| Laptop setup in progress |
[Oct. 26th, 2009|09:21 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  busy | ] |
I'm busily setting up my new laptop. I just have so much stuff to download and so many things to transfer. I'm not going to finish this tonight.
So, question for the flist: How many days does it normally take YOU to switch over from an old computer to a new?
I'm going to see status bars in my sleep, I think. |
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| SQUEE |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|11:10 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | squee | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
I bought a new laptop today!! |
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| EXCITEMENT! |
[Oct. 8th, 2009|08:30 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | anime, inu yasha | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | excited | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | it'sbackit'sbackit'sbackit'sback | ] |
HOLY FREAKING CRAP! Inu Yasha is back!!
ETA: It's starting up as part of the new anime season. Here's a handy dandy link: Episode 1. |
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| New writing experience |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|10:49 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | writing | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | happy | ] |
I'm now an RP storyteller. ^_^
Just, you know, thought I should share. It's lots of fun, as it turns out. I'm working on a project that's set in a world that my RP partner and I are both fans of, and we've created a whole cast of original characters. I'm bursting at the seams with ideas.
I've always wanted to do collaborative work on a project like this, too. When my partner approached me to suggest we RP together, I pounced on the opportunity. It's so nice and refreshing to create a story together with someone. There's such a fun flavor to creating a story and cast that's OURS rather than just MINE. |
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| Angel on my shoulder |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|09:38 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | friends | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thankful | ] |
I spent yesterday with two of my friends, and I know for a fact that I had a guardian angel giving me a helping hand and keeping an eye on things.
One of the friends had been experiencing some very recent boy troubles. She was distracted by this problem all day, and it was really upsetting her.
Let me interrupt the story by saying that I haven't seen either of these friends for a while. I'm also a bad Facebook checker, so I don't always know when certain details of life occur.
At more than one point during the day, I thought about asking this friend (the one with the boy problems) about her pet, a dog she loves very much and dotes on. Every time I thought about asking, I decided not to. Whenever I thought about asking, something made me feel like I shouldn't. So I didn't.
I found out later that evening from the other friend that was with us that the dog had died a bit over a month ago, had been hit by a car. And the particular circumstances were just absolutely awful.
If I had unwittingly asked that friend about her dog...oh good gracious, I can't even begin to imagine the absolute mess it would have caused. She was upset enough already, and I would have completely torn her apart with one stupid question.
So you know what? Guardian angels do exist. |
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| Writerly Group |
[Sep. 9th, 2009|09:28 am] |
I went to a writer's MeetUp group last night. It's the second time I've been to it, and I'm already really having a blast with it. The group members are pretty darn awesome and give a wide range of valuable critiques. I haven't submitted anything to it yet, but I think I'll try to have something ready for the next meeting in two weeks. |
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| A day without cats? HA! |
[Sep. 8th, 2009|05:21 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cats | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
I do hope that the right-minded people of the world realize that The Day Without Cats is doomed to failure.
"But why?" some might ask. "Surely the Internet can survive one day without cats."
No. Just no. It's doomed to utter failure. It will fail because the vacuum created by the lack of cats will CAUSE THE INTERNET TO COLLAPSE IN UPON ITSELF AND CREATE A BLACK HOLE THAT WILL DEVOUR THE EARTH.
See? You understand now. I know you do.
But, you know, maybe if they replaced the cats with ferrets for a day, it might work.... |
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| Strange dream |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|08:02 am] |
Of course I had a strange dream last night. It was inevitable.
I dreamed I was on a road trip for a Taekwondo tournament with several other people in a large van. I was having a pretty good time on the trip, I think. Also, it must have been a pretty long road trip, because we had to stop somewhere overnight, and the next day when we got on the road I was still in my PJs. I had to make a fuss to get into my bags to get clothes so I could change. I remember deciding to dress in a pretty sexy top because I'd be stunning when I walked into the tournament venue. (In the dream, we never reached the tournament.) Then we stopped at a convenience store, and it really got weird. A couple of my traveling mates, a man and a woman (nobody I know in real life), decided to hold up the convenience store. I very clearly remember looking over and seeing the female in her high heels pointing the gun around. She looked a bit awkward with it, like she didn't know how to use it. There were two guys behind her, laughing at her.
And then the alarm went off. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 28th, 2009|11:28 pm] |
It's only 11:30. I should not be this....zzzzzzz
*drags self back to wakefulness by scruff of neck*
I talked to mom on the phone earlier today. She's come back from a retreat. We talked about her retreat, and I told her a bit more about my voice recording gig, and then I finally managed to bring up dad and some of my thoughts about his death and our family. I feel like we only scratched the surface so far, but at least I finally brought it up and opened the possibility for more talk. I've been struggling to bring it up for months. It's not that we haven't talked about dad or brought him up -- it's just that we haven't been talking about the fact that we've lost him.
I haven't told her yet that I've dreamed about dad multiple times in the past several months.
I actually dreamed a couple of weeks ago that I was able to break down and really sob about it. I haven't done that in real life. Tears, sure, but no proper gut-wrenching sobs. It was nice to be able to do it at least in a dream.
I've been having strange dreams in general lately. I dreamed that while I was out shopping, an old, senile lady broke into my house (although it was no house I'd ever seen before; I still knew it was mine). I remember noticing that the refrigerator was standing open and realized someone was in the house. I found the lady. She was a bit odd in the head but nice enough. She insisted that she be allowed to buy my mom a coat, I think as a means of compensation for trouble. It was a very nice coat, and in the dream my mother definitely liked it.
Okay, bedtime now, and I'll see whether any more strange dreams come up. |
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| Total emersion |
[Aug. 24th, 2009|10:38 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | reading | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | rejuvenated | ] |
It's after 10:30. It's Monday, right? I have just now tunneled through an entire world to get back to myself.
I have been a voracious reading machine since I left work on Friday. And I feel freaking faaantastic.
I was a bit more than halfway done with the Fruits Basket manga when I returned home for the weekend. I finished it that night.
Saturday morning, I relaxed, took a breather, looked at some shrubs for the front of my townhome. I bought a pizza and watched a little anime. Then I picked up The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure and began to read. And I didn't put it down. I have to say, I've had my eye on the Wraeththu Histories Trilogy ever since I read the first three Wraeththu books. I'd been waiting for the last book in the Histories trilogy to be available in paperback so that I could buy all three at once.
I didn't sleep Saturday night. At all. I read. I read. I read.
When I realized it was getting to be early morning, I went to the earliest mass, the 7:30 time, knowing that this mass is typically much shorter and that I could return to my book that much faster. When I finished Wraiths, I picked up The Shades of Time and Memory. After mid-afternoon on Sunday, I couldn't keep my head up any longer, so I slept for a few hours. Then I woke and began to read again. And I read, and I finished the second book, and then I picked up The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence. I slept for the night, woke, read a bit, went to work, returned home, and read some more. Now I have completed my trilogy.
I have glutted myself on the written word, and I feel renewed. I am both utterly exhausted and utterly refreshed. |
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| Renji Waits |
[Aug. 16th, 2009|02:08 pm] |
Well, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dfragrance and I have been up to no good. Here's a video that we cooked up! I hope you like it. If you do like it, please consider giving it a positive rating to help it out on YouTube! :D Thank you for watching!
Cross posted by dfragrance to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) cracktheatre. |
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| Failcon is fail |
[Aug. 11th, 2009|06:24 pm] |
Well, I wrote up a big summary letter to a friend on Facebook about my experiences this past weekend at Ikasucon. In the interest of expediency and efficiency, I'm editing my summary and turning it into a blog post. *dodges the shouts of "blog cheater!"*
The short version: I will not be returning to Ikasucon
The shorter version: OMGWTFBBQ and FAAAAAIL
The shortest version: *cries*
kuroneko7727, dfragrance, and I went to Fort Wayne Thursday evening. Had a fun roadtrip like usual. Then Friday morning we got up, got dressed, and hit the con.
( Follow the cut to find out about Ikasucon's fail. )
So, that's my con report. :) Mostly bad, some small glimmerings of good. I got back Sunday afternoon and pretty promptly fell asleep.
Next year, dfragrance and I are hitting Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) for sure, and kuroneko7727 will come if her schedule allows.
I do have a bit of good news: A new anime convention is starting this year in Indianapolis, my town. And VIC MIGNONA is coming! The con is in November. I'll put up with a first-time con for Vic, most definitely. The website for this new con is even decent and attractive (much better than Ikasucon's site). |
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| No time, must summarize |
[Jul. 28th, 2009|11:03 pm] |
My life is crazy. I have no time to post, and I'm not going to have time to post for a couple of days yet.
Super quick summary:
Brother Tony visited from Wednesday to Sunday. Tony ripped out shrubs, and we spent time together, and he got into my LotR Extended Edition DVDs. Mom visited on Saturday as well and took us to see the Tut exhibit at Children's Museum.
I worked my regular job on Monday and then put in 3.5 hours recording. Recording introductions to psychology text? Hard stuff. O.O
Had dinner tonight with Mike Keffer, the man who spent two years with my dad in Nigeria for the Peace Corp a long time ago. Mom also drove down and went to dinner with us. Heard many wonderful stories that I've never heard before.
Am now very, very tired. Will be doing more voice recording tomorrow night and Thursday night.
I can make it. I will make it. I will kick ass at whatever I do.
Will now return to rereading The Hobbit before I go to sleep. |
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| Foreign films |
[Jul. 21st, 2009|12:14 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | movies, rec | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | entertained | ] |
Are there any foreign film lovers on my flist?
I have a couple of movies to rec: Vitus (German) and The Butterfly (French).
The first is a movie about a boy prodigy who's too smart for his own good. The boy loves to play the piano, and if you like classical music, this would be a very good movie for you.
The second is a classic "troubled child and old curmudgeon" movie. The old curmudgeon collects butterflies. The little girl is frequently left unattended by her single mother. |
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| Tagging and skimming the journal |
[Jul. 18th, 2009|03:37 pm] |
I've decided to undertake a Herculean effort and consolidate my existing tags and then go back and tag my old entries. Consolidating the tags took several hours. Tagging old entries will take days if not weeks.
So far, I've gone through the year 2002, and I'm up to April of 2003.
I have never, EVER reread my LiveJournal. Does anybody on my flist do any rereading? Because it's really weird for me to look back and read the 2002 version of me. That version, Ginia.2002, seems like half a stranger to me now. I'm still pretty darn bubbly as a person, but Ginia.2002 was out of control bubbly. She seems to me to have been a lot more energetic and wild than I am now, mostly living in a state of self-sustaining joy, but occasionally showing some pretty low lows.
I can't believe the number of times I talked about pizza of all things. I was obsessed!
Going back, I've also found some mentions of my dad, some of which are very amusing and several of which I'd forgotten about entirely. It's been six and a half months since his death now, and...well, I'm just really glad I found those entries.
Somewhat similarly, I'm finding several mentions of people I used to be very close to but for one reason or other I'm no longer in contact with. Those long-forgotten details are really nice to find and reminisce over as well.
I think I can honestly say I've done a lot of growing as a human being. |
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| Cooking with squash! |
[Jul. 17th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
So my co-worker Heidi is having lots of fun with her garden and growing things, and she gave me a summer squash to try out.
I tried to do a Squash Chips recipe. (Specifically, this one: Squash Chips. Don't bother with it, though.) I really liked the idea, but it didn't work out. The chips just didn't firm up, and the result was edible but not enjoyable.
Heidi kindly gave me two more squash to have my way with. I changed things around based on my first failed attempt. I thickened the slices, added more seasonings, etc. VOILA! I have delicious squash wheels.
Summer Squash Wheels
2 summer squash, sliced into 1/2-inch wheels
1 tablespoon freshly chopped basil
1 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 225˚. In a medium-size bowl, drizzle the olive oil over the squash wheels and stir. Then mix in all the seasonings and stir again.
2. Place seasoned squash wheels on baking tray. (If you see any bare yellow squash without green spots, feel free to sprinkle on a little more basil/oregano to give it green spots.) Bake for 45-50 minutes.
3. Pull out tray and turn squash wheels over. Bake another 25-30 minutes.
4. Pull out tray. (Theoretically, you could eat the wheels now, but they won’t be tasty!) Turn oven heat up to broiling, with a rack high placed close to the heat source.
5. Put the tray back in and broil for 2-3 minutes. Wheels should have some brown flaking spots. Stay attentive so they don’t burn.
6. Pull out tray. Turn squash wheels over. Broil for another 1 minute so that the other side of the wheel has the brown spots/edging. Enjoy!
I really did mean to take a picture when the tray was full of finished squash. However, I nommed a few before I could get to the camera. *^_^* |
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| We're Being Researched O.O |
[Jul. 16th, 2009|05:45 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  thoughtful | ] |
So, I noticed in a recent LJ news announcement that we, the LJ community, have been researched. Yes, that's right, someone's trying to figure out what makes us tick, and how LJ is different from other social networks.
If you're interested in the report, you can find it here: The report by alice_marwick.
I read the report. I think that there's just one really, really important thing that alice_marwick didn't mention: We have been known to go beyond passionate and get downright rabid. (Need I mention Strikethrough '07?)
I don't know. I read the report and its talk about our passion for LJ and I think, "okay, that's obvious." But maybe it isn't to an outsider. I mean, there are people who love Facebook and other social networking sites, but do they get passionate about them? I admit, I've been away from LJ for a long time, but I needed the break, and now I'm suddenly back on LJ and all over it like a cat on a sun patch. I love my LJ. Facebook, on the other hand, is just a handy tool to me and destined to remain so.
Also, I find there's a lot of stupid stuff on Facebook that I would never encounter in LJ. (No, I am not going to become a fan of "hating mosquitos" or "turning the pillow to the cool side." WTF?)
The research document does capture the "bring on the strangers!" attitude that almost all of us share.
Anyway, back on track. The main point she researcher made is that we're passionate. So maybe the passion thing is special. I still think the rabidness needed to be mentioned. |
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| Free music |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|11:33 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | music | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | audio joyland | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Fireflies -- by Owl City | ] |
I am digging on this song SO hard.
I've recently started doing the iTunes thing a lot more. Well, yes, that makes sense since I acquired an iPod touch. Well, one of the things I'm doing is keeping an eye on the free music offerings each week.
Free this week is Fireflies by Owl City. It just plain and simply makes me HAPPY. It's gently, quietly joyful.
Favorite lyric: "I get a thousand hugs from ten-thousand lightning bugs as they try to teach me how to dance." |
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| Fun with voice actor identification |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|05:48 pm] |
You know you're otaku when it takes only four lines from a newly introduced character for you to recognize the voice actor who played a lead role in another anime.
Case in point: Ling from FMA Brotherhood is also Tamaki Suou from Ouran High School Host Club.
Nailed it right away. LOL Now, if you don't mind, I'm returning to the episode at hand. |
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sleepy