Saturday, January 12, 2002

...That last post, about Jackson, was written while watching the first part of a Pop-Up Video special. Unfortunately, my mother came home and I didn't get to finish watching it.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:32 AM |

Also on my list of 'Someday, Someday...' I add this: I will stop watching shows that irritate me by telling me things I already know. And just for the record, I am more afraid of humans than I will ever be of wolves. Or cockroaches.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:33 AM |

The Paleolithic occurred during the Pleistocene. Pleistocene == Old, old rocks.

This mnemonic brought to you by the society of people that would like to remind you that you never know when you might need to know these things.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:35 AM |

And yes, I went to bed at a reasonable time (10:15 - 10:30). However, I seem to be incapable of sleeping through the night if I go to sleep before about 11:30. *Grumple*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:36 AM |

"-I- was Tondar, Overlord of Great High Pointy Mountains... In Colorado." I love that guy.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:40 AM |

Okay, this is wierd... My hip hurts, along with my lower back on the left side. Mmph.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:54 AM |

Ha! I -knew- I wasn't crazy! A scientist just said that large mouse populations can cause psychological stress in humans. *Snerk* "I -told- you mice were psychoactive!" (Er... It makes more sense in my head, and if you had been me when I had my big table in my room. It attracted mice (because of all the nice cover and the forgotten Luna bars... Oops.), and they kept me up. Keeping me up added to my already stressed state, and... I was beginning to wonder if there was anything in mouse effluvia that had psychoactive effects.)

Speaking of mice... We're getting a cat next weekend. We're going to try the ASPCA first, because my mother is made of marshmallow fluff and if we go to the shelter, we're likely to come home with three cats, four puppies, and an old dog with three legs, one eye and some sort of chronic health problem. *Soft giggle* That was how my mom and dad ended up with their first dog, Wally, actually -- my uncle-Kenneth-on-dad's-side either had a dog that had had puppies, or had a friend whose bitch had whelped. The pups were Welsh Cardigan corgis, so you can imagine just how darling they were... Wally, though, was the runt of the litter. Kenneth brought her to my parents, and mom was in love. They had her when I was born, and she apparently loved me. If I was fussing in my crib and she didn't think mom was moving fast enough to see what was the matter with me, she'd herd mom down the hall with nips and yips.

One of dad's favorite Wally stories is about the time she got into a fight with a German Shepherd: he was working in the yard or the garage, and Wally was running around in the vicinity. All of a sudden, he hears this terrible commotion; yowling and howling and basically general doggy distress. He runs off to see what's going on, sure Wally's on the losing end... -She- was _under_ the Shepherd, dancing around and nipping at his belly and chest. The Shepherd, of course, can't reach her -or- get away from her, because she can keep up with no problems and she's so small.

Unfortunately, Wally thought she was a Great Dane. She was always taking on dogs fifteen times her size, and apparently generally came out the victor... Until the night that my parents think she met up with a coyote. She went outside and just never came home. *Frown* I don't remember her at all, but I wish I did.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:14 AM |

And on that semi-melancholy (er...heh) note, I leave you with the image of a tiny dog tormenting one much larger, and a link to Desktop Candy, another wallpaper site.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:16 AM |

I'm either Brandi or Brodie from Mallrats, take your pick. Personally, I would rather be Silent Bob, because he's a genius. And -quiet-.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:39 AM |

Okay, a -strange- sort of genius, but hey.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:40 AM |

I learned something new! The Fer-De-Lance viper's fangs can move out, in, and cross over one another. Huh.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:41 AM |

Of course, if I -were- Silent Bob, I'd have to put up with Jay, so...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 4:43 PM |

Friday, January 11, 2002

I'm going to get me a new email address, and I am going to guard it with my life. Then I will never get spam again! Bwahaha! *Sigh* What a nice dream.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 12:07 AM |

Well, Yasminda caught another stupid mouse, but I don't know if it was the same Stupid Baby Mouse I was watching as it ran around under the coffee table earlier today, or if it was a different SBM, or if it was a stupid mouse of a different age.

I scooped up the deceased rodent and tossed it outside, in hopes that a raven or something would find it and enjoy it. I'd like to know how they get so -wet-. Yasminda doesn't get her tennis balls that slimy and soggy that quickly... Maybe excess saliva is a physiological response to prey-catching. *Shrug*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 3:36 PM |

...and at least the stupid mouse didn't drown itself in the dog's water bowl. Two of them have done that, now, and it's really rather disturbing.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 3:37 PM |

And the reason I'm feeling accomplished? *Grin* I finally got off my lazy ass and went to the post office! Yes. So. In a few days, my box should be arriving in Sprfld. Hooray.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 3:40 PM |

Oh, and just a note -- irony is not bothering to balance one's checkbook for nearly eight months, never having a problem with being overdrawn, then bouncing a check after scrupulously balancing and -re-balancing it for all of a month.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 3:41 PM |

Michael Jackson looks like he's trying to be an anime character. *Blinkblink*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 5:05 PM |

Thursday, January 10, 2002

Some days, I'm horribly, horribly jealous that others hear muse-voices so readily. That the ideas and images and scenes bombard them to the point that they are overwhelmed; are in danger of getting in trouble at their place of employment.

Of course, there -is- mild consolation in the fact that -they- hear fanfic muses. No, I'm not going to dredge up the whole 'fanfic is not REAL writing' argument -- that's something sure to get me eviscerated in some circles. I'm just saying that -I- am not working on fanfic (or, okay, _wanting_ to work on fanfic), so it's kind of silly to be jealous of something that's not related to what -I- am doing. And that my characters are not the same kind, and they do not occupy the same kind of world/universe. The only thing they have in common is that they're characters and that they have plots and loves and sorrows and all that.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:11 AM |

*Blinkle* I'm either Olivia Newton-John or Mr. Howell. This is right up there with my Theme being 'One Hand In My Pocket' by Alanis Morrisette. *Blinkblink* Hm.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:19 AM |

...And my rock-star boyfriend is -still- Thom Yorke. I think it would help if I actually -listened- to Radiohead, or if the only thing I've ever heard by them had not been something that struck me as dull and annoying from...OK Computer, I think. All I really remember is the video, which had something to do with an older car (a Pinto, maybe?), lightning, and the fact that the driver wasn't around. There may have been fire and rain involved, too.

It obviously made a huge impression on me, as you can tell.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:26 AM |

Dear Pet Trainer People:

Did you know that a Golden Retriever and a German Shepherd don't sound anything alike? Your commercial does please and amuse me, however, because you have a Shepherd named 'Fritz' (of course!) who is actually a -very- well behaved boy. That grubby shoe is more than safe from harm in his care.
Yours,

Shan, who knows far too much about how a GSD sounds when they want to play, or be included in an activity.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:31 PM |

You know, I have no idea why I want to be involved in jobs that will force me to come into contact with people. I hate people. People in general, I mean, not the people I know and like. This evening, I was trying to get to class, and there were people trying to run me over (there's a stop sign there. Why don't you, I don't know, fucking STOP?); people having conferences in the middle of the very narrow sidewalk (It's a sidewalk, Mac! Move your ass!); people walking down the marginally wider sidewalk two or three abreast, not talking to one another (here's a hint: stay to your right when walking! See how I do it? Don't push me into the damn snowbank!); people having a conference at the top of the stairs (I just climbed two flights, chick, and I'm trying not to be late to my class. Notice how I'm booking along here? You wanna have a meeting, get a friggin' conference room.)... Gah.

I forgot to go to my career counseling appointment today, too. I was confused and thought it was -tomorrow-, at one-thirty. Too many ones and zeros... _And_, _AND_, on top of all of this, I realized that my 4:00 class did NOT conflict with my Strong Interest Interpretation. The SII which took place -yesterday- at 4:00, two freakin' hours BEFORE my class. *Bangs head on wall* I swear, I need a keeper.

Posted by: Shannon M.: 8:18 PM |

Some days, Yasminda is The Ferocious Guard Dog Of The North, all fangs and fury, if someone so much as trudges by on the -other- side of the road. Some days, she is completely oblivious to things. Tonight, my grandparents stopped by to drop off my housesitting check. Yasminda slept through their arrival in the driveway, did -not- see their car when I went out to get the check, didn't hear my grandmother closing the passenger door, and was unaware of their pulling out of the driveway.

Two minutes later, of course, she was barking at nothing with no apparent provocation. I never -said- she was the brightest potato in the pot....
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:24 PM |

Wednesday, January 09, 2002

Aww! See, Stan's comment to Scrubby is what I mean by 'squishy'. It's sweet and...just...squishy. Aww.

I am a strange, strange little person.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:37 PM |

I have nothing terribly exciting to report, really. I should go make myself something to eat; I should get my ass in gear and do something about my now horrendously late boxes; I should clean up my room and set up my new computer*; I should be doing my journal homework for JPN102... Inertia and procrastination will forever be my nemises. Nemesi? Downfall, anyway.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:42 PM |

* It's new to me. Ev got a Dell Dimension 4300 Desktop with CD burner and super speaker system for Christmas, so I get his old computer. No, I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with it... I'd actually like to set up a network in the house and hook us all up to a cable modem or DSL or something. It's not going to happen any time soon, but it's a nice thought. And if nothing else, I can play MechWarrior 2 in my own room, now.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:45 PM |

I want to write. We'll see what happens.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:06 PM |

What happens is Ev comes home and I promptly fall in love with XP. Look! Looklook! The GUI is nice to look at! (And, well...makes me want to lick it. But we won't go there, okay?) And the colors are nice, and it's -fast- and... Wow. MS has finally come up with a GUI that makes me happy. We'll see about the rest of the OS as I go along here. Hee.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:58 PM |

I am so in love with this graphics site that I made that banner (and three others) because I couldn't find a linking banner of their own. Besides that, their linking banner (which I eventually _did_ find) is in Japanese. Not that this is a -bad- thing, mind you, it just makes it more difficult to know what the site is about.

'Sozai' is Japanese for 'material', and from what I can tell, sozai is used as a substitute for the phrase 'web graphics' or 'homepage graphics'. Personally? I don't care what it's called, because most of the sozai I've found so far has been Japanese cute, small (of course!) and utterly gorgeous. *Happy little sigh*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:08 PM |

Tuesday, January 08, 2002

All I Ever Needed To Know About Physics I Learned From A Wal-Green's Commercial... *Snerk*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:39 PM |

I'm still alive, but beginning to flap* a little bit. For our midterm in JPN102, we have to do a skit. I already know I'll probably end up writing it, but I have no idea who I'll work with, andandandand... I just don't want it to suck. And I want it to be funny. And I want to work with Nick-from-Kenai, but I'll probably never ask him... But hey, I talked to a total stranger about nothing in particular of my own volition! Go me!

Also: we're having a quiz every single time we meet; our final is going to be purely oral again, which is less of a big deal than it would have been had I not already done something like it once; and I basically look like I know about five katakana. I -recognize- all 46, I just can't -write- them down.

Someday, I will learn to do my homework in a timely and thorough manner.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:46 PM |

My INTL class should be interesting -- I missed it tonight because I got to the campus late and then got completely lost, after which I walked around the second and third floors of the Consortium of Arts and Sciences building firmly convinced that my class was meeting in a room that did not exist (205). The reason the Psych classes were taking place on the second floor is so that students can observe the poor schmucks registered for fake classes... Well, okay, so that's not at all true. What happened was that I was misremembering the room number -- 2-5-0, which I had (of course!) trooped past three or four times. By the time I found it, it was nearly time for the class to be out. The only thing covered today was general geography, and the only handout was the syllabus, which was nice.

I'm afraid I've gotten into something over my head with this class -- the tests are all going to be take-homes, with the answers for each question to be on separate pieces of paper. We have to write a term paper, which we have to consult with a professor on, -plus- we have to work on some kind of community project. Yeek. I haven't written a paper in -years-...

* 'Flap' is Shan for 'panic like a fool, or a chicken with its head cut off, your choice'.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 11:57 PM |

Sunday, January 06, 2002

"Relief from allergy symptoms, if any, will depend on a number of factors." The part that gets me is the 'if any'. Do they mean any symptoms, or any relief? Odd, really. That little disclaimer and the $300+ price tag are more than enough to keep me from buying an Ionic Breeze Quadra.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 1:55 AM |

I'm doing the Real Student thing again this semester. On Thursday, mom and I trooped down to the bookstore on campus and found out that I didn't have to buy any more books for Japanese. I was extremely grateful for this when I learned that I needed six books for my International Studies class, and that they only had five of the six on the shelf. (We found the sixth one at TitleWave, which was nice).

So. I have All She Was Worth (a mystery set in early 90's Tokyo); Comfort Woman (about a Korean prostitute); Rickshaw: The Novel Lo-t'o Hisang Tzu (life in 1930's Peking); Pacific Century (20th century on the rim of fire); Global Studies: Japan and the Pacific Rim (just what it says); and Eastern Asia: An Introductory History. I'm probably going to have to write papers and reports for the first time in -ages-... I wonder if I can _write_ impersonal nonfiction? Probably.

I'm having a hard time not dipping into All She Was Worth, 'cause I love mysteries. And...How am I going to fit all my stuff in my bag? I may need a new one... Or maybe I can go back to using my satchel. I've had pretty good luck with my repair job on the strap so far... *Knocks on wood* *Hushes the dog*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:09 AM |

I haven't practiced much of my Japanese beyond saying things like 'under the couch an evil mouse exists' and 'under the couch, a dog does not exist'. Well, okay, I asked the dog if she was an evil earthworm, but that doesn't really count because it's not something I really learned in class. Hee.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:11 AM |

I think the word for earthworm is 'mimizu'. Anata wa aku mimizu desuka? is 'are you an evil earthworm?'. 'Watashi wa ee mimizu desu!' is 'I am a good earthworm!'. Or you could just say 'Baka!' and poke the person questioning you. *Snicker*
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:14 AM |

A whole pack of wild dogs! Oh no! The horror and tragedy! This movie (The Trial Of Old Drum) is as predictable as...something that's really predictable.

So why am I watching it? 'Cause there's nothing better on, and I'll be going to bed pretty quick.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:17 AM |

Yergle... It DOESN'T BRAID YOUR HAIR! IT DOESN'T IT DOESN'T IT DOESN'T IT DOESN'T! AAAAAAAARGH! *Ahem* I mean, I hate that commercial...
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:18 AM |

Dumb, dumb, dumb. If the little witling could push the raft -off- the shore, she can pull it back. It's a -hell- of a lot easier to move floating things than it is to move them on dry land. Also? What the hell do they mean, trying to tell me the little dink couldn't swim? Unless he was a city boy just moved in from Cleveland or something (which he wasn't, hell-O...). I'm going to stop watching it, now. Really.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:23 AM |

Oh! And before I forget -- New buttons! The hearts and cupcakes are all just variations on a theme. I happen to like the word 'cupcake' as a term of enderment/general nickname, and I've needed a decent heart graphic of my own. I just thought I'd share.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:26 AM |

And now, before I make any more buttons or snarky comments, I'm going to sleep. Honest and for true. Oyasumi nasai!

Oh, looky looky: the movie is promoting stereotypes! Yay! Yay yay yay! Let's shoot the writer and the casting director, okay? Particularly the one responsible for the Shepherd.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 2:29 AM |

Mm. You know, I don't believe in The Divine because of the Bible. No, I believe in The Divine because yesterday, mom and I were very nearly in an accident with an idiot in a pickup truck, and Divine intervention kept everyone safe.

This message NOT brought to you by the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:21 AM |

'omake' means 'A discount, a bonus, an extra, or a prize'. Just because no one else seems inclined to define it.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 9:52 AM |

My knee -hurts-. I don't know why, either. I haven't been pogoing, lately, or a lot of standing in one place... Bah. Stupid knee.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:16 AM |

Dear Ab Force People:

This may come as a shock (ha) to you, but I do not wish to join "the latest fitness craze".

Me.
Posted by: Shannon M.: 10:19 AM |