It's probably a sign of how much last year destroyed me that it feels totally wierd to be ahead of things. I've got two thirds of my calc homework for next Tuesday done, half of my Shakespeare reading for this Friday, and I may do some of my biotech reading for Monday in a bit. Oh, and I cut out my overcoat for Alexis, and discovered I probably have enough to make another shorter fall/spring coat for myself.

Have also been dreaming up more outfit designs, inbetween tearing down more walls. Ah, I get so much satisfaction out of wanton destruction. And money. The money is good too. Switched shifts for the fall with someone, so I'm now totally and completely free on Wednesdays, which I may say, totally rocks so far. It's like a mini-weekend in the middle of the week. I spent part of it today swearing under my breath at the Department of Public Works, who have decided doing major road work on five or six key roads plus numerous back streets at the same time was a good plan. This resulted in a fifteen minute drive becoming an hour long one, but there was DDR, and me kicking my brother's ass at air hockey, which was good.

And my dad came home from Alaska early, which means I may not have to go to Pennsylvania this weekend, yay!

Because I know several people here will enjoy - these were inspired by a girl on the loli_design comm who did some punk designs with a Tybalt quote screenprinted on them, and a black jacket with this white skull on it I saw someone wearing at the System of a Down concert Saturday night. Kinda punk-steampunk-victorian...I like wandering through styles.

Hamlet
Horatio

I may attempt an Ophelia later if I feel inspired - in keeping with the different closures-theme (Hamlet is all buckles, Horatio is all zippers), Ophelia will probably be laces.

Screw feeling abandoned, I now feel replaced. Did I really mean that little to you, that you can just do that? Fuck. I hate my life. And Calc 1, which is unfortunately part of my life.

I have a new copy of Good Omens and some new Fruits Basket, and somehow this doesn't cheer me up at all -.-

No matter how many idiots say otherwise, 'Braska' is not Yuna's last name. It is her father's name. Yuna. Braska. In no way the same person.

And the Sephiroth/Cloud comm is full of idiots, but what else is new?

Photo-time, yet again.

What I wore Tuesday, to scare impress the juniors. You can't see the huge boots I've got in in that photo
Said boots
And my new haircut!

And the FFX FST is so much love (you have to be a member of the comm to see, but it's open membership). It's beautiful and works perfectly and I've been listening to it on repeat for most of the past three weeks.

So I actually had all of my classes today. First impressions:

Calc 1: Boring. I like my professor, but I have no interest in the material, as is generally my problem with math classes.

Shakespeare in the Age of Elizabeth: ...Eh. There's something that sort of rubbed me the wrong way on the first day at least about the class and prof. It feels like it's not going to be a bad class, just a lot less interesting than I was hoping it would be. We'll see.

Intro to Biotech: Love! My favorite so far - our professor is awesome, even if the book is kind of boring (as are most science textbooks).

Also, stepping in mushy cracker in your bare feet is absolutely disgusting. Thus giving me more reasons to hate the little kids at work. And it feels distinctly like two people who I considered pretty much best friends have abandoned me, at least for the time being. Lovely. No, I don't much care for sympathies at the moment - it won't change anything. I think said two people know who they are, and at this point it's up to them to do something.

...Apparently I remember more of chem than I thought. My brain is goint 'Orbitals? Yeah yeah, know that already.'

Ah, X-Play. The only thing that makes G4/TechTV worthwhile any more. Particularly for Ratty XD

That aside, today I spent several hours ripping down a ceiling and walls, and marveled over how stupidly expensive college textbooks are. $150 for a book I may only be using for seven weeks? Insane. And I read 8-bit Theatre for a while.

Real classes tomorrow, ouch. Starting with Calc 1 x.x

Went better than the first, even though my car was acting up some. Talked to some of the new juniors over lunch, but me and Michelle kind of wandered off afterwards instead of joining in on all the games. Did get my new ID (which doesn't have my SSN number on it, finally), and turned in my community service papers.

Of course, this means that right now I'm totally bored out of my mind. Kinda stuck in all the games I'm playing, nobody's home and there's nowhere to go, and my buddy list isn't in a talkative mood it seems. Bleh. Maybe I'll go see if there's anything good on tv.

Entirely unrelated, but I'm contemplating making the switch to a new blog-system, mostly because the comment spam is getting to the point where I can't control it, particularly because MT-Blacklist is only updated for the new version of MT, which I don't run because it only allows one author on the free version, and I've got me and Skuld on this install. WordPress seems popular, but it looks hard to code for, particularly for someone with little to no PHP skills, like me. And I refuse to give up my shiny layouts. Suggestions, anyone?

Work sucked massively tonight - all little kids, which is both irritating and unusual, and then the pool vacuum stopped working. Unfortunately to tell if it is working or not, you have to toss it in the pool, so I ended up having to haul it back out, and the thing is a good fourty pounds or so.

However, I came home and had food and whined at my mom some, and then picked out a good outfit for tomorrow, when I finally get to meet the juniors, and typed up my senior projec proposal (Sephiroth is my senior project XD), so I'm good to go for the moment.

Also, R/S fans who don't mind NC-17 and AU (but at _good_ AU) will probably find this very very shiny.

Lunch, and I have survived so far. We had our summer reading book tests (which were for the most part easy), and weasled my way through not having my community service pre-approved. Now I just have to survive not having a SISP proposal, which apparently were due today, but nobody cared to inform me or the rest of my class, which I guess is in my favor.

Got two hours of sleep last night, but the drive to school was okay. Would have been happier if I hadn't left my lunch at home, and the construction on the street next to me was actually finished. Oh well.

I have to be up for school in six hours, and I can't sleep. This is so very very typical. A random thought - why is it so hard to find good Final Fantasy fic? Maybe it's all just hiding from me.

Belated garden update - all weeded, and I swept stairs for a few hours, too. Go me.

Also, some random amusement - down next to my local video store, there is a 'Crowley's Package Store' (For non-New Englanders, a package store is basically a liquor store. Why they call them that, I don't know, but they do). Stupid, but it amused me anyway.

...And I feel really...abandoned right now. It's just a combination of a million and one little things coming together right now, most notabley the sense that it may be really, truly over this time. I'll probably feel better in the morning, but right now I mostly just feel like crying.

Also, is LJ displaying funny for everybody today, or is it just me?

EDIT: Oh, for the love of...is there some unwritten law of the universe that I must have miserable friend problems around the start of school? Because this the fourth year running. (On the plus-side, now I'm more annoyed than upset.)

...And the LJ issue appears to have something to do with my new AdBlock installation. Will deal with it later.

It is officially the last day of summer vacation before my senior year of high school, and I feel totally restless. This probably means there's something I should be doing (there is), or something I'm worried about (also probably true). Oh well. I sat around and painted stuff for Yuna instead, and watched Van Helsing with my mom, which I think can be summed up as 'Indiana Jones with vampires'.

Anyway, here, have some Yuna photos.
-Earrings (sorry for the blur, I accidently deleted the better photo. Epoxy seems to work.)
-Obi-crest

(Also, just in-case anybody notices, the Yuuzai Forums are no more, because nobody used them and the board script had security problems, so I just took it down.)

...Yes, I'm a bad person, I had to make that joke XD But Skuld and Amberlee are the best daddies people ever. They know why ^^

In other news, been working on Yuna again tonight. I have the strange little hibiscus-crest thing on her obi entirely done and painted - it looks beautiful, I'll post pictures later. I'm painting some more beads right now, because I realized that I had a whole bag of extras and pieces I didn't have the cord for yet, and I totally lost it. But I still had my extra unpainted beads, and I managed to figure out the combination of colors I needed, so it's all good. In the vein of things that will help other people, I present 'Things That Will Not Stick Metal and Plastic Together':
1) Hot glue
2) Super Glue
3) Rubber Cement
4) Goop(tm) (I think it's some variant on 2 and 3)
5) Mind power (The Force is not strong with me ;;)

Rubber Cement will stick to metal, though - it just peels off the hard plastic beads. I'm testing out epoxy right now, which is some of the most foul stuff ever, both in it's ability to get all over your hands and not where you want it, and it's smell, but if it works, it works.

Also, here, have my current wallpaper (click the image for the full-size version). It's been up on my computer since last October - I was really happy with how it came out, and kept meaning to share.

The garden is more or less finished, yay! I have to go back tomorrow and do some last touch-ups still, though. I also drove all the way home from Logan Airport without running into any problems, which is yay. I've also been contemplating the name of my car, which is currently unofficially Reno - Auron is a better fit, and my dad kind of cinched it when he refered to fifth gear, as he usually does, as 'overdrive'. I know this is perfectly legitimate, but my brain put two and two together, and I had to keep from laughing. The only problem with this is that I like Auron, but my car drives me crazy (I like Reno too, it's just that he's supposed to be a troublemaker). Opinions XD? (for all who care, my car is a somewhat dented burgundy red standard '92 Honda Accord. I've got photos somewhere)

Summer reading is finished with - the third one I read, The Tipping Point was the most interesting, I think. Mostly about how trends, both negative and positive, spread through groups of people, and why certain trends take off and others don't.

And now, a shameless plug: Shinra's Lobby, the more open, laid-back aside to Shinra's Finest. I fail at explaining things, so just go over there to check it out.

For Skuld, because she wrote me the cutest little drabble.

Also entitled, "I have too much free time and stuffed animals on my hands."

Enjoy XD

...Every time Auron calls Braska 'my lord', I start snickering. At least he doesn't use any of the variations Horatio does - "Here, sweet lord, at your service." I know that this was totally unsketchy back in Elizabethan times, but still. And Hamlet/Horatio and Braska/Auron have so many parallels. Down to the 'Would you stop calling me that?' 'No. My lord.' Horatio is way more of a wuss than Auron, though, but that's okay, because Hamlet is the l33t swordsman in that relationship.

Speaking of Hamlet, I never posted about seeing Hamlet in Boston Common. Aside from the set, which I didn't like, it was wonderful. The casting was totally spot-on, and the acting was great. Act 1, Scene II, where Hamlet and Horatio meet for the first time in the play? Hamlet picks Horatio up in this big hug and spins him around. It was beautiful. And they had the most perfect death scene ever. Right before or after (can't remember which) the "Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing you to your rest." line, Horatio actually kisses Hamlet on the forehead. I was going 'Yes! Yes!' as quietly as I could manage XD;

Garden update: It's actually looking like a garden instead of a living version of 'Weeds of New England', although there's a corner with a bean plant gone wild I still have to deal with, along with some tidying up. I'm pleased, even if my hands and knees are staring to hurt.

Isaaru would be a lot better-looking if he lost that ponytail. It's such a teenaged-girl sort of ponytail, and it always makes me start giggling.

In other news, I've spend the last several days hauling two by fours, reading, debating the merits of of various shades of green on the basement walls, and becoming Abby's House's unofficial head gardener. I spent three hours weeding today, and I'm set to go back tomorrow for another couple - the place looks like it hasn't been touched in a year or two.

...And I'm excited about classes starting. This is kind of scary.

Have a little needle-hole in each of my arms now - one from a vacination, the other from having two rather large vials of blood drawn. Kinda sore right now, but it'll probably be gone by the morning. I also hauled all my computer stuff upstairs, because I'm switching rooms with my dad, because his room is twice the size of mine and he has less stuff. I'm begining to see the appeal of Macs - I have so many cords, it's insane. I don't even have the printer and scanner hooked back up, and the floor is still covered in cords.

I'm all stuck at boring or hard parts in all the games I'm playing. Stupid sidequests. Stupid Great Bay Temple. Stupid Dehuai. Oh well...will find something to do.

On an unrelated note, I'm hopefully going clothes shopping tomorrow. Suggestions, anyone :D?

(And apparently I'm the new Academy GSA mailing-list owner. Guess this means I should actually do stuff for meetings this year XD)

A great big

Happy Birthday!

Yuumei, I've got your layout more or less done, graphics-wise. I'll try to grab you tomorrow night so you can nitpick before I start coding ^^

Kelsey, RP replies will also be tomorrow night, because my brain is fried and I need sleep. But I think things are going well, which is good - Ash needs someone who doesn't hate him there XD

Aside from that, I've got a week and a half of summer vacation, and panic is starting to set in. Particularly as the woman from Abby's House hasn't called me back yet. I hope it rains tomorrow afternoon, which sadly means it probably won't. On the plus side, I've managed to slog through all of my math summer reading, Prime Obsession - the writer does a good job at trying to make it interesting, but unfortunately I don't care about the Riemann Hypothesis at all. Glad to have it over with.

So, a number of people on the Discworld comm and stuff have user icons with the Paul Kidby version of Commander Sam Vimes, of the Night Watch. Which is all fine and good, particularly as I like Vimes a great deal.

Only today, my brain keeps seeing said icons and thinking 'Auron'. It's the stubble, I think. And something about the eyes. Still, kinda wierd.

And now, off to re-read Nice Hair, and possibly listen to the first episode of the BBC radio play of Guards! Guards!.

XVI -

My son has sent your wages for the next several years, to me, in the form of pastries. There are three of them. My utmost apologies, but I fear I may have to eat them all myself.

-Alexis

PS: Actually, I am not sorry at all. They were quite good - not even poisoned or anything. The boy is learning, I think. That Mary is a good influence on him.

Ahaha! Take that, Seymour Flux! Little bitch.

Haste + Protect + Aeons in overdrive = WIN

...Sorry, this guy took me like three months to beat on my first play-through, and only one afternoon this time. I'm a bit ecstatic. And now, to Zanarkand! (God I love this game)

Tsubasa!Yukito's outfit looks a hell of a lot like the FFX-2 White Mage outfits. Only, you know, with less pink. And it's been almost four years, and I still love that boy. Kind of pathetic, really, but oh well.

I think I may have to go watch my CCS fansubs now or something~

I think, unfortunately, that no matter what happens in the next couple of days. It's too much money, too near the end of vacation (it is the end of vacation), and I don't have anything ready for it at all. I'm sorry, Ammie. I really wanted this to work out. Give me a cell number or a hotel and the name the room is under and I'll call or something? I'd love to talk for a little bit. And I've got some stuff to mail you, too <3

A random aside, I think if anyone other than possibly Zack were to call Sephiroth 'Sephy' to his face, he would probably kill them on the spot. Fangirls are silly creatures.

Kelsey! Try to catch me tomorrow, we need to talk RP stuff so I don't have to go back and edit the hell out of this reply later XD

In other news, work sucks, still, but I will still be at it this fall which means money. My car also died - I've been told it's probably the gas pump. Got out there and the engine wouldn't start. I do get to sleep late today, though, which is a plus. Dunno about Otakon yet, bleh.

...Also, you've got an interesting defintion of 'two or three days', I think, but whatever. Your move, as always.

...I was going to open this with some lines from Hamlet that are rather speaking to me at the moment, but I decided that was too pretentious, and was probably not going to be seen by the intended anyway. Act 2, Scene II, the begining of Hamlet's letter to Ophelia, if you care.

Anyway. Otakon is, again, up in the air. Without going into too much detail, unless things change drastically in the next week or two, I have to weigh getting to meet Ammie against the $200 to $300 dollars it's going to cost me, the possibility of some very, very uncomfortable encounters, and having no cosplay group to be with. Yeah, life is not on my side right now.

In other news, when Grace was over, I let her do up makeup for me, and then we took a few photos. I figured I'd share, if only for the shock-value of 'OMG Cocoa in makeup!' I actually think it's nice, personally.

Full face, and another.
Just the eyes, which came out kinda strangely colored o.0
Fingernails and toes. I took it off my fingernails, but it's still on my toes to amuse me at work.

EDIT: ...Someone please convince me trying to dye my hair very pale silver-blue is a Bad Idea. I know it is, but I want to do it anyway. Damn you, Braska. This is all your fault. You and your pretty hair and silly hat that goes whoosh. And you too, Riff, you're just encourging him.