I ran a bath and soaked in creme brulee
scented bubbles and Francesca Lia
until my fingertips wrinkled up
and negativity lost hold on the
almost start of my holiday
break.

And then I took a cold shower, slipped into my slinky new robe, and checked email.
Reminders of why I wanted something relaxing. This is still what I'd like for Christmas.

It's been a while since I've run away. Or is it running towards something? (It feels like) I haven't done either in a long time.

I picked up Violet & Claire again. This book always reminds me about ambition, and wonder in innocence. Two halves, one whole, we're all just pieces of each other.

I finished Tourist Season last weekend, after three months. It was good, but I just wasn't as into it as I was with Carl Hiaasen's other, newer books. Maybe I should try reading them in reverse, instead of in the order they were written.

I also finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. I read it in three days, starting Sunday after I finished Tourist Season. Christopher Moore's writing is funny, in a way different from Carl Hiaasen's, but also an easy read that I didn't want to put down. I need to read all his other books too.

(no, this entry has nothing to do with my realizing that I've possibly only written about YA and children's books I've read)

I'm annoyed that I can't sleep in on weekends anymore. When I try to after waking up naturally, I can't because the upstairs neighbors are stomping around. I don't know if it's aerobics or DDR or what, but it's loud and it's every weekend at 8am. Last week, when I first heard it, I thought maybe they were moving stuff around. But it's in sets and somewhat rhythmic. If it's still happening next week, I'm going to go and see what it is.

And then there's the cello player. That starts shortly after the stomping. It's lovely music, but not on a Saturday morning!

I miss sleeping in till noon (or past noon even). But on the upside, I have been a lot more productive. Today was laundry, then cleaning Round 2. ( and some other errands )

And here we are now. My plans for the rest of the night include a bit of work, and then either some Evangelion or reading Tourist Season. And then Blue Angels tomorrow.

Hi, I just wrote a totally long and boring detailed entry of my day. ohwow.

While the rest of the world was engaged in the end of Harry Potter, I was at The End of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I started on the books after the movie. They were short, easy books that I could finish in a couple of hours, about ( a book and a half before bed ). I liked the paper the pages were printed on, and that there were 13 books with 13 unlucky chapters, and notes at the end of each leading to the next. And how Lemony Snicket went off on so many tangents, and the satirical and funny way he would explain words and sayings. And oh, the dedications at the beginning of each book to his beloved Beatrice. ( my favorites )

One of the things I've learned from the current sponsored community (mydarkestsecret for the movie Blood & Chocolate) is that the next time I'm upset a book I like is being "ruined by Hollywood," the advertising vehicles aren't the ones I should be taking it out on. By the time they get the movie to promote, it's already been completed; they had nothing to do with the making of or any say on the changes that were made that "ruined it." it's the director, the writers, the movie-makers.

( I think the movie would be fine as a standalone, but not as a companion to the book )

Movie/Hollywood butchering the book aside, I'm very happy with the way the sponsored community is going. It's the best one so far, mostly because they let us know what needed to be there (release date, trailer, links, etc.) and gave us complete control over the rest of it. We're the ones running it, we're seasoned LJ users who know how to use the space. ( When we first started doing sponsored communities, I really wanted to see a movie one with a character or characters from the movie as the author(s) of the comm.. and now it's happened! *g* )

Okay, wow. Really long post. Ending it here and going to bed. But if you haven't already, check out the comm. @ mydarkestsecret. I'll be sad to see it end :(. Maybe this becomes really popular and successful and we'll get to do more of these.

I found Necklace of Kisses (in hardcover) on Amazon, for a dollar used. A dollar. Even with shipping it was cheaper than the cost of transportation if I were to get the book from the library (x2, if you count the trip to return it too), and I get to keep it for more than just 3 weeks. I also still had some value left over in one of my gift certificates, so I really didn't actually pay any money for the book.

I ordered it a couple of weeks ago, and it finally showed up today. It was listed as used, but it's brand new. I think the description also said something about wear on the cover jacket, but I don't see anything. I can't believe I got a book I wanted, brand new and hardcover, for only a dollar!

I showed J and told him this when I got home, and it turns out that he had ordered NoK too, for me for Christmas. Oops. :)

Maybe sleep and tea(+honey) will rid my body of the bug that's been going around, stop these alternating sneezing fits and clogged up sinuses, the hot/cold flashes and sweats.

& maybe 2 of my favorite FLB characters will cure me of my writing dry spell, give me back that ambition I used to have. I just finished Violet and Claire again, and have the Weetzie Bat books and Echo on my nightstand, and The Rose and the Beast nearby.

This was my first first screening movie and I was disappointed upon finding out that we weren't seeing the movie on IMAX, just in the same theater. But it was still a big screen and we had good seats. Plus I got a movie poster so I'm happy. The manager gave them out while we were in the arcade section and not in line, but Mike's mom picked some up. She was only able to get 4 though. I asked the guy taking tickets if I could take one from the walls. I wanted the long one, not the same one everyone had. But he said no :( and the manager said she gave out all the ones they had, and that the group two rows in front of us with a wheelchair got the last ones. I asked them if I could have one, thinking that they probably wouldn't give any up, but they did and now I have a Narnia movie poster with a map on the reverse side :D

We preordered our tickets through Fandango, and got there early knowing that there'd be a line and a lot of people. Even after dinner, we still had 3 hours before 11:59. We passed some time in the arcade till we were allowed in around 10:30. Then I had my awesome idea that I was too late for. I should have brought the book to read while waiting, because for the most part we were just sitting and waiting and I could have re-read through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in that amount of time. Oh well. Eventually time passed and the movie was on.

There were parts in the beginning especially that were too Hollywood, but for the most part, the story stayed true to the book. I'd go and see it again, probably with my brother next week, and I'm definitely getting the DVD when it comes out.

And oh, I drove home and in that last stretch of near-empty freeway, I got up to 123mph, the second top speed. <3 3am when the roads are relatively empty of idiotic drivers.

without my laptop, i find i have more time on my hands and a lot less to do. so here's #26 and #97 done. well, pretty much.

i picked up where i left off weeks ago, in the silver chair when we had our bbq. and just now, i finished the last battle, getting through the first half while at the dmv earlier. i've read all the chronicles of narnia, except for book 3, the boy and his horse, which i have yet to find at the library. perhaps when mike gets his boxed set, because no he wants to reread all the books again, and charlie's doing the same.

i can't say i have a favorite. i like each story in its own. i couldn't choose between the creation of narnia, its first discovery and saving it from perpetual winter, or its inevitable end any more than i can choose between the adventures of king caspian or the disenchantment of his long lost son.

i also can't pick a favorite of the children, princes&kings, or talking beasts. though i didn't like most of the new characters at the start of each book, i grew quite fond of them by the end, and i'm glad to see them mentioned again in the last battle. my favorite villain though, is the white witch and lady in green, whom i believe to be one and the same as the witch in the prequel.

i so can't wait for the movie; it's still six more months away.


before heading off to jack london for the lords of dogtown (go stacy!), we stopped by crown memorial beach so i could see alameda's annual sand castle and sand sculpture contest.

every year, i tell myself i'm going to go, and every year before this, i've forgotten, and all i'd get to see were the pictures on the front page of the local paper.

i was disappointed with most of what i saw on the beach. the pictures in the paper were better. was it because the sand wasn't the greatest, and they touched up the photos before it went to print, or were the participants just slacking this year?

some of the sculptures were pretty neat though, just none as extravagant as i had expected. maybe i'll enjoy next year's better.

3 miles and a blur of colorful lights, bright and pastel fluorescents that i wanted to pull off their strings one by one and hurl into the street in a satisfying smack.

i walk through the door and check my mail on the kitchen table. to my pleasant surprise, i find a package addressed to me.. and then i remembered the book my brother ordered off my ebay account.

now i'm trying to eat dinner and my mom is overreacting and make me paranoid.

"aiyah! what's that on your neck?"
"what?"
"it's red, and it's big."
"it's nothing!"
"put some cream on it. it may be an infection. did you dye your hair? it's all over the side of your neck."
"it's nothing, just an itch i was scratching!"


to do list:

typography final tomorrow at 8am
turn in type studio ad design
advanced image manipulation final at 1pm
turn in amendment project
ai online orientation quiz

find out when at&t contract is up
ask about fixing mom's phone
find a place for henry to take driver's ed

put money in the bank
pay off the evergrowing credit card bill

xmas cards and gifts.

clean the juice&water bottles out of my room
sort through school papers

get my book back from jenn because white oleander is something i need to read again.

find out what the fuck is going on with my computer and find out where i can fix it for less than $200-$500.

i could feel the deer-in-headlights look glazed over my face as i stepped towards the door of the train, then step back, unsure if this was the one that would take me into the city, unsure if i was standing on the right platform for boarding. it's been a long time since i got onto the bart from its 12th street station. the sign over my head flashed "san francisco / daly city, 10 car train" but the announcement i heard was "pittsburg / bay point now boarding."

the doors were closing in my indecision, but some guy in a business suit thrust his arm through the gap and the doors opened back up. i considered getting in for another moment; the car did look like it was filled with people who would be headed towards san francisco.

i stepped off the train at 8:44 when we had arrived at the civic center station. i climbed onto the escalator feeling groggy; any other day, i'd still be in bed, asleep. the past couple of months have thrown my body into a sleep cycle that consists of going to bed at 4 and waking up at noon. or later.

orientation was scheduled to start at 9. even though i had gotten there early, there was a line. a handful of people x10 had gotten there earlier than me. by the time i stepped through the door, the line had already snaked around the lobby and into the next room.

i obtained my packet, and my list of items to check off for clearance. i filled out my address forms and proceeded over to inside track. a boy also on his way there introduced himself as ryan, and we were in awe as we stepped through the doors of the white building they had pointed out to us from across the street. it looked more like the lobby to a museum or a hotel, or something. it was too fancy for a school. we signed in at the front desk and headed for the elavator. the door was reflected on the inside and the lighting was ambient as we rode up to the 9th floor.

inside track is geared towards guiding students towards sucess. my "coach" is julie. as she explained that we would have 20-30minute check in sessions each week, i was wondering why i needed this and why i needed the 2hour zero credit class titled "student success" in my schedule. let me find my own motivation.

after i got signed off, i walked back to the main building across the street and waited in line for the admin person. ahead of me was a black girl dressed in hot pink high tops, and a flower in her hair with the same hot pink color. the rest of her outfit was denim. she told me her name was fabiola and that she was here to major in fashion.

i got my file at the admin desk completed, and i made sure my classes from coa and ucsc transfered over. then i had to visit financial aid on the 4th floor to sign the new plan with credits. i'm still clueless on how this works, but they're supposed to explain it all later.

with all the items checked off my list, i was able to pick up my new schedule. because of my transfer credits, my english composition class and computer applications class in the original schedule i had been given are now replaced by image manipulation and effective speaking on tuesdays and thursdays from 6-10pm, which does fuck with the nicely blocked schedule i had originally.

it's 10:30 and i've already completed everything i needed to get done. the next event isn't until 1. i'm at the san francisco public libary reading nymph and using their "quick internet access" computers that automatically reboot every 15minutes, which means i will be getting kicked off in about 30seconds.

people are over, and the language barrier blown bigger. i hide under the covers reading flb, feeling lonelier than ever. the words spun of magic that once blanketed me with hope now locks me into isolation. normal is a setting on the washing machine, but my life is normal. why do i feel as confused as dirk, as misunderstood as witch baby when there is nothing unnatural about me and my upbringing, when i have my secret agent lover man and my duck and the stranger at the door. i have the love they're looking for, but i'm still waiting for the rest.

i used to think i would get another diary after you are filled, or even that i would keep a diary or journal through my whole life. but now i don't really think i will. diaries are great when you're young. in fact, you saved my sanity a hundred, thousand, million times. but i think when a person gets older she should be able to discuss her problems and thoughts with other people instead of just another part of herself as you have been to me. don't you agree? i hope so, for you are my dearest friend and i shall thank you always for sharing my tears and heartaches and my struggles and strifes, and my joys and happiness. it's all been good in its own special way, i guess.

see ya.