Life as I know it - がんばる

Before and After House Pics

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:48:51 GMT

Crappy quality as always with my cell phone.

The view of the livingroom, from the bedroom.

The living room, from the kitchen.

The kitchen.

The entry hall, viewed from the kitchen.

The bedroom. We knocked out those cabinets.

The bathroom.

The rooms are a bit messy as we're not situated yet. Still lots of work to do.

House and Misc. Updates

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:19:02 GMT

So we've been living in the house since the 2nd, more or less. Things have been too hectic around here for me to post or do much of anything but house related things. Some of the things we've done since purchasing the house on the 22nd are...

Ripped out the flooring in the bedroom and living room of the first floor. Put in laminate flooring which we got pretty damn cheap, at $.66 a sq ft.

Bought a breand new washer and dryer.

Had a plumber come in and hook the washer up.

Had electricians come in and update alot of the electrical.

Took down the wood paneling in the living room, and spackled both the living room and the bedroom.

Painted the living room and the bedroom.

Bought a new fridge since the one that was here would only freeze things no matter how low the temperature was set.

Got a new shower head.

Bought a new sink and toilet, which won't be put in until we rip out the floor in the bathroom.

Made a platform bed, that's a little too high. Started making a computer table for our computers.

Started putting up moulding around the living room.

Started Scra[ing the ceiling living room.

The living room and bedroom are almost done. We really just need to put down the moulding and finish scraping and painting the ceiling in the living room. We haven't even started on the kitchen and bathroom yet. But we're glad the living and bedroom are just about done because for awhile, we were only living out of the bedroom, while most of our shit was taking up space in boxes in the other rooms. Things have been going ok, I suppose. Kien's brother is totally not focused and is buying things for and working on, everything but his own apartment. But with that, he's hardly doing anything at all. Kien and I have done basically everything here so far. Granted it's all been to or for our apartment, but we know we're going to end up doing all the work in his brother's apartment too. Since his brother isn't the sharpest tool in the box, and his girlfriend is using her pregnancy as an excuse to get out of everything, it's all going to be left on us. I mean, my brother and his girlfriend have been of more help and they live an hour and a half away and only came here for half a day, and they did more to help us than these people we'll be living with, who are 15 minutes away.

His brother is also spending lots of money. He wants the best of the best stuff, but doesn't research it. Nor does he have any friends to show off too, so it's like he's showing off for himself. From a raindrop shower head, to $.86 tiles for all over his bathroom (there are ones for $.12 ea that look perfectly fine and come in many colors), to paint and primer for the basement support beams (O.o ?!?!?!). He also originally wanted to buy $1,000+ ea washer and dryer when there are perfectly good older models or just not so electronic front loaders that are hundreds less, just don't look as cool. I mean sure, I'd love to get the Samsung red front loader uber washers of heavenly clean, but let's be realistic here. The money that we don't spend on rediculously priced washer dryer, the more we have for the bare necessities like flooring, cabinets, furniture. Come on. He also wants to get a new stove when he doens't even cook. Karen also said herself that she can't cook for shit. So why get one? You won't even use it, so what's wrong with the one that's up there now? As long as it works, it shouldn't matter. Kien and his brother went in on this house together. Kien already has a ton of debt. If his brother keeps spending like he is, then we'll all be drowning in debt and get screwed when it coems time to pay things like insurance and whatnot. Not to mention that fact that kien's brother made him sign up for the Lowe's credit card. Before we went, his brother was all like ok I'll do it. Then as we're walking in, he's like you do it. He's that shy. All kien did was fill out a little brochure sized form and hand it to the lady.

We were gunna get windows from Sears. & of them for about 7k total, with a supposed savings of about 2k. They had financing, no payments, no interest for 1 year. Kien says to his brother, if you're not here, I'm gunna have to sign for the credit card, and I won't be able to be a co-borrower for Anne's student loan since I'll have too much debt. Will you be a co-borrower for her, if that is the case? I guess he said yes. I don't know, but between the 3k additional debt for Lowe's and more and more piling up as we fix up this house, the situation isn't looking too good. Kien has good credit, but alot of debt. His brother doesn't have much debt at all, but a mediocre credit score. If he builds up on the debt. We really all will be fucked. And I'll be unbelievably pissed if I can't go to school at all because he can't control his crazy spending urges and whatnot.

Kien luckily was paranoid enough to call another window guy to get a quote on the same windows Sears was going to install. This guy is only charging 3.6k including labor for the windows. Kien's mom said she would pay for the windows to get done as long as we pay her back eventually. Karen's dad is paying for our roof to get done, which is going on as I type this. My brother and his girlfriend came to help out and visit on Sunday. They painted the bedroom a bit and we hung out some.

Did I mention Karen is using her pregnancy as an excuse to get out of everything? She's about 4 months pregnant, tops, and barely shows. When we go shopping, she carries bags with like 3 paint brushes in it, to the house, from the car. She says she can't lift anything heavier than 50 lbs cuz she's pregnant. She hasn't wiped down her kitchen or bathroom, she can't help paint despite the masks and crazy ventilation we have going on because she can't be anywhere near the fumes. I just know she's going to be jealous of our apartment because it already is looking awesome. Since she can't do shit and Kien's brother isn't any better off, she'll expect us to put our all into helping them make their apartment nice, despite that fact that we have so much work to do and have been doing to our own apartment by ourselves. God forbid we might have a lack of motivation to work on an apartment that isn't ours, by ourselves.

Kien and I have really been working our asses off making our apartment nice and livable. we got no help with our flooring or painting or spackleing despite his brother and even karen's being here. But no. Karen's is too busy yelling at Cathan for every little thing. Phuong is off putting up solar sensor lights and painting poles in the basement to do anything that matters.

Guess we'll see how things go as time passes. I'll try to post some before as after pics later.

Blah

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 19:52:11 GMT

Long time, again, since I last posted.

I don't know if I've mentioned it in my last post, but i finally got my haircut. Kien was an angel and stopped me from having to do it myself, and paid for it to get professionally done. I love it for the most psrt. It's light, airy, and easy to wash and do. Here are some pics.

We're about a week away from closing on the house. All we're waiting for now, is the insurance agency to fax the proof of insurance to the bank and the owner's lawyer. Once that's done (hopefully today) we can ask the owner's to move up the closing date. The bank would require 4 days notice if the owners OK it. But either way, we're just about done with the paperwork. Most of our things are packed. All that's left are the clothes we wear most often, the dishes we use, bathroom stuff, bedding, and well that's about it, aside from the major things that can't be packed like futons, chairs etc.

Slightly nervous about moving. But mostly I just want to get out of this apartment. Our landlord told Kien the other day that he wanted to start advertising this place. I understand why, but really, I don't trust people, and I would rather he wait until after we move out because who knows what kind of people we'll get walking through our stuff. Between people potentially stealing our things, to the fact that we have my grandmother's cat living with us when we're not supposed to... I already figured if we get people in to look at the place, I'd just put his toys and whatnot into the bureau since the drawers are empty, and take Phin with me while they look around. But I'd rather not go through all of that. Who knows if all that would even go according to plan. If someone (esp our landlord) found out we have a cat we could get in big trouble.

Aside from that, after we close, Kien said he's going to call an electrician to fix the wiring and whatnot. While that's all fine and dandy, I just want to avoid the above situation as much as possible. So the sooner we're out of here, the better. Also, there are tiny ants that keep invading the apt. We can't leave Phin's food out, not even the dry food because they swarm all over it. That's another downside of living around so many restaurants (one is even on the first floor of our building). Before Phin, we never really had much of a problem with insects, since we'd never leave food out. But with Phin, it's difficult. He won't always eat all of his wet food at once, so the ants come for that. If we leave out too little food, he won't have enough to eat throughout the day. But we can't leave out the dry food because they come for that too. There are also ants under our carpet, I swear. If I sit on it for too long I'll get what seems to be tiny irritating stings on my ass and/or legs. Like they're pissed off cuz I'm sitting on them or something lol. While I know insects aren't restricted to places abundant to restaurants, atleast in what is more like the suburbs, carpenter ants are around more so then these tiny things. Having gorwn up in the suburbs, I'm used to carpenter ants. Since they're so big, they can only live within so many footage before there's no room for them. Plus they're less creepy, in my opinion. When I see dozens and dozens of tiny fuckers, where it almost looks like a piece or rippling fabric, well... that's just plain creepy. On that note, not only will we have Phin and his food to deal with, but we'll have Blue and her food to deal with. I'm pretty confident we can keep things clean though. If Kien's brother and his gf/kids can't be/aren't clean though, our efforts will be in vain. Please, if you live with multiple people, and even by yourself; keep your damn living space clean! If not for your own sake, then for others around you!

I'm nervous about starting school again. I guess mostly because I won't just be taking Japanese this time around. So taking placement tests, finding out I'm really as stupid as I think I am when it comes to math... yadda yadda. I wish I could still get a degree while only taking classes I want to take. Honestly I couldn't give a shit about math. I know all that is needed to know math-wise to live. Why make me pay for classes that teach me shit I will never ever use, and will forget in a few months time anyways?! At the very least, if you're going to force me to take these classes, PAY FOR THEM! Don't make me pay for something I have absolutely no need or use for. It's like going into a store as a 10 year old girl and trying to sell her football gear and padding she would be paying for with her hard earned allowance, when all she wants is a barbie doll. Also, I'm sort of in a rut. I'm dying to learn Japanese. I want nothing more (aside from a normal eye, nice teeth, smaller tits and a life in Japan) than to become fluent in Japanese. But again, it's all these other classes. Getting up early to take classes I wouldn't even give a shit to take. Dealing with people. Even in Japanese class, I was pretty damn quite. Only person I talked to was Keisha (I take comfort in people I find equally ugly or uglier than myself, just because I feel they won't judge me, make fun of me.. etc. Horrible, I know). Though I did talk to Lepore (don't remember his first name but he was the old guy) when he talked to me, or when we were working together. I'm just not one for talking to random people. I'm incredibly self conscious. I feel like everyone is making fun of me or staring at me. And when people seem to click right away, I assume they're friends outside of school and it's hard to compete with that. I know if I was going to school with a friend from outside of it, I'd be pretty tied up with them. Not to say I would turn away newbies to the circle. Just there's already that familiarity and comfort there with old friends. One reason why I hope Keisha is going to be in the class this semester. Hopefully she remembers me, or something. I don't know. Otherwise, I'll probably keep to myself until sensei puts us in pairs/groups. In which I'll talk but still pretty much keep to myself. I was never any good in school.

I can't make friends very well at all. And really, it's all because of my eye. If my eyes were normal; like everyone else's, I guarantee you I would be pretty social. I sure as hell wouldn't be so set on covering my eye with my bangs. I wouldn't feel so certain that people staring at it and talking about it behind my back. I know it could be worse. I could have like... no arms and legs or something. Burn scars all over my body... But having lived my life, and knowing how people treat me and act around me with my eye the way it is now, it's a gigantic deal to me. About 90% of what I do/how I act revolves around my eye. It's ugly. People can't tell if I'm looking at them (it doesn't occur to them to look at my good eye. either that or they're too distracted by my blind eye). It's shrinking, and resulting in a bit of a sunken look. People have asked me if I was wearing a contact lens in it. Now tell me why the fuck I would WANT to look like this? Yes, I like my eye to look to my nose, have no pupil, be smaller, and float around a bit. And those are just to name the cosmetic problems with it. It hurts alot of the time. Dries up occasionally. Not to mention the fact that I CAN'T SEE OUT OF IT! I have no depth derception so while doing random things, (while these things don't happen all the time) I burn myself, smash into things, hit things, knock things over... Aside from "sensing" someone's presence on the left side of my body, I do not know they are there, I cannot see them. I've ignored people thinking "they can't possibly be talking to me" partly because I'm shy (which is because of my eye) and partly because I can't even see if they're looking at me unless I physically turn my head and look. While I was in High School, if I heard the word "eye" and depending on my mood or who it was, I would turn around and tell them about my eye, assuming they were talking to me, or about me. When in all honestly, I have no fucking clue, to this day, if they were talking to or about me. Sure alot of it is in my head. But who the fuck put it there? Growing up: "haha what the fuck is wrong with your eye? look it's cross eyed girl.* One eyed whore. Cyclopse." Yeh, great way to build self esteem. Then there's the people who don't believe it when I tell them I'm blind in one eye. Yes, not only does my eye look like it can see... but I just love to try and fool people by telling them it can't. Cover your good eye and tell me what I'm doing. How many fingers am I holding up. You're kidding right? Aside from the fact that if I were lying I could keep my eye open and see that you were really flipping me off, but just say a random number to throw you. Even the people I considered my friends made fun of me behind my back. My childhood was fucked, and this is the person I am because of it. I'm bitter, anti-social, paranoid, extremely shy... thanks world. Much appreciated.

I'm too shy to wholeheartedly try and get a job. But if I had a job, I could get my shell and hope I look semi normal, even though the pupil of that eye wouldn't dialate, nor would it move very much. But atleast it would look normal in some situations. Kien wishes I wouldn't cover my eye with my bangs. Novel idea, really. But i can't bring myself to do it. It could be worse though. I could do for the less fashionable route of an eye patch. I could just tape gauze to my face. I could buy the darkest pair of sunglasses I could find and wear them 24/7 even indoors. I could wear glasses and have one tinted lense. I could have a sort of patch over normal glasses. Really, bangs are what keep me looking partially normal. Yes, I'm trying to hide my eye. Yes I like the way my bangs look. It's not 100% serving the purpose of covering my eye. I would love to not have to worry about how far in towards the middle of my face, my eye is looking. If I shoot a big smile, and don't cover my eye with my bangs, I'm most likely one of those "butterface" chicks. You know... she's got a nice body... but her face... If I didn't mind so much about a horrid picture of me looking horrid, floating around the internet, I might post a pic. But alas, I care too much to do so. I don't even like kien to see me that way. Nor my parents.

I apologise for the lengthly negative post. Assuming anyone even reads my crap.

Big News

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:35:24 GMT

Kien's parents, for some reason, decided to let us worry about ourselves and find a place. So we've been looking into condos and multifamilies lately. We looked at a condo in Chinatown. It was going for $160k I believe, but it was the size of our kitchen in this apartment O.o. No thanks...

Friday, Kien made an appointment to see a multifamily house, but the realtor cancelled an hour and a half before we were supposed to go, due to an emergency. It was rescheduled for Monday at 10:00 a.m. So we left a bit early and got there at 9:30. She got there at about 10:30, but no biggie. Anyway, the house was built in 1890. It's in Everett, MA. The outside is decent, but also a bit misleading. The inside is pretty dumpy. It was marked down a bunch because it needs a ton of work. The asking price was $309,000 (originally appraised at $370 something k, but we offered $285k... And they accepted! Kien's brother, his girlfriend and her son (she has another on the way) will be on the second floor and Kien, Blue (his dog), Phin and I will be on the first. We're pretty much going to gut the place and redo practically everything. I'm a bit apprehensive about moving. Mostly because I love living in the city so much. While the house isn't too far from a train station, it's basically suburbs. It'll take close to 20 minutes to get into town. It's ok though. Once we finish all the work on the house, it'll be like awesome. New flooring, paint, appliances, bathroom, cabinets... everything. Really, the condition of the inside is really bad. I don't know why anyone would want to live in it as is. It's like dingy 70s style. Mostly wood paneling for the walls, vinyl flooring... the one carpet on the first floor has a huge nasty stain on it, too. And it looks like whatever painting they did was with spray paint. There was paint on the window of the front door and the door knob. The hallway when you first enter the house from the front is an ugly baby blue and the cabints in the kitchen on the first floor are the same ugly color. There are also hardly any cabinets in teh kitchens. I suppose that's a good thing though, since we're gunna get rid of them anyways, so there's less work. We originally planned on taking pictures of the inside, but once we got in we didn't even bother since we're ripping everything out anyways.

While Kien and I were waiting for the realtor, I took a couple pictures of the house and the view of the street from directly in front of it.

I just hope Karen doesn't expect me to babysit 24/7.........

久し振り

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:00:53 GMT

It's been a very long time since I've made an entry here. Lots of things have happened since I've made an entry here. Lots of things have happened since my last post.

For one thing, my 21st birthday passed. My family came to celebrate/visit that day and they brought presents ^^. My parents bought me Rosetts Stone Japanese Levels 1 & 2 and my brother and his gf (though she didn't come) bought me Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing, both for the DS. It was nifty... Kien and I went to the package store and I paid for the alcohol, just because I could and when I gave him my ID, the clerk said Happy Birthday hehe. I just thought that was nifty. I wonder how many people go there to buy alcohol for the first time on their birthdays.
Anyway, my mom and I were pretty much the only ones drinking... but it was pretty fun and weird at the same time. I never really thought, growing up, that I would ever drink with my family/parents.

What else has happened...? Oh! I went with my family to Six Flags last Monday (the one before the 4th). Our friends since Kindergarten; Grace and Eugene came too. They're bother and sister =p. Grace got sick after the 3rd ride so she didn't go on many rides the rest of the time we were there, but since my mom doesn't go near the scary rides, I would just go with my dad, brother and Eugene ^^. The rides I went on were: Thunderbolt, Scream, Nightwing, Batman, Superman x2, flashback, Pandemonium, Bumper Cars, Tea Cups, Time Warp and Mind Eraser. I think that was it. I sat out on the water rides (even the ones in the main park) because I didn't feel like getting wet, as it wasn't all that hot that day. Superman is by far the best coaster I've ever been on. Which reminds me of something hilarious my brother did...

Apparently when he was in HS, they had a field trip to SF for "Physics Day" or something. The park was closed to everyone but the schools and so the lines were pretty short. My brother managed to get on Superman 10x in a row. Because of that, he knew where the camera was along the track. So when we went on Superman the first time, he actually POSED FOR THE PICTURE. And I don't mean a smile and peace sign... he tilted his head dramatically to the side, closed his eyes lightly, and opened his mouth, letting his tongue hang out slightly. It was HILARIOUS. Everyone else is screaming/smiling with their arms up in the air sitting up, and he's sitting behind them looking like (fogive the choice in words) a retard. It was priceless. I almost wish we bought a copy so I could show how funny it was. It really just about justified paying $20x bucks for the thing haha. Oh well.

I ended up spending the night at my rents house after Six Flags. Kien didn't want to go enough to try and get the day off of work, so it was just me in my borther's spare room. It wasn't too bad. Poopie (my old cat) spent alot of the night with me, which was nice. Phin can't sleep in our room when we're asleep or not in it because he can't be left alone with Oni, our guinea pig. So he stays out in the rest of the apartment. Aside from the fact that he's very roudy at night and insists on playing and biting our feet while we're trying to sleep. It's damn annoying. I miss when he was younger and we'd prop up a pillow against the wall and he was small and light enough to sleep on it. I also miss when he would come visit us early in the morning, purring and kneading. Oh well. Once he grows up a bit he should be back to normal, I hope.

I have pretty big news, which I'm going to save for another post, as this one is getting rather long.

Japanese

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:03:18 GMT

First of all, I've noticed (though I didn't just notice this now), that there seems to be alot of ignorance between people who wish to learn another language and those who find it "stupid". Looking on YouTube at certain (ex.)caucasions who speak Japanese rather fluently if not almost perfectly, they receive alot of hate. People call them "weaboos" and tell them to stfu because they'll never be Japanese. To get over the fact that they're not Japanese etc... While I understand that alot of these comments are coming from bored 15 year olds looking to start trouble, it doesn't make it right. I can't believe there would be such ignorance towards the people who would want to become more well rounded/a better person/LEARN by learning another language and it's culture. America is not the be all end all of the world. If eveyone was going to speak English eventually, well I think we would see a much larger group of people who can speak it right now, let alone properly. English isn't even taught properly despite being mandatory in many schools; as a second language.

Just because someone is interested in a language and culture that is not America or any other country where English is the native language, doesn't mean they automatically hate their own country and would do anything to have been born of the country of interest. They don't "think they are Japanese". I'm very sure when they get ready in the morning, and they look in the mirror, they see a (ex.) white person looking back at them (I won't even get into those who have naturalized, become citizens of another/second country). God forbid someone would want to broaden their horizons! If you want to continue to be ignorant, go ahead, but leave your rediculous comments and accusations to yourselves.

Lastly, on this subject, while there are "wiggers" and "wapanese", etc... You rarely hear of someone being made fun of for "acting white". Like 'being white', for any race, is normal. As if being white and/or acting white automatically makes you seem more intelligent. So then why would anyone want to act/be otherwise? Seriously, this world has some incredibly ignorant people. We're all the same in the end, so what's wrong with wanting to speak another language. If you want to communicate with some of our other "brothers and sisters", learning their language is the way to do it. Why wait decades upon decades until "everyone learns English".

Since I'm not working at the moment (going to school FT shortly and looking for PT work(nights, hopefully not weekends... not so easy when they can't toss you around like a rag doll with an open schedule) Kien and I rely on his income. It's more than enough to support us, but with the aforementioned debt and soon to come student loans, it's not necessarly all peaches and cream. The only reason I'm even willing to work retail, a job I would rather die than do, normally, is because I would know I'd be saving up for a Japan trip. As I've stated in earlier posts, I was hoping to visit Japan between my 2nd and 3rd year in college. I don't want to visit Japan in my late 20s, early 30s. I want to experience my generations life there, while I'm not all that old. I mean, there's nothing wrong with doing so as an older person, but everyone knows (aside from experiences' knowledge from being older) 20 something is where it's at. With that, Kien wants to wait until ALL of our debt is paid off. INCLUDING the future student loans. We're talking somewhere between 20-40 thousand dollars. Now I'm not all that good at math. In fact, I never got past pre-algebra in HS before I dropped out... But that is going to take a long ass time, even with both of us working. I don't know if I could handle working knowing I can't do anything I want to until all that debt is gone. Do people normally wait until all of their student loans have been paid off before they start to actually live??

I was thinking, I could always try really hard to get a scholarship/study abroad, but from my understanding, not all scholarships cover study abroad and I very well may have to pay for everything out of my pocket. If I were to do that, I might as well go seperately from school and do the things I want without a strict schedule/limitation. I also would rather visit for pleasure before going for "business". That way I would be more familiar with the country and how things are done etc. before having to take things more seriously. I don't want to be stuck in this country forever! I want to be able to live! To travel! To experience the things that hold my interest, first hand! Not to mention the other things I want to get done/fixed. I need to win the lottery! >.>

Oh! Also, if I visit Japan before I go there to study abroad (or to work whatever), then I'd be more comfortable. I don't really want my first time in Japan to have been spent alone (without Kien or a good friend). Sure I would make friends there, but 1. I'm not very good at that, and 2. The plane ride would be that much better having a friend to talk to for 14 hours each way. But Kien doesn't want to go. That's probably the main reason he wants to wait. He doesn't want to spend so much money on something he doesn't give two shits about. Guess I'm going to have to talk to a friend or two and see if they would want to go and pay their own way. Either that, or I'm going alone! Or I could ask my mom O.o

Vista

Tue, 29 May 2007 17:50:19 GMT

So Kien and I reformatted our computers last night. I'd been meaning to for the longest time because I think I downloaded something unhealthy and had been getting popups constantly. Plus I had way too much crap on it so it was bogged down quite a bit. Since I've reformatted, I've noticed my keyboard hasn't been lagging like it used to, which is awesome. Whenever posting, I would have to reread everything a few times to put in the letters the keyboard/computer lagged over and missed. That was annoying, so I'm glad that's not happening anymore^^.

Aside from that, Kien had to sort of reactivate his copy/key of XP because it was coming up with a sort of error. The rep told him that the key was used too many times, and he would have to buy a new one for $180... So he waited until I used the key and cd from my laptop that had 32 bit Vista, and then called again. This time, they just gave him some sort of code and everything was fine. So weird. You know what's a bit annoying though? The first rep he was connected to didn't speak english very well. He couldn't understand him and had him repeat himself over and over. I'm not saying people who don't speak english as their first language shouldn't be working. Just that they shouldn't be working in a job that requires them to communicate in english unless their accent isn't horrible. It saves time and makes the process easier. Alot less communication/misunderstandings too. I wouldn't wanna work a job where I was talking in a second language that I wasn't comfortable in. While my Japanese is limited, I wouldn't want to work a job where I had to speak Japanese, and yet sounded like a foreigner and therefore made things complicated. Whatever! Maybe I'm retarded or anal or something, but that's how I feel.

Anyways!!! I like Vista. I'm glad we got the laptop, too, because I wouldn't be on my computer right now. Well... I would, but only for like 30 days until the trial period runs out. I like the look of the windows, the taskbar, Computer/My Documents... it all seems more organised with Vista. Takes a little getting used to, but I like it.

Flyleaf Concert

Sat, 19 May 2007 04:13:06 GMT

So we just got back from the Flyleaf concert. Overall, I think this one was better than the 3dg one we went to on Sunday. Resident Hero (an unsigned band) was decent, though they seemed a bit too "Adult Rock" for my tastes. Almost like a harder version of the GooGoo Dolls. Sick Puppies were fun. Apparently they're from Australia. Again, their lyrics weren't that great, but they rocked pretty hard. Then there ws Kill Hannah. They were "Electronic Rock" and weren't that good either, but there was alot of crowd interaction which got them brownie points from me. Flyleaf was great performance wise. The ony qualm I have is that Lacey did't talk to the crowd, at all. It was more like watching them on tv. I did manage to take the crappiest picturs ever on my cell which doesn't have flash. I'll post those at the bottom of this entry.

I think this concert was better than the last probably because everyone was in the mosh pit (general admission) and since the Avalon is traditionally a bar, it was a relatively intimate setting. Kien and I 'moshed' a bit and I again lost my voice a bit and my ears are still recvering hehe. Again though, I'm pretty disappointed that Flyleaf didn't talk to the crowd! I mean no, "We're Flyleaf" no "Give it up for the other bands" no "Are you ready to rock?" no "You've been great, Boston" Nothing!!! Didn't even explain what certain songs were about or meant to them. All of the other bands had a ton of crowd interaction! Disappointing. Performance was great though!

And now for my crappy pics. The zoom on my cell blows, we were alot closer than it looks like in them. And for some reason everyting is a bit flourescent. Anyways...

/sad... I just realized I lost my MashiMaro cellchain at the concert T_T

Sick Puppies

Resident Hero

Kill Hannah

Flyleaf

We moved back a bit when they played this song. It was actually the encore.

I have no idea why some of these pics are smaller than the others, but whatever.

Concert cont.

Mon, 14 May 2007 03:53:43 GMT

We just got back from the 3DG/BB concert. It was fun ^^. I'm not a big fan of Breaking Benjamin but the guitars were pretty sick. The opening, not so well known band; Red, was decent too. Loved Three Days Grace. Wish I saw them before the new cd, as I prefer their older stuff to their newer. But it was still fun. My ears were kinda muted afterwards and I also lost my voice a bit from screaming/yelling ^^. The Orpheum is small. Which can be a good and bad thing. Good in the sense that no seat is technically a bad one, unless of course you end up sitting behind someone who's large or tall or just has a big head (all seats are actually pretty close to the stage... we were on the balcony). And bad in the sense that everything is compact. There was no room to move around and even where you would think a mosh pit would be, there were seats (as it was originally built as a concert hall for orchestras and whatnot).

I really dislike Adam's (leader 3dg singer) new hair. Kinda makes him look like a druggie. And he was wearing a funny hat, but it's all about the music in the end. Certainly didn't make me dislike them. Also, both in 3dg and bb's runs the lead from the opposite bands came out to help sing a song. Fun indeed. Lookin forward to Flyleaf!

My attempt at translating some of what I previously stated into Japanese: Feel free to make corrections. Tired and my knowledge is very limited.

わたしはボイフレンドとうちにかえりました。きょうコンサートにいきました。（わたしはきょうボイフレンドとコンサートにいきました。）Three Days Grace がすきですよ！Breaking Benjamin がきらうです。Orpheum はちいさいですよ。たのしいかとですね。

Concert

Sun, 13 May 2007 19:16:33 GMT

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Today is the day of the Three Days Grace concert that Kien and I are going to. I'm a bit excited. It's been so long since my last concert. As I think I've stated before, it'll be Kien's first real concert. The only other one he's been to was a free one that was outside in Government Center. We didn't stay very long for that one though as we got there a bit late and couldn't really see much.
I'll write up a tiny review when we get back, or tomorrow.

Friday, I dyed my hair again. The light color was kind of annoying me because you could noticably see my roots. Not to mention it was faded quite a bit so it's looked sort of brassy. This time there color is a dark purple/red. I've seen quite a few people with this haircolor or similar, but I didn't think it was going to be this dark. The box said and was more of a "True Red". Oh well. Kien and I both like it better than the last color. I believe I took some pics of the last color with my cell. It's just a matter or sending them to my email and uploading them onto photobucket. I'll have to take some pics of this new color too^^. Perhaps today, since I'll be going it for the concert.

I've thought of a few sort of topics I'd like to discuss. While I have no readers that I know of, I'll toss them up soon anyways for the sake of getting my views out on "paper". Also I'm now in a Japanese studying spree, so I'l (like I always say) put up some of my practicings. For those of you familiar with laptops.

Lastly, I’m typing on my new laptop! I haven’t painted it yet, but I hope to soon. Either that, or get a really cool sticker thingy online. It’s the HP dv6000. We upgraded some things from the standard setup it had so it’s not a complete POS. It runs Lineage 2 fine on high graphics, with the same occasional lag I get on my PC. So I’m happy. We also got the Coolmax NB-400 cooling pad for it. It’s kind of bulky but it does the job.

That is all for now. Must get ready for the concert!

What?!

Fri, 11 May 2007 01:53:11 GMT

It's been so friggen hot the past two days in this apartment! Uncomfortably so. Kien doesn't wanna set up the AC until it's like 90 degrees >.> I can only hope Oni (our guinea pig) doesn't die of heat stroke or something.

I've been yearning for Japan these past few days. Badly. It's days like these, where I'm 100% willing to leave everything for a life there. The fact that all I've been listening to for the past few months is Japanese music, doesn't help either. I should probably stop looking at pictures of Japan and whatnot too. I want to be there so badly that it's almost depressing.

I also can't decide on what hair style I want. My brother and his girlfiend are pitching in together to get me my hair done and a couple DS games. Though my birthday is still a little over a month away, I almost feel like I'm panicing, trying to figure out what style I want. Part of me wants something short.

But I think my face might be too long and skinny to pull them off. I'll most likely stick with something that has some length to it.

Now that I really look at the one above, I think I just might go for that one, or perhaps something of a mix between that one and one of the shorter ones. I'm pretty sue I'm going to need/want some kind of bangs. Guess we'll see how things go til then. Might change my mind.

Laptop was delivered today, but we were still sleeping so they're trying again tomorrow. Can't wait to personalize it and whatnot.

And just because I keep telling myself I'm going to do it; I'm throwing in a couple Japanese sentences to keep up with practicing. Would hate to forget what I've learned this past semester.

かばんのなかにおかねがあります。さかなやのまえにおとこのひとがいます。このちかくにえきがありますか。えきわりょかんのとなりにあります。

Paul Revere

Mon, 07 May 2007 01:37:49 GMT

The Real Story of Paul Revere's Ride

In 1774 and the Spring of 1775 Paul Revere was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. After being rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. While in Charlestown, he verified that the local "Sons of Liberty" committee had seen his pre-arranged signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row "by sea" across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching "by land" out Boston Neck. Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend, as he was afraid that he might be prevented from leaving Boston).

On the way to Lexington, Revere "alarmed" the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. As he approached the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!" After delivering his message, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.

- Taken from: http://www.paulreverehouse.org/

And now some pictures I took of his house with my crappy camera phone while my mom was staying with us...

Sorry about the horrible quality. My cell was the only camera I had on me. One day I'll walk down the street and take better pics of it with a real camera. It's kinda cool living literally 2 walking minutes from Paul Revere's old house. ^^

The results are in!

Sun, 06 May 2007 04:10:18 GMT

So I got my grade for the semester in Japanese....... A-! I was so worried becaue I had missed a bit of school/homework and even the mid-term, but apparently I was really doing well (I think the teacher likes me, which helps^^) but I did awesome. It's been a long time since I've gotten such a good grade. Helps that it's something I'm really interested in.

My dad's surgery went well. He was in a recovery state from Tuesday afternoon until Friday afternoon when my mom brought him home. Speaking of which, my mom stayed with us the whole time he was at the hospital. After she left, I felt kinda bad cuz we didn't really do anything while she was here, but it kinda screwed up my routine and it was a bit awkward having her here for so long. We did go to McDonald's on Tuesday, and we walked around Faneuil Hall a bit. Wednesday was school for me (last day) so we didn't do anything then except visit my dad after I got out of school. I played with his crutches for the majority of the time we spent there. Thursday night we wen to Trani for some cupcake "bust-outs" and whatnot. My mom wanted to walk around the neighborhood afterwards but the sweets gave me an upset stomach so I just wanted to go home.

So the last two days of school... Monday was the final. It took up the whole class and I was actually the second to last person to leave but I wantedto try and finish the two seperate sheets aside from the packet even though she said the shets really didn't matter as much as the packet. I managed to get a B+ on the final("V" for very good" lol) despite having not studied ^^. And Wednesday we spent the whole time listening to the teacher and a couple ppl from the class sing Japanese songs while practicing origami. I couldn't read the directions for the life of me. Not even because they were in Japanese, but because the pictures were horribly illustrated. Luckily Keisha knew how to make them from mmory so she helped me out a ton (TY Keisha^^). The teacher also brought in drinks and some Japanese candies/treats ^^. It was a very nifty last day, to say the least.

Also, Kien bought me a laptop which should be here within the next week or so. I'm gunna try to paint it white and purple ^^.

Daemon

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:47:17 GMT

Pics from Anime Boston

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:37:07 GMT

So Saturday we went to AB. There wasn't all that much to do, except walk around looking at the people and their costumes. Though there were a few rooms that had animes playing on huge projection screens. The "main event" was a few hours long starting at 6 or 7 pm (can't remember) and it was performance entertainment. People who dressed up and/or wrote skits performed and some just walked across the stage showing off their costumes. Some were nifty and some clearly didn't have much effort put into it. Perhaps I'll go more into detail about the skits another time, as it's late in the night.

Before the main event, we went out to Wendy's and Burger King to eat and pass some time. We left the main event relatively early as Kien wanted to catch the UFC which started at 9. When we all got home, we drank, played video games, and watched Smokin' Aces, though I was too drunk and just passed out in bed.

Something I loved about Saturday? It was 70 degrees! So perfect. And tomorrow (Monday) it's going to b 82 as a high! Finally! Though I shouldn't get my hopes up because I'm sure it'll dive right back down to the 40s before you can say SPRING! >.>

I didn't get into any of these, I felt kinda awkward enough as it was since I didn't dress up like almost everyone else. Also, I don't know who alot of the people there were dressed up as, but I do know one thing. There sure as hell were alot of Narutos!

I believe this guy was dressed as a character from TriGun? Atleast that's what Blade said... The guy said it took him hours and hours to make that cross/gun out of K'nex. It was veryimpressive and stood up on it's own.

This is Kien and Domo-kun; the NHK mascot. He was trying to pick his nose and ended up poking the person inside's eye hole.

Should be obvious who there guys are. Link from Zelda in all stages I presume?

Battle re-enactment/roleplaying.

This is supposed to be Rikku. Though I don't recogniz the costume (I've only played ffx that had Rikku in it...) I thought it looked awesome. The girl were cute to boot.

I have absolutely no idea who/what thisis supposed to be, but the girl inside was super cute, I suppose tryin to be in character, she'd say omg, hi and thanks in a high pitched voice. ^^

Same goes for this one. No idea who it's supposed to be.

More roleplaying. Blade took this picture cuz Kien and I were too short to see over the heads.

Kien tickling a kitty, and the kitty enjoying it.

We guessed this guy as supposed to be from V for Vengence or whatever... Either that or Tuxedo Mask... lol.

Big scary boss guy from Silent Hill 2 and the movie. There was another guy there in this costume too. Thisone is the same guy though.

No idea, but it looked cool.

Cloud and a blue lady...?

Links fighting?

And a different Cloud... forgot the other person's character...

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:49:47 GMT

I'm so sick and tired of this cold and rainy weather we've been having for the past 6 months (LOL). No but really, it feels like it's been months since the last sunny day in Boston. The minute we getone, the next day it drops back to rain and wind. The other night, the wind was so bad that it blew the plastic off the windows and rain was coming through O.o I just want to wear my green capris and t-shirts! I don't wanna wear a sweater and coat anymore damnit! Hopefully the weather for the weekend stays in the 60s and sunny like the weatherchannel says it's gunna be!

Kien bought tickets to the Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamins (I think that's how you spell it...)for the 13th or 14th of May. I haven't been to a concert since like 2001, so it'll be fun. I don't particularly care for 3dg's new stuff, but their old stuff is good. Used to be one of my favorite bands ^^

My dad is going in for hip surgery on the 1st here in Boston and my mom wants to stay with us while he's recovering in the hospital. So we'll see how that one goes.

Oh, and school... School ends for me a week earlier because my Japanese teacher won't be able to come in the last week so finals are on the 30th and the lasy day is the 2nd. When my parents and brother came in for Easter, and we were on our way to CheeseCake Factory, my dad pointed out an advertisment for Boston Language Institute. Seeing as how I'm going to school to learn Japanese, this school would be ideal. They have immersion classes that last all day and it's cheaper than UMASS Boston, which is where I originally wanted to go. Thing is, it's not necessarily a traditional college and as far as I can tell, there aren't any credits or degrees given. Only certificates. Now hopefully I'm wrong, because I would much rather learn at an institute that specializes in language than a regular university that only seems to offer languages as a way to become well rounded. Not saying that Uni languages classes are bad. Hell, I'm going to community college and I'm actualy learning stuff, but a languae institute, I mean come on! I need to find out if their classes give credits and if they're transferable. Then Maybe I can finish at CC and go to the language institute, transfer all my credits and finish off my degree at UMASS Boston. We'll see.

Lastly, Anime Boston is this weekend and we're still goin. Apparently Kien and Blade (his friend) want to see Pathfinder afterwards too, so we'll also be seeing that, if all goes well.

Whoops, almost forgot... The skit went well yesterday. I didn't mess up, and Lepo actually impressed everyone. Sure he mispronounced a few things, be he more or less remembered his lines. All in all, I'd say we did very good. We were the only group (skipping out on Lepo's help since he's older and all) that sensei didn't need to remind of their lines. It was cool ^^ and man was I glad it was over afterwards. I was shaking a bit and was breathing a bit franticly when we sat down. Oh well. It's over now!!!

Dove Evolution

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:19:00 GMT

It's a bit old, but I thought I would post this really quick. I find it pretty interesting.

AnimeBoston

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:11:08 GMT

So Kien, his friend Blade and I are all going to Anime Boston on the 21st (Saturday). I would like to Cosplay but I'm not positive if I will. Since Kien and Blade aren't going to, I was thinking I would just go as a character that isn't extravagant. Like Chiyo-chan or "Osaka" from Azumanga Daioh. Though my hair actually matches Chiyo's hair color, I think I might be more fitting as Osaka. Ans since they're both school girls, it's not as blatently obvious I'm some anime character, so I won't feel awkward when it's just the 3 of us. I would just need to buy a skirt and knee-high socks. Hmmm...

Also, for Japanese class, we'll be performing our skits next Wednesday. No school on Monday!

My dad is having hip surgery on the 1st x.x Apparently the surgeon who's doing it has done a few of the guys from Aerosmith and Bruce Springstein (amongst other celebrities).
My dad mentioned plans to get me Rosetta Stone: Japanese for my birthday which is coming up in about 2 months now. The big 2 1! I deffinately want to get my hair cut, and I also wanna go to CheeseCake Factory and get a Strawberry Daiquiri. Teehee!

My hair... I know I already posted a few pics of the general idea for my next hairstyle, but I want to see if can find a more accurate picture. There was a website that I found my last haircut at, but I can't find it for the life of me. I could have sworn I added it to my favorites, but can't find it there either.

Sorry about these being so small >.>

O.o For some reason, this one looks painful...

Whee

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:25:33 GMT

It's been a bit too long since I last posted an entry. So let's play some catch up, shall we?

I dyed my hair a redhead red/orange. I forget what day it was, but it was sometime last week. I'll have to take some pics before it fades too much. I had bleached it and had a light almost strawberry blonde color that I used after the bleaching, but it ddn't come out as dark as it was supposed to be >.> so I went back to the store and got a darker color. I really like my hair being "natural" red. I might keep it some type of red tone for a while. I also bought the CoverGirl TruBlend foundation. I had to buy the lightest olor they make because I'm so pale, and it was the last one CVS had in stock, but I love it. It really evens out my skintone and tones down the little imperfections. It actually the frst foundation/coverup tat has matched my skitone and done it jo ^_^. I'll deffinately be buying more of this stuff.

My family same out to visit this Sunday (Easter) and we all went to Cheesecake Factory It was pretty fun and yummy. Afterwards, we all went to see Grindhouse which everyone liked. Let me just say I've always thought of Rose McGowan as incredibly pretty, but in this movie... God damn! I'm so jealous of her lips. They're perfect, I swear. I think she looks best with pale skin, dark brown (f not black hair) and red lipstick. Ahh so jealous ^_^;;.
So yeh, Grindhouse was great. Very funny and entertaining. Kept you on the edge of your seat a bit too, even tough it was deffinately not a horror movie.

We also brought Phin to the vet on Thursday to get neutered and his shots. The assitant there complimented me on my cat carrier and Phin and how they were both beautiful hehe. I thought that was nice. Phin was pretty much back to his old self late that night (we dropped him off at 8 am and picked him up at 6:00pm).

My boyfriend and I were playing Everquest 2 for about 2 moths, but an old friend from Lineage 2 called Kien up and told us about the new chronicle that's coming out the 11th and gave us the "lowdown" on chronicle 5, which I left just in time to miss, though I hopped onto the PTS to check it out. But by that time, I was already burnt out on the game. Anywho, we quit EQ2 and we're back to playing L2. We felt kinda bad leaving EQ2 because we had just started a tiny guild of very few people (one of which came with us to L2), but EQ2 really isn't the game for us. Nothing ever seems to compare to L2. This is the 3rd time we've come back to it, each time starting over fresh. Forgot how hard it is to make mony though! We're gettin back into th groove of things though.

Hmm... what else, what else...

Oh yeh, in Japanese class, we're writing skits in small groups. Soon we'll be performing them in front of the class. I was relieved when Keisha said she would team up with me. But we also sorta got stuck with the oldest man in our class. He says he's 82 (he sorta looks it but deffinatey in goo shape if he is). I overheard him ask Keish if he coul work with her, but she said she was in my group, and then asked me if I minded him joining. Wha am I gunna say no to the guy? So we've ened up staying late the past 3 classes because things take extra long having to explain things repeatedly to him. He missed quite a few classes in the beginning of te semester and he doesn't do his homework, though I don't think I would at his age, either (who am I kidding, I never did my homewrk in HS and that was the teenage years haha). Keisha and I have pretty much come up with the whole thing, though he does throw in ideas here and there, even if we don't end up using them as they're not really viable.

*sidetrack* Rose McGowan on The Tonight Show! *squeal* Another opportunity to revel over her prefect lips ^_^;;.

Oooh, and I wanna get my hair cut for my birthday for the 3rd year in a row. For some reason, I really like this almost mullet lookin hairstyle. I'll post a pic of it here. Also, here's what we came up with for our skit. Nothing spectacular, just a short thing utilizing some of the things we've learned.

Act 1 - Meeting / Introduction

Lepo-san: Keisha-san, kochira wa watashi no tomodachi no Andrea-san desu. BHCC no nihongo no gakusei desu.
　　　　　　　けいしゃさん、こちらはわたしのともだちのアンドリアさんです。BHCC のにほんごのがくえいです。

Andrea-san: Hajimemashite. Andrea desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
　　　　　　　　はじめまして。アンドリアです。よろしくおねがいします。

Keisha-san: Hajimemashite. Watashi mo BHCC no nihongo no gakusei desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Ashita kaimono ni ikimasen ka?
　　　　　　　　はじめまして。私もBHCCの日本語の学生です。よろしくおねがいします。あしたかいものにいきませんか。

Andrea-san: Ikimashou!
　　　　　　　　いきましょう！

Act 2 - Shopping

Andrea-san: Doko ni ikimashou ka?
　　　　　　　　どこにいきましょうか。

Keisha-san: Ginza Depato ni ikimasen ka?
　　　　　　　　ぎんざデパートにいきませんか。

Andrea-san: Hai. Ginza Depato wa nan-ji kara desu ka?
　　　　　　　　はい。ぎんざデパートはなんじからですか。

Keisha-san: Gozen hachi-ji kara desu.
　　　　　　　　ごぜんはちじからです。

Andrea-san: Wakarimashita
　　　　　　　　わかりました。
_________________

Lepo-san: Irrasshaimase
　　　　　　　いっらっしゃいませ。

Keisha-san: Sono midori no hon wa ikura desu ka?
　　　　　　　　そのみどりのほんはいくらですか。

Lepo-san: Sanzen en desu.
　　　　　　　3,000えんです。

Andrea-san: Sono hon o misete kudasai.
　　　　　　　　そのほんをみせてください。

Lepo-san: Hai, douzo.
　　　　　　　はい、どうぞ。

Keisha-san: Ja, kore o nimae kudasai.
　　　　　　　　じゃ、これをにまえください。

Lepo-san: Rokusen en o itadakimasu.
　　　　　　　6,000えんをいただきます。

*Hand money*

Lepo-san: Arigatou gozaimasu
　　　　　　　ありがとうございます。

300

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:57:34 GMT

So the boyfriend and I just went to see 300 for the first time. I enjoyed it, though having watched the documentary (forget what channel it was on), I felt it was lacking. It was still a very cool and entertaining movie, I think. Even the credits were nifty. Watching them I found myself thinking... Americans make cool movies. Then I realized; that would be one thing I would miss a ton if I were to move outside the country. Sure, I'd see the big Hollywood movies eventually, but there seems to be a sort of pride being from the country where the biggest hits come from. The movies where countries all around the world marvel at, just as I do here, being an American citizen. Maybe that's weird, but that's how I feel.

Anywho, those are my thoughts for now.

Pirates 3 Trailer

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:48:08 GMT

The trailer via YouTube

Since I can't seem to get this particular embed player to work, here's the link.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/popups/embed/piratesplayer.html?eclipid=b10000

Online Purchases and Annoyances

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:47:16 GMT

Hmm, so yesterday's Japaese class was decent. Since sensei decided to pstpone the test from Monday to Wednesday, I was able to get 100% instead of 50 or 60%. That made me happy. I would have felt like I practically missed a midterm and a test just from being absent for my grandmother's funeral. But I digress.

Thre's this one guy in my class who's rather large and annoying. Noy annoying because he's large, but completely seperate from the fact. Anyways, he's alwayst yelling out random stuff Kaizer sensei. Normally I wouldn't mind so much, if it were answers he were shouting. But he's actually not very err... in the know when it comes to Japanese. Now sure this is a beginner class, bu he struggles on the things we went over in the beginning of the semester (which started January 22nd). He sometimes shouts out things sensei can use as examples for dialog. Like the day he brought in his guitar for som reason, which happened to be the day we wre learning about the Japanese currency and using it in examples. But he wouln't let her make up a price, he ha to shout out how much it cost, as if to show off with how much he pid for it. And he always tries to correct her when it comes to these things too. Like the necklace he was wearing the day we were naming items "kore wa shimbun desu." She was originally just going to callit a necklace to keep things simple since it was early into the semester and this is Japanese 101, but he had to corrct her saying it was some Irish thing and gave the name for it (which he couldn't prnounce himself >.>) Basically he's just always showing off, trying to make himself look better than he really is. It just makes him look like an ignorant moron, to me, but whatever.

Before I jump off the subjct of this annoying guy, I'll never forget the very first day. Sensei was writing our names in hiragana on name cards (snce that's the only kana we're learning this semester). As the annoying guy came back with his, he said "if I hadn't read anime, this would be clingon to me." Exact words. Next class, as we set them up on our desks, ssei turns to him and says, "Yours is upside down.". He then yelps out, "This is clingon to me.". Fuckin moron.

I had to order a new Bluetooth USB Dongle because Phin somehow managed to get ahold of our old one, and lost it. I looked for about 2 hous straight for it, and could not find it. And I'm usually good at finding things. I do it all the time for Kien, but this thing eluded me. It was cheap, but I ordered it on Sunday and still haven't gotten an email about it'sstatus, nor is the tracking/info for my order updated. So I sent them an email today about it. I hate not being notified about transactions online. It's a risky busines in itself, so companies should make an effort to soothe the consumer's mind. I don't wanna feel like I'm being scammed up until my item hits my doorstep a week later than it was supposed to. Just an email, that's all I want. Even I would do that, and I detest customer service.
Hopefully I'll find the old dongle. I just wanna be able to send songs to my cell so I can have new ringtones of my favorite songs T_T. I've had Flyleaf - I'm so sick on it forever. And while I love the song, I'm even more in love with Miyavi's Fuminshou no Nemurihime. I even extracted the chorus from the song so when my cell rings, it'll play my favorite part, instead of the longish intro which has hardly any lyrics. Why Phin!!!! Why!!! Why must you play with everything that isn't a cat toy?! ^_^;; Oh well.

Visits from the motherly unit

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:15:18 GMT

Mom came out to visit today. We went shopping at Macy's, Borders, Strawberries, and also ate at Wendy's and got pastries at Modern Pastry. We hung around the apartment playing with Phin a bit before we left, and after we got back. She bought some black clothes for work at Macy's and a cd from Strawberries. I bought a Japanese immersion CD set for twenty bucks at Borders. Here's a pic (taken on my cell, as always). So far the CDs seem decent. There's also 8 of them, so there's quite a bit of information on them. I'd say pretty damn good for twenty dollars.

Japanese class again tomorrow. She's testing us on the past lesson's vocab which I was absent for. She was originally going to quiz us on Monday, but everyone said the weren't ready about midway, so she said to just forget it and that she'll have us do it on Wednesday. despite having been absent for the lesson/vocb, I knew about half of the answers (there were onl 9) so I was a little poud of myself for that, and also relieved because I would rather have more time to study since I'm aware of this quiz this time around. Speaking of which, I better get to studying I've bee meaning to use this journal for my study/practice purposes, but I keep usng paper since that allows me to practice writing the hiragana. I may use this tonight, but maybe not. We'll see.

Updates

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:40:53 GMT

Well apparently I missed the midterm for my Japanese class because I was at my Grammy Donna's funeral that day. Not only was I not informed that there would be one so soon, but I wasn't informed of the date either. I don't think I'll ever be able to make it up either. Oh well. I believe it only takes up about 10-15% of my grade, and as long as I continue to do well with homework and tests, I should be good. Not to mention the Final Exam.

Anywho. Kien and I had a conversation last night about school, Japan, and money in general. We determned that I would go on Full-Time and get put back onto my parents health insurance. With that, we would also take out a DTC student loan and take the max the school will allow us, and use that to pay off school and our debt. Hopefully have some money left over as well, to put towards my Scleral Shell. Though having money for the shell isn't too important, as we can always work out a payment plan with the ocularist's office. So with CC taken care of, I can start saving (once I start working) up for the trip to Japan, which we would aim to take after I get my Associates, but before I start working towards my Bachelors. As long as everything goes according to plan, everything should end up taken care of. All I need to do is get a job and Japan, the Shell and my degree will be that much closer.

I spend the last few hours on the phone with my brother, mom, and dad. My mom plans on coming out to shop and visit tomorrow so I'll probably hav something to post about that afterwards. I forgot I hd taken some pictures of Faneuil Hall/skyline while Kien and I were out shopping Friday, so I'm postingthem now. They came out rather well for them having been taken on my cell. There are a couple pictures of Phin I took awhile back I'll probably post as well.

I like that I managed to catch some snow as it was falling, even though that wasn't my intention. That's Kien on the left. He kept walking as I took the picture even though I told him to stop >.< Oh well, came out decent either way ^_^

With this one, I mainly just wanted to catch how foggy/cloudy it was, and show how difficult it was to make out the buildings despite being pretty close to them. Sure you can see them relatively clearly, but it's also pretty damn foggy ^_^;;

More Shopping!

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:43:09 GMT

Ahhh! So Kien and I went shopping at American Eagle, Gap, Urban Outfitters, and Newbury Comics yesterday. He wanted to get some shorts and a hat and offered to buy me something as well. He ended up geting some tan cargo shorts, a green military lookin hat and a Captain America t-shirt.

We also took out Oni yesterday and had Phin and her meet officially. Phin is always watching her from the bottom of the bureau and tries to jump up and get a better look but he's too small to reach. We were curious how they would get along and really, they just sniffed eachother and then left eachother alone. I think it's relatively safe to say they won't be getting into any fights. More like, Phin won't be mauling Oni. I'll also post a pic of that encounter.

Last night, I spent a few hours translating Japanese songs in romanji into hiragana to keep my recognition and writing skill up. I ended up finishing four and am thinking about doing some more today. Assuming I can find the romanji lyrics online for the ones I pick. I also need to study a bit from my textbook (Japanee for Busy People) to make sure I didn't miss anything I didn't already know in class last Wednesday, since I was out for my Grandmother's funeral. Two days of studying should be enough to engrave whatever there might be into my head before class on Monday.

And I still haven't completely gotten over my cold. Probably because I've insisted on going out when it hasn't been the warmest. The few days that we had of temperatures in the 50's have passed and it's been in the 20's and 30's instead. It was also snowing nonstop, yesterday. I was kinda glad because I was looking forward to putting my new coat and sweater to use and when it was getting so warm, I didn't think they would see much of the outside world. But now I'm looking forward to warmer weather. Then I can show off the spring/summer clothing I bought with Christmas money and whatnot.

Speaking of which...

I boght this guy, except in keychain form. He's so ugly and yet so cute!
http://www.modernseed.com/uglydollicebat.html

For more on UglyDolls:
http://www.firebox.com/?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=731

This is the outfit I bought. The pants, since the mirror is a bit dirty and camera is a tad fuzzy, are an olive green, for those who can't tell. Forgive the camera-over-face as I look like poo.

This is my (from left to right) Father, Mother and Grammy Donna this past Christmas. My Grammy Donna is wearing the robe Kien and I bought her.

Here's Phin and Oni. This was taken with my cell so it's a bit blurry. Also, it was the end of their meeting so Kien had to hold Phin since he didn't want anthing to do with Oni anymore. And no, Phin isn't really all that small, Oni is just pretty damn huge. Well her fur does make up aot of her seeming mass though.

My aunt's mother and her doggies. I forget their names now but apparently they've won tons of medals in dog shows. They were really friendly and HUGE.

This is Nevin and Eloise, again Christmas day. My uncle had bought the 4 wheeler for them and they were just trying it out.

This one was taken before the one above. That's my Uncle Tim getting them ready.

This is my Aunt and Uncle's cat Smokey. He's pretty damn big and solid. He's pretty friendly too. Though my Aunt was telling us he'll attack you if you touch him in certain places.

Eloise and Uncle Tim. Eloise is gunna be so pretty when she gets older ^_^;;.

And finally me and my brother. I believe we were both unaware our picture was being taken. I don't take pictures well as you can see. Not to mention my hair being poofy from the rain so I have a makeshift bun and big bangs >.> And now that I look at it, hot damn am I pale!