Title: First Steps
Author: me (ffjunkie42 or, on ff.net, sagdragon3002)
Genre: MK, general.
Rating: PG (K+ if you go by ff.net's thing)
Summary: The Defenders of Earth Realm first met Raiden two years ago, when the first official Kombat of their generation began...Or did they? Written in a series of ficlets.
Disclaimer under cut.
Links to other chapters under cut.

( Flattery and humbleness would be expected from a poor beggar, though Raiden was miffed he hadn't gotten the chance to scare the mortal brats. )


Cloud: All right, everyone, let's mosey.
Cid: Damn! Again! Stop sayin' it like a wimp! Can't you say 'Move out!'
or somethin'?
Cloud: ...Move out! --Final Fantasy VII

I was just going through the comments on the news community, because for some reason I enjoy reading all the drama/anger users stir up. 'Tis odd, I admit. Near the end of the pages,by at least page 49, there seemed to be a new beef.

And discovered certain things are being censored from most popular interests

Fanfiction? Censored from popular interests?

Bisexuality? Faeries? Sex? Depression?

....Seriously?????

I can see how they might make an argument about certain things. They don't want to be shown in the bad light that bondage and porn brings, but if that were the case, why wasn't anorexia censored? Drugs? Alcohol? I mean, if they're going to censor sex, which is at least natural, why not go the whole hog?

And really....FANFICTION?????? What does that hurt?!?!?!? Kids who begin thinking stuff they read on sites labeled "fanfiction" are literary works????? So that equals bad??

*headdesk* LJ is getting kinda stupid. I was thinking about getting a Paid account (in spite of needing to save for Rome) because I would really really love the extra icon space, but....I don't know if I really want to be paying these people who are censoring fanfiction of all things. I haven't really given much thought/cared about what the business people of LJ are doing, but some of their decisions recently have been kinda off-putting.

Bah. Whatever. On to things I usually ramble twitter write about....Rome!!! I called my mother because I didn't want to go to Rome without her OK, especially since she's probably going to be paying my plane ticket (since financial aid won't kick in until well after I buy it). She said she was okay with it, and while I don't really believe her when she says that, I know she's not going to be all, "Where the heck do you think you're going you are SO not going to Rome because you've never TALKED TO ME ABOUT IT!!!!" come June. So, yay! Signed my name on the lines and whatnot, and I'll turn that in come Monday.

Also need to figure out about visas and ISIC cards and the like. Eep.

And that "XP Antivirus" thing I wrote about a few weeks ago? Yeah. Totally a Trojan. I downloaded a free trial of spyware remover, though, and that fixed that up straightaway. Now I need to get started on learning how to be a pro hacker.

I'm sort of caught up on Torchwood now, with just this past Wednesday's episode to see, and I'm over halfway finished with Life on Mars. I'm feeling all fangirly and SQUEE from the John Barrowman and John Simm and and and...heeeee!! Maybe my next beloved belonging should be named John.

Do you know what is so absolutely bloody marvelous about Washington State? You can literally have a day where it's pouring showers, and while it still pouring you can look to the west and there will be blue skies and puffy clouds!!! Yeah. Had that happen Saturday (since it's Sunday as I write this), as I went down to B&N because I realized I hadn't picked up the March issue of Buffy Season 8. And, of course, B&N were still stuck on February's issue, so I completely drenched myself for no reason whatsoever. I rode the bus back to campus, even though by the time the bus got to me in UVillage I would've made it back to my dorm. I just wasn't feeling the walk at all.

[At Giles' place. Riley pages through a spellbook.]
Riley: These spells, they really work? I mean, can you really turn your enemies inside out? Or... learn to excrete gold coins.
Anya: That one's not so much fun.
Willow: They work, Riley, but they take concentration. Being attuned with the forces of the universe.
Xander: Right, you can't just go librum incendere and expect --
[The book catches on fire; Xander closes it rapidly.]
Giles: Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books.

Dear Student,

We are pleased to inform you that your application for the Creative
Writing Summer in Rome program for 2008 has been accepted.
Congratulations! Vai a Roma con noi.

AKDHALHDF;AKDHF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was totally convincing myself that I wasn't going to be accepted. And now....now I am and now I am totally freaking out because it's a heck of a lot of money and I'm not 100% positive how everything would work..... And now I'm freaking out about airlines and whether I'll ever find a cheap flight that isn't going to be completely horrendous and and and and and......

I really need a freak-out icon. I need more icon space. ALKDHA;SLHFAHALKDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I'm also finished with winter quarter, just have a final to go, which I thought would be the biggest news of the night, but now......ALSDHF;ASHDFAHDSKAHDFLAH;SDFHALKSDFHL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent almost 2 hours last night watching the uproar unfold about the extermination of Basic/Free Account creation. And srsly LJ/SUP? Not informing your users =/= COOL. Something similar I saw one poster write: "Not rogue. Not ninja. Not sneaky. We saw what you did there."

And, yeah, I'm typing this as I'm sitting in class. And no, I'm totally not sitting here, 30 minutes early for my class, like a geek. *whistles innocently* I do have an honest reason for bringing my laptop, of course (Korean skits and props...woohoo), but since I have it anyway, why not sit in the back of the classroom and type on my lj? Everybody else does it (and nope, I would not follow somebody off a bridge if they jumped, mainly because of my absolute terror of heights and falling). I guess it makes me somewhat of a sheep, though. Mooooo.

That big long list I put up in one of my previous entries? The one about the homework and this week and how I've something to do every single day and nothing's going to get done and I'll never see sleep ever again?

Yeah. I probably blew it out of proportion, but to be fair the Korean translation assignment was painful to do (and will probably be painful to grade, even) and I've yet to do start my 5-6 page film paper. It shouldn't be a terribly difficult assignment, but unless I focus on the lighting, sound, and/or camera movement of the film, I'm guaranteed not to get even a 3.5. And, yes, since I'm aware of this, I should in theory focus on it. But it's kinda hard to focus on these things after watching movies passively for my entire life. That, and I'm a bit miffed with the teacher (though she's still a blast). She constantly compares the medium of films to novels, and that we're meant to analyze films like we would novels, to find the intent of the author/director, to see how they went about representing those intents. So, I figure, analyzing characters is golden. But apparently it's too "plot-oriented" for her (she has this really big thing against plot, seemingly), and it's not really analyzing the film.

All those years of English classes telling me to analyze characters because they're important to the author's message must have been teaching me wrong, I s'pose.

She even analyzes characters, too. In class, there's always discussion about what Character A did that was so incredibly symbolic/against the norm/characterization of the setting itself. So, okay. English classes have taught me wrong, but it's okay for her to analyze characters. Check.

On a happier note, after I finish this paper and my Weather final I'M DONE WITH WINTER! Wooo! And I hope to everything good and kind that my spring quarter lives up to the hype I've plastered on it. Because having classes I'm okay with but tired of in the middle of the third week? Not interested in repeating. Plus, I return to being an actual Creative Writing major. Well, English major, but Chaucer fulfills CW-graduating requirements, too.

Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplease let Chaucer be a good class.

Ahh, and here come the saner students. Is it sad that I'm sitting almost kitty-corner to where I usually sit, all in the effort to avoid the one girl I ranted about maybe a month ago? I almost fear what she would do to my laptop if she saw it. She has already shown a fondness for writing in the notebook I keep for notes (and am I the only one in the universe who believes it's completely wrong for people to indulge in the liberty of writing in other people's notebooks without an invitation????), I hate to think what she'd do to my Beloved Source For Everything. *shudder*

It feels very strange sitting back here. Hopefully Jerome's lectures don't lose their awesomeness with increasing distance from the front. Oooooh, tornadoes!

Oh, and course evals. Yay....

I'm ready for today to be over. And Friday, because that means the paper is done. *checks clock on the task bar* Nope, still Thursday. ......*checks again*


Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things. --Douglas Adams, Salmon of Doubt

I've hit the "send" button to apply for Rome about 30 seconds ago.

*bites nails*

I'm also in the dress for Hall Ball, which is in about 2 hours.

.....I'm going to be eating so much of that chocolate fountain because of this.....

*bites nails some more*

Winter quarter went by so fast...and yet now is the time when ALL the work is due. Tonight I have to write 2 grammar questions for my Korean final test, which really isn't a huge issue except it's just a little busy-work I really could have done without. The only bright side to it is the fact that I'll know what's on the Korean test next week. Then I have my Korean skit lines to translate for next Thursday, and I have to write...10 Korean lines on this "GoPost" thing that I should have been doing the last 10 weeks of the quarter but haven't been because....well, because it never comes to mind for me. My Saturday (3/8) is completely shot, because I'm doing the Hansee Hall Ball thing, so I really have to do all that either today, tomorrow, or Sunday, on top of preparing for this last week, which is going to be the true death of me....

Monday:
A) 1 page Korean translating project. As in, I have to take a Korean article and translate it fully, and explain the parts I couldn't translate.
B) 2 page film reflection.

Tuesday:
A) Korean test on vocab and grammar, takes the full hour.

Wednesday:
A) 10 pages of Weather homework.
B) Korean test on diction and reading, takes the full hour.

Thursday:
A) Korean skit, ~14 memorized lines. And no, "Hello" lines don't count.

Friday:
A) 5-6 in-depth film analysis paper.

And then my Weather final during finals week. Blegh.

In other news not me whinging about schoolwork, the Dalai Lama is coming to the UW. I dunno if I'd go, but it'd be cool.

I've told myself time and again to go to bed early, because I wake up tired after 6 hours of sleep, but when 12AM rolls around...I always manage to find something I want to do. Read fanfiction, listen to just that one last song, read really awesome quotes (...yes, I do manage to waste an entire hour just reading quotes....*whistles innocently*), so much so that I've been hitting the sack by about....2AM. *sigh* Spring break...that'll be my time to catch up on sleep. Yeah, that's my excuse....

I bought a new pair of shoes for Hall ball and some really cheap Claire fishnets. ^.^ And they're really cute shoes, too. Though, apparently at DSW I am mostly size 5-5 1/2, but managed to find and buy the one pair of size 6 shoes that fit me. Hmmm. Yes, I'm getting really dressy for this ball thing, which is okay because it's the first time in about...3 years. So, it's okay. And I have now discovered that, if I'm ever at Northgate for some reason and feel like ice cream (but randomly don't want to stop by the Baskin Robbins at Northgate.....) I know to take the 75, but the long-bus 75, which stops at the Baskin Robbins on 45th. And then, when I'm done with my ice cream, I can hop back onto the 75th which takes me right up to the HUB and I can avoid the Hill of Death. *wins*

Tuesday I went to the HUB, where some group or another had this contest going on where you guessed how many condoms were in the jar. I don't know what the prize is, I don't know who it was for, but I kinda shrugged and made a guess and submitted it. We'll see, we'll see. I doubt I'll win, I went for a slightly conservative answer. Hopefully the prize, if I do somehow win, isn't something crazy like being their spokesperson for a year. Or winning all the condoms in the jar. Because....really? Really really? I don't think anyone in the universe needs as many condoms as I guessed (except maybe Captain Jack, but he's a special case).

And, because I'd feel odd if I didn't have at least one fandom-related topic in my posts....it was nice to see the usually emo!Ianto be imitatingexplodinghead!Ianto. Whatever category that may fall under. Sarcastic!Ianto? Hmm...*ponders*

EDIT 11:12PM: News on EUReKA!! Somewhat old news now, but...well, the second one is March 5, so not quite old. But YAY!!!

First one is about the strike's effect on the show. A possibility of more than 12-13 episodes this season??? SIGN ME UP AS PRO-LONGER SEASONS OF EUREKA!

Second one has some (read: 3) bits about third season. "an awesome scene involving the ongoing rivalry between Stark and Carter that's going to knock everyone's socks off." ???? WHY AM I BEING FORCED TO WAIT UNTIL AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/LATER FOR THIS????? WANT NOW PLZKTHNX!!!!! Something further from the writer's blog entry (look near the bottom of this link's article for the link to it, 4 lines from the bottom): "That is, if the scene makes the show's final cut. It's pretty intense...!"

ALSDKHF;ALKDHSFA;LSHDF!!! *settles in for the wait, eye on the ball like a cat and a mousehole*


Toshiko: You said we weren't allowed to use that again.
Jack: It's just a mind probe.
Ianto: Remember what happened last time you used it?
Jack: That was different. And that species has extremely high blood pressure.
Ianto: Oh, right. Their heads must explode all the time.
Gwen: Jack, you can't do this. What if you're wrong? If she is human, it'll kill her.
Jack: I'm not wrong. We have to find out what she is.
Toshiko: Take it easy, Jack. Stop at the first sign of trouble.
Ianto: Or at the first sign of exploding.

[to Owen, who insists on using (phone) communication]
Ianto: Mobiles, landlines, tin cans with bits of string - everything, absolutely everything! No phones, phones all broken. [mimics telephone] Hello? Anyone there? [normal] No, 'cause the phones aren't working!

[about information on a random person]
Owen: How do you know all that?
Ianto: I know everything. And it says so on the bottom of the screen.

Ianto: It's all over.
Owen: [pauses] Let's all have sex.
Ianto: [deadpan] And I thought the end of the world couldn't get any worse. --Torchwood, Sleeper

(Hmmmm......Deadpan!Ianto....that works.)

A quick and easy way to show that, though I'm an English major, I have such a long way to go to be "well-read." And to also show that an obscene number of books that I have on my shelf are not read (even though a lot of them were required reading...oops).

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of... whenever this meme started). As usual, bold what you have read, italicize those you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

( My Not-So-Impressive List )

Hmmm...there were quite a few books I'd never heard of...nor do I believe they'd be books I'd have interest in reading (Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything??? I think not).

In other news, one of my aunts in Korea sent an email to my MSN account, which I never use, and my mother wanted to know what it was. I checked, and discovered I had missed another email from that aunt, from way back o