candy kicks

In the past year and a half since I posted here, a world of change has happened to me. I found love, made some mistakes, got terribly hurt, but still, the boy and I manage. I went to Japan and thrived. I returned to America and graduated. I'm on the verge of getting my first proper salaried job, and maybe I'll even be engaged by the end of 2012.

I have a permanent account with a pretty layout that took me a few days worth of work over at LiveJournal. I have well over 200 slots for userpics, a handful of pictures uploaded, and a structured tag system.

Most of these things I can bring to DreamWidth some way or another, but that they already exist elsewhere makes it incredibly difficult for me to fully migrate here. But I am so annoyed with everything LiveJournal has been doing, and these new comment pages are ridiculous. With as many people as I've seen complain about it, something tells me it will be changed back by the end of the week, or even end of the year.

But if they don't?

Gah...thanks for "fixing" something that wasn't broken, LJ.

Sato Takeru, I love you, but and your photobook is kind of erotic trashy questionable slutty amazing. Especially when you make that face. ♥

(Let's not even discuss the photos of him on the toilet.)

My new phone came yesterday, so I rushed straight to the Verizon store to get things transferred over. The only difference I've been able to spot is that now when I close my phone, in the screen where it shows you if the phone is locked or not, it's a translucent blue bar instead of the old clear one. I don't know how to change that, but I don't care, either. I think the software's a little newer. Also, the battery sticks out just a little more, but pushing it in a little tighter (that's what she said) has become a new habit of mine, much like squishing the plastic phone strap when I'm bored. I figure if I get really tired of it, I can just switch out the battery from my old phone. I haven't really been able to understand why it doesn't completely fit in, but I haven't sat down with my phone and played with it either.

Went to the casino and won $12. Later spent $5 trying to win more, but either way, I walked out ahead, so I'm happy.

Today is Homework Mode. Phone off. I started doing that earlier this semester when I was trying to write a reading response and kept getting texted/called by people. It's nice to disconnect. I've gotten the two Japanese homeworks done that are due on Tuesday. What I have left now are two Japanese Linguistics assignments (one for Tuesday, the other for Thursday), a response paper for Japanese Fiction over Tetsuwan Atom due on Monday, and a response paper due for Sex & Pop Culture on Wednesday. The goal is to finish them all by this weekend, if not the end of the day.

It so does not help that I'm on DreamWidth right now. Damn you, intarwebs!

Ah, but I've done better at writing response papers lately. When you forget everything your high school teachers told you ("Don't use 'I'!") it becomes rather easy. I've gotten full points on the past three papers I've had to write. However, this Sex & Pop Culture response might prove tricky. My TA said it can't be an opinion piece, a summary, or a writing over how it made me feel...I'm like, "So what the hell does that leave!?" What I have written down in my planner (his words) are "What struck me in the chapter, a theme, etc - critical thinking! analyzing!"

I feel he is slightly contradictory. I am not looking forward to this paper, but I should get used to it because I'm going to have five more due over the course of the semester.

Egh, back to work.

I have been without internet since Monday evening.

I don't know why it happened, but I was able to get it back this morning. I'm not exactly able to afford my own internet yet, so I've been hesitantly borrowing the one open connection around here. I'm kind of holding my breath now, but it seems to be okay. It kicked me off once a few minutes ago but miraculously came back.

I've been pretty bored without it. I've tried to keep busy by reading, watching movies, television (I marathoned S2 of Mad Men), dramas, cleaning...when you have no money, no cable, and no new things happening, I was surprised that even a recluse like me went stir-crazy. Sometimes I'd lie on my living room floor and stare at the ceiling. Pathetic.

I love my apartment still. I started work again too. Not too many hours this week, but we'll see how it goes when school actually starts. I want to get this coming weekend over with.

Pictures maybe later today, but my bathroom still isn't finished. =/ I still need a bathmat that either has strawberries or is red. A tissue box cover wouldn't hurt too, because the blue box I have really clashes.

I straightened my hair by myself for the first time Tuesday night. It took about two hours, and man, do I need a haircut. It's too long and fluffy. I think I'm going to shower before going out today in order to bring the curls back. Maybe after I can afford a haircut I'll start doing it again.

I posted back in May about my desktop sound card going out. Well, a day or two after that post it completely stopped working, which is quite inconvenient for me. The desktop is where I do most of my online work (this includes organizing my files), and I have to have music whenever I'm on the desktop. The last two summers consisted of me plugging the pikoPod in and having at it - organizing my idol folders, organizing my music, redesigning websites, you name it. I was on a roll.

When it stopped working, my productivity went down. Sure, I could just put my earbuds back in my iPod and listen that way, but my iPod is old and has mood swings (which means I can't listen to it at ease, without feeling like it might turn off on me which results in a very unpleasant, loud noise in my earbuds), and half of the time I don't know what I want to listen to. I can't just put it on "shuffle" and skip through the songs I don't want to listen to, because excessive skipping (and volume change) is how it poops out. Additionally, I've been trying to play or weed out the songs not listened to for a year, and the only way I can view the date is when I have iTunes open. What I did as a makeshift replacement was bring down some old, crappy speakers from an old computer and put them on the sides of my monitor and plug that into my iPod, but it's basically just functioning as earbuds then.

In summary, I am a big nerd with my iPod and need it connected to a computer to fully enjoy listening to it.

That said, I've used my laptop for a lot of things, but because I have countless needed files on the desktop (my website files, to name a big one) and no real mouse on the laptop, it becomes a hinderance and in the end, all I've done is watch dramas and go online with it. (I do all my TFL updates on it though, and listen to music then. <3) But I like listening to music best when I am being productive in the web-geek sense.

I've desperately wanted to get out of my design rut and put it on the To-Do list for today, that no matter what I would try to make something new. What I did was plug in the laptop nearby (on top of the barrel we keep the kitty food in actually), plug the iPod in that, and plug in the aforementioned speakers to the laptop, and I'm ready to go again!

I looked through some idol picture BBSs and found a great one of Ueto Aya I think I'll use. I'd wanted to use something from Fukakyon's "25sai" photobook or even Yossi's "Yossui." but...nothing was working. I'm just happy to have something in the works.

(On a side note, as I was going to upload the following screengrab at TinyPic, Sugaya Risako popped up as a recently uploaded one. xD

Slept in till about 9:30am today. Rooooock on. :D My aunt's coming to pick me up in about half an hour so we can go see Ice Age 3.

So far it's been a lazy morning of Tropic Thunder, The Simpsons Movie, and a shower. Looks kind of gloomy outside, so I don't think trying for a tan is in the cards today.

I want to go out to eat this weekend even though I've been trying to lose weight (what's new?). We went to the Incredible Pizza Company last weekend and I nearly fainted from the awesomeness (so 50s/60s retro!). I also want to go to IHOP and try Hawaiian pancakes. =3

This is what's next to me on the couch right now.



Yes, there's a cat buried in that blanket. He has since poked his head out and looks rather happy. :D

Tru dat.

On a side note, I started watching The O.C. today. Not entirely sure about the series yet. Damn, Summer's a conceited bitch. I hope Seth gets over his crush on her or she has some character development.

New icon. Hot bitch is Mukai Osamu - I'd like him to wear glasses again in a drama like he did as Mayama-kun~

I have bad fiction addiction.

Ah yes, happiness can still be bought. ♥

I went to Love21 (Forever21's accessory/underwear store) and found some big sunglasses, a cherry-print cami on sale, two skinny headbands (LOVE these lately, now I have three), and right as I was checking out one of the salesladies was trying to sell nail glitter polish to another customer. I've been looking for this stuff for FOREVER for my nail art! Everything was so cheap, too. But uh, memo to employees - STOP TREATING ME LIKE DIRT. WTF. Almost every single time I'm in there alone I practically get cold-shouldered, so I don't know why I continue to go. I didn't realize this was high school. Fucking hell, if it wasn't so cheap.

Yeah, that kind of put a bad taste in my mouth but it wasn't going to ruin my awesome day, so I went from there to TJ Maxx and bought a Betsey camisole (I think I have as many camis as I do hoodies) and found an off-brand of Aquaglobes for my mom - she's been wanting to try them and it was cheap. I'm rather disappointed at their painful lack of strawberry decor, though. I thought maybe I'd be able to find something for my apartment next year but no such luck. =(

From TJ Maxx I was going to go to Sally's and then remembered I wanted more of those cold mitarashi dango treats, so I found my way to Chong's and didn't get lost this time. :D One skewer of those and cheese bread ended up being my lunch ♥ So, from there I went to Sally's for some bright nail polish and successfully found many for cheap. :D

And that's my day. Too much excitement. Time to go play video games. xD

When it comes down to it, I've been cooped up in the apartment a few days now. I went for a drive with Mom the other night and I've been over to my aunt's house a couple of times, but I haven't been outside of Mascoutah yet by myself this summer. I'm gonna head out to Target to buy that Neutrogena Wave thingie and some orange juice - the lack of it in my refrigerator is criminal.

Tori, where did you go? =(

Ugh, my desktop speakers at home have been going wonky for months now, and I think finally they've completely given up. Any sound I try to get from them just comes off like the radio when you're not in proper range. For some reason, it gives my headphones the same effect when I plug them in. I didn't think speaker sound transferred to headphones like that; rather, I thought the headphones replaced it.

I do not want to shell out any money for new speakers.

Ugh.