My Asia in Motion Professor defies all scientific law

This guy, who I briefly mentioned looks like Alan Rickman, freaked Maddo and I out quite effectively today. Don't let that smile deceive you. This man has some sort of bizzare superpower. (Or is actually Snape.)

(pic has since been purged from the University Database. Just imagine a smiling Alan Rickman and you're FINE.)

Want to know how we know? Good, because I'm going to tell you. Take a good look at this picture.

This is Wyatt Hall. It's a three-story building with lots of pretty pretty windows. The wing jutting towards you in the pic are all teacher's offices. We were on the second floor of that building coming back from a visit with my Modern Japanese Lit professor when we see Snape head into his office. He unlocks the door, says hi, and settles down into his desk chair. We go out of the office wing, down one flight of steps, and out the double glass doors at the front of the building. As we are walking down those big cement steps in the foreground, we see Snape coming from the side path in front of the Office wing.

There are no doors on that side of the building. Or any flights of stairs. The only way for him to have gotten out there would be to have a) dove out his window, b) snuck around us while running full-tilt past us down a flight of stairs, or c) BY DEFYING THE VERY LAWS OF NATURE.

But it gets better. He starts walking down the path, just ambling along, off to get coffee or something. But within a minute he's gone farther than he should have going at that speed. It's like he was bending the world to suit his evil purpose. Soon, he was out of sight completely.

So yes. DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THAT SMILE.

Homework

W: "Let's freak each other out by doing nothing!"
S: "Okay!"
W: *stares*
S: *stares*
W: ...
S: ...
S: "I think it's working..."
W: "Yes, yes it is."

Telemarketing Joy

This happened a while back, but I remembered it, and thought it was amusing, and figured I'd share. (Have a few ill-placed commas!)

Now, if a telemarketer is calling my cell-phone, I figure it's free game on whether or not I am being nice. Especially if they are calling me at 7:30 AM or right before I need to head out to take a Biology exam. Or, in the case of this one, when they simply will not shut up.

W: *ring* Hello?
T: Ms. Wren?
W: Yes, speaking.
T: Hi, I'm from *bla*, and we're calling to inform you that you're eligible for *coupons and gift certificates* for gas, groceries, and all this other stuff you don't need. All we need is your authorization to charge your credit card for shipping.
W: *warning bells* Oh, thanks, but I'm not interested, and I'm also on my way to an exam...
T: Ms Wren, we're offering you hundreds of dollars in savings from places like *insert big companies here.*
W: That's nice, but I'm really not interested, and I wouldn't use them.
T: Are you telling me that you don't shop at *insert company names here*?
W: Not really, no.
T: With all due respect, Ms. Wren, where DO you shop, then?
W: I'm in college. I don't. *click*

I feel no remorse, anyway, because I am quite positive she was a scammer.

New Semester Breakdown

I don't think I'll have to drop a class this semester. XD Here's what I have, and what I expect.

Cell Biology- Missed the first day of class today because I am sick, but I think it will be interesting and very hard. I really do prefer big biology. The labs are long, and supposedly hard, but also fun, and I've heard good things about the Prof. I think I can get a B if I apply myself. Not going to kill myself trying for an A, tho.

Fundamental Chemistry II Unless there is no God, I should have no problems with this. I've taken the harder version of the class, anyway, and have the notes. Just need to make sure not to slack off. Think I can get a B, which shows how confident I am, cuz normally in Chem I HOPE for a C.

Modern Japanese Literature- A small class of eight kids, mostly seniors, and the kid from my Japanese class who used to stare at me all hour. Spent all hour staring at me again in class, wanted to wave or say hi. Was just like old times. *rolls eyes* Professor is awesome, class looks interesting but time consuming. Not reading any Murakami, but I'll get over it. Pretty sure I can get an A.

Asia in Motion- Professor is a tall, short-haired Alan Rickman look-alike with a cheerful voice which makes the mean words he says seem less mean. Obsessed with 1" margins, adamant about class participation. "Rarely gives out As." So I'll get a B, then. XP* He seems like he could be a nice guy who just wants to sound scary, but I'm terrified that there's a good chance he is, in fact, evil like Snape.

January hates me

Come down sick the first day of classes, fight it off all day, then spend the night curled in a ball on the bathroom floor between dry heaving sessions when your immune system finally gives up that night? Oh, sure. I've already been sick, manic, and burdened with insomnia this month. Let's make me sick AND dip me into a depression cycle when I no longer have the time to deal with it!

A text message this morning brightened my day and brought me back steady for a while, but last night was hard. Tonight is doubly so, but at least with a stomach as rebellious as mine I can't really think for more than five minutes at a time.

My mom and my grandmother died in January. Sometimes I wonder if me getting so sick and so prone to swings this month is some sort of subconscious response. Then again, if I'm wondering... chances are I'm right.

Urk, time to go prove that it is still impossible to keep any meds down. At least I only have one class tomorrow, even though I'm not even sure I can make it at this point.

Missing the first day of Cell Bio. Fucking A.

NOTE TO SELF:

buy contact lenses.

why won't you play nice!

Past two days, have been unable to stay asleep, wake up at 6AM, finally go back to sleep at 7AM, and then *BANG*-- will keep on sleeping INDEFINITELY until someone/something wakes me up.

WHAT DID I DO?

So, it is now 7:37 AM. At 8AM I plan on sleeping until 1 or 2, packing my stuff, and then...who the fuck knows. Will I even be SANE by the time classes start?

Oh, right.

Well, I figured out why I haven't been able to sleep.

I'm manic. >.<

I can't believe it took me three frigging days to realize this. I can usually tell right away. Then again, it's manifesting rather subtly this time. I cannot stop PLANNING. Or messing with my clothes. Usually I do something much more active, like obsessively exercise or clean or write or reorganize.

...Then again, I have made my workouts a lot harder than usual the last two days. Maybe I just need to pay more attention to what the hell I'm doing.

I hope it's not getting worse as I get older. I really hate medicine, and so far I've been able to manage my swings myself. I'd like for that to not change.

Don't be surprised if I crash in the next two days, guys. It's how it usually works when I get insomnia this badly.

Sleep Deprivation+ Old Clothing+ Digicam= Post I'll Likely Regret Upon Awakening

So today I was looking through the clothes I left here when I went to Uni and I realized I have the SCARIEST CLOSET EVER. Want proof? Here are some pics, presented in order from least to most scary. At least I sized them smaller than I usually do.

First of all, least scary. I know you've all seen a modest pic of me in this, but I own a corset. WHY? Well, I know why. It was for part of an old Halloween costume, and I can make it look pretty classy, so I kept it around. But still. When you leave for Uni you can come back and go "Oooooh yeaaaaaah!" And then kinda wonder why.

*image deleted because people freaked out. - -;*


Second, we have a little vinyl number that I was told to never post a full pic of me in or people would die. So here's enough to give you an idea of the sheer SCARY. Yes, this is a nurse's outfit. Also bought for Halloween, but never worn for reasons of...I can't sit down in it without something to cover my legs, we'll just leave it at that.


Third most terrifying is this shirt. I think I wore it to a concert once. You have to peel yourself out of it like a banana and the necklace that holds the shirt up wasn't made very well. But...it cost $3. So it can basically do whatever it wants so long as it stays on and looks scary.



What could beat that shirt and be the scariest thing in my wardrobe? THIS, MOTHERFUCKERS.


And if you don't understand why "ICP" is scary, you need to click here right now. XD
(*sighs* I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no, I am not naked in that picture.)

I'm not even fucking dating you...

...which is why you've had the opportunity to stand me up four times. Because trust me, if I could break up with you, I would. I might frigging try, anyway.

I went to bed at 8AM, bitch. 8 fucking AM. And dragged my ass out of bed at 10:30 so I could shower, become presentable, and drive to pick you up. As I am heading out the door, I check my phone, which is what I should have done before even BOTHERING, because I know better than to trust anything we plan out is actually going to happen at this point. There's a text message from 1:30 AM.

"Agh, I just went to bed. Have to cancel."

FUCK YOU. And if you call me, prepare to face my exhausted rage, you fucking selfish bitch, because I was already angry at you. Now I'm pretty sure I fucking hate you and the air you breathe. So please. Stay asleep and don't even bother. You see me for like one week out of the entire year. How hard would it have been? Not worth the effort, evidently, which is why I feel dumb for even waking up.

I can't even go back to bed now or my sleep schedule will be even more fucked. So now I have to sit around the house trying to find a way to stay awake that doesn't involve raging.

You've gotta do the cooking by the book!

I am never letting that scary little girl in my kitchen.

This link is for Sarah.

Anyone else who clicks it will explode in fear and confusion.

A.A. hates me by now.

So, today I canceled a plane flight for the second time. American Airlines hates me by now, I'm sure.

I'll be staying in Saint Louis for the rest of break. I'll still be back at Uni on the 14th to get settled in and ready for next semester.

And the semester is officially over.

Grades are in. This is the first semester at Uni I can look at and not be ashamed of, even though I only took three classes.

Asian Art: I got an A- for sitting in that class with my head down and my headphones on drawing the Prince of All Cosmos. And occasionally turning in seven page papers on mandalas. I consider this like...the free cookie at the grocery store.

Ecology: I got a B-, which is actually slightly surprising, because I was pretty sure I was sitting on a solid C. I guess me busting my ass mid-semester to try to fix my grade paid off pretty well.

Japanese Religion: A-. I'm happy, because I wasn't sure if I'd earned an A or gotten a B+.

So yeah, overall this helped my GPA. Soon it will also be respectable. Frigging freshman year. >>

My quote of the day

Wren: "You mention sex more than a porn star at a job interview."

An observation from the Tea Way

"...[The] three most deplorable things in the world: The spoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine paintings through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through incompetent manipulation."

-Lichihlai

Motivation comes in stages

Working on a new AMV. Perhaps I should first finish the other one, but.

Let's bring in the New Year!

I didn't drink. There is no reason why I should have been woken up by how sick I felt at 5AM. There is no reason why I finally threw up 45 minutes later.

Now everything I drink tastes like liquid saccharine.

I'm afraid to go back to bed.

::EDIT 4PM::
Well, hopefully spending the first day of 2006 sick in bed just means I'll be healthier for the rest of it. It hasn't been too bad, tho; in times like these, having a laptop is almost as awesome as having 7-Up.

New Year's Resolutions

I didn't make any last year, which might be why I didn't seem to accomplish much of anything last year, either. So this year...I've made two:

1) Only eat meat once a day. Two reasons for this one, one of them being religious. I just don't feel right eating meat, but I can't become a vegetarian yet because I'm still learning to like veggies. Second, if I'm only eating it once a day, I'll make sure it's pretty damn good, so I'll enjoy it more. (It's the little things. XP*)

2) Rejoin a sangha. I obviously can't attend my old one in Missouri, now can I? I've found one in Olympia and two in Seattle I'm looking into. So either expect me to be out late Wednesdays/Thursdays or up early on Saturdays. Or two of the three. I know, me up early on a Saturday is whoa crazy, but raa.

Tying into that is picking my meditation back up. This may come as a surprise to my Uni people, who had no idea I was ever in the habit at all. Just get used to me spending quality time with my wall. Feel free to flop down with me. It's a great destresser, and I've been told I'm a good teacher.

Which reminds me. I set up another blog about all the Buddhist stuff to keep it neatly organized and separate from my everyday crap. If you're interested, scroll down to below the archives and click the circle (Maddo at least should know what that is. XP*)

Ah, Saint Louis, how you sicken me.

Woke up feeling yucky today, but went shopping anyway in the hopes that activity would make me feel better. Unfortunately, it didn't, so I'm going to spend my evening in bed/asleep.

I got some fun things today, tho. I got myself a cleaver, which I have been lusting after for years now, and a very nice 8" slicing knife. Also got a yummy Thai cookbook.

Now if only I didn't feel like crap so I could make some of those yummy looking noodle dishes. D=

Maybe the spice would help. Good thing Rose and I plan on eating Thai food tomorrow. If it turns out that she gave me her strep, I am going to be less than happy.

I haven't had to stifle this much laughter since my high school graduation...

Okay, so here's my "O.o;" moment of the day. And I can say that after the thread this morning, the sensation of having 75% of my face numbed, and my dream about Gautama Buddha and the Dalai Lama having a conversation (I need to rethink my pre-nap reading material.) I can only hope that my storytelling ability in my current sickened state will be good enough to properly convey the "O.o" of this event. (If I can do it with Ape Man, I think I can do it here.)

So the entire family decides to go eat chinese food tonight. We've been going to this one restaurant for years, so the people there know us by name, and we usually have a lot of fun joking around with them. Tonight they were a little stressed out, though, because we had a group of 12. Included in this group were my uncle's sister and her boyfriend, who just got back from climbing around on Everest (I phrase it that way because he did not summit.)

Now, I personally find this man to be a bit of a pompous aribag. It was interesting to listen to him blather on about kanji and kana and how oh so very difficult it is to type in character on computers in Asian countries, despite the fact that he knows no characters, has never tried to write them, and has no idea how IME works on the computer. That was the appetizer discourse. When the main entrees came he moved on to bigger, better things...like Everest!

I managed to tune him out, since I'd heard this talk once already and was far less informed on the topic, so was feeling no righteous anger. I turn away to talk to someone for a few moments. Out of the corner of my eye I see some rustling going on, so I turn back...

On his plate is sitting a SCALE MODEL of Everest. Not made out of food. It is a real, resin-cast replica, and he is discussing his route and pointing it out with a fork.

O.o;!!!!

...

Waking up and then finding a thread on the forum comparing you to Gillian Anderson and then discussing your breasts is more than slightly creepy.

@.@;

I need to stop napping. I always end up having horrible nightmares that I can't wake up from and I spend the rest of the day just as exhausted and slightly more freaked out than I was beforehand.

*goes off to clean out the inside of the Monte Carlo* Music and mindless scrubbing should be able to relax me.

::EDIT::
I caught myself enjoying a salad again today. I can't wait for the day when that's not a mind-halting shock to my system.

Also, I have eaten no meat today. At all. This is an accomplishment of amazing proportions. And I don't feel like I'm going to go insane and bite someone's neck. I blame the salad. >>

White Joke

The extended family seems to have shopped for me exclusively at Dry Ice. So now I have a lot of flashy crap I don't want. I really wish I could get everyone to decide that quality is better then quantity and just buy one or two meaningful presents. That would mean that I got very few presents, but at least for one Christmas I could feel like these people actually knew my interests. - -;

I must sound so ungrateful, but I'm the opposite of a packrat and I hate having to find things to do with presents I will not use. Clutter drives me mad.

This cracks me up!

Okay, so I'm reading the stuff with the DVD that does the atmospheric visualization stuff.
(There's no good way to describe this, so here's a link...) It has a section on "if ___ is you color, then you are ___."

So here are my colors. I have three favorite colors, but most people think of purple first because of my hair. I can't dye my hair green because it would look moldy without bleaching, and I can't dye it blue because blue fades to grey.

"People who like green are usually down-to-earth, reliable, kind, and generous. You often have a knack for identifying and bringing out the best in people. Your concern for people is genuine and sincere."

"If blue is your color, you are trusting and trustworthy. you may sometimes feel vulnerable, as you tend to be more sensitive to others and prefer a close circle of friends. You are deeply hurt if others betray your trust."

"If you like purple, you are highly artistic, enigmatic, spiritual, and unconventional. You can be easy to live with but hard to know. You tend to protect your inner thoughts."

Okay, all opinions on whether or not they're right aside, here's what's making me laugh: HOW THE HELL DO THEY FIGURE THIS STUFF OUT?

XDXD

Merry Ungiftwrap Day

People saying "Merry Christmas" to me has been pissing me off, even though it shouldn't. Not from strangers, but from people who know that the only reasons I go through the motions of celebrating and asking for gifts is because it's less stressful for all of my family. Still, it's unfair to them, because they just want me to have a good day. I just think I'm getting touchy about it for no good reason and it will stop now. So if I seemed irritated when you said it to me, that's why, and I'm sorry; December is always a very hard month for me, and my stress can manifest in very, very stupid ways.

That being said, I've had fun so far today, despite the fact that I think I am coming down with Rose's strep. Fam and I made our family's homemade donuts for the first time since I was nine, and it was a lot of fun. MiniFam was actually cooperative and helpful. I need to have a weekend morning where I get everyone up and we have donuts at Comic House-- they're really yummy and fun and messy and they make me think of family. >>

I may or may not also be making fondues. Yep, I got a fondue pot. A really frickin' nice fondue pot. Red cast iron, and forks with wooden handles. I also got a crock pot. I'll know by the end of tonight whether or not I also got a rice cooker. Also, the Grandmother-in-Law is cleaning out her kitchen and sending me all the stuff she doesn't use anymore, so hopefully I can score more pots and pans for my kitchen.

Here's my Christmas list so far:
Books:
Blue Jean Buddha
Where Bigfoot Walks-not really about Bigfoot

Cooking:
Fondue pot
Crock Pot
Teapot w/ built-in infuser (which looks very awesome)
More kitchen knives
Kitchen Scissors

Bath:
Body wash, milk soap
Body Butter

Etc:
Tea, chai (which I don't like, unfortunately)
Tea, green (advertises itself as tea used for the Tea Ceremony, which is a big lie. It made me laugh.)
An atmosphere-creating, visualization DVD.
Beauty and the Beast DVD special edition, unfortunately currently lost in the mail, but I've been promised a copy no matter what.

I love being home because I get to have more than daily reminders of how much of a selfish asshole my uncle is.

It's great to be in such close proximity to someone who can show me exactly how I DON'T want to be when I'm 40.

Photoshop

Two new wallpapers, edited to suit my widescreen, but easy to crop if you want them for yourselves.

I claim no art responsibility.

Pillow


iRoll

Identify

So I'm not really sure what's going on with America this year. If at all possible, people seem to have become even more insane.

This is the only answer:

=/

The right side of my mouth where they drilled feels funny now. The teeth and gums are sore and my cheek is puffy...

I concede.

There are a few things that don't suck about Saint Louis. For one, Panera bread (OMGGGGG). I miss their I.C. Caramels and their bagels more than I thought I did. Also, there's this great German lady who has been working there since I was a freshman. When I went in today after my dentist's appt, she was there. While she was getting me my stuff, she gives me this intent look.
"You work at the jewelry store?"
*smile* "No, actually."
"Ah, I mistake you for someone else. But you are beautiful, and you should know that."
*surprised* "Thank you!"
People love her because she cares and somehow never gets stressed out. <3 you, Stella. <3 you like whoa, and you make the best hot cocoa ever.

I also like the dentist because they have all this fun hi-tech stuff and I get to stare at x-rays of my teeth. But today's dentist visit was rather traumatic...I'm not really sure I can explain why, but rest assured that I am thoroughly traumatized.

So I find out today that my two (yep, only two) wisdom teeth are coming in. So I have to get those extracted this summer. And, I have cavities.

This is the source of the trauma. I have never had cavities before. They are something that happen to other people. I am a dentist's wet dream; I floss, I brush all the time, I use listerine. When I go in my teeth are virtually plaque-free. My dental records glow healthily, and are covered with notes like "GOOD BRUSHER."

So how the FUCK do I get cavities, I asked?

Well, it turns out that a few of my teeth are heavily grooved, and a toothbrush can't really clean them properly. So while my good hygeine means I have an incredibly low decay rate, getting these cavities was pretty much inevitable. I literally could have done nothing.

But he says that the rest of my teeth are indestructable and that after these are filled, he doesn't think I'll have cavities ever again.

BUT STILL! I can't frigging BELIEVE that I have cavities! I really wish I could fully explain...

I think I need to go sulk in my bed for a while, which is the third thing about Saint Louis that doesn't suck. I have never slept in a more comfortable bed in my life. Just...it EATS my nerves with love. It's like being bitten by Lestat, only minues the vampirism and the Tom Cruise.

I was made to be a librarian.

Maybe I should take up teaching. I could be one of those scary dominatrix teachers and spend the rest of my life looking good in rectangular glasses. However, I'm a little young to flaunt the rectangle look, so I settled for something purple...and abnormal. Wow, this is such a huge change from my last pair of glasses.

It was really hard to narrow it down between these new frames and a set of black ones with white detailing. Both were awesome, but I decided that the black ones were a little too OMGWTFGLASSES! and not enough "oooh, pretty eyes." So, I chose the ones that wouldn't make my greens jealous. XD

Here's a final pic of me in my old Modos (which no longer seem to be sold anywhere....I wonder what's up with that):

Goodbye old, battered lenses! (Why must I always make odd faces in photos?)

And here are a few pics of my more racy new ones.

Side, with me actually smiling genuinely. Sort of. I mean, for a camera smile.

Unfortunately, I think these glasses may have a higher nerdslut quotient than my older ones did....what do we think, guys and gals? Comment away. No, really. I want to know opinions on this one.


According to my eye doctor I'll be eligible for Lasik once I turn 21. If I ever got it, I'd have to keep glasses around for show. Some outfits just need them.

The shirt is new, as well. I got two new sweaters, new towels for uni, and a new bedspread and throw for my room here today. I've been doing mad shopping.

More later as pics arrive.

It is time for their secret identity to become their only identity.

This is me. This is my uncle's hat. By our powers combined, I am....Jay? O.o;

To klept.

I have gotten into a bad habit of stealing other people's clothes/accessories and taking pictures of myself in them. So far I have pics of me in Himi's glasses (which I will not post due to excessive nerdslut content.) I'd also have a pic of me in his shades, but his head is too wide. Then there are the pics of me in Daryl's shoes...he's a size 14 men's.

But, the pictures are always amusing. For example, here is me in a pair of shades which I assume belong to Fam.

Rose is in love with this pic, and made me send her a copy. Knowing my luck, it's the one she'll show her friends when they ask what I look like. By the way, she thinks my hair is "pretty." ^^;


This is what impending doom looks like wearing really bad shades.

The most disconcerting thing about both those pictures is how my hair, lips, tongue stud, and shades all match.

OH MY GOD

FUCKING treadmill! Mother FUCKING TREADMILL. I was ASLEEP, you fuck!

A New Record

Five minutes. They managed to make me feel like hell within five minutes of me coming home. Evidently they decided to partially redecorate my room when I was gone, and they've been dying to show it to me, so when we get here, down to the basement we go! (Except for Unc, who has yet to come down from upstairs to say hi. I've been here for an hour now.)

It's not bad, really. I like the new lamps, the bedframe, and a couple of the pottery pieces. The bed is too big for the room now, but it's still not bad at all. So I can honestly tell them that I like it and that they have done well. It was an odd feeling, and I was happy that things were going smoothly.

"I'm glad you like it. We're still waiting on the thingy, tho. (They have yet to tell me what the "thingy" is except that it is a thingy and it is "kind of stairsteppy...") Do you want new bookshelves?"
"Yeah, actually, that would be nice. These are starting to look a little battered."
"Okay. We'll look into it, even though you're here for HOW many days out of the year, exactly?"
"..." I figure she's joking and that didn't mean to be bitchy, so I joke back:
"But aren't you guys planning on letting me take this stuff with you when I finally move out? You're helping to furnish my first apartment!" Har-de-har.
"No, this is going to be the guest bedroom."
"...."
"What?"
"So, basically, without even asking me about it, you're replacing my stuff with new stuff that isn't actually mine."
"Well, I don't know."
"Whatever." *walks into bathroom, shuts door.*

Five fucking minutes. Hey, do you like your new room? Great! It's actually the guest bedroom, but we're letting you use the stuff for now. She apologized for it later once what she had actually told me sank into her brain, but still. Ow. It was said, and now I really kind of hate the bedroom.

*sighs* This entire city makes me feel claustrophobic.

::AFTER DINNER EDIT::
Some jewels from Unc, since he missed out on all the fun earlier.
1) In the car. Some backstory for this is needed. When they were up in Seattle a few weekends ago, we were talking about the car situation when I came back into town. Unc told me he'd let me drive the Crossfire and teach me how to drive stick, which is something he promised since I was learning on my permit.
Fam: "So, you're teaching her how to drive stick, right?"
Unc: "Why would I do that?"
Fam: "She said you told her you would."
Unc: "Yeah. Seriously, why would I do that?"
They thought I had my iPod on. I didn't say anything, but it just reminded me how right I was when I said I was going to get what he says in writing when it was important.

And then, at dinner.
*dude recognizes Unc, walks up to table*
Unc: "Whoa, [insert name here], long time no see!"
Dude: "Hey, how are you guys?"
Unc: "Blah blah blah. Oh, this is my wife, Fam, and our daughter, Minifam."
Dude: *looks at me...then keeps talking to Unc*
Me: "...- -;"

I was going to hang out with Rose, but I am tired and in no mood. So I'm going to go to bed and when I wake up, hopefully I'll exist again. >.<;

ZOMBIE WREN!

The night before travel is always the worst for me. I can never sleep.

At least once I get back to Saint Louis I can collapse in bed until I hang out with Rose at about midnight.

Must not forget to turn down thermostat. I hope I read this before I shut off my computer tomorrow.

I shall be famous!

I have figured out why Biology exams are so hard.

You're taking them in a different frigging language. Scientists do not speak English. Instead of "space to move in" you have to say things like "vacant niche in which an invasive species can establish."

Things in Biology don't "thrive" or "flourish" because those words don't mean anything quantitavely.

So yeah, you're not just learning new concepts, you're learning a new language. No wonder I had to frigging drop Japanese and Spanish.

*Goes off to be bitter before her exam*

Spike may LOOK like Billy Idol, but they are obviously not really the same man for one very big reason.

This is hot.

Unfortunately, this is not.

Two sleepy people should not talk.

Himi: I need sleep, as I'm going to try to get up early and live life like a normal stereotypical person should =b
Wren: Sleep well, catch you later. I'll be up in five hours. ><;
Himi: ouch =p I'll be snoozin, and hopefully waking up in 8, at like, 7 =b
Wren: *cries* so mean to me.
Himi: =(
Himi: /comfort
Wren: AAAH
Himi: /hug
Himi: /sleep
Wren: >>;
Wren: nite.
Himi: =)
Himi: /wave
Wren: to to bed. XP*
Wren: go*
Himi: go to to?
Wren: *sighs* you're breaking my sanity and now I can't type. XP*
Himi: breaking? damn, I didn't succeed last trip?
Wren: no, you did not.
Himi: well, it'll just have to be better luch nexct timae
Wren: ....that was some mad typage.
Wren: did you use your face?
Wren: or did your GORILLA HANDS just do their good work again? >>
Wren: *hides*
Himi: it was annother ploy in which to bring question to your mind as to that which makes the semblance of sanity prevalent in the core of your being as a rational person
Wren: okay. so it was your face.
Wren: by the way, photoshop froze when I was trying to edit blue into one of your pics today. XD
Himi: god never meant for unnatural color to added to the full silky tresses that adorn the crown of my being
Wren: ...weren't you going to bed and stuff, Fabio?
Himi: did I say golden tresses? NO! THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH!!!!
Wren: @.@:
Wren: *hides behind the couch*
Himi: OUCH!!! A SEAGULL!!!!! WHERE'D THAT COME FROM!!!!
Himi: MY FACE!!! AAAAAGGGGHHHH
Himi: get me the finest plastic surgeon on earth!!! NOW!
Wren: .....you left your fingers on when you were thinking again, didn't you?
Himi: great, now all I'm good for is crappy I can't believe it's not butter comercials, so much for my shining career as a sex icon, my hair has failed me once again
Wren: *blinkblink*
Wren: I asked for this somehow. I'm sure of it. Now I just need to figure out how so I can NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

This, and this.

::EDIT::
The worst thing about keeping this blog means I never write in my actual journal anymore, so I just end up brooding about things. This isn't a journal--this is entertainment. Entertainment doesn't help you figure out your problems or find ways to deal with your stress.

Over Winter Break I shall get back into the habit. I think it will be good for me.

I really need to start sitting zazen again, too. I wish there were a sangha nearby.

The Weekend

It was like my graduation party all over again. I am in so much pain today. Here is why:

1) My left hip hurts from wrestling.
2) My arms are a network of fingerprint bruises.
3) Back, as usual.
4) Shoulders, as usual.
5) Wrists, from wrestling, backrub, and cookie making.
6) Damaged dignity.

I get no respect, man.

Eri: Ah. You need to stop getting pinned, you know
Wren: I TRY. I was holding my own until he dislocated my hip
Eri: That doesn't sound very pleasant
Wren: It wasn't.
Wren: he's laughing about it, too. =_=;
Eri: Destroy him for his insolence
Wren: okay.
Wren: I think he likes you, because he read this and now he's laughing even harder.
Wren: I've lost all faith that I have ever successfully pinned a single guy. I think they all let me win. This thought shakes me to the core. =(
Eri: Then you must follow the path of Jean-Claude Van Damme. In every movie, he starts off as a formidable opponent, like you are, but not formidable enough. So for a half hour, he goes into extreme training with some wise old sage from a far east country. At the end of this half hour, he now has the power to roundhouse kick the world to death. You must attain this power and regain your confidence.
Wren: ....did you just fucking compare me to Jean-Claude?!

He's not a tame lion.

There are no words for how good Narnia made me feel. I spent half the movie crying in joy, and the other half on the edge of my seat. It was just like I imagined it when I was little and reading it.

The other movies need to come out NOW.

The chains have been broken.

My paper is done. And by that I mean that I am done with it. Heh. So after that and the presentation, I am officially done with caterpillars. Well, except for the seven busily pupating in the living room, but I don't have to DO anything to them anymore except feed them whenever.

So there it is if you want to know what I put myself through for the past few days/need a sleep aid.

*goes off to revel in the novel experience of needing to do nothing*

Target gummy dogs are the best fucking thing EVER

On candystripe legs the spider man comes
Softly through the shadow of the evening sun.
Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead,
Looking for the victim shivering in bed.
Searching out fear in the gathering gloom, and suddenly
a movement in the corner of the room!
and there is nothing I can do when I realize with fright
that the spider man is having me for dinner tonight.

Quietly he laughs, and shaking his head creeps
Closer now, closer to the foot of the bed.
And softer than shadow and quicker than flies
his arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes.
"Be still, be calm, be quiet now, my precious boy.
Don’t struggle like that or I will only love you more,
For it’s much too late to get away or turn on the light!
The spider man is having you for dinner tonight."

And I feel like I’m being eaten by a thousand million shivering furry holes
and I know that in the morning I will wake up in the shivering cold
And the spider man is always hungry...

A Smattering of Quotes of the Week for your Delectation and Discernment

1) Sarah: "Are dildos swift?"
Context will not make this any less weird.

2) Wren: "I don't drink after I have alcohol."
Sarah: "Oh reaaaally."
I meant to say drive.

3) The Campus Newspaper: "Come to Robot House for pie?"
Yeah, that was it. We don't know, actually. Was there pie? Is there still pie? It is a mystery.


~Also, the most recent Narnia trailer is making me cry like a little girl in joy. We're (read: Comic House and Himi) gonna go see it on opening night. And I am going to squeal and devour popcorn as I watch my childhood render itself on the big screen. Luckily for me, Himi seems to be just as insane about this as I am, so we can always sit by each other and act ridiculously happy while the other four pretend we don't exist.

I must survive until Friday. Ecology, please don't kill me, okay? =(

I present to you Maddo's birthday cake! (I did not make this. Matt made it. It is all-natural, 100% LOVE.

As you may be able to guess, we had no cake pans. That is a round pie pan and a square brownie pan expertly covered in icing to appear to have a uniform shape. We also had no birthday candles or icing to write with.

It was seriously the best cake ever. XD Thanks for baking it, Matt. I didn't have the time because of ecology.

Photo Shoot the Second (click for large)

I redid my hair again and managed not to get dye everywhere this time. Here are a few pics I took to show how cool it looks. The Burgandy I dyed over the purple with kind of fused with it, so in some lights my hair is really dark, and in others really bright.

For example, here's how it looks when it's dark.


But if I move over by the window the red shows through more (and my freckles don't get washed out by the flash.)


Here's a close-up of my hair so you can really see what I mean.


The shirt I'm wearing is new. It's this one from over and Queen of Wands. I love it because it is purple and very subtle.

Wow. So good it hurt.

I just finished this, and just wow. I love Murakami more than ever.

The caterpillars are home.

I carried their tank back through the snow and kept them alive with my purple fuzzy blanket.



Maddo took this pic. She calls it "Why Wren should never be a mother." Yes, the brown tank has the babies in them. Sarah. What were all their names? Fillorkadork, Biff, Dildo, Tulip, Sunshine, Dad, spunky, Toodle? Wait, those are eight names. There are seven caterpillars. Spunky died, then.

Snow.

The great thing about going to school here is all the people who have never seen snow. Maddo has seen it, but on the way to lunch she asked "where is all the water coming from?" It was so cute.

There are also a ton of freshman Hawaiians taking pictures and freaking out.

And it's just now starting to stick, so hopefully there will be no classes tomorrow. I like snow for the snow days, baby.

Okay, and it makes tea taste better.

Happiness is just a word to me, and it might have meant a thing or two if I had known the difference

Time to blog about something that happened to me this weekend. I wanted to wait until the more stress-happy of my friends had heard about it from me so I didn't freak anyone out. So now I'm left to talk about it in all the scary, graphic detail I want. Ready? Of course not.

I had the worst nosebleed of my life this weekend. Now, let me stress that means I'm really saying something here. The school nurse knew me by the end of the first year because of my nosebleeds. I would have to spend thirty minutes in her office at least once a month trying to get the bleeding to stop. Doctors told me my sophomore year that my nose was broken and never properly reset when I was littler, and that's what's causing the problem. So needless to say I'm used to it.

But not this. I was walking into the bathroom when out of the corner of my eye I saw a splotch of blood on the floor. I bring my hand up to my face and pull it back covered in blood. So I head for the tissues and pinch my nose to apply pressure to the veins.

It doesn't work. The blood isn't dripping from my nose like I'm used to. It is FLOWING. It's soaking through the tissues almost as fast as I can replace them, and it is also running down the back of my throat. That unpleasant experience has happened before, as well, but not like this.

I felt like I was choking. My blood was running down hot and thick, irritating my throat and actually making it difficult to breathe. I started to cough, and of course ended up coughing up the blood, which meant that I now had to hold tissues to my hands and mouth. I'm not sure how I can stress how unsettling it is to cough up your own blood. Your mouth is telling you you've eaten iron, and your body is telling you that something is fundamentally wrong. I kept flashing back to all the movies featuring people who were dying of tuberculosis. But unlike Satine and Doc Holliday, I was coughing up blood that was coming directly from my veins, not from diseased lung tissue. Oddly enough, that makes it seem a little more nasty to me.

The blood was also pooling in my stomach, making me feel incredibly sick.

Thirty minutes later I have finally brought everything under control. I wash off my nose, lips, hands, and brush my teeth. The toothpaste I spat out was red for a very long time.

Finally I disenfected the bathroom. After that, I passed out on the bed and slept for the night. It took a few minutes to get comfortable, because my stomach was killing me and there was still a slight trickle running down my throat that was unnerving enough to keep me awake for a while.

That is the most scared I have been in a long time.

Thanks for what? o.O;

From a people perspective, this holiday has been hell (alliteration for the win). My grandfather sent me a ridiculous e-mail, like he usually does. Fam called and got pissed because I was in a bad mood because three of the four caterpillars in our hot treatment have disappeared completely. So yeah, pissy mood.

But dinner? Whole other story, yo. I cooked it myself: Breast of duck marinated in pepper ginger sauce and then cooked covered in shredded pineapple to make it spicy-sweet and tender, too. Served on a bed of white rice with bamboo shoots, baby corn, and tofu (which I should have cooked with the duck, because this time it tasted like corn. Must pay more attention to the peer pressure tofu undergos, since it seems to be very sensitive.) Green grapes, ceaser salad, green tea, champagne, and a cream soda float for dessert. All eaten off my antique red plates and my silver, and in the case of the tea, my Bavarian china.

Who fucking needs cranberry sauce?

"Driving on I-5 is like some sort of bizarre game of Tetris..."

Matt's plane was canceled, so I had to go get him. The title is all I feel like saying about it except one word: "FOG."

He filled my gas tank for me, tho, which made me happy. It was very nice. ^^;

Oh my god, I don't have to wake up tomorrow.

Hey Maddo, YOUR MOM!

So I've gotten into this bad habit of making Maddo the butt of a string of your mom jokes. It started at dinner about a month ago, when we were discussing the childish trivia on the back of one of our milk cartons.
Maddo: "What does it say?"
Me: "Which is bigger? A. a tennis court, B. a football field, or C. your mom?"

There was rage.

Since then it has gone downhill. Two nights ago, driving down the highway towards a theme park, we see a sign telling what exit to take to get there. "Hey Maddo, your mom is coming up on the right!"

Then, just now, as I am trying to finish a sentence in my paper: "so the uniqueness is meant to accentuate the importance of....uh..."
Maddo: "Your mom."

We need a dose of maturity. >>;

I liiiiiive!

C7, the escape artist caterpillar of doom, is alive and eating once again. To celebrate this, we have given him a name: Fillorkadork.

He's probably still doomed just for having that for a name, but oh well.

I seem to not have blogged about him, so here is his backstory as told to various other people through e-mails:
Today we discovered that caterpillars who have eaten all the leaves of their host plants will travel great lengths to find new food....surprisingly great lengths. Sarah and I went into lab and discovered that our caterpillar called C7 was missing...and wasn't in with any of the other caterpillars, or in the glass aquarium we had the pots in....oh no. It had, in less than 12 hours, crawled out of its cup, up the side of the aquarium, off the aquarium, and along the counter into the corner. >.<; It's alive, for now, but we're wondering if it actually DID leave to find more food, because now every time we put it on a new plant it climbs down the stem and makes a beeline for the edge of the cup... Yep. C7 is a prime example of natural selection doing its thing. I expect when we go into lab tomorrow it will be dead. We've covered all the cups with perforated Saran Wrap, but who knows- that might not stop C7 in its bid for freedom.

When we left the lab that night, C7 was barely alive, in the corner of its cup, curled in a ball. We came back the next day, and it was in the same spot, not moving. Sarah poked it and it moved, so we figured we'd wait another day.

Today we go in? C7 is alive and devouring the plant once more. So now we are left wondering exactly what drove it to act so odd...

Current Theories Include
1) Fillorkadork is stupid. End of story.
2) Wanderlust hit a little too early and he went off to explore the vastness of the world around him. Unfortunately, he also forgot to pack a lunch.
3) He felt that he was trapped and decided to perform a jailbreak. The two days of not eating once he returned were a protest against our evil regime.
4) He thought he was getting too fat and decided to go for a dayhike and then practice short-term anorexia.
5) Some idiot in the lab moved him as a prank, and it took two days for him to recover from the stress.
6) He was a martyr for the cause of his brethren and risked his life to contact the resistance.
7) He was parasitized by something that altered his behavior. If a wasp hatches instead of a caterpillar once he pupates, we will know the truth.
8) He is the only fucking Brassica caterpillar to not like Brassica plants.

More weird little associations I have:

A continuation of this post from way back when. Though I talk to almost none of those people now.

I have a bad association with almost the entire Police: The Singles album. (And not just because of my taste in music, so stop all jokes about them now.)

Roxanne reminds me of my mom because she'd listen to it all the time for reasons I didn't understand then and now hope I still don't.

Can't Stand Losing You because I was told my ex listened to it on repeat when we broke up. He's still among the living, in case you're worried.

Don't Stand So Close to Me because I've had a couple creepy professors.

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic because too many people I don't like anymore told me it reminded them of me. I need new traits, evidently.

Every Breath You Take because it reminds me of when I was 12 and the times I've been stalked.

King of Pain because it's my ex's theme song.

You know...the Police are actually pretty creepy...

*giggles*

It's like all those times Fam woke me up after work by doing dishes at 4 AM...

Ah, the false sense of responsibility

What have I done in the past two days?
1) Selected classes for next semester
2) Gotten approved for a second credit card to use for gas so I can continue building good credit.
3) Filled out a job application so I can work next semester if I get hired and get some spending money again.

I'm bored and need a job again. Been too long since I felt like I was doing something worthwhile. Will also need the extra money for my cosplay, anyway.

LMAO

So I just received an e-mail from my Asian Art professor inviting me to "join the Chinese Opera." He meant "attend."

Also, "elonjugate" is not a word, no matter what he might say.

This is the most exhausted I have been in a long time

Himi, dahling, I love you, but I am never getting three hours of sleep again because we stayed up too late talking with Maddo. I did well on my quiz, tho, and that's all that matters.

I have messed up my shoulder royally by wrenching it. Now the muscle is horribly knotted, and I have been in pain all weeked. Sarah keeps accidentally hurting it, too.

You only hurt the ones you love, eh? Hon, I'm flattered, but I wouldn't mind a little recovery time in between maimings.

I'm going to be in bed before nine for the first time in....at least a year, maybe two. MMM, impressive.

This week is going to be busy. >.<;

Where have I been? こたえ は ひみつ です。

This weekend Comic House invited Himi down to hang out with us for Saturday. He was supposed to go home that night, but I assume he's been having fun because he is still here. I'll be taking him home after classes tomorrow.

He's fun to play against in Tekken 4 because he was just as rusty as I was, so it was a challenge for us to defeat each other. But in Soul Caliber II he OWNS MY ASS.

Worst moment of SCII? He chose Voldo, so I grabbed Ivy, because you HAVE to have them fight each other. It's just what you do. I have no idea how to play Ivy, and spent two rounds trying to get her to do her whippy sword thingy. I give up, switch to someone else, he pulls up Ivy...

me: "No! You're going to eat me."
Himi: "I don't even know how to play her!"
me: "Okay...."
*battle begins. FIRST FUCKING MOVE HE DOES? The whippy sword thingy.*

I may have exploded in rage. >>

Rain isn't supposed to sound crystalline...

Today was interesting...in Ecology class, I had the surreal experience of getting up in front of everyone and getting candy hurled at me by a girl in bad shoes to demonstrate the Target Hypothesis for the Equilibium Theory of Island Biogeography. And roomie yelling "no, more!" when they wanted to conclude the demonstration.

Yeah, 40 people watch some chick throw food at me today. No wonder I feel odd.

I have found a good way to be less bored in Asian Art. I pick a mood or a theme and then shuffle around on my iPod and mix song lyrics together to make a poem about it. It's fun, and just as cheesy as it sounds.

Half of the larvae we need have hatched. Hopefully more will have by Monday.

Stockroom Idiot: The Bitchening

Some of you know that meeting with my Professor was over the Stockroom Idiot. Oh yes. She complained to my professor that I was "pushy." I'm sure you can imagine my opinion of this.

She's totally right. Me, trying to save 60 butterflies and an experiment and my GRADE when my eggs come in three days early is probably pushy. But pushy with REASON.

The Professor doesn't blame me at all, she just wanted me to know. She told the Stockroom Idiot that I'm just "straightforward" and that I don't mean anything by it. I decided it would be best not to tell my professor that I feel the Stockroom Idiot is a complete waste of oxygen.

But, on good faith, I decided I'd try to be a little more nice. I do have to deal with this woman for two more years, after all.

This is where it gets good.

I saw her in the hall two days ago, and we made eye contact. I took my headphones out of my ears so I could hear, smiled, and said "hey!"

She stares at me unblinkingly until it gets a little awkward, then turns and simply walks. the. fuck. away.

I don't think the issue is on my end, boys and girls. What adult acts this immature?

Oh wait. But still, what adult SHOULD?

...exactly.

Tonight is the night I decide whether or not I like Chevelle.

I cannot type.:

Eriatarka: We're a very commotionable people.
Caffy: cumbustible? ^^
Caffy: shit!!
Caffy: com.
Caffy: busti.
Caffy: ble.
Vass: ...
* Caffy dies.
kyhmtsune: cumbustible. I like that. ^_^
* Caffy has quit (Quit: )
* Eriatarka resurrects the Caffy, rank 4!
* Now talking in #en
* ChanServ sets mode: +o Caffy
* Caffy laughs in shame.

Taken from the forum

Because it relates to courses I'm taking and is important to me personally, I have copy-pasted it here.

Misusing the word "Zen" has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. Zen is a word used to describe a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that began in China (there called Cha'n) and then was brought over to Japan by Eisai, where it took root and developed into three distinct sects. Zen has nothing to do with, and in fact frowns upon, commercialism. Why? Because one of the main truths of all branches of Buddhism is that desire causes suffering, and buying things you want is -definitely- giving in to desire.

That being said, Zen is NOT:
1) A type of cereal. Trademarked. I don't fucking care if it tastes "Zensational." How can you even have "optimum Zen?" Zen is not a QUANTITY or daily value.
2) A scent of candle and/or decoration style.
3) A flavor of tea. (Though it is fantastic, saying that it is an "enlightening blend" is utter BULLSHIT.)
4) A specific shade of gray that a camera can come in.
5) A book that is a blatant rip-off of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
6) A synonym for "relaxing" or "peaceful" or "soothing."

However, here is what it can be:
1) Associated with the Tea Ceremony.
2) Associated with calligraphy and paintings occuring in the Kamakura Period or which follow that style.
3) A type of garden occuring outside a Zen Buddhist Temple, in which you can generally perform walking meditition. (Not this.)

Basically, any of the arts or practices that have grown up around Zen as a religion can be called Zen. None of the items on the not list have any sort of basis in the religion at all beyond some cliched Western view of the principles of Zen. *breathes deeply* And I am done.

I am blogging this from the safety of my fort

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce my headphones. They may need quite a bit of explanation.



They are a $50 Sony silicon ear-bud (in my size!!!) noise-canceling little number I bought last semester to replace the iPod built-in headphones that I had dyed and destroyed. As you can see, they have fared about as well as their predecessors. The covering for the wires has long since disentigrated, they are many lovely shades of purple, and there are bits of tape clinging to what remains of them. And despite their ghetto appearance, they still play just fine.

How did they come to this, you might ask? Well, let me explain, in case me being the owner isn't enough of a tip-off for you. I listen to music constantly. I sleep with headphones in, which is the cause of most of the wear-and-tear. Most anything would look like that if it had spent half the night rolled around your neck/bunched into a ball and under your back. I am resigned to spending what breaks down to ~10$ a month to keep myself in nice, comfy earphones that cancel noise. They make me go to sleep faster and make me less livid at Asian Art.

Now I'm basically waiting until they die, just to see how much longer they can go. Wish them luck.

I wonder if coating them with epoxy spray would be a good idea...

This is what Absolute Terror looks like:

Hi Wren,

Can you stop by tomorrow either during my office hours (10am to 11:30) or during open lab time (1 - 5pm)? If you can't make those times, we can set up another time to talk.
Thanks, have a good day,
[Ecology Professor]

No explanation. I have no idea what this is about.

::EDIT::
So I replied and tried to get more info.

Sure, I can come in tomorrow. What will we be meeting about?
~Wren

Hi again,
It's nothing to be concerned about, so don't worry. It's just some stuff I wanted to discuss...
have a good evening.

SHE USED ELLIPSES! *DIES*
Seriously though, wtf? Why so secretive?

I am going to spend the night hiding in a fort. >>

Eureka!

I have had the most wonderful idea while studying for my Ecology quiz. I need to formally change my name to Wren so I can have an alliterative name and then go on to publish papers titled "Beaver Browsing Benefits Beetles."

Yes, that paper exists.

::EDIT::
I'll kiss anyone who can find me a name change form from a creditable source that doesn't want me to pay it for something that should be free if I could find it in the twisting nether of Missouri's legal documentation. Or bake/mail them cookies. It's basically the same thing.

Caffy Photo Shoot, Part I

I finally have a picture of the hair now that the purple dye is mostly under control. I wish it were sunny so I could take these pictures outside, but meh.


Yes, I am very pale. Also, you can see the blue at the ends of my hair in this pic, which makes me happy, since until now I've had no definite proof that it is, in fact, there.

There will be pics of the clothes later if I can find a place in the house that has decent lighting.

Also, I haven't had a good pic of my tongue stud since the one that was taken an hour after piercing, so here's a new one of it healed and with an acrylic stud.

Though I guess the one taken at Ohayo of me crushing Eri into the floor might count, though in that case its not the focus of the picture.

Man, I am so damn pale. XD

I will always love Suzanne Vega

It's a one time thing
It just happens
A lot
Walk with me
And we will see
What we have got
Ah...

My footsteps are ticking
Like water dripping from a tree
Walking a hairline
And stepping very carefully
Ah...

My heart is broken
It is worn out at the knees
Hearing muffled
Seeing blind
Soon it will hit the Deep Freeze

And something is cracking
I don't know where
Ice on the sidewalk
Brittle braches
In the air

The sun
Is blinding
Dizzy golden, dancing green
Through the park in the afternoon
Wondering where the hell
I have been
Ah...

This has been my favorite song since forever.

A Follow-up Letter to the Stockroom in its Entirety

Evidently I gave your companion too much credit, O stockroom idiot. Would you like to know why?

Because despite the fact that I clearly specified I wanted the Brassica eggs to come in on MONDAY, I received an e-mail today stating they were in and ready for us to pick them up.

Now I do not know what PLANET you two live on, but according to our Earth calender, today is Friday. Thus, we are not ready to set the eggs up. Our fucking PLANTS aren't ready for the eggs, for God's sake. Do you expect me to make them grow FASTER?

So I call to figure out what is going on, and I am told that not only is the more competent of your little stooge duo gone for the day so I have to deal with you, but we have yet to be put on an access list to be able to get into the room with the incubator, and an aquarium is not available for us to use despite the fact that we gave you two. weeks. fucking. NOTICE.

My Friday, instead of being a nice relaxing afternoon at home out of the rain, snuggled in a blanket and letting my mind not think for a while, is now going to consist of me trying to find a place to put these damned eggs because everyone else has decided to fuck up.

I can suggest a place, stockroom. For all the equipment you were supposed to have for me. Guess what it is. Go on.

Look to your orb for the warning

Okay, just found this site linked on Blogger. Time to start playing around with my camera again. After I find the TIME. And a camera I feel like hurling through the air....

Finished my paper that was due today, so now I have nothing to do until study time. I hope I can get another A on my test tomorrow.

You know, I don't really have anything to say, so Imma go touch up my hair,

::EDIT::
Oh fuck, Daryl has strep and/or mono...I am so fucked. I share food with that boy all the frigging time.

A letter to the Stock Room Idiot

I know you know what Brassica butterflies are because you were the first person to tell me of their existence when I was trying to get you to answer a simple question about monarchs. Then I thought it was a communication problem, but as of today I have decided it is because you have a degree in ineptitude. No one is that skillfull without extensive training.

Today when I asked you where the woman who knows what she is doing is, you asked me what I needed, so I made the mistake of telling you:
"Brassica butterflies."
"Brassica?"
"Yes. Six units of their eggs, to be exact."
"Brassica is a plant."
"Yes, you're right. And Brassica butterflies feed off Brassica plants. Hence the name."
"You don't want to order six units of Brassica seeds if you're trying to get butterflies."
"You are absolutely right. Please tell me where [competent person] is."

There is no excuse for that conversation.

::EDIT FROM LAB::
Chi-squared tests can kiss my ass. SPSS can kiss my ass. Ecology can kiss my ass. College can kiss my ass. I quit. So kiss my ass.

Devil's Haircut

Well, I redid my hair last night. A twist on your standard purple-and-red. It was supposed to be purple blue wine red. Unfortunately, the purple dye overpowered everything else except the red. So tomorrow I will be touching it up: adding blue in over the purple on my bangs to make it darker, putting burgandy over the red, just to see what happens.

I'll post pictures when I'm satisfied.

Happy Halloween from Comic House.

teeter totter

Well, the weekend was interesting. Family was in a good mood, but things were still awkward. For example, while we were at the Melting Pot:

Fam: "So, what Williams genetic traits do we share?"
*Cue the entire table of eight people falling silent.*
Me: "Um...I'm not sure what you're asking..."
Fam: "What genes do we have in common?"
Me: "Technically..."
Fam: "I know, but some of it is upbringing."
Me: "...You're pig-headed." *takes large sip from vodka cocktail waiter was kind enough not to card me for*
Table: "...." *stuffs mouths with food.*

And then, this morning I got to wake up at 8 AM to listen to her bitch about how her sister-in-law was raising her children. This time I kept my mouth shut.

Other than that, though, it was surprisingly fun overall.

But, for some reason haven't been able to be in a good mood today. Was made worse by the phone call I just finished with. I hate it when he gets tired and pissy and then decides to go to bed and leave me to fume because it took him until midnight my time to tell me when he could call and then got cranky because it wasn't the best time for me. - -;

So now I am even LESS motivated to get anything done.

*sighs* This day has felt so weird.

Boat Day!

Matt, Sarah, Daryl, and I went on the boat this weekend while Fam and Unc were out here. Here are some pics.


This is the boat. It's an antique wooden yacht from the 30s. We're in the process of restoring it. On the inside there is a top sitting area, a lower bunk area, a kitchen, a dining room, and a bathroom. This pic is taken from the restaurant we boated to and docked at. It was kinda fun getting it all tied down while the people on the deck watched. >>; I felt official, especially in my SCARF OF DOOM.


Matt has an ear infection, so we made sure he was nicely bundled up. >.<;;
It was kind of windy outside, and Sarah was using me as a pillow.


It took Daryl far too long to acheive this pose because he couldn't get his fingers to work right.

Holomovement

Currently experimenting with cooking tofu. Never done it before. Threw tofu in with my udon last night along with a little egg and loved it to death. Now I'm trying fried tofu. You wok-fry it, drain it, and then soak it in boiling water to remove all the oil so it stays light and fluffy. Imma try it with some soy.

Batgirl used to eat tofu raw. I still can't do that because the texture bothers me. But she liked it a lot.

I wonder how she's doing. I seem to have lost track of so many people.

The family is coming up this weekend. I really am dreading it. I'd like for it to be pleasant, and I'm hoping it will be, but...this is the woman who spent my 18th birthday dinner talking about how she was raising her daughter. This is the woman who last year asked "since when do you get what you want for your birthday?" This is the man who acts like a two-year old and likes to give me little or no credit.

I just don't know what I'd do if they're actually trying to change.

I have no idea what is up with the commenting system. Working on it.

::edit:: what the heeell? Why does this post have comments but the one before it doesn't?

::2nd edit:: there, I fixed it.

Stupid body. Always getting in the way.

It's gone insane. It wants veggies and fruit and tofu, yes it does precious. None of that nasty meat or cheese those scary hobbitses eats, no. We wants to eats it raw and crunchy, yes. (Or, in the case of tofu, soggy.)

*sighs* Either that or I've been possessed by a Buddhist monk.

Had the best salad ever tonight. It was a scary experience.

Tomorrow I'm going to the grocery store and buying udon and tofu and having soup.

Aren't I supposed to be in control of YOU, damnit?

Wren wants.

A picture is worth 1k orgasms.

A pic and some notes

For those of you who want to know, here is Maddo's hair:


I cut it and dyed it for her. The color is Fishbowl (which really brings out her eyes), and the cut is an asymetrical slant. The right side is shorter than the left, which I think looks crazy cute. The back is short enough to not be overly punky, and it can be spiked, which I am looking foreward to seeing. Once I get my new blue color in I'm probably going to attack her and add in blue streaks and tones.

Also, I am changing the comment system, since Haloscan has barely been working and prunes my comments anyway. So do not be alarmed, and no, you don't need a blogger account to comment.

::EDIT::
TO change the comments I had to reset the template, but I don't feel like screwing around with the colors right now. So bear with me for a little bit.

mmm, hair

Was amused today while wig shopping online. The color name on the wig I was looking at in purple was "Izzy", and it was the EXACT PURPLE of my druid's hair.

Cut the back of my hair today to give it some shape again and lighten it up. Feels sooo much better! Also gave Maddo a pretty damn good cut. I'm going to beg her for pictures later. It looks good, especialy since I had no clippers and had to cut her back up manually, and was doing the actual cutting with basic, full-sized scissors.

Oh yeah.

In other news, I have officially begun the Jordan cosplay. I will be buying the clothes I found with family's money, since I desperately need clothing anyway. >>;

The Pre-Nap Summary

So this week I have rewritten a paper twice, written two essays, missed two classes due to the rewritten paper, spent days chasing down a woman so I could FINISH said paper, spent two hours in the lab doing statistics, made a hammock for the rat, helped prepare for our event this weekend, and barely slept at all.

But on to the important stuff. The rat has since been sitting in the hammock with his little nose peeking out. I need pictures, because he is the picture of utter contentment. And I can tell he loves it because he refuses to pee on it. Which is good, since it means I won't have to clean it as often. His food bowl is under it, so he eats out in the open now, but he still insists on burying it. It's funny when you go to check if he has food because he gets so ANGRY when you move the shavings around.

Second, I don't know if I ever blogged about how slutty the freshmen this year are, and I'm too tired to check so I can cross-reference it, so I'm going to tell you now.

The freshmen this year are slutty. I remember sitting in Calc at the beginning of the semester and this girl walks in with those distressed jeans with the ass ripped out. That's not what makes it actually slutty. Her pink underwear matched her nail polish, belt, and shoes perfectly. So it's not just that she was wearing tattered pants: she was using her underwear to ACCESSORIZE. =_=; She and her friend spent all hour talking about their hair and how trendy Ms. Pinkarse was, and I remember wondering a) Were my fellow freshmen like this? b) am I back in HIGH SCHOOL?

We had a discussion about it over lunch and we decided they were just suffering from freedom euphoria and would soon settle down and start showing up with unbrushed hair and sweats to their 8AM classes.

Well, we were wrong. They're still doing it. And evidently the Administration isn't as clueless as I thought, because something tells me they've taken notice, too. Sarah and I were talking on the way back from that horrible stats thingy a few days ago. See, all these pregnancy awareness fliers have been popping up around the campus. We were wondering if they had put them up last year, too, and we didn't think so. We discussed it at dinner and came to the conclusion that this was the first time we'd seen them.

Coincidence? Somehow, I doubt it. Evidently we're not the only ones who noticed the freshmen seem to be a little different from the usual UPS stock.

I was working on an essay about Zen Buddhism

Wolfie: So which teas are calming?
Wren: Tazo Zen, Moroccan mint, Lemon spice.
Wolfie: All green and herbals are calming?
Wren: no, some herbals are scary, and some greens are too strong. But all my calming teas are either green OR herbal.
Wolfie: Ah.
Wolfie: Someday I will remember all of this and pass down the knowledge to another disciple.
Wren: That makes me glad.
Wolfie: And after you've taught me all that you can, I will kill you and become the only tea master.
Wren: You know tea, but you do not understand it, and thus it will consume you and lead you astray.
Wolfie: But I will gain understanding, for I already learn the mixtures for pleasing fusions quickly.
Wren: That is not the focus of the Tea Way. You should not bend it to please you, you should be pleased by it.
Wolfie: And I am. There is a grand satisfaction in proper brewing, in knowing that what I have made is pleasing in scent and taste.
Wren: Tea is not meant to foster pride.
Wolfie: Then what is it for?
Wren: That is indeed the question, is it not?
Wolfie: *sighs and bows* And that is why you are the Master.
Wren: Stay with me and understand, my son.
Wolfie: Teach me, my lady.

Update

So I'm sure all of you figured out that was a fake proposal. If not, rest assured that it was, and my grade is safe.

Wanna know how we showed it to her? I asked her if we could talk about it briefly after class "since she didn't know what we were doing and we wanted to see if there was anything glaringly wrong with it."

So after class we go out in the hall and she starts to read it. Sarah and I try very hard not to laugh or make eye contact.

After the first paragraph she lets out a sharp laugh, but stops when she realizes we still look serious.

However, before the end of the paper Sarah and I have exploded, so she and we are laughing hysterically.

Her comments?
"I was worried you were being serious! I was trying to figure out what to tell you..."
"Can I put this on my door?"
"Can I take your names off and mail it to a professor and ask them 'what do I DO?'"

So Sarah and I, feeling pretty smug, go on about our merry ways.

Then when we get home I check my e-mail, and we have a letter from her:
"Hello,

I just wanted to compliment you on your proposal writing again... it has
made me smile all day long.

Have a great weekend!"

So yeaaah, we're still feeling pretty smug.

Because I know you're curious: my independent proposal

Altering Prey Behavior to Affect Predation Rates

Ever since listening to Professor Burnaford’s lectures this semester, my partner Sarah and I have been very interested in predation. For our independent project, we decided to determine what effect prey mindset has on predation rates. We hypothesize that predators are less likely to consume prey that love them. We know that predators raised by a species that would normally be considered its prey are less likely to eat that particular species. For example, lions have been known to become insectivores due to psychological influence from meerkats and warthogs (Disney 1994). We are going to determine if this effect applies to the insect world.

To do this, we are going to take three sets of twenty fleas each and raise them from larvae to adulthood personally. Each tank will be treated in a different way. The control tank will be provided ample food, warmth, and humidity, and be left as is. The love-negative tank will be given the same ambient conditions as the control tank, but twice a day each larva will be taken out individually and given a speech about how worthless it is and how end up living on some broken-down Chihuahua and not a lush, long-haired Border Collie paradise. The love-positive tank will be treated in a very different manner. Twice a day each larva will be taken out individually and sung to, read to, and petted. These fleas will receive positive remarks about how high and far they can jump and how they will never have to settle for living on some inferior rodent’s skin. After the fleas have reached adulthood, they will be taken out as a tank. The number of bites received from each treatment will be recorded.

To perform this experiment we will need sixty young fleas, which can easily be obtained from the neighbor’s dog, where their populations seem to be FLOURISHING. We will also need three glass, well-sealed tanks, which Susan says we can obtain from the Biology Department. We may also need to rent sitcoms in case we run out of creative ways to compliment or insult our love-positive and love-negative fleas. We will also need a “flea diet” that consists mainly of dried blood for the juvenile fleas to develop. Finally, we will need some sort of way to control the humidity, since fleas thrive in warm, humid environments.

We plan to start gathering the flea larvae as soon as we have the tanks to put them in. The neighbor’s dog is readily accessible and will allow us to harvest his crop at the cost of a few dog biscuits. It should take two to three weeks for the larvae to develop. Larvae pupate for 7-14 days before reaching adulthood, so we will have some wait time before the experiment can be completed. Despite this, we are certain we can conclude the experiment by Thanksgiving.

SOURCES:
Disney, W. 1994. The Lion King. Walt Disney Pictures.
http://www.insectlore.com/xlorepedia_stuff/catflea.html

This week is insane.

Why?
1) Paper due Wednesday.
2) Test on Wednesday.
3) Paper due Friday which can't start until Wednesday.
4) Having trouble sleeping.

>.<;

It's lovely to feel too sick to do anything with your friends, so you end up feeling guilty and bored and lonely and there's nothing left to do but sleep.

That's the definition of being sick on a weekend.

Maybe my superpower is the ability to create essence of bitch and eyebeam it at people

So I dragged my increasingly sick ass off to the SUB to eat with my housemates tonight. I figured I could have applesauce and tea, but they had neither because the SUB on a Friday night is a BARREN WASTELAND DEVOID OF ALL SELECTION.

My stomach said "don't even think about it" to everything else I looked at, so I ambled about in a daze, sort of following Sarah. She heads over to the pasta line to get marinara for her cheese sticks when some hulking tall guy walks up behind her and starts inspecting her plate. Since he's wearing a pink-and-white-striped polo shirt and has pseudo surfer-smoker hair, I assume he's not someone she knows. I wander a little closer in case intervention is needed.

"That's a lot of fried food." *he points to her four cheese sticks and handful of popcorn chicken*
Sarah stares up at him for a moment, then says "Yes, I'm very healthy." (I told her later that I would have cut him off right there by saying "You're a very observant person, aren't you? Want a cheese stick?")

"Well, fried foods just make me go bleeagh." *insert absolutely dumb ape-face here*

I decide intervention is needed. I step forward and give him a sick stare. Not the sad, pathetic stare I usually give when sick and trying to concentrate, but a focused 'I may be about to die, but you're fucking gonna go FIRST' type stare. He looks down at me. I do not blink.

After a few moments, I say, still not blinking: "So you get in the pasta line instead."
"Yeah. Pasta's good."
I'm still not blinking. "Pasta makes me go bleeagh." *insert mimic of absolutely dumb ape-face here*

He pauses, probably trying to figure out if I'm making fun of him, then dives right back in. "Why?"
My head is still at a near-45 degree angle so I can stare at him. I shrug.

"Do you not like Italians?"
I keep staring. "Yes. That's EXACTLY it."
"So it's more of a racism thing."
"Uh-huh."

At this point Sarah turns around and looks at me in mock-shock. "But I'm Italian!"
I break eye contact with the Pink Hulking Ape and turn to her. "Yeah, but you taste GREAT." Then we both turn around and walk away without looking back at him.

Luckily, Daryl was in line behind him, so he told us at dinner when we were filling Matt in that all this guy could do was stare in absolute dumbfoundment as we walked off.

I told Sarah that I had simultaneously used my bitch and energy quota for the day on him for her. She told me to blog it. So I did.

::EDIT::
I wonder if he's the "pink-shirt motherfucker" who someone got in a fight with outside my dorm window last semester....He certainly looked like a fratboy.

Bah

So, I know a lot of you saw my away message:
" Downstairs, reading about how women have five obstacles in the way of enlightenment. Thus proving that men have one obstacle in the way of everything: their frigging DICK. "

I got a lot of disgruntled replies from my guy friends, but most of them admitted that it is true. Which still does not excuse you for being male, but that is not the point of this post.

Evidently women have to be reincarnated as men to become enlightened. So Buddhist nuns spend their entire lives just trying to burn off Karma so they can be reincarnated into a body that can attain enlightenment.

All I'm saying is that this had better be an archaic, non-Zen Buddhist belief, or I am going to be very, very bitter and non-enlightened because of it.

Ooooooops.

So at lunch today I accidentally hurled a half-eaten apple at Daryl's ear and almost knocked him out of the booth. The consumed end hit his ear with a SQUISH, and I swear I saw a chunk of apple flesh go flying.

In my defense I gave him fair warning, just like last time I traumatized him. Not my fault he doesn't believe me until it's too late. At least he always takes me seriously for a while out of concern for his head after things like this happen.

Also, I wasn't actually aiming at him. I was aiming at the booth back behind him to make a loud noise and startle him and missed with my girlish aim. XD And anyway, he was grabbing my leg. It was a defense mechanism.

Yeah. No more fruit throwing for me.

I get no love. ;_;

So I'm lying on my bed, iPod on, blanket over my head, combatting light sensitivity and trying to get my migraine to go away completely when I feel this THWUMP and hear an "EEE!" I, of course, shriek as loudly as I can in shock, which does nothing for my head.

My roomie was evidently bored out of her mind and "needed a break."
"So you decided to come torment me?"
Yep. She did.

She proceeds to yank the blanket off my face and grin at me. "I've decided I like sitting on your bed better than I like doing my paper."
"Wonderful. Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you know I have a migraine?"
"Uh-huh."
"And I'm over here trying to make it go away?"
She grabs gimp bunny and starts making him run across my tummy.
"Yes!"
I take it away from her.
"Sarah. You are ruining my zen."
She pokes my nose and lies down on me. I decide I need intervention.
"MADDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Maddo ambles in. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to make her go away."
"I'm writing a paper!"
"Maddo, please make her go away."

So she, of course, leaves the room and shuts her door.
"YOU FAIL AS A HOUSEMATE!"

I cover my head with the blanket again, and Sarah steals my owl.
"Put that back."
"Ohmigod, can you see me?"
"No. Put it back."
"Yes you can! What am I doing now."
"You're putting it back."
She starts bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Sarah, sweetie. I love you, but you need to GO AWAY."
"I don't want to write my paper."
"I hate you."
"Ack! Going!"
"I am never going to have any kids."

I need to find a Zen sangha again. Now that I'm only in three classes, I have nothing else better to do with my free time.

::EDIT::
Eri: Did he push back the deadline for the other evil paper?
Me: yeah. >.<
Eri: Didn't do anything stupid to balance out this good act, did he?
Me: that wasn't a good act. it's now due on the day of our next test.
Eri: Oh. Ouch
Me: yep!
Eri: That's the worst kindness ever
Me: I think he did it out of spite.
Eri: Spite him back. Ruin his image of firelord Jesus
Me: I would if I could.

::2nd EDIT::
I laughed so hard I almost asphyxiated...

Eri: Odin was mortal. Was one of his sons. Loki killed him with mistletoe.
Me: I knew that stuff was evil.
Eri: Nah. It was thought to be harmless. Loki was just evil and used it as a dart.
Me: if it can be used as a dart, it is EVIL
Eri: Not a fan of mistletoe? :P
Me: not at all. it makes people kiss you.
Eri: And that makes it evil?
Me: yes!
Eri: Odd sort of evil
Me: how odd?
Eri: Kissing doesn't usually strike me as evil
Me: depends on who is trying to kiss you.
Eri: Maybe all you need is poison fangs to counter the kissings?
Me: what makes you think I don't have them?
Eri: People don't usually come equipped with them
Me: ^^; My country is well protected from invaders.
Eri: So if the Wren is full of sneaky traps... does this explain why the roomie is a rogue?
Me: LMAO

Number Crunching From Lab

Benny Benassi is the best artist to get you in the groove to do statistical analysis. That's right.

Push me, and then just hurt me till I can get my t-test done. *bass beat*

Never saw it coming!

In honor of my test today, I braided my hair into pigtails. It worked. The test didn't have the heart to depress me. XD



However, this tactic does not seem to work against my Asian Art teacher, who today caused me to lose any lingering iota of respect I might have had for him. How?

Why, by being an ass!

I'm sure some of you have already heard about the paper fiasco. If so, you can skip this paragraph. So Saturday we had to go on the worst planned field trip from hell. I volunteered to drive under the impression that I would be reimbursed for gas. He failed to inform me that I would be paying for it out of my own pocket until the days before the trip when it was too late to back out. We get there late because we were the "coordinators", thus couldn't leave until everyone else had, but he had course not factored in enough time to get us all there on time. Then we had to walk around the museum and listen to him lecture. He wouldn't let us go off on our own and study. The final kicker, though, is that the four-page paper that is worth 1/5 of our grade, which we could CHOOSE A TOPIC FOR on Saturday....is due this FRIDAY. That's less than a week. We have to do research. We have other classes. We have...oh, I don't know...lives?

Everyone I've spoken to from the class thinks this is utter, unreasonable bullshit, so today I decided I'd bring it up in class and see if we could get him to push it back to Monday. He was asking us what we thought about the art pieces, so I waited until he asked if there were any general questions about the assignment. To me, "Is there anything else?" asked after no one answered his question "are there any other art pieces you'd like to ask about?"sounded like that kind of question.

So I raise my hand. "I was wondering if you could push the due date for the paper to Monday. (several people in the background murmur "YES!") I have several papers and a test this week, and I really could use a weekend to work on this." Especially since, you know, it's worth 1/5th of my fucking grade, you asshole.

So he glares at me and says "Right now we are talking about art, not extensions. That is a personal issue you and I can discuss in private." And then he moves on. Despite the fact that the class made it clear that they thought it was something we should talk about. Just like that time when he spelled bodhisattva budhissatva and then ignored us when we all tried to correct him. Just like that time when I told him the eight-spoked wheel symbolized the Dharma, and he was all "No, it symbolizes Karma." It's the SAME THING. Karma is an essential part of the Buddha's teachings. LEARN THE FUCKING SUBJECT, YOU OLD STUFFY BASTARD.

I spent the rest of the lecture glaring at him in a very mature manner. Oh yes. Listening to him talk about how the Buddha gets reincarnated, which is WRONG, and referring to Shiva as a she, which is WRONG, and talking about how Jesus was baptised by fire, which is WRONG, and I just wanted to STRANGLE HIM. No more katamaris this time. Give me some motherfucking ROPE.

And I know that I'm just making myself miserable by disliking him so much, but understanding that doesn't magically make you not care.

Comic House gets festive!

Happy October. ^^;

It looks awesome from outside, but it was cold and rainy and I decided it wasn't worth it.

"Gone, gone, totally gone." <--parinirvana

So, if I were a mutant, I would totally be Siren. It's not just because I have the ability to do a "defense scream" that renders my (unwitting) assailant both deaf and in pain. I can also sneeze loud enough to essentially make the house shake. I should try that in my Asian Art class sometime and see if I can stun the professor.

If the title of the post hasn't given it away, I have a Japanese Religion test tomorrow. I'm pretty confident, since I knew a lot about Gautama Buddha, Theravada, and Mahayana Buddhism before the class. Also, all the other stuff we learned interested me, so I remember it well. Can't wait to get into Zen Buddhism, though, because Esoteric Buddhism upsets me fundamentally. It's so...wrong. All the bohdhisattvas annoy me- well, not really the bohisattvas, just the way they are changed. They're almost like Buddhist saints, and that's not what the original concept was at all. It just seems like they corrupted the historical Buddha's teachings so very, very much and ended up missing the whole point.

It's still very beautiful, though. There are so many rich traditions and rituals associated with Esoteric Buddhism. Then again...to me, that's part of the problem.