Without hope, well you might as well be blind...

Time:

2:55 pm.

Dorm Guard Secondary Reaction (9:05am): This place is kind of sensibly struc-
Dorm Guard Tertiary Reaction (9:06am): HOLY CRAP BREAKFAST
Dorm Guard Quartiary Reaction(9:15am): This place is kind of sensibly structured. It is cognizant of the fact that it's pretty far away from anything interesting, so they have pool tables and foosball and board games and a big study lounge with a big TV. And you can use your meal plan to get breakfast, like I did. A sizable amount of food too, not like that Shafer-to-go stuff. One cold breakfast (like cereal), one hot breakfast (like pancakes), one dessert thing (like a danish), two fruit things (like fruit or yogurt), one cold drink (like juice), and one hot drink (like tea) all for one swipe.

3 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	1:12 am.
Mood:	recumbent.

First night of work! Initial reaction: I cannot believe I am being paid $7.50 an hour to read. I sincerely hate the commute, but the job almost makes it worth it. If only I were allowed to have a laptop... Not that this seems to stop the two people I worked with. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Last night, at Savannah's invitation, I went to some spaghetti dinner/cool music/weird surrealist play thing. I wasn't so much for most of the skits, but one cannot argue against the other parts. Plus Savannah's probably officially the spiffiest person I know. Or that most people know, seeing as how a lot of people there knew her.

9 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	8:04 pm.
Mood:	discontent.

Just when I think I'm out they keep pulling me back in. Sometime in January Tom told me VCU housing was hiring security guards. Back when I lived in the dorms it seemed a fairly simple job, so I decided to give it a go despite the idea of me making anything secure being utterly laughable. I hear nothing for a month and a half, then they call me in for an interview. I think it goes fairly well, and they say they'll let me know. I hear nothing for a month, then they call me and say I've got the job. (What kind of job application process takes three months? The kind at VCU)

Now I'm not the kind to complain about getting a job. Certainly not, considering this is the first job I actually got of the many applications I've put in since I got to my apartment in July. Not counting that one day of doing survey work with Robin, which was okay-ish, but we both quit so that tells you something. The thing is, once I've got a plan in my mind it's kind of upsetting to have it changed. With school ending in less than three weeks I was all ready to go home, spend time with my cats, continue the futile job search, make a movie with Ben and Andrew, and generally enjoy my summer. I had already mentally prepared myself to do those things. I know it would be better to take the job, since it beats the uncertainty of looking at home. But I wanted to go home, spend time with my cats, make a movie with Ben and Andrew, and generally enjoy my summer. There's a three week window from when my lease ends to when I'm able to move back onto campus, which certainly gives me time to go home, spend time with my cats, and make a movie with Ben and Andrew. I just kind of wanted more time than that.

Don't you mock my neuroses. I just like having things settled and certain is all. And I really like my cats.

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:

11:50 pm.

There was an interesting thing on CNN last night. Following the defection of Clinton-supporting super delegate John Lewis (a black man), CNN brought on a black Obama-supporting super delegate and a black Clinton-supporting super delegate to discuss the possibility of more defections from black super delegates. The Clinton supporter asked why this was even an issue, and wondered why the media wasn't questioning white Obama-supporting super delegates who represent states that went for Clinton. The CNN host completely dodged the question. More interestingly, the CNN poll of the night was "Do you think Obama is getting a free pass from the media?"

There was an interesting thing in the commons tonight. The person in line in front of me claimed to have ordered a veggie sub from Subway. The person also looked to be the sort of person who would not eat a veggie sub if you bought it for him. Upon a weighing by the skeptical cashier, the sub was found to be 15 ounces. Awfully heavy for something primarily lettuce (if you've gotten one you know what I mean). The cashier went and retrieved the manager, and it was revealed the sub in question was in fact a double ham, double bacon sub costing around $9. The boy's excuse? "Well, there were lots of things on it, so I didn't know what to call it." Right, and you just happened to decide to call it the cheapest thing on the menu. Bastard.

Rockin' like Dokken.

4 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Subject:	Maybe I've been listening to too much Guy Noir...
Time:	11:03 am.

I just had an absolutely epic, film noir style, high school star studded dream. It was even in black and white! I was some hard boiled detective working under Ben Danbsy, who for some reason was dressed like the Major General from Pirates of Penzance. My secretary was Emily, who was normally dressed (for a film noir, not for Emily). I was hired to track down Chris Fair, who had stolen a valuable painting. Adrian was my knowledgeable informant, though he ran a candy store instead of a bar. I eventually tracked Fair to this dilapidated old mansion, and he kept calling my cell phone and taunting me in that monotone voice.

Then things got weird. It turned out that Fair died months ago, and the real thief was Emily, who was in the mansion doing all the calls. I chased her, then she turned into a cat and ran away. But up until that point it was really cool.

4 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Subject:	And when I smile my mouth just straightens out...
Time:	2:42 am.
Mood:	mellow.

Oh, right. Updates. Classes are exactly as I pinned them on the first day. Speech is cake, Public Policy is boring, and Arabic is much better with the good teacher. Did dye my hair, still haven't found a job. There's not many places hiring within walking distance, particularly for those with resumés as unimpressive as mine. Kind of makes me wish I had done more resumé building in high school. But I was rather occupied with friends and theater and Anna, which is time I would not trade. I imagine I'll be saying something similar in a few years, but I've always had odd priorities.

As for not being able to say a lot for myself, the internet at the apartment was down. The unsecured wireless internet we've been leeching off of since July. Then suddenly our friend Dustin was able to connect, so naturally Tom and I dived toward our computers for confirmation. Obviously it works again, for reasons as mysterious as the ones under which it stopped. Not that I'm complaining. At least it means I don't have to haul my laptop to school to get access.

As for spending time outside, what is up, February? 77 degree weather is for late spring, not mid-winter. Eh. At least it means less paying for heating.

As for vicious money pits, I'm going to Katsucon next weekend. I enjoy people watching, and such blatant sub-cultures never fail to disappoint. Which is good, because the less money I spend, the better.

As for just being able to watch, my speakers have disappeared. The ones on my laptop. Not literally, as that would be fairly impossible. But they randomly had some trouble last night, so I tried the old uninstall/re-install fix. But it's not re-installing. It throws odd reasons at me, varying between "cannot find media device," "device drivers are not installed," "device is not configured properly," and "cannot find the necessary software." The "media device" is right there, and has never required any sort of software or configuration before. I curse both technology and my own hubris. But mostly technology.

As for cursing technology, here is your practically obligatory odd link: http://www.jesuspets.com/Home.aspx

QotU:
Me: My mouth is actually naturally downturned, so when I'm normal it looks like I'm frowning
Tom: Well that explains a lot! I always thought you were a lot more depressed than you acted

1 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:

1:00 am.

So, classes. Mondays and Wednesdays are Intro to Women's Studies and Effective Speech. This is the good day, and not just because it begins at 4 in the afternoon. Tuesdays and Thursdays are Public Policy and Arabic. Public Policy is taught by a very quiet Turkish man. Arabic is taught by the good, slow, vaguely organized teacher instead of the fast, poorly organized, not-big-on-English teacher.

Basically all we've done in each of them is go over syllabi and introduce ourselves. I don't expect any major problems though.

Gotta start searching for a job. Gotta dye my hair a normal color first.

Top 100 Fundamentalist Christian Message Board Posts

( Choice quotes )

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	12:37 am.
Mood:	exanimate.

Back in the rich mound. Not entirely pleased, as I didn't get to spend a lot of time with family or friends due to the intersession class. Also was kind of distant on the way up, so I feel a bit bad toward my father and his wife. Again, due to the class. I have one more assignment, due Monday at noon at the latest. The book is mostly read, but I have no idea what I'm going to do with the paper. Gah.

Anyway, that's why I miss family and pets more than usual. It's odd not having a dog or cat in my lap when I'm trying to work. So, yeah, never take an intersession class if you can avoid it. It's hard to concentrate since you want to relax, and it's hard to relax because of the work, and it's all kind of crazy. But this may be just me since it was entirely online, and I don't do well unsupervised, and so on. But when you're cramming a semester's worth of work into three weeks, the only significant amount of time you have off this year, there is very little that can go right.

Living with Tom is alright so far, in the seven hours or so of it. One thing Carly has over him is I never heard her having sex. Which I kind of expected, but you never know with some people. Anyway, since he's a guy I'll probably have to do a bit more cleaning up, but whatever.

In other news, Waitress is a pretty good movie. View it at your leisure.

QotU: How can do I anything other than do bad stuff to you? ~ Some jerk outside about to get broken up with, probably

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	1:53 pm.
Mood:	amused.

The Worst Band Names of 2007. Not ever. Just this year. It's pretty hilarious. Then you get to the end and see there are two more pages, at which point you smile while shaking your head. I'm tempted to go and listen to them all. But not really.

Favorite moment: The Pussy Pirates - First line of bio: "FIRST OFF WE'RE AN IDEAS BAND. I THINK WE PROVED THAT WITH FUCK MOUNTAIN."

In other news, The Dog (some sort of chihuahua thing) has spent the last half hour barking at trees. I wish I were exaggerating.

1 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:

12:15 am.

Oh, right. Stuff. Finished up with school on Friday morning. I spent less time on finals stuff than ever this semester. I cannot be sure whether that was due to easier assignments or increased laziness. I got some lucky breaks this semester, so maybe a little of both? My Arabic grade will suck, but I think I at least passed, which is the important part. Stuck around until Monday in order to relax/see friends. This was only accomplished about 1/2 of the way, but one group I found it hard to care about. S'all good, though. Going to be at school an extra semester, since they scheduled Arabic and senior seminar, the two classes I needed to graduate, at the same day and time.

Break is looking fairly calm. Still no car, so I couldn't work if I wanted too, unless I went back to Richmond. But I want to see family and friends and not pay for electricity, so here I stay. Taking a class to make up for the one I dropped, but it is just posting essays online.

Me wanna see Sweeney Todd. Inform me of your presence and schedules, HomeFriends. Maybe some New Year's Eve deal, in addition to/as part of movie?

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	8:53 pm.
Mood:	dorky.

This weekend I went to Anime USA. I had never been to an anime convention before (because something always came up when people tried to go to Katsucon in high school), so it was a cornucopia of sights and sounds and smells and dorks. I was Shin from Nana because if you're going to cosplay you might as well cosplay lazy the first time around. My hair is blue, though. Blue-ish green, rather. Meh.

On Freya's Day we drove up to Arlington around 1230. However, we apparently took the wrong path on the interstate. Observe:

395 (YES) 495 (NO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!)
. . . . . .\/
. . . . . .|
. . . . . .|
. . . . . .|
The signs leading up to this road are all exactly the same. When the roads split, they both have the same signs on them. This road is very dumb. We did not notice we were on the wrong wrong until we saw signs approaching the Maryland border. So we stopped, crashed some elementary school for some directions, were apparently scolded for our generation's lack of map reading skills, and were on our way!

We stayed at a Hyatt Regency. Not the same one I almost got kicked out of, but I could not help but laugh...

Friday night: Yay finally drop off crap explore. Artists' Alley eh, 'sall right, walk walk dealer room WOOOOO. Spent much moneys, making me glad I don't spend much money elsewhere. There was some ball thing, with slow dancing to anime music. Dorks. Went for a bit just to scope it out. Kind of dull if you didn't come to the thing with a person you're comfortable slow-dancing with (I went with random anime club people). I left early on, but I wore three ties, just because. Decided to go to the rave afterwards instead, but felt kind of tired/culture-shocked, so I decided against it.

Saturday: Got up around 11. Watched some anime (that I had downloaded but didn't have time to watch) in one of the video rooms. Went tramping around for pictures, etc. Played Rock Band in the video game room, which was much fun. It's like Guitar Hero, but with drums and vocals as well. I did the thankless job of playing the bass (rather appropriate for Shin). Seriously, nobody wanted to play the bass. Some random girl came up and hugged me and said my lip-to-ear chain was "dead sexy." I didn't have the heart/want to tell her it wasn't real. When I went and got a drink I saw her again and she shouted, "I still love you!" Didn't see her for the rest of the convention, which I suppose is just as well, but still it was a neat thing. Did go to the rave, which was quite tiring, but fun.

Sunday we just went back to school, and life resumed as normal. Anime club, laundry, etc. Gonna have to work hard on school stuff to make up for the lost weekend. Gah.

Burn the heretic!

Time:	9:21 pm.
Mood:	listless.

I had the oddest of dreams a night or two ago. It was raining outside for no particular reason except that it's my dream. I am in some old-west style general store with my father and sister. It is large and there is lots of wood everywhere, my dream is keen to point out. We are about to leave, but I run back to get something. I find myself in the backstage area of a theater. I also found I have just stabbed this black person who is apparently the main character in the show that is about to go on. I am elected to fill his role, because I fit the (blood covered) suit perfectly. "But I don't know what the hell is going on!" "Just do what comes naturally." Curtain. The audience is every person I ever considered a friend. The rest of the cast was six to eight girls I've liked over the past few years. They are wearing ball gowns. They begin to pick me up. I did what came naturally: I woke up.

My dreams are rarely this linear or distinct. Never the less, I will ignore any subtexts than can be extracted, because I don't really care enough at the moment.

I have been quite lucky this semester, class-wise. Assignments have been moved back, or in some cases canceled, in most of my classes. Still can't speak Arabic, still lazy, still etc. What I want to do still wins out against what I should do. I should get ahead on work before this weekend and next weekend. But that won't happen while I'm typing this, will it?

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	2:04 pm.
Mood:	sore.

Riddle me this: What are some ways in which one can injure their heel? Okay, now how many of those ways can be done while sleeping?

I went to bed fine. I woke up, and my heel hurt. There are no bruises or anything. It looks exactly like the other heel (though the other has a faded smiley face on it). This is quite puzzling, and even more annoying. Particularly when standing, walking, or other actions involving my right foot.

Also, yay. Condit's pushed back her paper until after break. It was due Tuesday, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to do any quality work by then because I had a test yesterday (did alright), a test today (did bad), and have a paper due tomorrow. So I'mma go do that now.

Burn the heretic!

Time:

11:28 am.

The high temperatures for today and the next five days, courtesy of weather.com

Today
Oct 07 Partly Cloudy 92°
Mon
Oct 08 Mostly Sunny 92°
Tue
Oct 09 Partly Cloudy 93°
Wed
Oct 10 Mostly Sunny 87°
Thu
Oct 11 Mostly Sunny 71°
Fri
Oct 12 Partly Cloudy 67°

WHAT. THE. FUCK. RICHMOND? Pick a season and stick with it. You know what? No, not even that. It's October. It's fall now whether you like it or not. No more 90 degree temperatures. No more 26 degree temperature shifts over four days.

1 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:

11:57 am.

We were supposed to have a test in Arabic today. I spent most of my time after my last class ended at 930 studying mostly. Today a lot of the people said they really didn't feel prepared, and since it is Ramadan the professor postponed it until Monday. This is kind of good, I suppose? I have a test on Tuesday too, so I may have preferred to have gotten it over with. But I feel better about the Tuesday test (Women & The Law) than the Arabic one.

I am enjoying my nice, cool, 80 degree and sometimes upper 70 degree weather. Though some mornings it feels ridiculously cold (my bed is next to a window). In these cases I reassure myself by saying that in a few months I will likely be hoping desperately for 70 degree weather.

Blackadder for $11.50? Tempting indeed...

2 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Time:	9:26 pm.
Mood:	discontent.

Gah!

Also, so many book review assignments! Comparative politics has one in addition to this big research project that involves no research which I only have the slightest understanding of. Women and law has one in addition to one specifically on the Sharon Kowalski case, and all the case briefs. Politics of race, class, and gender has a paper comparing two books, and a film review which should be easier. Women & US Politics has something to do, but I am positive I won't need to spend more than an hour on it. I brought your damn text books, why should I have to go buy more?

I am sure this is all do-able given better time management. But screw that.

Burn the heretic!

Time:	8:35 pm.
Mood:	feelin' fine.

Okay, so. First day of classes, sort of. Two out of three were canceled. In one the teacher sent out an email I assume was written from Hawaii (or he regularly uses "aloha" as a greeting and farewell in writing). The other was more legitimate, as the instructor picked up the course literally two weeks ago, after the previous one had to leave due to a family emergency, and had a prior commitment.

The one that did meet was led by the always wonderful Dr. Condit, in a very hot room full of technical difficulties. It was only in for around half an hour, just to explain the basics. The whole system of having the first two days of classes being Thursday and Friday seems a little odd to me. I guess it is supposed to aid in getting back into the school groove ever so slightly, as well as getting a few "here's what we'll be doing" speeches out of the way... I do not know. Whatever. I am sure Arabic (the only class I have tomorrow) is going to throw us right in to work though. Foreign language classes are not the ideal type of class to only meet three times a week for fifty minutes, so one must make what time one can...

Jordan wrote the best thing ever about me ever.

And I met another diabolo-er, of sorts. Which I suppose means I should learn more tricks. if not solely for entertainment purposes.

I want some pomegranate.

Burn the heretic!

Time:	9:22 pm.
Mood:	sad.

We found a kitty! Carly was on her way home from work, and saw a small, thin, little kitty on the street. It was very small and thin and had no collar, so she took it in. It lay on top of me and tried to nurse from my finger (apparently normal) for nearly half an hour. She is provisionally named SpiceCake (one word).
---
SpiceCake's owner picked her up today. Apparently she lived nearby and escaped from the back yard. I did not ask her real name; it is for the best. We are making a spice cake in memory of the little kitten that just climbed out of my lap, up on to my shoulder, to suck on my ear....

1 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

Subject:	A Film That is 27 Minutes Long
Time:	9:52 pm.
Mood:	anxious.

Behold! The moment you have vaguely been waiting for whether you know it or not! Zom-Bees!

Again, I make no claims toward the quality of the acting, script, or humor (the things I was involved with). The filming and editing (the things Ben was involved with) are top notch though.

Fun fact: This is the second time the Heatwole Dance has appeared on film, but only the first it has served as a plot point.
~~~
In other news, tomorrow is the yard sale/going to Richmond. Prolly gonna have hella time getting the couch into the front door. Big and heavy...

Burn the heretic!

Time:	9:07 pm.
Mood:	indifferent.

(In the CNN Democratic debate, the last question was to say something good and something bad about the candidate to their left)
Dennis Kucinich: Well, I noticed that there isn't anybody to the left of me...
Anderson Cooper: Well, it would be tough to find one
/politicalnerd

Zom-Bees premiere today. Fairly decent, I'd say. If you overlook the script and the acting and that some of the jokes are are a bit wonky, it is a finely edited piece of work. I will post the link on various places once it is online. If for some inexplicable reason you want a DVD I can hook you up with one as well. In the mean time, here is a poster.

Went to a midnight Harry Potter thing last Friday with my sister, just because I do not get out enough. Saw Ek and Maya whom I have not seen in ages and Ginger whom I have not seen in even longer even though she goes to UR.

Heading to Richmond at the end of the week. It fortunately coincides with my mother moving in to her boyfriend's house, so we will have a moving van available to haul all my crap to my apartment. Hopefully it will not take too long to get a job there...

QotU:
In Planet of the Hairless Apes, you say "Johnson!" In Zom-Bees, I say "Johnson!" in the exact same way. Our humor hasn't evolved at all in seven years! ~ Ben

5 hath gathered around the pyre ~ Burn the heretic!

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