.....to have everything come together.

My dratted Italian visa (and thus my passport) finally came back! So now I can actually get ON the plane come the 17th! And I got my health screening done Tuesday, so I turned in my Concurrent Enrollment form when I went to pick it up, and I've just finished signing up for the Student Health Insurance (*winces*), so.....yeah. I'M DONE WITH THE PAPERWORK!! There are no more hoops for me to jump! At least before I head off to Rome, anyway.

I believe I have all the book-y stuff for Rome now (so long as the directors don't randomly add anything else to the booklist....). I've got Metamorphoses, an Italian-English dictionary, a little tour-book for Rome, Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, and I've also got a moleskine notebook! ^____^ It fits so nice and neatly into my back pocket! This is exactly what I look for when I pick up new notebooks/journals to write in; I think I've got a brand, now. Hee. It's not one of the city moleskines, which is slightly disappointing, but I wanted it more for the number of pages I could write in, so it's all good. Now I just need to come up with a proper name for my little notebook......what? Nobody else does that? (ETA: I've decided it's Leonard. *hugs* But not the proper way of pronouncing Leonard.)

I also had my Korean presentation today (on the 1988 Summer Olympics), which I had 99% memorized before class and (by going over it again and again and again and...etc.) I finished memorizing the last sentence just as the teacher walked in. Of course, as soon as I got up front I completely lost the flow and had to keep looking at my sheet from time to time, but it all came out. I got through the Korean part okay, but when it came to the English translation/question and answer time I was shaking like a leaf--hopefully not too noticeably. I don't know if it was the adrenaline or the nerves, but it took a while for my hand to stop trembling. I also proved my English-major-worthiness by saying "protestations." It's technically a word, but not with the 's' at the end, I don't believe. And my Korean teacher, whose English is her second (if not third or fourth or....some other number) language, caught it. *hides face*

Speaking of really bad English...I was looking through my Korean-English dictionary looking for the number 12 (it should be so simple.....but it's not) and I happened to look at the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.). They wrote "twelfth" as "twelveth." Ha.

I've seen the first 3 episodes of Chuck, and...yeah. New show to add onto my Need-to-Keep-Tabs-On. Adam Baldwin FTW!!!!! Now if only NBC would put up episodes 4-12 instead of randomly jumping to having episode 13 up, that'd be great (because...I have nothing better to do besides homework...or update fanfiction....or do my reading for Chaucer and Rome.....or study for the Planets final come the 11th.....)


"And the wheel," said the Captain [of the load of bloody useless loonies], "what about this wheel thingy? It sounds a terribly interesting project."
"Ah," said the marketing girl [one of the bloody useless loonies], "well, we're having a little difficulty there."
"Difficulty?" exclaimed Ford. "Difficulty? What do you mean, difficulty? It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!"
The marketing girl soured him with a look. "All right Mr. Wiseguy," she said, "you're so clever, you tell us what color it should be." --Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Restaurant at the End of the Universe, technically)

I went and tried this little pizza place called "Valarmos" which I'd read about in the UW's student newspaper. Supposedly their calzones are "the size of a football."

LIIEESS! It's a whole half-an-inch shorter in height than a football! Never mind that it's the same length and width, I declare false advertisement!

I got the "clucker calzone" which is marinated chicken, roasted red peppers, red onions and mozzarella. The crust I could pretty much eat by itself, the mozzarella is thick and gooey enough that you can pull, and pull, and pull and the cheese won't let go, and they don't skimp on the rest of the "toppings." Though, I sorta wish I'd asked to have it without the onions, because it tends to drown out the rest of the flavors. I'd finished a little less than half, not because I was stuffed but because I didn't want to run the risk of overeating and then having to walk in the heat down to the bus-stop (because there was no way I was walking all the way back to UW from where Valarmos is). The price is excellent, too. Less than $10 for what is now counting as 2 meals. It reheats pretty well, but definitely better fresh.

Annddd.....that's the end of my random food review.

I went to B&N earlier and got the last of my "required" texts for Rome, as well as a Moleskine notebook which fits nice and snug in my back pocket ^___^. I was going to renew my B&N membership, which is why I refrained from indulging myself with sci-fi/fantasy books, but found out my sister beat me to it. It's probably for the better; I've got enough to buy for Rome as it is.

Also went to Baskin Robbins. And bought a World Class Chocolate milkshake; not very original, considering I always have the same flavor when I buy shakes, but it's just oh-so-delicious. *mourns the fact that she has no more World Class Chocolate milkshake*

So, for Rome, I have to prepare this little presentation/talk(s) on something Roman. A site, books, etc. etc. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I kept putting it off until a few days ago because I just plain didn't know, but a new email from the prof made me decide to actually research my choices. I went back to the list of topics, and one kept leaping out of the screen at me:

Via Appia.

I felt like I'd seen that before. So, I Wikipedia'd (that really, really shouldn't be a verb) it, and found that it was the Appian Way. And I recalled from a little earlier, when I'd been looking up Doctor Who quotes to put on my door, that there was a quote the Doctor said in Fires of Pompeii: "Yes way no way Appian Way!"

......I e-mailed the prof and asked to have that as my topic. Heh.

I have a Korean presentation coming up this Thursday *shudders* and I needed a topic on Korea, cultural, linguistic, historical, etc. I decided to do the 1988 Summer Olympics that was hosted in Seoul, and only after I realized the connection between Via Appia-Doctor Who did I remember that the Doctor was a torchbearer in the Olympics.

*is a sad little fangirl that manages to connect everything that happens in her life to her fandoms*

TOWEL DAY IS TOMORROW!!!!!!! KNOW WHERE YOUR TOWEL IS!!!!!!!! TAKE IT EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[in House's subconscious]
Dr. Cuddy: [Stops stripping and looks at House] I'm distracting you. [starts to get up]
Dr. House: No!
[Cut back to Cuddy who is now dressed normally and sits down next to House]
Dr. House: Dance, woman!
Dr. Cuddy: [Resignedly] You'd rather be diagnosing.
Dr. House: I screamed "no"!
Dr. Cuddy: And your own subconscious ignored you. I guess you'd rather fantasize about finding symptoms. How screwed up is that? --House, House's Head

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

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

For some reason, I absolutely cannot do anything ahead of time. It's like, something in my brain doesn't register the lateness of the due-date until the day of, and then it's overdrive OHMYGOODNESSWHATTHEHECKAREYOUWAITINGFOR??? HEREISEVERYTHINGYOUNEEDTOSTARTFIXINGUPYOURCREATIVEWRITINGPIECES!!!

*headdesk*

I'm not at all satisfied with my short story piece, but I'm kinda in an "OK, did my best with my poetry pieces, I'm Zen" zone. We'll just have to wait til at the very latest Feb. 8th (hope??? maybe???? *sigh*). If I'm not accepted into the CW-major, then I'll just be an English Lit major. I think part of why I didn't get this app done and turned in earlier is because I'm so convinced I'm not going to get in, or if I do get in I'm not going to be happy as they try to mold me into a "literary-elements focused" writer. I realize many writers don't have a CW degree, and they all go on to be famous or whatnot, but...it's like the Marge Piercy poem says (if you want the whole poem, go to the "misc poetry" tag):

The reason people want M.F.A.'s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else's mannerisms

is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician.....

I know, I know, it's merely a person stroking their ego or something, or maybe those who just have to have tangible evidence of their worth are too insecure, or whatever reason may have you, but it's my reason and I'm sticking to it. =P

In other news not related to me freaking out about my future in University.....



I <3 my John Simm icon ^.^ I actually have two of them now, and the other one is really what drew my eyes in the first place but really......*stares at icon*

Ahem. Tomorrow Today I have no Korean class, because my teacher is going through some really tough personal stuff and the substitutes....well, they're probably just lazy (or maybe they actually have classes to teach/attend...dunno).

Then on Feb. 1st my movie class is cancelled because of some really vague reason, which means I'm done that day at 1:30 instead of 4:00. I'd be happy, but....that's when we view the movies we're supposed to write film journals for and have discussions, etc. etc. She told us we need to watch it on our own. And this is a Korean film class, ergo not very common to find in the good ol' U.S. of A. There's a copy in the Odegaard Library, but.....40 students who ALL need to see it.....1 copy available to see in a small room probably not big enough to fit 10 people......probably 2 hours long...... = NOT PLAUSIBLE!!!!!!! *headdesk*

I was sitting in my Weather class Thursday and these two girls sat down next to me. I was tuning them out as I am usually wont to do, but then,

"Oooh, he's wearing such a nice shirt."
"He's so lean!"
"I just wanna go up there and ask him a question and have him answer me in French!"
"My only regret is that I don't get to sit in front row and stare at him all period."

They were talking about the teacher (who is indeed French and slim). And while I have had crushes on teachers when I was younger, I humored myself in the privacy of my own head. These girls weren't even keeping their voices down, and we were in the second row! With him dead-ahead! And not many people at all around us, either. Did they think he was deaf or something? I felt vaguely mortified on his behalf. And for a demonstration on radiation and light waves, he had this little instrument which measured temperature and to show whether or not the instrument measured temperature from light reflection or radiation, he stuck it in his shirt where it was dark. ....I'm not going to go into how they reacted to that. *facepalm*

I think Saturday is going to be devoted to me recovering from this week (I have no idea why, but for some reason the three day weekend wasn't very restful for me....) and doing nothing but writing/polishing my fanfiction. CCP's very own birthday is coming up in a day or two, and I do believe it has been going on an year since I've updated it. That's nothing to say of how my MK fanfiction has been doing. Poor, neglected fandoms. See, this is what college does to you. It makes you neglect your precious and wonderful fandoms of which Life on Mars--after seeing 2 1/2 episodes--has been taken under my ever-growing umbrella.

K. Gonna go read some fanfiction, then hopefully get to bed before 2 AM so when I wake up at 9 I won't completely die. Mayhaps?


"The door was the way to... to... The Door was The Way. Good. Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."

I'm done with classes for the school year. Hoorah! It was kinda interesting, because at the start of the year I began with Korean, and now at the end I have ended with Korean. I found it interesting, at least. Now I only have to worry about a Korean test on Monday (ack!), a New Testament test on Tuesday (eek!), and my E. Religions paper that is due also on Monday (*dies*).

The last time I went home I tried to reduce the amount of stuff I had to move out with by taking books home. And now....I've bought more books to take their place on my bookshelf. *headdesk* But I got myself a Barnes & Noble membership, which while I could have used my friend's, it would probably be easier for me in the long run just to have my own. *shrugs*

I 4.0'd my Korean skit, which will probably improve my Korean grade a bit, but I'm still concerned with the final. The Korean teachers had set up a study session yesterday night, so I went. Two hours later, I walked out convinced that I am going to do horribly on it.

I'm going to try and sell back some of my books, but I'm slightly concerned that I'm not going to get my money's worth back. I might wait until the classes the books are for are offered again so the demand is higher.

I'm thinking about dropping the Western Religions class I enrolled in for Autumn quarter and replacing it with something else (not sure what, yet). I am not too sure I want to minor in Comparative Religion anymore. Maybe I'll take other C. Religion classes just for my own pleasure and, if it turns out I am fascinated by it, I'll take W. Religions at another time.

I need to start packing, but I'm going to wait for Vanessa to get at least the majority of her stuff packed before I begin. And then I can call my sister and let her know precisely how many more storage-devices (suitcases, baskets, etc.) she needs to bring up with her so I can pack more stuff away.

The HFS people sent me an email yesterday offering me discounts and special offers to move into Nordheim Court (an apartment complex close to school) because "they need my room." I thought, Heck no I'm not giving up my room; it may not be the biggest room, but it's a single. I waited until I was twenty to apply for Hansee, and dammit I'm gonna enjoy my seniority over the other residents who want in but can't. Maybe for my senior year I'll try living in an apartment; I highly doubt it, but it is a possibility. So long as my financial aid can be applied to rent and all that jazz....but then I'd have to use money out of my own bank account for food.. ehh.

There'll be a double update today, because I don't really feel like lengthening this entry with a fic update. Maybe triple updates, if I want to upload more than 1 fic.

One final thought: Mochi ice cream is delicious.

Edit 3:12 P.M.: I just created a Greatestjournal account. Nothing much up yet, and I'm still tinkering with styles and whatnot. My reasons for getting one? What won me over was the 2000 userpics, but... *shrugs* I'm a writer. A whole other journal appealed to me. It'll probably be my primary fanfiction journal, though I'll still post my works up here. This:

http://aurikkulockwind.greatestjournal.com/

is the link to it. Again, it's not very impressive.

"It was a couple of days before Kate Schechter became aware of any of these things, or indeed of anything at all in the outside world.
She passed the time quietly in a world of her own in which she was surrounded as far as the eye could see with old cabin trunks full of past memories in which she rummaged with great curiosity, and sometimes bewilderment. Or, at least, about a tenth of the cabin trunks were full of vivid, and often painful or uncomfortable memories of her past life; the other nine-tenths were full of penguins, which surprised her. Insofar as she recognised at all that she was dreaming, she realised that she must be exploring her own subconscious mind. She had heard it said that humans are supposed only to use about a tenth of their brains, and that no one was very clear what the other nine-tenths were for, but she had certainly never heard it suggested that they were used for storing penguins." --The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams

So, the HFS here at the UW decided to devote a week to "thank the residents" and whatnot, and (technically we got them last night Sunday, but "officially speaking") Monday we received a little gift from HFS, which could have been a variety of things, including tickets to the Mariner's next home game (I think it was versus Los Angeles), invitations to a variety of things including dessert night and (probably cheap) massages and some other things of which I can't remember. I didn't really care for much of any of the options, and decided the "free gift" option would probably make me happiest. And, lo and behold, I got the free gift option, which turned out to be......

....a whole $6 on my University debit account.

Uh.....Woo? *twirls finger in air*

( A cut, since this is a kinda long entry )

"The problem with the valley was this. The Monk currently believed that the valley and everything in the valley and around it, including the Monk itself and the Monk's horse, was a uniform shade of pale pink.....
So what of this horse, then, that actually held opinions, and was skeptical about things? Unusual behavior for a horse, wasn't it? An unusual horse perhaps?
No. Although it was certainly a handsome and well-built example of its species, it was none the less a perfectly ordinary horse, such as convergent evolution has produced....They have always understood a great deal more than they let on. It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion about them.
On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever."

[Sergeant Gilks says] "I suppose you can't shed any light on a horse discovered in a bathroom as well? That seemed to have an air of you about it."
"I cannot," said Dirk, "as yet. Though it interests me strangely."
"I should think it bloody did. It would have interested you strangely if you'd had to get the bloody thing down a bloody winding staircase at one o'clock in the morning as well. What the hell are you doing here?" said Sergeant Gilks wearily. --Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Let it not be said that procrastinators don't get their work done.

I finished my Eastern Religions midterm at about 9 this morning, probably 4-5 hours before class started. When did I begin my midterm? Midnight of May 1, working from then until 2:30 and getting back to work at about 8 a.m. Yeah. Oops. But it was still done, even if I got only a grand total of 4 hours of sleep because of it. Heh.

This past weekend was good. My sister and I went out to shop, but neither of us actually bought anything (and ice cream doesn't count, sister!). I picked up this little bookmark slip from Borders (Barnes & Noble forever!!!! ...but my sister shops at Borders, so I'm kinda S.O.L.) that has on one side evidence pertaining to Severus Snape's alliance to Good and on the other side evidence pertaining to his alliance to Evil. I'm firmly set that Severus Snape is Good; I'm not even sure I'd believe Rowling if she makes him out to be sided with Voldemort in Deathly Hallows.

There's a Husky Gear sale going on today and tomorrow, and I was almost convinced to buy stuff, but I didn't. At least, not today. Maybe tomorrow. But after the sale I went to a vending machine in that building to get a water bottle, decided to get a water bottle within my dorm, and skipped it. The first vending machine I went to was sold out of water, so I grumbled and went downstairs to the other vending machine. I punched the water button, and got a Powerade instead. Jagged Edge, I believe. More grumbles, and since I wanted plain (or as plain as you can get with bottled water) water and didn't want to risk the chance of getting another variant of Powerade I went to Ian's and bought another bottle. Powerade wasn't all that bad (kinda tasted like [severely] watered down grape juice) but if I could've bought just one bottle I would have been happier.

First of May's going pretty well so far, considering. Speaking of May, I need to get Jared's birthday present. *makes mental note, which Auron-Muse promptly slices into pieces with his Masamune along with Korean, all thought of Religion homework, and anything else not related to fanfiction*

"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." --Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

I'm done with my RA interview. *collapses with a heavy sigh* I actually hurt from all the nervous tension I built up in me. Damn.

My Econ exam was as bad as I expected. What makes me feel better is that a friend of Vanessa's is taking the class and also expressed the same sentiment as me, so maybe it's not just entirely my brain going down the toilet.

Thank goodness for Pepsi. I think it might be a bad sign that Pepsi is the thing that makes me feel better, kinda like nicotine does for smokers. Eeps.

I feel like I have so much to do, yet I don't really. Maybe I can now sit down and get to work on my fanfiction.....that'd be nice.......

"Not content with ignoring the normal requirements of biology, the cat was also in clear breach of the laws of physics. He moved, jumped, promenaded, sat, in exactly the same way as if his rear half were present." --The Salmon of Doubt, the Dirk Gently chapter in which a Siamese cat is missing its back half yet behaving normally.

First day of February, which means....14 DAYS TIL MY BIRTHDAY!!! *does a dance*

Tonight at seven I'm planning to go to the s'mores night the floor RA planned. There may be a movie. But obviously at 9 I'm going to call it quits to watch the new Grey's....I still can't imagine the thought of two proposals happening at once O.O

Then I study for 4 tests tomorrow. That's 4 tests, for 3 classes. I *LOVE* the logic the head of the Korean department has that she thinks having two tests in one day is.....

....Well, actually, I don't know the logic behind it. It just sucks.

Then I go to Econ, take my first exam there, and wait an hour to go to my cinema quiz. Thank goodness the cinema quiz is easy, though I'm a bit concerned me not having seen Rope (because the teacher was less-than-prepared for the class and didn't bring it, yet still required us to watch it on our own time >.< ). I hope it's not on the quiz...if it is, then, well, I will employ the tactic the many years of honors English has prepped me for: B.S.-ing my way through.

Then Friday after classes I go to a lecture/prep thing to help me understand what I need to do for the RA interview I have Saturday, and then Saturday I go and interview for the RA position and see whether or not I have to be concerned with paying both tuition and housing. I both hope and dread to be accepted; hope, because who doesn't mind free housing and food? Dread, because that's a lot of responsibility and I worry about not being up to snuff. *shrugs* I'm in or not, it doesn't matter. I seem to have done fairly well with the money thing this year, though I'm going to be drowning in debt when I get out...yay......

I have no idea what's up with the UW police; yesterday there were three cop cars in the same roundabout at the same time, though they didn't do anything but drive around. And then today there was a cop car and a fire truck parked outside McCarty, though there weren't any fire alarms (I believe, anyhow). Strange.

I think I may be a Cinema Studies and Comparative Religion double major. Though, really, I need to hold off on setting my heart on the Comparative Religion major until I've taken a class, which I may take Religion, Eastern Traditions next quarter. There's also a film class that I really want to take, but it's open only to C Lit majors for the registration process; I'd have to wait til mid-March to sign up for the class, which makes me a bit concerned since I'm sure plenty of people who are already declared will want the class, too. And if I can't get into that class, then I can't take both a religion and cinema course. Oh well. I'll worry about it once the registration process starts.

Arthur: "Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it." --Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Found this article courtesy of Yahoo......

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_110906WABbioterrordrillKC.205f0d23.html

It doesn't include the UW campus, but still.....kinda weird. *shrugs*

I get tomorrow off! Woohoo! Hooray for the public universities! My poor friends down in PLU (and whatever other schools don't get tomorrow off in honor of Vet's Day) have to suffer through another day of school. I told Nicole I'd think of her as I slept in, but it appears I may be having breakfast with Elizabeth instead *another shrug* Cereal for breakfast actually sounds mighty tasty right now, but I'll deal with my Lean-Cuisine spaghetti.

There's this thing for a group called SEED (Students Expressing Environmental Dedication) happening tomorrow from 11-2 where students clean up North Campus (for those unfamiliar with UW, there really is a North Campus and a South Campus, and they ARE different from one another, while still managing to be in the same ZIP code), and initially I wasn't going to go because it was too "early" for me....but since I'm up at 8:30-ish for breakfast with Liz, I feel as though I should go. Plus....free food. What sane college student turns down free food? But we'll see...if they let people join spontaneously, I may do it for the sake of procrastinating on homework and being a "good citizen"....whatever the hell that's supposed to entail.

Was a good kid and did my 30 minutes (and more) of pilates, but immediately after I felt ill. There's several factors, I think, one being the ball (it's only 2 days old, so it's got that plastic-y new-smell to it), another being from the work-out itself (breathing issues, etc.), and/or not having eaten soon enough. From now on, I'm going to eat at least 30 minutes before my work-outs. Also, I took some Vitamin C, Iron, B-12, and a Calcium/Zinc/Magnesium pills to see if that doesn't help--sorry Vanessa, took from your stash, I'll pay you back....maybe I'll buy you some Multi-vitamin stuff. I was only going to work on my lower body, but then the DVD rolled right on into the next segment and I wasn't feeling too tired, so I went ahead and did the abs and upper body portions, too. Aside from the whole sick-feeling, I only had my heart-rate up for a bit....I don't know if this means I'm more in shape than I thought, or if I'm doing it incorrectly. *shrugs* If I don't shape up in at least 6 months, I'll have to suspect the latter. And depending on if the weather is good or not, I may run down to the IMA (we'll see if I actually *run* or if I stroll casually) and do some running, either in laps or on a treadmill. If the weather's poor, I may go to McMahon and utilize their fitness center.

Vanessa left for the weekend, and I didn't feel like going home, since I know the only reason I'd go is to play my BRAND NEW PS2 game (Dirge of Cerberus....I don't think my sister will let me open my FFXII game until Xmas...=P). Plus, my mother raised a big huge stink before I came to college about me "keeping in touch" via calling regularly, etc. etc., and yes I didn't do so well freshman year, but this year I've called home almost every week....how many times have they called? Well, their last registered call on my cell when I wasn't down in Oly was about 3 weeks ago.

Hmpf. Hypocrites. Fine, if they don't want to talk to me, then I won't call and they can decide when they find it in their busy schedules to call me.

...I'm not really that mad about it. But a call every once in a while doesn't hurt. Emails don't count--I don't get to hear their voices, plus although I check my email regularly, it doesn't mean I get up-to-date info. Wah.

Off to go watch Grey's Anatomy and do some weight reps. I prefer these much more to pilates--it doesn't make me ill ^.^

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another which states that this has already happened." --Douglas Adams, in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

....My Russian Masterpieces class was and is canceled for today and tomorrow.... Hooray.

....Had NO IDEA what it was that woke me up at 9:00 this morning for a minute, and then realized it was the alarm clock that has reliably woken me up since August. Yay for disorientation.

....I've decided that Psych 101 is THE class and Prof. Osterhout is THE professor that I enjoy this quarter...hell, Psych is probably my best/favorite class this year. I don't know if this is a good thing yet.

....I had NO appetite today for lunch, and had to force myself to eat a perfectly-made Subway sandwich. Again, don't know if this is a good sign.

....Saw these Coke bottles with the Coca Cola Polar Bear in it, as a prize for winning the 'Bank' or something like that, in a vending machine. I thought 'Why the hell not, I'll get one' and tried to buy one. They wouldn't let me get it. Grr.

....Spent about an hour in the University Bookstore branch at the HUB. Didn't buy anything, and felt uber-guilty. It's not that I didn't *want* anything, as anyone who knows me can attest to, but I didn't have any moola. Waaah, I hate being poor, waaah. Okay, that's my pity-the-poor-me moment of the day.

....Watched Scandinavian porn for my Sex in Scandinavia class. My roommate felt dirty heading from there to her Gospel Choir class, but strangely I wasn't terribly affected. This does not bode well.

....Greeks. Are. Sent. From. GOD. To. Make. Me. COMMIT. SUICIDE. GRRRRRRR.

....Got to the room, and had a temper flare up. If someone had walked in and tried to engage me in conversation, I would have either a) nodded and smiled and spoken tersely all the while screaming in my head to SHUT UP! or 2) screamed aloud SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!

....Due to my previously mentioned odd temper, I took a long, hot shower. I now smell like mandarin (satsuma officially, but they're the same thing) and my hair is supposed to smell like juicy green apple, but it generally never does.

....I now feel much better.

....Finished posting a FFVII fic that I wasn't proud of, but wanted to post because it's the first Cid (and FFVII) fic I've ever written.

....Pizza rolls are good.

....Milk is good.

....Bagged, grated sharp cheddar cheese is good.

....All three as a meal is GREAT.

....Had a really, really, REALLY random thought come up earlier, but I can't remember it now. More than likely, it was important. *shrugs and moves on with life*

....Chuckling at the thought of a "how well do you know your roommate?" competition in McCarty, with Vanessa and I in the competition. Seriously, friends since 2nd/3rd grade. If we particiated and lost, it would be because they have REALLY obscure questions.

Douglas Adams Quotes (One of the best people that had ever graced this planet; RIP):
"A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'"

"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer."

"[Getting a movie made in Hollywood is like] trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people coming into the room and breathing on it."

"[The World Wide Web is] the only thing I know of whose shortened form — www — takes three times longer to say than what it's short for."

"The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place."

I want to be an English major. I really do. I wanna write for a living. I wanna write and whenever someone says I don't know what the hell I'm talking or writing about I want to shove my degree in their face and say "Booya! I'm a professional so you can just f^{< off!"

Sadly, my days of preparing to be an English major may be winding down to a close.

This required class of mine to be an English major at the UW is killing any and all remnants of respect and love I had for English. It's getting so that I hate having to write, which is bad because I love to write, just not papers. Papers and people telling me, "Oh, no, this is bad, you're on the wrong track," etc. etc.

More than just an English major, I want to be a Creative Writing English major. That means I should be allowed to write creatively, correct? One would think, but then again I've had teachers in the past who critiqued my creativity and said, "This doesn't make sense/this is too unrealistic." And this is critique over my fantasy drabbles! It's not supposed to be laws-of-physics realistic nor in-depth. Plus, there was a teacher who tried to cultivate the Honors English class in Poetry writing but couldn't broaden her mind into accepting her students' poetry. I'm not saying that I want to write just fantasy or poetry (particularly not poetry; I can't stand poetry so much) but if critique and general closed-mindedness is all I'm going to run into here at the UW, I'm going to major in something that doesn't expose my creativity so that I can develop it without a teacher blotching it with red.

On the brighter side of things, my procrastination against my paper has allowed me to finish my portfolio assignment due Dec. 1. Taking into consideration that my paper is due Nov. 21, this may not be a good thing. Oh well.

My roommates and I finished a round of "What'd You Get Me For Christmas?!" It was quite hilarious; poor Alli has no idea what Vanessa is getting her for Christmas, Vanessa doesn't care what Alli gets her for Christmas, and I'm an amused spectator that occasionally throws a ball at an offender. As you might guess, we're all procrastinating from doing our papers. Three cheers for the life of a college student.

I can't wait til Thanksgiving. My roommates have slightly dismissed the Turkey Day for Christmas (which I do love) but I love the Day of the Turkey, mainly for the mashed potatoes. Plus, my 6 friends from high school and I are getting together after the Day of the Turkey to catch up on our lives. This is especially beneficial for our friend Lindsey, who lives out on the East Coast because she's such a smarty-pants and went to University of Pennsylvania. Also, I can play my Final Fantasy X-2 and hopefully not be forced to restart the game due to all the mistakes I'm bound to make. wOoT!

I'm kinda disappointed that I don't have all the classes that I want for next quarter. But oh well, hopefully I can survive. Plus, I'll be taking my second English class at the UW, and shall see if I truly want to go onward with an English major. I may wait, however, until I get into a Beginning Prose/Verse course as those will sort of be the foundation of my creative writing career.

If I hate 'em, I can always switch to History or Sociology or something. There's a Sociology course titled Murder that my roomie found, and it sounds a bit intriguing.......................

Now, for several Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quotes, because people need such a guide to the galaxy, because they are people:

"You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxication in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
[Ford Prefect:] "Why, what did she tell you?"
[Arthur:] "I don't know, I didn't listen." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, c. 7

"My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes." - Ford Prefect; Life, the Universe, and Everything

"Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to [a sentient spaceship's] external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it," said Marvin.
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin and stalked off back to the Heart of Gold. - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, c. 34

"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now." - Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, c. 12

To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone capable of getting themselves made President should by no means be allowed to do the job.
To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

I'm at my computer, listening to my FFX music, drinking Pepsi (yeah, I'm a Pepsi drinker, but I was raised on Coke, so I'm neutral), eating 3 Musketeers, and waiting for my professor to return the 1st of 2 midterms. I'm pretty sure I did horribly, but the girl I sit next to during lectures said that hers was terrible and she did well. My stomach's roiling a bit, but once I get my midterm back I'll be good, one way or another.

I really need to get a life. All I do is surf the web from inside my dorm room and do boring stuff that most other people would find unamusing. I could at least go out of my dorm and into our lounge here at the dorm if I want to be on the computer, but I can't even---wait, Otherworld just started......---manage that.

*Go now if you want it An otherworld awaits you
Don't you give up on it You bite the hand that feeds you

All alone cold fields you wander
Memories of it cloud your sight
Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber
Lost your way a fallen knight

Hold now aim is steady An otherworld awaits you
One thousand years-you ready? The otherworld it takes you

Go go into the sand and the dust the sky
Go now no better plan than to do or to die
Free me pray to the faith in the face of the light
Feed me fill me with sin now get ready to fight
You know you will
You know you will
You know you know you know you know that you will
You know you know you know you know that you will
You know you will

Fight fight fight
Fight fight fight
Fight fight fight
Fight fight fight

Hope dies and you wander The otherworld it makes you
Dream they rip asunder The otherworld it hates you
Free now ride up on it Up to the heights it takes you
Go now if you want it An otherworld awaits you*

It's official. Nobuo Uematsu is *the* genius of music. Final Fantasy just wouldn't be as magnificent without him.

I miss my friends. I don't have anyone to talk or AIM to in order to ward away the bad boredom and anxiety. (I also miss my Playstation, but that'll be a rant for another day)

I should go now and do something for supper, although I probably won't. Maybe I'll work some more on my stocking for Christmas. Or maybe I'll try and figure out what I was supposed to do as an assignment for Tuesday.....That'd be good.

Another quote, because you can't have too many: "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, ohh yeah