Not much to update about; I guess it's just a "woohoo, TGIF!" post.

The weather's becoming nice at long last, huzzah. I can break out my sunglasses and go to class without a coat and not actually freeze during the walk. The sun came out just in time for the U-district street fair and the Pike Place Cheese Fair, too. Yay!!!

I registered Monday morning for Autumn quarter, and it went easy. Senior-standing is awesome to have; I meant to get up at 5:50-ish to register even though I realized I didn't need to, but that night I slept horribly, so I went ahead and slept through til my normal time of 8:10. Did my morning routine, got on the computer, and registered for all my classes with nary a hitch. I'm taking 2 creative writing classes (again! Did I not learn last autumn quarter? Apparently not), an American history course that is a writing credit (needed for graduation) and a classics course ("Sex, Gender, and Representation in Greek and Roman Literature"). The last one I'm sort of waffling on; if I want to pursue the Classics minor, I would have to take this class to earn the number of credits required.

I finally got around to going to a comics store and bought the latest issues of BtVS Season 8 and Serenity. Serenity: YAY! though issue 3 was confusing, and Buffy: O.O Joss is a genius at the Evil!Cliffhanger of Doom, but also apparently has something against couples living happily ever after. *flails*


Dr. Ramirez: How'd you do it?
Angel: I got the test ahead of time and passed it out to all the others?
Dr. Pearson: How did you get it?
Angel: The Mailman
[pause]
Angel: I strangled him and his body's decomposing in my locker. --Stand and Deliver

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

Thursday I found out in Korean that the test we had scheduled for Tuesday was going to be merged with the final and, ergo, cancelled. I was kinda happy, because I thought I'd get to skip all of my classes Tuesday, but then I found out I had 2 papers due in my Eastern Religions class that day. So...not so much with the skip-age. To make up for it, though, I skipped the E. Religions class I had that day and went down to UVillage. I went to B&N where I found the 3rd volume of the new Buffy comics, but not the 1st or 2nd. Annoying? Most certainly. But then I saw 1st Season The Sentinel on DVD, and everything was magically made better. Hehe. I also bought The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, the second (and last, *tear*) book in the Dirk Gently series. I haven't actually finished it, for reasons detailed down below. I almost bought episodes 1-18 of Dae Jang Geum/Jewel in the Palace on DVD for my mother's birthday, but my mother hemmed and hedged on the matter, so I put it on hold (which, now, is cancelled and I'll merely have to hope they keep it on their backshelf rather than doing something else with it).

I had brunner (breakfast/lunch/dinner) down in Pallino Pasteria (yes, yes, I know, I have very bad eating habits, sue me) which was very very filling. Their Orange Dreamsicle Italian Cream Soda is AMAZINGLY delicious. And I have absolutely no idea how to tip, so I either seriously gypped the waiter or tipped too much. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Friday was rather unremarkable aside from Kim's arrival. Saturday morning ~11-ish we got breakfast at McMahon, came back to the room so we could gather everything Kim would need for sightseeing, and I took her on a tour of the campus. We were trying to hunt down a disposable camera for Kim, but Ian's didn't have any and the convenience store in our student union building was closed at the time, so I showed her the Quad, Red Square, Drumheller Fountain and the rose gardens, Rainier Vista, Sylvan Grove Theatre, the medicine herb gardens, the physics building (there is a really awesome pendulum that I believe swings according to the Earth's rotation), and then we hit the Ave. We went to the University Bookstore, got her a disposable camera, went to The Soap Box where she bought some nice, fragrant soap, and to Trabant Coffee and Chai where, obviously, they sell coffee and chai tea. They had these free stickers and they encouraged us to take some. I took one, Kim took one, then a few for herself, and then gave me four more to take for myself. The chocolate-mint chai was excelente, and they had this chocolate fudge brownie that was definitely decadent. We browsed the Laughing Buddha, Shiga's World Shop, Magus Books, and 2nd Time Around, which is a vintage/used clothing boutique which had really, really sparse selection. We had Pho at Than Brothers Pho, which was okay but according to her not the best. Then we went back to campus, took a few pictures by Parrington Hall, Suzzallo Library, and the Obelisk in Red Square. We also went back to the rose garden where she, ahem, adored the flowers. Immensely. To the point of obsession. (it's okay, cousin, we all have our obsessions). At that point it was probably about 7-ish, so we went back to the dorm, dinked around a bit, then put in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Then we called it an early night at about 10:30.

I got up somewhere around 10:30 the next morning, but Kim slept a little longer. We repeated breakfast at McMahon, then trekked straight from there to the HairMasters Salon where we got our hair(s) cut. Mine turned out perfect, but hers a little less so; sorry cousin! We swung by Bartell's and got her another disposable camera, and got sidetracked at Buffalo Exchange. We tried on a few shirts and a skirt or two. I bought a shirt and she a gorgeous blue skirt, but we found the other stuff either too expensive for our budgets or not the proper fit (I somehow managed to put on a halter top minus getting my arms through, yet I couldn't get it back off >.< ). From there, we got to the Folklife Festival via the bus at about 2.

There was way too much that happened there to do it justice. We got buttons for donating $10 each, and there was music playing constantly, and too much food for any sane person to eat, and wallet-killing booths selling awesome stuff (most of the clothing seemed to fall under an Indian (the country, not the American-natives) theme, interestingly enough). I can't say the sun was shining through, but the rain from the morning had disappeared so we were happy. Kim got some Indian-style chicken and rice with garlic nan and I got Russian beef and cheese piroshky for lunch. Both were excellent, and I will definitely recommend the piroshky to anyone who asks. While we were eating lunch we were entertained by someone playing the bagpipes accompanied by a drummer. Very cool music. We also partook in some funnel cake and kettle corn. We kinda got lost trying to get back to the UW since the bus stops were all wonky in those parts, but we managed to get back thanks to a very nice bus driver who directed us the right way.

Kim and I got back to the dorm at about 6:30, I sat down in a chair for about 15 minutes, then I had to leave her so I could get with my Korean skit group to run through it. One of our people was missing, so I couldn't excuse myself out of the thing early to keep Kim company, and my feet let me know precisely what they thought of me staying on them for nearly 8 hours straight. Got back at about 8:45, woke Kim up, bought her some Enviga and a Guava Rockstar, and I proceeded to introduce her to The Incredibles. Awesome movie. She was thoroughly entertained.

We went about trying to pack all her stuff, and by now (that she has made the trek back to Bellingham) she has probably broken her back with an insanely heavy backpack. And then we went to bed at about eleven.

Got up at 9:30 this morning, took her to the Greyhound bus depot for her bus that departs at 12:30, and I wound up needing to completely bypass the UW and go to Northgate in order to get to the UW because the Seattle Metro's holiday hours suck. It seems that every single time I take the bus I always get introduced to new scenery. I suppose it's a good learning experience.

And now.....I get to write 2 papers that are 2 pages each, one of which has to have a thesis about visiting a museum. ....Yeah, I don't know how that is supposed to work, either. *sigh*

Harry: I peed on the corpse. Can they do, like, an ID from that?
Perry: I'm sorry, you peed on--
Harry: On the corpse. My question is...
Perry: No, my question. I get to go first. Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on a corpse?! --Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The University Street Fair was definitely not a bad investment of my time. I went Saturday with my friend Liz from high school who's a freshman at the UW and my friend Liz from my Eastern Religions class. Yeah, the Liz's are taking over the world.....

We started at the bottom of the Ave (around 41st or so) and made our way up to 50th. There were plenty of booths that I liked, and a few that I actually wanted to buy things from (there was a clothing booth with clothes from Silk Dragon that appealed to me [more on that later] and another booth that had dragon items that you can pin onto your clothes to make it look like you had pet dragons.....I so wanted one....), and some that I kinda passed my eyes over because they didn't have much to interest me. The food was both typical and atypical fair food: they had the usual artery-clogging stuff, but then there were Vietnamese, Kenyan, and lots of other booths. I bought a pork skewer and egg roll from a Vietnamese booth--very good food. Also bought an elephant ear to share with one of the 2 Liz's, since the other had gone back to the campus. I got a few free trinkets (a deck of cards from some casino, a key chain, and one of those plastic bands advertising Pike Place Market. I was expecting a few more street performers, but knowing me I completely passed them by without realizing what they were.

Moving on to today.....I kinda thought the whole noisy-next-door-neighbor-sex phase was over since her boyfriend was deployed to Iraq, but then I woke up at 6:45 this morning to the sound of her bed thumping into mine. I thought she was doing the deed herself at first, but then I realized there was no way she could shake the bed like that. I groaned and rolled over, and went back to sleep, only to wake up a few hours later thanks to someone who burnt food on my floor and set off the fire alarm. I've now decided that one of my worst fears of living in the dorms is being caught in the shower when an alarm goes off. Because having to go out into public with hundreds of others in a bathrobe? Um, no. When I got back inside I went straight under my covers for about another hour in defiance of my wake-up call, and I think I dozed off for a bit.

I was kind of thinking that I'd go out for a bit and do some shopping, but two things deterred me. One, there was rain falling. Two, the University Teriyaki place was closed, and as much as I'd like to branch out and eat somewhere that isn't teriyaki or other Asian-based food, that was all I was in the mood for, and I wanted to wait for my friend Kim to show me how to eat Pho properly. So, I was content to simply while my time away in the dorms.

And then.....they started it again.

I could hear it past the music blaring in my headphones. And I was kinda hoping I could wait it out, but it was not to be. So I took out the trash, put on my coat that used to be somewhat waterproof but no longer is, and headed out for the Street Fair again.

I visited a place called Innervisions, which is a poster store, and maybe next year I'll go back and deck out my room in movie posters. That'd be awesome. I went to Gargoyles next door, which is a Goth-decor place. I wanted to buy my friend Jared something there, but I wasn't too sure what other symbols besides the pentacle he liked, and there weren't too many choices of just plain pentacles. Also went to Shiga's World Imports, and I was tempted to buy a Daruma (it's hard to explain...you could probably Wikipedia it, though) but didn't. I wandered down to where the University Teriyaki was in the vain hopes that it might be open for the Street Fair customers, but it wasn't. I went back to the Silk Dragon booth and was about two more seconds away from buying something. She made these really cool belts that kinda reminded me of a spy's belt, and I liked some of the shirts she made, but I couldn't bring myself to use my money. I need to work on the whole turning-ambivalent-while-shopping thing; it's a bit of a hindrance. I bought some shish-kabobed milk-chocolate covered strawberries from a Shishkaberries booth, and it wasn't bad, but I think I'd prefer my chocolate-covered strawberries while the chocolate is still gooey.

I'm just grateful that, when I came back from getting completely drenched in the rain, the neighbor had stopped her loud sex.

I watched Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels at long last. I wasn't laughing nearly as much as when I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but I definitely didn't see some of the twists coming (though I could all-too-easily see how they would end, hehehe). But people do not know cliffhangers until they watch LS&TSB. THAT was EVIL of the director/producer.

Now...I need to go write a page and a half letter in Korean....And translate my part in our Korean script....yes, that's exactly what I want to do with the rest of my Sunday.......

Eddie: They're armed.
Soap: Armed, armed with what?
Eddie: Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit!
Soap: A minute ago this was the safest job in the world. Now it's turning into a bad day in Bosnia.

Plank: Ah! They fucking shot me!
Dog: Well, shoot 'em back!
(Plank begins to fire a gun at random)
John: Jesus, Plank, couldn't you have got smokeless cartridges? I can't see a bloody thi - Ah! Shit! I've been shot!
Dog: I don't fucking believe this! Can everyone stop gettin' shot?

Tom: There's no money, there's no weed. It's all been replaced by a pile of corpses. --Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels