Tokyo or Bust (But Please, Universe, Not really)

Yes, yet again it would appear I have abandoned this blog for months.  But, honestly, when all I really did for the past few months was school, work, and the occasional social-like thing it didn't really seem all that appropriate or interesting to blog about it. Occasionally I'd come up with something to blog about, but then we run into the "I forgot/I was lazy/I was busy" territory of excuses.  So part of me wonders if I should just copy/paste the opening paragraph of my blog every time this happens, but then I wonder if every blog entry would start this way.

However! I am about to do something much more interesting than school, work, eat, homework, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat, etc.  Well, at least I think it's more interesting.  If all plans go, well, according to plan Wednesday morning I'll be boarding a plane and won't be returning for another two months.  And when I say "according to plan" I mean barring computer glitches and national disasters because apparently those things happen a little bit more frequently than I'd like.  So, you know, knock on wood and cross your fingers for me because I'm going to Japan.

I've been telling people the whole thing seems so surreal partially because I feel like I don't usually do things like this, and partially because I've been planning it for so long.  Ignoring the fact that I've been studying the language since my freshman year of high school (so 6 years) and the fact that I've regretted not applying to go on a high school exchange program that went to Japan the summer after my freshman year, I've still been planning this exact trip for about two years.  My entire freshman year of college I researched programs, attempted to figure out dates, went to study abroad fairs, visited the study abroad office and whatnot, and then spent much of this year applying and getting ready for it.  So the fact that I will be in Japan in 3 days is just... wow.

So for the next two months I plan on recounting my countless adventures on this blog.  After all, this place needs some love and the owl gets lonely. I've also got a tumblr I'm planning on posting pictures to.  The idea is I'd at least like to post a picture every day and a blog every now and then (once a week perhaps?).  Maybe I'll get really ambitious and post some video blogs! I'm not entirely sure how much internet or computer time (especially with the energy concerns that are going on over there) but I'm hoping to use the time I do have to post on these things. Beyond the fact that I've had a lot of people say they want to hear about what I'm doing, I'd like a record of what I'm about to do.  Mostly because I feel like when it's done with I won't believe it's actually happened.

I Honestly Can't Come Up With a Title so I'm Just Going to Title it This

To anyone who actually read yesterday's post, I applaud you. It was really just a long and concluded way to say I liked but was disappointed in a movie (and the media in general). To anyone who didn't read it, you can just read the previous sentence to get the gist of it.

And to anyone who thinks that this post doesn't count because I missed a day because it's after midnight, I've decided it counts because I haven't gone to bed yet. It might be 3:30 in the morning, but this is why weekends are awesome. You can stay up until 3:30 in the morning and it really doesn't matter. This is especially true for 3-day weekends when it doesn't matter so much when you mess up your sleep schedules because you have an extra day to catch up. Although it probably will mess with my ability to do homework tomorrow, which is unfortunate because I really really need to do homework tomorrow. Mostly because I haven't done any yet this weekend. I did do my laundry though, so I think that should count for something.

As for other things I did today I made breakfast for a friend and myself (pancakes! Gluten free too), watched a decent amount of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I'm somewhere in the middle of Season 5, a season that is ripping my heart out), crocheted a little (because I'm still working on Christmas presents), and spent about 6-8(?) hours playing this CRAZY board game called Arkham Horror with a few friends (well, technically a friend and his roommate, but friend's roommate can be upped to friend status. I mean, we're friends on facebook, so that must mean we're friends). It was pretty amazing, but it had about a million rules that we definitely did not follow. We followed *most* of them, yes, but we definitely kept discovering rules we'd been breaking the entire game. Some of the rules we kept breaking weren't the biggest deal, but at the very end of the game we discovered a few pretty big rules that were potential game changers that we didn't follow.

Oops.

Still, it was fun. If you like crazy board games where the players work as a team to get to a goal, you should try it!

WTWA: Pretty much for the things I did today. It was a really nice day that I spent with some friends doing fun things.

Side Note: I apologize for the typos that are sure to be in this. It's 3:30 in the morning, and I need to sleep.

Show Stoppin'

For today's post, I honestly had no idea what to write so I asked my ever so helpful roommate Emily who said I should post about "Show Stoppin.'" I kid you not. I think part of this came from the fact that the idea for us to dress up as those orange construction cones and this would be a show stopper. And now I have nothing else to say about show stopping. Except for the fact that I find the positive connotations of show stoppers odd, especially because technically technical difficulties will stop a show but they're definitely not positive.

I apologize for the lack luster quality of this post, but I really have no focus and have little brainpower to spend on anything. I still have 60 pages of Gravity's Rainbow to read, and I really don't know if I'll be able to finish all of those pages before tomorrow. On the plus side, the first 25 pages of my reading has been populated with more bananas than I've ever experienced in literature and a dream about a giant adenoid swallowing up London. I think that's what happened anyway. I'm not entirely sure what is going on in this book.

WTWA: Today was a "go to class in the sweatpants you slept in" kind of day. This might sound bad, but getting to the point where you really just don't care anymore has its benefits. And the benefit is not caring that you're still wearing the clothes you slept in. YES.

Snowcone?

"At the best of times his face was unreadable. Now his face was a book written in a language long forgotten, in an alphabet unimagined. Silas wrapped the shadows around him liked a blanket, and stared after the way the boy had gone, and did not move to follow."

This quote is from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman which I just finished reading for my children's literature class, and I'm not sure why, but I was honestly amazed by this book. I mean really, read the above quote again and tell me that's not amazing. When read in context it'll send shivers down your spine I swear.

Besides going to class, going to work, finishing up The Graveyard Book, and doing other homework energy has been a little crazy around here with the current crazy snowfall. The snow has already piled up considerably, and it's still going strong. My roommates are hopeful that it'll keep snowing and we'll get school canceled tomorrow, but in all liklihood it'll either A) Start raining in the early morning and the snow will be mostly slush by the time we get up or B) There will still be LOTS of snow but the school will tell us that we should "use our own judgement" which will mean I'll need to get to school. I mean honestly. I have classes where if you miss more than three times you fail, or you lose 2% every time you miss. I know that in reality if I seriously couldn't get to school it would be fine, but meh. I just want classes cancelled.

Anyway, regardless of whether school is canceled tomorrow or not, I'm currently eating a snowcone made from actual snow. Which, by the way, is why today is awesome.

When it's New

Despite the trepidation and fear people have towards change, I feel like most people experience some form of excitement about new things. And when I mean things, I mean both physical objects and doing new things. Learning a new skill is often exciting and practicing that new skill is often way more fun when it's brand new. Going to new places is fun and exciting. Forming new friendships. Learning new things. New. New. New.

I always get a little excited when I get new classes at the beginning of the year/quarter. Getting new books and starting off with a clean slate is always a fun experience. This quarter the things I was least excited about were the things I'd already been doing the whole year. I had a "ho-hum" sort of attitude about most of these things.

Some old things can turn into new things too. People you've known for ages can surprise you with random facts or stories from their pasts. Skills you've been honing for a while can become more exciting when you discover a new technique. While change can be frightening, it can lead to this sense of excitement and "new-ness".

Mostly, these were just thoughts that were on my mind today as I thought about a few things. Also on my mind today was HOW MUCH ICE was everywhere. Seriously. I love snow, but really? And now I need to go finish my homework because my university NEVER cancels school regardless of how dangerous things get. Well, maybe not that far, but I imagine it will take a lot to get them to cancel school. Teachers might cancel an individual class, but school itself will never get canceled.

WTWA: I know I complained about the ice but this is why today was awesome...

Also, I made a hat :)

I look weird in this picture, so ignore the face and just look at the hat.

Why Today is Awesome

So Kayley Hyde of fiveawesomegirls (owlssayhoot is her personal challenge) posted a video today showing her "Why Today is Awesome" journal. For those of you who don't know what fiveawesomegirls (FAG) is, or what that has to do with FAG, it was a channel on youtube where five girls for three years posted (mostly) daily videos talking about their lives, doing challenges, and saying why their day was awesome. Sadly, they decided that they wouldn't carry on with daily videos anymore, basically ending the project, many people have decided to start daily journals to say why their day was awesome (including Kayley). I thought this might be a fun addition to my daily blog to state why my day was awesome. Sometimes I think I forget in the midst of all the craziness and stress and constant busy-ness the little things that do make my day awesome. Like yesterday when I showed up to the class my roommate and I are taking together she handed me a nonfat vanilla latte, explaining that she knew I'd had a rough night the day before and that today was going to be difficult so she bought me coffee to hopefully make it easier/better. So, you know, things like that make my day awesome.

If you want to view the video that I mention, you can view it HERE. As for now, I'm going to sleep because I have to getu p at 6:30AM on a Saturday in order to take a test (in order to be a teacher) that's more of an insult to my intelligence than an actual test.

Why Today Was Awesome (WTWA): My friend Chris came over so we could study for this test we're taking tomorrow (him, my roommate Emily, and I are all taking it) but mostly we ended up eating pizza, making fun of the test, and playing Halo: Reach so I could show him how the grunts explode with confetti and children cheer when you kill them with head shots. He was MUCH more appreciative of this than my roommates were. Which, honestly, is the correct way to react to enemies exploding into bursts of confetti when you kill them.

Lost and Found

Lately I've discovered I've been leaving behind a lot of things. And when I say that I mean like I left my rain jacket at my parents' house when I moved back to college a week ago (and when you live in Western Washington, losing your rain jacket in January really isn't a good idea), or yesterday I left my TARDIS emblazoned pencil case that holds all of my school supplies (and normally my zune, but thankfully that was at home) behind in the library. I may also be losing my mind in the process, but that's incredibly likely due to the circumstances outlined in yesterday's "post" (or whatever you want to call the blurb I made yesterday)

This made me think of other things I've left behind. Decisions I've made to let some friendships weaken in some way or another for some reason or another, or other decisions to forgo certain life paths in exchange for something different. It makes wonder where the never found material and immaterial things we leave behind end up. The Island of Misfit Toys? That space behind the washer where I'm sure all of my left socks ended up?

Regardless, I'm just happy the library has a lost and found. And that someone found my Doctor Who pencil case I've had since my sophomore year of high school for me. I think with everything else that is going on, losing that forever would have been a sign I should drop of out school.

Day 1 (2)? Start of Something New

Oh look at that, I let another month go by again. Not that much has happened over break. Plus, I took my computer in to get the fan replaced and it took them about three times longer than they said it would so I had to borrow my mom's computer. I've been making things and playing video games and hanging out with people, but its hard to blog about such things when you're on a borrowed laptop. Not that my mom uses her computer much (or hardly at all) but I did feel a bit bad if I used it too much of the time. And I didn't want to create too many files or make too many new things that I'd have to transfer later.

Still, I meant to write over Winter break, but it never quite felt right. I would come up with things to write in my head, but I couldn't actually get it down. My thoughts have been a little tentative and messy lately, and I don't really know what to do with them. So, in an attempt to become a little more okay with the person I am in my head I've been thinking of doing something to get out of my head. And now I'm getting a little too figurative and weird, but really, this is going somewhere.

Even thought it's currently January 2nd I've been thinking of attempting to post something every day this year, BEDA fashion. Will it actually happen? Probably not, I'm sure I'll miss a few days and I've already technically missed day one. However, I think even if I just post a picture, something I learned that day, or just something I thought of it will work for what I want this to be.

As for today, I'll leave this here but I'll also direct you to my craft blog in which I am just about to post one of my last projects HERE. Feel free to look at that, and hopefully you'll see me again tomorrow :D

Wait, it's November?!

Haha, oops. Look at that. October just kind of flew by, didn't it? Well, it did for me anyway. My life got a little crazy with school (and midterms), social life, and just general life-ness. I definitely thought a lot about blogging, but a lot of it came down to not being interesting enough to say, or me not being sure how to put it into words. Meh.

However, this month is November, which means I have lots of things to put into words! 50,000 of them to be specific. For those of you who don't know, I'm doing Nanowrimo (stands for NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth). Nano, during the month of November, is a huge online-based challenge where everyone participating tries to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. You can write more than that (or less than that really) but the somewhat arbitrarily picked number by the folks over at http://www.nanowrimo.org is 50,000. You can view my profile and progress HERE at this link. I'm a little behind right now at almost 5000 words, but every year since 2007 I'm always behind the entire month. But then I write 30,000 words over Thanksgiving break. Makes me wonder how much I could write if I had more time to devote to it. I'm going to try and be less behind this year, but since I'm getting The Force Unleashed II and Fable III from my brother this weekend, my free time is going to be a little... divided. Plus, my homework is only building on itself, so what free time I do have is limited enough in itself.

Speaking of which, homework is really what I should be doing. I'm currently trying to write a paper for my Japanese class (in Japanese) about this book called The Pillow Book written in the early 990 in Japan by a woman we don't actually know the name of (it's attributed to a Sei Shonagon, but Shonagon is a title based on her position at court and Sei was gotten from her father, so no one knows what her real name was). I've been enjoying my research a lot as I'm super into literature (especially classic literature, big surprise), but I'm getting a little intimidated by the paper. But tonight I will start to conquer it! Hopefully. Maybe.

This could be interesting.

Achieve Able

I am currently sitting at home/my parent's house while dressed in my college sweats and my giant high school senior sweatshirt that I ordered a size too big. I had considered waiting another week or so before coming home, but school and my college town was getting a little overwhelming and I just needed to get out for the weekend. If you are one of my awesome, awesome friends who lives in Bellingham, know that you are the part I missed. Anyway, in addition to the lazing about and watching my brother play Halo, I'm eating tons of junk food because I don't buy soda or potato chips at school, and now I have access to way too much of it. Although, in the long run I figure a bowl or two of potato chips and a can of coke won't completely ruin my goal to be a healthier person. In theory.

Anyway, I've been thinking lately about goals and feelings of achievement. My life has gotten a little crazy in terms of the goals I'm making and the things I need to do to get there. The road to these goals is turning out to be a long one (and getting longer the more research I do), and it's beginning to feel aggravating and the achievements and grades I earn in school don't feel the way it used to. Getting a good grade on a paper? I always find more things I could have done, or better ways to do something. Do well on a Japanese test? No time to think about that because I've got to start studying for the next one while making sure I maintain the knowledge of the last one. I used to get so excited over good grades and discovering that I really was learning new things, but now homework and even getting good grades feels more akin to doing the dishes than say, climbing a mountain. Sure, you can finish the dishes and you can do a really good job on them, but in all likelihood seconds after you finish there will be another dirty dish in the sink. It's the same with any school related ridiculousness. There is always more homework, more tests, and more classes.

Then, there's that thing you always hear about video games, how there's a "false sense of achievement." What makes it "false"? What makes it less "real" than getting a grade in a class or completing anything else? Today I finally finished Halo: Reach on Legendary difficulty, which is as hard as it sounds. False sense of achievement? Maybe. Was it awesome? Definitely. And since at least last June/July I've been making a super conscious effort to eat a lot healthier and continue to exercise (as I got in a pretty good habit of exercising last year). I feel like I achieved something when I made it to the gym a day or two more than I usually managed to, include lots of vegetables in my food, or (yes) when I see on the scale that I've managed not to gain weight or even lose a pound or two since I last checked. So, where does that fall?

What's the point of "achievement" anyway? When you achieve something, it means you did something. Is it the completion of something that matters? Or really, just that you did something? Do I have an answer? No. I'm really just thinking out loud.

Anyway, my point is that I like video games, and in this time of my life where I'm getting fed up with how ridiculous and confusing school is, sometimes I feel more like I actually did something when I complete a level of Halo or increase my gamerscore. Do I feel like video games produce a "false" sense of achievement then? No, I don't.

Despite my complaining about homework and my dislike of the monotony of doing yet another linguistics exercise or read another billion pages for my 8:30 AM English class where my teacher is way to intense for that early in the morning, I still must do it. So... that's what I'm going to do. Right now. Yes.

Side Note: Just because I feel like I wasn't excited enough about it in the midst of my reflective think-y post, I'm going to insert it here. I just want to geek out on the internet because I am so excited. I FINISHED HALO: REACH ON LEGENDARY BY MYSELF. OH MY GAH!!!!! That was ridiculous, and hard, and was at least 18-20 hours of my life where I died at least 200 times.

Side note #2: My posts are long when I think too much.

Videos and Some Thoughts

I posted this video yesterday on the collab channel I share with my first two IRL nerdfighter friends. So, I've decided to post it on here as well. Take from it what you will.

In other news, for the past two-ish weeks there's been all this crazy stuff happening around here because a freshmen went missing the first weekend of school. Lots of people were theorizing on what happened, organizing search parties, raising money so they could have an award for information... etc. Except, they found him today. And, unfortunately, it was his body that was found near the water. I don't really know what to think of it. Some of my friends feel really affected by it, even though no one I know actually knew him (except, my mom said someone at my church was his old neighbor. Either that or a friend of someone at church was his neighbor). Some people I've talked to don't feel affected at all. They feel that it was literally just really bad luck after he got in a bad situation. That bad things happen to good people all the time, and this one just happened a little closer to us than it usually does. As for me? I'm not sure. I definitely am sad for the family and friends, but I don't even feel like I can even really begin to imagine what it would feel like in this situation to even think about how I would sympathize. But on the other hand, I never knew him. The only reason I probably ever found out his name was because he went missing. So, I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Still, I just felt the need to write out a few thoughts on the matter.

See! Look! I have excuses!

Oh, blog. I feel I have neglected you. But my schedule has been crazy! Seriously, look at this awkwardly screen captured picture of my schedule!

Not to mention the increased travel time it takes to get to class compared to last year, increased time for food making and chore doing (dishes, etc), need for alone/me/fun time, a social life, early morning trips to the rec center, and then pile on mounds of homework and you've got quite the full schedule. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage nine (eight? I can't remember) more weeks of this, but I'm sure I'll manage. I always seem to.

But, October just started and I LOVE October. That slight chill in the air, pumpkins, pumpkin spice lattes, increasing ability to drink tea and wear scarves, impending holiday season starting with Halloween, and the fact that it's Nanowrimo preparation month! Yes, I know. I'm crazy. I have officially declared October to be "Prepare for a month of crazy noveling"-month. I feel it's necessary, even though the preparation is more mental as I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm writing about this year. It's actually a sequel to my first Nanowrimo novel, so it'll be interesting writing a sequel.

In other news, I really enjoy walking. Yes, it does take at least 30 minutes to get to my classes from my apartment due to the fact my classes are in school buildings about as far away as they can be from my apartment, but I enjoy those 30 minutes. The weather has been so nice lately, it almost seems ridiculous not to walk (if I have the time). There have been a few mornings where there just would not have been enough time to walk, so I took the bus. Still, I'm hoping to keep up this walking habit while the weather decides to keep up the nice-ness of it.

And, I realize this is another quick post, but I really do need to go read some Native American poetry for my English class. I admit that I spent all day yesterday playing Halo and watching TV and movies instead of doing homework, doing laundry, getting groceries... so now I'm paying the price.

And I forgot to buy aluminum foil for the recipe I wanted to make for dinner. Fail.

I'd rather be... playing Halo. What a surprise.

Why hello, Blog! And the internet! And any other piece of my audience that still doesn't feel that they're being addressed! Hello to all.

Yeah, I don't know where my brain's been at in the past week either. Probably being rattled about in my head after getting killed by SO MANY headshots in Halo: Reach.

Anyway, this past week has been a week of crazy. I feel like last year the first week of school was not nearly so busy. Of course, neither my job nor volunteering has started yet, so this coming week I'll have at least eight hours of more things to do. Which, makes me a little nervous. I moved in last Sunday, and that day was filled with hauling things into my apartment, shopping for new things, and attempting to figure out how to feel myself (it is harder than one would think). If you'd like to take a look at a little tour of my apartment, you can view my WeThreeChallengirls video from last week HERE. In theory, I'll post another video on that channel on Monday or Tuesday so subscribe if you'd like to see those. I'll probably show my newly decorated walls since I finally decorated the walls in my room now.

As for my classes, they seem pretty good so far. My Japanese class seems INSANE. My early American lit class seems interesting (the teacher is the embodiment of what you'd think an English professor should be) and my linguistics class should also be interesting. Actually, I should probably be doing homework right now, but I wanted to post a little update. Hopefully I will post again soon if my ridiculous schedule doesn't swallow me whole!

Start of something...

Tonight is going to be the last night in the house I grew up in for a while. Not that I mind this. Last year it was harder because I knew only a few people who were going to the same college I was, and I had never really been away from home for more than a week. This year, however, I have friends I'm excited to see again, a place I fell in love with and made my second home, and a good list of exciting new things to look forward to as I move back to college. Still, I'll miss my lazy summer mornings where I slept in until 10, worked out whenever I wanted, played video games without having to worry about homework, and saw my family (in person) every day. I realize that a weekend visit home, Thanksgiving, and then winter break will come sooner than I expect it to, but I really do love my family so I'm going to miss them.

But why, oh why, does moving involve so much packing! When I moved back home for the summer I literally threw everything I owned as quickly as possible into the crates I had, shoved them into the van once my parents got there, and that was that. Heck, I even had time to go volunteer for an hour and have lunch with my parents. Moving back to college, however, has been considerably more complicated. I've spent at least two days this past week shopping and compiling things I felt I'd need to bring. Then today, I woke up at nine and spent nearly the entire day packing until around six or seven. I did take an hour break for lunch and some Halo multiplayer, but still! I packed for the ENTIRE DAY. And I still have a few things left to pack and I'm sure I forgot lots of things.

Anyway, I've been up longer than I planned to, and I'm sure I'll post again soon with pictures and tales of my first days back.