October 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
I saw The Prestige at the first available showing today. :) It was not like I thought it would be from the trailer, but it was good. It took me a few minutes after I walked out to figure out what I thought of it though, because it's definately different. I have a feeling I may very well go and see it again... maybe this coming week or something. And, in some ways, it's a rather graphic movie. It was interesting and definately a thinker movie. I saw Hugh Jackman on one of those late night shows a few days back when I was flipping through the channels, and I stopped to hear him talk about the movie a bit. He said that there was a major twist at the end that one wouldn't see coming. It's true, I didn't see it coming, but it's not a "WOAH" one, it's more of an... "oh"--a sort of flat "oh." lol It fits well with the movie though, and makes sense that that would be it, but it just wasn't what I was sort of led to expect. The more I think about the movie though, the more I feel I enjoyed it. lol All that's left to say is "deceptively simple." ;)
After the movie got out, I went to Target, and they had neither of the things I went in to look for. Sheesh! lol So, it was off to go home then. I considered going to see about a new computer monitor, but I thought I'd wait for the Sunday ads and hope that maybe my monitor would suddenly decide that it really is fine, after all. However, as I shall mention in another paragraph or two, apparently that is not likely to be so.
I hung out for a while at home, and then mom and I went to see The Guardian. Two movies in one day--gotta love it! Now, when I saw the trailer for it originally, I thought it looked good, but the reviews for it are not very good, and now I'm not sure why. I thought it was good. lol I mean, not my favorite movie or anything, but it was good, and if I'd actually paid for it, I wouldn't have minded doing so. lol I'm not sure about these reviewers some times. Oh, and the reviews for The Prestige aren't that great either, but I think that's probably due to people not understanding it, not liking the way the story is presented, or something like that. It was slow in parts, but I wouldn't give it a bad review. *shrugs*
After the movie was over (the second one I saw, that is--the one with my mom), we were leaving, and then my mom realized she forgot something, so I went back in to get it. Before I left, I asked Landon about my computer monitor. I had called Brian and left him a message about it the second day it happened, but he never called back. He was there too, but he was talking to someone anyway, so I thought I'd see if maybe Landon had an idea about it. He said my monitor is going to die. lol That it was possible it could decide to be okay for a while, but then one day it would just be dead. I figured that was probably so, but... it's been a good monitor and I like it and I don't want to have to find a new one that I like and isn't crazy expensive (to coin a Sam phrase). So, we'll see what the Sunday ads have to say for themselves. I might try to put it off and hope my monitor decides to work, but I don't know.
For my last paragraph to this post, I must state that some times I am stupid. Some times in general, or just with certain things. And, I sort of know it when I'm acting that way, but it's like I'm watching myself and cannot interfere, in a way. Then, afterward, it's like, "aw man!" lol What am I to do with myself?
Thursday, October 19, 2006
My poor, sad computer screen. It seems to be on its way out. *sigh* It was fine a couple days ago, and then it flicked dark for a second. It was fine for a while, then it did it again, and once more turning even darker. After that it was fine, so I thought the problem went away. However, the next day, it got worse. Then, it was completely fine again for HOURS. I am so confused as to why it's doing what it's doing. One moment it's normal, the next it's displaying colors all funky.
For instance, just now: a moment ago as I started typing this, I could barely see what I was typing, then just a second ago the screen was normal. And as soon as I started typing that sentence, it went back to being messed up again! What the heck?
Due to its weirdness, I thought that it might possibly be the computer and not the monitor, but thankfully, that does not appear to be so. I did some tests today and plugged my parent's monitor into my computer for the first one. I didn't have it on for long, but no signs of problems. Then, I plugged my unhappy monitor into my laptop and set it to display on the unhappy monitor only. It was fine for a while. I randomly opened different windows and went to different websites, then then BANG! It flipped out. I set my laptop to display on both its screen and my unhappy one for my desktop and the laptop was fine, etc. Therefore, it must be the screen unless something is wrong with my laptop too, which I'm really hoping is not the case.
*sigh* I guess this means I have to go and buy a new monitor. I am not thrilled with that, but that should be cheaper than buying a whole new computer. On the other hand, I suppose I should perhaps consider getting a whole new computer. Hum. This one is around six years old now... but I really like it. lol And I like Windows ME better than XP, so what's a girl to do? That would not be fun to buy a monitor, then have to buy a new CPU a year later or something. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait a few days and think about it and see where God leads my decision to. In the meantime, I shall try not to be on my desktop too much, but that's a little difficult since I use more than my laptop. lol Wee haw.
On the upside, tomorrow I'm planning to go and see The Prestige. Hopefully it's good. The preview looks good, but one never knows with these things, and I just hope there's not a lot of "bad" stuff in it, you know? Speaking of previews, I finally watched the trailer for Eragon online today. Man, it does not look how I pictured it. *rolls eyes* The boy they picked to play Eragon doesn't look like I imagined the character, but doesn't look real off. The other characters though... The girl playing the elf is all wrong--she's supposed to have dark raven-colored hair, not blonde!!! And the Shade looks totally wrong too, in my opinion. His hair should be way more red than that, as well as his eyes. And, I did not picture Brom looking like Jeremy Irons, but I think he will do well in the role, so I'm okay with that part. Oh, and how could I forget... the biggie is that the dragon is supposed to be a vivid blue color, and she looks more black in the trailer than anything else. *sigh* I shall still go see it, but the trailer bummed me out. I wonder what the author thinks about it? That's why, if I manage to sell a novel, I'm put strict restrictions on the movie rights for it, and I will a role in writing the screenplay (seeing as how I took a class and do know how to write one anyhow). Then, if one of my novels ever makes it to the screen, it will look more like my vision of it. Oh yeah, and I just remembered that they show the evil king a whole bunch of times in the trailer, but he was only talked about in the book--as far as I recall, we never saw him except visualizing him in a tale about when he was younger, etc. Maybe they had to do that part so the story would make sense or something, I don't know. Anyway, off I go now. My screen flicked back to normal again a couple paragraphs ago, but only stayed that way for a minute or two and has been quite messed up since then. Humm... if I feel like it later I'll take a picture of it so you all can see what it looks like. lol
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wednesday I went to the dentist for the first time in between 6 and 8 years. Yeah. It's not that I hate going to the dentist (though who likes it, really?), but I don't have dental insurance--it's too expensive. Anyway, my mom decided I should really go and said that she would pay. I didn't particularly want her to, but she made the appointment and one for her as well (she does have insurance, but if she doesn't have to make an appointment for me, what's to remind her to make one for herself? Right? lol).
The x-rays of my mouth came first. I did not know, but now they can do it digitally. Wow! lol So, that's how the lady did the front rows of my teeth, and then tried to do the sides and back. Apparently, I have Torus on my lower jaw. I was like, "I have what? Is that bad?" lol The last dentist appointment I had years ago, I recall the cleaning lady mentioning something, but I couldn't figure out what she said, except that it wasn't a big deal. So, apparently: "About 27/1,000 adults experience this condition." According to this website. Yay me! lmao Anyway, due to those things (which are growths of bone on my lower jaw leading toward my tounge) and that I apparently also have a small mouth, the lady could not get pictures of my back teeth with the digital thing and therefore had to resort to the wonderful old-fashioned paper kind. Egh. Neither one felt nice being shoved into the back corners of my mouth because both digital reader and paper things kept poking those little bone things and causing my eyes to tear. I am a trooper though, let me tell ya! lol And, finally it was over and all my teeth had had their portaits done.
After that, it was time for the cleaning to commence! The lady said that considering how long it had been since I'd been in for a cleaning, my teeth looked pretty good and there wasn't that much tarter buildup. However, that does not mean that the cleaning went quickly. Man, it felt like the scraping of my teeth with those pointy metal things would NEVER END! lol It just kept going, and my gums were hurting because I don't floss like I should, but at least I brush and therefore my teeth are okay. No cavities; just that I need to floss and should come back in no more than a year for another cleaning (if I have insurance because ain't no way in heck I'll shell out $280 for that fun experiance again).
I love it when the cleaning is done and the actual dentist comes in. It amuses me so. He sits down and takes a look in my mouth for a grand total of maybe two minutes, says everything's fine, and is done with his job. *rolls eyes* And why do you get paid so much Mr. Dentist? I bet he got a good portion of that $280 my parents paid and the lady that cleaned my teeth did all the work! At least she was really nice.
After the dentist, my mom and I went and ran errands. Mostly it was Target and I got some big plastic tubs to put my Backstreet Boys stuff in so that it can go out into the garage for storage. I need extra space in my drawers and on my shelves! lol My mouth hurt the whole time, so I thought I'd get some ice cream, but I got sprinkles on it and that didn't exactly help with my teeth. lol My mouth hurt until I went to bed on Wednesday night. At least by that point it wasn't much, and in the morning on Thursday I was fine. lol
Yesterday my only accomplishment was making quiche for dinner. At least that was something. lol Today I went and ran errands to the post office, the theater, and then the bank. "Fun." Mom and I have also been watching SG-1 episodes from Season 9, and that's pretty much it. Now I think I'll go and have some sparkling cranberry juice, because it's quite tasty. :)
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
I finally managed to get a layout made yesterday for that site I was stressing over. (Praise God!) It came out alright, I think. Nothing insanely nice, but good. I got a reply e-mail today and, as is of course inevitable, they like it, but they want to change some things. *rolls eyes* They never tell me beforehand that they'd like a certain font used or anything. Oy. At least that part will be easy to change once they decide upon the font they want to use and get back to me. The other thing is more annoying because it may mean I have to go and take all new pictures, which I would not be thrilled about.
Oh yeah, and I also got an e-mail yesterday saying that I missed the screening for The Prestige, which I was majorly looking forward to. *sigh* They had it sooner than I thought, and the person went on vacation before they read my e-mail, etc. It ended up being on my Mom's birthday, so I would not have been able to go anyway, since I had plans with her. No biggie, just means I have to wait longer like everyone else. lol I'll probably try to go see that one on opening day though: it looks really good.
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Today I got a few little chores done. Did the laundry, cleaned a couple things... yay. lol I planned to do a few other things, but A) I slept till the afternoon and B) my mom called and said we were going to end up going to see a movie after all. :) We went to see Love's Abiding Joy, which is the fourth in a series based on some books. The movies are really good and have been airing on Hallmark Channel for the last few years. We thought this one was just going to appear on TV in a few months, but then my mom saw a commercial the other day saying it was going to be playing in theaters. I was like, "No." lol But, sure enough, it's playing on a limited release in theaters for a while. We had to drive a ways to get to a theater that was showing it, but adventures are fun, right? lol It was good. I'm sorely dissapointed in IMDB now though because I went to see who the actor was that was playing one of the characters in the movie, and half the characters are not listed on the cast page! Even one of the main characters is not listed! What the heck? IMDB does not know all about movies, apparently. lol
We also had dinner and I got very tired after that. lol I'm feeling more awake now, which is bad because I should go to sleep. And yet, I have the desire to pop in X-Men 3, which arrived today along with SG-1 Season 9 on DVD. I must resist though. Another night it wouldn't be so bad, but I've got to get up when it's still technically morning tomorrow, so I'm supposed to at least "attempt" to sleep and get enough of it. *sigh* I suppose I shall do that now.
Oh, and I wrote a little when we got back tonight!!! Ever since the day I posted about being stressed about that layout, I've not written because I've been in a funk and generally not so dapper mood. However, God is GOOD, as He must continually remind me since my human brain is too feeble to remember on its own much of the time, and I wrote and now I have what could turn out as a good idea for that layout. I really want to get it done soon. I could sight that the creative process cannot be forced, but it's really that I kept putting other things before that; the creative process too, but mostly my procrastination. Hopefully God will help me get it done soon before I possibly get in "trouble."
Friday, October 6, 2006
I took down all of my Backstreet Boys posters today. I rolled them up, put them in poster tubes, and stashed them in my closet. The only BSB thing left up on my wall now is a collage of magazine clippings I made years ago. I don't think it would do too well being rolled up right now, and there was nothing else that would fit in that spot, so it's staying up for now I suppose. In place of them, I put up more movie posters! :D Now the walls are covered in movie posters and part of the ceiling, too. lol And... *drumroll* I got a STARGATE movie poster!!!! I ordered it off of eBay and it came today!! :D It might be a re-print (I think it probably is), but it still looks rad and was WAY cheaper than the authentic double-sided ones, so that's good. lol I also ordered two other posters: The Mask (YEAH!) and Reign of Fire (the teaser version with dragons on it--very cool). So wee and yay for posters! ;)
P.S. I forgot to say that I finished reading Eragon on Wednesday. I decided my time would be better spent reading that than stressing over the layout stuff. :D
Thursday, October 5, 2006
Happy birthday to my mommy!!! :D She told me last week that she decided what we'd do for her birthday is go to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, and so that's just what we did. :) We purchased our tickets, and then ate lunch until the IMAX we were going to watch was about to start. That was pretty cool, and I did learn one or two things about Ancient Egypt that I did not know. Plus, of couse, they put in that STUPID theory about how the great pyramids were built using rock and mud slopes the built up with the pyramid as it rose by having ten guys haul the however many ton rock up it using ropes. That one just irks me. It seems so pointless and stupid, and it doesn't fit with their level of intellegence in actually being able to build the pyramids themselves that they would not have had a better system. Unless, of course, they really were landing pads for the Goa'uld, which means that they would have used their advanced alien technology to help the enslaved peoples. lmao
After the IMAX show was over, we had enough time to go put our stuff that wasn't allowed into the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit into a locker, then we went and got in line for our time slot. They had these over-sized remote type things where you punch in the number next to a picture, hold it to your ear, and it tells you about it. We waited a few minutes, then our group was let in to watch the little video beforehand. Once the video was done, you go through this long, windy area filled wit lots of stuff before you get to the Scrolls. There was some cool stuff there though: a few of the actual jars that some of the scrolls had been stored it, ancient coins found at a nearby settlement they've been studying, etc. They even had papayrus and parchment (the real stuff out of animal hide) that you could touch, so I did. :) They both felt really cool, and the parchment was spiffy! I shall have to remember how it felt for at least one story I've currently got floating around in my head. ;) It was a lot harder than I thought it would be: stiff and strong. Good stuff.
Before you get to the actual scrolls they have replicas for you to look at under normal lighting. The reason being that the actual scrolls are so delicate that they're in a sparsely lighted room in cases with very dim yellow light that turns off at periodic intervals to help keep them in tact. Most of them are ripped pieces. There was one that had some Psalms on it that was about three feet long though, and that was definately the biggest. It was only about five or six inches tall though. They were pretty cool, but a little bit of a let down in that you could hardly see them. Understandably so though, however. They even had this sort of sheer fabric over the scrolls in their cases. I'm not quite sure what that was.
When you walk out of that room, they have another that has pages from less ancient documents: a page from a medieval bible, some documents in Arabic, etc. That was pretty cool too, since you could see it better because of the normal lighting. ;) Then, after that room was a gift shop where you could buy a little set that came with a replica of one of the clay jars and some "scrolls" to go in it (the scrolls were on white paper though, so it didn't look very authentic, lol), among other things. Nothing to excite my mom or I. ;)
After that we went around to some of the other exhibits that are regularly at the Pacific Science Center. I braved the butterfly room for my mom. lol I'm weird. I'm semi-creeped out by butterflies. They remind me too much of moths, and I definately do not like those. Egh. This HUGE butterfly flew right past my shoulder from behind me and I kinda freaked me out a little. lol That being said, their wings do look cool, and I did take pictures. lol I'm not that creeped out by them--I just don't want them landing on me. They didn't, so that was good. lol On the way from the exit of the butterfly thing back to the main building, you have to pass some really scary stuff. First it doesn't seem so bad: dead butterflies of ever size, shape and color pinned to boards and housed under glass. Then came the moths. Egh. Then were live honey bees behind glass and that was okay, I like them because they give us yummy honey. However, beyond their little slice of hive were large wasps under glass. They may have been dead, but they were still creepy. Think I'm over-reacting? I'm talking about a "spider wasp" which is about the size of the circle if you hold your hands with thumbs together and index fingers together... body, legs, wings and all. *shudders* Egh! Then the horror only continues with huge beatles, giant cocroaches and other such nasty creepy crawlies you never wanted to know existed! Praise God, I didn't notice the spider case this time. *more shudders*
After that we enjoyed a good game of virtual soccer that took our minds off the scaryness! lol The lady running it was just like, "hey! want to play virtual soccer?" Mom and I were like, "sure." lol It was fun, but kinda hard. I only had to be goalie during one game the first season I played soccer and it did not go well at all, so I wasn't looking up for this one to do so either. lol You watch a screen to see yourselves and the balls getting "kicked" at you, then you move to try and deflect them. It's not as easy as you think it is. lol It brought much laughter and was fun though. We even got the high score! No lie, we did. However, I'm guessing they reset it everyday and pretty much no one had played it before we did. lol
We then journeyed into the planetarium, which I didn't remember they had. I like planetariums. :D The gal that was running it and telling us stuff was hilarious! At least to me, anyhow. I found it quite amusing. The first thing we were going to do was find Polaris, but it's easier to find if you find the Big Dipper first, so she asked if anyone had found it and if so to say. I did, and said, and was given "the amazing arrow of science" which was a flashlight that projected a red arrow wherever you pointed it. Hehe. Awesome. I pointed it out and got a "very good job!" I was proud of myself though because I actually recognized which star was Polaris before I found the Big or Little Dipper. :) Yay! I have not forgotten everything I learned in Astronomy! lol I knew the answers to a lot of other stuff she asked too, but I let everyone else have a chance after that. I'm so nice; and modest, too! ;)
After the planetarium we sat in a replica of an Apollo space vessel and toggled switches to make lights go on and off and took each other's picture. Wee! Then we went to this giant-sized set of table and chairs and took turns sitting on a chair and taking pictures. Next was the weather broadcast. They've got a green screen setup and you read the prompter and point to images on the screen and then you see yourself as you do a weather person on TV, only on a much smaller budget. Heh. I got mom to take a picture of the screen with me on it though. ;) Oh, and I cannot forget the wonderful shadow wall!!! You go in, you stand in a funny position in front of this lime green wall (it's fairly dark, by the way), then you hold while it beeps, a flash strobes, you move away from the wall, and there is your shadow still on it!!! I tried to take a picture, but, yeah, it so did not work, obviously. I had to try though. ;) I went in there and did that three or four seperate times as we passed it. Hehe.
We also went on this "simulator" ride. I put it in quotes because it pretty much sucked as far as simulating the experiance of what we were watching. lol I've been on a similar thing that was MUCH better. Anyway, I told the guy we wanted the space rollarcoaster one, but the door closes and the screen lights up and we ended up getting "the journey of a water droplet." Exciting, yeah. It cost $4 each, too! Anyway, I ended up deciding not to say anything or make him run the right one for free because I got such a kick out of the the thing. Not the the video, but the moving. They need to friggin' put seat belts in that thing! There's just a bench with a strip of stuff that's supposed to help you not to slide on the back half. Yeah, that stuff doesn't work. First big turn and mom and I were hanging on for our LIVES! lol It was the best game of corners ever! Hehehe. We laughed a lot, me more so than mom, so it was overall okay. ;)
We left after that and passed all the poor people sitting in traffic because we could carpool. lol I did feel bad for them, but it was really nice to be able to go the speed limit and get home in the proper amount of time. Anyway, we got home, and then shortly left for dinner with dad along with us this time. We tried out an Italian restaurant that we hadn't been to before. My food was alright, but the Olive Garden's manacotti is better. lol Still, it was nice, and the food tasted pretty good. :) Mommy and I watched a movie after we got home as well. She said she really enjoyed her birthday and that made me happy. :D
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
This sucks. I'm taking a break because it's so flibbin' bad! I'm trying to make a layout for a company and it is not going well at all. *almost cries* I said I could make the layout; now all I can come up with is crap! And I've got my iTunes library set to play on random right now and it keeps picking BSB, Nick, or Aaron songs, and I don't want to hear any by them right now and it's just annoying! I should have done this layout quite a while back--actually, I did, but then they said they didn't like it. Always, always, always they tell me to just do whatever I like, whatever I think is best, and then they tell me it's not what they're looking for! They why didn't you freakin' tell me what you WERE looking for?! @&^# This time, however, I actually sketched out what the layout would look like and explained it and they said yea, that's good. Now it doesn't want to work how it did in my head though, and it looks like crap! I tried something else, but that looks too new agey and just boils back down to crap. Then, I tried another one, can't do what I want with my version of Photoshop, so I closed the program and here I am. *sigh* Yay... Pirates remix playing... better, but still not that good. I think I'm going to have to stop and read for a while, but I just keep seeing the e-mail: How's the layout coming? DIE. (I mean that last toward the e-mail and how I keep seeing it in my mind's eye, not its author.) I can feel my creativity clamping down; which is not good for this nor for my writing later. *sinks down in chair*
