So . . . I realize I practically never post anything anymore and when I do it's something entirely inane. In this spirit I would like to tell you all (and by "you all" I mean Brenna, Fish, and Damon, whom I'm sure is with Brenna while she's reading this and if not . . . he's reading in spirit[?]) my radiators are being total bitches and thus I have been left to freeze on this beautiful midwest blizzard certified evening. After amping up to two pairs of socks and sitting by the half-warmed radiator for two hours I decided to make good use of my abundant sweater collection and started putting on clothes until I felt some sembelence of warmth. I am currently wearing:

1 short-sleeved T-Shirt
2 cardigans
1 long-sleeved t-shirt
2 wool sweaters
2 cotton sweaters
4 pairs of socks (of varying length and weight)
1 finger-less glove (a bizzar suvenier of Indianna)
2 pairs of pj bottoms (sporty AND flannel!)
and a fucking goofy-ass hat from The Gap

I look like a retarded hobo dressed me. See. When I'm cold I can't care to be PC.

On the plus side I got the new Ani DiFranco CD today and am currently enraptured by all new songs. It's so nice when one of your favourite artists put out a new record, but unfortunately, many of my favourite bands are from 30+ years ago. Easy come easy go.
Apple is also sending me a new battery for my computer free of charge (apparently MacBook had a recall and no one bothered to to tell me). So YAY! My computer will be like . . . really portable again. Exciting life.

I'm looking for someone to beta-read the long-awaited second chapter of my Kagome/Sesshoumaru fic "Make You Mine". If anyone is interested please let me know!

So! I was watching television the other night (some late night program that I don't care enough about to elaborate on) and a trailer for a new movie comes on. From the first clip I felt dread consume me as I waited in breathless anticipation for the movie's title and release date to be revealed but I already knew what the movie was. "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising", a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel by (nearly) the same name.
The Harry Potter films popularity has certainly kick-started the kids-fantasy-novel movie adaptation trend. "Eragon", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Golden Compass" and now "The Dark is Rising". Sadly, none of these works have truly lived up to the brilliance of the books but now I really worried. The entire "Dark is Rising" sequence is steeped in welsh mythology and imagery and hope this isn't done away with in the American adaptation. It also really bothers me that the main character, Will, has been changed so much. Where he's 11 and British in the books he's 13 and American in the movies. Reading up on the movie the scriptwriter explains that he chose the age of 13 because it's a transitory age and made Will American to play up his "alienation" but these aren't really issues in the novel so why should they be in the movie?
I might go see the movie, if only to have my opinions based on first-hand experience but I'm not expecting much. Considering the popularity of this genre I suppose we can expect to see Alanna (The Lioness Quartet, Tamora Pierce) as a leggy blond and Diane (The Immortals Series, Tamora Pierce) at the good-and-completely legal age of 18 strutting across the screen soon.

So, my mum and I are watching Anderson Cooper 360 (we are both in love with him) and we got into out usual rounds of rants about the Republican Party and the general state of the nation. Here is my thought:
I don't understand how The Powers That Rule can claim to be Christians (as the majority of them are) and love and fear God With A Capital "G" and yet be so willing to destroy His greatest gift to us: free will and the planet. Serriously, how can people be so willing to exploit one another and the planet we live on for personal profit? Makes me fucking sick.

Breaking news according to Hannity and Colmes:
+Al Gore slander.
+Barack Obama slander.
+Hillary Clinton slander.
+Terrorism.

So we have the requisite bashing of three democrats and we can't forget to send the populace into a mind-numbing senseless panic. Well done, gentlemen. Our job is done here.

In one of the most abrupt and unexpected moments of my life I have decided to withdraw (because that sounds so much better than "drop out") from this semester of college. Things have just not been going well for me at all and I can't seem to dig myself out of this hole I've created. I like to describe it as "drowning under the weight of my own ineptitude".
That choice made: I'm going to move out to my mother's in Bumfuck, Indiana and work while continuing to study Russian and work on art privately. I will miss all of you living back in Sioux City and will very likely not be home for most of the summer, but know that you will all be in my thoughts and you are more than welcome to call me at any time. If you're going to be home anytime from February 24 to March 3 I will be in town to bid everyone adieu and would love to see all of my friends.
I know that this seems like a rash decision, and in many ways it is, but in my heart I know this is what I need to do for myself.

Despite the fact that I am horrible at poker, winning strip poker againtst me would be nearly impossible. I am currently wearing:

-a tank top
-a tee shirt
-a sweater
-a jacket
-tights
-two pairs of socks
-pants
-normal undergarments
-shoes

Winter in Iowa is damn cold. My dashboard tells me it is currently 14 degrees outside but I'm assuming that's without the windchill factor figured in.

In other news: Douglas visited me last Thursday which was swell. It seems our being friends again makes others feel more awkward than it does Douglas and me. There was one point in which I looked over to him and was struck by how absolutly positively in love with him I am (still . . . I know) but that's neither here nor there (bugger it all).
I've started Hapkido with Luke and it's swell. I wasn't able to go last Thursday because of Douglas but I am going later tonight. It makes my whole body ache and reminds me why I need to quit smoking.
I still haven't gotten my classes sorted out, which is not goood, but plan to do so today, which is good. I might not be able to take Russian this semester which it definatly the worst because it's unavailable until next spring and by then Я не гавару па-русский! (translation: . . . by then I can't speak Russian!)
So . . . indeed. I'm alive and relatively well. I plan on doing a Zutara AMV soon and some more Capulettes/Dewey and the Decimals artwork. Look for that I suppose.

Edit: Has anyone else noticed the "Blood and Chocolate" ads popping up EVERYWHERE?! Great book but I don't have high hopes for the movie. Same with the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" movie that's supposedly going to be made. I'll see them both though. I'm such a consumer. ^_^

"Hey love crusader, I want to be your space invader."

I'm rather hungry but I feel that waiting for five more hours would be beneficial to my Thanksgiving experience.
In other news: Brenna, Damon, and I would like to start a band. Our band is called, "Playing Doubles Against the Pipe". Brenna is on bass guitar, Damon is on chello, and I will play marching snare and harmonica. Huzzah.

I'm sitting in a room filled with shotglasses, all of them belonging to my stepmother and none of them being used for their intended purpose. Though the more I think about it the more I wonder what their intended purpose is. These are not the type of shotglasses filled with hard alcohol and followed by a chaser. These shotglasses are the types that are sold in souvenier shops to be bought as last minutes gifts for people that you don't know well enough to buy something meaningful for. These shotglasses sit in box somewhere for years until you drag them back out and dust them off and quietly sigh and say, "This is what Bob and Sandy brought me back from Colorado that year they went to see their kids." These are the types of glasses that are eventually sold at an estate sale by the dozens to oddballs like my stepmother, their stories and meanings forever lost at the price of 25 cents a piece.
I'm sitting in a room filled with shotglasses, all of them full of empty memories.

All I have to say tonight is this: ZUTARA FOR THE WIN! Serriously, fools. It's like . . . the only couple I ship for that has any chance of becoming a reality. I desperately need that hope.

So I posted these over in their respective communities kakasaku and tues_with_mori but I thought I would post them here in my journal as well for any of my friends who are interested in my fanfiction. Both are drabbles for two of my favorite pairings, Kakashi/Sakura (from Naruto) and Haruhi/Mori (from Ouran High School Host Club).

Here is the Kaka/Saku:
( For My Eyes Only )

And here is the Haruhi/Mori:
( Anything But Fragile )

Anyway, I know a lot of you are familiar with my writing so I would appriciate comments and critque if you read these.
On another note: I need a new sketchpad desperately and I'm creating a sushi inspired ring for metals class. For all of those in/from Sioux City I can't wait to see you all over Thanksgiving! I misseded my friends.

Stolen from riza because I'm avoiding homework and I like listening to music. Bow before my ridiculous collection of indie rock and new wave pleasures!

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE? So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool...

Opening Credits: C-C-C-Cinnamon Lips by OK GO
Some day (one day) you'll miss me/ Mundane Sundays when I'm gone

( I listen to a lot of indie nonsense )

I have fallen in love with "Ouran High School Host Club". Serriously: six beautiful beautiful men, one androngenous female, blackmail, adventures, AND lesbians? What more could a fan girl ask for?
To commemorate this new found love, I made fanart. This fanart is dedicated to riza because she worked so hard to get the anime episodes for me and because she definatly deserves to have some art dedicated to her. So this is for you, Liz.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41215555/

In textiles class we are creating "badges of identity" that incoporate something meaningful in our lives. Our first assignment in meeting these ends involved a short narrative describing our inspiration. Most chose a particular life event or person that has shaped their development. I, however, decided to summerize my experience with a place that is near and dear to all our (Sioux City) hearts: The Horizon.
( Hitting the Ho )

I think it is wise to update from time to time, if only to reassure my distant friends that I am alive and sometimes well. As of right now I am . . . indifferent, which is neither good nor bad (hence the blase attitude). School has started and I have had the opportunity to attend all of my classes and get a feel for the coming semester. I'm very very excited about my Russian Language course. I have only learned a few words thus far and am having a horrible time trying to learn the alphabet (in russian H = an "n" sound, enough said).
Aside from that course I have been to both of my Integrated Studio Arts classes, photography and textiles, and think the former will be slightly more rewarding than the latter, though only time will tell. I have some terribly interesting people in my classes and have already fallen in love with an enmatic boy named David.
Today was my first experience in my Art History and Russian Cinema courses. The history course is going to be a challenge, I can tell, but I am confident it will be worth the effort. I am unsure how hard the cinema class will be, but I like Russia and I like movies, so it seems to be a good deal all around.
I've been spending my time off campus unpacking things and trying to adjust to my new apartment. Living in my own real place is a sureal experience. My room is poorly decorated as of now, but I hope to work on that when I get more money/time/ambition for intieor decorating. Hmmn. We'll see how that goes.
Ah, as another happy school-related note: I never have class on Friday and therefore have three day weekends. Huzzah. In other recent news since my last post I have: spaghetti wrestled (ugh), played drunk spin the bottle (I KNOW, HUH?!), and come to several life-affirming and introspective realizations, most of which I'm sure would bore you. Saw "V for Vendetta" (twice) and I think it may have changed my life. My thoughts on that film are worth an entire post on their own but I kNOW that would bore you. I leaves me yerning for a story with a happy ending, though. As Ani DiFranco said, "Another thing I've been trying to do recently is write happy songs. It's really fucking hard."

It's funny how life sneaks up on you.
I've been driving around watching every white car I see with a suspicious trepedation and tonight while driving home from work the one white car I've been on the lookout for blazes by me in a whirlwind of drum n' bass and heartache.
Douglas's hair is getting long and he still drives too fast.

(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

✓ I miss somebody right now.  (I'd rather not talk about him.)	✓ I don't watch much TV these days.  (It makes me feel stupid.)	✓ I own lots of books.  (Lots and lots of books.)
✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses.	✓ I love to play video games.  (Dude . . . freaking Clank is voiced by the same man who is Sesshoumaru's voice actor. O.o WTF?!)	✓ I've tried marijuana.
✓ I've watched porn movies.  ("Wizard of Odds" anyone?)	✓ I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.  (I always get the "Ashley, I'm going to love you forever!!!" sort.)	✓ I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
✓ I curse sometimes.  (All the time. Fuck.)	✓ I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.	✓ I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.  (It's handy for opening new CD cases.)

( it goes on... )

I have no life.