Bwoop! Bwoop! (original) (raw)
Bwoop! Bwoop! — LiveJournal
(Recent Entries)(Archive)(Friends)(Profile) (Alley oop!)
Navigate: (Previous 10 Entries)
Apr. 25th, 2013
06:34 am
Wow, LJ.
Ugh. Things are not good. I feel most like writing when I feel awful (which is kind of all the time), but I don't know that this is a good venue for that. Or if there's a good venue for that at all, anywhere. There are a few dimensions to my feeling so badly. Some of them, I can try to do something about (apply for jobs, I guess), and some that i can't do anything about. Or at least I don't think I can.
For the past year, I've lived in a nice neighborhood. A town. I had never lived in a "town" before. I often, including now, think that maybe I should take a walk. It's getting light, and there are so many pretty flowering trees and bushes on the streets. I like it. But I also kind of don't want to see nice things, when I feel like this. They mock me, in their way. I also feel that being up and out is for the working people, and I am not one of them.
I need to take care of a couple things online, including applying for a few jobs (to no avail, probably), Then I guess I can go to bed and think about how i feel like such a colossal failure (professionally, socially, romantically, anything-ally) before I fall asleep for 16 or so hours.
Apr. 2nd, 2010
06:51 pm - My thoughts on "Good" Friday
So… Good Friday, huh? I wonder if He and his followers and loved ones call it “Good” Friday for the irony. No irony for me, though. I get a paid day off from work, because of the alleged brutal and public murder of some guy near two millennia ago.
So what did he do that was so bad? What could be worth all of that? I’m somewhat familiar with the work of noted biblical historian Mel Gibson, but the only part from the beginning of the movie that I remember is the part where Jesus steps on that snake. That’s probably enough to get animal activists whipped into a two-wrongs-do-make-a-right-style frenzy. Even so, I don’t think it was about the snake-stomping.
Instead of looking to that movie for answers, maybe I should look to the other two Netflix movies that I have at home right now: Crash and Godspell. (I’m talking about the Crash that won the 2006 Academy Award for best picture, not David Cronenberg’s 1996 film about horny car crash victims, you pervert.) In Crash, we see some of the ugly, mindless ways people act because of their own bigotry. I haven’t watched Godspell, yet; I’m saving it for tomorrow. All I really know about it is that it’s about Jesus and hippie clowns. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’m kind of racist against hippie clowns. I care for neither hippies nor clowns, but when they crossbreed, you better look out. I’m sure Jesus was “one of the good ones,” though. But even if He were one of the mediocre ones, that’s no excuse for such brutality, which was made more insulting by being performed in public.
“It was a different time,” you might say. Then I have to wonder if we need an updated Bible, a Bible to which people can better relate. The idea of a bimonthly Bible update has been kicked around before, but it hasn’t amounted to anything. I don’t know why not; there has to be money in that. Anyway, when asked if we need an update or even a helpful appendix to The Holy Bible, noted biblical historian Mel Gibson and religious people alike always answer with a resounding “NO!!!1”. That last one instead of an exclamation point is their typo, not mine.
Since we cannot have a Bible update conveniently sent to our spam folder, we have to do our best to make the Bible apply to today’s world. What could this man (or God or whatever he is/was/will be) have done to be on the receiving end of such violence? Thinking in today’s terms, there are few things that arouse such violent rage in people.
He must have killed a cop.
Dec. 31st, 2009
07:12 pm - A year-end summary!
I do not care to put in LJ tags for people.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Went to Portland
Seen the Pacific Ocean
Got a lapdance
Shared onion rings with Tavie
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Well, the goals I set for myself were:
to complete the CPA exam (Yes)
do more volunteerwork (No)
and move out.(No)
For next year, I would like to learn to rollerskate and to practice musical instruments more often.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin Marji had a baby, Logan, in August.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My neighbor and cousin died.
5. What countries did you visit?
I did not leave the country.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A CPA license
A job in NYC
Love!
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
6/25/09 RIP MICHAEL JACKSON
I don't remember the exact dates, but the Portland trip in early October was a pretty big deal.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Passing the CPA exam
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting a better job or moving out.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No. I'm fine.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I'm enjoying my smartphone
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine! I passed the CPA exam!
Nathan's for being a good sport
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Anyone who thinks that healthcare shouldn't be for everyone.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Credit cards payments for stuff like the Portland trip, restaurants, restaurants during the Portland trip, concert tickets, CPA exam fees
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Glee
Also, finally seeing Franz Ferdinand live and the John Waters Christmas show
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
probably "Poker Face"
Or maybe that "rockin' that thing like" song
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Overall, they kind of net out to zero. This time specifically I was crying my face off practically everyday, so happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Somewhat thinner
c) richer or poorer? Richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Practicing musical instruments, reading
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wasting time in general
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas is over, dummy. I spent it at home as always. It was boring.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
That's a complicated question. I guess I'll say no. It's all over now anyway.
22. How many one-night stands?
Seven
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee!
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I probably do, but presently no names are coming to mind.
25. What was the best book you read?
My Life as a Small Boy by Wally Cox
Hot House by Pete Earley
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Cut Copy or maybe Lady Gaga (seriously)
27. What did you want and get?
A passing grade on the CPA exam
A trip to see erin
More time spent with Tavie and Gina
28. What did you want and not get?
CPA license
A new job
A new place to live
Love!
More time with sarah
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Inglourious Basterds
30. What did you do on your birthday?
Tavie visited me and we went to a diner and the Berlin Farmers Market. Heh heh
31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I will reuse last year's answer: More time with far away friends (I feel like all my friends are far away)
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Again, I will reuse last year's answer: I wear what I like, like it's Apple Jacks.
33. What kept you sane?
Well, there were some pretty awful months in there, so I don't know that anything did at that time. Otherwise TV, knitting, and an iced coffee every morning at work.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Josh Sussman
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Healthcare
36. Who did you miss?
Michael Fricking Jackson
37. Who was the best new person you met?
I had known who they were for quite some time, but I finally met Kirsten Phillips, Billy Parker, and Stephanie Apell
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
From overhearing coworkers, I learned that society is spiraling ever downward, since prayer was taken out of public schools.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"You boys never care how the girl feels."
Jun. 11th, 2009
10:08 pm - Writer's Block: Significant Choices
If you had to choose between your friends and your significant other, who would you choose?
Sorry, baby
Mar. 20th, 2009
06:05 pm - please kill me
Writing this at work at 9:50am
I just found out my grade for the financial part of the CPA exam. Of course I failed. Of course. The worst part about this is that a 75 is a passing score. I got a 74. Of course. Failing by thirty points is less painful than failing by one point. Had I gotten one more point, all of this would be over. I had been planning on moving to an apartment. I had been planning a lot of things. So much for free time or reading for fun or watching any of that huge pile of DVDs or that long Netflix queue or enjoying the spring or getting to bed for work before midnight.
I just paid $215 to retake this test. I wonder if I'm crazy enough to go through the procedure of having them regrade my test. Maybe not, since "the chances of receiving a grade change from a failing grade to a passing grade are just about equal to your chances of winning the lottery." I wonder how much the procedure costs, though.
Another thing that sucks about this is that I was sure I'd failed the other three sections, but then I found out that I'd passed. For this one, I thought I'd passed. This is why expectations of any kind are bad.
Yesterday I finished reading The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell, and today I brought to work with me a book very strongly recommended by a friend. I've only read twelve pages of it, thus far, but it is completely awesome and right up my alley. So much for that, too.
While I don't think dropping out or being a quitter is inherently wrong, I tend to think it's foolish when a person is more than halfway done something. I guess I have to suck it up and study for another nine or ten weeks, followed by the anxiety of waiting for a grade until it comes in late June.
Current Mood: 
disappointed and disgusted
Dec. 31st, 2008
05:23 pm - I will do a survey
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Got married, went to Disney World, went to Rochester and Toronto, went to Coney Island, spent the night at the location of 
therealtavie and Gina
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I did not make resolutions last year, nor will I this year, however I will set goals. I hope to complete the CPA exam, do more volunteerwork, and move out.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not close to me, but our puppies were born this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My cousin's cat died.
5. What countries did you visit?
Canada!
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
CPA?
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2/29/08 was my wedding day and the following week was the honeymoon in Disney World and they day after that, we got three puppies. While I don't remember the calendar days, I remember very vividly going to Toronto to see 3x1minus1 and not_glimmer and then going to Toronto with them to see the Kids in the Hall. Other important days/events were the Spice Girls concert (yes), meeting John Waters, and meeting the Kids in the Hall (I had previously only met Dave).
Also, I think it was 8/31/08 that we had lunch with Stephanie, then went to Coney Island, rode the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel, and walked the boardwalk. I love that day.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Well, I passed the two parts of the CPA exam I sat for. Ooh, and I paid off my student loans.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I have regrets about my wedding!
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I bought a puppy, how about that?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
THE AMERICAN VOTERS YAY
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The people who voted for Prop 8
14. Where did most of your money go?
Paying off my student loans. I also sunk $4000+ into registering for the CPA exam and CPA review courses.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Spice Girls concert (shhh), being with sarah and erin, Disney World
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I never have a good answer to this. How about that crappy song "Bubbly"? Boy, do I hate that song.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Both. They net out to zero.
b) thinner or fatter? A teeny bit thinner
c) richer or poorer? Richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Practicing clarinet or piano or accordion
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I don't know
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent it at home. Christmas Eve was kind of lonely and weird. Christmas Day was uneventful but not atypical
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
No. Or I could copy Nathan and say "not anew."
22. How many one-night stands?
Only three
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Hmm, House, maybe
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Well, I didn't hate Sarah Palin this time last year, because I had never heard of her.
25. What was the best book you read?
Becker CPA Review books, woo!
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
erin showed me the way to Peter Frampton, I mean Beirut
27. What did you want and get?
Trip to Disney World, to meet John Waters. AWESOME NEW PRESIDENT
28. What did you want and not get?
Well, I could have stayed later to meet John Hodgman after a reading, but I went home to study, like a square.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I liked Religulous and Saw V a lot, but I saw few new movies this year.
30. What did you do on your birthday?
Wah, it was lonely. I ate dinner with my uncle and studied.
31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If friends weren't so far away.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
I wear what I like, like it's Apple Jacks.
33. What kept you sane?
Normally I would say knitting, but I haven't knitted since July.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Well, he isn't a "public" figure...
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election and Prop 8
36. Who did you miss?
Friends who are too far away
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Can I say John Waters?
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
An increase in government spending will make GDP increase.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Bring the egg unbroken back you are the king"
Current Mood: 
okay
Dec. 20th, 2008
03:15 am - Wow
In case I hadn't mentioned it before, what I've been up to for the past several months is working on getting my CPA. It's been costing me a lot of time and money. Especially time. I haven't been able to watch very much TV, knit, play videogames, or read (non-accounting material) since about late July/early August.
The CPA exam is a four-part test. You can sit for the parts in any order you like, but you have to pass all four parts within 18 months to have really passed. You can retake the part or parts that you didn't pass with no penalty toward the part or parts you did pass, as long as it all takes place within that 18-month period.
I sat for Regulation (the three-hour part) on October 28 and Auditing (the four-and-a-half-hour and longest part) on November 20. The deadline for the grades for this quarter is January 15, so I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would get them by Christmas, but as time passed, I started to give up on the idea. So tonight, on a whim, I went to the NASBA site to look for my grades, like I've been doing every few days. I entered my section ID and birthday and expected to see the same error message I had been seeing for the past month. Not only was I shocked that my grades were actually in, but that I passed both parts!
This is such a big deal. It means I'm halfway there. It means that all of those many hours spent away from doing anything enjoyable weren't for naught. And it gives me some encouragement to continue studying for the two remaining parts. I'd really been feeling burnt out, but at least for a little while, I feel renewed. I even hesitate to believe it. I took some screencaps, and I feel like it will be more legitimate, when I get my hardcopy of the scores in the mail.
It isn't over yet, of course. I sit for Business (the two-and-a-half-hour and shortest part) on January 3 and Finance (the four-hour part) on February 28. I have lots more to do, but now I feel so much more encouraged than I did yesterday. I had only a half of a heart container, and I just got a fairy.
Now I need to stick to this and not get complacent. I'll go read some more of the economics chapter of Business now.
Current Mood: 
surprised
Aug. 19th, 2008
09:03 pm - Yeah
An update, because I don't feel like studying. More on that below.
I feel like I haven't posted in ages. I find Twitter more effective for my bite-sized thoughts. You people should get accounts with Twitter, if you have not already done so. Then tell me, and I will friend you.
Nolan and I are working on actually living together. He will be moving here with me, as my housebuying/building plans have been put on hiatus.
For better or worse, I've decided to take the CPA exam. It's expensive and time-consuming. I signed up for and began some review courses last month. I had hoped to take the Auditing section this month. I only just got my ticket to schedule today. A person can't just sign up, they have to be evaluated and get a code off the ticket first. Anyway, I tried to schedule, and no seats are open in New Jersey, Delaware, or this half of Pennsylvania for Auditing, and they don't offer the test in September (or the third month of any quarter). At first I was really bothered, but now I guess I'll just take it as a sign that I needn't hurry with the auditing, and I can help Nathan move. I'll have to squish the Auditing part in in the beginning of November before I start the Business classes or sit for it in January, which will be worse, because that's when I intend to sit for the Business part. Fascinating, no?
MonsterMania is this weekend. Yay!
Current Mood: 
contemplative
Current Music: Neko Case "That Teenage Feeling"
Jun. 9th, 2008
09:37 am - wow
The really religious lady just said something pretty mean to me.
She was asking me about my trip to Rochester/Toronto. I told her I had a good time, and it was great to see friends I haven't seen in years, especially since I have no local friends. And she said, "well, it is what it is." I wish I was able to respond to that, but I was too surprised to even say, "that's kind of mean." Err, I guess it is what it is, and I am resigned to it, but I had been expecting something a little more optimistic, even if she didn't mean it. Everybody around here always says, "it is what it is" and it always pisses me off.
All I can figure is that I smelled like atheism, so I deserved it.
Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: stupid office noises
May. 31st, 2008
01:19 am
I feel bad that I don't update, you know? I wish I could do it directly from my brain. Maybe I really should investigate that Twitter. Not that that's connected to my brain, but it seems more suitable for the here-and-now thoughts.
A list of stuff about me (not that I think anyone is interested, but maybe when I'd dead in the future, people will want to research my life. They won't, but I'd like to have the honor.):
- May 14th was my one-year anniversary at my job. This means that in July, I can put in for a different schedule, and, if approved, start working that schedule in September.
- Today Clancy and Mabel got fixed. We were really worried about them tearing out their own or each other's stitches. The vet tech said we should put them in a onesie. We didn't do it.
- I pledge to go to Coney Island before it is too late.
- Two weeks ago, vovat and I spent some time in Wildwood with Dorothea. I really missed that. I love it right before the season starts. There's something really great about walking the boardwalk at night when it's empty and the only sounds are the ocean and the construction of new attractions. It must have been awhile since I've paid attention to claw machines. The ones there had all kinds of modern stuff and much much less of the crappy unlicensed ripoff stuffed animals of yore. I saw ipods, Wiis, Coach bags, and mystery boxes wtih question marks on them (which, to me, seemed Super Mario Bros.-like). All impossible to win, of course.
- We saw Prince Caspian the other day. I'd only finished the book a couple weeks ago, and the changes really made me frown. Right now, I'm almost finished with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After this, I think I'll take a break from Narnia for awhile.
- Nathan and I are semi-actively looking at houses to buy or have built. This is a terrible experience. It makes me feel like I'll buy something that I don't exactly want so as not to disappoint the builder. Or else never buy anything.
- I'm seriously thinking of going to New York City in a few weeks to see John Waters do This Filthy World. He's one of my truest heroes, and I've never seen him in person. The odds are very good that I'll go.
Current Mood: 
tired
Current Music: The Sadies - New Seasons
Navigate: (Previous 10 Entries)