For the past month, I have been pretty busy. You wouldn’t guess it if you were actually here with me, but I have. I wrote my college application essay (those closest to me are well aware of this fact as I have been throwing it in their face for review every time I have a revised draft ready), drew the required pieces for the portfolio I am submitting, and am going to mail it all out very soon. I’m mad stressed. My mind is basically going into OMGFLAIL mode: What if I’m missing something? What if someone hijacks the envelope and steals my SSN? What if they don’t like my portfolio? What if they can’t OPEN my portfolio? Should my essay be double spaced or use 1.5 line height instead? Oh no, what if I don’t get in? What if I DO?! OH NOESSSSSSSSS.

So yes, I am going insane.

A quick list of Stuff That’s Happened

• I carved a very awesome pumpkin for Halloween.
• I’ve been drawing or working on art pretty much every day.
• You might not have heard this - Barack Obama won the election! Understandable if you didn’t know, it was a reeaaaaaaaaally quiet victory.
• I began reading Stephen King’s Duma Key, which is probably one of the most thought provoking pieces I’ve read in awhile; and I’m only around page 35.
• I caught Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the ending half twice and both laughed and was somewhat displeased with the comical bloodspill.
• The Quilting Bee has also been very kind to me and given me several nominations over the past two weeks. Thanks guys, it means a lot to me. ♥
• Snow has officially stayed on the ground overnight. Bye grass…

I’m very sorry that I haven’t been able to write more thoughtful things that aren’t “oh hi I did this today”, but I hope to as soon as my college stuff is in the mail and I have more time to panic about jobs. :P This journal makes me look bad, man. I’m much wittier in conversation, but still as boring!

To avoid wasting time looking through TV listings, I decided to pick out a book from my shelf, simply named Ring by Koji Suzuki. It’s a translation, but very good. I love the story and I love its originality, but the characters make me want to destroy Japan. Asakawa, the main character, is incredibly self-centered and paranoid. His friend Ryuji is a scoundrel, very much like one of my roleplaying characters, but his alleged crimes make me want to throw him in a well (har har). But what really bothers me is that the women in the story are all very obedient and would rather let all hell break loose before they dare disappoint their husbands or ask questions about what they’re doing. Women are objectified in this story and, besides Sadako, are only mentioned when a man is hungry or someone particularly attractive walks in the room. So I guess my main problem is that, while the story is based on a female, the plot is driven solely by men with one vaguely strong female character. And even then, Sadako is portrayed as tragic and terrible simultaneously. We women just can’t get a break here!

Then again, the novel was published back in 1991 and Japan has a stricter hierarchy than the United States does, but it just struck me that women are only portrayed positively when they are beautiful and carrying a food tray in their hands. Similarly, few of the men have sparkling personalities (at least not in this section of the series) and let it all hang out. While I detest them, I thought it was awesome that they were portrayed as realistic people with negative traits. Everyone has a downfall.

After I finish the other two books in the series, I’ll go on to some Stephen King action. I’m excited to revisit The Langoliers (I have Half Past Twelve). Mom also has some Stephen King novels, and I have a feeling I’ll be eating them up for the rest of October. Yum!

The Sims 2 has been out for years now, and mom has faithfully compiled the expansion packs over time. A lot of it is familiar because there are similar expansion packs for both the original and the new version, and a lot of it is funner now because I’ve picked some rather unconventional (for me) standards for my Sim. Instead of picking a knowledge aspiration, I went with pleasure. So now, instead of focusing on maxing out my Sim’s skills, I’m focusing on how many times she jumps on the couch and watches TV. Instead of making her a semi-antisocial neat freak she is as active, kind and sloppy as she can be. Let me tell you, I was shocked when she peed in the shower. She actually has five skill points in cleaning now after all the mopping I have her do! I’m also just focusing on doing what she wants; if she’d rather go on a date than strive for a promotion, fine with me.

One thing I do have a problem with is their bodies. They look inhumanly, abnormally thin, and while it does look kind of nice, it also makes my stomach churn. I am enjoying my game play, but I would love it if the game had some more body types besides overweight and emaciated. More important is distancing myself from the fact that it is basically a distorted reality where people are generally prettier and more successful without a college education; what an appeal, wish I lived there!

Haha, nah, but I did change the theme around a bit. I like it better this way, even if it does have several subtle kinks in Internet Explorer 6 that I just can’t figure out. Any critiques? I’ll try to fix the Internet Explorer stuff later, but really, it’s passable and decent at least for the moment.

In other news, I have a job interview on Monday at an art store. It will be the first job interview I will ever have ever. Hopefully more interviews will be arranged with other stores I applied to soon, but really, if the art place offered me the job I would so take it. If anything, I’m a bit nervous because I’m not exactly sure what to expect, but it shouldn’t be so bad.

The SAT is tomorrow, so everything I have been studying for in the past month will come down to the fateful, dreadfully early hour at which it begins. Seriously, getting up at ten is a feat for me. Six o’clock in the morning is going to kill me, but I shall combat it with green eggs and ham.

Lastly, I just want to poke anyone who owns or has owned a guinea pig, because mine is having some serious problems. He drags his legs, which we are sure is not due to Vitamin C deficiency because there is a wide variety of food in his diet. He’s also chewing on his feet to the point where there’s a bone sticking out where one of his toes should be. We took him to the vet and he doesn’t have any broken bones or fractures; all they could do was give us some anti-inflammatory medicine. What is this pig’s problem?

Things are generally falling into place as I pull myself together and work for the future I want, and you know, I think I might actually be able to do it. One of the most amusing aspects of this whole thing is that I totally thought everyone that I needed to get in touch with again would be a lot less supportive than they really have been. I never would have thought that all my old pessimism was the main force pulling me back. Definitely a valuable learning experience, at the very least.

Soon afterward, mom came to pick me up for my appointment, which I have been rather vague about in this post; it was for contacts. I have anticipated this moment for years and used to badger my parents about it all the time, but it was only until recently that they were within my grasp. I managed to get in as soon as I entered, yay for slow days; and oh man, if there is any word, any word at all that can possibly describe my first encounter with contacts, it would be frustrating. I literally sat there for an hour trying to get those bastards in my eyeballs and I’m lucky that the lady who was observing me had so much patience. Both she and mom gave me demonstrations on how to put them in, and when I finally got them both in, another lady came over and said that I had to take them out. Apparently they’re not allowed to let clients leave the store until they’ve demonstrated that they can both put them in and take them out. You can imagine my irritation.

Fortunately, taking them out is far easier than putting them in, and then the eye doctor was able to see me. That was lucky too, because my vision seems to be a little bit blurry. The doctor said it was because my eyes aren’t “perfectly round” (this had me, my mom and the poor lady that was stuck observing me laughing our heads off) and also because I’m not used to them. My glasses seem so much sharper though…

I had to stand still as soon as I left the eye place because it was all so much to take in. I have worn glasses for ten years; I had forgotten what it felt like to have the wind sweep across my face without a shield, what it felt like to see everything without weight on my face. It all felt like I was seeing and experiencing everything for the first time, even the common noise of an automobile passing by seemed new, and I was so moved by the experience that I almost started crying. I’m glad I didn’t though, because my eyes were still really watery after all the poking I did to them and my complexion really couldn’t afford anymore blotches.

Mom and I went to the grocery store afterward, since we needed to buy something for dinner and she didn’t want to spend anymore money at Taco Bell for awhile (blast their delicious chalupas!) and I came too so that I could marvel at boxes depicting food with my newly found sense of sight. We found something relatively easy to make and, just as we were heading out, I spotted Chris, who graduated high school the year before I did. This is the kid who introduced me to Hellsing, DN Angel and Petshop of Horrors, so you can imagine my initial excitement. Our reunion went something like this:

Me: Chris?
Chris: Amber?
Us: *hug!*
Me: How are you?
Chris: Good, you?!
Me: I’m fine!
Chris: I work in a soup kitchen now, so I’m greasy.
Me: Ohhh.
Chris: Well, have a good one!
Me: You too!
*parting of ways*

It was really kind of sad, because I thought of asking him for contact details and decided it was better not to in a split second. I wish I could remember the reasoning behind that decision, but maybe it was better this way. After all, if we didn’t have anything more to say then, what would I possibly want to talk to him about later?

So then mom and I locate and head towards the car, and she comments that the interaction between Chris and I was extremely awkward. Just as we’re about to get in the car, some random guy with a pot belly and a beard calls, “HEY! HOW ARE THE CONTACTS?!” from behind us and I replied “FINE!” before asking mom, “How does he know about the contacts?” I originally deduced that he had been in the waiting room and witnessed the fail that was my first experience with contacts, but it turns out that he works with my dad. “Well, that was awkward,” I mimicked, and we both laughed as mom pulled into the highway.

Today was a good day.

The largest complaints appear to be social life, that the people that are attending it are generally pasty antisocial freaks that enjoy staring at their shoelaces, are glued to their computers and would rather watch anime and play video games than go to a party and/or be social.

And here all I’m thinking is, “OH MY GOD, I WOULD FIT IN SO WELL THERE!!!”

This is great and all, but what does this have to do with pointy forks in China?

I understand your opinion, but I don’t agree with it. I think it will take more time for me to ease into that view, but I’ll tolerate you for now.

Great review! Next time focus on something more awesome, like Transformers.

These are just what I remember and aren’t direct quotes, because I deleted them after the 20 minutes or so I spent laughing at them. I mean, really? Luckily, Akismet came out with an update today, so it should do its job better. Or at least, I hope so!

Otherwise, I’m on a major job hunt like woah. Also, this is the beginning of my college preparations here. I have my eye on a private university and, as I constantly pester friends about it, I feel like I have a good chance of getting in. Still intimidating as hell, but we’ll see. I have to make a portfolio and everything, so this should be interesting.

I don’t close his cage door when I take him out because he struggles when he’s in the air and his toes are incredibly sharp, which equals a stab fest on my arms. That, and I just don’t really care enough about that tiny detail. Apparently Chip does, however, because last night (and today) I watched him wander right off the pad, sniff around, waddle straight over to his cage and jump in. Yes, he jumped in. Never mind that the cage door is two inches off the ground and guinea pigs have poor backs, but somehow he managed it. And he did it a couple times today too, which became rather annoying when I was trying to get him to eat some food that I laid out for him. Apparently he likes standing around in his own poop more.

All I know is, he’s cleverer than I gave him credit for. What else has he kept from me?!

Other than that, I have a copy of Pokémon Leaf Green. At first the tiny graphics were killing me because I was so used to Diamond, but I’m getting used to it now that I’ve actually started playing it, whereas before I was just grabbing the starters for Diamond’s Pal Park. I’m having a lot of fun with it and it feels like I never left Red at all. I have decided that I will be giving every Pokémon I get in that game a nickname. Why don’t you try and guess who Hameln, Silver, Aero and Quinn are? A hint: I’m in Pewter City and I just beat Brock, so the Pokémon caught are all from the areas leading up to Pewter.

Oh, and I bought yet another fish on my recent shopping trip. His name is Midnight and he’s a dark blue violet crowntail with black and red fins. I feel guilty about it since anyone would’ve grabbed Midnight if they spotted him as opposed to one of the fish with a less attractive appearance. He and Regulus like flaring their gills at one another (yes, Regulus is finally doing it) and they’re both settled in their homes quite nicely. Yay fishies!