Chronicle of Days Past

Driving home Sunday, somebody already had their Christmas lights up and on. I was just...baffled.

I got my full GRE results a week ago Sunday, but I forget them, so I didn't get to examine them in detail until last Sunday. Of course, I already knew my Verbal/Quantitative results because I'd taken a computer test, but not the Writing. ...I didn't do as well as I hoped. Overall. Yeah, I realize it's not supposed to be easy and I didn't hardcore study, but I usually standardize test really well, so I'm kind of disappointed.

It's strange how I was posting only on the weekends this month, then suddenly I'm posting every day. I just keep remembering things I meant to say.

( No Hope )

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: "Harry in Winter"--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack

As far as omens go, leaving my interview I managed to miss "Hotel California" and did hear some of "American Pie", for what that's worth.

( Radio )
They'd already started decorating the history building most impressively for Christmas. After the docent tour today (I can't remember if we've ever actually had a ten o'clock tour show up on time), I got more books at the library, went home, and slept three hours. I had slept well the nights before, and though I got plenty of sleep Sunday night, I didn't last night. I don't suspect I'll get enough tonight or tomorrow night, either.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music: "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing"--Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

As I went to church Sunday, the radio station on when I started the car was 98.9, a local best of yesterday and today station. Not surprisingly, as it's sorta my base station. What was surprising was the song: "The Mummers' Dance" by Loreena McKennitt. I mean, I know they have Sunday Morning Acoustic, but it was still bizarre (if nice) to actually hear that on the radio.

I was watching this weird old movie, The Vikings, on TCM last night, and was greatly confused by a young blonde Kirk Douglas's strange occasional resemblance to Alan Tudyk.

I was really nervous about my interview, but I think it went well. I hope. Anyway, now I just wait.

We finally just watched Up! A little too overall depressing for me, I think. I need more dogs and action. ...and more explanation on the villain, as I ponder further.

Current Mood: impatient
Current Music: "Revenge"--Wanted soundtrack

On my birthday, we discussed what my family was doing on their 25th birthdays. My mother was looking forward to her wedding the next month, whereas my father got thrown into the drunk tank. He hadn't even met my mother yet. Still, it didn't stop my from feeling awfully old and unaccomplished.

This bag of candy pumpkins I got for my birthday has managed to be both especially delicious and long-lasting.

It's been a frustrating and boring weekend. After my last post and usual Friday stuff, Dragon Age still hadn't arrived...and I had nothing to do. I was bored out of my skull, my mental mood went downhill, and then I had to try to clean blood out of my chair's pillow. It wasn't a fun night.

Dragon Age still hadn't arrived Saturday. I'm getting kind of worried. According to my confirmation e-mail, they mailed it Monday night. Anyway, so I was bored again. Again I tried some Neverwinter Nights 2, but bugs stopped me.

At least I had some fun watching Rifftrax and Film Crew (same guys, different name.) Did you know there are a couple episodes of Film Crew available on Hulu? I watched Giant of Marathon, amused and entertained.

We had a mini-Thanksgiving meal today, which was delicious, despite my mother cutting her finger something nasty (it was bleeding all over.)

Now it would be just great if I, y'know, had some sort of long awaited computer game I'd ordered to play for Thanksgiving. And maybe a job. That'd be nice (I'm nervous about tomorrow too.)

Current Mood: grumpy
Current Music: "Oha Falan Oldum Yani"--Tugba Ekinci

Thusfar my entries this month have sort have been weekend-only, reporting on the dull weeks and fun weekends, haven't they? Can't say that's changed.

( I Want my Dragon )
Both of my Amazon-ordered CDs arrived. I enjoyed The Dark Crystal soundtrack, but I practically haven't stopped listening to the Wanted soundtrack since I got it Wednesday. I haven't listened to a CD this much since I got At World's End. I don't think this soundtrack is that good, but I really like it.

Also, I'm now officially totally out of space for CDs. I need a new CD rack. There's something to put on the Christmas list.

( Strange Future Books )

( Rich Walk )
As I took my last shot, I got a phone call, for an interview at the science center Monday. I can't remember the last time I had an interview, but I don't think it's the first time I've got a call back on a walk (maybe I should go walking more often.) Please pray for me.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: "The Train"--Wanted soundtrack

One thing I enjoyed driving through my neighborhood before Halloween was looking at houses' decorations (some Winter Park houses on my way home had some too.) You don't really get that in an apartment complex, unfortunately.

Of course, I already see some Christmas movies are on TV this week. What is wrong with you people?! Thanksgiving is next week! No Christmas until after that! (Would you believe, I used to make myself wait until December 1st? I eventually gave up on that; now I use Santa's appearance at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade to mark the beginning of my Allowed Christmas Celebrating.)

Friday night we watched Fifth Element (you know, for all its cheese and camp, it does have some nice spaceship design/visuals, and I'll take all the hovercar chase/fights I can) and then, while the others commenced to play Fat Princess, and finally got around to loading one of the games I got for my birthday, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (it involves orichalcum!)

I slept well and planned to supplement my internet and Exalted North book reading with some Pushing Daisies watching. However, Pushing Daisies proved sufficiently distracting that these activities took much longer than usual and I ended up completing the rest of the second season! (I found the North book a bit dry, alas.)

( Pushing Daisies Top Ten Episodes )

Doesn't appear to be an interesting or busy week ahead (probably no work for my dad.) Hopefully I can get some other stuff done. I just need to figure out what it is.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Sunflower"--Shrek soundtrack

I had an okay day Monday, finally cleaning my room (um, some), stopping by the bank, nothing too exciting. I could tell I was still in not too good a mood either. This persisted when I went to work at my dad's Tuesday, unfortuntately. I don't know why I was in such a horrible mood, of course. I had no reason to be.

I felt better Wednesday. After more work I started watching some of my Season 2 of Pushing Daisies.

Thursday, on the other time, was a great day. I left early for a docent tour. It was a group that...definitely wasn't used to museums. They were a different group than I've had in awhile (they didn't know what "tourism" was. I had to define it and, in the case of one confused child, explain that it wasn't terrorism.) and it was a rushed tour to boot. So, interesting.

( Books and Food )

Then it was off to Barnes and Noble to scan the shelves and hopefully find something to get with my gift cards. After several hours, I had plenty of titles but nothing I wanted to buy (I've stopped buying books since I never get around to reading them, so I'm pretty much limited to CDs and DVDs and such at bookstores, and this Barnes and Noble didn't have any of the ones I wanted.)

It was still cold and grey. I dropped some money off in my savings account and my full needles container to the cute fireman at the fire station (had I realized how close it was, I might have walked some day.) I barely got back in time for game!

( Expanded Gifts )
Game did eventually start, and still ran long (past midnight!) although it sure seemed short to me, as if not much happened, even with all the fighting and confrontation with First and Forsaken Lion.

See, that was a nice day. Cold, jam-packed busy, but with accomplishments, and they were actually fun to boot.

I was happy to be able to sleep late today, but for some strange reason as I awoke I was suddenly severely bothered by an issue that hadn't majorly been bothering me. I don't know what happened. Did I have one day of happiness and then mental or physical processes beyond my control decide that I just wasn't miserable enough? Anyway, my mood was damped once again.

I'm a bit better now that I've done some work and jobhunting (without success), sent my e-mails, and caught up on my Thursday night shows (seriously, so many shows. And it's the one night I can't watch TV!) Maybe tonight I'll finally get around to reading the new North book for Exalted.

Current Mood: confused
Current Music: "Ashrey Ha'ish"--Sheva

In all my talking about the shooting, I forgot to mention magicnme treated me to a crepe at the Green Lemon Cafe for dinner Friday.  After much pondering, I decided on the Au Natural, just butter and cinnamon.  It was delicious!

I got sleep Saturday, more than usual, really, but still after my Olive Garden (I found a meal with filled pasta and sausage!) I was still really sleepy.  I think it made me grumpy.

( Gifts )
( 11/2/09 )
Mmm, these Chinese leftovers have really lasted me.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Uplink"--Mass Effect soundtrack

The day after Halloween I start seeing tons of Christmas ads.  Stop.  Breathe.  No.

We watched Firefly (always nice to enjoy good work.) and I went to bed around 3:30 and slept until 2.

Thusfar I've spent my birthday playing Jade Empire and now I'm catching up on my shows.  This entry is more for the pretty pictures from Sunday.

( 11/1/09 )

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: "The Ruins"--Conquest of Camelot soundtrack

Holy cow.  It took me over ten hours Wednesday to load and organize my pictures (of course, I was also catching up with TV shows via Hulu while I was at it.)  With reading Glories of the Most High, it was too late to post then as I'd planned (I didn't even get to bed until 5:15.)

Since then, I've been so busy and it's been so crazy that, despite all that's happened, I haven't been able to update at all.  So...it'll be a long post.

I'll be doing the usual post-a-day thing for the Georgia trip, but I'll be combining the first two days since the first was driving and everything.

( 10/30/09 )
( 10/31/09 )
Come back next post for the good pictures.

There seems to be a lot of free stuff for veterans this year for Veterans Day.  I haven't noticed this before.

I stopped by libraries on my way home after the drive back.  I was ready for bed when I turned on my computer.  I only really did it to check on some more library stuff, then, distracted by catching up, completely forgot to do so.  I went to bed late that night too.

( EPIC )
( Today )
In the middle of our movie/DVD marathon right now!  Already watched the MST3K of Boggy Creek II:  the Legend Continues and some shorts and then enjoyed the Rifftrax of 300.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: "Serenity"--Firefly

( Standardized )

Anyway, I got home, and after a little more Exalted planning, decided to break out Jade Empire.  I spent a happy night...uh, laughing about Exalted coincidences.

( One Hour Tour )
I had plenty to do after I had lunch when I got home, but I was still tired.  I laid down and slept for two hours.

Oh, well.  I'll need to get up early again tomorrow (and with Exalted, who knows when I'll get to bed tonight?) for the drive up to the mountains of Georgia with my sister for our vacation days.  Wish us fun!

Current Mood: blank
Current Music: "Light Elements"--Patrick Moraz

Saturday passed rather without incident save my snuffly cleaning of the living room and watching (the MST3K, of course) of Manos: Hands of Fate.  I guess that'll have to be my Halloween, since I don't like horror movies and I won't be here for the holiday itself.

My sister gave me a new mouse as an early birthday present.  It's wireless and purple.  I'm still trying to iron out what configuration I want all my USB connectors in.  There is definitely something wrong with at least some of my USB ports.  The littlest bump and a couple go crazy and reset or something.  It's not a horrible problem, just kind of annoying.

Sunday involved more long discussion about graduate school and I didn't get home until after seven.  Gladiator was on (and I did finally manage to watch a bit of Halloweentown) so I enjoyed it and stayed up late trying to watch Nosferatu without much success.

( Graduate School )
Well, I discussed this all with my parents Monday night and of course was utterly depressed.  Not even an excellent Castle could cheer me up.  I distracted myself with Exalted planning.  The Nanny was only for longer than usual for some reason.  For those two reasons I didn't go to bed around midnight as planned, since I had to get up at eight to work at my dad's.  But my Exalted planning...took longer than I thought.  The Nanny finished up around two.  I was started it was three, and then it was four!  I went to bed at five.  I have no idea where the time went.

So I got three hours of sleep.  This was insane.  I knew it.  And I needed my sleep, with my cold I'm just getting over and the GRE tomorrow.  I just wanted to finish my dad's work and go home and take a nap (not that I told him this.  He'd be justly angry if I told him I'd gotten three hours of sleep.)

Anyway, I made it through the day and conked out for three (more) hours when I got home.  And I should get back to bed soon!

Current Mood: drained
Current Music: "At the Beginning"--Richard Marx and Donna Lewis

Well, things were going pretty well--had some Exalted books to read late into the night Wednesday (or rather, into early Thursday.)  By bedtime however I wasn't feeling so good.  By the time I got up Thursday it was pretty confirmed I was snuffly.  Dangit.  May it pass quickly and without complication.

( Wilfred )

Also, my mother dropped off work and echinacea (a bit late, I think) and a yogurt from Costco.  Guess which one I enjoyed most.

Exalted Thursday night took an unexpected epic turn (and it was already preceding fairly epicly!)  I love it when that happens.  Now, to return to my Invisible Fortress notes...

Alas, because of the cold and going to bed early, I slept horribly.  I was better by my docent tour today, though it wasn't the most attentive group (I can't recall ever having a group from Seminole County before.)

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: "The Black Gate Opens"--Return of the King soundtrack

( Stupanity )
( Barefoot in the Park (the movie) )
I was eager to enjoy the last day of a bit of cool weather yesterday.  I got some air in my tires (an annoyance of Sunday; don't know when I'll finally get around to getting an oil change), went shopping, to the bank, and then settled in for some graduate school research.

I didn't get far before I started having some trouble reading.  I lay down for a bit and then took some pills but my head still really hurt.  It was minor for a migraine but still no fun.  I never did lay down, having gotten plenty of sleep and being determined to do my work that day, but eventually my migraine pill and time kicked in and I felt better.

I was looking forward to today...but I ended up working at my dad's office again.  Then I had a horrible time figuring how/when to work there again.  I hate that.  I hate that I hate it so that I hate even scheduling yet I have to and I feel guilty wondering how much I'm not doing that I should.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Music: whatever that is next apartment over

( Safe Halloween )

I was researching graduate programs this week, and it's nice to have something to plan for, even if I don't know where it's going yet.

On Friday, my mother's birthday, right on schedule, the first cold front moved through.  The Saturday air was cold.  It's always the same; I'm not sure why the cold air makes me happy or happier.  The first time especially, after seven or more months of absence, a reminder of good things.  The air is clear, the sky so blue and beautiful.

Sunday was cold, too, enough I could wear my leather jacket occasionally.  As I drove to church (I missed Sunday school because I hadn't been feeling my best and snatched another hour of sleep) Lake Baldwin was a startlingly beautiful divine dark blue.

Soon after church we headed to our friend Jane's house for food and fun for my mother's birthday.  We played Apples to Apples and a twisty game of Mexican dominoes.  By the time we left I barely had time to stop by the library. 

With discussion and paper-reading, by the time I left the house it was late sunset, orange sky against black silhouettes.  By the time I got out of Wal-Mart it was dark.  It's strange, but I think it's actually been a long time since I've driven at night.  I enjoyed it, reminded how much better songs sound driving in the dark.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: "Barefoot in the Park" on TMC

Current Mood: angry
Current Music: "Ride the Dragon"--Shrek soundtrack

Did my working days in the beginning of the week.  Still angsty about figuring out what to do with my life.

Wednesday night we watched the Clone Wars (not the CGI ones.)  I think I might have these on my computer somewhere, but I've never gotten around to checking.  Anyway, 'twas good!  Much better use of the environment and choreography in general of fight scenes.

( Leu Gardens )
Sweaty and insect-bitten, I made my way to parking lot much fuller than when I'd entered.  I bought Chinese food on the way home (yay!), though I wasn't actually that hungry.  I had just enough time to load the pictures and do my usual online stuff before Exalted, which took awhile to get to epic and then had to end in the middle.

By bedtime I had a nasty headache, but I'm not sure if it was from the time in the sun, the Chinese food, the picture examining and time on HWHNN, or Exalted, or some combination of all of the above.  In any case, I still had nervous remnants in the morning.

However, I had nothing of the sort during the tour itself, which went great.  An excited and fun group of kids to come back to docenting with.  I stopped by the central library before I left and picked up a new load of books too.

I went home and had the rest of my Chinese food for lunch but was so tired I only managed to do some work and job searching before sleeping for under two hours.  But I can actually sleep in tomorrow, so!

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Dollhouse" on Fox

( Increasing Night )
So tired.  I'm even more annoyed my body refused to sleep in Saturday, when it had every right and reason to, since it looks like I won't be able to do so again until...well, next Saturday.  And I stayed up late Saturday finishing a book (at least I did; I had been trying since middle school or something) and only got seven hours last night too.

In less complain-y news, I'm taking the opportunity of all the new computer game music to do that random music meme again.

( Behold My Playlist )

Current Mood: bitter
Current Music: "Enchantment"--Wimme

Well!  As planned, I finally finished Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer last night.  It was good and interesting, as expected.  Boy, I never suspected when I created my poor vanilla Tyrian human fighter back at the beginning of Neverwinter Nights 2 to test out the game for the first time (the first time through a game is always awkward; you make stupid mistakes) that she'd end up going through such angst!

Now, of course, I'm busily playlisting the game's music, reading online free of spoiler fears, and later I'm going to download the romance upgrade mod.

( Game Morals List )

What the heck is up with my sleeping patterns?  I got to bed late after the whole "finishing NN2:  MotB" thing, but I expected to sleep late.  Instead, I awoke around 9:45, I assume because of some metal ramp unloading or something going on with regularity outside, but I couldn't go back to sleep even after it stopped.

Current Mood: philosophical
Current Music: "Barrow"--Mask of the Betrayer soundtrack

Well, the week's been pretty boring, as predicted.  It managed to dip down into the sixties during a couple nights and I managed to visit the weight room a couple times.

My sleep patterns have been annoying me lately.  I run out of stuff to do, but I'm not tired.  So I have to stay up.  Then I sleep ridiculously late.  Especially of note was Thursday, when I took guardian795 and magicnme to the airport.  I was back in bed before ten am, hoping for a few more hours after getting up "early" (but still with five or six hours of sleep."  I woke up around 3:15.  Seriously.  The heck?

Did some work for my dad today, though I've been doing work for my mom all throughout the week.  Going to my dad's office depressed me more.  But my family gave me candy pumpkins, at least.  Augh, I've got to do something.  But what?

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: "The Vision of Escaflowne"--Escaflowne soundtrack