I have so much HATE for Squaresoft

30 minutes into Kingdom Hearts II?

Fucking REQUIRED minigames. I am sorry, but I do not play Kingdom Hearts to skateboard. I play it to hit the X button repeatedly and destroy me some bad guys.

Wren is somewhat less than amused. - -;

::EDIT::
I am making Roxas pants. And then wearing them. Oh bitches.

Yeah Right.

I'll never be your Maggie May
the one you loved and left behind
the face you see in light of day
and then you cast away
that isn't me in that bed you'll find

I'd rather take myself away
be like those ladies in Japan
rather paint myself a face
conjure up some grace
or be the eyes behind a fan

And so you go
no girl could say no
to you

There's the way we may appear
but that will change from day to night
would you ever see within?
underneath the skin?
could I believe you had that sight?

And so you go
no girl could say no
to you

I'll never be your Maggie May
the one you loved and then forgot
I'll love you first and let you go
because it must be so
and you'll forgive or you will not

And so a woman leaves a man
and so a world turns on its end
so I'll see your face in dreams
where nothing's what it seems
you still appear some kind of friend

And so you go
no girl could say no
to you

A Welcome Revelation

The 8-page midterm paper I wrote finally got given back today.

A-, bitches.

Fucktastic. I needed a bit of happy.

::EDIT::
PANTS.

The Verdict

I went to the doctor's today and received a diagnosis and a treatment plan, along with a worst case scenario.

Diagnosis: My left kneecap isn't sitting properly, causing the cartilage on one side to be compressed. Friday when I stood up from the coffee table and all these problems started, my kneecap popped out of position temporarily. What I am dealing with now is the injury this caused to the surrounding tissue, but the underlying cause of the problem still needs to be addressed, or it will just happen again later.

Best case scenario: I stay on crutches for the next 1-2 weeks to keep weight off the joint, and go through lots of physical therapy for the next month. We're talking heat, ultrasound, and electric treatments, massage therapy, and strengthening/rehabilitative excercises. When the month is up I go back into the doctor's, get checked out, and go on my merry way.

Worst case scenario: I do the same as above, but no improvement is seen, or I'm not completely healed within the month. Then I go in for an MRI, and we discuss the possibility of exploratory surgery to get a better idea of what exactly has gone wrong.

Gimp

I really hate not being able to get around on my own sometimes. >>

::Post-doctor update::

I've been referred to a joint specialist because they think I've done some damage to my ligaments. There's some swelling below my kneecap still, and that's the area that seems most tender. In the meantime, they've given me Vicoden and crutches.

I just hope I still have health insurance.

How the hell do I hurt myself this much by STANDING UP?

Sick

Last night I learned I need to chew my food better. Or, more specifically, my rice.

Today I work on finishing my evil plots, getting packages together, and homework. Hopefully I can do as little walking as possible so my knee gets better. It aches this morning.

Start over

This weekend has been the oddest combination of fantastic and terrible.

The breasts, they do nothing...

I've been e-mailing people who need subletters for the summer. So far it has been...interesting. For example:

"Natalie:
Hi, I saw your flyer around campus and would be interested in subletting for the summer. I'd like some more information about the house, and maybe to see it and meet the other people who would be living there over the summer.

Thanks!"

And the reply:
"Hi Wren,

sorry, but the landlord actually wants it to be strictly a girl-house.
I just found this out wednesday night, so I havent been able to reprint flyers. thanks for your intrest though!
natalie"

After blinking a few times, I sent back a reply:
"That shouldn't be a problem, since I am in fact female."

I mean really. How? How can "Wren" possibly be a guy's name?

Also, my left knee has exploded. It keeps giving out, and is now swollen and angry. I am back on codeine. You have been warned. Monday I'm headed in to the doctor's.

The Great Mitochondrial Rebellion of 2006, Bikebushes, and the Blob that Ate Everything

Cell Biology today freaked me out to no end. Ever since I was little I've had a marked distrust for all biological functions that occur on a cellular level, but this class is steadily making it worse.

When I was seven or eight I was a big fan of the trilogy that begins with A Wrinkle in Time. The third book is what caused my fear of cellular function (similar to Nice causing my eye phobia, now that I think about it. And they say reading is good for you?). See, the little brother of the main character gets very sick because his mitochondria rebel.

Now, that may sound ridiculous to you, but if you think about that after you learn about the Endosymbiotic Theory, you begin to fear. Mitochondria are not actually part of us. They're completely separate organisms with their own DNA, and they replicate on their own, which means they're not being regulated by their host cells (us.) Fun fact: all your mitochondria came from your mother. So we have these little beasts living within us, producing the ATP we need to keep all our cells functional and thus keeping us alive, and they're not even being controlled by us! How the FUCK is that not scary?

It gets worse. I thought learning about metabolism was freaky. We have to carefully regulate all the reactions we perform to metabolize glucose, you know. Because if we didn't? We would COMBUST. So what if an enzyme goes crazy and kicks up a reaction when it's not supposed to? FWOOM.

But today! I learned that inside the mitochondria there's something called an Fo/F1 ATP synthase that is responsible for creating all the energy we need to run things right. And it does it by SPINNING a protein complex around and "hitting" two other complexes, which change their shape and end up catalyzing reactions because of it. That's right. In every mitochondria in every cell of your body, there is something that is meant to do nothing but run into other things and make stuff. And I can't feel it, or control it, and if I hadn't taken this class, I'd spend my entire life NOT KNOWING THIS.

On another random note, in chem today we were discussing sci-fi movies and why organic lifeforms can't be silicon-based instead of carbon-based. See, the bonds between silicon and hydrogen or silicon and itself are too weak to stand up to light photons, so exposure to light would cause it to desintegrate. (Pitch Black, anyone?)

He told us about this one movie he saw, tho, involving a huge amorphous blob that was eating stuff. Chemists were battling it by hurling bottles at it from the stock room, and finally they found one that dissolved the entire beast.

The female chemist picks up the remains of the vial and reads it. "My God! You used the ACETIC ACID!"

That, boys and girls, is a fancy name for vinegar, one of the weakest acids out there. Oh, how we laughed.

I also wore the Sir-Mix-A-Lot skirt around today. The weather was perfect when I put it on, but the second I walked out the door the wind was zipping EVERYWHERE and making me feel like a really bohemian Marilyn Monroe. I hate dealing with odd weather in skirts I don't trust. It also rained while it was sunny, and then hailed. This skirt is evil.

Finally, a conversation between me and Eri. It is necessary to click the link for the proper frame of reference.

No Understandy: Drugs are bad, okay? XD
No Understandy: You're gonna turn into a bikebush.
Eri: Being a bikebush sounds fun.
No Understandy: I hate you.
No Understandy: *laughs hysterically*
Eri: Like being a ninja. They would never see me coming.
Eri: Only assume it to be a harmless bush.
Eri: On a bike.
No Understandy: O.o; A bikebush would be quite noticaeable
Eri: I'd just stop moving when people looked, so they'd think it just a regular bush.
No Understandy: you're on a BIKE.
Eri: Maybe they'd interpret it as a bike STUCK in a bush.
No Understandy: ....no.
Eri: Damn
Eri: So, in other news, how goes the skirt experiment?
No Understandy: it went well, except for the hail.
Eri: hail?
No Understandy: Yes, it hailed.
Eri: Is this coincidence or was it somehow caused by the skirt?
No Understandy: I think it was caused by the skirt. The weather today has been unusual.
Eri: And here I was thinking the most it could do was stop traffic. To affect nature itself? A truly powerful artifact indeed.
No Understandy: I wonder what it does to bikebushes.
Eri: My guess would be engulfs them in flames.
No Understandy: Awesome, I can kick your habit.
Eri: You can try ^^
No Understandy: I'll just addict you to something better.
No Understandy: Like trees.
Eri: ...I'm not sure that'd work.
No Understandy: You haven't seen this skirt!

Sarah and I have dubbed the dire combination of me, Baron, and Eri the "Triumvirate of DUMB". This is a good example of why.

Why I should not be allowed to speak in discussion classes

My Asia in Motion professor probably already thought I was weird, but today was the first time it actually disrupted his class for extended periods of time. From the time he walked into the door until class was over I kept interrupting him and turning the conversation away from the topic quite by accident.

For example. I raised my hand at the beginning of class because I didn't see him walk in with a stack of midterm papers to ask if he's managed to grade them. Unfortunately, his back was to me for three minutes, so he was already starting into the intro portion of his lecture when he finally turned around and noticed I was there.

So we talk about the paper, and why he's been so busy, and then I assume he's headed back into his lecture, so when there's a pause I yell out the word he started class with.

"SOJOURNING!"

He stares at me. "What?"

"...sojourning..."

"Oh. No, we're going to talk about your next paper instead."

>.<; Everything goes normally until we get into a conversation about language, and why different regions speak slightly differently, and Maddo makes the point that languages are subject to trends: if an important person uses a certain word or phrase, it becomes popular. (For example. Old king of Spain used to lisp, and now Spaniards can't pronounce their own language. >>;) She then likens it to trends in cars. Sometimes rounded is in style, other times square.

"Personally, I can't wait for the fins to come back in style." A few people giggle.
The professor blinks at me. "...Why?"
I blink at him. "Because I like them." A few people giggle harder. Unfortunately, one of those people was raising her hand, so the professor, in a desperate attempt to move on, called on her.

She bursts into laughter. "I can't even remember what I was going to say!"

The professor flounders, then doggedly moves ahead. I feel bad, apologize to the girl, and spend the next two minutes shaking quietly with laughter and trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

Not five minutes later we're discussing communication problems, and Maddo relates an anecdote where she and her roomie got in a fight because of a pair of "slippers." In Hawaii, that word meant flipflops. Here, they are houseshoes. I had a similar story, so raised my hand. "We'll let Wren have the last word," said the professor. (Big mistake.)

"Where I grew up, we called flipflops thongs. When I moved to Hawaii, that did not fly." Class busts up laughing. Girl two rows to left looks at me and goes "me too!" "I would say it, and underwear wouldn't even cross my mind" I replied. She nodded.

The professor, standing up in front of everyone, muses quietly to himself: "This is the first time in my teaching career underwear has been a topic of discussion."

And that is exactly why I should not be allowed to participate in discussions.

Insane in the membrane!

A year ago, Sarah's chem professor told the class that they would not do well in Ochem unless they were deaming about it. At the time, I told her I would have raised my hand and asked "Do nightmares count?"

I think my 12 hours of Cell Biology got to me last night. So much Ochem and other chem is involved in all the goings-on in your cells that I sometimes feel I am taking not one, but TWO chemistry classes. Which is why I dreamed I was a hydrogen in an organic compound last night.

When I woke up, Sarah and I had the following conversation.

"Oh my God, I am soooooo weird." *yawn, stretch*
"Why?"
"I dreamed I was a hydrogen atom."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Ask your chem professor."
"Aaaarrrrrgh."
"Mmmm, I don't want to get out of bed."
"Do you want me to come over there and jump on you?"
"Wouldn't work. I am a stable compound, and thus very comfy."
"Aaaaarrrgh."
"Are you an oxygen?"
"Yes."
"CRAP."
"Raaawr. Come make H2O with me, baby."
"I always knew you were slightly basic."

You know you live in a house of science dorks when these conversations don't even sound odd.

Happens every time.

Looking through people's chat logs to find addresses and other bits of information I need can be a very embittering experience.

I have six weeks to find a house and a job

You know it's been a long day when Daryl walking into the room and asking "is anyone else having cheesy bread?" almost makes you cry.

Then again, my brain seems to be broken. I'm not used to getting so much good news on the first Monday back from break. I got an 83/85 on my chem paper about the lab of doom, and an 85% on the exam. Then I got 80s on both quizzes I got back from Biology. So that was cause for a lot of happiness.

It has been an odd day, tho. Lots of odd conversations with people.

"I went camping in Death Valley and got so drunk I ran into a bush. *cue arm that looks like a small rodent gnawed on it.* Then I stayed up until 7 AM, passed out in my tent, and everyone played capture the flag without me."

"Make it your life's goal to have sex on every surface of your house!"

"Why is Baron terrified of me?!"
"Because you managed to spent almost 24 hours per day of the past two years with me."
"I don't see any problem with that."
"And that is EXACTLY why he is terrified of you."

And then lots of random issues that shouldn't be issues at all that I have to worry about. Tomorrow morning I'm waking up, going running, meditating, and then going to classes to get two more midterms back. I also seem to have a meeting tomorrow night if I decide to take that perspectives leader job, so I probably need to decide about that this morning so I can work that into tomorrow night's schedule.

Ugh, I have a Cell Bio exam Wed. That meeting has the WORST TIMING EVER.

Mmm, welcome back to Uni, Wren. It's amazing how busy you are, isn't it?

Time for shower, paper proofing, and then bed.

o.<

I need to stop accidentally sleeping with my knuckle jammed in my eye.

Back to Reality, oh, there goes gravity

"Lately I've been thinking
of combust-ication as a welcome vacation
from the burdens of the planet Earth, like gravity,
hypocrisy,and the perils of being in 3-D...
And thinking so much differently."

Mike went home yesterday, and I was left all alone for the duration of a car ride back to the house because Matt came back in by the time I got home. Before he went I dragged him off to Point Defiance Park and we took a walk on the waterfront because the tide was low and there was actually a beach in existence. We got some pretty good pics, too, when some little five-year-old bratling wasn't hurling rocks at us (long story.)





We have no idea about the second pic.

*sighs* So much more I want to blog about, but am very tired. I'll probably post more soon.

I hate Alloy.

So I bought this skirt.

Let me preface this with saying I always feel very self-conscious in skirts. I always have, and I always will. So needless to say, I am very picky about them.

So I bought this skirt. It came in the mail today, and I just went upstairs to try it on. I put it on, look in the mirror, and go "hey, cute!"

And then I turn to the back, and the only thing I can think of is this comic. See, the skirt is ruffled, but the ruffles don't start immediately, so the material over my ass is SKIN TIGHT. And it's worse because the loose part doesn't start until the thigh, so the curve of my butt is actually being accentuated. It is so wrong!

I CANNOT WEAR THAT IN PUBLIC AND FEEL COMFORTABLE BEING ALIVE.

I went downstairs and ranted to the boys about this for a bit. Eri was smartly silent. In fact, he may have hidden. Himi wants to see it. What he does not understand is that my ass is completely comfortable with being absolutely invisible to humankind.

- -;;;;;;

"Soul Calibur Tongue"= <3

Eri is finally listening to the 101 song playlist I made him last semester. It has been interesting seeing how far he can go without wanting to kill me. Once we get to the last song I don't think he'll be able to restrain himself. (Thank God we still have another 20 songs to go and I decided not to follow my first instincts and make it the FIRST song...)

Baron is on a plane en route to his Uni from Detroit. I got some goodbye pics of me and him before he left. (Eri has to go through the same ordeal tomorrow, unfortunately. MWAHAHA.) Here are the two that I like the best.



I'm glaring at him, and he looks like a zombie. This pretty much defines our friendship, actually. Which is what I was going for.

Here's the one where we tried to make the photo actually look presentable.

I look like I am baring my teeth. >>;;;



Now I need to go figure out what I am feeding Himi and Eri tonight. And probably have some more caffeine, because I am incredibly tired tonight. >.<;

We still don't know what the hell a "Pocari" is...

Baron finished off the Pocari Sweat this morning, for better or for worse. My sources say he has not gained a shield. And by "sources", I mean hands. And by "not gained a shield" I mean "Oh my God, did that actually hurt?"

If he were a Japanese man, this would probably be all over Tokyo.


We went into Seattle after that with Himi and had some lovely fish and chips and some gelato for dessert. Here's a really nice pic of the boys (and their faces, oh em gee!) ^^;



We were going to go to the aquarium, but there were SWARMS of bratlings as far as the eye could see, so we headed off to Pike's Place and got lost in there for a while. (On a side note: I just Googled "bratlings" and got a lot of responses of brat-lings. Think of brat the food. Little brats. Bratling brats? Brat bratlings? How interesting...)

When we came back we made fondue. They really seem to have liked it. After that they made me watch Blade Runner, for which I shall never forgive them. =_=;; ("The little voice, Eri.")

I learned not to teach other people Wrenspeaky, tho. Bad things happen. Bad, bad, bad things happen.

Poor Love Moose. D=

Shields up!

We had so much fun at Uwajimaya yesterday. I got some wonton wrappers, some red bean curd buns, chicken gyoza, some udon, pocky, gummi, green tea ice cream and candy, and some apple sencha (type of tea). Baron got some spicy tuna sushi but has yet to try it, and Eri got some gummi which, if the living room floor is any indicator, is mostly gone now.

We also had fun in the drink aisle. I got my lychee glass-ball-scary-opening device drink I always like, Eri got a scary melon soda, and Baron got some clear liquid called Pocari Sweat- ion supply drink.

"Maybe if I drink enough ions I'll develop some sort of shield!"- Baron, at 11:50 last night.

But does it WORK? We had to know.

Here's the experimental setup: one glass, one bottle of Pocari Sweat, and one test subject.


And the procedure? Take cup, pour out the strange, clear liquid, and taste it.


"Hmmm, grapefruit," he said. And did not die. I had to know for myself.


I didn't feel all that shielded. If fruit could sweat, tho, holy fuck would it taste like that crap.


Then we made quesadillas, watched Road to El Dorado ("You know that little voice that tells you to quit when you're ahead, Eri? YOU DON'T HAVE ONE."), scared Eri's housemates, watched Heat, and fell asleep far too late.

I fail to see what all the hype about Heat is. It's entertaining, but easily could have been much shorter.

Today we're headed into Seattle with Himi to play around on the waterfront. Wish me luck, because I do have a little voice, and it's telling me I'm going to die.

S.T. Strange and You

Yesterday Eri came into town. We temporarily lost him in the airport, but 15 minutes later I spotted him over by his baggage claim. Baron was not sure it was him, but I most certainly was, so I managed to stealth up behind him despite my freaking bright hair and grab him around the waist.

Bastard did not even blink.

- -;

And then we spent half the day finding replacement contact lenses for him because one tore on the plane. The only thing I am going to say about this is that Costco is a very scary place indeed...

They also met the rat yesterday. Or, shall I say, the rat met them. It was a very scary experience all around.

First the rat had to determine if the strange creature taking over his side of the house was edible. (Evidently not.)


Then he decided to get brave and go introduce himself to Eri.


These pictures make me go *squee.*

Today we're going to Uwajimaya, which cannot end well since last night I dreamed I got LOST in an aisle of pocky, was chased around by robotic UFOs carrying trained spyrats, voted sexiest girl in class (what the FUCK is my subconcious doing to me).

I really don't think I need any more sugar. Especially after making 20 of my donuts this morning. All of them are gone. ALL OF THEM ARE GONE. @.@

I'd ask how, but I already know. Boys.

z.z;;

I am so sick of being tired all the time, yo.

The first lesson of Spring Break is...

Do not leave Wren alone in the house for five hours when you've come to visit. Chances are she's freshly charged her camera, and that always equals horrible, horrible things when she's BORED OUT OF HER MIND.

This is Baron. See Baron sleep. Sleep, Baron, sleep. To the left are all the game systems that I now cannot play because of his awkward choice in nap area.


After he passed out I went upstairs, figuring he'd wake up in a couple of minutes (I mean really, look at his posture. OW.) I ended up falling asleep for a little bit and woke up feeling quite refreshed. I decided to go try to wake him up so we could do something/plan stuff for dinner. The following conversation, though I do use that term loosely, ensues:

Wren: *poke poke poke....POKEPOKEPOKEPOKE*
Baron: *flail* argaaaarrrgrgrgrgaaah...huh?
Wren: "It's almost five o'clock."
Baron: "You say that like it's supposed to mean something to me."
Wren: "..."
Baron: *snore*

Okay, fine.

So I took a picture to assuage my bruised ego. If he is not up in 15 minutes, it may be time to break out the Sharpies and make like Picasso.

(I swear to GOD, Eri, if you don't get here soon, the beanpole dies.)

::EDIT 5:34 PM:
No Understandy: why is his phone ringing?
Eri: I was waking him up :P
No Understandy: I HATE YOU.
No Understandy: I WAS SO ON MY WAY TO SHARPIE HIM.
Eri: You say that but you probably weren't. But I needed to warn him just in case. :P
Eri: He might not listen to me though.
No Understandy: No, dude, now I have to hide them.
No Understandy: >.<; hate hate hate
Eri: ^^
Eri: I'll make it up to you tomorrow then.
Eri: WITH A HUG
No Understandy: Touch me and become a woman. I'm like the Midas of estrogen.

I actually had free time last night!

And so I decided to shake things up a little bit. Usually I dye my hair purple or wine with a red underlayer, but recently I've been letting it fade as much as possible so I can move on to lighter and brighter colors. This is why last night I was able to do the reverse of my normal hair and do red on top and wine on bottom. Behold.



I keep forgetting that anything red instantly turns me into a VAMPIRE. >.< It is pretty awesome, though. The color isn't flat at all because of my natural highlights and the darker underlayer. You can't really SEE the darker underlayer in this pic (hate indoor pics), so for an idea I suggest you look at the tips.

When I pull it up it's red in front and purple in back and the tips kinda glow. This is a lot brighter than I'm used to. It's sunny today, so Imma try to get a good pic of it outdoors.

Take Control

Well, midterms are almost over, so I get to get back to figuring out what to do this summer. I'm really hoping the subletters start posting signs soon. I did find a sign asking for a female boarder in a house, but living with a family with a semi-private entrance doesn't seem ideal. Maybe I should look into it anyway, though. I can't really be all that picky.

I've filled out my summer finaid forms and checked the "give me a workstudy!" box. Imma turn that in tomorrow and see what happens. I also have a rough draft of my newest resume done and ready to be looked over so I can take it up to that cafe and introduce myself to the manager on Friday. It's like two blocks from campus and seems to be open until at least nine, so I'm sure the hours will be workable. Either way, hopefully I can end up with a decent job so I can have some money to spend this summer. I really need to start saving again, because I have officially exhausted everything I put away in high school.

I've chosen my summer classes. I'll be taking my first class for my Pre-Education focus, an oceanography class, and beginner's yoga (it's free because I'm enrolled half-time.)

Ugh, so tired. Why is thinking about the future so damned exhausting?

Feeling charitable?

New Orleans Public Library is trying to rebuild. They are now accepting books or money. I'm sure I have a few things I can send their way.

Also, here is the only thing I remember from my dream last night:
Wren: "I still want to make a red-and-blue rag rug for the living room. " (It's true, I do.)
Maddo: "Awesome! It will look like a boiler room!"

...Made perfect sense last night. O.o;

This made my stomach go numb.

Which means it is secretly LIQUID CRACK.

My computer is a work of art

I've always hated the way Windows looks. Unfortunately, I also hate Macs, and thinks like Linux are...COMPLETELY FOREIGN CONCEPTS TO ME. So over the past two years I've been trying to get a modified Windows setup I'm actually happy with, but there have always been a few problems. UNTIL NOW.

1) I hate the start menu, and I like docks. But I like the start menu systray and hate the dock taskbar.

2) I like the Windows clock.

3) I like my mail notifier and Trillian pop-ups.

So here is what I think is going to be a near-perfect solution:

The dock is at the top of the screen like I've had it for the past year. The start menu is forced to be always hidden, but is still accessible with the windows key when it's time to turn the comp on and off or find programs I just installed. In place of the windows clock I have that awesome semi-transparent clock that has fully customizable fonts, colors, locations, sizes, and transparencies. The CD case in the lower left is my iTunes interface that has hotkeys (which I can't yet get to work, but we can hope) and downloads album art for you (with 90% accuracy). My mail notifier still pops up when I get mail, as do my Trillian notifications.

The best thing about the desktop, though, is that moon. It's not part of the wallpaper. It's a program that shows the current phase of the moon. So it waxes and wanes. AWESOME.

I want to do one final thing to my desktop, though I am not sure I am crazy enough to do it. I want to take my current wallpaper and make 23 other versions of it with different light levels to simulate night and day, and then download a desktop manager to change the wallpaper every hour. I've been told by people that they don't think it's possible for me to do that, but it most certainly is. I can change the level and direction of the light, the hue/saturation, and brightness. It would be a pain in the ass, but SO TEMPTING.

Okay, time to go get to my WEEKEND OF DOOM. I have more homework this weekend...