• Today is my LJ's anniversary. It's been nine years since I made this account on the computer in my high school's library. Nine long years.

• Tomorrow my paid account will expire. And I won't renew it. (Though, actually, it has expired since I began this post a few hours ago. Well before it actually becomes "tomorrow" in my time zone.)

• I'll likely soon (as in: when I have money again) buy myself a paid account on DW, because I need my icons.

• That's pretty much the extent of this post.

• ETA: Um, wtf, LJ? My only active icons are the 15 ones that I uploaded first? It used to be (you know, back when LJ wasn't run by idiots) that you got the 15 most recently used icons. But apparently not. Likely once I have my paid account on DW, I'll re-upload 15 favorites, or 15 current fandoms.

• On this day of all days, I am reminded that once upon a time, LJ was a company that was run in a coherent and reasonable fashion. Once upon a time. And we've all been (t)here too long to just up and abandon it.

• The internet is a strange place.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• First week of classes down, 15 more to go.

• This semester, I am taking two lit classes, a religion class and one writing class. I am also doing a writing intensive Independent Study, the paperwork for which I handed in on Thursday, so it's official! All these things put me at 18 credits, which is the most I can take without paying extra for the extra credits (which I did last semester). And I still feel like I am going to have more free time on my hands than I know what to do with. St. John's ruined me for normal school. What even.

• Lit Class #1: Milton and Paradise Lost. Technically a religion class, but I convinced them to let me take it as a lit class. Because I wanted to, and nothing else that wouldn't make me miserable would fit into my schedule. Actually, this should be an interesting class. There were only 6 people in it the first class, but then two more people showed up for the second class. Which was actually a little disappointing. I felt like the teacher felt like he had to lecture more, and we didn't really get to talk as much. I actually knitted the whole of the second class, and still managed to participate more than anyone else. I hope it gets better, because I really want to like this class.

• Lit Class #2: Gothic Literature. This class is definitely going to be fun, no matter that there are 25 people in it, which is huge for this school. Actually, it's huge for any of the schools I've been to for a class that's not a lecture class. I think the teacher ended up talking a lot the first couple of days because we hadn't really read anything yet and thus didn't really have anything to talk about. He sort of got us talking about what Gothic is, though, and that was interesting.

• Religion Class: Religion & Image. This class may actually make me want to kill people. I don't think people realize how hard it is to define something like "art" and my teacher has spent the last two classes trying to get them to understand, but every time they take a stand on something, I just want to be like, "If that works for you. But what if it doesn't work for me? What then?" And I just got blank looks the first few times, so I stopped. I want this class to get better (we're reading Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Camus's The Fall which is totally interesting given the subject for which they were selected) so I have my fingers crossed.

• Writing Class: Techniques of Poetry. Um. This class. Is amazing. Which has everything to do with the teacher. It's the head of my department, who apparently doesn't teach that often, so I am totally lucky to have gotten her. She's really passionate about poetry, and her passion is so obvious and she wants to make us all passionate about it too. Even those of us who are prose writers. She even made a point at the beginning of the class to talk about how learning poetry is likely to make a writer's prose better in several ways. Which I totally agree with. Also, she swears a lot and is totally adorable and I think wants to like... feed us all. I am in love with the class, even if poetry isn't really my thing.

• Independent Study: apparently now titled "Short Story Writing" because my new advisor kept harping on it having a title and how it needed one that would be approved by the faculty and she wouldn't let me title it so she called up the department head. It... was the weirdest thing. But whatever. I'm going to finish a goddamn story this weekend and email it to my advisor on Monday and hopefully meet with her two Fridays after that—which is approximately two weeks, during which I will write another story. Which I will pass to her when we meet for her to read during the next two weeks. And so on and so forth for the rest of the semester. I just want to produce some things. I need to write.

So yeah. That was my week and will be my semester.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• I'm home in Santa Fe. This should be surprising to no one.

• School started today! I am... mostly hopeful about the classes that I had. I have a relatively light schedule (more time for writing!) and today was only two classes. Two lit classes, but still. Ugh, I still have none of my books, except the free ones that I was able to get on Amazon on my Kindle. My teacher—who actually asked in class, "So, who else got a Kindle for Christmas?"—says that most of them can be found for free online, so I'll look into that more. At the very least, the first book I need should be, since, um, it was published in the 1700s and thus is very much in the public domain.

• After school, I went to our post box and picked up mail, which contained lots of presents for me. :) It was late birthday things—things that my mom ordered for me that didn't come in time—but they were more like, "Congrats on starting school again!" presents. My Kindle has a shiny new skin on it, and my mom got me a giant bottle of my favorite perfume, Comme des Garçons! (Wouldn't it be cool if you could smell things over the internet...) Also some knitting needles that my mom and I discovered are the best (though, she got me the regular ones, not the lace ones, which I think are even better).

• Speaking of, I've been getting more into knitting these days. I'm trying finding projects for yarn that's in my stash, and it's been fun! Of course, I'll actually have to start those projects soon. I did swatch a bit for an afghan I want (desperately) to make. But I'll actually have to get yarn to make that one, since I have only one ball each of the two colors I need, but I already cast on for it and have knit a few rows. I'll need to get more yarn before long, though. (Ugh, and I just remembered about dye lots. Hopefully they will match well enough that I don't try to kill myself by ripping it all out and starting over.)

• I got snowed in yesterday! Luckily, I wasn't planning on leaving.

• Got most of my Independent Study paperwork done. The head of my department thinks I am a little crazy for attempting 8 short stories in a semester. I... was way more confident before she stared at me in astonishment. I mean, I am defining short story as 5-20 pages (or 2k to 10k words, I guess?) and this does not seem strange to me. Challenging, yes. Impossible or stupidly difficult, no. I'm not expecting these stories to be masterful works of literature. And likely all of them will be first (or second) drafts—in that the way I write things tends to be more like transcribing something I've already composed in my head—so... I totally think it's possible. Give me encouragement, guys.

• I need to write the first story sometime this week, actually, and email it to my advisor so she can read it for our first meeting. Which... will be at some... time. Uh.

• I also resolved to finish one fic that I started last year every month. I haven't really worked on anything except the secret_mutant fic that I didn't get in on time. Likely... I will try to finish that one for this month and then post it to the comm, because I want the person I was assigned to have it. They will probably find it as hilarious as I do. (Lookit me, being all cryptic. :p)

Yeah, I'm done now.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• My time in NYC draws to a close. I leave tomorrow morning (not too terribly early, thank heavens) having spent a fantastic couple of weeks here in the city I still long to call home. It's still my intention to come back here as soon as I can. I miss the bustle and the anonymity, the subways and the streets, my friends, the shopping, the culture. I've always felt like NYC got into my bloodstream quickly when I moved here before high school, and I get myself through my time in Santa Fe by reminding myself that every day there is another day closer to being back here. I miss it I miss it I miss it.

• That being said, I enjoyed my time. While here I:

♥ saw inthebookfort, exrpan, oduinn, lskull86 and his girlfriend, a friend from SJC also on vacation and my ex boyfriend;
♥ went to a burlesque circus show for New Year's Eve Eve;
♥ saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Shame, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and A Dangerous Method;
♥ went to the Metropolitan Museum on an evening when they're open late;
♥ walked more than I have in months in Santa Fe;
♥ done a couple hours of research on summer internships here in the city in my field and noted application deadlines and phone numbers for those I will need to call;
♥ started the research for claiming my Birthright trip to Israel.

• I'm hoping to be back for Spring Break, if only because I might need to be here so that I can do some interviews for internships. I think I have a good chance of getting some of the more minor internships, but of course I want the bigger ones. I want the one at Penguin Group. Or Scholastic. Fingers crossed!

• I really need to write my first story for my Independent Study tomorrow or the next day. Airplane writing!

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

Hello, 2012! 2011 was quite a year, wasn't it?

♠ got my second tattoo
♠ completed 2 fics and
♠ made two fanmixes
♠ wrote a short original story
♠ started a dozen fics that still need to be finished
♠ finished my sophomore year at St. John's College and transferred to SFUAD as a Creative Writing major

Likely that last one is the most important, or at least the most major in terms of changes. It's not a lot, really (though I suspect that there are some more things that I am forgetting) but I have fairly high hopes for 2012.

I don't usually have real set resolutions, but I usually have some things that I try to focus on to get better at. I didn't post my "resolutions" for last year here and I don't have my paper journal with me and I don't remember what they were, so I don't know how I did with them. I suspect not all that well. But this year! This year will be better. I just have this feeling.

♠ Write more original things. My independent study will require me to write 8 short stories, and I have a couple other projects in the works, including a thing with girasola.
♠ Finish some of the fics I started during 2011.
♠ Find a job or something to make some money.
♠ Maintain good grades.
♠ Have some meaningful relationships, like friends or a boyfriend or something.
♠ Travel, if I can. Maybe Israel in the summer. I still want to get to the UK, too.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• I am in NYC! The flight between Michigan and NYC was quick and painless (except for being at 7:05am which necessitated getting up at 4:30am), but I read on my Kindle the whole way (which made the 2+ hour trip seem much shorter). I'm not sure how I ever traveled without this thing before. Kiiiiiindle. Love.

• lskull86 picked me up from the airport and took me to Brooklyn for a bagel. This sounds way less complicated than it actually turned out to be. He happens to live in the neighborhood we went to high school in, and we walked around and I looked at all the changes. (I also poked my head into St. Mark's Comics and was totally unsurprised to find people I knew still working there.) Anyway, so long as we were walking around Brooklyn and then bagel place we'd frequented in high school was in decline (apparently), we walked halfway to where I used to live to go to the place that I remembered had the best bagels ever. (They still do.) And then since we were already almost there, we walked past the house that I used to live in. It was neat to see the old neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights will always hold a dear place in my heart, even though I like Manhattan better these days.

• While hanging out with lskull86 I went to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which was a lot of fun. I was a little disappointed with how much Josh Holloway was in it (I always want more of him, he's awesome) but I was absolutely happy with the movie. It was an excellent action flick. (Except for the scene in the super tall building. Heights freak me out.)

• There is no food in the apartment I'm staying in. Like... no food. I am hoping that my mother will be gifting me with some funds so that I don't starve. I used the last little bit of my money to get myself a late lunch--sandwich and a giant red velvet cupcake to go. A late birthday cake for myself, since I didn't get cake this year.

• There is a Magnolia Bakery a few blocks from this apartment, too. I don't think I ever knew that, but I am totally going to hit them up. Magnolia Bakery has the best cupcakes in the world, guys. No joke. Alas, that's not where my dessert cupcake came from (though what I ate of it was still excellent).

• Tomorrow night I am going to a New Year's Eve Eve party. The Moonlight Circus is a Dances of Vice party. I've wanted to go to one of their parties for a long time, but I always seem to miss them. So I am excited to be able to go to this one! And only $30 for a ticket. I'm wearing the sparkly blue dress that I wore for my bat mitzvah. Yeah. I know. Ten years later I actually still fit in it, since it's just a stretchy sheath. It was a modified prom dress that we got back then, so my mom just made the straps longer and now it fits again. Magic! I'm not actually going to this party with anyone I know, so hopefully I will meet some new people.

• I am also going to a party for New Year's Eve out on Long Island with lskull86 and some other friends. I'm excited. Parties in Santa Fe aren't nearly as much fun. I suspect this party will actually be more fun than the one tomorrow, in the sense that it will have lots of nerdy people, some of whom I might have met when I attended I-Con a couple years ago. So that will be interesting!

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• HAPPY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY CHANNUKAH! HAPPY YULE! HAPPY WHATEVER-IT-IS-YOU CELEBRATE!

• So, I sort of made out like a bandit this morning. I was (apparently) collecting presents for all of Christmas, Channukah and my birthday, so there were more than I was expecting. And apparently some are still in the mail. Anyway, my haul was:

- Kindle (keyboard) & lighted leather cover
- 3 pairs of Victoria's Secret pajamas (cotton, flannel and silk)
- SLIPPERS
- a new wallet
- and a floppy hat my mom knitted me that is the best and I am totes adorable in

• Also an Amazon gift card from my grandparents for my birthday. Which I immediately used to buy books for my Kindle.

• I met a bunch of people for dinner tonight and was pleasantly surprised when alcohol (in the form of a Merlot and then a red table wine that was delicious) were involved. Also delicious food. Including asparagus, which is one of my favorite things ever. Yumyumyum.

That is... really all there is to say about my Christmas, I think.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• I've been holding off on posting until my LJ had imported itself onto DW, but that seems to be a process that will take a really long time. So, I'm just going to hope that the entries will all sort themselves out even with this one being posted. I am not leaving LJ completely, but I am going to try and post on DW from now on and let it crosspost. I won't stop checking my LJ Flist, so I'll likely still comment there. Comment on whichever of my journals you feel like. LJ is retarded in terms of how they treat their customers, so whatever.

• In case you are feeling sad that you don't have a DW account, apparently they have free account creation until the end of the year, so take advantage of that. (I'm looking at you girasola.)

• Onto more important matters: I am once again at the ABQ airport waiting until my flight boards. I am going to Michigan! It's going to be super cold! And I decided to bring only my leather jacket and not my big winter coat! I... might have made a tactical error there. But I am hoping there won't be a whole lot of tramping about outside, so maybe I will be safe. If I am required to be outside for more than I like, I will supplement it with hot chocolate.

• After Michigan I am going to NYC. I am excited, and I expect there will be lots of ~longing feelings. I miss NYC so so so much.

• Oh yeah. I had a birthday. I am 23 now. :) (I didn't post on my birthday because I was hoping that the DW importer would be faster than it was.) I feel no different, no older, and certainly no wiser. But I am that much closer to being graduated and thus out of this place, so I guess the marker is important as a way of passing time.

I don't think I actually have more to say than that.

This entry was originally posted at sky.dw.org. Comment here or there. [There are comments on DW.]

• Tomorrow is the last day of the semester. Because I decided to be lazy today, I have two papers to write tomorrow. I suspect that one of them will be less than stunning and the other will likely get me at least a B, though it won't be great work. I am ok with this, as my grades are pretty good regardless.

• I was snowed in on Wednesday, and I was snowed in today. My neighbor who usually plows our roads didn't think anyone was actually living in this house, so he didn't plow me out. I was surprised to hear this since I see him walking his dog all the time and always wave to him. But! Now he knows I'm here and that he should rescue me from the snows, so all is well.

• Ironically, I got snowed in and was unable to go have snow tires put on my car. Since I was plowed out a couple hours ago, I am going in tomorrow morning for the tires. Hopefully there will be less slipping when driving up my driveway in the snow. Of all the things that are on my "Do Not Do" list, slipping off the semi cliff that is my driveway is pretty high up there.

• I am knitting a sweater. I think this is the biggest project I've ever taken on. Also, I am entirely improvising this pattern, so hopefully when I'm done I'll actually have something that functions and looks like a sweater. So far it's going well, though. I'm almost through the second skein of yarn, though that really only means that I have about 8 inches of the body from the bottom hem up. Since I want it to be a long-ish sweater and that means I need at least a foot of body before I do any shaping, that means I'm not terribly far along. But it looks like a lot so I am happy.

• This entry is sort of pointless already.

• My birthday is exactly a week from today. I'll be 23. Not a landmark or anything, and I'm not really "excited" or anything, but I might actually get to spend it with friends, so that might be nice. It'll be whoever is still in town, I think. But that will be better than spending it alone. The last two birthdays have been remarkably uninteresting. 21 I spent with my father, watching Studio 60 and not drinking the scotch were were going to drink. 22 I worked the whole day and then went to dinner with my mom, and then... Actually, I can't remember if I did anything after dinner. If I did, apparently it wasn't memorable. I'm thinking dinner with friends would be a nice birthday, so we'll see who's in town.

• I'm also leaving in a little over a week. Vacation for almost three weeks. I am excited for Christmas and New Year's and seeing friends and being in NYC. Even though I generally don't like the cold, I actually think I prefer winter in New York to summer. Summer is too hot and muggy. Winter comes with beautiful holiday windows dressings, lights, and fun. I will have missed the Union Square Holiday Market which is one of my favorite things about NYC in the winter, but at least friends will be there.

I'm mailing out holiday cards in the morning. I'll add any addresses I get between now and then, but after that, no more cards!
Request one here!

• I am writing this on one of the computers in the "Creative Writing Computer Lab" which I feel is really just a closet that they cleaned out, carpeted, and put some desks and computers in. I am not complaining as it means closer access to a fast printer than the library, but I still feel like I am in a closet when I am in this room. (Also, only some of the tabs on this Internet Explorer window are green. But not all of them. I. What?)

• The paperwork for an Independent Study is really strange. There is the "Independent Study Plan"—but it includes a space for the "class number." It doesn't have a class number because it isn't a normal class! Then you also have to fill out a "Course Change" form, which, what? This form also asks for the CRN, but it also asks for the building it's in and the pre-requisites. There is a ticky box at the bottom that says Independent Study. I feel like I should just put my name on the form and tick that box and hand it in with nothing else filled out because this is a silly form. You also have to fill out an "Add/Drop" form, which... sort of makes sense. I don't know how to put "Independent Study" into all their neat little categories, though.

• I am trying to finish my mix for the xmenbigbang which is supposed to be posted tomorrow. I might actually have to finish it tomorrow and hope that my partners are ok not posting at the crack of dawn. (Somehow, I suspect they will be fine with this plan.)

• Today is actually the first day I have been to school all week, due to some stomach bug... thing. And the inability to sleep for more than 1.5 hours at a time at night. I am getting annoyed with the lack of sleep, which I suspect is only making my stomach more upset with my body. In the last, oh lets say four and a half days, I have eaten:

- four pieces of toast
- 3 bites of cream of wheat
- 2 bites of mac 'n cheese
- three chicken potstickers (when I thought I was feeling better enough to do so—hint: I wasn't actually well enough to do so)
- about 6 bites of beans and rice
- a handful of almond M&Ms (scattered over two days)
- and a few bites of coffee cake this morning.

This is not a lot of food, guys. It's like no one told my body that winter isn't the right time to stop being able to eat. I feel like I don't have enough body fat to keep me warm to begin with. I wouldn't be here today either except that it was (supposed to be) the last day of my Bible class, and I have a meeting with a teacher that I postponed from Tuesday because I wasn't feeling well. People keep looking at me and saying, "So, feeling better?" Not so much, no. Sorry.

• Last night while trying to sleep, I was thinking about my writing process and about my NaNoWriMo novel (which needs a better name than "NaNoWriMo Novel 2011" or "Faerie Thing" but I can't think of anything) and I [a] bemoaned the fact that there is no way to make a computer more like a notebook and that I had to actually type things instead of having an intern to abuse, and [b] came up with two or three scenes that need to go in the novel to make things cohere a bit better than they do right now. (Though, right now it's hardly coherent at all, since it's sort of just random puzzle piece scenes.) This is just another way of saying that I am still working on this story, I suppose.

• Augh, someone make my body function like a normal thing.

• I am supposedly going to pick out snow tires today. I postponed from yesterday because I wanted my dad to come along because I know next to nothing about cars in general. But he was feeling poorly, so it might happen today. A car is a strange thing to own. I obviously need to live in a place where I can just take the subway everywhere. I am including in this category New York and London and excluding everything else because I can. (I would likely also be happy anywhere there was a bus system that wasn't total shit. I suppose this expands the category somewhat, but I'm just going to ignore that for a bit.)

• With the semester almost over, it actually makes graduation look like a reasonable, and not too far off, goal. This is sort of incredible to me. I would just like to get a degree and get out of this town. There are a lot of things to like about Santa Fe (#1 and #2 are my dad and green chile, possibly not in that order) but I can't be here for the rest of my life. I need the city and my friends and real bookstores and stores/bars that are open later than 1am.

• Also I need money. I ought to look into that, so that when moving out of this place actually becomes an option I actually have a way of doing it. Hm.

• Oh, NYC people, I am also looking into summer internships there, so I might be around over the summer. Fingers crossed for that. (That is a whole lot more paperwork, isn't it? Real colleges are baffling.) Obviusly I am looking at something in the publishing industry, but if you hear of anything that you think might interest me, pass it along. The worst that can happen is I'll say I'm not interested.

Ugh, class is approaching and I feel terrible.

Don't forget to request a holiday card!

I keep opening the "post an entry" window and then not posting.

• Thanksgiving happened. Also, it was stressful and I got no sleep. Not exactly the vacation I was looking for, but it was nice all the same. Got to see family, hung out with lskull86 a little, and got some beautiful lace yarn which I will eventually find a pattern that I like enough to use. For those who were confused by my Twitter posts, I flew into NYC on Thursday, drove out to Massachusetts on Friday, had Thanksgiving on Saturday (because that's how my family does it), drove back to NYC on Sunday with Aaron, and then flew home at an obscenely early hour of the morning on Monday. Quick vacation.

• School is progressing. I have papers that I need to write for four classes, and a portfolio to turn in for the fifth. I'm pretty sure it's all doable.

• I convinced my Fiction teacher to do an Independent Study with me. One where I will write a short story (as defined by 5k-20k words, I guess) every two weeks. This seems manageable. I am going through all my works-in-progress and my various idea and picking out the ones that are viable and trying to formulate the ones that were tenuous at best. Hopefully I will have 8 concrete story ideas before the start of next semester.

• I really out to be reading a chapter in my religious ethics textbook, but it's only 10 pages long, so I am putting it off in favor of finally updating this thing with real content and drinking pomegranate limeade from Trader Joe's.

• NaNoWriMo happened pretty much as it ever does for me. I wrote about 6500 words on my novel and 3500 words of a short story, and then gave up on returning to the novel because I have no idea what needs to happen. However, this is the first NaNoWriMo novel that I think actually has potential beyond just churning out a wordcount. (The one that I got the farthest into is 13k words, about 10k of which is smut. Granted, it's mostly all plot related, but still.) I actually feel like this is a novel I want to continue thinking about and working on. Of course, I have plenty of novel ideas that have the same sort of potential, but I'm not sure that I've actually started writing any of the others. (No idea why, except that I didn't really write anything between graduating high school and recently. God, that's five years. I hate that.) This novel is interesting enough that I will likely have to do more research and more meta-research and then more figuring out how the plot is supposed to go. I'm actually looking forward to that!

• I need to finish reading this fic for xmenbigbang and make my damn mix and cover. I suspect that they wanted to get all the posting done before Christmas, but it actually would have been easier to do this afterwards.

• Oh oh oh. Remember how I mentioned that I wanted a Kindle and how I told my godfather that that was what I wanted for Christmas? I got an email from my mom on the day when the Kindle Fire started shipping asking me, "Is this the Kindle you wanted?" with the Kindle Fire ad in it. When I answered no, my mom responded, "Oh, well, you can tell me which one, or just go into my Amazon account and put it in my basket so I can get it." YAY KINDLE. I am not even bringing any books with me on my Christmas trip. Since I am flying on Christmas Eve, I will actually be getting the Kindle the first morning of my vacation. I am excited.

• I am also excited to be spending Christmas in Michigan, no matter how cold it supposedly gets out there. I will wear lots of warm clothes, or just not leave the house much. There will be snow, and wood fires, and a dog, and a Christmas tree, and everything. Oh, and also a menorah, lest I forget that I am actually Jewish.

• Speaking of vacation though, I will be in NYC from Dec. 28 through Jan. 12. I have no plans as of yet, so anyone who wants to try to make plans with me should feel free to do so. (exrpan, you still have to tell me if I'm going to overlap with whatever you have planned for your holiday. Fingers crossed!) I would like to do something for New Year's, though I doubt that I will go to the ball-dropping thingy (because no) or a big huge party or anything. No plans yet, but hopefully it will be something festive and inauspicious.

Ok, this entry is likely long enough now.

Don't forget to request a holiday card!

I'ts holiday card time!

I want to send you a holiday card! Give me your address, so I can. :)

Comments are, of course, screened.

If you're sending out cards and I haven't given you my address, link me to your post.

• Yesterday, I registered for classes for next semester. I am so so so excited. I have 8am classes every morning again, but if I could do it this semester, I can do it next semester and then never get out of bed before 10am ever again. I am taking:

- Religion & Image (fulfills my last of the "liberal arts" core requirements) MWF 8-9:05am
- Milton & Paradise Lost (originally a Religious Studies class, but I convinced them to let me take it as a Lit class :D) TR 8-9:40am
- Gothic Lit: 19th c. British/American Literature (which I thought had Jane Eyre on the reading list, but I was mistaken, alas, but does have Dracula) TR 10-11:45am
- Techiniques of Creative Writing: Poetry (with the current Chair of the Creative Writing department) W 2:15-5:15pm
- Independent Study (hopefully with my Fiction teacher from this semester, but we're working on it, and hopefully on some sort of fantasy something) TBA

I wonder if, some other semester, someone would be interested in doing an Austen/Brontë IS with me... Or maybe a Young Adult one... Hmm.

• Yesterday I also picked my mom up from the airport and brought her home. She's here til Saturday. But her birthday is Friday, so we're spending that time together and it will be good. :)

• I think between yesterday and today I've only added another 1k words to my NaNoWriMo. /o\ I am so far behind. I think I'll write some tonight, so hopefully that's not all I've got in me for today. Hopefully I'll be able to do some catching up this weekend after my mom leaves. I don't really have any big assignments for next week that I know of yet* so I will have time. I have several scenes in my head that just need to be written down, though. I likely have about 10k words worth of things in my head, and then I will have to actually find a plot. Because, yeah, so far I have no plot. Whoops.

* Actually, I have to finish my Peter Pan short story and a non-fiction piece for my writing classes next week. Hm.

• I actually wrote this post yesterday and thought I posted it already, and I was getting all sad that no one was commenting on my classes for next semester. Then I opened my MacBook and discovered the post page still sitting open. What even.

• I accidentally slept for 3 hours just now. I was laying on my bed (reading the free Kindle copy of Jane Eyre actually) and then my mom was asking me if I wanted some pasta for dinner. Whoops. I should have been writing in that time. Definitely going to write in just a little bit.

• Speaking of Kindles, actually: I'm spending Christmas with my mom and her guy-person (who I've dubbed my godfather, since that's an easy relation) and he asked what I wanted for Christmas, and I told him, "Actually, since you ask, I want a Kindle." He mentioned that since I also have a birthday in close proximity to Christmas, that a Kindle might be in my future. I am a little giddy with glee. My Gram usually gets me a gift certificate to Amazon for my birthday, so if I get a Kindle and a gift certificate, I'll be able to stock my Kindle with all my favorite books. :) Anyway, fingers crossed, because that would be amazing.

I think that's it for now. I use the word "actually" a lot.

• NaNoWriMo has started (obviously) and I am writing. Slowly, but surely. I am several thousand words behind (at 3026 currently, when today's goal is 6666) so I don't know if I can catch up. I think if there were a couple nights when I wrote 2k words I would be able to, but I haven't yet managed that. We'll see.

• Unfortunately, I don't have an antagonist for my novel yet and, as girasola pointed out, having one might come in handy. I have a small conflict that I am going to use, and I shoehorned a character in to do so, but it's not going to be enough for the thing as a whole. It really is only going to affect the two of the main characters. So I am pondering this.

• I am also pondering how my main main character meets two of the other four main characters. Two I have down (or have planned in my head) but the other two are a little more nebulous. To be fair, so are those characters, so maybe if I had a firmer grasp of who they were, I would be able to figure out how to have everyone get to know each other properly.

• Wow, trying to talk about this without revealing anything about the story is hard.

• I am worried about other writing during NaNoWriMo. As a student getting a degree in Creative Writing, I have to actually do some writing for my classes. I have 2 papers to write during the month of November, not to mention the Peter Pan story I am working on which I still want to use for my workshop day in one of my classes. And I have to write a creative non-fiction piece (which will likely have some of my thoughts on Fantasy in it, so it won't be entirely disconnected from the things I love). That's a lot of words that don't go towards my novel. And it would obviously be cheating to count them as such. So. I feel like there's only so much writing I can do, and that writing things not for NaNoWriMo will distract me and make my wordcount drop. :/ Maybe I will just have to buck up and do them both. Like a reasonable and normal person would.

• I don't really read when I am writing. It's weird. Not out of any design, but because I am putting all my energy into either writing or thinking about my writing and thus don't even consider picking up a book (or reading fic). I really ought to see about changing that somewhat for this NaNoWriMo as there are no movies that I own (except maybe A Midsummer Night's Dream or the Lord of the Rings movies) that are inspiring for the particular thing I'm writing. I ought to read bit and pieces of things that are related to my topic. girasola once pointed out that my research methods were kind of meta, and yeah, that might be true. But they're also entertaining.

• Unrelated to NaNoWriMo: I'm going to see In Time with a friend tonight. It has lots of awesome people in it, so hopefully it will be at least entertaining.

That's all.

See, sometimes I can update this thing with less than a month between posts.

• The Writing Buddies feature on the NaNoWriMo site is running now. :) If you're doing NaNoWrimo, you should definitely add me as a buddy. If we were buddies in the past, their update got rid of everything, so you'll have to add me again.

• I've been thinking about getting a Kindle for a long time at this point, but with the release of all the new Kindles, I am seriously considering it now. I can't decide which one I want, though. Except the Kindle Fire. Pretty sure I don't want that one. I'm not ready for a tablet in my life. An eReader will be enough. Last time I was in NYC I played around with the Nook Touch at a B&N (with the touch e-ink) and it was surprisingly interesting. Which gives me hope for the Kindle Touch. But I sort of want the one with the physical keyboard and in black. :/ And I can't decide if I want 3G wireless or not, or if I would find it to be necessary. Anyway, I'm thinking about it, and thinking about asking for whichever I decide is the one I want for my birthday this year.

• I've also been thinking about getting an iPhone. I mean, I was so against them because their touch technology tended to not register my touch bout 50% of the time. But I haven't had problems with that in a while. And now that you can get the phone on Verizon, it might even work at my house. I don't go up for an upgrade for another 10 months, but I am thinking about it. I do like my BlackBerry, but the iPhone can just do a whole lot more. There are tons of apps that aren't available on BlackBerrys, or aren't available on my version. (Like the Kindle app. My BlackBerry is the single version that doesn't have a Kindle app. What even.) I have 10 months to think about it and talk it over with my mom (who pays the Verizon bill) so it'll be a while before anything changes if it does.

• Went to the first of two Halloween parties last night. I went as a pirate. I was going for pirate captain, but since I didn't have a hat and I didn't wear either of my pirate-y coats (neither matched the costume all that well), I settled for First Mate. :) It's likely a costume I will reprise, since it's all stuff that I took out of my closet and just wore in a unique combination with a few safety-pin alterations. There were pictures being taken all night, but I have no idea if any were taken of me that were good. The second party is tonight, and tonight's costume is Captain Jacqueline Harkness. Which is mostly just jeans and boots, my military-esque dress worn as a coat, and my really fake Torchwood ID. Still it amuses me, and it's a comfortable costume. There might be pictures, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

• Before the party tonight, I am taking my dad to a screening of the New York Metroploitan Opera's Don Giovanni for his birthday. Should be good. Don Giovanni is always entertaining, and I am curious to see how they stage it for this production. Fingers crossed for good singing.

• My bookshelf depresses me. I need to read more. So many books I haven't read yet.

• Writing continues apace. Wrote a large chunk of Game of Thrones fanfic (specifically show-canon) in my last class on Thursday. And a chunk of my original thing, which I think I need to finish by the end of next week so I can give it a once over before handing it in for my class. I think I will be plotting my NaNoWriMo novel tomorrow. I might write up outlines for all the novels I am considering and see which one I like best once I have a better idea of what each one is about. (Also, I need to update my NaNoWriMo icons for 2011.)

• Speaking of classes, I had a meeting with my advisor last week, and my schedule is... not at all hammered down. The classes I can take are sort of limited, and then they all conflict with each other time-wise. So my advisor sent an email to the head of my department (who likes me, yay!) and hopefully she'll be able to open up some new sections or move some times around. We'll see. I really really need to be taking five classes again, so hopefully things can be worked out. Registration is in a week. Really really would like to not be totally shafted for classes that I need. (Though, I suspect that because I am not a freshman and because the head of my department likes me, she would try to squeeze me into classes that were technically closed if I had to go that route.)

Whoops, time to go.

• Oh jeez, it's been be a really long time since I wrote here. Mostly that's due to midterm papers. When I have pressing things to do for school, I tend to not let myself do things. (I mean, I still read fic online, but I don't write mine. And I don't get online to talk to people, but I do check email constantly.) I do still see/talk to friends who reach out to me, but I tend not to reach out because I'm technically "not supposed to." Or whatever. Anyway, I sort of became a hermit for a bit. (And I didn't manage to get one paper done, and my teacher told me not to turn it in anymore, since we're past the grading deadline. Which means that my grade for that class got dragged way the hell down, so I'm freaking out about how to pick it up again and maintaining my GPA for my scholarship and oh crap I made myself nauseated again.)

• Other than that last one, I got all A's in my midterm grades. Because I am awesome.

• Speaking of papers, I wrote a paper on Montaigne's essay "On the Cannibals" for my ethics class. I actually thought this one wasn't as good as the really-terribly-awful Machiavelli paper—certainly less organized, as I had less of an idea what I was talking about while I was writing it—but... I got another 25 out of 25 points on it. I should get my first paper for my Bible class (same teacher as Ethics) on Thursday, so we'll see what I get on that. Apparently this teacher really likes me.

• That last bit I actually know for a fact because, through a series of strange events, I ran into the Chair of the Creative Writing department at one of my other teachers' book launch, and she knew who I was because apparently my Ethics and Bible teacher was "raving" about me. Her word, not mine. I was assured that they were all good things, though.

• This encounter also led her to telling me that we should meet so that she could see about getting me out of taking some of the beginning writing classes. I gather she'd read my file, since I didn't actually tell her all that much about my writing experiences before she said that it sounded like I had sort of gone backwards. It would be nice if she could actually get me out of being stuck in the future with some of the people I'm stuck with now, but if not I will have at least cultivated a sort of relationship with her. I'm hoping she can also pull some strings to get me into her Poetry class next semester. (Apparently we have to take a Techniques class for the three main specializations, regardless of what we decide to specialize in.) She's not only smart, but really fun about being smart (if that makes sense) so fingers crossed for at least getting her as a teacher.

• I have a meeting with her and my academic advisor tomorrow.

• Moving right along from school things... The weekend of the 15th I was in a minor collision in my car. By which I mean, I had pulled in behind a guy in a truck at the gate for my dad's community, and instead of opening the gate he started backing up. I didn't realize he couldn't see me, so I thought, "Oh, I'll just get out of your way, dude," but he came straight back into me. I wasn't injured or anything, and only the passenger side rear door of my car was damaged. And, because it was clearly the guy's fault, his insurance is paying to replace my door. I'm taking it in tomorrow, they'll give me a rental for a few days, and then my car will have a door (and a window) that functions properly. Thank god, because we're supposed to get snow tomorrow night, and the window in that door no longer closes all the way, which makes my car awfully cold in the morning even without the possibility of snow.

• This does not solve the issue of my car's engine. But that will have to come a little later when I have the money.

• Speaking of, though, I worked a bunch this past weekend and make some money, all of which will likely be held in reserve for taking my car to the mechanic. I haven't done it yet because I don't want to take it and then not have the money to pay him when he's done. Hopefully I will be able to get this done in the next week or so. Fingers crossed.

• So, now that I'm actually in school for writing, I'm actually writing again. Not a whole lot, but some. I've actually started writing a story I've had notes for (and the first few sentences) since high school. It's a gender-swapped Peter Pan story, sort of. (All the credit for reminding me that I had it in my wip folder goes to olukemi and she knows why. :>) I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm trying to finish it for when my turn to be workshopped rolls around in my Fiction class. (I can't remember when that is, now, but I have it written down somewhere.) I'd also like to finish it before NaNoWriMo, since I will be putting all my writing during the month of November towards that.

• So yeah, NaNoWriMo. I will be once again attempting to beat my odds. (Those odds being that I am 0 for 4 at this point.) I... don't yet know what I'm going to write. I'm thinking I might try this thing that girasola and I have been planning for years but never really get around to writing. Of all the things in my WIP folder, it has had the most plotting and planning done on it. On the other hand, as it's not entirely mine, I'm not sure I want to just go ahead and write it. Part of the fun of it would likely be writing it with her. My other options are entirely unplanned and unplotted as of yet, but I could change that. I don't know right now. But, in case anyone cares, you can follow my progress on my NaNoWriMo profile. (And until they fix the writing buddies option, that's all you can do.)

• I have been feeling lonely lately, even before I shut myself in my house and pretended to write papers for two weeks. I miss girasola and exrpan, who are not only my missing best friends, but have fabulous lives in NYC (no matter how much they complain). Not the least because I haven't been online in weeks. But also because I am just sort of feeling like I will never be able to get back to NYC, like I had my chance and I blew it. This is partially because looking at the prices for apartments in NYC is super depressing and also because there are things I am considering once I graduate (fingers crossed fingers crossed fingers crossed) that aren't in NYC. It makes my stomach go all noodly when I think about it. Ugh. Anyway, I miss you guys. ♥

• I am currently eating pasta with pesto that I not only made, but made with basil I grew. It's super delicious. (Even though it's throwing off my allowed meals for the day and not helping me lose the weight I gained while my Gram was here.)

• Oh yeah! My Gram came to visit. The same weekend that I got into the accident, actually. It was really nice. My dad and I cooked for her. Things that we got the recipes for from her years ago and used to make more often but haven't in years. Like the family spaghetti sauce. And blintzes. And baked macaroni and cheese. And frito pies with avocado. It was ridiculous how much amazing food we had, that was all cooked by me and my dad. Gram also took my dad and I out for a minorly expensive dinner at a fancy place that he and I like a lot. (It's where I took him for Father's Day this year.) Anyway, I swear I gained at least five pounds. Which means fitting in my jeans is getting problematic again. Whoops. Still, it was really nice to see Gram. We watched The Princess Bride one day, which she hadn't seen and I didn't know that my dad had. (He is a big squooshy softie, apparently. No, actually, it probably has more to do with Mandy Patinkin than anything else.) It was really nice.

• For those interested, the Big Session Festival is back. It went away for a little bit, but with the release of the Oysterband's new album with June Tabor (I suspect), it's back for this coming summer. I was looking at how much money I would need to save to be able to go, and holy crap. The tickets for the festival are actually reasonably priced, but airfares to England (as always) are frighteningly high. I think the chances of me being able to make it out there next summer are slim. Maybe I'll see if my mom will match whatever I can save... Chances are still slim, but at least she'll be proud that I'm making an effort, so it's not a terrible idea to ask, I suppose. Anyway, for those who are thinking about next summer's vacation and who happen to like the Oysterband (or celtic folk music in general) should definitely consider going.

• Wrote another X-Men: First Class fic last week. Or, I finished writing it last week. As it's been revealed, I'll likely post it here soon. Though, I want to change the ending a bit. So you can expect that soonish, I think. There may be some other fics coming before the end of the year, too. I'd like to actually finish some of the things I've started. Since I think I actually have a dozen fics in progress at the moment.

Oh jeez. This entry is really freaking long. I need to stop writing it now, regardless of whether I have more things to say. And I have to go write some poems for class tomorrow, so.

• Once again Delicious has fucked up. Idk what's actually going on business-wise (I gather someone bought the site and wanted to put their own stamp on it) but I imported all my Delicious bookmarks to Google Bookmarks and then deleted my Delicious account. Both as a way of saying, "Fuck you, please die in a fire," to the people who fucked up the website, and also to remove the temptation to keep bookmarking there. I'll have to take some time to get to know Google bookmarks (which needs a shorter and catchier name) and to edit all my bookmarks to make them readable again, but then hopefully everything will be fine again. For a while.

• School is still going well. I wrote the worst paper on Machiavelli for my Ethics class... and got 25 out of 25 points on it. The only comments from the teacher were that it was well constructed and well thought out. Which... is sort of hilarious actually. I mean, if I had handed in that paper at SJC, my teachers would likely have given it back and been like, "You're joking, right?" Apparently the bullshitting skills I learned in high school will serve me well here. Anyway, I seem to be getting good grades. Here's hoping that continues.

• I have a meeting with my Academic Advisor and the guy in charge of Study Abroad in 25 minutes. I am looking forward to that, but a little worried that the deadline for applications for next semester (Spring semester, which is sometimes deceptive, as it actually includes a whole lot of winter) are due October 1st. Which is impossible for me to meet. On the other hand, spending a fall semester (which, again, is deceptive as it usually includes a fair chunk of summer) in Barcelona might be awesome. Then I could always take a few weeks before the term begins and do some exploring in Europe. Though, really, I could also just take weekend trips to Paris/Berlin/Nice/Madrid/other places in Europe when I'm there for school. But that's sort of exciting.

• I've also been notified by Hillel and some other Jewish Youth organization that I might be eligible for a Birth Right trip to Israel. While that's not exactly the safest place on the planet right now... not a whole lot of places on the planet right now are totally "safe" anyway. I'm definitely going to sign up to be selected, but I want to wait for a summer trip. I don't want to miss school. I gather that the trips are fairly short (10 days, someone told me) but you can extend your trip once the group breaks up. So I could do some exploring of that region too. (Egypt, Turkey, Greece, &c.) Fingers crossed for that, as it's possible I could age-out (apparently). Hopefully I am still young enough that I have a little time for this.

• My first real workshop is tomorrow. I am somewhat anxious. I submitted a story that I'd already written (at my first Alpha, I think) but that I've been wanting to revise pretty much since the moment I finished writing it but never really knew what to do with it. Actually, about two days before I handed it out to the class I realized what I wanted to do with it, but I am hoping that I will still get some good things from having people look at it. (I don't think this piece ever got workshopped at Alpha, so.) I am excited but also nervous. Eeeeee.

• Rosh Hashana starts tomorrow evening, and I have already informed my teachers that I will be out of class for Thursday day. Yes, I could technically make it to class if I really wanted to, but it's a holiday. And I suspect that I will be exhausted, as I am also taking my mother to the airport at 6:30am. I am very much looking forward to the singing, even though the director (I think) wants me to sit in the most visible place of the entire choir seating. I expect I will be bright pink and shaking for all of our songs.

• Still working on fic things. Not making much progress because it makes me cranky that they aren't doing what I want, but. Technically, still working.

• A friend of mine -- or, rather, someone I thought was a friend -- is being passive aggressive, and lying to me (I think) and talking about my behind my back (or so I've been told). Which is upsetting. I knew she was a compulsive liar and that she had trouble keeping anything confidential (and by trouble I mean that it never happened) but I overlooked that for the majority of our friendship because there are a lot of things I actually like about her. I think I'm going to give up. I've done my part. I've made the effort, and if she's not going to, I don't think it's fair to myself to keep trying. Which... is rather sad.

And now my meeting is in 10 minutes, so I think it's time to wrap up this post.

Goodness, it's been a while since I posted about my life, hasn't it?

• I've started school! So far, so good. My Bible and Ethics classes are very basic. I should have pushed to have my seminars from St. John's cover the things they're covering, but I was too hesitant. Still, they allow me to sort of ease into "real college" I guess. (I had to take a test last Friday! I... didn't even remember how to do that. I only got 65% on it, too. I will do better next time.) Anyway, I'm hoping those two will be easy A's. My writing classes (two of them, each is only one class per week) were really awful the first class, and then got better for the second one. Should be interesting. I think I can something out of them, even if the rest of my classmates are awful. Then there's my lit class, which is pretty neat. The teacher is a young British guy. At least listening to him is fun.

• My cat has been missing for three days. Unfortunately, I saw a coyote eating the grapes from our grape vines the night before last. Which, by the way, is three feet from my front door. I don't have a whole lot of hope for finding her, not when coyotes are venturing that close. But I am going to go to the animal shelter today and I will do all the things with her microchip. But I am sad. I don't think I'm going to get another cat while I'm living in this place. The house isn't really the sort that can keep an animal in, and this is not the first, second or even third cat we've lost up here. So I'll just have to wait until I'm living somewhere else.

• I got sick on Friday. I'm still sick today, but not nearly as bad as I was. Saturday was my bad day, but luckily, I stayed home and rested and pretty much didn't leave bed. I was hoping to beat it by today, but if I keep up my regimen of warm liquids, cold meds and lots of blowing my nose, I should be all right. It needs to be gone in two weeks.

• Two weeks will be Rosh Hashana, which normally I am not into. But this year I joined my old Temple's choir, so I will be singing for the High Holy Days, which includes Rosh Hashana. I am quite enjoying the singing, despite my stage fright, but I'm just not auditioning for any of the solos, so I ought to be fine within the group. A lot of the songs are familiar from when a) my dad was in the choir and b) from going to services even when he wasn't. Some of the songs bring back strong aural memories of the man who used to do the music for our Temple before he left—which, I realized years later, precipitated my loss of faith and interest in Judaism. (I don't know that I am up for explaining this, so please take it at face value.) Anyway, singing again is nice. I would like to maybe find a voice teacher for my own enjoyment. I'll ask our director about it.

• In case you missed it, I posted a fic! (I guess it's more like a ficlet, as it's just over 1k words.) It's Just Darkness I'm Living In, X-Men: First Class, PG-13 with mentions of domestic abuse. It was intended to be Erik/Charles, but. Um. That ended up not being the focus of the story. There is a second one coming (which is turning out to be twice as long as I anticipated) and will have smut in it. So. Keep an eye out.

• I got woken up by policemen again over the weekend (luckily, even though it was early, I just went back to sleep). It seems to have something to do with the rain? Idk. That's what they thought. Either way, my mom or I will call the phone company and ask them what's up. Because it would suck to be the person living in the house that's calling wolf, so to speak. If something happens to me, it would be awesome if they were happy to come help. (Speaking of, I ought to start putting together my Emergency Kit. Hm.)

Can't think of anything else right now. I have some stories to read over for workshops this week.

Author: cerulean_sky
Recipient: quaint_camera
Title: It's Just Darkness I'm Living In
Fandom: X-Men: First Class
Pairing: Intended to be Erik/Charles, but that ended up not being the main focus.
Rating: PG-13
Warning Talk of domestic abuse.
Summary: "What do you know about me?" Erik asked. And Charles replied, "Everything."
Disclaimer: Someone else thought of it first. Thus: don't own it, not making money. Damn.
Author's Notes: This was written for the erik_charles Summer Fic Exchange and was originally posted there. It was beta'd super last minute by the incomparable chezvous who made a single comment that changed the tone of an entire scene. Without her this would be less. Title is from the song "You're the Only Place" by Josh Groban.
Prompt: Charles glimpsed one memory from Erik's mind while he was trying to turn the satellite, and now his curiosity is piqued. He wants to see more, to know more, so he finds the right time to ask Erik if he will open his mind to him. What will he see? Pick one memory please, one that wasn't shown in the movie. Make it up. It can be sweet or sad, whatever you like, but make it beautiful, and show both of their reactions, please. Bonus points if one of them needs comforting afterwards. :)

( It's Just Darkness I'm Living In )

This morning, 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off, I was woken up by a policeman knocking on my door.

Let me put that in terms that explains a little better why that was weird as all get out: this morning, when it was still dark enough out that I was sure it was only 2 or 3 in the morning at most, a policeman pounded on my door and woke me up to ask if I was ok. Because they'd gotten a 911 call from my number. When I asked which number (we have two running up here) he couldn't get reception on his radio, and was barely getting reception on his cell phone to call dispatch. At 6am.

Guys, I live on top of a mountain up 3 miles of dirt road the last little bit of which is three hair-pin turns at a 40º angle upwards. My tax money keeping me safe, I guess. That is dedication. (He did comment on the wackiness of the road, and I did make sure to thank him for taking the time to come out.)

Policeman: Ma'am, are you all right?
Me: (/groggy, no glasses, in a pink fuzzy robe) ... whut.
Policeman: We got a 911 call from this number.
Me: I have like, less than no idea what you're talking about.

Then he fiddled with his radio and his cellphone so we could tell me what number it had come from, and that it had happened like... 20 minutes before.

Me: Uh, no? I was asleep?
Policeman: (/doesn't really need to be told this) Okay, thank you.

And then he left, leaving the both of us very confused, I'm sure.

Unfortunately, the only two things I could think while I was trying to go back to sleep for the last 30 minutes before I had to wake up anyway were: 1) someone had preemptively called 911 before they were going to murder me, or 2) someone whose number was very close to mine—close enough that the police missed it? I think I only verified the last four digits... But I was tired! And it was 6am! I'm not sure I can really be blamed...—had called it, and was in lots of danger, and the police had mistakenly come to my house.

Needless to say, I didn't really get back to sleep for those 30 minutes.

P.S. There will be a fic post tomorrow afternoon.

[Also? The irony of this icon never fails to amuse me.]

• I am at the airport! (I think this is the second entry I've ever typed while at the Albuquerque airport? Probably this is the only airport I regularly fly in or out of that has free wifi.) I am on my way to Los Angeles to visit my grandparents for the last 4 days before school starts. They bought me a plane ticket ,as I am the only grandchild allowed to visit without parental supervision, who was I to say no? I am looking forward to the ocean and the beach and the sun and In-n-Out. Priorities. I have them straight. I brought my bikini and I am determined to wear it even if I am not quite the weight I would like to be when I wear it.

• As I mentioned above, school starts on Monday. I am a little nervous. Mostly because (ack, shit) I haven't got all my books yet. (Fuck, shit.) Normally thing would happen in the time between "orientation" and classes starting. I will be in California for this period of time. I will email my mom and see if I can use her card to order the big ones and get them there with free 2-day shipping from Amazon. (Thank god I signed up for Amazon Student.) I am sort of excited though. I mean, school. Writing. Getting my goddamned degree.

• So, I finished the X:Men: First Class fic that was due mid August. (It has not been posted yet, as it will be done anonymously, so I'll say more about that when I can.) But then I signed up to pitch hit for that exchange, so I'm writing another one. On top of my xmenbigbang fic (which I am so behind on) and the Star Trek fic I still need to finish. Anyway, it's sort of exciting that I actually finished a fic. chezvous beta'd it last minute, and she really liked it, so that was encouraging. Hopefully the second one will be good too.

• The footage from the strip club in X-Men: First Class hit the internet yesterday, featuring, yes, Erik in drag. It's fabulous. Plus, fans were given yet another reason to ship them: "You've never looked more beautiful, darling." (/happy sigh) I am super excited to be getting my hands on the DVD with all the special features and all that. Desperately need it. Unfortunately, I don't think it comes out before my rough draft for xmenbigbang is due, so if I want to watch the movie again while writing, I will have to watch the version I downloaded. Which is missing scenes and various lines in scenes. It's a little bit vexing.

ETA: If you haven't seen the deleted strip club scene, here it is minus all the fancy music. It's fucking fantastic. Watch it.

• eraofhogwarts reopened recently, and school will be starting for our characters too. If you ever thought of possibly applying for a character, definitely do it now. We especially need a Sirius and a James--though I will warn you, you would be stepping into the shoes of other players who sort of fucked up those characters' relationships with everyone, so you would have a lot of work to do, but hopefully it wouldn't be too tedious. Pretty much everything you need to know about the RP can be found in the community's profile, so. Come join the fun!

• New contacts arrived! Sometimes I don't realize just how badly I need new contacts until I change them out and everything gets just a little bit clearer. Also, I am glad they arrived before I had to fly off to L.A. It would have sucked to have to do this trip without being able to see well.

• My car has been sort of intermittently turning on the "check engine" light. My dad has looked it over though, and he thinks it's a fuel injector issue, that there's grit in the tank that is getting into the injector system. So I have this stuff that I put in with the gas and it does usually seem to get better after that. It came on when I was only a few miles from the airport this morning, and it freaked me out. I have a bottle of the stuff to put in when I get back, though, so here's hoping it won't be a problem. My dad assures me that the car is not likely to immediately explode whenever the light comes on (thank god), so I am working on changing my assumptions. I really really need it to not be a big problem though, as I don't think I have the funds to solve a big problem at the moment. (/fingers crossed)

I don't think I have anything else to update about. Hopefully I will update more often once life starts happening again.

[This icon is ironic because I can't actually drink caffeine even when I am tired. That's what over-dosing will do to you.]

Fic meme that is just to awesome to pass up. Yoinked from bethynyc and kick_flaw.

Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Feel free to ask about anything and I'll tell you the premise or paste you a tidbit for any of these.

Multiple questions encouraged.

X-Men Big Bang
Game of Thrones
Joan/Arthur Meet Not-so-Cute
Castle Threesome Smut
Before They Were Legends
Marcus/Esca
Narnia AU
Kirk/Spock smut
Mary McGarrett fic
Enchanted Epilogue
Arhur's Reincarnations
Sky and Liz Write a Porno Story

Obviously, you'll recognize some of these from the tallies I was posting during last semester (or the first semester, I can't remember which). But now you can ask questions! And I will answer!

• I am home from NYC. I had a lovely time! I would talk about it more, but most of the people I'd be talking about it for, I actually saw and talked to in person, and thus they don't really need to have a run down. As for the rest of you... Well, suffice to say I had a lovely time and I do miss my city (just less so in the summer).

• While I was in NYC, I saw Cowboys & Aliens which was sort of awesome. I think my favorite part is that the movie is a serious movie, despite it's comical premise. Everyone took it seriously in the writing, acting, directing, everything. And when I get home, I am actually going to read that article in EW about the movie (because it only came out two and a half weeks ago and I still haven't read it) and probably fangirl Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford quietly in my room for a bit.

• I am currently working on two X-Men: First Class fics. One is for an exchange and is due tomorrow (and is about half done) and the other is for xmenbigbang and thus not due for a while, but I am still sort of behind. It's sort of exciting. I haven't really wrote fic in a while. Once I turn in the one tomorrow, I will substitute the Star Trek fic that I really need to finish into the line up. Good times.

• My dad discovered chocolate ice cream made with coconut milk and with no dairy at Trader Joe's, and it's kind of amazeballs. No seriously. If there's a TJ near you, and they have this stuff, definitely try it even if you don't have to shun dairy because your digestion works just fine. This stuff may be dangerous for my weight-loss plan.

• School starts at the very end of August. I got all the classes I talked about in my last post. Luckily, my two writing classes are only one day a week, so it's not actually as full as it looks. On the other hand, I do start at 8am every day of the week, so that sort of sucks for me.

• I have decided that I want to start horse back riding again, so I've found a place to do it and I am going to give them a call today and start setting that up. I need to get some equipment (I grew out of my boots years ago, and I doubt I'll still fit into my pants) but other than that, I think I actually have everything I need for it already. I'm hoping the quote I got from another woman at the barn is accurate, because it's a super reasonable price for lessons, even if I can only go once a week. Anyway, I am super excited, and my mom said that she can probably chip in a little, so that will help with the costs.

• I have finally gotten my hands on: GRRM's A Dance With Dragons, blackholly's Red Glove, and Melissa Marr's Darkest Mercy, the last of which I've only been waiting for my library to get for, I don't know, at least 6 months. I am going home today with 14 books in two bags. All told, not the biggest library haul I've ever gone home with.

• Last night I had a dream where I met Tom Hardy. I think I said hi to him. I also met, and converse with, another celebrity, but I am totally blanking on who it was now. Which is a shame. It was someone hot, so it would be nice to remember who. (At least for the lulz, and at most so that I could do a bit of daydreaming.)

That's all I can think of for right now. I'm going to try to update this thing a bit more, though.

• I bought my tickets for NYC. I actually paid for it all myself, but my mom reimbursed me half. Still, it was sort of exciting to buy my own tickets and all that. :) I will get to see all sorts of awesome people while I'm there! girasola and exrpan because I miss my bffs; I timed the trip to allow me to be there for lskull86's birthday; and oduinn will have just moved. I am super excited. Plus all the other people who I'm not mentioning by name. :)

• Oh also: exrpan, we should do another photoshoot now that's it's warmer. Maybe in Bryant Park, or on the steps of the Met or somewhere a little more urban. If you have time, that is.

• Got my financial aid award letter from school. Um. They're giving me $7,000 per semester in a "Department Award Creative Writing Scholarship". Ok, a) $7k is half the full tuition, and b) I haven't submitted a writing portfolio yet; what are they basing this scholarship on, my admissions essay? I'm also getting 25% off the $13,900+ tuition, and I'm eligible for another $7,500 in a loan. Which means, all told, we might be paying a couple hundred dollars per semester for me to go to this school. Also, since I was urged to do so by my advisors, if I submit a writing portfolio now and win another award, are they going to just pay me to attend? This is all both awesome and baffling. I have to call them tomorrow and make sure I actually know what's going on and this isn't some sort of cruel joke.

• But yeah, speaking of writing portfolio, I'm working on one. I need 6-10 pieces to put in it, and I have exactly one that is finished and could go in without me having to edit it. And only two that just need basic editing. Another needs an edit and a major addition, and two more need me to actually write them. And I'm supposed to turn something in on Friday. Laugh with me. Come on. You know you want to. (/headdesk)

• Speaking of school, I registered for my classes last week:

♠ I am waiting for Living Writers: Foundations (the first Creative Writing core class) and Techniques of Creative Writing: Fiction (another Creative Writing core class) to open up new sections for me to enter into.
♠ I am already registered for Beginning Bible Studies (which fulfills my Social Science Distributive liberal arts core requirement) and Ethical Traditions (which fulfills my Ethical Responsibility liberal arts core requirement, and I still maintain that Seminar totally fulfills both of these requirements).
♠ And Literature and the Post-Human (which has Frankenstein (haven't read) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (read in high school) as required reading among other things).

There are five classes instead of four in the hopes of graduating in four semesters instead of five, and all of them are upper level courses. I'll have to take a Cultural Diversity liberal arts core requirement class next semester, but other than that, I can pretty much take all Writing and Literature classes all the time and they will all be upper level classes. It's kind of super exciting.

• Had dinner with my dad tonight. When I got there, this conversation occured:

Dad: How are you?
Me: Good. Tired, but good. The kids were really difficult today.
[significant pause]
Dad: Payback's a bitch, isn't it.
Both of us: (/dies laughing)

• Apparently Borders is closing all of its stores. Which means the last big bookstore here is closing. That leaves us with one mostly successful, marginally interesting local store, and a few used book stores, and a B&N an hour away. I am bummed about this. On the other hand, I am also happy for liquidating sales. That means more travel books will be added to my growing collection, and possibly some Moleskines and possibly some other things. Still, it's a bummer.

• There are some fandom things I need to be working on. But I keep getting school things put in my lap and then I don't let myself work on fandom things because I should be working on the school things, and I'm not working on the school things because I am procrastinating. Ugh. I need to work around this. I have to figure something out.

• It's stupidly hot out here. Sleeping has become difficult even with the medication I take. It's worrisome.

Speaking of sleep, I'm off to do that.

• Last night at approximately 12:30am, I completed my personal statement and emailed it to my enrollment advisor at the Santa Fe University.

• This morning at 7:57am I got an email from him saying that it was a terrific essay and that he had officially submitted it to my application.

• This morning at 8:31am I was accepted to the Santa Fe University as a Creative Writing major.

• I've been holding off on posting again until I can finish "We Are Stronger Together" but I've been holding off on that until I finish my goddamn Personal Statement for SFUAD and I've been putting that off for weeks. I'm determined to finish it tonight or tomorrow, and then I can get back to writing things that I actually want to be writing that I haven't been allowing myself to write while I should actually be doing this other thing.

• Also, it's possible that I might need to stop with the run-on sentences.

• School things: Enrollment advisor keeps saying "when you're admitted," not "if you're admitted," and I have no idea if he's aware of it. (Mostly because I've only talked to him on the phone the last few times, not in person.) But that seems positive. And he does have both my Lang transcript and my SJC transcript, so hopefully he's feeling confident. I could use a little confidence. I was worried for a bit, as my Personal Statement is already more than their page limit, and it's not the required double spaced and it's only halfway done (if that). But he said that they have trouble getting most students to write the bare minimum (1.5 pages, double spaced) so if mine is longer, I shouldn't worry but I should try not to make it as long as my SJC Admissions Essay (which was 12.5 pages). So. This is my lease favorite part of applying to college. Can't they just accept that I'm awesome without me having to write an essay about why I'm awesome? (Actually, a lot of it is going to be me saying, "Yes, I fucked up at my other schools, but I don't intend to do it here, please accept me.")

• Mom is back again. Possibly I didn't actually mention this, but she wanted me to move out. Which, I was ok with. She was offering to pay rent (or some of it, depending on the price) and I was actually starting to get excited about having my own place. Then tonight she offered me the house. Not as in, I would own it, but as in she's not going to be able to come back as much as she wants anyway, so I could actually take over and make it my house with my stuff in it (my kitchen stuff, if I want) and she would just come visit me some times. I am... really torn on this. On the one hand, it would be nice not to have to pay rent (still) and also have a place that's mine. And not having to move. On the other hand, it's outside of town and I don't know how much I actually can make this place mine. I don't know. I'm thinking about it.

• Summer nannying job is going well. The kids like me (when I am not being "mean" by not letting them do certain things like drink water from a straw they found on the ground, what the actual fuck) and it pays well and I don't have to do much more than sit around and read and be available for them if they need me. (Also, these kids are not family, so I can't discipline them like I did when I babysat my cousins (who occasionally almost went to bed without dinner) which makes this harder.) So. Yeah. That's that.

• I went to the eye doctor last time my mom was here. My eyes got worse; my left eye got significantly worse. My astigmatism got way worse, and my new contacts are as strong as generic ones are made. If my eyes get worse, I'd have to get custom contacts, which are super 'spensive. Doctor also thinks that my pupils don't always line up, but that I've been sort of naturally correcting for it (and possibly making my eyes worse) and thinks I ought to get prismatic glasses to help with it. (/headdesk) Also, my dad's eyes are even worse than mine. Genetics: Not Nearly As Cool in the Real World as They Are in X-Men. Just sayin'.

• Also, the same day I went to the eye doctor, I went and got a second tattoo. I now have, "Keep Calm & Carry On" tattooed on the inside of my right wrist. It's facing me because, as I told the artist, I really do need the constant reminder. This one hurt like a bitch. Way more than the first one. I think it's because the tendons are all close to the surface there (and next tattoo is going on a place where it's mostly muscle and no tendons or bone is close to the skin) and Jack's theory is that the closer to the head the tattoo is the harder it is to dissociate from the pain. Which makes sense. But still. Motherfucking ow. It's mostly all healed now and it's awesome and I love it.

• I traded a bunch of paperback books to the paperback book exchange in town here the other day. I now have $45+ in credit there. Which is awesome. I go in every once in a while to look for Nora Roberts books, European (and Caribbean) travel books, and 1963 Signet Classic Shakespeare editions, and now I have tons of credit if I find anything. I would have had $59+ in credit, but I walked out with two Nora Roberts book, a Lonely Planet France travel book, and a very nice edition of Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth.

• Still obsessed with Michael Fassbender.

That's all I got for now.

Title: We Are Stronger Together
Author: cerulean_sky
Artist: ryuutchi
Rating: NC-17 eventually, PG-13ish for this part.
Genre/Pairing: AU, Kirk/McCoy/Uhura
Summary: Starfleet's best covert operative, James T. Kirk, is so close to finding the man who killed his father. But Leonard McCoy, an operative for the North American government, and Uhura, a mercenary even Kirk fears, are on Nero's trail as well.
Disclaimer: Didn't come up with this first. Thus: not mine, not making money. Damn.
Link to Art: Here!
Author's Notes: Beta'd by the lovely Courtney, who deserves accolades for the last minute, but totally awesome job. Second and third parts will be coming in the next day or two.

( We Are Stronger Together: Part 1/3 )

• So, this morning, I got in my car and drove to Santa Fe University of Art and Design and walked into the admissions office. I figured, if someone was there to talk to me, great, if not I could make an appointment and come back later. Someone was there (someone really helpful, I love it when I find helpful people) and we talked for 30-40 minutes. This is all and incredibly spur-of-the-moment sort of thing, but I'm... applying for this coming fall semester. They have rolling admission, and currently no application fee, so why the hell not? They have a creative writing program, study abroad opportunities, and really, I just want to get my degree and move on with my fucking life.

It's way cheaper than SJC, plus I'll get a discount for being a state resident. Their creative writing faculty is made up of published authors, their campus is being renovated and updated and everything is new and shiny, and I might be able to graduate at about the same time I would have if I'd kept going at SJC. I guess they also have a "design your own degree" type thing, where you can specialize your degree a little bit more than their programs allow. I'll probably end up talking to someone about possibly focusing a bit more on genre fiction. We'll see how that works.

So now, I am all panicky about getting all my damn ducks in a row so that I can apply. (Which is what? Two separate transcripts from two schools, recommendations from tutors at SJC, financial aid, actually applying, and also a damn writing portfolio because I want to apply for some scholarships. Oof.)

• Goddamnit, this means dealing with Lang again. I hate their administrative offices. Everyone is so unhelpful there. (Or they were when I was a student. I can't imagine that not being a student will make them any more inclined to be helpful.)

• Made some new friends thanks to a friending meme. (/waves) Hi, new people! Welcome to... the hilarious reality show that is my life. (/headdesk)

• Currently working on two X-Men: First Class RPs, both of which are awesome. I just wanted to mention that because they make me happy.

• The cat that I've been looking after for about a year, wandered off about 48 hours ago. There's been no sign of him, and he obviously hasn't come back to eat while I've been out or sleeping. He's never been gone this long before, and he was only a few weeks away from going home with his real owner. I feel really awful about this. (Though, since it happened during the day when I just wasn't there, and not at night when he's supposed to be inside, I feel less like it's my fault and more just sad.) I sent an email to his owner letting him know, which was damn hard. Even though it's possible he'll come back, no other cat I've ever had who has wandered off like this has ever come home. So I basically had to email him to tell him his cat is probably dead. :(

• Mom landed in Abq. about 40 mins ago. She's been out this time for only a few weeks, and I have no idea how long she's staying. She's going to help me out with this whole transferring in just a few short months thing, and also probably will help me with potential moving to a new place, and (hopefully) will help facilitate an eye-doctor appointment so I can get new contacts and new glasses.

• I've decided I have no excuse for not writing, these days. So, in addition to the fanfiction that I really ought to be working on (I'm going to do that tonight, I'm fucking determined), I'm also going to start focusing more on my original stuff. (This was decided before I realized I would need a portfolio to apply to SFUAD. It's just a bonus that I'll also be able to add stuff that I work on to that portfolio.) If I get into SFUAD (yes, I'm using the acronym a lot because it cracks me up) I'll be writing a lot more. So I ought to start getting back into practice now while I can.

• I want to marry Michael Fassbender.

That is all.

Just got back from seeing X-Men: First Class. There is nothing bad about that movie except, perhaps, how it fits in with the canon established by the other four movies, but we'll just ignore that. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I'm just going to say this (and really, y'all should've expected it from me):

Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsher = NEW OTP. FOR SERIOUS.

Oh my god. Fassbender and McAvoy played it so well. Another movie I will be making sure to own so that I can watch it all the time and sigh happily. I'm pretty sure the people around me got annoyed with all the overjoyed squeaking sounds I was making.

So, um, point me towards the fic. But we all know I'll be writing some of my own like... tomorrow. Not a word, dragon_gypsy. Not a word. Also: appropriate icon is appropriate.

I need some new icons, I think. :>

This is going to be a post about various of the movies I've seen in the past... two weeks. Those being: Fast Five, Priest, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover: Part 2, and Thor.

• First, Fast Five. I don't think you guys fully understand the depth of my love for the whole The Fast and The Furious franchise. (Ok, not the second one, because it didn't have Vin Diesel in it, but all the rest.) I'm convinced you can't go wrong with a movie about hot men and fast cars. And hot women. I even loved Tokyo Drift because it's hilarious and awesome. But. Fast Five was kind of awesome. I mean, there was no point at which I was bored, and the little twists were things that I didn't see coming. It's fun, it's funny, and it's kind of stupidly sexy.

• Now, Priest had to be seen because it was Paul Bettany, Karl Urban and vampires. I went with a friend, and even though we spent all of it making fun of it—"That's not how physics works!" "Really? Of all the things in the movie to get upset about, you pick the physics?" "Yes, well, I can forgive the bad vampire lore, but physics just doesn't work like that."—it was actually pretty good. I mean, I have pretty low standards for what makes a movie "good" (I pretty much just have to be entertained), but I liked it. I think there should be lots of slash written about Paul Bettany and Karl Urban's characters, and that there should be a sequel, since the movie was really just the set up for another potentially good movie. It was fun and I liked it, end of story.

• Let me tell you why PotC: At World's End was the best of the first three movies and why PotC: On Stranger Tides is the best of all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. ( Spoilers, Ahoy! )

In conclusion: PotC: On Stranger Tides might be a new favorite movie of mine. With the addition of Penelope Cruz and Thomas Claflin and the mermaid (I am too lazy to look up the actress's name, but I think it's Agnes something?), something finally clicked. Plus, I think that the mermaid and the young man are going to show up in the next movie. That was just too good of a set up for a sequel. :)

• The Hangover: Part 2 was bad. It was the same movie as the first one, just in a different city. And I had forgotten just how much I hate Zack Galifinakis (and I dislike him enough that I don't even care enough to look up how to spell his name, so that might be wrong) and how much I hate his character in these movies. Ugh. I should not have inflicted that upon myself. Luckily, it was a matinée, so I didn't pay too much to see it.

• I actually just got home (ok, like an hour ago at this point) from seeing Thor with my dad. I liked it! Lots, actually! ( Spoilers! )

In conclusion: I am stupidly excited for Avengers, which apparently has a date set for 2012, so yay. :)

• Oh god. Post so long. Grammar failing. Sleepy.

• Crap, I want to revamp my icons again. With new things. Like Narnia icons, some PotC: On Stranger Tides icons, and maybe a Thor icon or two. (/sigh)

Tomorrow: Fic! (And shopping with mom. Excitement!) Tuesday: Fic!

• I got my driver's license today! I can now tool around in my car on my own! The test was stupidly easy. Like, why-did-I-bother-getting-anxious-over-this easy. And short. Like... 15 minutes in the car all told? Idk. Still, YAY I CAN DRIVE. Also, I got an 8-year license, so I probably won't have to deal with this again for a long long while.

• Went to work, did work things.

• Went to a friend's housewarming party (omg, her apartment is awesome, I am jealous), came home listening to the mix CDs that dragon_gypsy made me. :)

• Found half of a chipmunk on my bed. Dutifully thanked my cats (it means they love me!) before disposing of it, stripping the duvet cover off my comforter and putting it in the wash, and scrubbing away at the bitty blood stain on my comforter with stain remover. You can barely tell anything died on my bed now. (/urk)

• Am waiting to shower until duvet cover is in the dryer. (/twiddles thumbs)

• I get to drive my mom to the airport tomorrow! I am excited about this. I like long drives, so I will bring lots of CDs, I'll get something to drink in Albuquerque, and then have fun on the way back by myself. Then Monday I get to pick her up at midnight. :) I love driving at night. I am excited for this adventure.

Yeah, that's all I got. DRIVER'S LICENSE HOORAY.

• So, on Sunday, I went to look at a car. There was a lot that was fantastic about it, except for a "wiggle". We told the guy about it. He was taking care of the sale for his daughter, and he sort of went, "Huh, I've never driven it, so I didn't know." But he took the car to a mechanic/the dealership service center, and apparently the wiggle was a tread of a tire that had separated from the wheel. And could have blown at any moment. I was happy to be alive after hearing about that. Anyway, he put new tires on the car, and then... didn't charge me extra for them when he sold me the car.

Long story short: ( I bought a car yesterday! )

• Still can't drive it without a licensed driver, but. Now that I have a car—one that meets all the DMVs requirements for their silly inspection—I can take the road test and have my freedom at last. I just have to register the car and get a license plate (part of the registration process, I assume?) and then I can take the test. I'm hoping that means I'll be able to take it sometime next week.

• (/peers at the picture) Hm, I wonder if the tires need air...

• In addition to half the price of the car, my mom gave me $250 for gas. Which means that I might be able to afford the drive to California this summer. I want to go out for my grandmother's birthday in July, and I thought driving out might be nice, but with the cost of gas what it is, it might have been slightly cheaper to fly. But with the $250, it might be affordable. :) I shall have to see. California in the summer means swimming. I NEEDS ME SOME SWIMMING.

• School is almost done. Which means I need to throw together some papers, and then be done with it. And then I can spend the summer writing fic.

Yeah, that's really all I had to say. I BOUGHT A CAR!

• After talking to some people, looking at some schools and thinking about it, I've officially decided to withdraw from St. John's at the end of this semester. I've decided that it's not worth making myself suffer through half the program and making myself miserable just for the half that I like. So, I've filled out my withdrawal form, and I have to make a trek through all the administrative offices to get them to say that I don't have any outstanding balances or what have you, and then... I will officially not go to this school anymore.

• Since the part of the program that I like can pretty much be done in a Classics program, that's what I'm looking at. I'm looking at a bunch of schools in California (land of fair weather and mostly no snow) that are cheaper than St. John's and Lang. And have good Classics programs, of course. I might look into getting some sort of Creative Writing minor, but I'm not sure I want to focus on my writing in a college. I prefer to do that in specialized workshops around the country (which I swear, one day I will actually apply to them).

• Since it's too late to apply for the coming Fall semester anywhere, I'll be taking the next 6 months off at minimum. It's possible I could find a place to start for the 2012 Spring semester, but it's entirely possible that I will wait until the 2012 Fall semester to actually start somewhere, which would give me the most amount of time to work and make/save money. Since I have cats, I'd like to be able to live off of whatever campus I end up at, and saving money through a year would allow me to have a cushion of savings for rent somewhere.

• Still looking for a car. School officially ends on May 19, and I would really love to have a car by then. Or soon after then. (Found a couple good ones on Craigslist, and I am going to ovary up and call them tonight.)

• I am planning on selling most of my Japanese manga on eBay this summer. Because I have a bunch of it that has been sitting in boxes for years that I am never going to get back into or ever going to be able to read and I can make some extra $$$ off of it. If anyone has any experience with selling on eBay, please let me know. I am kind of clueless. I have an account, have registered as a seller and have hooked my Pay Pal up to it, but between now and when I sort through all my manga in a couple weeks and start taking pictures, I kind of need to know what I'm supposed to do? Idk. (Possibly I will sell some of my books to a used bookstore, too. Because why not. I have too many of them that I've never read and am probably never going to.)

• Have to decide which of my next... four tattoos I want to get once school ends. Fleur-de-lys tramp stamp, celtic pentacle on my hip, "Steal Your Heart" on my... ankle?, or "Keep Calm and Carry On" on my... wrist? If I felt like sticking a poll in here, I would. Maybe another time. Just tell me in comments if you have an opinion. :)

Whoops, class time.

• I watched The Eagle last night. (For those of you who follow me on Twitter, I'm sorry. I use live-tweeting movies and shows as a way to diffuse my tension with the things. Thus: Y'all get spammed.) Fun fact: there's not a single woman with a speaking line in the movie. There's this one slave woman who gives Marcus a bowl of soup, and then we never see her again. There's also the Seal Prince's sister, who giggles while Marcus (Tatum Channing) grins at her. But that's it. No women at all. They weren't even trying to hide all the GAY that this movie sprouted.

• Another Fun Fact: I fell asleep last night composing smut fanfic for this movie in my head. So much gay. All the fic needs to be written. I've decided that I'm not going to read fic for it until after I've written some, because someone has probably written my idea, and I just want to do it my way. So. (Yes, dragon_gypsy, you were right. I write fic for everything. I am a terrible person.)

• Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers on my flist! (Includes: human children and animal children. I totally call myself my cats' mom.) It's a beautiful sunny day here, even if it is windy, and I'm going to do laundry and cuddle with my cats and write some of my last papers. Which should all equal a pretty relaxing day, all told! I hope you all have relaxing days! Don't forget to call your mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, godmothers, and your best-friends' moms. :) (Or at least email.)

• There is a flat stretch of dirt road down in the valley here. I had my dad drive it, and one lap of it is 3/10 of a mile. I'm figuring that I ought to be able to do some running down there this summer, and get in shape. (My grandfather is in better shape than I am. Seriously.) Also, a friend of mine is moving into an apartment complex that has a pool. I anticipate lots of swimming to get back in shape. It's not really that I'm out of shape, but I'm tired of one walk up the hill tiring me out completely. Ugh.

• I'm back on the hunt for a car. I really really really do not want to go another summer without a car of my own. It might actually drive me crazy. I want to be able to go out and have fun without having to get a ride home from my dad early enough for him to go to sleep early like the old man he's starting to become. (Actually, I love my dad. But he likes to be asleep by 10pm, which kills a lot of my social life.) I think that the range for how much we can spend on it might be able to go up a bit, which means that the quality of car will go up a bit too. Which is great. I just want to be able to go out at night. (/fingers crossed)

• I need to talk to my boss about summer hours. I sent him an email about a month ago letting him know I would be available if he had anything for me, but I never heard anything back. (Not entirely surprising, as he's known to forget that sort of stuff and my email didn't exactly call for a response.) But since we're coming down to the last two weeks of school (!!!) it would be nice to get that all ironed out so I can have an estimate on how much money I'll be making over the summer. (You know, in September, I'll have been working at this place for two years. That's a lot!)

And it's time to go put laundry in and get on with the day.

• Had my don rag this morning. I spent most of it trying not to throw up. When it was over, I raced into the bathroom and stayed there for a bit taking really deep breaths. We'll just say this: my future at St. John's is uncertain. (Which, ugh, was expected.)

• Came home. Then made my dad take me out for ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Just 'cause.

• Watched Life As We Know It. Which was better than expected, and adorable, and the "giant crisis" wasn't what I expected, and way better. So. I recommend it to people who like RomComs, Katherine Heigle and/or Timothy Olypant and/or Josh Lucas.

• I made Dutch Cocoa cookies! You know, these. Guys. These things are delicious. Seriously delicious. Recipe is here. I accounted for high altitude, though that might have caused my cookies to end up flatter than intended, and my dough wasn't as dense as I was expecting. I do recommend putting the dough in the fridge over night and not just for an hour. It softens (and gets stickier) as it's warms. Mine spread out a lot, too. I might also recommend putting more than usual space between each cookie to account for that.

• While thinking about what I'd do if I had to take a year off from SJC (or a semester if I decide to apply somewhere else instead of taking a whole year off), I started considering yacht crews? Idk. But I came across this site (and then went and found this one, this one and this one) which place crew on yachts around the world, and that... seems really interesting (not to mention the travel and the good salary). Does anyone know anyone who does this? Does anyone know anything more about this than what I've been able to read on those sites? Tell me everything!

• Am writing stupid amounts of fanfic, but not my trekreversebang fic, which is the one I actually need to be working on. (Esposito/Conrad/Ryan fic has hit 2k words. And I added to my Kirk/Spock smut. And also added to my Narnia AU.)

• Am all caught up on The Borgias and The Game of Thrones (as of last night—just in time for new episodes on Sunday). I keep having flail-y moments over them. For The Borgias I keep getting excited over history things, or how sexy it is. For The Game of Thrones I keep getting all emotional over characters that I remember liking, or how it's reminding me how much I really liked those books okay? Daenerys, guys. She's kind of a sexy goddess. And this is giving little hints at just how awesome she becomes. If I lived in that world, I totes would have been killed for being a Targaryen supporter. (Or maybe not, as they were kind of terrible people by the time they were deposed. Hm.)

• Ahem.

• Oh yeah. I had the first dream in a really long time that he was in. Technically it was two dreams, as I woke up, and then had a totally different dream about him. We were together in the dream. He apologized for being an ass and not talking to me til now and then grabbed me and kissed me. Waking up was the hardest thing I've had to do in a while.

That's it. I don't care if I used a Borgias icon last time, I'm using one again. This show, guys. This show.

• I have updated my icons a bit. Which makes me happy. I now have some delicious Cesare/Lucrezia icons, and some Hawaii Five-0 icons that I like better than some of the ones I had. Whee!

• Last night I dreamed that I had sex with Steve McGarrett while he told me how much better I was in bed than Catherine Rollins. It was really weird but also really hot.

• I am thinking about buying a used clarinet in good condition (and for not too expensive) and reteaching myself how to play. We've been studying Beethoven's "Eroica Symphony" in my music class, and it makes me want to be musical again. Anyway, it's something I'm pondering.

Yeah, that's it.

• Last night I got a package from oduinn which contained two spoons from Prague (including one that says, "Czech Me Out!" which is hilarious) and a "Keep Calm and Carry On" advice book, the credit for which he gave to girasola. It was a good start to a good night.

• I spent several hours last night RPing a Cesare/Lucrezia thing with girasola which is, um, maybe our second het RP ever. But it's also kind of the hottest thing we've written in whiles. Oh my. (/fans self) It's also kind of AU history, since both of us sort of decided we were too lazy to research the actual history, and we wanted to screw around with things anyway. It's awesomely fun.

• Last night I dreamed again that I was in a relationship with a girl. (Will write about the first dream about that next.) This one wasn't all that specific, I just knew that I was in a relationship with a girl, we were living together, and I think I was bringing groceries home. :/

• Two nights ago I dreamed that I was in a relationship with a really sweet redheaded girl named Kate. She was awesome. And also possibly magical. I spent a good portion of the dream freaking out and running around trying to figure out where she had disappeared off to. Then she poofed back (from another dimension? who knows?) and I was happy again. The last little bit of the dream was us looking at apartments in NYC.

• My usual hair dye (Revlon Colorsilk #12 Blue Black) went up $1 at Target (which, considering that it was $2.99 to start with, isn't terrible) but Revlon now has a Colorsilk Luminista (#105 Bright Black) which is only $2.99. It also has no ammonia in it, claims to give good shine and might be a bluer black than the one I was using, which is my preferred highlight coloring. So. I got a box, and I hoping for good results. (Also, I lol'ed at the fact that the Amazon listing for the thing I got at Target for $2.99 is $4.49.)

• Went to a student Passover Seder at a Tutor Emeritus's house Tuesday. It's usually a potluck/cook-using-his-kitchen/bring-groceries. It was fun. I facilitated, more than participated. Mostly because I am not particularly observant of Passover. I like my bread. The first thing I did the first day of Passover was eat a bagel. :) My dad gave me a dirty look as I happily munched on my bagel while he drove me to school.

• I got a "Keep Calm and Carry On" mug for $4.99 at TJMaxx this afternoon. I am pleased. I need a "Keep Calm and Carry On" icon. Note to self.

• Current list of fics I am actively writing:
1) Narnia AU for au_bigbang (440 words + ~740 words untyped, ~1180 words total not counting 2 pages of outline)
2) Kirk/McCoy/Uhura fic for trekreversebang (~600 words untyped)
3) Castle Esposito/Conrad/Ryan smut for shits 'n giggles (~1300 words untyped, all written in the last 24 hours)

• Current list of fics I've put on hold to do other things:
1) Enchanted Epilogue (370 typed, 200 untyped)
2) Hawaii Five-0 "Mary McGarrett is a BAMF" (1030 words)
3) Star Trek XI Kirk/Spock smut (923 typed)
4) HP Founders-fic, Before They Were Legends (~700 words, found the notebook where it's written)
5) Covert Affairs Joan/Arthur romance/smut (actually 500 words, found and then relost the untyped section of this, arg)
6) Merlin Arthur/Merlin (with actual plot, zomg) (still 100 words)

• Current list of ideas bouncing around in my head:
1) Tangled Epilogue (because I am a nutjob, clearly)
2) Hawaii Five-0 Steve/Danny thing (because I ♥ them)
3) Faerie original thing based loosely on "Thomas the Rhymer"

Note to Self: I need Castle icons, Narnia icons, new Hawaii Five-0 icons, and possibly some new Star Trek XI icons.