| 7:49 pm - for the first time in a million years and all because of a meme. |
| The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!- What I create will be just for you.- It'll be done this year.- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to repost. We can all make stuff!!I like making stuff. Does anyone even see this journal anymoreedit:since I am a responder and it looks like more people have said they want something here is the list:1. freeimprov2. gamerchick3. dracoangelica4.5. (5 cents | take a penny) |
| Sunday, October 7th, 2007 |
| 11:02 am - I don;t usually do memes but I thought this one was fun |
These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users.Bold what you have read.Italicise what you started but couldn't finish.Strike through what you couldn't stand.Underline those you want to read.Change the color if you've never heard of it.* it if you own it but haven't read itIn this case its more of a started but DIDN'T finish. Usually for various reasons, but not because the book was so bad.Jonathan Strange & Mr NorrellAnna Karenina *Crime and Punishment * Catch-22 One Hundred Years of SolitudeWuthering Heights The SilmarillionLife of PiThe Name of the RoseDon QuixoteMoby Dick _Ulysses_Madame Bovary * The Odyssey Pride and Prejudice Jane Eyre The Tale of Two CitiesThe Brothers Karamazov *Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies *War and Peace *Vanity FairThe Time Traveler's Wife The Iliad EmmaThe Blind AssassinThe Kite RunnerMrs. DallowayGreat Expectations American GodsA Heartbreaking Work of Staggering GeniusAtlas ShruggedReading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in BooksMemoirs of a GeishaMiddlesexQuicksilverWicked : The Life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West The Canterbury TalesThe HistorianA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man *Love in the Time of Cholera *Brave New World *The FountainheadFoucault's PendulumMiddlemarchFrankenstein The Count of Monte CristoDraculaA Clockwork OrangeAnansi BoysThe Once and Future KingThe Grapes of WrathThe Poisonwood Bible 1984 Angels & DemonsThe InfernoThe Satanic VersesSense and SensibilityThe Picture of Dorian GrayMansfield ParkOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestTo the LighthouseTess of the D'Urbervilles * Oliver TwistGulliver's TravelsLes MisérablesThe CorrectionsThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and ClayThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeDuneThe PrinceCryptonomiconNeverwhereA Confederacy of DuncesA Short History of Nearly EverythingDublinersThe Unbearable Lightness of BeingBeloved Slaughterhouse-FiveThe Scarlet LetterEats, Shoots & LeavesThe Mists of AvalonOryx and CrakeCollapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or SucceedCloud AtlasThe ConfusionLolitaPersuasionNorthanger AbbeyThe Catcher in the RyeOn the RoadThe Hunchback of Notre DameFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything_Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_The AeneidWatership DownGravity's RainbowThe HobbitIn Cold BloodWhite TeethTreasure IslandDavid CopperfieldThe Three MusketeersThat's not too bad- I had a list once that I was working off of, thus one of the reasons I have read many of these. Of course, English major gave me a bit of a heads up too.current mood:  chipper (take a penny) |
| Saturday, August 4th, 2007 |
| 7:19 pm - sigh |
It's not that likely that any more survivors out of the still missing 8 or so people will be found in the 35W collapse (pretty near impossible), but it'd be nice to keep up the effort of finding out where they were and what was happening with the bridge- then Bush had to come to the city and fly over the wreckage so the whole effort- rescue, search, cleanup and Red Cross efforts (aided by my church) were shut down for two days. He was "touring" the site. Lovely Bushy, just. All ye liberal friends shout for joy as I have finally expressed annoyance at our dear old Prez.In the good news I am installing Sims 2 Nightlife and I am excited.current mood:  excited (3 cents | take a penny) |
| Saturday, July 14th, 2007 |
| 12:19 pm - "I'm reaching, do you see me?" |
On Friday night Iain and I had a long talk in which I realized the horrible mistake I have been making for years. This mistake has hurt all of my relationships and I just didn't notice it- I guess all I can say is that sometimes I am a social idiot. Well, I can't say I didn't notice it, I noticed that I don't talk to my friends as much about things beyond gaming or the weather, but I couldn't figure out why.Now, I am a Scientologist, that's not a secret, and it's a big part of my life. I mean, that is what I have dedicated my life to training to do right now, and when I am done training I will spend at least another 5 years beyond that working at applying that skill I am acquiring. But raise your hands if you really understand it- what I am doing, how I feel about it, beyond that I think it is worth dedicating my attention to. Anyone? I didn't think so. That was my mistake, I stopped talking about it. It's dumb, it was for a dumb reason because I don't know many people beyond my friends who are more religiously accepting- especially my best friend. So here I was not talking about it because I thought I had something to lose. I mean, I know that people have incorrect information about Scientology. There is shit on the internets the likes of which I can't believe and that I won't get into now because everyone creates false ideas about things that they don't understand. Suffice it to say, I was afraid that people had looked at those things and that if I brought up Scientology then they would think I was weird. It's the stupidest computation in the world. One, people have known I am a Scientologist so if they do think weird things they'll probably think them if I bring it up or not. And two, by not bringing it up, I don't give people the idea of what it really is and I just re-enforce the idea that there is something about it to hide. Which there isn't at all. Anyone can find out anything at all that they want about it- I'll tell you, you can read it in a book, you can go to the church- there are lots of ways. Because it's not a "phenomenon" it's a religion, and it is just as legitimate as anyone else's.So now here I sit, and I have the idea that people think I am doing something strange with my life and not talking about it and I don't know how to approach fixing it up with everyone, except to make time to talk about it in person. It's upsetting to say the least and I am sorry that my recalcitrance has hurt our friendships. You know who you are, because I am sure that you have felt it. From here on out, I am more open, I promise, for I will not be afraid to talk about something completely legitimate that I am interested in.current mood:  lonely (6 cents | take a penny) |
| Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 |
| 11:27 pm - change of the plans |
| As you can tell, I am back to town a couple of days early. Essentially, things are a little different than I had thought they would be because when I got to Florida we figured out that I wasn't as set up for the program as they wanted me to be. So now I am back and I have a program to complete before I can return to Florida and do the training I had meant to do. And it sucks, but the program will be fun and rewarding so what can I say? I guess I'll just have to work on getting it done fast. I am estimating it will take at least a couple of months.Maybe by the time I go back to Florida the worst of the hot weather will be over. I am afraid that it was just gearing up and I was pretty miserable because of the heat while I was there.While I was there I had fun. The church is in Clearwater Florida- The Hubbard College is in the same area as the main church. There are four main buildings- three of them are hotel/church buildings (because the Florida church is a religious retreat) and one of them is the student building where all the training occurs. They are all in walking distance (the longest is 4 blocks) but if you have to walk more than a block it gets pretty taxing (I swear I had to drink so much water!).I lived in the "student motels", three motels purchased and renovated by the church for the specific purpose of housing the 500+ students. Mine was named the Clipper. It was right on an inlet of the sea with a dock and a sailboat named the Pelorus Jack. Named after a legendary dolphin that guided ships through the French Pass in New Zealand (no ships crashed in that treacherous space while he was doing his work). I lived in Clipper 15 with 5 other women. They were all older than me, spanning quite a range, but I liked them all and we got along well. Strangely enough, I had the bed that two other trainees from my home organization slept in while they were there for training... weird. The schedule was as hard as I thought it would be, maybe harder, but fun in it's own right. I liked knowing exactly what to do at every moment of the day and when I had any free time I made phone calls of wrote letters and that was that. I did have time to listen to CDs when I got home to my room with 1/2 to spare as we had a cd player in there and we would jam sometimes. All in all it was a good experience, the only bad part being the whole getting sent back thing and I look forward to when I can return. It felt like I was right at the fore of what was going on in my religion. Since the church in Florida is one of the management organizations, I always knew what was going to happen across the world before it actually happened. And we are preparing for some pretty big events this July and I know what's going to happen so it's rather exciting to have been there for that.Now, I am here so I will get back in the groove of things and have fun with the time I have before I head out again. So, anyone want to hang out? I got the weddings coming up of course, but I'll be around so drop a ring on my phone eh? (3 cents | take a penny) |
| Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 |
| 4:52 pm - and more |
| Whew LJ finally got it's shit together so that I could post the post I have been trying to make for about 5 days now. Oh boy. And now of course, this is really short notice, because that means I leave tomorrow. I worked Serenity out with Beth guys, so I will be drunk in the shuttle for two weeks and we'll get Quinn out of the game while I am back home for the weddings. It'll be fine, I'll return and get to play with you all again. Maybe when I come back we can have a party of going away because there will be more notice. That would be nice.So I am excited and not and I hope that things go well for all.I'll post my address in a private post as soon as I get a hold of it.Wish me luck!P.S. I won't have my cell phone, but I think I'll still have that voice mail if you want to leave me a message. I was thinking about calling once and a while on Sunday if I have time so that I can talk to the group shortly, but for now it's only three weeks and we can work more things out when I get back for the weddings on the 28th of June.I love you!current mood: excited (1 cent | take a penny) |
| 4:51 pm - important, though a few days old |
| About a month ago I applied to the Hubbard College in Florida where they have the best training programs for people training to be Scientology counselors in the world. And I found out that I am accepted! It's crazy cool, this is the best opportunity ever because the program is so intensive and you come out the other end jammed full of information and knowing exactly how to apply it. For example, I have been working at my church for almost two years and I have been training there full time to get as far as I have; in Florida, because it is so intense people are getting through the training I have done here in 5 months or less there. The people who come back from training there have this incredible confidence in what they know and their ability to apply what they know to life and their job and that is really what I want. Plus, when I come back I will be the FIRST person in MN to train as high as I will be trained, ever. It's like getting a doctorate in Scientology. The reason it's the best church to train at is because it was specifically founded to be so by L. Ron Hubbard. And it's not easy to get in, there are a whole bunch of requirements- among those being able to study fast- so I'm really pumped.If I do everything perfect then I will probably be down there 7 months. It could take longer if I get stuck a little (because you study at your own pace) or I could be faster than that and really rock the house. It all depends on me and how well I do.Let's see, the church is called "Flag" because it was originally a ship that L. Ron Hubbard used and he landed it and founded the church there. I'll be staying in dorms and eat at a cafeteria and the schedule is from 8-10 daily (except Sat, we have the morning off). Of course, that means that about four years of college-like classes can be jammed into much less time, so I wont be gone as long by doing a schedule like that, but I know that at first I am going to HATE it. That's part of the reason I want to have a few weeks to get used to it first. I won't have time to access the internet and I won't have all the time in the world to call people, but I'll write when I can and call when I can and I really won't be gone that long. The only thing that I am not looking forward to is how hot it is going to be.So my original plan was to go down after Rachel's wedding in July, but I really want to go as soon as possible, so I am trying to work it out to go for a few weeks and come back for the weddings for a couple weeks and then go out there for the long haul. That'll start it out, let me get my feet wet and give everyone a little better understanding of how things will go while I am gone.The only thing that's standing in the way of that happening is that I would have to quit my games with all yous guys that much earlier and that causes me a little bit of strife. Of course, when I came back for the weddings I could play so that we can let my character gracefully exit instead of saying "she disappeared one day" that doesn't really work for the pilot of the ship does it. I could be drunk in the wagon for the weeks that I was gone that don't overlap with Beth's honeymoon right? Are we planning on playing a little though the weddings will be going on? This is what I am trying to figure out because I really want to go a lot but I don't want to fuck anything over with other people. If I can, I would jet out of here on Wednesday and come back on the 28th.So I'm trying to figure it out and I really really want it to work. (3 cents | take a penny) |
| Monday, December 25th, 2006 |
| 11:59 am - justanote |
Just wanted to drop a line and say that I am leaving tomorrow to go to Japan for two weeks so I will be more out of touch than usual (not that I ever post here anyway, so no one will really notice right?). I got some good stuff the big stuff: cash for Japan, an iPod (yes, I have fallen and I now own one. Sweet!) and a pair of garnet earrings. Last night I fixed an scarf my aunt bought by completely unravelling it and then re-knitting it again. Everyone was very impressed, it was pretty awesome.News about my car is that it was totalled, but we got some good money for it from insurance so I will be able to get something else that is good as well, and will hopefully eat less gas. And that's all. Muchlove and Merrychristmas!Nikkicurrent mood:  happy (1 cent | take a penny) |
| Monday, November 13th, 2006 |
| 1:52 am - I was singing "Call Me When You're Sober" |
My car just got whacked. As in, the lord of the drunk drivers called out a hit on it and the instrument of his hand of smackdowns took my Cadillac out of commission. A 1995 silver pickup driven by CARLOS who subsequently was hauled off in a cop car to spend time in the tank. I am now saddled with the responsibility of figuring out whether or not the insurance (in someone else's name) is correct and the owner was the driver or someone else (a third name) all together. I have to get up early and go get a different car to drive (which needs its tires filled) so that I can go to work.Luckily for me the gods of the road had thier eyes out, and while they could not completely stop their brother of destruction, they put a hand in to make sure that CARLOS (I don't know why that is in all caps) hit me right in front of the driver's side door- litteraly, the door was making horrible noises of not wanting to open when I did open it- and not actually in the door, where I would have been hurt. I came out of it without any hurt, besides the loss of a favorite possesion and some sleep, since I am wide awake and have to wait for the towing company to figure out thier paperwork so I can call them for some info I need.Quite dramatic.current mood:  annoyed (4 cents | take a penny) |
| Saturday, October 14th, 2006 |
| 3:28 pm - strangest and wierdest wierdiness |
| I just turned on the TV to some Saturday afternoon public channel science fiction and what should I see but our favorite inapropriately touching duo from Farscape on S-G1. Yes siree. Maybe one of the spins off thereof, god knows there are enough of them. I will now IMDB it and post the links.Claudia Blackand Ben Browdersufficiently stranged out. (4 cents | take a penny) |
| Monday, October 9th, 2006 |
| 11:38 pm - Heroes |
| I hate to say I told you so... but, I told you so!!!Was too a nuclear explosion.So there. :P (1 cent | take a penny) |
| 12:30 am - I should be sleeping |
I should be sleeping, but what do you know, I'm not.I have been composing LJ entries in my head and not making them. I wish that somehow I could just jack in and download a bunch of "mental vomit" (shout out to the Wiatch from my creative writing class) right on to the screen and then just press post.Mostly, it was about the Twins game (the last one they won in which they became the AL Champs) and Cirque Du Soleil which I went to see two nights ago.Cirque- pretty awesome. It was the "Jungle Fantasy" so everything was jungle themed. Sigh on the fact that there was a singing Ladybug with a masters in vocal arts who was below pitch so often that even the music unsavvy could tell, and the incredibly tall "soul tree" who actually played a mean electric guitar, but was just there to be tall and supposedly sexy which he wasn't at all.The best were the Mongolian contortionists who had two acts one on a pedestal and one on a suspended cuboid. The POWER and strength of these tiny women! Wow it's amazing, and there is no way at all to actually express it so I leave it at that. The last act was another power act, three guy, two of them were some of the largest most solid men I have ever seen. Their act was all about control and slow movements and lifting- AMAZING. The Twins- That kicked butt too. The best part about going to a sporting event in the flesh is the way thousands of people are there with you experiencing the same feelings and the emotion really does have a physical presence in the arena. I hate baseball on the TV; that said, this was one of my favorite sporting event things I have ever done. LOVED it. After, about 2/3s of the stadium inhabitants stayed to watch the KC/Tigers game on the jumbotron. It went into 12th inning and then KC won, the whole crowd went crazy AGAIN as though the twins had just re-won the game. I suppose they had since that game made them League Champs. Oh the elation! I liked it, more live sporting events for me? And that is all.current mood:  sleepy (1 cent | take a penny) |
| Saturday, September 23rd, 2006 |
| 10:59 pm - upon my return |
Back from my trip. Rundown:14 sept- Flew into Moab, Utah after 9 hours of plane and airport sitting, went shopping, got a new hat for my brithday.15 sept- Hmmm, what did we do my second day? Got presents from my parents for my birthday. Went on hike at campground to the edge of the canyon (Near Dead Horse Point) went to the visitors center and out to the point itself.16 Sept- Went rafting in the morning (eh) down the canyon on the Colorado river, visited Arches national park (very cool) stayed at a KOA this night and had only shower of whole trip17 sept- Back to Arches, hiked over 7 miles this day. Beautiful, I think I have pictures, but I will make more detailed post later and see what I can do about that.18 Sept- drove south/west stopped at a couple of trading posts, didn't buy anything. Took the drive through Valley of the Gods, had to build up the road in a couple 100 spots so that we could actually make it through the washes (did you know you could go 4-wheeling in a motorhome?)19 Sept- Monument Valley trip in the back coutry on the Navajo Res which makes up a lot of Ariz and some of the other states of the 4 corners. More arches, pictographs, sheep, and lots of dust. bought some earrings and a pot.20 Sept- Hike to see an Anasazi ruin (don't know what campground, but it's in AZ) and then drove hard through the wind and the sand storms to make it to Flagstaff for the plane. Home.And that was it... I plan on doing some detailed posts about it sometime. If I do, I will maybe put in some pics as above.current mood:  content (1 cent | take a penny) |
| Tuesday, September 12th, 2006 |
| 11:27 pm - I will call you Wiatch |
| No gaming tonight since Iain forgot his notebook (and he is oh-so-dependent on it *that was sarcasm) so Iain, Noel, Gamerchick and I (I can't be arsed to figure out how to put her is as an LJ user) went to see _The Covenant_Well dahlings, I enjoyed it more than any of my companions, I believe. And yes, I must admit, it was dumb. But I think that the same part of me that loved The Craft when I was about 13 years old screamed out for joy at being able to see another stupid teen movie about witches. The fact that they were guys and that the main character was played by Steven Strait (aka Warren Peace, duh! I thought he looked familiar) made it better. And then, all you have to do is throw a little bit of gooshiness at me and I am all for a movie, esp if the main man has a really nice pair of lips. So, I'd say it's either a Tuesday night dollar theater showing (it's half price on Tuesdays here) or maybe a rental if you have a free credit or you're splitting it with about 3 others so it only costs you a dollar each. Yeppers.Latter Wiatches!edit: hm... This Steven guy is a year younger than my brother... can we say weirded out? When did actors who played high schoolers start to be younger than me? And when did I start to think they were HOT?current mood: amused (4 cents | take a penny) |
| Monday, September 11th, 2006 |
| 6:59 pm - After a long long absence |
What better day to pick up my journal after an absence of a couple years than the day after my 24th birthday and the anniversary of 9/11, which I have nothing to say about really.In fact, what much do I have to say? I just thought I would write something and re-establish myself as an entity. After tomorrow I will be only one course away from my internship at work, which takes me ever closer to not being on the technical training corps anymore, but a real counselor and I couldn't be more excited about it really. When I think about it it makes me nervous and excited all at the same time. I love the student exercises I have had to do and the way that people are happy when I am through with them. There is no better way to see that it all actually does work than to DO it. So, I will hone my skills and use of the force on my internship, I will consider going away to train higher, maybe, and we'll see where it takes me from here.In other news I am going to go on vacation with my family. I hadn't originally planned to, but I decided to take one of my two weeks to go. Glad I did because when else would I have taken it. I am only taking a week at x-mas time. To the southwest I go! Moab, Utah. Where they make "dirt shirts" (shirts dyed orange with the dirt) and I'm pretty sure don't serve alcohol. Which is fine since I don't go camping to drink. I hear however that that is a favorite pass time of campers, and from what I have seen that is probably not too incorrect a rumor.Last year, at Bryce canyon (I think) there was a group of French exchange students staying in the sites a couple places down from us and what was the first thing they did when night fell, but spread out, find young Americans to hang out with and bum alcohol and cigarettes off of and proceed to make a ruckus into all hours of the night. It's not isolated to French people, I feel like I should mention that.And there it is.Fin.current mood:  industrious (3 cents | take a penny) |
| Friday, July 23rd, 2004 |
| 1:34 pm - Yorp |
| Hunter session #4**( fun with botchesCollapse )**Huhs, I feel like this is so long and boring. In other news, I got a letter from Milkweed today saying that they want me to start my internship on the 6th of September, do it MTW from 9-5 and please say yes. They haven't even recieved my second leter of recomendation yet. I guess I impressed them. The third paragraph even says that when I am done with my internship I will recieve a modest stipend... I thought that this was an unpaid internship... I have no clue what is going on. But the good news is, I impressed them. Believe me, when I write to them I don't leave all of the horrible typos and misspellings sitting there like big zits. Yorp! (3 cents | take a penny) |
| 12:13 pm - I tried to post this last night... |
| _please excuse my spelling_I made a really cool new icon, but due to the fact that my father in a fit of empty-the-computer-without-really-understanding-what-was-making-the-computer-slow, deleted all imaging programs except paint, I have no way to make it so that lj accepts my icon. Poop. I made it here: www.mrpicassohead.com which is cool and awesome and if someone else makes an icon from there, just remember, I found it first!Okay, short hunter summary because for some reason I do not have the attention span to write anything at all. Ever.**( session 3, Undeworld BitesCollapse )**i guess that was only one session. There's just too much stuff to cram in. It's late so I'll have to write about the other one tomorrow. Tomorrow being the last day I'll have computer access until Europe, it will have to be tomorrow. (4 cents | take a penny) |
| Monday, July 19th, 2004 |
| 12:51 pm - Egads 8 days |
| count down to wedding 5 days count down to plane boarding 6 days _count down to Mardrid 8 days_This weekend my family and I took our yearly trip to Grand Marais, my favorite town on the North Shore. It also happens to be Amy's favorite town and she also happens to live there every summer giving Kyacking lessons. I didn't have a chance sighting of her this year like I did last year. I think it would have been a lot less stressful if I had though.We stayed in a campground called Cascade State Park and on the first day while my parents and brother were napping, I took a hike over to the falls and then down to the lake and back. It was about a 30 minute walk, but it was nice. The eddies in the pools at the bottom of the falls were as dark as Guiness and the foam on top looked like head. Someone had been drinking near the rock where I was standing, so it actually smelled like beer there, but cheaper, lighter beer than Guiness.Happy Rhodes' The Keep is the perfect soundtrack to a walk in the woods, with water on one side and deep forest on the other. I think that I found a song for my character too, but I haven't looked up the lyrics yet, so I don't know.I just realized that I didn't post a summary for the last session so I guess that I'll do that a little later when I get back from Iain's, which is where I am going now. (2 cents | take a penny) |
| Monday, July 12th, 2004 |
| 11:56 pm - zee days trickle away |
| here's my own countdown: _15 days until Madrid_I say 15, but I really only have 14 and since I'm cutting it so close with the wedding and I'll be gone the two days before my flight in Chicago (pray that nothing goes wrong. It won't) I have 12 days to figure out what I am taking to Europe and to pack it. Crap.What odes one pack to backpack around Europe? I'm used to having a suggested packing list, so I am asking my friends, and then, maybe my firends could ask their friends. I've never stayed in a hostel before. Do I need to take a sleepingbag or sheets? What are shower accomodations like? Where will I wash my clothes? should I pack a towel? hmmm a towel... How do I avoid looking like a complete American Ass? Do I have to avoid all clothing that have English written on them, or just t-shirts that say "my country could beat up your country" over a prominent red, white and blue background. Should I even bother with shorts? Are capris okay... a sarong for a skirt? Just what is the weather like over there this time of year?What are all of those little things that I am going to forget? Toothpaste, check. travel sewing kit, check. Camera! ids! copy of passport and birth certificate! oik! I'm a mess. Who ever thought packing would be so stressful. I am notorious for staying up the night before I leave to pack, but I will be up driving (I'm cutting it close!) so I can't do that. help me! anyone know where I can get a suggested packing list for backpacking around Europe in the summer. Maybe I'll go do a google search. (4 cents | take a penny) |
| Saturday, July 10th, 2004 |
| 7:23 pm - hunter summary #2 |
| Well, we played 5 days ago now, but I think I can manage. As things go, this was a short session, my brother and I couldn't show until 8:30 and then there was so much of topic tangenting that it seemed like we only got a little done. I suppose it was enough though.( A Trip to Desdemona Vail'sCollapse ) current mood: worn out (8 cents | take a penny) |