tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32032706879808028152024-03-20T02:02:01.312-07:00She Speaks UnrehearsedMaledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-30132469188075235072012-07-28T00:45:00.001-07:002012-07-28T00:45:31.727-07:00My life... pt.2; perhaps with less grad schoolSo, lack of money is the primary motivator here. I will admit that I've become uncertain that I want to continue with grad school. However, were I still getting it completely paid for with grant money, I would most likely continue going. I am essentially half way done already. Though I did not take the proper number of credits to actually be half way done.... I would most likely have to throw on an additional semester, which doesn't seem to be entirely uncommon when working on your thesis anyway.<br />
But, if I'm already uncertain about continuing with this, there seems to be no logical reason to keep going if, in order to do so, I would need to shell out the money and, subsequently, put myself into further debt. That's just not a smart choice no matter how you look at it.<br />
So now I'm looking at no school and no job.... which is alright for a short period of time, but if I continue to be out of school I will eventually have to start paying on my student loans again. And, despite the fact that we're comfortable right now, financially speaking, we would not continue to be so if I had to start dishing out monthly student loan payments.<br />
Subsequently, I have begun looking for a job. Though, truth be told, I think I would go crazy if I went without one much longer. I was so overwhelmed with school related stress over the past year that the sigh of relief I breathed upon the close of this past semester was enormous. Yet, I have barely gone 2 months now of "freedom" and I think I may go mad. This forces me to confront a new problem - well, not necessarily new, but long overlooked. I have nothing to offer in the job market. It's excruciating. I'm over-educated and under-experienced. A fact that became abruptly apparent last fall when I was declared 'ineligible' during the hiring process for CBP. The agent who was to be conducting my background checks questioned why a Penn State graduate was even applying for the position. I mean, thanks for the vote of confidence and all - frankly, I think I'm too smart to do this bullshit job also, but the job security is amazing and it looks pretty damn spectacular next to no job at all.<br />
I'm also picky. I'm not going to go back to retail and I'm not going to take any old job just because I want a job. I know, I should be thankful that there are jobs out there, blah blah blah. I know. I don't care. There are always jobs out there. The fact of the matter is we often think we're too good to do the jobs that are available. Yes, I know I'm playing right into my own criticism.<br />
However, I also know that, for the time being, I'm not desperate. I can afford to be choosy right now. Also, I have lessons learned from past jobs to look back on.... I know that if I take a position doing something which I don't enjoy or doesn't pay well, that I will most likely get stuck in that position for longer than I would like. It becomes much harder to actively pursue a better job if you're spending all of your time either working or being glad you're not at work. This is the perpetual cycle that I hate and am trying to avoid falling into. We work because we need to - we need money, for bills or to do other things we would enjoy. Then we spend all the time that we're not working spending that money - either on a vacation to "escape" work, on other toys/amusements, or on necessities. Then the money is gone and we must go back to work. This leaves us with a workforce that is constantly demoralized, and doesn't have to time or energy to concern themselves with social issues, the way our country is being run, etc. And all those other things go to shit, because the people who need to care (pretty much everyone) are too busy living their lives. We're all busy. All the time. There's no way not to be. And then, at the end of our lives, we look back and realize that we never did anything we wanted to do. We never tackled the big issues, chased our dreams, or took a chance. And I don't want to live that live. I know that now. I know that I need to do certain things in order to fit into the mold of productivity and I'm willing to accept that - to a certain extent. But I am not willing to give up everything and become a mindless machine, programmed to feed into the perpetuation of the system....<br />
God, I've never sounded so 'conspiracy theory' in my life. The point is.... I want to be happy, I want to be successful. There are so many things that I want out of life.... I need to take those things, rather than let my life be taken (metaphorically) from me. I don't really know right now how exactly I'm supposed to go about it, but I know that it's not going to be easy. And I'm ok with that. I just might need a little help along the way.Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-4761279490621957492012-07-27T05:40:00.002-07:002012-07-27T05:40:51.446-07:00My life as a grad student.... pt.1Annually sounds like the proper frequency with which to publish blog posts, right? Oops, oh well. Derp.<br />
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What can I say? The past year has been a clusterfuck and I really don't know what the point of it all has been. I suppose I thought I knew at the onset of it all, but things have cascaded so far out of my control that I feel as though I've just been swept up in a storm of my own creation, gone rogue.<br />
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This time, last year, I was eagerly anticipating the beginning of grad school. Stars in my eyes; filled with wonder and peckish enthusiasm. At that time it seemed just one last step toward some grand achievement. The last rung on a ladder toward dreams long left out of reach and unfulfilled. However, my aspirations have always been scatter-brained, at best. And, now, I find myself more lost and confused than I was going into the graduate program.<br />
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The grad school recap is as such:<br />
I wanted my Ph.D. Well, I would still like to get it, but now it seems more pointless than anything. Anyway, the goal upon entering grad school was to obtain my Ph.D. and seek work as a professor. It was a bit of a lofty goal, but it was something to work towards.<br />
Everyone I encounter in life seems to have that one specific thing that they are working toward and, if they don't, they have nothing. I know that I have aspirations, that was never the problem. The problem is narrowing down those aspirations to one thing feels limiting and stifling. I feel like picking one thing to do with my life means that I have to abandon anything else that I ever loved.<br />
So, the idea was that I would work toward my Ph.D. and then, once I had done some real work in my field, I would be able to think more clearly about my career options and make better, more informed decisions.<br />
Well, the first problem arose when I didn't get accepted to a Ph.D. program. I did, however, get accepted to a M.A. program, and at this point in time it's become a 'better than nothing' 'beggars can't be choosers' sort of situation. Plus, I was going to get almost all my tuition paid for with a state grant. Even though the situation was not ideal, it was still the best thing I had going for me. I had quit working at Best Buy last May, upon discovering that they were assholes and hearing back on two other opportunities. The first of those "opportunities" never amounted to anything. The second was a position as a Teaching Assistant with the university. So school and T.A.-ing were the only things I had going on for me.... so, I went.<br />
I was to be taking three graduate seminars and teaching three undergraduate discussion sections. I realized the first week of class that I was already in over my head. I dropped one of the seminars - a writing elective, and hit the ground running. Of my two remaining courses I had one that I had chosen out of genuine interest: political theory, and one that was a required course: statistics. Statistics is actually intended to be taken during one's third semester of graduate study, however, the mandatory, first semester course was full. Oh, joy. It begins.<br />
As expected, I loved political theory, but hated statistics. Though I struggled with both. The reading load was intense, at best, and while I'm a moderately fast reader I have trouble retaining information unless I painfully trudge though the material; and painful it was, at times. On top of my own course work, I had T.A.-ing to deal with. This was relatively painless most of the time, but overwhelmingly time consuming. It amounted to showing up at each undergrad lecture, a weekly meeting with the professor, and my own three discussion sessions. I genuinely enjoyed the discussions and the experience of teaching. What I did not enjoy was sitting down to grade 90-ish tests and/or essays when it meant neglecting my own work. But this is what happened, more often than not. The way I saw it was, not only was I being paid to do my job as a T.A., but there were people that were counting on me to do it. And I've always been so dreadfully motivated by the desire to avoid disappointing others. If I neglected to get my own work done, I would be disappointing no one other than myself, and, strangely enough, I know how to cope with that. But if I didn't get my T.A. work done, I would be disappointing a lot of other people, and that I didn't want to deal with. So often I would focus my energies on things that needed done for my students in lieu of the work that would determine my grades.<br />
The entire semester was wrought with stress and disappointment, but I came out of both courses with a 'B' and that's respectable enough.<br />
Second semester, I rethink the T.A. business and decide to take a semester off. I felt as though I had been so busy throughout the entire fall semester that I never really got a chance to adjust to just being a graduate student. By this time, I may be too late. Three courses this semester. Two of which I enjoy immensely, aaaaand.... one mandatory, which I completely bombed. I end up with a 'D' in this course and struggle with the implications of the worst grade I've ever received in my life.<br />
This, accompanied by the fact that I'm no longer receiving a large grant with which I am able to pay 95% of my tuition, causes me to begin rethinking my course of action.<br />
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To be continued....Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-63703277375814045582011-08-14T07:44:00.000-07:002011-08-14T07:45:44.064-07:00Foto Zeit!<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">A bunch of unedited randoms. Basically. I'm just trying to get myself back into actively posting by throwing a bunch of stuff on here. I'm going to put up an all Comic-Con post i the next few days, as well.
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<br />For now, these include experimentation with my new 50mm prime lens, our trip to Erie (non-wedding pics; wedding pics later), and my virgin hike at Lake Morena. Don't be confused, it wasn't virginal because I'd never hiked Lake Morena before - I hadn't, it was virginal because I had never hiked before. I knew, right? You're mind; it's just been blown. Don't worry; being blown is a good thing. ;)
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<br />Anywho, enjoy:
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<br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCEatdfKWUAui_3xnuOEuSMzQnHoHW8bLckvL084lvswNyIx6_16hU6HJm75VBeFqsJoW1nxQoJrmj8AWLsVgsuJKYB1mqMNTXmtzIfEwnQYNoFOpm-9NhC5i6PLSYc1I2dQFsOtg4ar3/s1600/IMG_8040%2523.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCEatdfKWUAui_3xnuOEuSMzQnHoHW8bLckvL084lvswNyIx6_16hU6HJm75VBeFqsJoW1nxQoJrmj8AWLsVgsuJKYB1mqMNTXmtzIfEwnQYNoFOpm-9NhC5i6PLSYc1I2dQFsOtg4ar3/s400/IMG_8040%2523.JPG" /></a> </div>
<br /><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-54776902737707040912011-06-15T03:39:00.000-07:002011-06-15T03:39:20.762-07:00Random pics<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4rwwLtuZ-d2mrimmrzWckPDWX4ZUyNqOzXsZ9pNQMA33dK-1KDygxAUE-H3Rqcb-kT-pRMAL8EeE6WIOrUTyqzjeiAbwkI9ulhG-CyTP9ZLmcz3NRpbu7N8ht0jmEmXqDbrVIeb2g21A/s1600/IMG_6344.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4rwwLtuZ-d2mrimmrzWckPDWX4ZUyNqOzXsZ9pNQMA33dK-1KDygxAUE-H3Rqcb-kT-pRMAL8EeE6WIOrUTyqzjeiAbwkI9ulhG-CyTP9ZLmcz3NRpbu7N8ht0jmEmXqDbrVIeb2g21A/s400/IMG_6344.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ycLNnfHmcTaVDn_GHUO7yBffIZz_d1SU0pHePXuPHHwLy6p_prpve19oXXYh6EbUzXk3sD9PJKLPe4HV2PV5RTkyO4vqNFoYfaSnYSoS29VEhCR1wA6QkMHH1T3rLgOg82Okv8gaXQUl/s1600/IMG_6345.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ycLNnfHmcTaVDn_GHUO7yBffIZz_d1SU0pHePXuPHHwLy6p_prpve19oXXYh6EbUzXk3sD9PJKLPe4HV2PV5RTkyO4vqNFoYfaSnYSoS29VEhCR1wA6QkMHH1T3rLgOg82Okv8gaXQUl/s400/IMG_6345.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGm8WhCNF0eYBKqkPEGubu9ulUadKxENFYvfXLwWmKjttvPAnQpsVawGcKcb5quwvSpXvFIMqjXYibws-ZLGky4XBlrDuOEc_v6k761SUQcgg5wZa-hJi5EwBpwmktAUPHjxUfRPO6Qk8U/s1600/IMG_6346.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGm8WhCNF0eYBKqkPEGubu9ulUadKxENFYvfXLwWmKjttvPAnQpsVawGcKcb5quwvSpXvFIMqjXYibws-ZLGky4XBlrDuOEc_v6k761SUQcgg5wZa-hJi5EwBpwmktAUPHjxUfRPO6Qk8U/s400/IMG_6346.JPG" /></a> </div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-65946545249343687932011-06-15T03:25:00.000-07:002011-06-15T03:25:54.357-07:00Nighttime at the playground<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Playing around with my new lens a bit. Playground at the park near my apartment. Unedited.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAvG73_rzetQHplnAV9vVJ25eCLP0-Hag2zl1BwfIZKlUrEeX0cSBT_nD13-dmoOEa6m6rCe5ovHJzRiT4q7GIy9ycoK3YUVcZVHuh7SgEmTw_n79gFucGRWNGebRNfthuVW02tHBc2Ig/s1600/IMG_6481.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAvG73_rzetQHplnAV9vVJ25eCLP0-Hag2zl1BwfIZKlUrEeX0cSBT_nD13-dmoOEa6m6rCe5ovHJzRiT4q7GIy9ycoK3YUVcZVHuh7SgEmTw_n79gFucGRWNGebRNfthuVW02tHBc2Ig/s400/IMG_6481.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0R7vtzsi3YgLVNsvhc2EKw6CfcRQsTlUYE_nSNiN3GnID56pMq2sw6swbC0b9xg9_IdCr_DPHBKZJNpTp2SbuHQbQRh_MAfv9Rkp0ssgUItuiU-VPkdoAN446wKFIevJL5nEsRQnFkVB/s1600/IMG_6527.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0R7vtzsi3YgLVNsvhc2EKw6CfcRQsTlUYE_nSNiN3GnID56pMq2sw6swbC0b9xg9_IdCr_DPHBKZJNpTp2SbuHQbQRh_MAfv9Rkp0ssgUItuiU-VPkdoAN446wKFIevJL5nEsRQnFkVB/s400/IMG_6527.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4JfakNxFe7454deignWJrkOB1XAd9LzQXiIQ9njvrPunkSoUtKZ7tP2E-sXwoEhObsvQTQUQFOG-PMdrsDwZmb8DuKlNwfTL1QoaImqKYZ-OBcwGSdTBxgyBfXFDfdbVVBJp_c8-ntK_/s1600/IMG_6529.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE4JfakNxFe7454deignWJrkOB1XAd9LzQXiIQ9njvrPunkSoUtKZ7tP2E-sXwoEhObsvQTQUQFOG-PMdrsDwZmb8DuKlNwfTL1QoaImqKYZ-OBcwGSdTBxgyBfXFDfdbVVBJp_c8-ntK_/s400/IMG_6529.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xhypx9qOyqzRcNTKcGNc2Bxgjw2o0TkZ2KS3UTtOxQnX5d3Dx6zQMzSjFJNxQkmNOF0eyi1TL5Um1QN_4GHL4yN9TfpzOJtgRwFAJOv81F_zXwPR8ZIhKp9ydDRtywJE2oioL6AGJWEp/s1600/IMG_6546.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xhypx9qOyqzRcNTKcGNc2Bxgjw2o0TkZ2KS3UTtOxQnX5d3Dx6zQMzSjFJNxQkmNOF0eyi1TL5Um1QN_4GHL4yN9TfpzOJtgRwFAJOv81F_zXwPR8ZIhKp9ydDRtywJE2oioL6AGJWEp/s400/IMG_6546.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2RB3n8sehlwHmTWQV3swDgl6TnfCY8dXI7dtAu0PFzVRtrTxgDyMCyT0hed2lCwA-H3d8DPuvrINCwYeKQjfgCL0lBjWayH-XvwQjcAkPLAX6xBGvzOJ7rsGgpRBA3pQmJHxXGvtlF5D/s1600/IMG_6563.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2RB3n8sehlwHmTWQV3swDgl6TnfCY8dXI7dtAu0PFzVRtrTxgDyMCyT0hed2lCwA-H3d8DPuvrINCwYeKQjfgCL0lBjWayH-XvwQjcAkPLAX6xBGvzOJ7rsGgpRBA3pQmJHxXGvtlF5D/s400/IMG_6563.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhlRCllq9weOY8yLphMsmJK6JuP5oMh_HUQ2tyFak8Z73IzH7fEGhGuMYwPkyVvOmmzcB0nQzfJOdQk7PsVemvl_O8ZZmd7-qrZy1kUPJ9Mdb-RJy785qUbXvr_-GL0w1EPTlVkkzhalmu/s1600/IMG_6595.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhlRCllq9weOY8yLphMsmJK6JuP5oMh_HUQ2tyFak8Z73IzH7fEGhGuMYwPkyVvOmmzcB0nQzfJOdQk7PsVemvl_O8ZZmd7-qrZy1kUPJ9Mdb-RJy785qUbXvr_-GL0w1EPTlVkkzhalmu/s400/IMG_6595.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkcur9tfM_iLx0EFz9RPLsMKeTZ_C6LRnsLBJ7xGuqF5_hm3PQFbPnF-gyaM2RmD9tgKOXgUSX82g52PhHDiIHCY82IycFeM6oQ_u1JGgPV7A8gv18OMpQgVmz9gsFVemuUFPIY3zL3hn/s1600/IMG_6599.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkcur9tfM_iLx0EFz9RPLsMKeTZ_C6LRnsLBJ7xGuqF5_hm3PQFbPnF-gyaM2RmD9tgKOXgUSX82g52PhHDiIHCY82IycFeM6oQ_u1JGgPV7A8gv18OMpQgVmz9gsFVemuUFPIY3zL3hn/s400/IMG_6599.JPG" /></a> </div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-9927096559481523652011-06-15T02:30:00.000-07:002011-06-15T02:34:55.336-07:00Mission Beach photo day<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">Just some of my favorites caught while shooting near and around Mission Beach. All unedited, by the way. Though I may go through them and do a little bit of color optimizing and such later. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6kySvBekssuUlbwsWhLRqNlyhGUgzD4D41P9sGdZkzKVSchHf4cdUeFe3XLMeFKX6gGkOyr0OO0faKx3_yMy8CZ8xgG7g5tlkmOIdf6mWnKgos5CzlQVZ5vq6O1Ixl4NHKcyca7Ph4zx/s1600/IMG_6675.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6kySvBekssuUlbwsWhLRqNlyhGUgzD4D41P9sGdZkzKVSchHf4cdUeFe3XLMeFKX6gGkOyr0OO0faKx3_yMy8CZ8xgG7g5tlkmOIdf6mWnKgos5CzlQVZ5vq6O1Ixl4NHKcyca7Ph4zx/s400/IMG_6675.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVEOgiTcOjKlyTri_5Ssp37CR85r_SoFBubVmk1X-8OYFQG-_8PyFwLXtCmjDisRMUhCKW4_OJvMB-Mk8ECGDIVMpnNEKdf4ZUl9xI56FElebC_tEPQSVc8m7Ajs7uYqhRW-1LFprXyoC/s1600/IMG_6682.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvVEOgiTcOjKlyTri_5Ssp37CR85r_SoFBubVmk1X-8OYFQG-_8PyFwLXtCmjDisRMUhCKW4_OJvMB-Mk8ECGDIVMpnNEKdf4ZUl9xI56FElebC_tEPQSVc8m7Ajs7uYqhRW-1LFprXyoC/s400/IMG_6682.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBbDGaLpcjh2gNCaOOkpkYSxaSZZzwk-3-HesN3AlR-MNxbYSKb3zXubo1LjQcAlg5lWEzWQQ0xhcZtTAgjy-jdZWexQHs3MY0bpbhX3HPMEWynMKcxHo1JiGQbT3d0e-5HoSNA8ThcBU/s1600/IMG_6694.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBbDGaLpcjh2gNCaOOkpkYSxaSZZzwk-3-HesN3AlR-MNxbYSKb3zXubo1LjQcAlg5lWEzWQQ0xhcZtTAgjy-jdZWexQHs3MY0bpbhX3HPMEWynMKcxHo1JiGQbT3d0e-5HoSNA8ThcBU/s400/IMG_6694.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXG-U6Jcc_LqQdaI0xpG9nCWNH3zTOPZmnex4Szep18u4jmFyPevToH1Z9UqyxvXBBmHrXjukCRrsI7rp_yYsadVJZhtB23mhMJ5iOLWUTHRD5u2MHBz6UBQ4KxSP-5mdzy-gOTpJJHaxx/s1600/IMG_6695.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXG-U6Jcc_LqQdaI0xpG9nCWNH3zTOPZmnex4Szep18u4jmFyPevToH1Z9UqyxvXBBmHrXjukCRrsI7rp_yYsadVJZhtB23mhMJ5iOLWUTHRD5u2MHBz6UBQ4KxSP-5mdzy-gOTpJJHaxx/s400/IMG_6695.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicndS6LnbxI047x5c65P5GlX3Fb3NH7S72ilBn_lrQAWMoRBd3U-1aDs53lmxiSPIqPWHtK0YC3DAZhDUH3UEBcOFpSslKqBiFXPJeZq43eZ0GzYc1C9IHsAx4okyWBzMeiojx5Hg0_wh5/s1600/IMG_6701.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicndS6LnbxI047x5c65P5GlX3Fb3NH7S72ilBn_lrQAWMoRBd3U-1aDs53lmxiSPIqPWHtK0YC3DAZhDUH3UEBcOFpSslKqBiFXPJeZq43eZ0GzYc1C9IHsAx4okyWBzMeiojx5Hg0_wh5/s400/IMG_6701.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7dqSEZy5oupTq17ySQt84ZJYqSL3w9QzHfpiOQ2zF0c6hcECBea8D2woXPScjm5XMrSx-dSw32U0be5j__0tpVGupPwEjPp7rGDxPNs4oxvK7V1WXN01hlEZFs4wyboJ0tRbAdYa9jKE/s1600/IMG_6829.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7dqSEZy5oupTq17ySQt84ZJYqSL3w9QzHfpiOQ2zF0c6hcECBea8D2woXPScjm5XMrSx-dSw32U0be5j__0tpVGupPwEjPp7rGDxPNs4oxvK7V1WXN01hlEZFs4wyboJ0tRbAdYa9jKE/s400/IMG_6829.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: CENTER;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="-moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; border: 0px none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-12603795453547800182011-06-11T01:41:00.000-07:002011-06-11T01:41:19.658-07:00A case for dildos - and sex education I was thinking... there really needs to be some sort of charity that supplies dildos to the needy. The price for a decent dildo is ridiculous. Poor girls are horny too, ya know. Except you can't really donate them.... used dildos are just gross. (Maybe refurbished dildos? Haha.)<br />
They give away condoms to kids in an attempt to prevent teen pregnancy. Has anyone ever considered the notion that if young girls were more educated about their own bodies and sexuality that they would be more comfortable with their own bodies? This could possibly contribute to a number of changes. If young women (I decided not to continue using the word "girls" as it may be misconstrued; I'm referring to <i>teenage</i> girls) were exposed to a culture that was more comfortable with female sexuality there is a possibility that this could reduce many of the common problems that teenage girls experience.<br />
Low self-esteem is one of the biggest problems, focused on by the media, and it has everything to do with the way a young woman views her own body. If she is not comfortable and happy, as is all too common, issues arise. A woman that is educated about her body is more comfortable with her body.<br />
Teen pregnancy has only continued to increase over the years. There are innumerable causes that lead young women to engage in sex, and to make the wrong decisions regarding protection during sex. However, if a teenage girl is comfortable with her body she will not be so desperate to seek male attention and approval. If she is able to pleasure herself, without guilt or shame, then she will be less likely to feel the need to obtain pleasure elsewhere.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.legaljuice.com/dildo%20dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://www.legaljuice.com/dildo%20dog.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Even poor Fido is ashamed to be caught with sex toys</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
There is certainly no easy solution to an expansive problem. Yet, there is always an opportunity for change. Teenagers currently are only given the most rudimentary amounts of sex education. Even this education can lead students to feel ashamed and embarrassed. When I was in 5th grade, the girls and boys in my class were separated to sit through presentations regarding puberty. I don't remember much of the content, but I do remember the awkwardness. The main object, for the girls' class, was to prepare us to deal with our first period. I recall a great deal of confusion as we listened to the description of diagram of the female reproductive system. The message was important and the intentions were in the right place, yet the content went completely over the heads of 10 and 11 year old girls. No one understood what to do with this new information. Worst of all, I quickly discovered that I was the only girl present who had already begun her period. Not only had the presentation itself been too late to prepare me, but the other girls were still at the stage where they regarded the entire thing as gross and disgusting. I was made to feel like I had a secret, a gross and disgusting secret.<br />
I experienced no further sex education until high school. It wasn't until 10th grade that I saw the STD presentation - which was infamous throughout the school. I was in the same school district at both these times, but it seems that they skipped a big part of sexuality here. I can only guess that it is the same elsewhere. No one ever attempted to educated the students on sex itself. There was never any discussion on what defined a healthy, consensual, sexual relationship. Instead, the STD presentation in 10th grade was basically a scare tactic. The idea was that students either already had, or soon would, become sexually active. Therefore they needed to be terrified by the idea of sex. What better way than showing them an hour's worth of slides containing pictures of STD-ridden genitalia?<br />
It's not a bad thing to make sure that teenagers are aware of the very real risks associated with sex. But it is disheartening for there not to be an alternative. Our society still has sex and sexuality hidden under a shroud of shame. We cannot properly discuss it without being accosted with criticism and anger. Yet I'm convinced that those of us who are comfortable with our sexuality, in whatever form it may take, are much happier people.<br />
(If only the people who wasted their time protesting gay marriage could just get laid....? But that's a rant for another day.)Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-20158875445462261522011-04-05T23:48:00.000-07:002011-04-05T23:48:04.229-07:00UpdateSo, I should probably update on a few points here:<br />
<br />
1) We decided not to have a wedding.<br />
<br />
2) We decided to have a wedding again.... I don't know what is going on, but I think it's driving me insane. We were going to do it in Vegas. Then everyone in my family still wanted to be included in some way. So we were going to just go home to visit everyone (since we live across the country and haven't seen most of them in about 9 months) and have a small get-together. Well, my intention of a small get-together, has slowly made its way to being a full wedding reception. I'm really not that pleased this. My mom and my gramparents are putting their opinions in more than I require. They're also volunteering to assist in paying for the reception, which requires me to care what they think. *grumble grumble*<br />
Then a further complication. My man's best man lives near us. If we do the wedding in Vegas, he can come, but no one in my family can. So we're thinking of doing it in Niagara Falls. It's only about an hour's drive for the folks at home. But then the best man has already made plans for that weekend. Another part of our problem is that I LOVE procrastinating. So.... he can be included if we do it in the middle of the week. It doesn't really bother me to do it at an inconvenient time for others, if it's easier for me, lol. But then my family started bitching about that being inappropriate. OMG. *sigh* Could they make my life more difficult?<br />
This has been stressing me out way too much. I'm looking into finding an outdoor locale, so we can do the reception cheaper and more informally. But so far I can't find anywhere that will allow us to use the space cheaply. I'm going to check into the peninsula. But if we have it there, then none of our guests can drink. There's no alcohol allowed in the state park. But we don't drink, so it really doesn't bother me at all.Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-43801963868209811592011-04-03T15:54:00.000-07:002011-04-03T15:59:13.912-07:00Reddit Book exchange!So, I recently signed up to participate in a book exchange via Reddit Gifts. I'm still relatively new to Reddit. However, I had missed the opportunity to get in on the Reddit Secret Santa last year, so I thought this would be fun, smaller version of that. Plus, I love books, so where's the downside to this?<br />
<br />
The deal is, you sign up. After the sign up period ends, they send everyone a "match," a person to whom you are supposed to send a book. You get their username, as well as their name and address for shipping purposes (which everyone agreed to give out when signing up) and any additional info they may have provided about themselves. You send them a book in the mail. You get a book in the mail. Everyone gets a nice surprise. Awesome.<br />
<br />
Now, I had originally thought that I had so many books I would just send a used book that I already had. It is a book swap, so no harm in that. However, I had forgotten how drastically digital my book collection has gone. The only real, hard books I have left are ones that hold a lot of value to me. So, I actually went and found a handful of pretty sweet books at Salvation Army (much better than I expected to find there). I picked one from the lot and sent it out, without much to do.<br />
<br />
About a week ago, I had received an anonymous message from my Reddit gift/book-giver. They wanted to get my email address so that they could send me a Kindle version of my book. I thought that was an awesome idea, so I sent them my email. I then received an email from Amazon, notifying me that I had been given a book, along with a message from my gift-giver:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">"I wonder how mysterious this amazon gifting is. </div><div style="text-align: center;">You can probably trace this back to me fairly easily. Enjoy. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
More will be on their (their?!) way soon."</div><br />
I greatly enjoyed their grammar humor! <br />
<br />
The book I received is called <i>Mr. Funny Pants</i>. It looks interesting, but isn't something I would have picked out myself. But no fear, I enjoy reading new things! <br />
<br />
Here's where it gets awesome(er). My book-giver had assured me that they would still be popping a hard-copy in the mail and I would receive it shortly. I had assumed that said hard-copy would only be another copy of the book they had already sent me digitally. I figured they were just giving me options and covering their bases, as far as the rules of the exchange were concerned.<br />
<br />
Today I received a box in the mail. It was a decent sized book, so I was intrigued as to why it would be so large for just one book. The contents of this box turned out to be squeal-inducing in their awesome-ness. <br />
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When I first opened the box, I found this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUkYxMrDfm6-rFEEM36BI3TJ-4R2flEdufT7QWU1-0oNE-MpS7DbNAeSReKqgmXGXQAWfldqEWYreOiUpsfUb4qpLkYbp611AbAxgKUa46J0W50URDT8Nf4_i2p4Hxb9gbHOjowcVjgGF/s1600/IMG_6418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUkYxMrDfm6-rFEEM36BI3TJ-4R2flEdufT7QWU1-0oNE-MpS7DbNAeSReKqgmXGXQAWfldqEWYreOiUpsfUb4qpLkYbp611AbAxgKUa46J0W50URDT8Nf4_i2p4Hxb9gbHOjowcVjgGF/s320/IMG_6418.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>The paper note was actually on the front of the book, tucked under a zip tie, which was holding the book shut. I was a little confused.... But the note read:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">"Keep digging</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">are there two (three) g's in digging?</div><div style="text-align: center;">-diging?- so wrong. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">please be sure to open me. ;)"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">At this point, I'm still a little confused as to why I have a George W. Bush book sitting in front of me. But, I figure they included that last line, because I may not have even wanted to open that book. So, considering it was shut with a zip tie, I put it aside and go on to the next thing in the box. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I find this: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbl7KP9D74CQuss-srx-TsNm4B3ZZ4CCneWissOMwkMo-3vbW59038pJHCC-t1xI3EhL6ZrrDsmujblgNugUIRCUGES72lPERt2b3quxURnLUa-glk9n1l2zpVdFsrHeJYkH5_FbJhTuPI/s1600/IMG_6419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbl7KP9D74CQuss-srx-TsNm4B3ZZ4CCneWissOMwkMo-3vbW59038pJHCC-t1xI3EhL6ZrrDsmujblgNugUIRCUGES72lPERt2b3quxURnLUa-glk9n1l2zpVdFsrHeJYkH5_FbJhTuPI/s320/IMG_6419.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The book is called <i>The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century. </i>The post-it on the front reads: "Very fascinating until it stops making sense in the 2030s or 40s. Then it is just entertaining." Hmmm, ok. I like it. I especially like the personal insight. I still have more delving to do... NEXT!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Underneath that I find: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihV6jMZJjr-p0VxBGS8jR6GouJ3SqAefnB2iXTxnmSYVLfh3bcdDp-9722C9scmiTgAYYhbSTMY5y7oFTto3cRYbTFkLdT040WZqzeilS0LQkJhRQGtFIUAgQyXz3daon0Rmyoh6BBCRKe/s1600/IMG_6420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihV6jMZJjr-p0VxBGS8jR6GouJ3SqAefnB2iXTxnmSYVLfh3bcdDp-9722C9scmiTgAYYhbSTMY5y7oFTto3cRYbTFkLdT040WZqzeilS0LQkJhRQGtFIUAgQyXz3daon0Rmyoh6BBCRKe/s320/IMG_6420.JPG" width="320" /> </a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Joy of Sects.</i> "LOL! It sounds like sex."</div><br />
At this point, I'm just thinking how awesome it is that this person sent me 3 books! And a Kindle book! I'm mind-blowingly astounded by all the awesome-ness. I can't even think of a better descriptor than awesome to describe it. <br />
<br />
Now, I'm thinking that's pretty much it. But I remember the George W. Bush book and the cryptic zip tie. So, I grab up a pair of scissors and cut it open. I'm expecting to maybe find another note, or a bookmark or something similar.<br />
<br />
Instead, I find this amazing wonder!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7iwnNHsPRm12Ad1gigisuYcdh923H0Ct6mkLhaBEgIwIvtoeQFNsl-rfqRPzGIPpas0P506lraDYm8hz9hDdX8cNbl2s07sl6Mu5U0nL2I-SoYMzes4N3dt5O4Y9o5khL8RqyiY9fjiZ/s1600/IMG_6421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7iwnNHsPRm12Ad1gigisuYcdh923H0Ct6mkLhaBEgIwIvtoeQFNsl-rfqRPzGIPpas0P506lraDYm8hz9hDdX8cNbl2s07sl6Mu5U0nL2I-SoYMzes4N3dt5O4Y9o5khL8RqyiY9fjiZ/s320/IMG_6421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This is probably the best thing I've ever seen. ANOTHER book (<i>A World Out of Time</i>), another note, and a little toy dinosaur! LOL! And, best of all, the note reads:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">"Surprises? I can do surprises.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I am pretty sure that this dinosaur is from a <u>cursed</u> package of dinosaurs. The last person to who(m?) I sent one died before it got there. Good luck!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And, underneath the book, one final note:</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Please fill this with awesome."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">My book-giver should win some sort of reward. This has been an epic experience!</div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-80922438889553306142011-02-26T01:16:00.000-08:002011-02-26T01:16:07.087-08:0050 Questions That Will Free Your MindI'm not normally this hippy-ish, but I found this post appealing. As I sit down to give my own answers, I haven't even read all the questions. Yet, I feel the need to reflect and to ponder some things about my life. I know that I've been struggling with a lot of disappointment lately and it's time to examine where I think I'm heading in life. However, I know some of my answers here may further disappoint me.... but that's what I need to work on. :)<br />
<br />
These questions have no right or wrong answers.<br />
Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.<br />
<ol><li><b>How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?</b> Either 15 or 40... I guess I average out pretty well.</li>
<li><b>Which is worse, failing or never trying? </b>I'm going to go with never trying.</li>
<li><b>If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?</b> Because we have a hard time taking risks and leaving our comfort zone.... also b/c society forces us into dead end jobs in order to survive. </li>
<li><b>When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?</b> Right now, yes. But I'm working on fixing that.</li>
<li><b>What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?</b> There's a lot... separation of church and state, of corporation and state, end corruption and eliminate the two party system. Also, can we just put an end to stupidity and make it physically painful to lie? Like look at the areas of the world wear they actually believe that raping young girls (virgins) will cure AIDS... that's the kind of stupidity I'm talking about.</li>
<li><b>If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? </b>photography, dancing, acting, singing, playing music, sex, wearing corsets (?), lol. </li>
<li><b>Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? </b>Definitely settling... under the justification that I will one day be doing something worthwhile. </li>
<li><b>If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?</b> Well... I would seriously do away with any plans to have kids. I'm more than half-way to the grave and wouldn't even get to see them grow up. </li>
<li><b>To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? </b>That's a damn tricky question, and one that's hard to answer accurately. I've controlled most of my adult life... I haven't let other people make decisions for me, but I also haven't gotten the opportunity to do many things I would like to. </li>
<li><b>Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? </b>Both, unfortunately. I like to do the right thing, but I'm always stuck on doing things right.</li>
<li><b>You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do? </b>Tell them they're being unfair and explain why I disagree. </li>
<li><b>If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? </b>That's really not a fair question.... no advise you could give a child would be remembered and, even if it was, them implementing it would hinder their own knowledge and development.</li>
<li><b>Would you break the law to save a loved one? </b>Yes.</li>
<li><b>Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?</b> I think so... :)</li>
<li><b>What’s something you know you do differently than most people?</b> Reason... socialize...</li>
<li><b>How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?</b> I'm not as simple, or as easily abated. </li>
<li><b>What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?</b> Start my own Ren circuit act; location and travel are holding me back.</li>
<li><b>Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?</b> Maybe my dreams?</li>
<li><b>If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?</b> Probably back to PA.... houses are so damn cheap. </li>
<li><b>Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?</b> No, and no. </li>
<li><b>Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?</b>Why aren't geniuses allowed to be joyful?</li>
<li><b>Why are you, you? </b>Because I have no other choice than to be honest to myself.</li>
<li><b>Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?</b> Yes.</li>
<li><b>Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you? </b>Losing touch... that's just laziness. </li>
<li><b>What are you most grateful for? </b>My wonderful fiance, who takes care of me, loves me, and lets me pursue my silly academics. </li>
<li><b>Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones? </b>It's tought, but I'd have to lose the old ones... there is a lot of bad in there and, yes, I'd lose some good too, but I don't plan on having nearly as much bad shit in my future. Plus, I have a terrible memory as it is, so I've forgotten half of the past already, lol. </li>
<li><b>Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?</b> I've often had inherent knowledge about things that, when confronted with, just seemed obvious. So, yes. </li>
<li><b>Has your greatest fear ever come true?</b> My greatest fear is falling... Although I have recently comer face to face with my 2nd greatest fear .</li>
<li><b>Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now? </b>No, not at all. </li>
<li><b>What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special? </b>When I finally found out my mom was proud of me... </li>
<li><b>At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive? </b>Probably our recent trip to Vegas, it was just nice to relax and experience new things with my boy. :)</li>
<li><b>If not now, then when? </b>I'm thinking about 2 years from now. </li>
<li><b>If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose? </b>The will to try again?</li>
<li><b>Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever? </b>Of course. </li>
<li><b>Why do religions that support love cause so many wars? </b>Tatemae<b>... </b>or a much too lengthy rant.</li>
<li><b>Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?</b> Only in some cases.</li>
<li><b>If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?</b> Yes. My job already isn't very important. However, I would still work; just on something I liked more.</li>
<li><b>Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing? </b>I like staying busy, but only if it has meaning. </li>
<li><b>Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before? </b>Probably.</li>
<li><b>When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in? </b>Oh.... that's not an idea I'm comfortable with.... hmmm.</li>
<li><b>If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today? </b>My family.<b> </b></li>
<li><b>Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?</b> I think I will actually have to say yes to this. However, it is not out of vanity. I don't care about being attractive or famous, but I care about the impact I would have the potential to make if I held some sway and could influence the way of government functions. Basically, if I was famous I could run for office and actually stand a chance of winning. </li>
<li><b>What is the difference between being alive and truly living? </b>Working toward something, doing things you love, taking time for yourself and those you cherish; doing anything other than going through the motions, day in and day out. </li>
<li><b>When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?</b> Whenever you have the ability to do so. (Some situations require money or resources that you don't always have.)</li>
<li><b>If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake? </b>Perhaps the fear that we should have learned sooner how to avoid it. </li>
<li><b>What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? </b>Not wear clothes, lmao. </li>
<li><b>When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing? </b>... right now. </li>
<li><b>What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love? </b>I love learning... I finished submitting my grad school applications earlier this week. </li>
<li><b>In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that? </b>I've always had a terrible memory...</li>
<li><b>Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you? </b>Well.... decisions are being made right now, on my grad school apps, and I wish I didn't have to, but I must allow others to make them.</li>
</ol>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-26251140144117989942011-02-18T02:29:00.000-08:002011-02-18T02:30:59.943-08:0011:59PM - Rejection LetterWell, at least I had prepared myself for this, so I'm not completely distraught...<br />
<br />
I got my polite rejection email from UCSD. Now my options are dwindling. <br />
<br />
This is the 1st school I've ever been rejected from. I really expected it to be more monumental. In high school I only applied to one college and got accepted... because I knew I could. I actually feared applying to this school, because I didn't think I would be accepted, but I did anyway because I had to try. I suppose it's a good thing I got that fear out of the way. Too bad it had to be on the best school (as far as suiting my needs is concerned). <br />
<br />
Now my options are 1) go to mediocre school and get my M.A. 2) go to mediocre school and work on my M.A. for a year and reapply (my GPA was certainly a tragic part of my downfall). 3) go to a good school that's an hour and a half away.... this is, realistically, less of an option than I would like to let myself believe.<br />
<br />
If I reapply after getting my M.A., UCSD <i>may</i> approve that work to count toward 4 courses.... basically saying that spending 2 years working on my M.A. is only worth 1 semester of their time. *sigh*<br />
<br />
Either way, I'm wasting time. And my life. That's the shitty part. I'm kind of putting all my eggs in one basket with this whole grad school thing....<br />
<br />
Of course, if I get my M.A. I'm qualified to teach at any of the plethora of community colleges in the area. It really seems quite pathetic, but so does the whole community college system here. (Well, I can't say just <i>here</i>. I'm not familiar with any other community colleges. We didn't have those in Erie.)<br />
<br />
I may also be able to get my teaching credential and just teach dirty, loud children.... *shudder* The <i>only </i>thing that is even moderately appealing about this option is that I can get my student loans forgiven after 5 years of [qualified] full-time teaching. That almost seems worth it.Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-43566347842568385012011-02-06T02:21:00.000-08:002011-02-06T02:21:02.615-08:00I'm a miracle worker.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="messageBody">The boyfriend goes, "You should bake something. You like doing that." I go, "But I don't have the stuff to do that..." I wander out to the kitchen and do a bit of scavenging; an hour later we have No-Bake Coconut Cheesecake. I'm a miracle worker.</span></h6><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TU51vUhBXHI/AAAAAAAAAxY/mbySORIm0vI/s1600/2011-02-06_02-19-22_866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TU51vUhBXHI/AAAAAAAAAxY/mbySORIm0vI/s320/2011-02-06_02-19-22_866.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, it's a shitty picture, but the post was too short otherwise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="messageBody"> </span></h6>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-12598973020814082782011-02-05T11:19:00.000-08:002011-02-05T11:19:41.608-08:00Comic-ConI got my Comic-Con tickets this morning. After about 2 hours of fervently hitting F5, I finally managed to get a confirmation.<br />
<br />
What craziness. I know they were avoiding many of the larger companies such as TicketMaster and Amazon, because of the expense - TicketMaster would have charged the customer too much in fees and, apparently, Amazon wanted too much from the actual seller - but, seriously, this shit was ridiculous. We've been waiting months for these tickets, as have thousands of others. I'm pretty sure the majority of us would have preferred a small increase in price (or fees), rather than the inconvenience we have paid with instead.<br />
<br />
I think of it like this, I'm making decent money now with my new job and with the time I wasted getting tickets (both today and other days they attempted to sell them) I could have made about $80 or so, if I had spent that time working instead. And I really should have spend this morning working.... I have to leave for a training session and I hate feeling so inadequately prepared.Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-43533205049698925942011-02-05T11:12:00.000-08:002011-02-05T11:12:46.587-08:00English Pronunciation PoemUnfortunately, I do not know where this originated, but I have seen it posted a few times on Facebook and I'm quite fond of it. I've even contemplated doing it as a monologue, though it's been some time now since I've needed one, lol.<br />
<br />
If you can correctly pronounce every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Dearest creature in creation,<br />
Study English pronunciation.<br />
I will teach you in my verse<br />
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.<br />
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,<br />
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.<br />
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.<br />
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.<br />
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,<br />
Dies and diet, lord and word,<br />
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.<br />
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)<br />
Now I surely will not plague you<br />
With such words as plaque and ague.<br />
But be careful how you speak:<br />
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;<br />
Cloven, oven, how and low,<br />
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.<br />
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,<br />
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,<br />
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,<br />
Exiles, similes, and reviles;<br />
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,<br />
Solar, mica, war and far;<br />
One, anemone, Balmoral,<br />
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;<br />
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,<br />
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.<br />
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,<br />
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.<br />
Blood and flood are not like food,<br />
Nor is mould like should and would.<br />
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,<br />
Toward, to forward, to reward.<br />
And your pronunciation’s OK<br />
When you correctly say croquet,<br />
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,<br />
Friend and fiend, alive and live.<br />
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour<br />
And enamour rhyme with hammer.<br />
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,<br />
Doll and roll and some and home.<br />
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,<br />
Neither does devour with clangour.<br />
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,<br />
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,<br />
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,<br />
And then singer, ginger, linger,<br />
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,<br />
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.<br />
Query does not rhyme with very,<br />
Nor does fury sound like bury.<br />
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.<br />
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.<br />
Though the differences seem little,<br />
We say actual but victual.<br />
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.<br />
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.<br />
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;<br />
Dull, bull, and George ate late.<br />
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,<br />
Science, conscience, scientific.<br />
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,<br />
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.<br />
We say hallowed, but allowed,<br />
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.<br />
Mark the differences, moreover,<br />
Between mover, cover, clover;<br />
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,<br />
Chalice, but police and lice;<br />
Camel, constable, unstable,<br />
Principle, disciple, label.<br />
Petal, panel, and canal,<br />
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.<br />
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,<br />
Senator, spectator, mayor.<br />
Tour, but our and succour, four.<br />
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.<br />
Sea, idea, Korea, area,<br />
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.<br />
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.<br />
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.<br />
Compare alien with Italian,<br />
Dandelion and battalion.<br />
Sally with ally, yea, ye,<br />
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.<br />
Say aver, but ever, fever,<br />
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.<br />
Heron, granary, canary.<br />
Crevice and device and aerie.<br />
Face, but preface, not efface.<br />
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.<br />
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,<br />
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.<br />
Ear, but earn and wear and tear<br />
Do not rhyme with here but ere.<br />
Seven is right, but so is even,<br />
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,<br />
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,<br />
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.<br />
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)<br />
Is a paling stout and spikey?<br />
Won’t it make you lose your wits,<br />
Writing groats and saying grits?<br />
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:<br />
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,<br />
Islington and Isle of Wight,<br />
Housewife, verdict and indict.<br />
Finally, which rhymes with enough,<br />
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?<br />
Hiccough has the sound of cup.<br />
My advice is to give up!!!"<br />
- <em>B. Shaw</em>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-38719570120104690712011-01-21T11:20:00.001-08:002011-01-21T11:59:02.510-08:00Pseudo-spontaneous Disneyland Trip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TTnbpW7f2uI/AAAAAAAAAw4/TqJ6g2Lm96Y/s1600/1295637390830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TTnbpW7f2uI/AAAAAAAAAw4/TqJ6g2Lm96Y/s640/1295637390830.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>I have to admit, San Diego may not be as interesting as I expected, but the ability to go to Disneyland on a whim is pretty fantastic.<br />
Although, it was terrible, the reason we were in the area was for a funeral. However, it wasn't someone we knew personally, the bf knew the husband so he went to be supportive, which I think was very kind of him. <br />
Afterward we had the whole afternoon/evening to ourselves, so we stopped at Disney on the way home. We only stayed for 3 hours, but I actually find it more enjoyable to be able to go in short spurts like that. That way I don't have time to get annoyed by all the people, lol. I also got a ton of great pics, which I will be editing and posting over the next few days. (I have a bad ass camera now and I've been learning to use photoshop, even slight tweaks make my photos look so much more professional. But that's a post for another day.)<br />
The bf took this picture of me. Not only is it awesome, but it is the first picture I've had taken of me in years where I didn't feel the need to crop the rest of my body out. I've lost about 35 lbs in the past year and I'm really proud of myself, it's a pretty amazing feeling. :)Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-65574832013049780952011-01-18T02:01:00.000-08:002011-01-18T02:01:20.193-08:00I've started a new job :)A job which actually requires some level of education and competency! This is (both fortunately and unfortunately) a big first for me. All the jobs I've had before didn't really require me to be intelligent or learned in any way. They were just jobs you got and they told you what to do, you did it and you got paid. End of story. Well, when I did sound design for theater it wasn't the same sort of mindless drivel.... however, I never considered it really special, b/c even though I loved it, I was literally the only person on campus who knew how to do it. So I was the only choice, lol.<br />
However, this job is awesome. I feel a sense of accomplishment because I had to actually take a test and get a high enough score before they would even offer me the job. I also had to audition and do a standard interview. For those of you who don't know: I'm TERRIBLE at interviews. Absolutely dreadful. Yet, I still managed to do ALL of this and land this job. I'm pleased as punch. :) Although I'm really not sure how pleased punch could truly be... unless it's been carrying on a long-distance relationship with my small intestine and is pleased to have finally arranged a meeting. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "I want to be inside you."<br />
I might have the sense of humor of a perverse, 15 yr old, nerdy boy....<br />
<br />
Now all I need to do is navigate the labyrinthine company website where I am to access all my payroll, training materials and other important information. A tedious task in and of itself. Huzzah, none the less, mother fuckers. :)Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-33572302812953890952011-01-07T01:11:00.000-08:002011-01-07T01:11:45.408-08:00I dream of Ph.D....So, how long does it typically take to get a response on a graduate school application?? I know they usually take their good, old time with these things, but I'm extremely anxious! I submitted an application to UCSD, the application deadline was December 10. So, it's pretty much been a month now. BUT there's all those bullshit holidays in the middle there that take up everyone's time and tend to close down most university functions. GAH. I know they're probably only just coming back into the office this week and they probably have about 250 applications that the committee needs to review. That makes me wonder.... they started accepting applications in September or something, do they review applications as they receive them or do they just wait for them all to come in and deal with the whole fuck-ton of them? Neither way seems very efficient. :-/ <br />
<br />
I'm probably going to submit an application to UC Irvine in the next couple days here, as well. I wasn't initially planning to apply there. However, I was checking out the other schools in the UC system, since UC Riverside set me an invitation to apply, and I really like the program they have there. I'm intent on studying Political Theory, but there isn't much practical application in that; I'm ok with that, since I want to be a professor anyway (basically the ONLY application, lol). However, UC Irvine also has a Political Psychology program..... I hadn't really even heard of this before, but it sounds awesome. Literally, I'm in awe. I could even study it in conjunction with Poli Theory. Mmmmm. :) The ONLY problem is (and it's a big one) that UC Irvine is about an hour and half drive from my home. They also only offer full-time study in pursuit of a doctorate (as I have noticed, seems to be the norm everywhere). There is a possibility that I could schedule my classes in such a way as to minimize my amount of travel, but it's unlikely that this would work every single time. The complications are rather annoying....<br />
<br />
<br />
If I do manage to get accepted into UCSD, I will definitely go there. They have one of the best programs and it's only about 20 minutes from home. I don't have any problems with it. Hell, I could even look into areas of study that focus more on a psychological aspect, if I continue to gain interest in that idea. I figure I will apply to UCI as my back-up, because, even though they're far, they have a doctorate program and offer funding. I'm also going to be applying to SDSU..... as my back-up back-up, lol. This was initially going to be my back-up school, until I found the program at UCI. SDSU is an ok school, I suppose. However, they only offer an M.A. Master's programs tend to have significantly less, if any, funding and that's a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, if I don't get into UCSD, I'm going to be stuck with the choice of a good program with funding and a long drive, or a shitty program with no funding that's close to home. Not an easy choice. While it seems obvious, the amount of money I'd spend on gas would be exorbitant..... and the man and I are probably going to need to invest in a 2nd car, which we eventually need to do anyway. <br />
<br />
Ah, dilemmas.....Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-5513116883640756642010-12-29T23:35:00.000-08:002010-12-29T23:35:16.487-08:00So, I'm planning a wedding...I'm not as excited about this as I'm told I should be, lol. I'm really quite happy, but I'm not looking forward to the expense. Therefore, I'm exploring my options and I'm gonna do as much DIY and "on-the-cheap" things I can.<br />
<br />
I'm looking for a dress right now. I'm much more picky about what it looks like than some bullshit designer. I haven't found anything I love yet, but I'm gonna check out the department stores before I enter the dreaded bridal salons.<br />
<br />
We're doing the summer wedding thing. But we're doing it on a weekday. I really wanted to do it on the solstice, but that's a Tuesday. Roger said, "Who gives a fuck if it's a Tuesday?" So, we're doing it on the summer solstice. :)<br />
<br />
I'm gonna try to see if I can get a friend to take some engagement photos for us. That way they'll be cheap and I can use a picture on our invites. I'm either going to make the invites myself, or do them online through Kinkos or something similar. Depends on the pricing. I'm also gonna make labels to put on candies as wedding favors. I've seen them on hershey kisses and reeses cups before. It's just a fucking sticker on the bottom and they charge HOW much for that? Give me a break! lol. And hair and makeup will be provided via Mom; who used to do makeup for a living. I'm sure I'll think of more things I can do myself to add to this list. <br />
<br />
My mom is looking into a possible venue, which seems really nice. If we do use this place it will be all outdoors and we can have the ceremony and the reception both in the same location, which I like. My mom knows someone else who is planning their wedding there and they said the owner of the property is a really fantastic older woman who will help with any and all arrangements you want her to. Since she's been renting out her space in this manner for a long time she knows all the good places to get bargains too, lol. Plus, I'm pretty fond of the notion of a free wedding coordinator coming with the venue. Especially since I'm going to be 2500 miles away until a few days before the wedding!!!!<br />
<br />
Also, ceremony? I'm totally not fond of that concept. It seems way too formal for me and that would make me uncomfortable. A wedding is basically just a big party for me, so.... I'm gonna exclude all the bullshit I don't like. Unless Penn Jillette will be my officiant. Seriously. Where else am I going to find an awesome, intelligent, atheistic speaker who can both amuse and engage an audience?? I think I'm screwed, lol. <br />
<br />
For now, I'm gonna dump some links here; of things I like and want to consider, in relation to wedding planning: <br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/77288/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=77288&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Traditional Wedding in Watertown, MA - White Bridal Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/76242/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=76242&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Traditional Wedding in Lost Pines, TX - White Orchid Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/75566/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=75566&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Casual Wedding in Denver, CO - White Wedding Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/70143/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=70143&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Vintage Wedding in Palmetto, GA - Vintage-style Pink Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/69972/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=69972&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Modern Wedding in Pittsburgh, PA - White Wedding Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/69779/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=69779&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Modern Wedding in Austin,TX - White Wedding Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/68874/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=68874&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Forrest Wedding in Estes Park, CO - White Wedding Bouquet</a><br />
<a href="http://weddings.theknot.com/Real-Weddings/66715/detailview.aspx?STOPREDIRECTING=TRUE&id=66715&type=3&wedding+details=Bridal+Bouquets">Real Weddings - A Traditional Wedding in Cambridge, MA - Pink Bridal Bouquet</a>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-26861372913301882092010-12-24T01:17:00.000-08:002010-12-24T01:17:23.603-08:00Don't read this if you don't want to hear about my VAGINA, lolPreface: I recently had an IUD (also: IUC) inserted. For me this was a very painful and excruciating experience. It happened about 2 weeks ago, but I've started to have a little pain again over the last day or 2.<br />
<br />
What follows is a pretty awesome chat convo:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small">K: So is your new birthcontrol still bothering you?</div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9368880"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">Me: I'm not sure if it's that or not. <span class="emote_text">:/</span><img alt=":/" class="emote_img" src="http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/blank.gif" style="background-position: -144px 0px;" /></div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">I thought I might be starting my period b/c I'm having sporadic, sudden cramps and some spotting, but.... it's way too soon for my period again. </div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small">I think my body might just be adjusting to not having all the BC hormones and it's confused.<a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1078380064"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined"> </div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">K: Oh I see...could you just be progo? Haha</div></div></div></div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">Me: </span>No. Bad answer. lol</div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1078380064"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small">K: Hahaha that woukd suck..<a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9368880"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_3731991133"> </div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_3731991133">Me: Also, they tested me before putting my new thing in</div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_726597880">After work, when I was complaining to Roger about it, I actually said that they "installed" it in me.</div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small">lmao</div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1078380064"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">K: Like its a new program they just put in you... Hahaha </div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">Youre updated now! You got the lastest software yay!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9368880"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_60618081">Me: Hahaha, yeah.... I was obviously at work too long. </div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_3997368990">Software, for your Gine.</div></div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1078380064"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_undefined">K: Well I guess in this case its hardware...</div></div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">Me: </span>Ah, true. Upgrade my built-in anti-virus protection.</div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">K: </span>hahahahahahaha</div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">Me: </span>damn hackers, always trying to spam my uterus</div><div class="messages"> </div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small">K: Sav wants to know if its upnp?<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_667964353"> </div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_667964353">Me: what?</div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_3911794603">Oh. OOOOOOOOH.</div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_407948648">I'm slow!</div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_1317509856">hahah</div><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_1284962444">And I guess it is.... but, it's on a private network. </div></div></div></div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">K: </span>oh thats good, you dont want that available a public network</div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><br />
<div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">Me: </span>Yeah, no way. It's definitely encrypted. </div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><div class="messages"></div><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"> </span></div><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg">K:</span> Ok wow! We are EXTREMELY nerdy!</div></div><div class="mhs mbs pts fbChatConvItem pts fbChatMessageGroup clearfix small"><a class="profileLink" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9368880"><br />
</a><div class="messages"><span class="timestamp fss fcg"></span><div class="fbChatMessage fsm" data-jsid="message" id="msg_1078380064_1100979873">Me: Yes.... I realize this. rofl.</div></div></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-57802764089017528502010-11-08T13:52:00.000-08:002010-11-08T13:52:33.866-08:00Esco FaireSo, I had a good time this past weekend. I went to the small Ren Faire in Escondido. I met up with some people I haven't seen in a long time and others that I hadn't previously ever seen in person. I even met up with an old high school friend from PA, whom I haven't seen since mid-college (about 4-5 years ago). Strange to see where people end up in the world.<br />
<br />
The faire runs for 2 weekends only, which is actually really shitty. I didn't make it the 1st day last weekend, but I made it the other 3 days. Apparently I change my costume too much, lol. Every day I dressed differently and did something different; this is a big change from being on cast at GLMF where I had to wear the exact same thing for 6 weekends straight - I think I got a bit carried away with this freedom, lol. The only problem is that I have a hard time talking to people b/c they don't realize I'm the same person once I'm dressed differently. This happens at faire a lot - you remember someone by their costume or a bit they were doing and it's hard to recognize them without it. I can't blame anyone, I never pay attention to faces.... I notice details that stand out and once faire is done those are usually gone.<br />
<br />
The first day I went was Halloween, which I already talked about - I went as a zombie. This Saturday I brought Dahlia - my Tegu. I wanted to let him get some time out of the house, as we can't take him for walks or anything because our apartment's management doesn't know we have him. I figured he be a bit of an attraction, but I'm used to that when I take him out. OH MY GOD. I seriously under-estimated the amount of attention that he drew. I could barely walk 5 feet without getting stopped by at least 1 person. While I was stopped for 1 person a whole crowd would form. I should have charged for pictures.... I would have made a killing. Luckily Dahlia was a sweetie and was really well behaved. He walked around on his leash or I held him and only got 1 or 2 scratches. I felt bad for the people I was hanging out with though. Every time we tried to walk somewhere it took forever, because of how much we were getting stopped. I answered the same questions about Dahlia so many times that my friends started to rattle off the answers for me, so I could take a break, lol. By the end of the day Dahlia was so tired. And my arms were tired just from holding him all day.<br />
<br />
The final day of faire I brought my cup. Yeah, this doesn't sound very impressive, but apparently it is. At GLMF it was common for a lot of the cast to walk around with our mugs on our heads. It was a nice passive-lotsy sort of bit that entertained patrons when we were too tired or had to walk across the faire grounds to get somewhere. It was common, a few people got a kick out of it, but it wasn't very impressive. We also never did it with anything made of glass; the cast typically steered away from glass drinking vessels as the faire grounds most mostly gravel. I have this really fancy looking, blue glass chalice that I now do it with. It's more difficult than a mug because the top is bigger and heavier than the base, but it sits perfectly on my head. I guess this just looks more impressive..... I don't have to worry about dropping it since 90% of the faire grounds are soft grass. I did this when I went to faire in the spring as well, so this has become how people recognize me. I love doing something relatively simple that others seem to think is difficult and are easily impressed by! I got my picture taken almost as much as the day before. I had a good time; and that's what counts.<br />
<br />
In past I had begun learning to belly dance with the cup on my head. I couldn't do it this weekend because of the corset I had on, but I'm going to learn a little more for a belly dancer character/costume I may do in the future. The future where I'm comfortable showing off my stomach.... not sure when that will be, lol.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the only bad thing about this weekend was what a poor excuse for a faire Esco really is. It was good to be able to get a faire fix relatively close to home, but it's not the real deal. The faire is tiny. There is ZERO street cast. They have a Queen that does walk around with her procession, but.... that's it. The guilds camp out in there encampments most of the time and go out to do a few interesting things. The guild I was hanging out with staged some bar fights and such, which is really interesting, but they don't really draw much of a crowd b/c they're not planning out well. They don't announce what's going on or anything. They have a "Battle Pageant" every day... it's..... different. It could be good.... I mean, it has potential. Unfortunately, it's more for the benefit of the guilds than the crowd. They announce things to the crowd, but you can never hear any of what they're saying. They make an attempt at dialogue to explain why they're fighting but you can never hear that either. I've attended on multiple occasions and it hasn't ever been better. All this faire seems to do is whet my appetite for real faire with atmosphere and presence. It doesn't help that they only do 2 weekends at a time.... it leaves no room for development and growth for those that participate. I know that for many I have met here this is their home faire: I'm sorry. I'm not trying to lessen the experiences many have had at this faire, but it's really just not enough for me.<br />
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P.S. I'm eagerly awaiting pictures from this weekend. I'll link or post some once I get ahold of them from others.Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-27618411874936018812010-11-01T18:30:00.000-07:002010-11-01T18:30:19.555-07:00Halloween - cont'd (original costume pics)<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBU95gn66MFR-B6IcNzH3hCXnRoNnpEX94LAwXcPKrQ7CwriuJb9YR4jjY8nZyZjFY31E02m8TRcFaY0Mz8mUJK8jlkqfQnLqZuDC6G6TARa_nTjavaMrFAqGOQ0DWFmn2g1SybFarUw2/s1600/DSC03683-1.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBU95gn66MFR-B6IcNzH3hCXnRoNnpEX94LAwXcPKrQ7CwriuJb9YR4jjY8nZyZjFY31E02m8TRcFaY0Mz8mUJK8jlkqfQnLqZuDC6G6TARa_nTjavaMrFAqGOQ0DWFmn2g1SybFarUw2/s400/DSC03683-1.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QtUgRpl-TVHfRYlJDNyyyEj2xglWflv-bCoCmqYrhbY__Q7UaxchzScPjUZWkYgt-MjPaebG5hW3Znluy9F8vXUfkQKYKU8sF0OQbEkh_FpFk_UKm-DNJi2MZKRftDt-wt96nTBopEcl/s1600/DSC03694-1.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QtUgRpl-TVHfRYlJDNyyyEj2xglWflv-bCoCmqYrhbY__Q7UaxchzScPjUZWkYgt-MjPaebG5hW3Znluy9F8vXUfkQKYKU8sF0OQbEkh_FpFk_UKm-DNJi2MZKRftDt-wt96nTBopEcl/s400/DSC03694-1.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7r3QjN4CwT1rQyNdXSz7HuOMslhbDUQkXoTbI4LEIILwTImqH8XmAX1BlLup93JTuEm86eEKS-JGuFz8mXwPjZ_4BBJQHG9mONroWqToNoc-eG9WqH1VYg_7PV9icHKaXh_0wWxGkbzd/s1600/DSC03697.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7r3QjN4CwT1rQyNdXSz7HuOMslhbDUQkXoTbI4LEIILwTImqH8XmAX1BlLup93JTuEm86eEKS-JGuFz8mXwPjZ_4BBJQHG9mONroWqToNoc-eG9WqH1VYg_7PV9icHKaXh_0wWxGkbzd/s400/DSC03697.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgitUrwrU-EVGlrwoeEtdIN-6-DTBmaXRRRsUT3gAKCh-j9sa4rAqOnZ63AkoODiJR0SO67dhC7RgyL3p4n3AjPd0feuk_TZhZs8Z9OMrMtiLvkoA13Zq4gD8xjjSTK5INBXFzP2o9xyEg/s1600/DSC03704-1.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgitUrwrU-EVGlrwoeEtdIN-6-DTBmaXRRRsUT3gAKCh-j9sa4rAqOnZ63AkoODiJR0SO67dhC7RgyL3p4n3AjPd0feuk_TZhZs8Z9OMrMtiLvkoA13Zq4gD8xjjSTK5INBXFzP2o9xyEg/s400/DSC03704-1.JPG" /></a> </div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-40776144860314795452010-11-01T14:38:00.000-07:002010-11-01T14:38:30.555-07:00Halloween '10 - Zombie Pirate / Beaten [Pirate-] Housewife....This is my Halloween makeup without the rest of my costume. Essentially the makeup was the costume so it doesn't matter what I was wearing. In this outfit I look like a beaten housewife.<br /><br /> The rest of the day I was at the Ren Faire in Escondido, so I was dressed up as a pirate - I was supposed to be a zombie pirate, but the bottom layer of makeup I did, which included slightly greenish skin and a ton of discolored bruises, didn't really show up anymore after I put the blood over it. Initially the costume included an eye-patch as well - the idea being that my eye had been ripped out - but..... I quickly discovered that you have <span style="font-style: italic;">extremely</span> poor depth perception with only one eye. :( If I would have been at GLMF it probably wouldn't have been a problem, since I know the faire grounds like the back of my hand, but at this faire it just didn't work. So I quickly ditched the idea patch.<br /><br /> I also got many random comments.... some complimenting my makeup, but many more joking around about woman beating; people telling me to leave that man and what not. I think the creepiest part about this was that I got hit on - A LOT. Apparently guys find women that have been beaten incredibly sexy..... that just disturbs me.<br /><br /><a href="http://goo.gl/photos/ydxLMRu7aU" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TM8wRk6sfrI/AAAAAAAAAuM/FlE6Hbi6N3E/s512/2010-10-31_20-17-46_198.jpg" border="0" /></a>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-15416038845885816122010-10-30T01:58:00.000-07:002010-11-01T14:49:08.068-07:00BATS!I finally did my Halloween decorating.... that I've been tentatively planning since the beginning of the month.<br />
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It's BATS! I've never really been a fan of bats.... I didn't dislike them, but I wasn't drawn to them. I was always more fond of blood and skulls and things that are generally more jarring to the senses. But I fell in love with this idea I had. Now my entire living room is being invaded by bats. :) They are even lurking outside my front door. My next door neighbor has done a TON of decorating outside these last 2 days, so there's pretty much nothing for me to do out there, lol.<br />
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This is my neighbor's apartment:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVHOrjsAzWS_SgMKkrri6Gd5D97PTNOL4BC7vVWWh3pkh-JI7HJCq_jCFAoN8l7nHhoaPaFRpwoDS_Q5t4m9DFrdRcn-JxpdBLIv58h82U5OOg7reFSPfNccuBWcKZIhU5R-jlJiHOCu9/s1600/DSC03718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVHOrjsAzWS_SgMKkrri6Gd5D97PTNOL4BC7vVWWh3pkh-JI7HJCq_jCFAoN8l7nHhoaPaFRpwoDS_Q5t4m9DFrdRcn-JxpdBLIv58h82U5OOg7reFSPfNccuBWcKZIhU5R-jlJiHOCu9/s320/DSC03718.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is outside of my apartment:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AK_jo6UBIL0YTgu7eArPZxvuTcg6A4EP91b3COIgk1T0p3RhqkEOQWWLEIeoXPd2CCySA7Rb5x4ctMhvZ-bJJ85YWYnMNF1aohVAKb3COQmgOfguvHx07eUMXpOdUce-UW_eN8gH80et/s1600/DSC03719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AK_jo6UBIL0YTgu7eArPZxvuTcg6A4EP91b3COIgk1T0p3RhqkEOQWWLEIeoXPd2CCySA7Rb5x4ctMhvZ-bJJ85YWYnMNF1aohVAKb3COQmgOfguvHx07eUMXpOdUce-UW_eN8gH80et/s320/DSC03719.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And THIS is my living room: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLABCt7tCvTSQpBPSG1cefZfan_hjUHXkYG0Xeii0PBWRBGp3HmMeCFN0hrkocK7HywcjyM5LRq8FtRShm_U-JON8CUqg-hUEz1aeolWZXI520sa5eKs_ai2lGtqyOdTmIvwX3Smr56vuN/s1600/DSC03732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLABCt7tCvTSQpBPSG1cefZfan_hjUHXkYG0Xeii0PBWRBGp3HmMeCFN0hrkocK7HywcjyM5LRq8FtRShm_U-JON8CUqg-hUEz1aeolWZXI520sa5eKs_ai2lGtqyOdTmIvwX3Smr56vuN/s640/DSC03732.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-7343725797821423812010-10-20T16:20:00.000-07:002010-10-20T16:20:40.027-07:00I'm engaged!<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdQx_6D2ZJggjLJdREc_g1_RO7Js_6pmZmzSMv7PuMlg5ImaVGJPfGUZPIsWiyo3CT9kmrP_JMjWvrb90qIByuYmTAYpiCm3RIg2rzDEcNp-7pMDl1QAgztzrqOu3_FrQJ7CjTESc20OG/s1600/DSC03630.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdQx_6D2ZJggjLJdREc_g1_RO7Js_6pmZmzSMv7PuMlg5ImaVGJPfGUZPIsWiyo3CT9kmrP_JMjWvrb90qIByuYmTAYpiCm3RIg2rzDEcNp-7pMDl1QAgztzrqOu3_FrQJ7CjTESc20OG/s400/DSC03630.JPG" /></a> </div><br />My ring finally came in the mail today! Roger surprised me with it when I got home from work; we didn't think it would be here until tomorrow. :) It was custom made, which is why we were waiting for it. It turned out awesome. :) I totally love it!<div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3203270687980802815.post-46198326888358747582010-10-20T02:07:00.000-07:002010-10-20T02:07:11.221-07:00This is why we can't have nice things!Because our cats like to do this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TL6w7c4_BsI/AAAAAAAAAsk/ZAj6UBRFGmU/s1600/DSC03625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TL6w7c4_BsI/AAAAAAAAAsk/ZAj6UBRFGmU/s320/DSC03625.JPG" width="179" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TL6w8Bm4VbI/AAAAAAAAAso/oBYZW54nRKw/s1600/DSC03626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1EbjL8esJpc/TL6w8Bm4VbI/AAAAAAAAAso/oBYZW54nRKw/s320/DSC03626.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>Almost every day. *shakes head*Maledictahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07872887722335075506noreply@blogger.com0