September 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Okay, I hope by writing this on here I don't get what I got back when I had a layout of this kid up on my site. lol I got Jesse McCartney's new CD in the mail yesterday, and I'm liking it, somewhat despite myself. The last in that some of the lyrics are quite suggestive and I'm not sure age-appropriate for his fan-base, but they never consult me on these things. ;) Actually, the last track majorly reminds me of one of the songs in That Thing You Do; it's totally that style, and I really like the way it sounds, but, of course, it's one of the ones with lyrics that are, well, you know. They're not REAL bad, but still not appropriate. I was, however, surprised by the depth of one of the tracks, "Invincible." Good song, despite some cussing; and about something that far too many young people don't take into consideration. Not that I'm perfect or anything, but yeah, I suggest listening to that song.
I also got Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder in the same package, and I'm really jazzed to read it, but first I have to finish Eragon (which I haven't read any more of), then I have to read the other book I just got, Voyage of Slaves by Brian Jacques! AHHHH!!! lol I'm going to be reading like mad come December too, three books on my wishlist come out then, two of which I'm quite excited for. :)
So, what have I been doing if not reading? Well, I've been good--and extremely blessed by God--and have been writing some each day. That usually only lasts about an hour though. The rest of my time is divided between sleeping 10-11 hours each night (except for last night where I could not get to sleep), watching some TV, and working on websites/surfing the internet. Oh, and today I went and saw Open Season with my mom. It was okay. You know, some funny parts, as to be expected, but all of these animated movies sort of mush together, with the exception of most of the Pixar ones, which I tend to like a lot. :) Oh, and of course I check the TCGs I've joined daily because I have an "issue" and must collect more cards! lmao
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Dude, Brandon Sanderson is my hero! lmao Not only did he write a great novel in Elantris (he has another one out too, but I've not read it yet), but he had swords at his wedding! Click here to see some of the pictures. I can't be the only one who thinks that's friggin' awesome! I should totally carry around my bow and arrows at my wedding... You know, whenever that happens far, far in the future. And well, I suppose my guy would have to be okay with it too, I guess. lol
Edit: Ha! I just realized this post SO goes with my current layout and the title I have for it: Real men carry swords. LMAO Dang, I'm funny today. ;) By the way, it's still the 27th to me right now.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
*giggles* I have composed a poem!
Ode to Noodle Bake
Oh, Hamburger Noodle Bake
How I love thy taste in my mouth--
The creamy, noodly, meaty goodness.
Thy tomato sauce makes thee sweet,
Thy garlic and chives a light kick.
Oh, to eat thee every day!
I love thee more than ice cream--
Nay, more than any dessert!
Thou art:
Delicious.
lmao I read it to my parents and they both looked at me like I was psycho, my dad especially. FYI, Hamburger Noodle Bake is my favorite food, it's like a caserol dish. Oh, and the poem's just supposed to be funny--a joke. ;) It is, in some ways, very true though. lol I have had it over ice cream for dessert before. It's really good!!! I'm just excited because it's the first poem I've written in quite some time, and I think it's funny. It reminds me of an AIM convo I had with Sam not that long ago, in which I said something not that funny, but it was too me and mentioned that now I just have to find a guy who thinks these kinds of things are cute. lol Riiiiight.
I did write on Monday evening, and last night as well. Last night I was almost not going to write anything and just call the work done with a rough sketch of a map of the "world" in my story. However, God is truly awesome and had other things in plan for me. ;) He had me write some dialogue (which actually comes around 2/3rds through the story), and some light plot stuff, which was very good. :D *happy dance*
I also made some new card decks for Portal yesterday, but still have four or five to make that members have donated pictures for. lol And I'm still trying to get Eragon finished. *shakes head* It's almost like... I'm busy! lol Almost. ;) But then you consider the other things I do in the day, like watching TV, or watching The Lake House with my mom last night, and generally just messing around on my computer surfing the net, etc. Well, that is it for now. Off I go to do... stuff. *nods*
Monday, September 25, 2006
Yesterday after church my mom and I went to this cute little place and cut our own fresh flowers! :D It was lots of fun, and there were all sorts of pretty colors, etc. Of course, there were buggies on the flowers, and I didn't like that, but I managed okay. ;) lol The flowers are so beautiful though. For me, when I look at a flower, that tells me God exists. I mean, lots of other things do too, but if you really look at the petals of a flower and the colors and everything, I just can't believe that's an accident. Same with if I think about other things that God has created in depth--I just can't see the whole "random chance" thing that the vast majority of scientists believe. My opinion. :)
The rest of yesterday was spent between doing random stuff on the computer, talking to Tara on the phone, and then working on a layout for a new site in Photoshop. That took around four hours, but came out fairly decently, all things considered. ;)
Today was slicing the layout I made last night, coding it, and getting some of the pages for the site setup and uploaded, etc. Much left to do, but at least Sam and Aceetha will be helping, once I give them the FTP info and whatnot. lol And while I've mentioned Sam, she's on her way to England right now! Well, she could be there, but I don't know when her flight was and the time zone stuff confuses me unless it's one close to mine. lol I can't do math in my head anymore people! lol They gave me a calculator in seventh grade, and now I can't do math in my head. *sigh* Anyway, must go so that I can get some writing done and read and do whatever else before I decide I should probably go to sleep. ;) Nighty night!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
I finally got around to folding my laundry today! lol It's been sitting in the basket for... a while. *shrugs* Oops! And, tomorrow or the next day the basket will be filled again because it will be time to do more laundry. *rolls eyes* Maybe this time I'll get it folded and put away shortly after putting it in the basket. Maybe. lol
The writing front goes well. I wrote some Monday through Friday, and it was good. At least half a page was done each day, and two of the days--including yesterday--I wrote a full page: single spaced! That same, small, 10-point font again, too. ;) Ahh... it feels good. And truly, truly I credit it to God. The system that works for me is praying beforehand, and then thanking/praying afterward. Actually, there's thanking before I start too for all that He's helped me write thus far. It's good! Last night I was going to stop, and then sudden important stuff for a critical scene (which, generally speaking most of them ought to be anyway, otherwise why are they in the book? lol) came out along with some character developement for one of the minor, but still crucial, characters. God is good people! :D
Today I got Clay Aiken's new CD, A Thousand Different Ways, and I'm liking it. Not only because I like Clay's voice, but because I already know and like almost all the songs on the album as most of them are remakes! lol Good remakes though. ;) Along with the CD, I also got Brian Jacques new novel, Voyage Of Slaves. I'm excited to read it, but I've got to finish Eragon first! Eep! I'm only a little over one-fifth of a way through that one thus far. Must read like crazy!!!! I should be getting another new book in a few days as well, which I'm also very excited to read, so I really, really need to read like crazy! lol I've still got a to-do list of stuff though, so it's like, what do I pick to do: read or do other stuff? I should definately read though, especially since I'm borrowing Eragon from Brian, and I don't want to keep it for too long in case he wants to read it again, or wants to let someone else borrow it, etc.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Well, the dance class started off good. The warm up felt like a workout, so that was nice. lol There was one thing I couldn't do because of my knees--they said "heck no!" Then the actual teaching of the dance routine started, and it was alright, but too fast for me, and it looked like too fast for most of the other girls as well because I wasn't the only one adding fillers during half of it. ;) lol But oh, after the first part, then came the EVIL with the knee things. It is bad enough for people with good knees to go slamming them into hard wood floor, but it is far worse for people like myself with unhappy knees, one of which definately has Osgood-Schlatters! C'mon! Less knee intensive people! And, if you think I'm being wimpy (shame on you!), it was like fall from a standing position down onto your knees on the hardwood floor! I was not going to do that! So, in the moment when I had the chance, I thanked the instructor and got my butt out of there. lol I only left a few minutes early at least, so it wasn't like a big scene or anything, which was nice. ;) So no dice for that dance class. I think I'm out of luck unless someone opens a new studio around here, otherwise I may just have to wait until I eventually move somewhere else... maybe. lol On the up side, now I won't have to shell out $70 a month for the classes. ;)
Before the class, I stopped off at the theatre just to check the projector real quick as Matt wanted me to if it wasn't too much trouble. It was on the way, and I'm nice, so I did. :) Apparently, after my parents and I left last night, the movie snagged up again, but worse. At least it was at the very end, so not really that big of a deal. I didn't get a call tonight, so I'm assuming it went okay today. Static.
And, before I leave, in case any of you are wondering, I wrote more yesterday. :) I actually ended up writing a page because God kept nudging me with more ideas to write down. :D I almost called it a night twice, but then started writing again after a few moments. It was good, good, good again! :D YAY! Hopefully I will get a little more out tonight as well. Oh, and I started reading Eragon last night. It was a little hard to get into at first, but by the end of the prologue, I felt myself getting hooked. So, I shall read more!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
It turned out to be a very good thing that my parents and I went to watch the movie tonight. Why? Because about a half an hour into it, there was a weird noise coming both from the projector booth and from the speakers in the theatre. I ran in there and it did not look good, so I pushed stop! lol Fixed it though with the help of Matt, Landon, and my daddy. :) My daddy told me after the movie was over (because we fixed it and started it back up for the people who stayed to finish watching) that I scared him when I announced that I was going to cut the film, and then did so. lol We needed to do that in order to get it fixed, and I didn't cut out any frames or anything, so it was fine--just taped it back together when it was good to go. ;) I don't know why it jammed because I gave it a quick look-over when I went up to start it (which I did to be nice since they were a little busy in concessions), and it looked okay. *shrugs* Well, hopefully there will be no more problems. lol
I'm very excited because I got a call back today from a dance studio about a class I'm interested in taking. :) I wasn't sure if I was "too old" for it, but apparently I'm not, so I'm going to go try it out tomorrow! :D YAY! *dances* I'm just getting prepared. Hehe. Now, I shall be off to continue talking to Sam and hopefully do a bit of writing tonight. :)
Monday, September 18, 2006
God is not done with me.
That is the mini-revelation He gave me during the message at church yesterday. That was a statement my pastor made, and it was like... "oh." lol There were also very good Bible verses: Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:3-5; Psalm 19:1-5. It just felt really good to hear the message yesterday, and that was very nice--especially since I heard it twice. ;) So now that I have had this awesome reminder that God's still working on me, I'm feeling very good. :)
Yesterday I also half-cleaned my desk! I say half because I'm not sure how I'm going to organize some of my writing notes, so right now they're in stacks in a few places. lol But, now I can see parts of my desk, and if I move a few sheets of paper, I could actually use it to write on too! Amazing.
In addition to the partial cleaning, I made soup yesterday like my mom asked me to. :) I sort of like to cook, but a lot of times when I'm faced with the looming task, I don't want to start it. Once I get going, it's not so bad. :) And then there's chocolate chip cookies, which I just randomly start making every once in a while, usually around 10 or 11 PM. *rolls eyes at self*
Today I wrote the last of the procedures for things at work, and then took them to work. So that's "done" for the momement at least. I'm guessing I may have forgotten about something and will get a call or e-mail with questions about how to do it eventually. ;) And, it's quite possible--and rather likely--that half the stuff I wrote won't make sense to anyone other than myself. lol Hey, I didn't spend that much time on it. ;)
Speaking of writing, God is awesome and through Him I wrote half a page tonight! That may not seem like a lot, but it's a whole lot more than nothing, and it just felt really good to write it. The last few times I sat down with the intention to write, I typed out a few sentences and it hurt. Hurt, as in I couldn't get it out because I was so locked up about different things: perfection, mostly. In Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, she talks about having a 1-inch picture frame on her desk. She picks it up and tells herself that all she has to write is what's contained in that--just a paragraph about it. So, in letting yourself only have to write a little bit about one thing, it helps free you up to actually do so. So, with God's almighty help, that's what I did. I picked one fairly specific thing and just started to describe it and write about it. It sort of seaped out into a few other things, then came back to the thing I started again, and it was good. I could see it in my head and I just feel so good about having written that, and I really do believe that it was because of God that I could, and I have to give Him all the credit. After all--to paraphrase a Bible verse--it is because of Him that I can do things; because He gave me the ability to do so. I don't know if any of you can get what I'm saying, but I just have this great and wonderful feeling about this right now. So much so that my eyes are welling a little with happy tears. It's just: good.
And now I shall leave you all with a quote from one of Max Lucado's books, which my pastor used in his message. "Here is how it happens. You come before the judgement seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of his justice he cannot dismiss your sin, but because of his love he cannot dismiss you. So, in an act which stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins. God's justice and love are both equally honored. And you, God's creation, are forgiven."
Saturday, September 16, 2006
I accomplished a whopping 1 thing today. Yup. Go me. I just didn't really feel in the mood to do some stuff, and then I couldn't figure out what else to do, so the day was somewhat wasted. *sigh*
There was, however, a highlight in that I got a package from Sam in the mail today!!! :D The maple chocolates are all gone. Only took a few minutes. lol There were five in the container: I gave one to my mom, one to my dad, and I ate the other three. lol They were good! She also sent me chocolate covered almonds (Hey, those ones are like good for me, right?), a spiffin' friendship bracelet, a secret lanyard (shh), two Canadian pins (I love Canada!), a lovely letter, and even a nice box that everything was in. *hugs Sam* Thank you!!!
Oh, and yesterday I had my mom cut 10 inches off my hair.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Today was my last day at the theater. It felt a little weird leaving knowing that it would be the last time I left from a regular shift at work. However, it still feels like it was the right thing for me to do right now, and it's not like I won't be going there to watch movies regularly anyway. ;) lol They're not completely rid of me yet. Heh. I do have a few things I'll need to finish up there soon, but no more regular shifts or building movies, etc.
I had to work early today because we did a special showing of Invincible for the entire high school football team (JV, Varsity, and their water boys, lol). After I finished scooping endless amounts of popcorn for hungry teen-aged boys, and finished some other stuff, I went in to the theatre to watch the rest of the movie. It was the owner's first time building the movie on her own, so I thought I should be in there watching just in case. Wow, never again will I watch a movie when only high school boys who play football make up the rest of the--about 90 person--crowd. lol Oh my. At least it wasn't terribly bad, but at the kissing scene they all started hooting and shouting and I was just like, "oh my gosh." lol I must admit that it did amuse me though. *rolls eyes*
Not much else going on around here. I am currently stress-free, but now that I've said that, I've ruined everything. lol I'm hoping to start writing on Monday, and to start a dance class some time this coming week as well. The latter we shall have to see about as I'm not sure if they're still taking registrations or if I'm "too old" for the class I want to take. *sigh* It seems as though I'm always either too old, or too young. What gives? Lastly, Aceetha, Sam, and I are beginning work on a nice little project which shall hopefully hit the web in a few weeks or so (depending on how hard we work and/or how busy we each are--yeah, the last doesn't really apply to me). Anyway, some of you will hopefully be pretty excited about it. :)
Saturday, September 9, 2006
I actually got some stuff done today!!! lol Not everything on the to-do list I wrote out last night, but some, and that's good. ;) I even did a few extra things that my parents asked me to do. *happy* It makes me feel good that I didn't totally waste my day or anything. Ya know? I should hopefully get at least one more thing on the list done before I go to bed as well, maybe more. The rest shall have to be for during the week, as I've no plans to do it tomorrow. Heh.
My mom and I also finished watching the original Star Wars Trilogy today. I just got the DVD edition a couple weeks ago. The only difference I could really spot from my VHS versions (which are the Special Edition) is the thing with Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi. I like that part the original way with the old guy as Anakin, not Hayden. Oh well, what's a girl to do, right? ;) I'll probably watch episodes 1-3 relatively soon as well.
Yesterday I made some new card decks and wrote a new game script for Portal. :) Then I gave away lots of cards to the members, so that was fun! :D lol Oh, and have I mentioned how much I like PHP? I really do. lol mySQL databases are pretty dandy, too. ;) I still need to modify the whole TCG Admin script I made though so that I can give it to Sam. That's one of the other things on my to-do list. Well, I'm feeling a little tired, so I shall go now. Nighty night.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
I don't really have anything to post, but here I am nonetheless. Why? I don't know. I suppose I'll ramble on a bit.
Tara was going to come and visit for a few days this weekend, but now she isn't. Her dad was a jerk, and she feels like she needs to stay where she is to help out at her work. So, hopefully another time.
I don't know what to do with myself/don't feel like doing what I can think of. *sigh* I could do some stuff for work or fold laundry. Neither sound that appealing. I'm considering watching a movie, but starting it at midnight won't help me to get up at a half-way decent time tomorrow morning... if in the actual morning at all. I could try to pick one that was only an hour and a half, but the vast majority of movies I own are 2+ hours long. They're better that way. ;) I mean, as long as the story doesn't drag, which they don't in the ones I own.
So, yeah... that's it.
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Now I don't have to work tonight. Thomas is back from his trip and he calls me a bit ago and says that I have a favor to ask of him. *rolls eyes* He wanted to work my shift, and was already at the theatre. lol Silly boy. I told him that he could. An hour and a half shift is not all that worth me going anyhow. But now, what do I do with myself? I already opened Portal, and I keep checking for new members every few hours, but I'm gonna need something else to do in the meantime as well.
There are a lot of things I could do, but whether or not I'll do them remains to be seen. Apparently I will be vacuuming the house, but I should do something non-chore related as well. I thought about seeing if there are any good movies I haven't seen playing and trying to get someone to go with me, but ruled that out for various reasons. Maybe I'll work on some website stuff.
I just finished watching Tristan and Isolde. Sam kept telling me about it and how she likes it, so I finally rented it the other day, and watched it today. It was pretty good, but dang stupid that they had to make Tristan die! Sorry if I just ruined the movie for anyone, but it's been out for a while and it was pretty guarenteed that at least one of them would die. *sigh* I liked it though, and Tristan was a good fighter, even if he majorly sucked at expressing his feelings and was stupid a bunch of times! It was actually kind of nice with this movie in that they normally make the girl do all the really stupid things, but--in my opinion--in this one it was Tristan! lol I may watch it again before it has to go back. :)
Guess what! I've opened Portal TCG! lol I know, you would have never guessed if I hadn't spelled it out right there. ;) *hugs to Mericia for joining right after I opened it*
You know how I didn't get enough sleep yesterday night? You'd think I would have gone to bed early last night, right? Wrong. I was up until 2-something in the AM. *rolls eyes at self* Oy. I was woken just before ten this morning for a breakfast picnic hosted by our neighbors. I seriously considered staying home and going back to sleep. However, I felt that it would be the nice thing to do to go since I was invited, and I figured if I didn't just get up and going then, I'd sleep until work later and not get Portal opened. lol So yeah, big breakfast this morning. Pancakes, bacon, and a chocolate-frosted doughnut. lol Just veggies the rest of the day for me. (Yeah, right.) I'll make it just veggies and a little of the leftover mac n' cheese from yesterday. ;)
Friday, September 1, 2006
YES! Merriam-Webster's word of the day today is "savvy!" lmao YEAH!!!! savvy \SAV-ee\ verb: understand. Captain Jack would be so proud! *giggles* And now I will use it properly. ;) I really like getting the word-of-the-day in my inbox. I highly recommend signing up for it. It's fun!
In other news, Portal, my Stargate TCG, will be opening TOMORROW!!! *dances* FINALLY. I've been working on that thing for well over a year. Okay, so I didn't work non-stop for that long, but still, it's been in the works for a while. And, since it's opening, that means that I "finished" my TCG Admin script! The word is in quotes because I'll probably tinker with it and possibly add stuff to it. Also, before I can release it for others to use, I need to take off some of the modifications I made specifically for Portal. But, Sam should be the first person besides me to use it. :D
On the subject of TCGs, I had a thought the other day. I have a lot of fun making card templates and pixeling little things for them. Now, my thought was, "would people want me to design custom templates for their TCG? Would they be willing to pay perhaps $5 that would go straight to the hosting of my website?" What do you all think? Please post a tag and let me know. :) Oh, and if anyone's interested in a card template for a movie TCG, I've already got a nice one made that I'm not using. ;)
Wednesday my mom and I went and saw Material Girls. It was okay; pretty much what I expected from it, you know? We also had yummy pizza for dinner, and I applied at Barnes & Noble. But, after putting in my application, I think I realized I don't really want to work there. lol So, I'm kind of hoping they don't call me. We'll see what God has happen and leads me to do.
Yesterday I spent most of my free time working on Portal and the script. I added a games portion to the script to run password-style games with. It should hopefully prove quite handy. :) Maybe now with this script, I'll end up keeping the TCG open for quite a while! I mean, my Nick one didn't last more than a few months because I pretty much sucked at updating. lol I'm going to try to be better with this one. I'm pretty excited about it, so hopefully that will continue.
I got a whoppin' five hours of sleep last night. *hangs head* What will I ever do with myself? I knew I had to get up at eight, yet I was up until three. *rolls eyes at self* Why did I have to be up so early? Oh, to break down the movie and build the new one, of course. I'm surviving okay so far, but I think in a few hours I'll probably get really tired. Joy. All right, off to do "stuff."
