Blather, rinse, repeat

I know I probably say this way too often but I love these warm nights when we go outside and do forms in Kung Fu. Especially weapons. That's what we did tonight. Snarklit has returned from school though we were minus the Gold Dragon and Te Ji Nan. Still a fun group.

While we were outside doing sword and staff, two guys started watching us from across the parking lot. Actually, a few people came out to watch, but these two were very intent. One was young, blond and built, like maybe a dude who lifts weights or something. The other who was with him was sort of the opposite of everything I said. They started videotaping us. Not even taking photos, but videos. I pointed them out to Sifu and a few others and we were all sort of like, "Uhh, yeah, LOL... hmm." Anyway, eventually they went into the school where the Empress and CC were practicing for a demo. I went in to see what was up, and saw the blond guy signing up.

I probably would have signed up too, but it's maybe hard to understand that you don't touch a weapon until you're in the advanced class, and you don't touch a sword until at least green belt. New people never stay, but it's always kind of neat when they try. I always get psyched when someone new comes in. But, usually it's just the same core group it's been for years.

So the other day I randomly missed listening to Iron Maiden. They were one of my biggest in high school. In fact when SB's mom was pregnant with him and living with us, and she took over my bedroom and I moved into the spare room ("the music room" is what it was usually called.) I was 16 and didn't like being out of my bedroom. I couldn't sleep unless I had Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" on repeat, as well as the lights on. I would fall asleep listening to that CD and wake up with it still playing, and whichever song was on was an omen about how my school day was going to go.

So I downloaded a few old favorites of mine, such as Aces High, Wasted Years, Run To The Hills and Caught Somewhere In Time. Which always reminds me of when I played that song for my Mom in the car once and she thought he was saying, "Go somewhere and turn." I still have "7th Son" on CD somewhere in my room and I plan to dig it out and upload it. Unfortunately the rest of my Maiden music is all on cassette. Curse my entire generation for its lack of foresight. Anyway, it was sort of fantastic to be driving down the road again to Maiden's oft-imitated definitive galloping bass-beat and Bruce Dickenson's earnest wail. I had a crush when I was a kid. I think he even made it into one of my stories as a famous fencer or something.

What else what else? My fish tank is still mothereffing cloudy. WHY? It's getting me so upset! I want to see my fishes in clean, clear water.

Umm, finished RE4 for like, the fifth time or something, I don't know. Finished re-watching Sorcerer Hunters. Closing out Kenshin, the ones I never bothered seeing. They're pretty disappointing. Gonna download a new book to read tonight, kind of excited about that. And I suppose that everyone can guess that that way over-colored anime-style drawing is of/for that guy I'm crushing on, who is going away for three months after we totally had a really nice time getting to know each other, eff my life? Naww but I'm all for the good causes. So yeah, that's what that was about.

The rest is school, work, revising, and the usual, I think. Yes, the usual. :)

Last night, one of my good friends from The Bad Place came up from VA, and she, My Wonderful Glassworker Friend and I all went to this fantastic Indian restaurant. The restaurant was part train. No I mean seriously, like it was made out of a church with a train car stuck to it.



We got to eat in the train part. I was so happy. We had a maaahhhvelous time, just like we all used to when we'd get together every few weeks. The food was interesting. I mean, it was delicious, but so damn hot I was pretty sure my lips were bleeding at one point. They felt like they were about three feet big, and throbbing. Glassworker asked me, "What's in the dish you ordered?" and I told her, "Eggplant, tomatoes, onions and fire." They each had a taste of it and remarked on how mild it was, meanwhile I felt like someone had put a blowtorch in my mouth. Maybe it's just me!

But still, it was delish, and I had been wanting to try something daring, food-wise.

Today, I'm trying a "fast," LOL. My version of a fast is to eat fruit, though. So the actual "fast" part doesn't really work out. I had some watermelon and some honeydew melon. I can't do the whole "not eating" thing. I know it's good for you, but I start to feel really sick, headachey, all that kind of fun stuff.

Oh, going back a few days, Thursday was my third day in clinic. It went all right up until I took my client into the wrong room, and proceeded to do an entire treatment on someone else's table, which was already booked. I felt like such a goddamn moron. The girl whose room I had accidentally stolen is in her second trimester in clinic and she was very cool about it. She said it was no big deal and I shouldn't worry, etc. for which I was very grateful. But honestly. I need to think a little!

Aside from that, it's not bad. I have nice patients (*knock on wood* I swear, I don't think I could handle hostility,) and they've given me really nice reviews.

So hey, if anyone could give me some advice about a cloudy fish tank that will nto clear up no matter what, I'd love it. Yes, I've googled it. Yes, I've had the water tested and yes, I've tried: changing the water, treating the water, not changing the water, changing the filter, not changing the filter, changing the pH, adding salt, adding Cycle, feeding less, and using different foods. I've had the water tested, and the ammonia is a tad high (still fighting that, too, to absolutely no avail,) and this seems like a "bacteria bloom." But nothing has worked to clear it up. I'm getting really frustrated and I don't want my fish to get sick. My 20 gallon tank is fine. WTF? It's the same goddamn water.

Right now I'm waiting on that really cool guy that I like to let me know what time he's done with work tonight, because we're going to meet up, hurray. :)

Meanwhile, here's a picspam.

( Havok is interested in The Big Bang: )

( Two dogs forcing grooming on each other. )

( This is Sano telling me, NO, I DO NOT WISH TO GO INSIDE. )

( Havok taking one of his violent baths. )

( My poor car! Samaras fell all over it. )

( My nice garden and pond: )

( Peekaboo robin! )

This one is too cute to cut:


Okay! So I have a few hours yet to draw, paint, revise, whatever. :)

My second day in clinic went much more smoothly than the first. In fact, maybe it even went well. I got an "excellent" on all my write-ups, and (info redacted) came in, in a lot of pain, and I got her as a client. I about peed my pants through the entire treatment. But she said I did very well, and that she would come back again.

More than though, however, I kind of figured out where everything is, goes, and does. Maybe not everything, but the important things for Clinic 1. And it went a little bit faster, too. Maybe I know what I'm doing after all?

Bird season started as it typically does, with a starling. This one is feathered, and failing to thrive. Usually I get a nest of nestlings, but as of now I have two fledglings, Dotta-chan and Pepper. I think that because it got so warm so quickly, the birds started early this year. And then it got cold, and they didn't thrive. That's my theory (and what it is, too. /John Cleese)

After seeing Iron Man 2, I brought IM1 to Mom's and we watched it again. I hadn't forgotten what a great movie it was, but it's always fun to re-live those awesome moments. We also finished watching the Sorcerer Hunters episodes, and only have the OAV left now to see. Auwe! Now what! No Dexter, no anime!

Umm, I am dying to dance. I wrote to the ladies I dance with each summer, saying, "I'm ready to start again." I haven't heard from either of them since my Dad's memorial. I still haven't heard back from them, and it's been a few weeks since I wrote. Maybe I should go ahead and look for something on my own. I can't not do it.

Kung Fu has been even more fantastic than usual. We've been outside doing weapons, but then on Wednesday it was too cold and rainy to go out, so we stayed indoor and did forms. The Empress started teaching me a new form, one I've been dying to learn for years. I was quite pleased. Then we did a little sparring, and I got to fight CC again. He whooped my ass, as he always does. But it was awesome fun.

So anyway. I realize I really bit the head off of the commenter who suggested that I was acting shallow over the guy I'm Z-targeting, and that I was also "too into myself" by having long hair. I'm sure he didn't mean it like that because he probably doesn't know how long I plan to grow mine, and possibly meant well re: the guy I like. However, I respond very badly to people trying to school me on "what things are really like," when I know quite well – myself, what I like, dislike and what I'm doing. And I respond even worse to generalizations. Still, I probably shouldn't have snapped like that. I am not a retard, and not only am I fairly self aware, I'm also pretty darn good with a stat-tracker, so I actually do know who most of my anons are. I don't know ever single reader (like most LJs, I've got readers globally, from Iraq to Brazil to Hawai'i etc.) so I can't possibly know all of them, but repeat commenters I do know. I was quite surprised.

Well, enough of that. It's a beautiful day, and I've already taken Haku for a nice jog. Now I've got some time to clean out my fish tank. I am battling cloudy water and ammonia constantly in my small tank, and it won't effing quit. Now my little balloon molly Kyarotto is shimmying. How many times do I need to change this effing water? I go without changing it, it clouds up. I change it twice a week, it clouds up. Ammonia neutralizers, water conditioners, beneficial bacteria, changing the filter, not changing the filter, nothing works. What the hell? I should get on that.

I want to see Iron Man 2 again!

Oh! I wanted to add that the funniest part of Betty White on SN was the census spoof:



It was an awesome nod to the one ♥ Christopher Walken ♥ did a few years ago:



"I really overshot. With the eighty."


LOVE.

Allergies have driven me INSANE. I wake up each morning with an exploding face. Everything itches.

Every time the stupid ice cream man goes around the neighborhood, I get that song stuck in my head. Except I don't know what the song is; to me it's always been the Murphy's Oil Soap song, so for the rest of the day I'm singing, "You'll be using Murphy's all the time, 'cause the dirt is finished, but the finish is fine."

Anyone born in the '70s, YOU'RE WELCOME. :)

Today I left early and got Sano to his vet appointment to get the last of his stitches out. He removed the tail ones himself. :/ It was pretty quick, and then I came home, covered myself in so much sunscreen I looked like a Geisha, tucked my pants into my socks, and headed outside. Ticks don't be getting up my pants.

Then I bathed both dogs until they sparkled. They were not pleased, but at least they once again look like they belong to someone, and are not made up of dirt. That done, I did YARDWORK. Not gardening, but YARDWORK. Repotted the massive sago palm into a huge damn pot (where am I supposed to put it in the winter? I don't know!) planted a bunch of perennials I got cheap at Home Depot (actually Mom bought them,) planted some of my exotics outside (I do that every year, then un-plant them and re-pot them indoors in the fall,) cleaned all the bird feeders, got rid of yet more leaves, fixed the filter on my pond, and generally tried to make things as nice and tidy as possible. The way Dad would have done it.

I also took Havok's cage outside. I don't know WTF, but he has been screaming for months. Screaming, so that you can't think of anything else while he's doing it. I don't know if he's reaching some kind of crow maturity or something, but it's maddening, and once he starts, he does it constantly. So I thought maybe he's getting nutty looking at the same stuff all winter, and I took his cage outside. He was a little freaked at first, then he started playing with his toys and stuff. Maybe I'll make a thing of taking his cage outside with me. But honestly I'm thinking of building him something bigger, outdoors, for spring and summer, and part of fall. It's tough because he's a corvid and I'm always concerned about mosquitos. I've got the big aviary, but obviously I keep my fledgling birds in there all summer, and it's also where Car lives. Havok would kill any babies, and probably Car.

So, I'm thinking.

After all of that, I went to Mom's with the dogs to show her how sparkly they were. A huge-ass gnarly yellowjacket flew into the dining room by the screen door, and Haku was lying right under it. I hate those emmeffers, and I whacked it with a rolled catalogue. It was still alive and it fell onto Haku. I panicked—the last thing the epileptic needs is to get stung by a huge wasp—and started beating it to death, while it was still on Haku. He tried to get up to get the hell away from Mom who had gone insane and started randomly beating him with a rolled up newspaper, and I didn't want the damn tenacious wasp stinging him so I held the poor dog down and continued swatting until the wasp was dead. OMG, I felt terrible, because how could my goofy little white dog understand, or how could any dog understand? But at the same time I was laughing hysterically for the rest of the night. "You stay here while I beat you with a catalog!" Haku was looking at me like, "What the hell? What's wrong with you?"

Because that's his attitude even when he has done something wrong and I scold him. It's always me, never him.

Oh, speaking of dogs, so my across the street neighbors have this bratty little kid. Not the neighbors directly across (with the pit bull that almost killed Sano and broke his leg,) but next to them. Actually they have about five kids, but there's this one that's a toddler and they let him run all over the damn street with no one watching him. It's not like cars never go down the road, you know? Anyway, every time he's out at the same time my dogs are out, this little bastard comes running up to the fence and starts barking back at my dogs. I always tell him, "You'd better get away; my dogs will bite you." And when his lazy mother finally drags her ass out of the house to call her spawn off, I tell her, too. Well, today he came running over barking at the dogs again like a small moron. And then he picked up a fist-full of dirt and threw it at Sano. I was like WHAT, UH, YOU DID NOT THROW DIRT AT MY DOGS. I actually yelled at him, "NO, NO, bad, you get away from this fence and don't throw things at dogs!"

Eventually his lazy mother came and carted him off, but I swear. It's the same kid who keeps going into my cousin's yard and playing on her lawn. WTF?

What else am I ranting about today? Oh, I know. I picked up a deeply discounted version of Final Cut Express (legal, yes, thanks!) and spent much of yesterday when I wasn't outside learning to use it. It is profoundly confusing for a newb like me. But I figure if I can learn Vegas, I can learn FCE, too. And I made a lot of progress today too, actually, just by switching a sequence thingie thing so I didn't have to render and re-render every single clip in the world every single time I edited the tiniest little detail, and oh dude I'd better remember WTF it was I did so I can do it again if I have to.

Kung Fu has been its usual springtime goodness lately.

Small Wheel:


I'm trying to find a TVTrope for each of my nakama.

I'm jogging so much more than I was when I began! I still have to pretend like zombies are chasing me, or that I'm chasing Ewan McGregor down the street, but yeah, I am actually doing pretty well with the jogging. Although it occurred to me tonight that I only jog so that I can eat pie or ice cream later.

Work tomorrow, on Beltaine of all days. (No lovely Anime Lazzara, meh. You know that actually bummed me out, because I kinda really thought he was interested.) But anyway.

Leon the Magnificent is staring at me. What does he want?

Am I the only one who feels that a remake of Nightmare on Elm Street is completely unnecessary?

A week till Iron Man 2!

"You'll be using Murphy's all the time, 'cause the dirt is finished, but the finish is fine!"

*Head asplode*







*NOTE TO SELF: For the future, there is now a TIKI LJ DESIGN. USE IT ALL SUMMER.

Damn, I am allergic to avocados. But I love them so much. It's a forbidden love!

I got my grades in the mail yesterday. I'm relieved to have pulled off a 4.0 again. I really thought one of the teachers was going to give me a lame grade because I missed two classes due to those snowstorms (and one where they school didn't close till later.) But she was a sport, and gave me the A because I did well on the test. Very relieved! Last year when I first started, I got an A- in two classes because my Gran had just died. I guess you're supposed to report that to the school but I never did. And then when my Dad passed away I missed a final and ended up with an A- then, too. So my cumulative average is 3.987.

It's seriously not that difficult.

I'm enjoying my little two week break, spending a lot of time revising, polishing my ms, giving and receiving lots of critiques and reviews from the writing workshop, and trying really hard to make it as good as possible.

I'm also chilling, drawing, listening to music, going to the beach, playing video games, training really hard at Kung Fu, and doing tons of yardwork. In fact, just today, Mom and I finished cleaning up the entire yard. It was a massive undertaking but we finally got it done. It looks real nice out there.

I got my white lab coat in the mail. It's all starchy and new, and I absolutely didn't look like Lucrezia Crescent when I put it on. It made me feel both professional and stunningly brand new. And kind of lame. I mean, it's just massage. We need a lab coat for this? But in the clinic they want you to look all sharp. I still need the starchy white pants and white crocs.

I mentioned Kung Fu, of course. What else is new? Heh. Last night's class was one of those fabulously awesome ones. We were free to do forms, so we did a bunch of weaponless ones and then we broke out swords. It was raining a bitch, so we did them indoors. I grabbed two swords and totally nailed the butterfly twirl. I was so happy! And eventually the informal class became even less formal and a bunch of us just started doing fancy kicks and stuff like that. It was hugely fun. I would love to go to Wong Tournament this year, but of course that depends on work and money. I've always wanted to go to Wong though. *Fingers crossed*

I really thought I had something else to blather about, but I don't think I do. I'm on frakking break, I haven't been doing much. ^_^

Everything's all green, and the cherry blossoms are falling. Of course I've got a pic spam (taken with my Mom's camera which I borrowed; did I mention that my poor camera finally bit it?)

( Haku at the beach, and Sano a week post surgery, looking fly in my idyllic yard. )

This one is my fave:

Because you can see the cherry blossoms falling all around Sano.

( My new fish, an albino sucker named Ruto, and all five of my fishies in the small tank )
I had more pics of my fish in the big tank, but they somehow got lost on my hard drive. WTH?

( And some nice spring photos )

I guess that really is all I have to report at the moment. :)

Updates, updates, where to begin. First thing's first: Sano's surgery went well and the biopsy showed no cancer. Which, I'm so glad, but part of me can't help wishing that I had never seen the stupid skin lesion and saved all the money. Either way, I'm glad it's all over with and he's all stitched up.

Thursday, Mom and I were outside all day doing yardwork. Like, the real big cleaning, gutting kind of stuff, and we're still not done. It's such a tremendous job and it just made me think of Dad all day. He loved yardwork. He would have been out there clearing everything out, for hours. Obviously it made me miss him very much – and Mom too, of course. Aside from that, it's still a big, huge job for the both of us. Yet we got it done with no help. That's really what it comes down to: you just have to do things yourself. Time to get used to that, just suck it up. It's actually better that way, this way you never end up relying on anyone.

It seems like such a small thing, yardwork. But after this last year, there are no "small things" anymore.

I got another fish today; an albino plecostomus. They don't get huge like most others, and so I have him in my ten gallon tank with Leon, Lucrezia, Kyarotto and Onion. They are a nice group. I'd love to post pics, but my camera up and died. :/

Did I talk yet about last weekend? I don't think I did. It was awesome. Jo-chan came over and I was off from work both days. We watched Johnny Dangerously because she'd never seen it, then we watched Tropic Thunder again. I love that movie. Both of them really; either movie can still make me laugh out loud. On Sunday, Jo-chan and I went out shopping for bargain costume-bits because she was going to cosplay the Vocaloid Len Kagamine. We got some amazing finds, and once home, we set about cutting, sewing, hot-gluing, and frigging duct-taping this costume. We got it done in two hours, which I think, for the results, is quite impressive. :)

( The result! )

I can't believe we did all that! Unfortunately, her anime con got canceled at the last minute. Le Suck! Still. That's my beautiful girl who is now officially a college student. WTF people, words don't even.

This past week, with no school or anything, I started sketching again. It's been almost a year, and I'm finally starting to pick up some tricks from my Corel program that I got superfly cheap. But the tablet is still mad awkward for me to use. Anyway, I can only really sketch people, and only ever sketch my own silly characters—frivolous author that I am—and managed to come up with something that pleased me.

( Sort of pleasing. )
I fail at drawing hands, and clothes, and I fail at coloring. Still, something about this drawing kind of works for me. This is the person I see when I'm writing. I know, most writers aren't so self indulgent, but I am. I like to be visual. And the thing is, honestly if I could draw, I'd do a graphic novel instead. I wrote the book because I wanted to read it, but I also wish I could see it. I know that getting published doesn't guarantee a pay-check, and I'm not relying on it. But if you're lucky, you get fanart. People draw what's in your head, because they feel inspired. Can anything be better than that? :) Especially to a person who can't draw what's in her head? ^_^

Oh, the writing on the backpack reads, "If lost, please return to..."

If I get ambitious, then next week maybe I'll throw in his dog and make a lame attempt at background.

I also want to mention that I feel like my story is really coming along in ways that I never imagined. I'm so pleased with it that it keeps me awake on some nights. I have a good feeling. When I began it (years ago) and even up to a few months ago, it frustrated me, worried me – even when I enjoyed writing and reading it. But now it's on effing fire like never before. I don't know. Feels sort of right, I guess.0, `

What else. So, yeah, I got the new fish and I need a name for him. It's got to be a good one. Hmm.

While at work today, I approached this man in a really awesome Chinese coat and long red hair, and discovered that it was the husband of the lady I used to work for years ago, at the wildlife rehab clinic. He told me they now have a cow, and a steer. I was so envious! I had cow envy. I really want to go and see their cow and steer. I love to pet cows. I'm a simple creature. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him a bit of what the last year has been. He said he'd lost his Mom last week, but that it had been a long time coming. (I remember her being ill even when I worked there.) He also said, "You're still very beautiful." I never know what to say on the rare occasions that I hear something like that. A murmured "thanks" and a subject change is all I can manage.

Today was also my last day working with Nice Competition Lady. Apparently a Less Nice Competition Lady is going to take her place next week. Ah, but I'm a mellow kind of gal. I don't let Not Nice people get to me, usually. Well, umm, sometimes I do. ;) Anyway. So as it was her last day, she brought in delicious brownies (I ATE THREE) and a recipe for making orange-blossom water, which I'm so totally going to do. Then she gave me the address of a fantastic nursery with hard-to-find and unusual plants, as well as all kinds of exotic herbs. Oh, wow, I don't know if I should go there this very second as if my ass was on fire and my head was catching, or if I should stay as far the hell away as I possibly can. I just don't have the money (and with a broken camera which I'm eventually going to have to replace?)

I haven't bought a single plant this year. Which is very responsible of me, but I do have a jonze for them. What a strange urge.

One of these days I'll get up pics of my blooming flowers, and my cool new fish (as well as the usual ones... come on, no one's tired of pet pictures, right? Of course not! ;D )

Oh, and, two nights ago I had a dream that I had to marry Elvis. Seriously, brain? WTH?

Okay. Dinner.

Creepy Guy from last week came in again today. I was leaning over my desk to write something down and he came up directly behind me and went, "hey." I almost decked him. He asked if the product he wanted had come in yet. I told him it hadn't; that I'd been trying to get it for a while, but so far no luck. I told him of the other store that carried the product and kind of tried to be like, "So, uhh, you should go pick it up." He asked me what time I got off work. I told him (I didn't know what else to say,) and then he said that he had a lot to do today, ("I have to go to the beach and, you know and do my laundry, my favorite, everyone loves doing laundry right? So it's like a busy day...") and he would come back and see me before I left today.

WTF?

He didn't mention that I'd given him the wrong phone number. I was relieved. But honestly, isn't that the biggest hint? What did he think was going to happen when he came in today?

The guy is seriously "Oh. Hel-lo." Absolutely could not stop thinking about Ludo's Go Getter Greg:



I did end up mentioning it to the manager.

Then I thought, well geez, there are some guys that I blatantly have crushes on. At least a handful of them. How would I feel if someone tattled on me for having a crush, or whatever it is he's got? Although honestly, when I like a guy, I try not to bother him too much. (Let's conveniently forget about how Anime Lazzara at school caught me staring the other day. Umm.) Maybe he's just clueless.

Still, I didn't like the way he was all space-invasive-like and followy.

So, I made it out of the store without running into him again, and that was that. I don't have work next weekend (another company bought the weekend,) so maybe he'll forget about me.

Back to nicer (though perhaps less interesting) ramblings. I got a new fish for my ten gallon tank. This is Kyarotto the balloon molly:



He's superfly cute, and I hope he lives. I'm still battling a bit of ammonia in this tank.

And here's a picture of Leon The Magnificent photobombing what was supposed to be a pic of Lucrezia:


S'UP GIIIIRL! Take my picture because I am fabulous!

I post these because clearly everyone is as enamored of my fish as I am.

So here's what's next on the table: Tomorrow, sleeping late (if Screamy Crow allows me,) maybe breaking out some Spring/Summer clothes and putting away the winterish ones. And then later Kung Fu.

Tuesday: WHO KNOWS, AS I AM OFF ALL DAY? Actually, the answer to that is: Study like a fiend.

Wednesday: QiGong final, Asian Bodyworks3 written final, tutoring some guy, Kineseology written final.

Thursday: Swedish practical final, Pathology final.
Then that's it! School is out for two weeks, I'm off from work that weekend, and who knows! I think maybe Jo-chan is coming over for the weekend, or at least we'd mentioned it.

And after that, maybe I'll seriously get started on Grandma's Room. (It's probably going to be a massage therapy room, at least temporarily, but I think I'll always call it Grandma's Room.) Or maybe I'll get around to cleaning up the yard, getting my pond running, getting leaves raked, stuff planted and fixed up.

Which, I know, everyone's done already by this time of the year. It's just that A) Between school and work, when am I supposed to be doing this? And B) This is really difficult this year. All yard work reminds me of Dad. He went beyond just helping me with my yard; in fact he did most of it. He connected all the plugs to the water features, got out the leaf-blower, set up the timers so all the lights went on at night, everything. So, this is hard without him because for one thing, it makes me think of him. And more practically, I don't really know how the hell he did it.

And yet when I look out to the yard, I know he would hate it this way. He'd be so annoyed that everything still looks like crap. I should get started. Maybe that's what I'll do next week.

That, and tons of critiques and revisions, too. 'Cause that's what I do for fun. ^_^

I'm in high spirits tonight (read: peeing a waterfall stream,) because this month's Writing Workshop newsletter came out, and (as I've mentioned, maybe once or twice a minute an editor chose a chapter of Qualia for critique. I was peeing half from joy, half from dread.

Here's why they choose certain ones:


The Editors' Choices are chosen from the submissions from the previous month that show the most potential or otherwise earn the admiration of our Resident Editors. Submissions in four categories--science fiction chapters, fantasy chapters, horror, and short stories -- receive a detailed review, meant to be educational for others as well as the author.

Potential! Admiration! I love those things. :)

And it was a good critique, too. Just so clear, easy for me to understand and implement, and entirely helpful.

And on top of that, two of my favorite authors on the workshop were chosen along with me. I mean, seriously, two that I critiqued and had little to say but, "WOW" were the other entries. Ahhh, I'm so pleased.

So now I'm just peeing in excitement. Waterfalls of excitement pee. THAT'S A LOT OF PEE. THAT'LL BE FOUR BUCKS, BABY, YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?



Today was also nice because my cousin (Boychild's Daddy) and his friend came over to fix Mom's roof. Last week we got insane amounts of rain (though not as much as other parts of the island,) and her roof started leaking. We were both pretty worried. I mean, roofing costs tons of money, you know? But Boychild's Daddy and his friend came by this afternoon and caulked it up FOR FREE. Not only was that super nice, but it's so much less to worry about. ^_^ And that's part of what's so awesome about being close to—and close with—your family.

And so, now I need to post more pictures of creatures furred, feathered and finned, as well as some flower ones. It's April, don't I always put lots of flower / bud pics? Yeah, so, pic-spamming now. Fair warning.

( WINGS OF WRATH. )

( Wings of Neuro. Dana in my jasmine tree, and Dana on my shoulder. )

( Sano's I'm Getting Petted face, and two boys on the sunny patch of the floor. )

( Belle hates the camera. )


( Chillaxing in the sunshine. )

Don't know if I've introduced him yet, but this is my new fish, Kalapu.
( but this is my new fish, Kalapu. )
He's a glass catfish. "Kalapu" means "ghost" in Hawaiian. ^_^

( Onion, my seriously adorable emerald cory. )
Honestly, how can fish look so cute? Doesn't he just look as if he's enjoying his algae wafer so much?

( A cup of Leon. )
I put these ammonia-reducing chips in my water, and decided to put them into a glass so I could change them. Leon was delighted with the glass and hung around in it like it was his new room.

( First flower. )

( Nothing in the world smells better than these.  )


So here we are in the beautiful spring weather. And this time of year has the potential to be increasingly depressing. But, not tonight. I'm going to hold that off for as long as I can and just enjoy the happiness that I currently have. It's not possible to shut down mourning – I know that. But once in a while, you just find these moments. And, tonight feels a little victorious and I know my Dad would be real happy for me. ^_^

Off to bed I go, to read a little (Kenshin) and then hopefully dream nice things. Then to work tomorrow, where the store will be deserted and literally all I will hear will be the crickets from the lizard-food section. Ha.

And after work, some data entry, poss. visiting Boychild and their fam if time allows, then maybe later, posting up another chapter to the workshop.

Monday, Kung Fu.

So, kinda squee.

This week was a good one, apart from getting sick with a nasty cold. On Tuesday I took both dogs for their bloodwork. Haku needs his kidney checked every few months because of the phenobarb / KBr and Sano needs his liver checked because the pred put him into chronic liver failure. Well, apart from a goddamn skin infection on Sano (maybe from having had no immune function for the better part of a year?) all the bloodwork came back peachy.

I found this out Wednesday when my Mom called me in school, shortly after I found out that I got a 95 on my clinic entrance exam. ^_^ 95, I was happy with that.

I'm always relieved when my pets are better (And 'Crezia the black/gold/blue molly is doing so much better since I spoke to a nice fish expert who gave me some advice,) and so here are some pics.

( Out playing in the yard after baths, Sano showboating a little. )

( After a bath, Haku looks like a tampon. )

( Do you notice a pattern here when it comes to the pets I have? )
What would Count D have to say about that? Heh.

( Spot the sneaky crow. )

( Haku has mastered the Does This Bug You Style. Sano usually indulges him. )

Good times at my house. Nice bloodwork results, good test results, fine weather. In fact, last week at school I heard the tree frogs for the first time this season. Tonight, I hear them out here. It's been rainy, but not overly cold. I always like to mark the first night I hear the treefrogs.

Also to the good, my old pal lisa_s has updated an old fave fic of mine, after, like, years. The wonderful Battleflag. I read it last night before bed and felt quite satisfied. Been a long time since I've enjoyed some good old Zelda fic, and this has always been one of my faves.

I also found a Kenshin fic that I quite enjoyed, A Meeting Of Minds.. It posited that Kenshin is in fact two separate people in his mind, Battousi and Rurouni; a true dissociative identity disorder. Without getting too much into the medical aspect of mental problems, this gal wrote a very amusing and entertaining story about how the two talk to each other, and act towards each other. Until one day when Rurouni Kenshin talks Battousai into spending the day with Kaoru. Well, apart from not being technically brilliant, and apart from sort of sexualizing RK's Battousai half (because in the book and in fact in the movie he was always kind of uptight and somewhat pure, even after getting married, I mean why do people think that violence naturally = sexytime, does it have something to do with testosterone or something, because seriously either way he's portrayed as feminine, but whatever,) ASIDE from that, it really entertained me.

And I started thinking, you know, as the crits roll in for my story and Snark Rule is telling me "These chapters are too slow; I got bored," what indeed do these amateur fics have that my wanna-be author-ass story lacks? What is it about some of these fanfics that's adhering me, and other readers, to the computer? And indeed what did the Hero Series, Seer and Raptor Crest have that my own novel lacks?

Solid and engaging characterization. Sometimes with fanfic, I personally don't even need a damn plot. I just want to read about my favorites doing things. One fic featured Kenshin tying up his hair before doing the laundry and I was all, WOW, BRILLIANT DETAIL. Well, not really. But when you enjoy a character, details like that bring him/her to life and you notice those things more.

And I fought for years over what separated fanfic from original stories, so often claiming that both were equally difficult, but in fact with fanfic you've already got an audience who cares about your characters. So you hit the ground running and you take them with you. The character-adoration is already there; a good fanfic writer knows the buttons to press to exploit the fanpoodling love. And that is a skill. So I stand by my assessment that writing fic takes skill; the skill of being a good technical writer first of all (but oddly not so much; the fic I linked up there is riddled with technical mistakes, and even to a point featured a Kenshin that I could not relate to, yet of course I could not put it down,) and of knowing how to press the reader's fan-buttons just so. Of course we've all got different buttons and...

So, yeah, I seriously signed on to talk about my dogs and fish and clinic entrance exam, school and treefrogs and here I am with the writing and the fandom and the thing and stuff.

Only three more weeks left of this semester, WTF. My first final is next week. Next week, man wth, I don't even. I just finished midterms.

Oh, and they email the exam score around to the staff and the Dean, and the program director handed my my paper and said, "Nice job!" and after I got my exam score, I happened to see the Dean in the clinic and he asked how I was doing. "I'm relieved," I told him. "I passed the clinic exam." He said, "Of course you did – did you think you wouldn't?" I admitted I had worried over it. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I wish all my students were like you." I thanked him and told him I wished all my teachers were like him. When in fact, I wish most teachers were like him, but not all. I've got some really good professors this semester. There are a handful that I really enjoy.

And then there's Dr. R, the neurologist. You know, there's one in every school, right? All of the students love him, people go out of their way to get into his classes, which are always the first to fill up. In high school we had two of them: Mr. J and Mr. K. This guy reminds me of both of them. He's insanely knowledgeable and uproariously funny. Yesterday we did a mock practical exam, and he gave a whole section of it as Christopher Walken. Good stuff.

I can't seem to even be coherent tonight; I mean less so than usual. Hope you guys are enjoying my word-salad.

Two nights ago I watched The Men Who Stare At Goats with my Mom and it was just as hilarious as I remembered. I can't even tell you how much I adore Ewan McGregor. We've been married for, what, fifteen years now? I just love his beautiful face, his mischief, and the convincing "Nice Boy" thing he's got going on. (God but I'd love to see him play an honest-to-god nasty as hell villain.) Anyway, in my review of this movie back in November I said of George Clooney, Weirdly enough, he could have been John Cleese in this film; he reminded me so much of him. Imagine my amazement when, in the DVD extras, Kevin Spacey said he felt that Clooney was completely channeling John Cleese! Why, I about peed the floor. It means Keven Spacey is, like, my soulmate. Naw but seriously, I love Spacey, love love.

(LOL you know what else I said in that entry, I spoke of my neuro teacher, said I was too tired to be making sense, and said "bishonen animal demi-god." God but I bore myself with my unchanging ways! ^_^ )

So good days and treefrog nights.

CAN HAS HEALTH CARE REFORM. Yet, Yahoo's top story is somehow about Jessica Simpson's dress. What the hell.

I mean, people are making a huge deal, and it is historic, but I'm hearing things like "The civil rights movement of this century" and "health care for EVERYONE AND THEIR PET FISH!!!1111" and I'm not yet convinced (have heard even from other libs and Dems) that it's not gonna be too huge a change. OTOH, what I love is the part about not denying insurance to folks with a medical condition. Sweet. And that the companies can't up and cancel your insurance when you get ill. Because seriously, WTF.

Either way, I'm happy. It's something. Change is good.

Yesterday I went for a jog in the ridiculously 70 degree weather, before dinner. For a few minutes, I felt like it was summer. I jogged again today, and decided to experiment with different kinds of running. Not something like running with my hands behind my head, or flailing, or shooting rounds from an AK47 or dodging behind trees like a ninja or anything. But experimenting with different stride lengths. I was totally surprised to find out that the balls in my other pants pocket strides make a bit of difference guys. I absolutely feel a different kind of fatigue and muscle-ache when I lengthen my stride than when I shorten it. And then I decided to run for the last stretch, instead of jogging. Like, leaning forward and going somewhat faster kind of running. Not, like, sprinting like hell. Although I used to like sprinting, in college. Maybe I'll give that a shot, too.

Don't anyone think that I'm some kind of runner or am seriously into it or anything. I know people who run five miles a day. Shoot, I'm lucky if I do a half a mile. And honestly, it's not totally fun, either. Those first few strides are always awesome, like, "Ahh, wow, running, feel those muscles working, this is nice, what a rush." And then literally 70 strides into it—I counted—it's "This blows. When can I stop?"

What else did I do today, let's see. I bathed both filthy dogs, and did a crap-ton of reviews on the OWW, and submitted my new chapter, too. The email I'd gotten about the Editor's Choice told me (and the other three writers who were chosen) that the reviews would be up on the 20th. I stayed up past midnight last night waiting, then I wrote to one of the other three and asked if he'd heard anything. He's been there much longer than I have, and he informed me that they usually put up the new choices on the 1st, not the middle of the damn months, and he didn't know why they'd told us the 20th. He advised me to sit tight until the 1st of April. I hate sitting tight but honestly I'm still stoked. I read up some on the editors' choice thing. They choose you out of hundreds of entries because they think you've got potential. And they used the words "Congratulations to this month's authors." Oooooh, I like congratulations! This seriously makes my month!

Also, I called my brother and we talked for a long time. I guess we're both still having some pretty rough days, and as it gets closer to the summer, it seems to get worse instead of better. Well, I expected that in a way. And I expected to feel this way when April was on the horizon, too, because of Gran. But I just can't seem to reckon how, I don't know, after Gran died I just figured on being upset around April. And then—I don't know, it's so weird to say this and I don't mean it like it sounds, but—it's strange to feel nostalgic for a time when I had only lost Gran. I mean, last Spring was so awful. But it was still so ridiculously much better than losing Dad that I feel nostalgia for that awful time. It's terrible, to miss a time when things were bad enough already.

Well anyway, that wasn't the point. I just got onto a grief tangent again, and I didn't mean to. Totally wrecked the mood of this entry, which was supposed to be light-hearted and somewhat goofy.

Anyway, getting back to the phone call with my brother, he said something so weird I have to write it down. We were talking about dreams (most of them aren't so good, as I'm sure everyone can imagine,) but he mentioned one that he had a few night ago that made me go O_O . My brother works as security in this high-profile building, and so the other night he dreamed that he was at work and someone gave him a gun. He told me, "Here's the weird part: The gun was, I don't know, on backwards. The barrel faced the wrong way. And I realized that if I ever had to kill someone with it, I'd have to flip the hilt over."

Okay, so I'm possibly the only anime geek here so maybe no one else gets it, but it's weird because Mom and I have been (obviously) watching Kenshin, and I've been reading the books before bed. And a few nights ago I was fixating on one panel with Kenshin flipping the hilt of the sakabato. And for anyone who doesn't know, the character has a sword with the blade on backwards, to prevent him from killing anyone.

The point of that is that my brother and I always have had this weird mental connection. I can't explain it; I just think it's weird. We also have the same birthday.

I know I'm flipping from subject to subject like a mad subject-flipping thing, but why the hell is my mollie Lucrezia shaking herself back and forth? I don't remember seeing her ever swim like that before. She's just wiggling and wiggling in one place. I wonder if that's a mollie thing or if something's wrong. I hope nothing's wrong, 'cause she's my favorite. And I'm afraid to google "wiggling mollie" because, you know, the internet.

Okay, I just did some searching. Apparently mollies get a disease called "shimmy" when there's something up with the water. I just had to add an ammonia filter and the water is nice and clear. Gosh! It never ends. I have to look for a product called "Mollie Bright" or "Shimmy Blocks" because they like brackish water. But will that be okay for my betta Leon? Is it because Leon's chasing her? What?

Off to Petco again tomorrow, I guess. :/

Also:

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GOD what an annoying sound.