My day:
9:00. Wake up when Mom calls. Take shower.
9:40. Go downstairs to let parents in. Get dressed.
10-something. Pack and leave the dorm.
11 or so. Get home. Greet the dogs. Dusty's not doing well. Hasn't been for a long time. T-Bone has worms. I hate being slightly germ-phobic. Take a long nap while they walk.
2:00. Mom wakes me up. They're headed to the Vet to pick up meds, and to put Dusty to sleep. Yeah, I'm coming with.
2:35. Get there, meet all the other patients. A poodle that got in a fight with a neighbor, a ShieTsu (?) with an ear infection, an airdale with a bleeding paw. Camaraderie.
around 3: Brought to room. They take her out to put an IV in her. We wait. When she comes back, spend some time with her. When she was finally injected, it was... she fell fast. We thank the doctors and leave.
I forget what time. We pick up some food at the market. Head home. I curl up on the couch; have weird dreams about Laurel and Hardy, trick houses, and rope ladders. All in all, very creepy.
8-something. Mom wakes me for dinner. We watch a movie during it. I get back on the computer.

( Dusty )

It's late, and I should get going. Hope everyone's doing well, and I will talk later. Hopefully the gap will be short. Tah, ありがとう.

While I'm here: http://www.unicreatures.com/profile.php?id=11364

I get to the public library, go through my Friends List for the first time in half a week, then realize I’ve got ten minutes before they kick me off and I’ll be without internet for the rest of the year O_O. Oh, and the next two days or so ^_^;

So, Happy New Year, everyone! Hope it’s going well for all of you. To update, I’m spending this week in Key Largo on a scuba-diving trip. *ahem* BWEEE.
I can’t believe I’m ending my year like this. It’s fantastic! Lovely weather, beautiful scenery, nice people, fun place, good amount to do (if you have a car or can mooch effectively). I'm also writing a bit, when and where I can. Only downside is that the library is my only net access. Woe. *eyeroll* Maybe it’s a sign of my lack of life that I crave constant Internet.
But honestly, the dives are amazing. We’ve gone to a couple reefs, a shipwreck, seen porcupine fish, lobster, someone saw an octopus, there are fish everywhere, it’s beautiful. And my underwater camera WORKS. SO. HAPPY. I’ve taken over 500 pictures so far, and it’s only been 4 days. As soon as I sort through them, I’ll figure out how to post them here; I’ll show you the good ones.
We’re doing a night dive tomorrow, and a deep dive (80-100 feet) on Friday. Then on Saturday we head back to the cold and frigid north :P Not complaining though, I’m looking forward to coming home. But I’m so glad I came here.
I'll say more about it later ^_^

It’s been an interesting year. I survived as a freshman in college. Came home to Massachusetts. Got into and lost sleep over the Naruto fandom, among others. Started learning Japanese. Made some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Went to my first cons. We elected the first black President of the US. I took up scuba-diving. Traveled to places I never had before. And man, much more happened than I can remember right now. If I can, I’ll do a more comprehensive list, maybe like the memes I’ve been seeing on others’ journals lately.
Wow, it’s been way longer than 10 minutes ^_^ Anyway, Happy New Year guys! Love you all, and see you in 2009!

So I'm home and the semester is over. Though I probably shouldn't post this until I'm done with the paper Ohhhhh paper, but I figured I should get this down while I could.

It's been three semesters I've spent at Smith, and only now do I understand why all the upperclassmen hated Finals week. I don't know if I branched out too far with the courses this semester or just general increase in difficulty sophomore year or what, but last year was not nearly as stressful as this.
This intro biology knocked me on my ass, and I have no idea what grade I'll get out of it. The final didn't make me cry, but... Right now I hope I pass, period.
And history... the sheer amount of reading and research is something I might learn to handle if I were sufficiently motivated, but I'm not. Not sure about that grade, either. I'll tell you how the paper goes.
Japanese is Japanese, and the least of my problems. Kinda amazing.
Bottom line is, I'm not going to pursue a major in either of those fields. I'm not even sure how much information I'll be able to take away from these courses.
So on that note, let me say what I have learned from this semester.

Things to take away from this:
1) If the teacher is using a powerpoint to accompany the lecture, I should take notes on the copy on moodle, or just on the computer. Typing. Works. Stop Forgetting This.
2) I should use that cheap little voice recorder to record the lecture if the teacher goes too fast, and actually listen to the recording to supplement my notes.
3) Writing is fun. I can't forget this when there's a paper to work on. If I meet it head-on, and it could turn out fantastic.
4) For the love of sleep, I must get the hell off Livejournal. At least I shouldn't leave it open and refresh the F-list every hour.
5) Going to bed at 5 and waking up at noon doesn't count as a decent night's sleep. Not when my "days" are now technically at night.
6) Prioritizing my free-time activities is a good idea. Decide what's worth spending time on: "Shall we actually write a background story for our cool new character, or flounce around on LJ? Your call."
7) I am not cut out for high-level biology. The part of me that wanted to be a vet is sad, but this is probably better. Sigh.

I also learned this week that my kitchen is the freaking matrix with its lack of spoons, but that's not really connected. On the other hand, that study break was great. She is a good kid.

The list is pretty complete. And now I should probably head out. Talk later, all ^_^ And Happy Holidays!

Gah, I should work. This is the sound that will echo through my head for the next few nights.
Oh did my Nano go strangely this year. 21,15~ words, about the same I got on my first attempt in 2006. Not so bad, ne? Not great, but considering the workload this semester, I count it a success. And I had fun.
The strange thing was more how many stories I had bopping around that file. A couple excerpts from reviews and other projects I was working on aside, I had a total of five different stories I was working on at the same time. Is that a failure or just too-frequent inspiration?

The initial project was my little baby from about last April. Naruto fandom AU, Itachi-centric, really fun, if difficult (I think part of the problem is that the part that I most want to work on takes place 6 years down the road. Sigh). In this story, Haku and Zabuza have a fairly significant role, and that led me to explore the nature of their relationship a little. And so I ended up dreaming up a smutty oneshot that still baffles me and makes me giggle. It's about half-way done now, but before I even put finger to keyboard on that idea, my brain was literally hijacked by a bunny that I put on the back burner, god, months ago, who suddenly demanded that I stop ignoring it. The premise was another Naruto AU, beginning during the Zabuza saga. It's essentially a branch-off inspired by my friend, commenting on how she would have been much more impressed with the canon had Kishimoto knocked off Naruto's teammate within the first 30 chapters. So it explores how the story would have gone had Sasuke been killed by Haku. All the present canon concepts are there, it just explores how the road would have diverted.
And then, two more bunnies came hopping along, courtesy of LJ. WTF self. WTF.
During a lull at one point (a lull in writing NaNoWriMo? Blasphemy!) I was browsing Ronsard's ficlets and stumbled upon Part of Your World. And suddenly I'm planning out the corresponding characters and their bios, having fun with Hidan as the frogman who terrorizes the interns and Deidara the score composer sniping at Sasori the screen editor, and researching bull sharks. Eventually I'll figure out exactly what I want to do with this and maybe get Ronsard's opinion on it ><;. Until then, it's for my own amusement only.
The other bunny came up in a conversation I had in badlubeday. A_mael commented on my icon of Kyou and Yuki, we started talking about how they could ever get together... and now I'm writing a Fruits Basket AU. It's fun, angsty, but I find myself hitting walls when I try to make it a longer story. I'll keep working on it, but I'm also tempted to just trim the later scenes and focus all the introspection and fucked-up aspects into one single sex-scene oneshot. Time will tell. In the meantime, I have to reread certain points of the canon.

Somewhere during all that, this excerpt came at me from out of nowhere:
( cut for angst and unknown context )

O_O?

How like me to take anything I can get, inspiration-wise ^_^ Well, it worked out. I'm happy with this. This year's attempt was good.
I'm proud.
And now I must work again, because if I don't I'm so fucked.

It was snowing about two hours ago. Just a few little flakes, but definitely the first noticeable snow of the season. Winter's here, kiddies.
In other news I still haven't met my sleep quota - think I'm getting into a bad habit. But I'm gonna try to hit the sack early tonight; I don't have to get up early like I usually do.
And Friday's my birthday. Woo. More like Wow. Not that I didn't think I would make it this far, but being two decades old is still kinda hard to believe. The fact that I understand what mabaliciousness says about feeling her maturity regressing doesn't help much. Maybe we're just more relaxed now? I wanna be optimistic.
On the upside, got the package from Arin I love you so much thank you tell me what to get you in return!! and now I'm debating whether I should open it now or wait until the day. I don't usually, but I feel like I should savor this.
Oh, joined the community fanficrants last night - it has already sucked up a few hours of my life. Woo hoo. It's honesty really fun to bounce opinions off other people, or just observing. That was what appealed to me about TV Tropes. Also, ranting humor is cathartic.
About the last post - thanks, everyone. It was a bad moment, and I'm sorry to have pitched that rage on your unsuspecting selves ^^; Thanks for the support.
I think that's about it for now. Wait, registered for classes this morning:
1) Japanese 221 - of course.
2) Writing for the Theatre - if I get his permission after submitting the writing sample. Think I can afford to be optimistic?
3) BIO 154. Woot.
4) A Film Studies course on Screwball Comedy - oh am I gonna have fun with that.

Now my only worries are Study Abroad Applications, this new project BIO 152 just sprung on us, the writing sample (shall I post it here? I'm kinda proud), and various homeworks. Wish me luck!

ETA: ( I have to master the LJ cut to keep my rants in check )

Look it's a dragon. Pet the fucking dragon.

The third or fourth night in a row when I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep. I wonder how long I'll go before I start getting ulcers.
I honestly don't have much to say right now, but thought I should still share because that damn dragon egg can't click itself I don't even know why I care what's going on, what I still need to go through, and general mehmph.

I went to my pre-major adviser about course registration for next semester. Overall it went well, but I still feel weary. Nothing is going to get any easier from here, and I still don't know what I want to do. I don't even know if the Film Major's a good idea, it was one of my weaker subjects both past semesters granted I "scraped through" with an A-, but I think my point still stands and I don't even know if that's where my future's taking me. I want a job I can do on my own schedule. I want to write, I want to translate manga, I love film, I suck at analysis, nothing I like is likely to yield a well-paying job unless I get incredibly lucky... And I have slight dreading flashes of ending up like what's-her-name in Outrageous Fortune, who spent years in acting school to end up a sales girl still mostly living off her parents.
Then I get moments where I remember "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," which is basically "Don't worry be happy for college students." Yeah, the major isn't everything, but it's supposed to be a decent indication of what the hell you want to be, at least a little bit.
If only I were interested in more about Japan than the language. Seriously, with my Study Abroad Plans, the abstract translation dream, and anime love, a Japanese Major would be the simplest thing. I just don't want it.
Yeah, where is the special interest I never ever thought about to sweep me off my feet and show me where my future lies? At this point, it better not do what it did with my Dad and show up second semester senior year. If it does, I shall pitch a bitch fit. I've seen way too many lost opportunities lately.
It's 3:02. That's enough emo.

ETA: My computer sprung an update on me and restarted seconds before I was gonna post. I now have new affection for LJ, which is capable of auto-saving drafts.
Also, my IM group Family has duplicated into a group labeled Orphans. WTF.
It is now 3:23. If I weren't so tired, I would be violent.

Click my egg!

I do think this is the shortest time I've had between posts that were not actually related. Huh.
This is gonna be pretty short, since it's spur of the moment, I don't actually have very much to say, and I should be devoting my time to Study Abroad research, emailing a request to my potential major advisor, checking out classes for registration next semester, my NaNoWriMo project (I'm at little less than 4,000 words. *faceplam*), various homeworks, or hell, even catching up on the LARP for tomorrow (in other words, SHOOT ME). So. Yes. Short. Point:

Thanks to my lurking around and not actually watching Askerian's journal, I came across the semi-meme of getting people to click on raising dragon eggs.
Click and help me with mine?


In other news: Election YESSSSSSSS. This is the dawn of a new era, a hopeful one. I do have a more coherent response, and I will post it soon. Poke me if it's not up by Sunday.

I won't even bother with the same refrain about how I should stop neglecting my blogs. I must be a lurker by nature, so the occasions when I actually write and post are something of a celebratory occasion.
It's been almost a year. I finished my first year of college. DARK KNIGHT fucking rocked. I started reading the Batman comics. I discovered that being stuck at home does something to me mentally. I visited a friend in Arizona and then New York, and treasured both occasions. Naruto stole my goddamn soul (the canon train-wreck and the fandom bliss). Bunnies bred.
I became a sophomore. I sprained my knee getting into my bunkbed two days before classes. I started drowning in homework. I'm still battling Study Abroad plans. I dropped Philosophy and took up Scuba Diving. I started LARPing Changeling and DeadLands. I have made new friends. I think I am bi.
And now I am starting NaNoWriMo again with no prospect of actually finishing, but with a project that's been strange and dear to my heart since May. Yes, I should go back to the first one, and I do occasionally. But prospects are low ^^; Warui.
And now for a crass crashing reentry into blogdom: a meme.

( Some of these make me wonder... )

I think that went well. So think well of me, have a fantastic Halloween, and we shall talk things soon!

Listening to the Terminator theme on repeat to keep my thoughts straight.
I remember years ago the great thrill I felt in the movie theatre as the Theme kicked and the mercury on the screen assembled into a T3. Then I remember seeing T3 and, while liking it, being really distraught at the fatalist message. It turns out the future is set and we can't change jack. Not happy-making. And I thought that was the last hurrah for the Terminator fandom. I'm glad it wasn't.
I saw the preview for the Sarah Conner Chronicles while Christmas shopping at Best Buy. Didn't think too much of it at first (thought T3 inspired them to milk a little more out of the franchise, whoop-de-doo), but then I saw the character Cameron. Summer Glau. River Tam. In another kick-ass role. That sold me.
Here's a recap for the first episode (which I saw a little over a week ago on Fox's preview. (Thanks Mutant Reviewers for the heads-up)). Forgive me for being spasmodic. I think I watched the file a total of four times, so maybe that makes up for missing the actual premier. I don't know if I'll be able to watch the rest of the show, but I will eagerly await the DVD release.

( Sarah Connor: I'll make pancakes )

Just finished off my last final (sob, self-pity, self-loathing at its lack of goodness), took a shower, and am waiting for my parents to pick me up and take me home. I'm tired, but happy at the same time. It'll be so good to have some time off. To write (god, projects! YAY!), to organize my decks, to read (memo to self: find Moon Called), to draw and upload my stuff (much stuffs), and just to meet up with everyone again. It should be good.
You know, it's exactly one month since my birthday, and it is again the day break starts. Something about the 21st *shrug*
One month as a 19-year-old. I worry for myself.

Livejournal is a strange beast to me. I keep trying to think of good things to do with it, or a way to keep it organised organized (why do I keep spelling that with an s instead of a z? I kept doing it while speed-writing my paper, too) so people can actually find what they want out of it. I guess tags will work well enough.
But I was thinking that I should try to have some purpose to each entry, so here's this one: a movie response. Not good enough for a movie review, but I just saw Moulin Rouge and felt I should tell this story.

( Moulin Rouge )

One more thing: FreeRice is for a good cause, it's fun, and I think it will help writers everywhere. Click it now.
And with that done, now I should really get dressed and throw the rest of my stuff into the suitcase. Happy Holidays, all!

but didn't know what to write. Meager inspirations, and I didn't want to get deep into any of my current projects in the middle of finals week, so all I have is a few unconnected snippets. Scavenges from a notebook, or sommat. True, throwing everything together into one entry doesn't make sense, but some things are better that way. Boy, does that sound familiar.
Maybe I should take photos of my notebook. It's kinda cute, little snatches and scenes weaving in and around old math homework notes.

First, Winter:
This time of year is marked by the scaldings on my tongue. In winter, most people just shiver and moan about the snow, but I myself survive on hot drinks. I've gotten very attached to the taste of Caramel Cider.
And bad handwriting. My class notes are absolutely horrible, so finals were winged. Or wung? Is "wung" a word? Either way, you know what I mean.
I imagined meeting Dominic Monaghan today. Wishful thinking. And why am I writing this down for people to read? Not a bloody clue. I just wonder if Lost will exceed my expectations.
Have one final left to finish: Logic. Must do. Must do now.
Odd thing: it's late December, one week from Christmas, and I've heard... maybe ten carols, max. Except for the snow, I've practically forgotten it's the holiday season, what with finals and packing and such. Makes me a little sad that we won't not to hear them. I actually asked Mom to send me some Andy Williams a few days ago. I don't even like his medley, yet it made me happy.
Ever had a moment where you zone out in the middle of writing a sentence, but keep writing, so you end up with a sentence that emerges from the depths of your brain and you have no idea what inspired it?

Random, but kinda sweet:
He tried his hand at dancing occasionally, but was sure he felt more graceful than he looked. On this particular occasion he swayed to an abrupt halt at the sound of clapping. She was slightly taller than him, her hair tied back in a fluffy bun, and her legs kicked out from under her dark robe as she fought for balance atop the railing. She hadn't been sitting there long.
A pale flush crept across her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to stop."

I really love Bagenders. This is a weak contribution.
( my dorm mate screamed the same thing. )

I have no idea where this came from:
SPOKEN INTO A PHONE: You know, there is more to life than tire irons.

Something I've observed over the last few months:
You never have much of a feel for your own weight until you walk through an old creaky dormitory. Running down the hall makes you pray for more graceful footfalls.

Why does the wireless infrastructure hate me? Just a general question that I repeat again and again.

Random little snippits. Well done, L, you've lost another night you could have used on your final. I'm really restless right now. Good night.

Oh, I forgot: the Dark Knight trailer. Bloody. Hell. Whoever thought Heath Ledger would make a good Joker needs recognition as a genius. Ledger's barely recognizable, and so convincing. Granted, he also sounds like he's watched Jack Nicholson one too many times, but still looks great! I am so psyched!

...of the story so far. It's still really, really in the works, but I hope you like it so far.
Though I hate to admit it, I had to combine some assignments into this to reach the required wordcount. Ignore the first thing about the film Memento and the second logic assignment (they are labeled). But I would like your opinion on the beginning of a Sherlock Holmes story I'm working on for a class.

And now it is time to polish, so I bid thee good night. Thank you very much for your time, and please give me your opinions. Do you think this will work, or is it insane? Whatever you think, I'd truly love to know.

( Half Nano-Project, Half Other Projects. I am ashamed. )

This starts with a timeline and the main summary for the, er, middle part of the story, because everything coming after this is samll, disconnected scenes that make little sense together without summary, and it occurs to me now that a lot of the story I still have in my mind, I haven't written down here. At all. In fact, some of this summary contradicts my current plans. This portion even contradicts itself. Anyway, if anyone reading this has paid enough attention to become very, very confused, please tell me, I'll be glad to explain. Hell, I'll just be glad someone's reading this.

( Incomplete Plot Summary )

This is a longer piece, and very bullet-point-ish, but it has the first hints of slash and comraderie, so I hope that makes the reading worth it. Though the Legolas/Gimli scene seems a little out of place... anyway, opinions are always (sought for) welcome.
Please scan through (use Ctrl-F if TL;DR) for the scene on "the clean snow glittered." I'm kinda proud of that one.

( Of Moria, Relationships, and people getting smacked )

"Chunk" being a very apt word for this portion, and all the parts afterwards. This contains the Council of Elrond (which will be a pain to finish, thank you) and plot summary of what will happen over the next month. I still haven't worked out what will convince Lily to join the Fellowship, which is a problem, but I know what happens after. I apologize for the haphazard form of this entry, but it's a major draft, so not much I could really do. I think I worked on this after the halfway mark, so from here the whole story has a kind of panicked look. Lots of chunks of plot with an occasional actual scene in the midst. I hope you can manage.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

( The Council and After )

And here we meet Gandalf. I hope I wrote him well.

( What to do now )

The last scene is cut, and I apologize. Please tell me what you think of the development between Sirius and this Elf, because I have no idea where it's going to go. Technically, I'm still conflicted over how straight Sirius is. Anyway, tell me what you think ^_^

Oh, character-assassination. I hate these scenes between Lily and Sev, but I really wanted them to come out, and I didn't know where they would, so I think I forced them. I imagine they will be pretty much gone or moved when I finish the story.
This also has the first, well, gap that I made in the narrative. I couldn't figure out how to write the rest of their journey to Rivendell, so I just left it here. Forgive me.
Also, about a week after I wrote this, I looked through the book and realized it took two weeks to get from Bree to Rivendell. I think I went back to edit some, but I don't think I did it well, so it probably contradicts somewhere in here. Just to warn you.

( Rivendell Ho! )

For anyone interested, the icon's from Movies in 15 Minutes. A LJ community. Absolutely wonderful.

( The First Trek )

Ignore the weird disjointed stuff at the bottom. They were just notes to myself about the dots on the map, and I didn't have the heart (or wordcount, look at it however you like) to erase them.

As this is a draft, I haven't figured out how to divide it well, so I'm just posting these in ~5,000 word blocks. Good? It's not that long, I promise.

Block 2: ( To Bree and Beyond )

Yes, I know the title's lame. That's why it's a draft.
Hope you like how it's going, anyway.