Watching the Sunrise

If your voicemail still doesn't work...

2009-03-31T04:37:03Z

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILLARY! XD

HA, you're 20 now. I hope the day's been lovely!

Happy New Year's!

2009-01-01T18:56:53Z

Dear flist members in Omaha: Are there any decent 18+ clubs here? Any of you I could convince to come along with me to one? I miss dancing with my Omaha people. :(

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T18:08:09Z

Or at least, merry 27th of December! It's nice and warm for wintertime. :D

I came downstairs this morning to find my little sister training the cats to play fetch. The scary bit? IT'S WORKING. XD She's using cat food as treats, which is only kind of working. However, if she changes the treat to water in people cups, we may have some of the world's only fetch-playing felines.

Youtube it: Y/N?

Today is a shockingly good day.

2008-12-07T21:30:15Z

Why?

- I actually feel hungry, for the first time in several days

- I slept fourteen hours last night. o.O Midnight-2 PM. And yes, it felt amazing.

-I have only 4 homework problems left, in only one subject!

-I now officially have a boyfriend. :D Facebook doesn't say who, because my parents like the Spanish Inquisition a whole lot more than I do.

-I had the energy to clean the kitchen some! I haven't done that as much as I think I should lately, so that's a good thing. Messy = bad. Of course, I haven't actually cooked in... a few days, so hey.

-It's 66 degrees. I can wear a short-sleeved shirt. And no coat! ^_^ Bike ride!

-The world is beautiful.

~runs around, hugging people~

nottheprincess @ 2008-11-10T15:33:00

2008-11-10T21:34:15Z

How can you tell if you're depressed? Anyone?

Ranty rant rant.

2008-10-04T21:07:10Z

Dear Mr. Knight,

Much to my displeasure, I have some serious issues with physics, or to be more precise, with the "Physics for Scientists and Engineers" textbook you most regrettably authored. Physics is an interesting, useful, and very precise discipline. In its purest form, it is neither indefinite nor perplexing, and I was, once upon a time, quite fond of the subject.

Therefore, it confuses me that a volume dedicated to teaching physics should be structured in such a logically and grammatically insensible way. Instead of being concise, and carefully explaining how to perform physics problems (which are, in fact, what every teacher ever born will test physics students over) this book is different. It wanders woolily from one vaguely formed and incompletely realized explanation to the next, with apparently random segues for history, biography, or something else completely unrelated to the discipline in question. Combined with its poor sentence structure and rampant use of the passive voice, I find myself at a complete loss as to why any person with a PhD in the discipline would even contemplate using your rubbish to attempt to teach their students introductory physics. While it frightens me to admit it, I fear there is no widely available textbook superior to this one. Considering the aforementioned flaws, this situation ought to be rectified immediately, before more innocent students garner irreversibly horrible first impressions of physics.

Venomously yours,
Me

Oops?

2008-09-12T14:28:11Z

So, I am a ditz. Yes, I say this for a good reason.

I've got an O chem exam this morning, which means studying - I woke up an hour early, and have spent the time sitting in the kitchen in underwear and a t-shirt working problems. I'm home alone and the blinds are closed, so no biggie, right? Now, at 9, I hear a knock at the door. I think it's either roommate #1 or #2, because honestly, who else would be calling at 9 AM?

...Turns out, it's neither. It's Brian, come to pick up something for Rachel (former house tenant, some of her stuff is still around). As of last spring, Brian apparently kind of had a crush on me. AND THEN I GO AND ANSWER THE DOOR IN MY UNDERWEAR! >.< Brilliant, no? And then there wasn't really any point in putting pants on. I showed him to the closet, and went back to homework. What made me think that not putting on pants first was an OK idea? I mean, I don't care on my account, but it had to be kind of embarrassing for him.

Come, people. Laugh at me. You know you want to. :P

nottheprincess @ 2008-07-28T22:42:00

2008-07-29T03:56:54Z

Dear anyone who tries to telephone me, or would like me to call them,

I am sorry, the odds of me picking up the telephone are very slim, whether it's the house line or my cell. I cannot talk at work, and I am a workaholic. (Don't believe me? I can work a 50-hour week at one job and then go home to the other job.) Any time from 10 AM to midnight, I could be lifeguarding. After or before that, I could be be doing website testing. I can technically talk at home, but there is a major problem there: I happen to have a horde of crafty, nosy, impressionable eavesdroppers. These eavesdroppers would be delighted to tell everyone they see precisely what they heard, and extrapolated. These eavesdroppers are very, very easily scandalized. Alas, with 6 younger siblings (my eavesdropping horde) to contend with, there is no way to get ANY privacy at all there. If I'm out of the house but not at work, well, those are generally times I'm doing something and cannot really use a telephone. The best time is while I'm driving, but that's little slivers of time, 15 or 20 minutes here or there, and usually very unpredictable times. Also not terribly safe, but meh.

Now that I come to think of it, my eavesdroppers don't just restrict themselves to monitoring my telephone calls, they also adore reading my screen over my shoulder. During typing this, I have had to alt-tab away swiftly to something boring 3 times already. If my luck is particularly bad, I may have to do something extremely boring for up to 30 minutes before my pest decides to read something more entertaining than my screen.

My sincerest apologies! I swear I'm not avoiding anyone!

OMGSODASODASODA!

2008-06-21T04:43:15Z

...I remember why they won't let me have mountain dew. ^_^

First, the highlight of the summer: Rolling out of the pool's parking lot at 11 PM in my parents' 15-passenger van with the windows rolled down and Highway to Hell blasting. Right. Past. My boss. Colin made me stop singing along to it after that.

I'm actually reasonably fond of my coworkers, which made this whole party fun, even though it was officially sanctioned and didn't have any nudity. Except when we went off the boards and swimsuits kinda fell off. Then there was nudity. I should've worn something that wasn't a bikini.

I haven't played Marco Polo or Sharks and Minnows or Freeze Tag in the pool for years. I didn't realize I missed it. :) And my boss can totally throw any of us across the pool. Less cool? So can my baby brother. -_-

Now, I'll stop chattering, because I have to be back at work in 9 hours, ugh. My jobs have eaten my life, sorry I've been nonexistent! How are your summers going?

nottheprincess @ 2008-05-25T08:38:00

2008-05-25T15:04:24Z

Belated happy birthday, Zac! Your present will arrive, but I am, regrettably, a tardy little thing who's been sick the past week.
I hope your birthday was lovely.

Yaaaay!

2008-05-08T22:54:33Z

It's summer! :D

Time to get ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING out of this dorm room I've moved in to, now! Ohmy, repack a year's worth of life? >.< On the plus side, my dad and brother will be here tomorrow to help me move out - Listening to Colin the whole ride back will either be hilarious or awful. Here's hoping.

~gets steadily less mature as the idea of summer sinks in~

Why is it that cleaning rooms always makes them look messier first? I mean, it might just be me, but I have a whole ton of papers I can throw out now, and it does not look any tidier in here! Well, it might be that everything is now piled in the middle of the floor. I should go take care of that....

People at college, I'll miss you guys. People at home, I can't wait to see you all!

nottheprincess @ 2008-04-29T22:56:00

2008-04-30T03:58:38Z

Poll: Sometimes, boys make me want to pull my hair out in fistfuls. And scream! Anyone else?

Why has it not happened yet?

2008-04-23T04:49:39Z

I'm just sitting here, waiting to have a good nervous breakdown, the sort that I can't actually hide, so I can just escape all the stress I've got right now. I'm getting migraines. I'm getting so dizzy and nauseous I can't get out of bed until 5 PM. I lay there, laughing and crying curled up on the floor several times a week. Some nights, I'm so scared of not waking up on time I sit there awake all night. Either I can't remember any of the stuff I have to do, or I remember it all at once and panic so much I can't handle any of it.

But, somehow, I still have the energy and willpower to pretend everything's going awesome. I keep doing homework. I keep talking to people. I want to ask for help, but I feel like, if I can still handle this, that means I don't deserve it. Okay. I give up. I don't care anymore. Help?

Random update. Of randomness and rambling.

2008-04-11T15:56:30Z

Okay. Hi, lj! I haven't visited you much in a while. I must remember to never make a New Year's resolution to post every day, I hate when my resolutions fail. Which is also why I've never made a resolution to go to the gym. Well, that's why I basically don't make them at all.

So, I'm failing chem, calc, and physics. >.< By failing I mean "will probably get a B", but that's still bad. In calc, it could be a C.

This means I have an important choice. Do I take a fun/easy major and go pre-med, or do I give up on pre-med and do just chemical engineering? I cannot do both. It will kill me, drive me mad, or at the very least burn me out. I'd love philosophy. Or linguistics. Or French. Chemistry could be fun too, and so could some delightful anthropology or art or music major. And I think that Chemical Engineering would be do-able if I had fewer hours. 15-hour semester, hmm. How novel. That's what, 4 classes? Wow.

Note to self:
Call parents, tell them you will be out of town without phone reception this weekend. They tend to get grumpy when I tell them after the fact. Also leave a post-it on the door for roomie, conveying the same information. Tell people online who I talk to more than every few weeks (or months). Also? PACK. I need an overnight bag. I'm going to have to bring my backpack and the bag with a broken strap, which I cannot fix because safety pins do not work and I have no time to sew. I wonder if I will this weekend?

I wonder what I will do this weekend?

Dear Hillary...

2008-03-31T03:04:43Z

Happy birthday, dear!
I hope your day was good, and that you got lots and lots of shiny presents. :)

Aaugh! Run away!

2008-02-05T03:31:51Z

My chem 2 and physics and calculus and sundry other subjects are ganging up on me! 2 tests and 3 quizzes and many labs and heaps and heaps of homework this week! ~is drowned~

If I haven't reappeared in a week, burn a textbook in my memory. Or two. Or an incompetent professor.

I had to turn down an offer of going and watching a movie, even though it would've been fun. :( I feel guilty, and like I let the person down... I don't like that feeling.

Now, off to alternate sheer panic and naps some more!

I think I might approve of Anonymous, for once...

2008-01-26T23:10:40Z

Look what they're up to now!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JCbKv9yiLiQ

I mean, attacking other sites that annoy you is one thing, but attacking Scientology and their lawyers takes some serious nerve. I approve wholeheartedly.

Once the raid made the news, that just seemed to help Anonymous. (It might have helped that they're the ones actively explaining the story, even going as far as a press release of their very own.) At one point, 1/3 of the traffic on scientology's site, www.scientology.org , was from the BBC's site alone. Between the traffic site, and the hackers, most of the sites they have are down, or at least slow, according to the list on Encyclopedia Dramatica. Anonymous has a very thorough list of ways you can help their cause, whether it's organizing a protest, DDoS'ing, putting bleach in scientologist tanks, or ensuring that "a great number of pizzas and taxis [are] mistakenly ordered for Scientology buildings around the world", right here.

If you think they're just saying things for attention, check out the site traffic stats!

In case there weren't enough reasons for me to find this hilariously awesome, wired has an article on it.

I have even seen sites saying that the massive effect Anonymous has had proves that an anarchist army could, in fact, exist. The $5000 reward on Anonymous heads doesn't even seem to be deterring them. They just tell their members to wear masks when they protest! ^_^ They may be horrible bullying /b/tards (whoops, I mean Ebaum's world members :P ), but I'm cool with bullies bullying other bullies. Freedom of speech ftw!

In happy news...

2008-01-23T22:27:09Z

I might have a job! I'm interviewing for a switchboard operator's job on campus on Monday. Wish me luck! :D

nottheprincess @ 2008-01-16T08:20:00

2008-01-16T14:25:40Z

I am insane. Crazy, batty, cuckoo, utterly mad. I realized that, on Tuesdays, I'm out attending classes for 11 hours in the day. 11 HOURS. Yeah, I'm only actually in classes for 8.5 of them, but the rest of that time is either walking, practicing harp, eating, or studying. Or walking between classes while eating. Meep.

And what do I do after 11 hours of classes? I go swim laps! I'm the weird girl who goes to bed by 10 in the dorms, now. Oh, well. I may have to make Monday night all-nighter night, to make up for it. XD

On the positive note, Monday-Wednesday-Friday have four hours of classes each, and that means space for a nap! :D Or two, or three...

/runs off to class

Things this week that have made me laugh:

2008-01-10T00:02:37Z

Pizza slogans. “What do you want on your Tombstone?” (Isn’t that a bit morbid?)

Tristan’s status messages. And everyone else’s. “What’s like a mule? Oh yeah, stubborn!”
“Wraith: When I am free, you will be the first that I feed upon.
Maj. Sheppard: (casually) Okie dokie. I'm gonna go make myself a sandwich.”

My baby sister. She thinks it’s the coolest thing ever, ever, ever to play with the extra wiimote when my brothers play games. She also pulls my power cord. Uh, maybe that’s less laugh-worthy

Good books. Everyone, if you like Discworld, go read “Making Money”. I liked it quite a bit more than “Thud”.

Things Zoe says. Like, “You should wash your hands after you come out of the bathroom, especially if I’m the one who cleans it.” And, “The timer set for three hours was for me to clean the kitchen, but it only took me two and a half hours!” Oh, pre-adolescent rebellion…

Webcomics! (I’m not an addict. I don’t think. I hope. ~twitch~)

Reading other people’s Facebook quotes. (And here I wouldn't get one...)

Realizing vampire stories are never as scandalous as people make them sound. Never.

Back from WI with a new year's resolution!

2008-01-07T22:44:50Z

This year, I will post to LJ more. I feel a bit guilty when my posts come around once per month, and I like being able to look back at what I thought, so, posts! And hopefully happy ones too. Art should be able to uplift life, not just mimic it, and I guess I'm classifying this as art. Well, hopefully. On my really awesomely good days.

Hillary, dear, any chance I could drag you to the mall at the same time I pay you back? X-mas gift cards to spend before I'm vehicle-less once more...

Now, back to homemade brownies and milk. Mmm. Dads can be wonderful. ^_^

Il fait tellement froid...

2007-12-15T17:31:40Z

So, this is my last entry for a while, most likely. I'm packing up and shall be heading out as soon as my dad's here, and since he left at 5 AM, that's going to be relatively soon. I won't be back for a month. This is rather scary, really.

I'm very excited - I get to see all of my high school friends! :D
On the same note, I'm sad - I'll go a month without seeing my college friends, who are currently scattered all over the continental United States.

So, see you in January, LJ!

Last time I felt like this, I almost joined the Merchant Marines.

2007-12-12T01:04:41Z

I hate weeks where I dunno what I want.

I think I'm questioning every decision I made. Do I like my major? Wouldn't I rather major in Classics and become a museum curator, or major in French and become a translator, or major in harp and teach, or just play music for people, or at least do something where I could take a few fun less-hardcore classes? I'm a chemical engineering major because I like a challenge and science labs are amazing, but then I talk to the people in soft majors, and oh, I miss taking classes like that so much, it hurts... Give me Greek and Latin and Shakespeare and Aristotle and medieval history and renaissance harp music back, please. I liked high school, where I could take all sorts of delightfully exciting things, rather than picking a single kind. I'm starting to worry.

And then, I went furnishings/pots and pans shopping with Chase and Katie and Zach, who are getting an apartment together next semester this afternoon. It was so delightfully fun, picking out silverware and color schemes and candles for the next time the power goes out, but it makes me want to do that too, makes me want to move in with them and cook and clean and be housewifely and have a place that's mine rather than a room I'm renting (for an exorbitant fee, nonetheless!). I'm fine with transience, I just want a place I can sit and be alone, but with people I trust close by. It doesn't have to be with my family. I just want a place with a closet I can read in and a kitchen so I can make crepes and wash my own dishes.

We looked at animals, too - they're getting a cat, and it's the sweetest feline I think I've ever seen. I don't think I want to live in the dorms, all things considered.

I also alternate between feeling like I have tons of wonderful friends here, and wondering if anyone here likes me. I vacillate so wildly, it's amazing I have time to think of my studies at all.

By the way, we bought a candle that smells like guava. That is amazing. So this apartment will smell like Katie's vanilla air freshener and Chase's incense and guava. That has to be the most amazing thing ever. :)

And then, the guy I chased off with a huge metaphorical stick and caused major depression in, I feel guilty so I've been nice to him, while emphasizing the whole platonic thing. Now, he's so desperately grateful when I talk to him and try to make him feel better about his problems, that it breaks my heart, where turning him down didn't.

What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to do? I know I don't want to wash dishes for the rest of my life, but I love teaching, and I love chemistry, and I love some types of history, and I love literature, and English, and most foreign languages, and performing on my harp, and religion, and taking pictures of things, and doing artwork, and writing poetry, and swimming, and cooking, and helping people with their problems and being the person with painkillers and bandaids and antiseptic wipes... I just love so much, how on Earth am I supposed to choose? Will it make me a bitter person, being forced to kill so many of the stunning amazing wonderful possibilities that radiate in every direction from this time right now?

Edit: Yes, Tristan. There was, in fact, a week my senior year when I nearly joined the Merchant Marine. Like running away to the circus, only for drama kids, I guess. ^_^

Stress went bye-bye.

2007-12-09T21:36:47Z

I went with a whole bunch of people (20 or so, I'm not exaggerating) to see The Golden Compass last night for Erin's birthday. They did quite a decent job following the storyline, though now I have to re-read the book, to make sure that's true. I was entertained, at least. Yay. Anyone else seen it/liked it?

And then there was cake. No, the cake wasn't a lie. It was, however, so astonishingly sugary I had to sit down for a bit. I stood up again for a little while, but then Matthew accidentally dropped me in Jessie's lap. I decided to stay sitting. I talked some. Maybe eventually I'll end up human rather than blonde android?

I slept particularly well last night, and felt so good that I made not one, but two unprompted telephone calls. I must remember to go outside and take pictures of the ice-covered trees - between the mist and the delicate sparkling coat of ice over things, it looks positively ethereal outside. When I joined yearbook, I never expected that even after high school ended, I'd still be taking unprompted pictures of things that make me smile. I just wish I had a better battery on the digital camera.

I just realized that I'm probably not stressing any longer because I'm procrastinating. I haven't produced an entry of more than a paragraph in quite a long time. That's OK though, because I don't need to do that well on either of Monday's finals, though I would like to.

I also figured out what my problem with the Composition paper is: Writer's block! That's so weird, I haven't had writer's block all semester! I guess it's that I really am sick of saying the same thing in different formats over and over again. Oh, well. I can work on it Tuesday too, I guess. Hope.

Now, off to get groceries!

/rambles

Stress. Whee?

2007-12-06T04:24:34Z

Okay, so this morning was terrible. I kinda wanted to run or scream or something. I managed to realize my concert was this afternoon and exams are next week AT THE SAME TIME. Whoops.

Now, I think I'm getting my second wind. The one that makes me feel omnipotent, and like I can do everything at double the normal speed, and means I've completely written, from start to finish, two papers today, along with doing some very effective studying for chemistry. Wow.

It also means I don't eat anything, which is less good. And it means that once I start, it's really really really hard to stop working. I'm going to make myself quit soon, and talk to Tristan and then sleep, but I feel so overwhelmingly productive! I can do things! Just not eat or sleep or be sociable or act, by any definition of the word, normal.

...Wait, why am I still in my coat and concert outfit? That was over ~counts~ nearly eight hours ago! ~sigh~

Everyone in Omaha: You're all OK, right? :(