Talking Soup

Posted a new chapter to my fic. Link is in the sidebar.

Grants is a bitch. Awesome, but a bitch. So much work. So many lost hours of sleep. XOMG, this semester is killing me.

ASIC roxors. I got bashed in the face there two weeks ago. No one's fault, really--actually it was really hilarious, even with blood pouring out of my nose (it happens to me a lot). Still watching Death Note and will be starting Ouran (HOORAY!) after Fall Break.

Planning on a hike during Fall Break. Taughanock (try spelling that. Yeah, no.) we're thinking. Also, I made meringues, and they are lovely.

We officially have REAL plans for the future.

I made an NBE list for Mot and now it is rolling like a wheel of cheese on a steep incline.

Tammy and Tim came Wednesday for dinner (I cooked. I made flan!). I think I inadvertently insulted Tammy (stupid stupid me) but I think she was okay with it. Then my computer went haywire and tried to eat my life, and Tim tried to fix it but Vista and my computer in general are made of EVIL. My computer has Blue Screen of Death'd me twice since then, though I've yet to lose files (and I'm backing them up at every opportunity).

'S about it for now. Longer post later. I tired.

I've been really crappy at updating this lately, but yes, I'm still alive.

Woo, sinus infection! Ah, this always happens at least once a year, but it doesn't make it any more fun. Woke up a few mornings ago just like "oh my god I'm drowning -fhggakhhggghkksnerk-*" I know what this is all about by now so I went to the health center right after class, and despite waiting for an hour and a half it wasn't as awful an experience as I thought it would be. Got some Amoxicillin and now I'm feeling better. Though I didn't sleep much two nights ago. Not. Fun.

We have mice. Like, an infestation. No, I'm kidding, but we do have mice--two of them, in a cage. One is brown and the other is white with a black patch over his eye. The brown one's name is Malcom Reynolds. The white one's name is Hoban Washburn, or Wash for short. This is because they have a little spaceship in their cage upon which we have written "Serenity." Wash is excitable, friendly, and likes sweets. Mal is somewhat antisocial, cautious, and likes to hide his food, which is mostly health food.

I swear, they are Mal and Wash in...mouse form.

Plus they are tiny and fuzzy and cute and thus far have remained undiscovered by said RA peoples.

Though we did have an adventure last week, I think. Mal got away from me and ended up under the couch. We spent awhile trying to catch him and finally just lifted the couch up, but Mal is not one to be held down by The Man (or Woman) and actually squeezed under the door and ran out into the stairwell. Well, as one who has owned mice before, I figured hope was pretty much lost by then, but we chased him. He was on the edge of the balcony part of the staircase and we were chasing him along the edge, but then I got distracted when the door across the hall opened and a kid started walking out. Mal decided death would be better than capture by The Woman and threw himself off the stairs, landing two sections down. I ran all the way down and managed to catch him and scoop him up just as the kid drew level with me. It was like something out of a college comedy movie. And let me tell you right now, catching a mouse barehanded is no easy feat. Mal was returned to his cage where I'm sure he told Wash all about his adventure and has since not attempted escape.

I'm gonna get started on the next chapter of my fic since it's been awhile. I also need to write two things for Fiction II, one of which is due tomorrow. Dear God I'm starting to hate that class. I think I mentioned already that it's taught by a teacher I'm not really fond of, but more than that--she's one of the many writing teachers 'round these parts who is all like "oh, haha, genre, it's not really writing. It's all cheap and pulpy. It must all be literateur and meta if it's going to be legit!" To which Julie and I say a big FUCK YOU. We're both gonna write nothing but genre stuff for that class. So fucking there, bitch.

Grants and Proposals is picking up speed as we hear from more and more promising projects (the ones I'm looking at so far are this local alt ed school which teaches diversity education and wants to get funding for a trip to Guatemala, one involving EcoFashion, and of course the SPCA one which involves a spay/neuter program (desperately needed!)). We get assigned our groups over the weekend and have to have make our choice on which project to tackle by Friday. After that we leap off the boat and then it's sink or swim. Man.

Going to a thing at Cornell tomorrow for my Terrorism class--a talk by a woman who is a Palestinian and is working on the peace movement. Should be awesome.

ASIC has been awesome. We've been watching Death Note which leaves nothing to be desired (L, I want to have your babies!) and the second part of Jubei-chan which is as insane as the first part. But this one has a tiny little chibi-guy who is...so...cute.

I've heard tell that we'll be watching Ouran later in the semester too. Yes!

So far we've been maintaining a shopping/cooking schedule in the apartment and it's been working! I cook on Wednesdays. I've gotta work on my time management where that's concerned, but so far my recipes have worked (just made carrot-ginger-pear soup and pots de creme which is XOMG awesome). Woo. And Kate continues to be AWESOME by making AWESOME food. She also won our Iron Chef two Fridays or so ago.

Julie has successfully completed both Kingdom Hearts I and II and now understands my love of the Organization members. And the awesome tragedy that is Axel and Roxas's relationship, whether or not you think it's just friendship or what have you (I must confess myself a shipper, but y'all knew that. I think...).

Avatar starts Friday, Heroes the following Monday, and House the Tuesday after. Hells ya.

Oh, and. The latest Naruto chapter? WHUT? WHUT? Revelations liek woah??

So I got a job.

At a totally random company, too.

See I got this letter--it was sent pretty much all over town--asking for people to apply to a company called Vector. I called in, figuring what the hell, and got an automatic interview. Turns out the company is a branch of a major cutlery (knives) distributor, Cutco. I filled out an application, stayed an hour for a group interview, and scored the job.

So pretty much, I'll be going to people's homes--on an appointment basis--and selling knives. Uber speshul knives, too (they're actually pretty sweet). Kinda like Ginsu knives, except you wouldn't want to cut cans with them. They're pretty much just really nice kitchen knives.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to it, though I'm nervous. This is a very direct-to-person thing since I'm going to people's homes and convincing them to buy knives, and I get shy around new people. But the training is supposed to be pretty intensive and should teach me how to handle it, so it should be okay.

It's also $17.70 per appointment, so I'm not really complaining. I'm just wondering what the rate of getting appointments is.

Anyway.

Yesterday and the day before the fam and I went to the Red Sox-A's games. Sox lost both times, though they played a much better game on the second day. Ortiz and Ramirez weren't hitting for shit the first game. And I've become quite intrigued by two of the Sox pitchers, Okajima and Papelbon. Okajima is from Japan, obviously, and doesn't even look at the plate when he throws the pitch. And Papelbon has a death glare rivaled only by Samuel L. Jackson.

I love my Beantown homeboys.

Today I baked a cake for my Dad's birthday, which was a few days ago, and for Father's Day pretty much. Oh my god, I spent hours making this utterly beautiful black forest cake with raspberries instead of cherries (we all hate cherries). It was a very pretty cake when I was done, though Kate's cake with marzipan apples takes the...the cake. Or something. But I spent a lot of time on the cake and decorated the top with rings of strawberries and freaking shaved bits of chocolate, and I made the whole goddamn thing myself, and it is delicious, if I do say so. So much for dieting, lol. Also made couscous for dinner and tried to replicate the really nice Campus Center recipe, with apples, cinnamon and raisins. It would have been better if the couscous hadn't come out so pasty.

Yay food.

Meanwhile, Steve, Liz's boyfriend, has officially left for boot camp (he's a Marine), so Liz has been in quite a funk. Nothing I can do can cheer her up, and I think the only thing that will help her is time. By the time he gets back, in 13 weeks I think, I think she'll be okay. And she'll probably be a lot better with his future absences. See, this isn't just a relationship, it's a Relationship. I didn't used to like Steve, but they're really in love with each other. I can't dislike him. He makes Liz happy.

^_^

I'm almost done with Okami and I've started KH again because I'm just crazy like that.

So, saw the Count of Monte Cristo last night, the stage performance. It was written by an Ithaca student, who spent the four years of his college career writing, composing and all that jazz.

It's spectacular. Like, seriously, not at all what you'd expect of a student production. True, it could use some touch-ups and the sound tech wasn't all that good, but in all honesty, I think it's Broadway material. Or if not Broadway, at least off-Broadway or somewhere in NYC.

They manage to condense the story brilliantly. It was also a musical, and the songs were just all so wonderful and tied into what was going on so well. And the stage. Oh my god, the way they used the stage--it was so brilliant. They pretty much used the same setting and background for the whole thing, but just by changing the lighting and moving some props they made you believe it was a completely different place. Woot!

I'd encourage you all to go see it but it's done by now :( I want the soundtrack. Unfortunately it doesn't exist.

Though in the coming years if you ever see a Count of Monte Cristo musical, it came from US!!

Went to Iron Chef on Friday night. The ingredient was chocolate, and I got to be a judge. Kate won again! She made artichoke with habanero-chocolate dipping sauce, squash with chocolate and cranberry filling, and homemade cookies with strawberries and whipped cream for desert. The competition made chicken mole, which was also love.

Finished my powerpoint for Sociology of Religion tomorrow, though not my paper. I think I'm gonna pick at it between now and tomorrow and aim to have it turned in sometime in the middle of the week.

Also need to start thinking about my Women and Writing final portfolio...