( long rant below, pertaining to sexism and gender roles. You've been warned )

I quit NaNoWriMo after like a week, but I've decided that I really want to incorporate writing fiction back into my life. Where I'm going to get the time to do that, who knows. But it's a goal. I love YA fiction and that's what I want to write. I went to the library yesterday and got waay too many books, and I'm starting to read faster as well as notice what I do and do not like in other people's storytelling. I realize what is effective and not (at least in my opinion!). I want to make this a bigger part of my life.

And I found out tonight that I share the same birthday as Meg Cabot, who is probably my favorite YA author out there.

=)

I can be kind of a snob.

I don't want to be.

But at the same time, I don't know how to measure my successes without comparing myself to other people. I mean, how does a person measure if they're doing well? Emotions and intutition are good, but they're not tangible enough. So I settle for looking at the people around me and seeing what they're doing; where they're at. And I either feel worse then them (which just makes me feel like a loser) or I feel better than them and inevitably end up looking down on them.

But I don't know any other way. If I do something that makes me proud of myself, it's usually because I did something that's a challenge; that not everyone can do. And it makes me feel like an awesome person, because I did something that other people couldn't have handled. It makes me feel empowered at the expense of other people.

I want to be less judgemental, but I still want to have pride in myself. I wonder if there's a happy medium?

I'm learning about what makes up the ingredients of many traditional pet foods. It is absolutely horrifying. I'm going to have to find a place that sells natural pet food. Or I'm going to have to start making my own food for my rats. Dog and cat food sounds even worse. I am so disgusted.

Just FYI, Spike Shooter energy drinks are really intense. I have all sorts of manic energy. It's almost a little too much, but it's also kind of really fun. Now, I am off to (hopefully) get stuff done before this energy wears off!!

A few years ago, whenever I dressed professional it always felt strange; like I was a little kid playing dress up. Now, I feel mature, sophisticated, and grown up.

When did this happen?!

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it/just answer your question. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, etc. Repost in your own journal if you feel like it.

For some reason, right now, I just got a random feeling of being completely in love with life. And since I was already logged into livejournal, I thought I'd post it :) So yeah. Right now, I'm in love with being alive :)

 Two kitchen-y questions for anyone who may know the answer!

1) The pots and pans I use to cook things are basically made out of some silver-looking material, and are red/orange on the bottom. I don't know what kinds they are, but they're pretty typical. But anyways, when they get wet and I leave them sitting around, they tend to get green stuff on the bottom? I don't think it's mold, it's a weird color to be mold.. but it's definitely creepy. Does anyone know what this is/how to clean it?

2) I drank some soymilk probably three-four hours ago, and I guess I didn't shut the carton completely, because when I grabbed it to drink some more, it was open a crack. I then tasted it, and it's really gross. Basically, just super cold, but really nasty, I had to spit it out. Is it unhealthy to drink now/could it be going bad? Or did it just get too cold? Can leaving it in the fridge with the carton shut restore it to a good taste? It tasted fine when I drank it earlier in the evening... it's still half full and I'm poor so I don't want to waste it, but definitely don't want to put my health at risk either. Also, my fridge did have some mold in it a bit ago.. could those particles still be in the fridge to have gotten into the soymilk?

If anyone can help out with advice, that'd be really cool :)

Seriously, for a hippie school Evergreen has way too much DRAMA.

I guess a fight broke out during/at the end of a show last night..

a cop took one of the people away for questioning...

and then a riot started. And people ended up throwing things at the cop car and flipped it over. Backup cops were called and both cops and students were injured.

Now people are saying that it was racially motivated, because the cop took away a black person...

He shouldn't have been fighting in the first place. Seriously.

...

..

...

People aren't creating very good reputations for themselves. No one is going to take people seriously when they flip over cop cars (or when they graffiti anarchist signs signs across the campus...). Seriously, too many Greeners just need to grow up. Yes, some police officers definitely abuse their power. Yes, some corporations do some really shitty things. Yes, many politicians are corrupt, and yes there's a lot of wrong in the world.

But this stupid fuck-the-police-and-society's-rules-I-am-an-anarchist-NONCONFORMIST-and-I-can-do-whatever-I-want bullshit has seriously got to stop. If you want change, here's an idea... WORK FOR CHANGE!! Don't cause destruction. Because all it's going to do is taint people's opinions of your cause.

..Rant over.

I am SO GLAD I don't go to that school anymore. I'm proud to not be a part of that community.

btw, there's plenty of awesome Greeners out there, I don't mean to generalize, but unfortunately those voices tend to get trampled by the plenty of dumbass Greeners.




http://www.evergreen.edu/news/archive/2008/02/february14.htm

http://community.livejournal.com/tesc/

http://community.livejournal.com/tesc/924790.html

I've decided that I'm not going to finish NaNoWriMo this month. Not because I can't, but because I don't want to.

I've started two NaNos. I could pull an all nighter tonight and tomorrow night, and get the 33K I would need to finish NaNo 2007 novel one, or the 36K I'd need to finish NaNo 2007 novel two. I could be stressed and exhausted but it'd be completed.

Or I could just not worry about it.

I could do what I'd rather do, and make some yummy food, get under my blankets, watch a DVD or two, and then go to bed early. I'd follow up by waking up well rested, energized, and relaxed for work.

I'm going with that choice.

I'm going to try my hardest not to worry about it, too.

It doesn't matter which of my friends are doing NaNo, or what their word counts are. It doesn't matter that so-and-so wrote 250K in the month. It doesn't matter that whatshisname on the NaNo site wrote a novel in a day.

It's a competition, but I don't need to be so competitive about it.

It doesn't make me any less of a person, or any less of a serious writer, if I don't complete NaNo this year. It doesn't even matter that I completed it the last two years.

I'm not going to make excuses for myself, although I could. I just don't want to.

I'm not going to allow myself to feel lazy or bad about this choice, either.

NaNo is a hobby, it shouldn't feel like such a chore.

I already feel that I've made the right decision.

My food is cooking, I have Christmas music playing, it snowed earlier today. All is good.

 Seeing this woman throw up right in front of me, on the stairs by the back entrance of the bus. And I have a phobia of vomiting, so it wasn't a fun time at all.

 Does anyone happen to know tax law? Or know anyone who knows anyone who knows tax law and wouldn't mind explaining things to me? Or knows where to go to learn about tax law and understand it? Or knows if people do free tax consultations and, if so, where to go to find a person like this? I espescially need to know about the legalities of being claimed as a dependent/independent (and I need to find out what I am).

I would love to know. It would be such a huge help!

Thanks :)

 

 I have internet in my apartment finally!! After about 3 months of having no internet where I'm living, it is very nice/convenient to have it again :)

I'm kind of annoyed, because so much of my time, I don't do anything. I look for jobs, I run errands, I do mundane things. I have a ton of free time. And then, when people want to hang out and plans come up, they always are the EXACT SAME TIME I have other plans. Always. And I hate having to choose between people and plans, because it all sounds fun and I want to see everyone. sigh.

But then I think, my life must be pretty good, if that's the only thing I have to bitch about :)

Reply to this post, and I will list three things I love about you.

Then repost to your own journal and spread the love.

I'm going to attempt to quit checking livejournal until I finish Harry Potter. I'm an incredibly slow reader, and very busy, so it may be a while. But I REALLY don't want this one spoiled for me.  More than likely, I will not be updating/commenting until I have finished it.

and this was fun, stolen from facebook, if only everyone followed these and we'd have no spoilers:

TIPS FOR HARRY POTTER READERS:

1. Please, for our sakes and your own, don't skip to the last chapter, and read it first! It's tacky, and will ruin the fun of tying up loose ends, and understanding who dies (yes, someone MUST die), and the story behind it.

2. If you have access to the Harry Potter book before it's published (eg. your dad is the printer, Mary Grandpre is a close cousin, or you're sleeping with one of the translators) DON'T GO RUINING THE PUNCHLINE! These people are sworn to secrecy, and would probably LOVE to tell the world about the book, but alas, they can't. So, don't pressure anyone into telling, and don't tell anyone yourself if you know.

3. When you have read the book, KEEP spoilers away from your blog! People read at different speeds, and I WANT TO READ IT MYSELF!

4. STAY away from blogs until after you've finished the book. Someone WILL read the end first, and write about it on LiveJournal or whatever, and you can save a lot of grief by just staying away from blogs (You'll be too busy reading all day and night :P ).

5. Simular to tip #3, don't read any article in the Newspaper about Harry Potter in the days following the book's release. The journalist will have read it, and will write a summary including spoilers. (Again, you will be preoccupied reading Harry Potter, and so avoiding spoilers is relatively easy.)

6. Avoid human conversation if possible for the first fews days after the release of the book! Harry Potter wil be the only thing on your mind that day. You don't want to accidentally slip and say too much, nor be told too much.

7. SPEAK to your pets about Harry Potter. Other than parrots, animals won't blab to anyone about what you know, and what your younger brother hasn't read yet. Keep your voice low of course, our take your pet on a walk and speak to it then (this will double get you that excercise that you have neglected to get from reading all day.)

8. If no animal is available, and/or you MUST speak to a human being, and that human being is also reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, PLEASE only discuss mutually read passages of the book! Check which chapter, sentence, and WORD they are on, and THEN proceed to speak of only the mutually covered pages.


Remember: every minute you spend talking, is one minute that you could be reading.

I'm ready for people to stop being assholes and for things in my life to stop going wrong.

People confuse me.

So does the process of trying to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life (or at least within the next 5 years).

I feel so accomplished. I managed to make this vegan-macaroni-and-fake-cheese stuff WITHOUT a stove. Instead, I used my friend's coffee maker to heat up hot water, then let the noodles soak for a while, and then I drained the water and added the cheese stuff and too much soymilk. It's definitely not great, but it is pretty good. I think it would have been better without the too much Vanilla soymilk. But still. I cooked noodles without a stove. I'm pretty impressed with myself; I feel really resourceful.. Yay for dorm cooking!