Ummm..... stuff?
Hello, hallo, haldo. So. I have stuff to say. Lots of suff. One could say that this post aims to be fairly verbose. And they would not be wrong. So I've devided it into sections that might be of interest to the people who... aren't in MN. I can't really say TX anymore. There's no section for the MN-ites because I don't have anything especially new for y'all. And then I have ramblings. Rambli~ngs!!! So yeah, take what you will, if anything at all, and remember: I am forgoing much readily available electronic amusement to let the world at large know (whether it cares or not, ha) that I am not dead yet.
So. In general(Pre-ramble ramblings; or 今のしている事):
I am staying at the lake tahoe house all by my lonesome for the next few months. (For lonesome, see: not really by yourself at all, you'll have your dad and brother there almost the whole time, but your dad just promised you the whole "by yourself" bit because he thought it'd make you happy to hear that and he has a conflict avoidance strategy. GRRRR.) Yep. It's not so bad, though, except for the job front. Namely, there are no jobs. Because there hasn't been much snow this winter, and this is a resort/vacation type of town, and without the winter tourists, this town can barely break even. Which means no one wants to hire me. Sad. (But admittedly, it'd be less sad if they just told me to go away in the first place, rather than give all these empty promises of "being in touch" and "checking the schedule." Freaking bastards.) But at least the tap water is really tasty. And... um... the lake's pretty... I guess. And, oh, I'm not allowed to turn the heat above 65 (it got down to the minuses last night...), and there's little hot water... so I can't bathe on laundry days, or whenever I run the dishwasher, and the showers, rather than the warm, comforting never-ending-hot-water sensation that I grew accustomed to at school are now a lukewarm, frantic, get-out-before-it-turns-freezing type of thing that can best be described as a true experience. Ah, dorms, I miss you a bit already...
Oh, and driving's no fun, because Incline Village is, as the name suggests, primarily on an incline, and the roads get pretty icy, and that's no fun at all. Ice doesn't care if you hae snow tires, studded tires, all-wheel drive, chains, whatever. And I've already slipped and fallen on me bum a few times while taking the trash out. Fun!! And if I want a hint of civilization, or any of those places I've come to know and love (borders, best buy, a not-overly-priced snotty supermarket, etc.) I have to drive...over the mountains. So it's a lot like this summer, but with mountains and ice and snow, just to up the ante a little. I feel effectively trapped in this tiny, snooty little town. : (
But anyway, moving on.
For the (former and/or present) Texans:
Hi, y'all. So, I'm running off to Japan for a semester. Wheee! I'd do a happy dance, but I already did a few last month and now we're getting off the OMFGYAAAYWTFBBQHUZZAH high and settling into the less desirable realms of dread and terror. I mean, holy crap, I'm going to Japan. They don't speak English there, and, and I'm still not that great at the language, and the culture's all weird, and then there's keigo,and, and stuff, and, and, and OMGJAPANISGOINGTOEATMEANDI'MGONNADIEEEEEEE!!!!!
-.- So, anyway, if anyone would like some loot or souvenir, just ask. No kimonos, though. I can't afford that.
Oh, and I got my next level of orange belt. I'm now 7th kyu. Not 9th. That's for white belts. So we're proceeding slowly but surely up the revenue rainbow of karate.
Oh, and my mom's probably going to be going back to Austin, since she doesn't need to take care of G'pa anymore. But this time she'll just rent out a room or something, so I probably won't be coming down. Indeed, I don't foresee returning anytime soon. After Japan, I'll have a month and a half of vacation, and then back at school, and then after Mac I was thinking of going JET for a year or two (teaching English in Japan), or maybe something with SIL (a linguistics thing), and then going to grad school for a masters, and then we'll go from there. And honestly, if I'm given the choice, I don't wanna live in the south again because it's hot and I don't like that.
Oh, and did any of y'all watch Animaniacs when you were little? I Heart that show. So I bought the first two seasons on DVD. ^____________^ It validates my existence.
Ramblings:
On Video Games: So, I broke down and bought Animal Crossing again. I figured Tam might be happy to hear that. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to post on that, re: the game's undefinable allure. So undefinable, in fact, that I suspect it was crafted in the darkest crevices of the universe by foul and evil demons. Demons that feed off of the time and energy humans give to video games. And I do not doubt that they are gorging off of the time that people everywhere have put into that game. It's like a frenzied addiction, and it takes all-all-of my willpower to turn the DS off.
I also bought FF12 (yet despite my very desperate atempts, FFIII still eludes me). Impressions so far: Balthier's pretty cool, I expected Fran's voice to be deeper and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, Ashe's kind of gallantly annoying, Vaan visually puts me in mind of some small rodent, haven't decided which, and I also think he's kind of...a simple lad (see: idiot) who really wants to do the right thing(rushing into danger w/o thinking just because you feel someone's being oppressed? C'mon, Vaan, that's a sure way to get me into some boss fights that I'd really rather not tackle.). In other words, he's an FF hero. He and Tidus should hook up sometime. They could whine about their lost family members, and how the world's a mean ol' place, and then go out for drinks and leave the plot alone. Harsh words, I suppose, for only being 5 hours into the game- and to his credit, Tidus did get better as the game went on (journey of discovery and whatnot)- so I guess we'll see.
-I've also started putting post-it kanji labels on all objects in this house. This was working well until they started losing their stickiness and falling off, and now I have a carpet dotted with pink and green squares. I suppose it is helpful, though, to stare at a kanji until I remember what it was for so that I can put it in the right place.
-I have decided that if I ever fall into a coma, I would like a pedicure while I'm out. Because I could really use one. I'm fighting this circular battle. My feet are getting calluses in all the right places for karate, which makes it easier, but I hate dry and callused feet so I keep putting on lots of lotion, which makes my feet stick on the wooden floor and I can't do by kicks and stances very well. It's quite a dilemma. But I can't get a pedicure now, because I'm too ticklish, and I fear I wouldn't be able to go through with it. That's why a coma would solve the ticklish problem. As for the circular karate feet problem, well, I'll have to think of something else.
-Idiocracy finally came out on DVD, and we bought it. Mom gets a lot of face time in the senator scenes (in most of 'em, she's the only female in the shot), and the one scene that I was in that didn't end up on the cutting room floor was taken from a long ways away, so you can't really see me. In the riot outside the White House scene, in the middle of the gates, see that skinny pool-cue looking thing waving back and forth in the air? Yeah, that's me. woot.
-Mom bought a guitar and some lesson DVDs and such. I've decided that a) I really wanna learn, too, and b) I need to go watch FLCL again. These things are only slightly related and in no way correlational, but I thought of them together so there ya go.
-I've also decided that it's time to re-watch Firefly, and Ouran. Only this time... I'm watchin them on my Zen!! ^_^ It's pretty. I was thinking of calling it Skippy, on account'a it doesn't. The earbuds keep falling out, though that's more or less due to my own problems with earbuds. And it's kinda fun watching an anime with eensy little subtitles... so eensy, in fact, that it's easier to just not read them and try and figure out the Japanese yourself. Go studying thinly disguised as entertainment!! The only drawback is that for some reason, it won't take a lot of music and video files that it's supposed to support. For example, all my Ouran episodes subbed by Solar are OK, but the ones by Lunar are an "unrecognized format," even though they're both .avi's. Weird, and increasingly annoying.
-I finally had to surrender my TX driver's license in favor of...a Nevada one. All because Japan wants me to have a Visa and the TX consulate is in Houston. Stupid foreign laws. And it's ugly. No pretty colors or anything, all boring and white. But at least it doesn't say "UNDER 21 PROVISIONAL LICENSE" on it anymore. That confused a few store clerks.
-An Adventurer is Me!! ^_^ I finally got around to the Kingdom of Loathing. I am currently a Level 6 Disco Bandit. Fear my Moxie. Fear it, I say!!
Aaaaaand... I'm having trouble feeling my fingers, so it's time for gloves, blankets, and liberal amounts of hot chocolate!! And food. Haven't eaten today, 'cept for some chocolate that made me feel sick. So....you are now free of my incessant ramblings. Huzzah all around! I apologize for the length, but nobody said you had to read it all, did they? Or read it at all for that matter. It's just me talking on and on and on, because I feel like it. Totally your fault if you read it and feel your life is not enriched. We claim no responsibility for any side-effects, which may include headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, and growing a third head (that's right. A third). So there you have it, I'll probably post more as the weeks trundle on by, in order to stave off the cabin fever. Also, my internet connection is pretty spotty...so I don't check email that often. Not that I get anything other than spam, but hey, fyi.
....I'ma gonna go eat my bagel now. Ciao.
So. In general(Pre-ramble ramblings; or 今のしている事):
I am staying at the lake tahoe house all by my lonesome for the next few months. (For lonesome, see: not really by yourself at all, you'll have your dad and brother there almost the whole time, but your dad just promised you the whole "by yourself" bit because he thought it'd make you happy to hear that and he has a conflict avoidance strategy. GRRRR.) Yep. It's not so bad, though, except for the job front. Namely, there are no jobs. Because there hasn't been much snow this winter, and this is a resort/vacation type of town, and without the winter tourists, this town can barely break even. Which means no one wants to hire me. Sad. (But admittedly, it'd be less sad if they just told me to go away in the first place, rather than give all these empty promises of "being in touch" and "checking the schedule." Freaking bastards.) But at least the tap water is really tasty. And... um... the lake's pretty... I guess. And, oh, I'm not allowed to turn the heat above 65 (it got down to the minuses last night...), and there's little hot water... so I can't bathe on laundry days, or whenever I run the dishwasher, and the showers, rather than the warm, comforting never-ending-hot-water sensation that I grew accustomed to at school are now a lukewarm, frantic, get-out-before-it-turns-freezing type of thing that can best be described as a true experience. Ah, dorms, I miss you a bit already...
Oh, and driving's no fun, because Incline Village is, as the name suggests, primarily on an incline, and the roads get pretty icy, and that's no fun at all. Ice doesn't care if you hae snow tires, studded tires, all-wheel drive, chains, whatever. And I've already slipped and fallen on me bum a few times while taking the trash out. Fun!! And if I want a hint of civilization, or any of those places I've come to know and love (borders, best buy, a not-overly-priced snotty supermarket, etc.) I have to drive...over the mountains. So it's a lot like this summer, but with mountains and ice and snow, just to up the ante a little. I feel effectively trapped in this tiny, snooty little town. : (
But anyway, moving on.
For the (former and/or present) Texans:
Hi, y'all. So, I'm running off to Japan for a semester. Wheee! I'd do a happy dance, but I already did a few last month and now we're getting off the OMFGYAAAYWTFBBQHUZZAH high and settling into the less desirable realms of dread and terror. I mean, holy crap, I'm going to Japan. They don't speak English there, and, and I'm still not that great at the language, and the culture's all weird, and then there's keigo,and, and stuff, and, and, and OMGJAPANISGOINGTOEATMEANDI'MGONNADIEEEEEEE!!!!!
-.- So, anyway, if anyone would like some loot or souvenir, just ask. No kimonos, though. I can't afford that.
Oh, and I got my next level of orange belt. I'm now 7th kyu. Not 9th. That's for white belts. So we're proceeding slowly but surely up the revenue rainbow of karate.
Oh, and my mom's probably going to be going back to Austin, since she doesn't need to take care of G'pa anymore. But this time she'll just rent out a room or something, so I probably won't be coming down. Indeed, I don't foresee returning anytime soon. After Japan, I'll have a month and a half of vacation, and then back at school, and then after Mac I was thinking of going JET for a year or two (teaching English in Japan), or maybe something with SIL (a linguistics thing), and then going to grad school for a masters, and then we'll go from there. And honestly, if I'm given the choice, I don't wanna live in the south again because it's hot and I don't like that.
Oh, and did any of y'all watch Animaniacs when you were little? I Heart that show. So I bought the first two seasons on DVD. ^____________^ It validates my existence.
Ramblings:
On Video Games: So, I broke down and bought Animal Crossing again. I figured Tam might be happy to hear that. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to post on that, re: the game's undefinable allure. So undefinable, in fact, that I suspect it was crafted in the darkest crevices of the universe by foul and evil demons. Demons that feed off of the time and energy humans give to video games. And I do not doubt that they are gorging off of the time that people everywhere have put into that game. It's like a frenzied addiction, and it takes all-all-of my willpower to turn the DS off.
I also bought FF12 (yet despite my very desperate atempts, FFIII still eludes me). Impressions so far: Balthier's pretty cool, I expected Fran's voice to be deeper and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, Ashe's kind of gallantly annoying, Vaan visually puts me in mind of some small rodent, haven't decided which, and I also think he's kind of...a simple lad (see: idiot) who really wants to do the right thing(rushing into danger w/o thinking just because you feel someone's being oppressed? C'mon, Vaan, that's a sure way to get me into some boss fights that I'd really rather not tackle.). In other words, he's an FF hero. He and Tidus should hook up sometime. They could whine about their lost family members, and how the world's a mean ol' place, and then go out for drinks and leave the plot alone. Harsh words, I suppose, for only being 5 hours into the game- and to his credit, Tidus did get better as the game went on (journey of discovery and whatnot)- so I guess we'll see.
-I've also started putting post-it kanji labels on all objects in this house. This was working well until they started losing their stickiness and falling off, and now I have a carpet dotted with pink and green squares. I suppose it is helpful, though, to stare at a kanji until I remember what it was for so that I can put it in the right place.
-I have decided that if I ever fall into a coma, I would like a pedicure while I'm out. Because I could really use one. I'm fighting this circular battle. My feet are getting calluses in all the right places for karate, which makes it easier, but I hate dry and callused feet so I keep putting on lots of lotion, which makes my feet stick on the wooden floor and I can't do by kicks and stances very well. It's quite a dilemma. But I can't get a pedicure now, because I'm too ticklish, and I fear I wouldn't be able to go through with it. That's why a coma would solve the ticklish problem. As for the circular karate feet problem, well, I'll have to think of something else.
-Idiocracy finally came out on DVD, and we bought it. Mom gets a lot of face time in the senator scenes (in most of 'em, she's the only female in the shot), and the one scene that I was in that didn't end up on the cutting room floor was taken from a long ways away, so you can't really see me. In the riot outside the White House scene, in the middle of the gates, see that skinny pool-cue looking thing waving back and forth in the air? Yeah, that's me. woot.
-Mom bought a guitar and some lesson DVDs and such. I've decided that a) I really wanna learn, too, and b) I need to go watch FLCL again. These things are only slightly related and in no way correlational, but I thought of them together so there ya go.
-I've also decided that it's time to re-watch Firefly, and Ouran. Only this time... I'm watchin them on my Zen!! ^_^ It's pretty. I was thinking of calling it Skippy, on account'a it doesn't. The earbuds keep falling out, though that's more or less due to my own problems with earbuds. And it's kinda fun watching an anime with eensy little subtitles... so eensy, in fact, that it's easier to just not read them and try and figure out the Japanese yourself. Go studying thinly disguised as entertainment!! The only drawback is that for some reason, it won't take a lot of music and video files that it's supposed to support. For example, all my Ouran episodes subbed by Solar are OK, but the ones by Lunar are an "unrecognized format," even though they're both .avi's. Weird, and increasingly annoying.
-I finally had to surrender my TX driver's license in favor of...a Nevada one. All because Japan wants me to have a Visa and the TX consulate is in Houston. Stupid foreign laws. And it's ugly. No pretty colors or anything, all boring and white. But at least it doesn't say "UNDER 21 PROVISIONAL LICENSE" on it anymore. That confused a few store clerks.
-An Adventurer is Me!! ^_^ I finally got around to the Kingdom of Loathing. I am currently a Level 6 Disco Bandit. Fear my Moxie. Fear it, I say!!
Aaaaaand... I'm having trouble feeling my fingers, so it's time for gloves, blankets, and liberal amounts of hot chocolate!! And food. Haven't eaten today, 'cept for some chocolate that made me feel sick. So....you are now free of my incessant ramblings. Huzzah all around! I apologize for the length, but nobody said you had to read it all, did they? Or read it at all for that matter. It's just me talking on and on and on, because I feel like it. Totally your fault if you read it and feel your life is not enriched. We claim no responsibility for any side-effects, which may include headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, and growing a third head (that's right. A third). So there you have it, I'll probably post more as the weeks trundle on by, in order to stave off the cabin fever. Also, my internet connection is pretty spotty...so I don't check email that often. Not that I get anything other than spam, but hey, fyi.
....I'ma gonna go eat my bagel now. Ciao.