velma

Misc.:


I started playing EarthBound the other day. It's one of those games I've been told I've GOT TO PLAY so many times over the years, and I've actually been saving it for a rainy day, as I so often do. I decided now was the time and so there you go. It is incredibly quirky and awesome, I really love it. It's sci fi scary with a softhearted atmosphere. I think I'm going to check out the rest of the series too.

I'm actually stalling right now, 'cause I'm pretty much at the end but I don't want it to end, so I'm leveling up for fun, haha. I'm one of the few people who enjoy leveling up...


I'm trying to recall all the RPGs I've been recommended over the years by the old boys in the gaming chats I used to frequent.





Oh yeah, what else... I got a reply from a cousin my brother told me about, and he said he's trying to track down the dad of my siblings I'm trying to find, and when he does he'll connect us and I'll see what I find out from there... so that's exciting!!

I've been corresponding with my brother too and... yeah my number one most looked forward thing to these days are new letters from him. :)


I'm also planning on starting another blog somewhere and putting this one to rest. Not on LJ. Gonna use it to post stories and such. Yes, stories and such, because I've been inspired again. Go figure, I get art block and suddenly get short story ideas.


Yeeeeaaaaaahhh ... that's me in a nutshell lately dudes. Gonna try and get medicaid so maybe they'll cover a new wheelchair because mine's starting to fall apart, and I can't afford a replacement at this moment in time, yarrrgghhh, and my damn monitor broke the other day and I had to buy a new one. Luckily it was under $200, but damn,that's a big deal in this street rat's life.

In the words of Paul McCartney, it's just another day...

the beginning of this year has kicked off that familiar feeling of "I wanna change a buncha stuff." you know, wanting to clean out "friend lists" and organize entries and update my websites and profiles and start new things. while I've cleaned out every friend list except the one here(I have a tug of war with myself over that all the time, you know, good ol' INFJ-style guilt), I've been busy taking care of business in regards to this feeling.

I'm getting that itch to start a new journal again, too. fresh start, blah blah blah. my paid account runs out in may, so I might do it! I feel much like a nomad drifting about through the internet, here nor there to most people. I talk to a handful of people these days...really not that many. quiet period for me, etc. so I don't think there's really any reason at all to cling to old names anymore 'cause there's not really anyone who cares about me disappearing who wouldn't find out about it from me during conversation anyway. :)

it's that yearly moment of wanting to look at my priorities and cut off what's unnecessary. it's a productive feeling when put to good use. mmmyeah. we'll see what happens. I deleted the majority of my icons and that felt good. I actually feel like deleting everything. I'm not attached to any of my userpics much anymore. it's a great sign when I reach that point. I like reaching a point where I don't feel attached to stuff... it's hard to explain -- so often I get attached to stuff and it weighs me down, so when bit by bit, I find myself not attached to as much trivial stuff, I know I'm growing as a person.

I'm all about growth this year.



as an aside, let me just say that eating leftover chinese food(fried rice, half a packet of soy sauce per bowl...and I'm on my second bowl right now) and watching You've Got Mail for the 1,000th time is a nice moment of goodness. The bit at the end when Joe is getting to know Kathleen as friends... one of my favorite parts of a movie. The 152 meaning discussion = haha oh yeah my favorite couple dynamic discussion type.

I stayed up till around 10am today because I felt the intense need to watch the inauguration coverage.

One of my moments of being reminded of how sensitive to the universe I am because I got a bit emotional watching. Yeah, it's funny how I can know something's going to happen yet somehow when it DOES happen it just blows me away. Well, it's nice though - Good to have a nice emotional release. Happy tears! Moment in history and all that... geez, all those people crowded all over... some crazy stuff. It's good to think that even though I get down about the world at large sometimes, in this little instance they really came together for something.


During family time in the kitchen tonight it was suggested we all write our obituaries. Haha, even though I kinda led it there, I called everyone morbid for taking the idea and running... but I think I may do it! Something to think about anyway.

I started writing in another book! This one has lined paper in it so it'll be strictly words. Hand cramps be darned. I wrote a story in my head when I couldn't sleep last night, and I'm still not sure if I'll actually write it down or not. We'll see.

Ma had the day off today so we went on a nice drive through the countryside. I drank an iced peppermint mocha and enjoyed the ride immensely, and we ended up at the cheese factory. :) I haven't been there in ages! It was fun watching birdies in the pond and overall was a really nice relaxing day out. Before we got home, we stopped at McDonalds and I got a cheeseburger and OH MAN I ENJOYED IT. I haven't had fast food in ages. I haven't had a cheeseburger in ages. I feel so amazing this year. I'm 90% over my swallowing problem and I'm eating a much wider variety of food compared to this time last year and I just feel so blessed. Yep.

Onto the pics... birdies and an amazing schoolhouse. The empty phone box made me laugh so much. There's a metaphor in there somewhere!


















Aaaaaand some Christmas pics! These document the awesome amazing tree ma painted on her wall(and decorated - me and Steph did help a smidge too), and Steph making a ton of cookies and candies. Ma helped, and me, well, I just watched and provided high class entertainment. Also a pic of the post office when we mailed all the cards and stuff. I've always enjoyed the look of that building.















I have enjoyed watching the progress of the tree in the front yard over the seasons since I've been here, so I decided to document it! Here are the results.

Now that I've pretty much wrapped up all that procrastinating and stuff from the past two years and pretty much brought my website completely up to date, well, I feel really accomplished. The thing is, I also feel a little aimless.

What do I do now?

I could go through all my comics in my room in about a day or two. Not sure I want to do that.(I don't want to run out of comics yet!) I could give those George RR Martin books a go(A Song of Ice and Fire series), since my mom loves them to pieces and makes them sound pretty interesting.

I'm almost done with a project I've been working on for the past few months.

I could start on art to send to Chris and Fly. Which ... that's a really good idea. I'll probably start thinking on that.

Need to draw something for firstfruits...

Yep. Feels good not to have anything hanging over my head, now I just need to decide what I want to do.

Went into paintchat for the first time in ages. Geez. I hadn't been logged in since around the same time I last updated my website(2007!).

I've been thinking about various aspects of myself that I want to improve and such, so there's that.

Goals for this year, yes. Some can't be worked on at the moment but I do have a list, and will work on each item when appropriate.

Yesss I am a bit dead online as of late, I notice! Just got a lot going on lately, I'm sorry TV land, but I don't love you any less. No worries on that. Just taking care of stuff. Mundane stuff, but yes, stuff. I need to get my head on straight...

One thing causing my head to be unscrewed is my yearly card design. I've been worried that my well of ideas had run dry, but no! Actually got the bones of my Christmas card down as of a few minutes ago. Thanks to ma for planting the seed of an idea that sprouted into something fun that I feel really good about now that it's been explored. Really is going to do a good job representing this year! I'm pretty surprised this idea hasn't come to me before now. THANKS MA!

firstfruits never fear because your pic is next. But like I said, my well is a little wimpy right now so I'm hoping I get a good idea soon for you. Right now though...there are cobwebs in the place your pic is being created in my mind. I just have no ideas right now for it! :|

Again about the card for this year, I'm actually not sure how many addresses I have for people but my gmail has a big stockpile. I'm pretty sure most if not all are current addresses for people, so if I think any are outdated I'm gonna contact people about it one by one rather than spam posts asking for addresses. (this is mainly a note to self) Oh yeah and if you didn't get a card last year due to not knowing me or whatever, just lemme know and I'll add you to the address list.


Ma found my shoes and a bunch of my other clothes! My coats remain lost, but Justin just cleared out some of his stuff and said I could keep whatever I want, so I have some warm stuff to wear now so if I did indeed lose all my winter clothes at least it'll hurt a little less now that I have a few more winter-ready things to put on

Another aside, I have this feeling from time to time, but anyway... I'm having my moment of feeling like my journal should have some profound content, though I'm unsure what that would entail. Yep. I feel like I should fill this thing with excitement and great things and interesting wonderment.

Either:

- 100% art (sometimes I feel like that's all that really matters to people...and why shouldn't it? I feel boring right now)
- Profound insight (hahaha)
- ...no idea

Yeah I'm pretty much just overthinking things again, at least when it comes to communications online. Oh well. I really have no clue why I get into headspaces like this one. It's times like this I also remind myself I like reading peoples' life recaps so I dunno why I should quit doing it myself... it's fun for myself to look over later...

YEAH I THINK ABOUT STUPID THINGS SOMETIMES THAT ARE REALLY POINTLESS WHEN YOU ZOOM OUT AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE BUT OH WELL ME IN A NUTSHELL.


On an entirely different yet somehow related note, I love my mom. I'd go crazy without you, dear.

Went to my mom's yearly high school reunion picnic thing. I had a lot of fun and took some pics. :)



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It was so incredible seeing leaves literally falling all over the place. The sound of the wind in the trees... bliss. A few minutes after we arrived at the park it was held at, I felt something land in my hair. Years of living in the desert made me think it would be an insect or bird crap, so I cautiously lifted my hand up to my head to remove whatever it was, only to be pleasantly surprised by a leaf. WONDERFUL. I LOVE FALL. :]

It was a very interesting experience, and I was hugged by a guy I'd just met as we were leaving. Yep. Very interesting day. A guy who wondered if I was part of the class of '89. Yeah...haha

Once back at the lodge(the one we stay at whenever we're down in the Los Gatos area), my aunt Kay talked me into going to the bar to get a drink or something(I've never been to a bar before and she thought it would be great for her and ma to take me). The bartender guy left more to be desired(talk about the silent and not very helpful type) but I finally got to try pear vodka. Verdict: AWESOME AND DELICIOUS. Other verdict: Grey goose needs to be way cheaper. I didn't even get carded.

My aunt said I look older.

So either I look haggard or less kiddy or both. I'm just trying to hold onto the thought maybe I resemble a grown up. OH HO HO HO. MAYBE.

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This video is sexy. I rediscovered the song in my library last week and decided to look up the video. Lo and behold... it's a dream come true! Mmm.

HUGE POST TIME.



I thought it'd be funny to take a pic of myself like a commercial but it looks pretty much like I always do. That's one of my favorite shirts now! (it's one of my new ones)

Over the last few days, I've been playing a lot of Mario Kart with Megan on Stephanie's Wii. Oh man, haha, so much fun! I had this theory that I'd be rusty, but slowly regain my skills once I played a few times. That theory seems to be proving itself, so I'm very happy about that. I can't seem to find where Paper Mario is but I look forward to trying that out. Mmm, Mario Kart though. So awesome. I didn't think anything could top Mario Kart on SNES but it does! Unfortunately, Megan is going back to Santa Cruz for school next week, so I'll be losing my gaming partner... we'll see if anyone else picks up, otherwise I'm gonna just veg out solo in front of the TV whenever it's free. So fun mmmyes...still have yet to try out Wii fit that Lynn bought for me too.

Uh what else... watched some movies with the fam tonight, and been watching Friends DVDs with Jessica over the last week or two. Family time is good time.

My sleep is still really screwed up, I could NOT get to sleep last night at all, for example. Tossed and turned and felt like I was on fire. That was awesome. Go figure... I'm sure it'll pass, though, but it's annoying in the mean time. :P


Hmm... missed out on using that coupon for Burlington coat factory so I'm going to start my coat hunt again. Jessica wants to go shopping in the city whenever we both have time for it, so maybe I'll find one then. In the meantime I'm going to be browsing the internet.

Mom's still on the quest to fix up the garage, so I'll get my clothes and books back once she gets that done, as well. She's awesome cause she already found all the DVDs which fueled tonight's movie watching. :) I LOVE YOU MOM, YOU ARE A HARD WORKER AND I DO APPRECIATE IT. I'M SORRY I AM A GIMP AND NOT VERY MUCH HELP!!



The huge amount of text coming up in this post is originally from my OKcupid profile. Well, my new one, as I deleted the other one due to the fact a ton of people from AZ kept bugging me on the one I made in 2006. I posted this on myspace due to the fact it has information about myself and I figured there should be info about myself on there.

If you wanna learn more about me, read on! I know, it's super long, but uh...you know me, the constant journey of seeking understanding. Someone may find this interesting. PERHAPS.



Adjectives that sum me up pretty well:
inquisitive, intense, and INFJ



My self-summary:

My name's Maya, and I'm an empath, doofus, and worry-wart. A lover, not a fighter. I've had people refer to me as a hopeless romantic lately, which at first I disagreed with, but the more I think about it, maybe they're right. Still thinking on that one. I don't enjoy being referred to as anything including the word "hopeless," but what can you do? :P

I'm back in Petaluma after spending the past 5 years living in the desert. Quiet life of 120F. First Nevada and then straight into the sun that is Arizona. Who knew I could miss the fog as much as I do? Mmm, cold weather, how I missed thee. I'm spending my days soaking up the fact I can now comfortably sit outside, experience more seasons in one day than I experienced in an entire year in AZ, and just plain enjoying seeing GREENERY AGAIN! Trees and plants are awesome.

I enjoy figuring out how to make someone laugh and nonchalantly do so whenever the opportunity presents itself.

In most cases, getting lost doesn't scare me, in fact, I look forward to it(while traveling, etc). You can find some cool stuff while lost, see new things, meet random people. Pretty much, this points out the fact I enjoy the unexpected.

The enjoyment of the unexpected makes it even funnier when the fact I'm so big on planning and organization comes into the picture. I'm the kind of person who plans ahead for everything. I give myself a buffer zone when it comes to arrival time, spending money, and everything else. I never go broke unless it's from helping out someone else with a problem. I'm big on saving. If this were a book for children, I'd be an ant, not a grasshopper.

"Always be prepared." Well, I am.

If I ask how someone is, I care about the answer.

I listen to music whenever possible.

I enjoy going to quiet shows. Or loud ones, really, if I plug one ear. Yes, just one, because it lessens the volume enough to not have my head split in half. I have sensitive hearing, it's ridiculous(and frustrating sometimes). Fireworks...yeah, love them, but can't tolerate watching them at close range.

I sit down at concerts because I have pain issues, not because I hate dancing. That's not to say I'm good at dancing(I've never actually danced aside from with friends in the kitchen or by myself around the house), but I'm all for it.

I enjoy creating things.
- Writing: though my opinion is I'm not great at that, but sometimes I get the urge to do so. I don't share my writing with many people.
- Drawing: I love to draw. I share my drawings with people, as generally people enjoy my drawings. I've had work involving my drawings, as well. A few people have my stuff tattooed on their bodies...so I suppose I can say I'm alright at it in the eyes of others. I consider myself improving always.
- Painting: I think I suck at this, but I want to improve. To work on this is a goal of mine.

I attended San Diego Comic Con for 6 years running. Due to life, I haven't gone for the past 3 years. I plan to attend again. I was even considering cosplaying, but I could never decide on a character, nor was I sure I was up to taking the step into that level of nerdism. Pretty sure I could though, if I felt capable of doing the character justice!



What I'm doing with my life:

Enjoying it. Seems like a given, but you know how that is. Lotta people in the world aren't really enjoying theirs. :p Anyway, it's not to the the extent of just wasting my life away. I like to work towards things no matter where I am in life. Right now I want to figure out what to DO with my life. Job-wise, living situation-wise...

I've been on hiatus from college for a few years. I moved from Petaluma a few years back, and never got into school in any of the other states I lived in. I'm planning on going back now that I'm living in Petaluma again. Still no clue what I want to study, but that'll come to me eventually, yes? Here's hoping.

Art is a huge part of my life. I've made myself a decent buck with my skills. Reading, video games, and many other interests have taken a backseat when it comes to what I spend my time doing. I am the kind of person who will spend an entire night working on a drawing or painting. It's very important to me, and it's my outlet. I spend a good portion of my time working out ideas and such squirreled away in my room with music and my tablet or a pencil and paper. I think this is a big part of my life that will never change.

Long story short, I'd say I'm spending my life working on my art in between having fun.



I'm really good at:

Delivering a good punch-line.
Getting to the root of an issue. Be it interpersonal or during a discussion on various topics.
People tell me I'm a good listener, easy to talk to.
Figuring out solutions to problems.
Switching to and from topics in conversation easily.
Giving advice when asked for it. :P



The first thing(s) people usually notice about me:

Not sure about this... perhaps I should poll my friends and family!

I'd say my personality. You definitely get a feel for me after the first time or two of being around me... I'd wager this is a huge positive, because people warm up to me immediately after meeting me, and people always seem enthusiastic about introducing me to others.

When it comes to what people notice about me first online, well... when people IM with me for the first time, I'm always told I type incredibly fast. I don't feel like I do, but maybe compared to others...?



My favorite books, movies, music, and food:

Whatever pops into my head is going in here. I'm the kind of person who has zillions of favorites, so I won't attempt listing them all. Pretty much, there's something from every genre I enjoy, guaranteed. I was once described as a person who is "on the fringe" and into "the hip stuff," whatever that means. All I know is I enjoy things that are somewhat fantastical, have a quirky edge, wit, interesting twist.

Books: Like Water for Chocolate, East of Eden, Lolita, Their Eyes Were Watching God, House of Leaves, A Christmas Memory, The Stand

I enjoy a good book, but honestly, I haven't read much at all recently, so I'm no bookworm by a long shot.

Back in high school and before, I was huge on video games. I want to get back into that stuff. The same with books, I haven't really kept up with this stuff much lately. I enjoy platformers, survival horror, puzzles, fighters, etc. Maniac Mansion remains my favorite.

Movies: Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally, Schindler's List, Some Like It Hot, Delicatessen, Drop Dead Fred, Moulin Rouge, Benny and Joon, Amélie, You've Got Mail, The Philadelphia Story, The 5th Element, The Prestige, Alice, Being There, Rear Window, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Harold and Maude

Animated stuff is great. Cowboy Bebop, Daria, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aeon Flux, Clone High, Disney stuff(movies, shorts), Lucy: Daughter of the Devil, Shin Chan, Mission Hill, Downtown

Woody Allen is incredible. Another victim to packing is my copy of Annie Hall. I've been craving it ever since I moved, but can't figure out what box it's in. Probably laying beside my Strangers in Paradise. Yes, I enjoy watching movies. I rent them by mail most of the time. I've had a few marathons ... including one(which is still yet to be completed) of Woody Allen's complete catalog, and also one of films including Peter Sellers. I haven't been to the theater in ages due to the price. I'd like to start going to the movies again. Oh, Wes Anderson is wonderful as well. As is Jean-Pierre Jeunet... and Alfred Hitchcock. :P

Television: Mostly old stuff on TV Land or Nick@Nite. Seinfeld is my favorite sitcom. The X-Files is my favorite sci-fi/drama type show.

Other favorites include Sliders, Monk, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, Good Eats, Dirty Jobs, Antiques Roadshow, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Everybody Loves Raymond, Golden Girls, Caroline in the City, Empty Nest, Sisters, Northern Exposure...

Music: Stephin Merritt. Known to many as "the guy behind The Magnetic Fields." He's one of the best song-writers of our time, if not the best. There's really nothing of his I dislike. So many projects, so many styles. Wonderful stuff.

Other stuff I like includes: M. Ward, of Montreal, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Optiganally Yours, Azure Ray, Mirah, Stabbing Westward, Tegan and Sara, Matchbox Twenty, Wilco, Aqualung, Neko Case, The Innocence Mission, Yann Tiersen, The Zombies, Madonna, Imogen Heap, The Decemberists, Semisonic, Regina Spektor, The Arrogants, Coldplay, The Smiths, Lovage, Nat King Cole, Sal Mineo...etc

Recent shows I've been to:
Billy Raphael
The Magnetic Fields
Stephin Merritt talking music with Daniel Handler

Food: I've been craving cheesecake lately. Been eating pumpkin pie... that's some good stuff. Breaded tilapia with jalapeno cheese sauce on the side is INCREDIBLE.

Basically, I eat anything yummy.
Also, I'm definitely NOT vegetarian, so there you go.



The six things I could never do without:

Some form of communication device (telephone, internet)
Writing utensil of some kind (for drawing and writing)
Pockets
Somewhere comfortable to sit
Quiet time for myself
Amazing food

bonus 7:
GLASSES! Not only due to my own myopia, but also because I enjoy them on others, and a world without other bespectacled people would be a very sad, less exciting one. (I'm serious)



I spend a lot of time thinking about:

The universe and everything in it. Actually, this isn't so far from the truth. I enjoy pondering various topics and seeing how far my thoughts go. Human interaction has been on my mind a lot lately, and building up more material for the mental folders I have for everyone. Puzzle pieces falling into place in regards to how I view people, always adding new pieces...



On a typical Friday night I am:

With friends and/or family. I'm not huge on partying or clubbing or any of that stuff.



The most private thing I'm willing to admit here:

This is going to be long because I'm big on being clear. Thought about this some more, and:

I'm a very anal person. I have really high standards for myself, and an example of this in action: If I make a typo, even if it's simply a mental hiccup(and not due to thinking the word is really spelled the way I misspell it), I really kick myself for making such a simple mistake.

Yep. I dislike making spelling errors, being incorrect about things I'm discussing, etc. There's a question on here that asks something along the lines of "If you had an argument with a friend and found out later that your argument was wrong, what would you do?" My response is I would fess up immediately. The fact I'm wrong about something is something I want to rectify as soon as possible, and I prefer all parties involved in whatever I'm wrong about know that I am aware of my error, and also to know what the correct information is.

So, I'm anal and I fact check myself 99% of the time. I have no qualms about apologizing and/or admitting fault. :p

Yeah can't wait for her new album after hearing this song mmmyeah. Been listening to it for a while but just now thought to check if it has a video.



... My motherly instincts have been bad enough lately but this video just compounded that fracture. GEEZ.

ANYWAY(wow my capitalization skills kicked in again for this entry), speaking of music... the "conversation and song" is later today! Can't wait for that! Exciting!! Should get to bed, speaking of that.

Also about music, Johnny West graciously sent me a free copy of his new album, WHICH IS AWESOME. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I really owe him a lot. He's given me so much great music over the years. Yeah. I feel like I'm ripping him off somehow by not showering him in money for it all. :P

Favorite tracks:
- 95 streets to the right (is where I will find the heart of you)
- what will become of luke perry's nipples?


Everyone should buy a copy.
http://www.myspace.com/concubinefeeder


... And another thing, I listened to all 3 of the 4 mix CDs from Megan that I have(#4 is coming soon) and yeah, pretty amazing as well. This is turning out to be a very musical week. I need to compile two different lists and letters for Megan and JW regarding my favorites and such. This is pretty much a note to self.

Favorites:
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Birds Fled From Me - The Resisted
John Prine & Iris DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves


Yeah. Mmm. Yeah.

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Dave came over the other day, and all of us(ma, girls, me, Dave) went out for coffee and such, had dinner at home, watched the crappiest show on television(which all the chicks in this house, including me, are hooked on...haha "Secret Life of the American Teenager" or whateverTF it's called, with Molly Ringwald), and that was nice! He has a purple car now.

firstfruits! here's a post! there's a book on felting sitting on top of my tablet right now, along with my Stephin Merritt tickets. yeah. but we should do that trade. come up with any ideas yet? :P

oh yeah, you tagged me so here's a song title meme thing! ( Read more... )


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as for me, I have a new project! designing a tattoo involving a mommy elephant and her babies. in a kind of parade. possibly including balloons or flags or bodypaint or something. on the elephants. this is for Jessica, yup.

right now I'm eating a slice of pumpkin pie. I've been having a piece a night for the last few nights. ma bought me a pumpkin pie at costco the other day. mmm.

right now, I'm also listening to disc 2 of a 4 disc mix set Justin's girlfriend Megan made for me :) totally awesome so far. disc 4 should be here the next time she comes over. she included tracklists(with her own star ratings). I'm listening to each disc blindly rather than reading the tracklists before I listen. I like to be surprised. it's one of those incredible tiny pleasures that pack a punch. I'm planning on compiling a list of my favorite tunes once I've listened to all of the discs. these CDs are going to be great for in the car, mmhmm.



yeah, so I'm excited as all get out because of Thursday steadily approaching. YEAH!! DAMN!! so great. it kinda shocked me into reality because yes, I do live in CA again, and that means I can start looking into shows in SF again. oh yeah. reality.

speaking of that, I requested a voter registration form today, and I plan on getting my CA state ID sometime this week so once I receive the form I can fill that part out and mail it out in time to be registered by the Oct. 20th registration deadline. yup.




oh yeah... family wants to take a trip in January to celebrate Madison's birthday. I assumed it'd be Disneyland since well, Madison loves Disneyland, but apparently she wants to go to the beach! I've been dying for the beach, so who knows where we'll wind up going. Santa Barbara, San Diego... Kim said somewhere in southern California area. And who knows, we could wind up going earlier than January. Either way, vacation time coming up! Ooo yeah.

Last night was awesome...it was a girls night out: Lynn, Steph, Jess, Alyse, and myself. good times!

it was movie in the park at Prince Park, cold as all get out and there were some chatty cathies behind us the whole time, and a helicopter in the air going in circles blasting its searchlight... BUT! that didn't ruin the beauty that was seeing Young Frankenstein on the big screen! there's something I never expected to have the pleasure of. :p

topper of the day? WELL GUESS WHAT? someone posted in the Stephin Merritt community, and:

Talking Music 2008-2009

Our second season of the Talking Music series features established musicians and composers as well as the new guard. From Broadway legend Barbara Cook, who will perform and reminisce, Amy Tan, who will discuss the process of translating a novel into an opera, to the haunting, passionate voice of Neko Case and John Darnielle's storytelling lyrics, the series presents a diversity of styles and individual visions. This season of Talking Music will also feature experimental performance artist and composer Laurie Anderson, conductor and composer Michael Tilson Thomas, indie rocker and leader of Okkervil River, Will Sheff, composer Stewart Wallace, and Stephin Merritt, front man of The Magnetic Fields.

- from http://cityarts.net

STEPHIN IS ON THE 11TH! Daniel Handler will be hosting, and there's going to be some song time too, so this should be awesome. yeah, so I ordered tickets a little bit ago. when I read the post about this, I felt like the universe was giving me a pat on the head. hey, I'm now living near SF again so I can go to this!! ah damn so great. very excited. :)

Neko Case isn't until January, so we'll see if I make it to that as well.

tegaki E

SOOOO I have my own room again! Justin moved out and I moved into the room that was his. It's amazing having my own space again. I'd been sharing a room with my ma up until this point. Now I have my desktop PC set up and everything. Doodling a little bit. Example above.

Jessica's been clearing out her room and such and in the process, I've gotten a lot of the clothes she's been clearing out. This is especially good considering I still have yet to find my clothes and shoes...also still need to find my books!

Last night was so incredible that I became so distracted that I forgot I had AIM on and left my laptop on in my room leading to missed messages, and also missed a call on my cellphone. Why so incredible? Lynn bought oysters at the farmer's market thing yesterday and barbecued some for the first time ever. DELICIOUS!! We ate them out on the back patio...so great. I had been craving those for quite some time, so it was a pleasant surprise to have her bring some home to cook yesterday. YAY!

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I forgot what it's like to be able to sit in a backyard and not die of heat exhaustion.

I mean really. I go outside into the backyard today. I sit on a folding chair with purple stripes on it next to the table my sister spray painted green. There are trees around, a nice cool breeze, shade beneath the patio covering. Random clouds floating by in the sky. Birds on the wires strewn over the yards for electricity and telephones.

It's a nice day.

Living in Arizona, I had completely forgotten what it was like to just enjoy a nice day outside. Desert life really wiped my slate clean in regard to that stuff. Time to scribble some more stuff onto the chalkboard of my mind.

It's good to be outside again. :P

well since my laptop has a busted soundcard, and I use an external USB soundcard to listen to audio, I've been mainly listening to music on my iPod away from my laptop because I'd rather not be chained to my laptop when it hurts my back. I haven't been drawing that much for the same reason. I'm holding out for being able to set up my desktop pc again. :p but in the meantime, this is pretty awesome, because Last.FM finally lets me scrobble my iPod listens, so I've been using that lately! mmm yeah. aside from the occasional weird lag/freezing thing(on my iPod's end, when it encounters a song it refuses to play...), things are going pretty well in that regard.

still have no idea where my clothes or shoes are packed away to. or if someone donated it or threw it away by accident(mom suggested this possibility). we still haven't found where my books are, either... my Strangers in Paradise, Flight, and Genshiken. which sucks, because I've been wanting to read those hardcore! :( on the plus side, I think I'm going to mail order Anthropology: 101 True Love Stories by Dan Rhodes. my friend Cally made a post about it a week ago or so, and it sounded awesome from the excerpt she posted, so I wanna check it out. that should hold me up a bit.

a trip to Barnes and Noble with Jess and Steph is coming up, because we all are craving new reading material. I think I'm finally going to read some classics I've had on my mind for a bit. no idea what else. think now's a good time to start up my book tour again. I've also been wanting to buy some CDs for in the car since we drive around a lot here, and I'm still waiting for Kim to mail me the CDs she borrowed earlier in the year(including all 3 volumes of 69 Love Songs, damn it!)... so yeah, a good time for new CDs.





yeah... also might order a pair of shoes. I found two pairs that look like space boots from a 50's comic book. the only problem is one of them isn't available in my size(5.5) so uh, maybe a size 6 would work, we'll see... but most likely I'll buy the cheaper pair that does indeed come in my size. it'll be nice, 'cause I feel guilty for wearing Steph's shoes for so long. :P I already ordered two shirts and a pair of pants from a place having a clearance sale, so yay for that. here's hoping Burlington Coat Factory still has the coat I want by the time their coupon is usable in September. mmm yeah...







haha, this site, 80stees.com, is pretty great. there's a Pitfall and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego shirt I AM DYING TO HAVE. I haven't had any experience with this site before, so not sure if I'll buy either one. also, I don't normally endorse shirts that are any variation of "I love (blank)" but come on, that Brainy Smurf tee is so me. you know it. anyway, the site was on my gmail sponsored link thing or whatever so I was browsing it the other day. also, there's a shirt on liamshow.com that's awesome, granted, it says WHORE on it, but the image has some CHOICE glasses-wearing action on it so I may actually buy it... haha... yeah, glasses. my weakness.



double yum.

see, the other day I felt sick, and I was about to go lay down for a while. Justin's girlfriend Megan mentioned Justin's tea he got when he felt ill, because he said it'd made him feel a lot better, and she asked if I wanted some to see if it'd help me feel better. I said alright and went to lay down.

she came into my room later carrying the mug of tea, and said she'd added some milk and honey to it as well. the tea was delicious and it made me feel a lot better. but the big thing for me was I've never had someone just do that before. I mean, we met just a bit ago and she was all wanting to take care of me like that. yeah. that was very sweet!

Mom hasn't been able to locate her cheese grater, which is vexing because she uses one for preparing her ginger skin treatment at night. I suggested we go somewhere and find a new grater and I'd buy it for her.

so after Lynn finished vacuuming the house, we all piled into the van and headed out. we stopped by orchard supply and bought some paint for the rusting lawn furniture and also found a grater. it's triangular! I had no idea orchard supply had stuff like cheese graters so I'm really amused by this.

we stopped by the fruit stand on the way home and mom and Lynn got some fruit to replenish my smoothie ingredients and also some pies. I wanted blackberry, and once we got back home I had a piece. mmm. then later we fired up the barbecue and I had an apple and chicken sausage. pretty delicious, and pretty awesome because this shows that my swallowing problem isn't nearly as bad as it was around February, so I'm feeling very positive about things in that regard!

yeah yeah. still don't know where my pants or shoes are packed but I knew I was going to need to buy new pants once I got here anyway so I'll get to that sometime...haven't found any shoes anywhere still. ehh. Stephanie is definitely a life-saver because I've been wearing those Vans she let me borrow all the time. they're a size bigger than what I wear and yet they don't slip off or anything(they're black slipons). lifesaver!

taken while updating every site involving a billing address that i use. good times. i was impressed because i went into the bank today and stood at the counter and didn't feel like i was going to topple over. things are looking up. my head is killing me but yeah, at least my throat isn't sore anymore. :p my nose bleeding from how often I'm blowing it though, still annoying...

going to look into taking a class or two online or otherwise.
yup.

hoping to look for new shoes at the mall and go to the bookstore whenever i feel better again. which hopefully will be by next week. nnnngh. thankfully, stephanie let me borrow two pairs of her shoes till i get pair :)

oh yeah, I began taking voice recordings on my phone in the car on the move here, since I had no paper. ma made the suggestion, so thanks ma! now i've started a habit of recording my ideas onto my phone whenever one pops into my head. audio recording feature on a cellphone finally has a real use for me! just gotta draw em up... the ideas, i mean.

long story short, I am back. Stephanie gave me an Uncle Sam rubber duckie and a head cold as welcome home gifts! :p so pretty much I will be out of commission a bit until this head cold passes. that means I won't be able to make it to the party, destinyawakened... sorry about that. :|

there's SO much crap we have left to get done now that we're getting settled, yipes. getting a cold, brilliant plan, me... heh.

I've been to every shoe store in the county and I couldn't find anything. my shoes are packed along with most of my clothes so all i have is one pair of sandals. eh. my plan was to find some really ugly shoes that are not like me and wear those. you'd think this plan would be fool proof. it wasn't. there was ONE eligible pair, and it was at shoe pavilion and the guy working was lame and plus it was 6.5(too big for me) anyway so yeah forget that. but yeah... maybe i'll search for those shoes online and hope i find them in my size for cheap. :P

on the plus size, burlington coat factory had a pair of shoes for my mom(she needs new ones for work) so i saw this awesome peacoat there. they gave us a 20% off coupon i think i will indeed be using on that coat next time we go up there! it has POCKETS unlike the one i had before we moved(I donated it). woo! :D


in other news, my dad has begun texting me. uh...do you read my lj too, dad? eh eh?


so yeah. basically, we made it ok. I'm not dead, the weather is nice, and a more indepth post later probably. oh yeah, and it feels weird to be back in my hometown to live after so many years. I feel a million years old.


p.s.
wow, at the shoe store, the clash - train in vain was on the radio. i hadn't heard that song in YEARS. so i came home and today i checked for it on youtube, listened...totally forgot that the opening is used in Garbage's Stupid Girl. how APPROPRIATE IS THAT? awesome.

It's pretty amazing. The guest room is completely empty, completely clean. The carpet is bare.

My room is 90% packed up.

The kitchen is all packed up, so is the living room, for the most part, save for our computers and the television area.

Everyone went out today to pick up ma's certificate from Michaels and to do some shopping. They came back home with coffee and some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and fried okra. That okra was delicious. So were the taters. SO GOOD. Mmm.

Used mapquest to see how far we're going to be traveling.
Things are rolling along.

Right now, Jessica and my ma are helping me go through all the boxes that haven't been unpacked since we left Vegas. I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff, and becoming a bit overwhelmed with nostalgia and, well, other emotions. Going through things I thought I'd lost and things I've been hoping to find again. Deciding what really matters, what I want to keep.

Found my rings, including the one my dad bought for me when I was 7 or 8 on our trip to San Francisco. from the trip we went to FAO and pier 39. Nostalgia... and inside of the box for my rings, I found a penny. who would think a penny could strike such a deep chord in my heart? I'm so sappy.

Found tons of old artwork, school assignments, photographs, cards... ah man. It's so therapeutic to find things I've missed so much, a relief to let go of things I no longer feel attached to. I really feel like I've grown as a person since our last move. I feel... man, can't even find the words.

Life's a learning experience.



To my fellows from Valley Oaks, found my issues of Echoes of Society... man. The years have just flown by. Memories, light the corner of my mind...

Lynn and Jessica's flight got in today! I slept in while ma picked them up. Everyone's here now... and packing is continuing. We'll be putting everything into the moving truck and our van and starting the trip in the next few days! Everything is going according to plan, yep.

Well...oh, Lynn brought along a belated birthday present for me. A USB cable and memory card for my phone, and now I can transfer pics from my phone to my PC. Woo. I had no idea how high quality the camera is on my phone, either. Now I know! It's awesome. The pics are huge and great quality, really puts my old phone to shame!

So far I've set an animated gif as the background for my phone and made a ringtone out of my favorite part of "Hummer" by the Smashing Pumpkins. (4:30 until 4:53ish, had to trim it a bit though... to 27 seconds, ma!). Pretty awesome. Yup.

This song is pretty great: