Dragon Of Infinite Colourness

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:06:57 GMT

Apologies to my XBox Live friends, but as of today I'm only a Silver subscriber. That means I can't play online or send any messages. :( (I can SEE them, but I can't reply)

In other words, ezelek, I'm doing okay! :P

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:45:01 GMT

The eternal question... The essay I finished last night is due online at noon, not for any of my physical classrooms. I am so tired, I know I'm just going to fall asleep repeatedly in class, and won't remember a word that will be said (and my note-writing is entirely indecipherable when I'm exhausted). Do I drag myself in anyway, just so the attendance says I'm there, and give up on sleeping a bit more and doing anything else useful with my day?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:24:04 GMT

I am feeling stabby-tired today. Didn't help when my ENG 301 professor acted all horrified at getting our essays, claimed they weren't due yet, and further complained that he had too many first-year essays to mark to look at ours for a while yet. I'm fairly certain he was joking and trying to be funny, he's a strange and frequently-amusing man, but I still wanted to stab him. I was up 'til 2am getting that essay all nicely done up and putting a bit of polish on it (I'm really quite pleased and I think I'll get a good mark, which means I may well fail it, we'll see how Murphy feels), which isn't THAT bad, especially since I slept about twelve hours Sunday night. But I've been sleeping terribly for weeks now and I am too old for this shit, gawds.

Which is why I should really get cracking on the essay due Thursday for my online class. But that one's only 5-6 pages rather than 8-10, and the teacher actually GAVE us essay questions to answer! Such luxury! It feels like cheating, after almost all my other professors have insisted that coming up with a topic all by myself is part of the challenge. Anyway, it's a bit difficult to feel panicked about that one. Must motivate self to just get it over with so I can have guilt-free video game mindless relaxation...

After I clean the poor gerbils' cage and change the water in my fish tanks... That one sick neon finally passed away after all. :( So after a suitable period of quarantine it should be safe to move Obi 2 in there...

And this weekend we have the October birthday party with skjie's stepmom's family, and two Halloween parties (although I may skip one, it looks like 99% of the attendees will be under 20, and I've already complained today about feeling old, even if there will be jello shooters), and we're supposed to help at least one of our friends move...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:37:37 GMT

Sometimes I throw out random quotes to try and draw out people on my wavelength. When I say "the peasants are revolting!", I expect a 'normal' person may be vaguely confused or concerned, or just ~~think~~know that I'm weird. Somebody I could get on with will probably laugh, or make an appropriate return-comment about the relative attractiveness of peasants.

I dunno, but I should probably go back to writing at least eight pages on Heroism in Book Ten of the Iliad....

Jobs I've Worked

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:36:43 GMT

om_nom_berries posted a list of all the jobs she's ever worked and asked to see what her friends have done, so I figured I may as well post it here so you can all see that I may take after my mom after all... To shorten the list a bit, I'm only bothering with the jobs for which I had to pay taxes. If I listed the babysitting and jewelery-selling at craft shows and going door-to-door with things I'd made from stuff I found and what-have-you, we'd be here all day. The breaks in between jobs are usually school-related.

D'Allairds
Role: Sales Associate
Time worked: I think it was six months? Ish, I dunno, this was... Gods, twelve years ago.
Pay: Minimum wage, don't even remember what that was.
What I thought of it: Retail monkeywork, and constantly getting in trouble for not being able to sell old-lady-clothes to anyone that walked in the store. Keeping in mind I was 16. Quit to go make shiny things instead.

Jeweler's Apprentice
Role: Susan's personal slave. I answered the phone (she hated talking to people), I made her computer do what she needed (she was afraid of technology), I was her chauffeur (she was afraid of driving and didn't have her license), pretty much you name it and I got it done. And I also did the simpler parts of silversmithing jewelery.
Time worked: Roughly two years, a bit on and off as she needed me or was too poor.
Pay: $10/hour
What I thought of it: Ech, it was interesting work and I didn't mind being an oddsbody of all jobs, but by the end we were seriously getting on each other's nerves. I quit for good at the end of high school.

Toronto District School Board
Role: Assistant teacher in summer intro to computers courses for grades four to eight.
Time worked: Two summers.
Pay: $11/hour
What I thought of it: I never want to see another iMac network. But the kids were mostly good and the teachers were pretty laid back. This is what I did when Susan didn't need me, after high school I couldn't be hired as a student helper anymore.

Paramount Canada's Wonderland
Role: Revenue and Control night crew, counting and depositing all the money that'd come into the park that day. I usually ended up taking in the bags of money at the window because for some reason, that was the one thing I could do really fast.
Time worked: One summer.
Pay: $8.15/hour (the extra $0.15 was for working overnights)
What I thought of it: Slackest job I ever worked. Spent half my time being wooed by the guy I ended up dating from there (Brent, wowbadidea). Driving home on empty highways in the wee hours of the morning was kinda fun. Quit to move to Ottawa at the end of the summer season.

Bounty Contemporary Craft
Role: Sales Associate
Time worked: One summer.
Pay: $10.50/hour
What I thought of it: Boredom was my biggest problem, the store sold hand-crafted 'useful' art which was too expensive for the average wandering tourist. But it was lovely being down in the Harbourfront and people were usually quite polite and interested in what I had to tell them about the artworks. Quit to move back to Ottawa again.

Delta Chelsea Hotel
Role: Started as a Camp Counselor and stayed to be a Family Fun Zone Attendant when it became obvious I wasn't going back to Ottawa. Watched over the pool/waterslide and children's playcentre, babysat, and did simple gluing-and-folding tasks for other departments. I stayed until my boss basically treated me like an assistant manager and assumed I'd keep track of things for him, I even ordered all the supplies.
Time worked: One month short of five years.
Pay: Started at $10, was making about $15.50/hour plus health benefits at the end.
What I thought of it: I loved it there, best job ever. Coworkers were fun, people were generally nice, and the parties were great. ;) I was sad to quit to move to BC.

Fort Camping
Role: Reservations Clerk, sitting up at the front entranceway cabin, taking all the phone calls and listening to all the complaints. Towards the end of the season I also (wo)manned the general store.
Time worked: One summer.
Pay: Pretty sure it was $11/hour but I could be wrong.
What I thought of it: The summer of the Mosquitoes of Doom. Seriously, I don't generally have a problem with mosquitoes, and I was being eaten alive. So all summer we had guests basically telling us we were terrible people for allowing so many bugs. Yeeeah. But it was lovely being almost-outside, nobody cared if we were surfing the internet when there was nothing else to do, and my coworkers were hilarious. :) But they ran out of hours and couldn't afford to keep me past the end of the camping season, so it was fortunate that Krystal convinced me to take the Cherry Hill job.

Cherry Hill Photo Enterprises, Inc.
Role: Manager
Time worked: One Christmas season.
Pay: Flat salary that added up to 'not enough' for the hours I actually worked.
What I thought of it: It was, indeed, an excellent experience. And I was better at it than I thought I would be. I hired people and ordered supplies and had meetings with various people and it went just as smoothly as could be expected. My employees generally did what I asked because I asked nicely, and the rest of the time they were scared of me actually getting mad. And when the going really got tough, I had Victoria to throw at people. If it weren't for the diva santas and insane parents, I might even do it again.

Chuck E. Cheese
Role: Closing Coordinator, basically a manager without the actual power.
Time worked: Five months.
Pay: $12/hour
What I thought of it: Worst. Idea. Ever. The kids were fine, I love kids and it doesn't bother me when they're hyped up. But the staff were lazy, the only ones that were generally useful got away with everything because the alternative was useless people, and everything that went wrong was my fault no matter who did it. In the end I was fired for being too slow, and too friendly with the staff (apparently the fact that they liked me meant I wasn't making them work hard enough). I went through the labour board and made them give me severance pay but my confidence in my abilities was shattered, and I was seriously depressed for a while. This was the one and only job from which I have been fired. I should have known better, I always knew that fast food would destroy me.

PetSmart
Role: Pet Care
Time worked: One year and a bit.
Pay: $11.93/hour by the end of the year.
What I thought of it: I loved the animals and I loved helping people and I loved most of my coworkers, but management and some of the callous attitudes towards the living creatures for which we were responsible made me massively upset. It was an indescribable relief to quit to go back to school full time.

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:50:06 GMT

Paul's Grandad, his mom's dad, passed away this afternoon. It was not really unexpected, but a bit sudden since he was apparently fine on Wednesday. Paul and his close family are of course sad, but fairly philosophical about it. But his uncles (at least one of them, anyway) and his Grandad's wife are shattered.

Possibly the strangest thing out of the event is that I've ended up inheriting a Betta that Paul's Grandad's wife couldn't cope with caring for anymore on top of the dog and the house and all the stress. I'm told she accidentally dumped the other one down the sink while trying to change the water and that was something of a breaking point. Paul's mom handed it to me when she met us at Grannie's, I guess I'm the only fish-keeper in the family. He's currently hanging out in the condo I wasn't using cuz the actual bowl he arrived in was too small to keep him any useful amount of warmth in this cold apartment, hopefully that will last him okay 'til I can get him in a proper tank. So far he doesn't seem nearly as aggressive as Abalone so I may try him in the ten-gallon with a gentler filter. Random part of a strange day...

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:42:35 GMT

Raaaaawr.

I'm still trying to locate the calm balance of housework-schoolwork-relaxing that will get everything done without any guilt. I wish I was lazier and didn't have such a compulsion to be useful, it would be so much easier to be home. D: I'm trying to assure myself that the house is plenty clean enough for guests, and if I sit down and read my textbook until my Yoga class, I won't be 'bad' for having a fun evening. :(

Cleaning the bathroom was almost a disaster, my back/hip really don't want me bending over and around like that. >_< I'm so glad Paul's doctor said he'd take me as a patient as well, maybe now I can figure out wtf is wrong with my lower body.

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:00:28 GMT

This is so frustrating. My right hip has been hurting, constantly, for MONTHS, skjie still needs followup work about his heart flutters that haven't gone away, and we can't get a doctor! skjie's family doctor is retiring, it looks like our only option is to keep driving more than an hour to see the guy that's taking over, if we can even get an appointment in less than a month. We may as well just go to walkin clinics and the hospital, at least that way we get to talk to someone!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:43:07 GMT

Double knitting is like MAGIC!

And the other side.

The actual knitted piece came out much shorter than the chart, but it'll probably stretch out a bit after washing, especially if I can figure out how to block the full length. I can get at least twelve skulls out of the amount of yarn I've got, a six-foot scarf should be plenty huge enough for random_meow!

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:51:47 GMT

Finished my last shift at PetSmart this morning. skjie is disappointed in me for being a good employee and doing my job properly right up to clocking-out. :P I'm drinking a glass of the Granville Raspberry Wheat Ale I'd been saving for this very moment, and it is very sweet.

I feel so much... Lighter. All of this past week, once it really sunk in that I was almost done, I've felt happier! More motivated! I've even been sleeping better and cooking real meals! I had no idea just how much stress I was feeling until it just, went away.

My house is actually clean. Not like white-glove clean, I'm not that kinda person, but definitely antiseptic-kitchen-and-bathroom-and-all-spiders-evicted clean. It makes me happy. I feel like I could have people over at a moment's notice and it would be no panic! I could do with sorting through some of the paperwork shoved haphazardly in my 'filing system,' and I will, but my house is now generally as clean as I always made a point of making it when I knew people were coming over.

One of my teachers for the semester is super gung-ho and has already sent out the class syllabus and even this semester's assignments over the school email. So I've got those course books already (the Iliad and a companion guide, whoo), I suppose I should start reading...

>:D

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:18:42 GMT

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:52:39 GMT

I'm a little confused by the fact that I can hear a baby having a tantrum upstairs... Either my landlord got voluntold to babysit (I can't imagine him volunteering himself), or there's a story we haven't heard yet.

In other news, I had terrible dreams of tarantulas at work and having a horrible fight with skjie (complete with awkward naked-in-public dream sequences), but I still felt fine and rested and not upset about anything when I woke up. Weird.

Must buckle down and get the hang of this figure-eight cast-on, so I can get another simple project on the needles to work on whenever. I'm making an iPod Touch cosy for happytarget.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:53:18 GMT

Last night I dreamed I was acting in a movie alongside Emma Watson and a bunch of other irrelevant people, except that every time we were 'filming' the dream flipped to the movie-stuff actually happening. So over and over again, as we tried to get the right take, aliens were lighting the world on fire and we were struggling to escape through hordes of zombies. Gah.

And then I dreamed that the invasive pond snails had found their way into Abalone's tank and were trying to take over there, too, and I was so mad.

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:26:00 GMT

Handed in my two week's notice today, to the Operations manager. The Store Manager will be in tomorrow morning, so when I come in after noon I'll probably get something thrown at me for quitting. :X My store manager is actually on my Facebook friends list (I added her when she moved to another store and I'd be a jerk to remove her just cuz she's back at our store) so I'm not saying anything on Facebook 'til she's had a chance to read the note, but now half the store already knows. ^_^;; I had half a dozen people come up to me and be all sad that I'm leeeaaaaving them, oh nooooo, which made me feel kinda warm and fuzzy. It's nice to be loved.

The rest of the visit.

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:00:46 GMT

So, on Saturday when my mom and sisters got back from watching the horse eventing, we went into Vancouver and met happytarget's friend from her Peru-trip, and we all went to the Vancouver Aquarium. All the fish were awesome and the "4-D Experience" was super fun. And we saw the baby Beluga (kind of, the area's pretty heavily roped off so he doesn't get stressed out), and the dolphin show, and watched the otters have dinner. Then we went for a walk around Stanley Park and admired the views. We made it to the totem poles, as well, so there were pictures. When we got back in the evening I taught my family how to play Carcassonne, which lasted until sleep-time.

Sunday morning we got up eeeaaaaarly to meet Sue, Richard, and Victoria for breakfast on Granville Island. We got tasty crepes and wandered around in all the funky shops. Many souvenirs were purchased and we got some delicious salmon for dinner later that night. And I took my sisters on the Granville Brewery tour, haha. We hardly had time to finish our beer tasters before we were off to Deep Cove to go kayaking. :3 It was lovely weather to be out on the water and happytarget and skjie saw harbour seals! When we got home, I cooked everyone a big meal of lentil-barley soup and baked salmon with asparagus, it was pretty fantastic if I may say so myself.

On Monday we had an appointment to view Grouse Mountain's potential wedding sites. The marketing department gave us all free tickets for parking and the gondola, which was pretty awesome. We were actually very unimpressed with the available wedding options, way too expensive for what you get, so that made our decision to go with Cypress instead. But we were already up there, so after my meeting was done we caught a Lumberjack Show and got beaver tails, then wandered around and took in the view. I still can't believe EVERYONE either forgot their camera at home or left it in the car. :P Eventually we wandered back down the mountain and piled back into the car to drive the Sea-To-Sky Highway to Squamish. Some of random_meow's climbing friends were there taking advantage of the cliff faces, but we only ever found one of them. Instead we hiked around as high as we could go without equipment (and by 'we' I mean 'everyone else.' I'd dressed kind of nicely for the meeting in the morning and was only wearing Birkenstocks, so I opted to turn back and nap in the car when the going got rough. But skjie made it all the way up in dress pants!). After a good hike we headed back home, and played Rock Band as a family until bedtime. :D

Tuesday morning I whipped up some Beer Pancakes as a goodbye breakfast, then we headed back into Gastown so happytarget could buy the moccasins she'd spotted previously but hadn't been sure enough to purchase, and then to Jericho Beach so everyone could dip their toes in the water before leaving. The tide was out so there was squishy sand and tiny minnows everywhere. The water there is so warm, it was lovely. We lay in the sun until it was time to head to the airport, I dropped them off with less than an hour until their flight. :X But they made it so it was all good.

It was a very busy vacation, but it was awesome that I had a good excuse to go do all sorts of things I hadn't got around to yet. I'd never been on the sea-to-sky, hadn't been kayaking in the ocean, hadn't gone up any of the mountains, hadn't even been in the valley nearby where we went riding. And I got to include my family in our wedding planning, and spend lots of good quality time together. :) It was fantastic.

Random survey.

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:42:06 GMT

When were you the most sad in your whole life?
I can't think of any particular time that was more sad than any other time. There were lots of sad times when I was a teenager, and when my grandfather passed away. And it was heartbreaking every time Paul or I had to get on a plane and go home after a visit. And it nearly broke my heart again to leave my mom at the airport and move to BC. But there isn't really any one moment that I could point to and say "this is the saddest moment ever."

Besides this, what are you doing right now?
Munching some veggie chips, drinking a Cypress Honey Lager. Debating if I want to go watch tv with Paul.

Would you like to put last night on repeat, and live it forever?
No, not at all. It wasn't a bad night, but it does not bear repeating.

Who were you with last night?
Paul.

Were you happy when you woke up today?
Disgruntled at being awake, but yeah, generally happy.

What are you listening to at the moment?
Paul watching tv in the other room. I suppose I could put some music on.

When will your next kiss be?
Probably a goodnight one.

Would you prefer a baby boy or girl?
As Paul frequently points out, if you have a boy you only need to worry about one penis. If you have a girl, you have to worry about every penis around her. But at the same time I think I'd have a better idea of what to do with a girl, so it's no big deal either way.

What was the weather like today?
Hot and sunny, not that I really saw any of it. I slept in right until I needed to get ready for work.

Last time someone yelled at you?
Uhhh... I don't get yelled at much. It would have been at least a couple weeks ago, and obviously wasn't important enough for me to remember.

What did you do this afternoon?
Ticked off the freshly-delivered fish as we sorted them into their proper tanks, then released them into the system. Water is friggen' heavy. Also helped people with pet questions and did the closing routines of checking everyone's food/water.

What kind of mood are you in?
Tired but good. Accomplished but sick of company.

Do you like your life as of now?
I'd like more of a career than a job and to be done with school, but generally it's pretty good.

When was the last time something bothered you?
This afternoon. I have a feeling one of the gerbils at work is actually a female, because she looks very pregnant.

Do you think you can last in a relationship for six months?
With the right partner, of course. I dated my highschool sweetheart for over four years, and Paul and I have been living together about that long.

Would you ever want to swim with the sharks?
With small ones, definitely. I saw a nurse shark once, it would have been much cooler if he hadn't been hiding under a reef. I wanted to see him properly but I wasn't about to go scaring him out of there, even if he was only four feet long.

What was the first thing you did this morning?
Hit the snooze button and snuggled back in.

Is anything alive in your room?
I hope not at the moment, the cat's on my monitor and all the other critters live elsewhere.

Will this weekend be a good one?
Paul and I actually have the same days off, so I expect it will be lovely.

Ever felt like you're not good enough?
All the time.

Last text was from who, and what?
I think it was Roz, actually, about the theatre thing... Yeah, it was. Laughing at me for saying maybe I could go to Theatre Under The Stars sometime when I was feeling less antisocial. :P

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:59:13 GMT

So, my mom and sisters have been here since Wednesday. :) We've been busy busy busy. Took them for Sushi and we went for a walk the night they arrived, stayed kinda quiet and went to bed pretty early to try and avoid jet lag.

Thursday we went down to the river to explore and then into Vancouver to wander around Gastown and visit Cypress Mountain as a potential wedding site. Cypress was nice! I was pretty unimpressed with the outside of the lodge, but it's still under construction and it HAS to be done in time for the Games, so it will be nicer by next summer. And the inside was lovely, all dark wood and nice cosy atmosphere. Just a bit down the mountain is a lovely open field with a view of the ocean and parts of the city through the trees, perfect place to put up a tent and a few rows of chairs. :D It is a definite contender, particularly because they're still new enough that they're happy to do whatever we want to get our business. ;) We got Blizzards for the kids miracle day thing and then went to see Julie & Julia, which was wonderful and adorable and I want to buy it on DVD when it comes out so I can comfort-watch. Taught mom and Emma how to play Rock Band that night, too (my mom was actually pretty good!).

Friday we went for a two-hour trail ride in the morning. Super nice horses but mine could definitely tell I had no idea what I was doing, he kept stopping for a bite to eat and then running to catch up to the others. My hand was sore from clinging to the pommel by the end, and today my whole body basically hates me, but it was fun! We scared up a Great Blue Heron and a mama deer with a yearling fawn. It's amazing how close a horse-and-rider can get to a wild animal that would never come within scent of a human alone. It was raining at the beginning of the ride, which probably contributed to the terrible head/chest cold I had by the end of the day, but it cleared up less than halfway through and the rest of the ride was lovely.

After we got back and everyone got showered and changed, it was off to wedding dress shopping! We met up with Victoria and Sue (skjie's sister and mom), and my whole entourage helped me pick out stuff to try on and gave opinions and took photos. And we got a dress! :D A year to go and I already have a dress! It's an okay fit for now, I'll have to take it to get altered much closer to the day, but it's corseted and beaded and champagne-coloured and I love it. :3 I have it hanging up in an opaque plastic cover in my office, Mercury is very entertained by hiding underneath it where it nearly touches the floor.

Then we packed my new dress into the car and went to White Spot to meet skjie's step-dad Richard, his Nanna, Grannie, and step-mother Melitta for dinner. Eleven people at the table, we had a nice spot on the patio. Unfortunately this is around where I started feeling really sick so I wasn't such good company, but I think everyone had a nice time anyway. Sue came back to our apartment to sit down with me and mom and look over our guest list. That was a little tension-y because skjie wants a waaaaaay smaller wedding than I do, so we've had a difficult time discussing the guest list in a mutually respectful way, but I think we made some progress.

And then I went to bed early after drinking lots of ginger-lemon tea, and this morning I've done Yoga stretches to try to get the riding-kinks out of my muscles (it helped but I still hurt), and I'm drinking lots of tea to try and push back this cold. My mom and sisters have gone to watch some of the horse eventing they found out was going on, when they get back I may need to go to a walk-in clinic. x_x

We're planning on going to the Vancouver Aquarium this afternoon, and tomorrow we're going to meet skjie's mom and sister again at Granville Island, then do the Granville Brewery Tour and some shopping, then hopefully go kayaking in a bird reserve. Monday is Grouse Mountain in the morning to see what they offer wedding-wise, then some more touristing in the afternoon before my family flies away again Tuesday.

I may need a vacation from this vacation. ;;^_^

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:56:28 GMT

I got a B+ in English 374, whooo.

My mom and sisters will be here tomorrow. :D

I must finish laundry and dishes. D:

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:43:54 GMT

I kept reading about what a difference blocking makes in a finished knitted work, so I figured I should try it with the short scarf I made, and then I decided I may as well wash everything while I was at it.

My new hair-kerchief almost-done.

And finished and blocked, I bought navy blue ribbon today to weave through the eyelets along the top.

And I don't remember if I posted my Zune cosy and I am too tired/lazy to check.

My next project is a lace-effect carrier for my Yoga mat, currently just barely begun. It's all patterns made from increases and decreases, and I'll need to keep track of a four-row pattern, so that'll be exciting... I may need a row counter.

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:52:34 GMT

I am fascinated by the Ravelry forums. I've spent much of my internet-life on webcomic or gaming forums dominated by boys (I say 'boys' rather than 'men' rather specifically. :P ), or in fantasy and Dragon-themed spaces where the topics of discussion are relatively narrow, that these sprawling discussions dominated by women (and the odd very-open-minded man) talking about every aspect of their lives completely enthrall me. I've been wasting terrible amounts of time bewitched by topics on rearing children, dealing with in-laws, cooking (and who does or does not), what items are okay to buy generic-brand and what aren't, relative health care in different countries, getting along (or not) with neighbours, and endless endless endless funny things your cat/child/coworkers does threads.

Of course I found a "Dragon" group but there isn't much going on. Lots of people like them but apparently not many feel the need to partition the discussion off into a particular group. But Mr. Pratchett has a large following, as does reading and fantasy novels in general.

And there are just so many DIFFERENT sorts of people! People that only learned to use a computer because someone told them they could find new knitting patterns on the internet, people that took it up as a fad and found they liked it, people that started in memory of passed-on relatives, and the only thing they all have in common is the patience/perseverance to sit down and knit (or crochet, or spin, or other related) now and again.

Oh my goodness a thread about knitting socks to deal with athletes foot. Why is this SO INTERESTING?

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:53:50 GMT

Had my last summer class and handed in my final essay this morning, so I decided this afternoon was mine to relax (after I did a load of dishes and two loads of laundry. X_x ). I went down to the river and borrowed my landlord's inner tube.

I could feel the heat of a forming sunburn, but I really couldn't care. It felt SO GOOD to just... float. A tiny snake was swimming away downstream as I came down. The little fishes swam beneath my tube, caddisfly larvae were all over the place (it was very difficult not to step on them on my way in and out of the water), and I found a wee crayfish (all the big ones were either hiding, eaten, or moved on). The birds are singing their little hearts out, and the water is such a perfect temperature I can't even describe it. Best apartment ever.

I brought a couple beers down with me, the sun and general exhaustion seem to have made them work faster than usual. :X Not a bad thing, but I'm probably not getting any knitting done this afternoon!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:18:25 GMT

I got 18/20 on my stories. :3 And I'm almost finished my coffee-cup cosy, so I got the rest of the materials I need to make a carrier for my yoga mat. I am stalled on my Zune cosy because I cannot find US size 5 double pointed needles, I'm gonna try one more store this afternoon before I give up and order online.

On that note, I should probably go do some dishes and laundry and errands.

EDIT: Oh yeah! People keep telling me that making baby clothes is the best practice for making clothes in general, because babies outgrow things so fast it's not the end of the world if it doesn't fit perfectly. XD And they're littler so it doesn't take as long to make something. But I can't afford to go 'round buying fancy yarn for this stuff, so for now I want to use up this random skein of baby-soft girly-pink yarn I happen to have. Who wants a pink baby hat/booties/other one-skein-sized item?

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:07:04 GMT

I get REALLY upset and non-functional when my morning routine is thrown off. D: Turned on my monitor this morning to discover that clamwin failed to get rid of the trojan virus that killed my userinit.exe files yesterday, so instead of reading my morning internets and then getting ready to go to the renfaire, Paul and I have been fixing windows files and installing Norton 360. We are also out of milk, so I had to have an alternative to my usual morning tea. Raarrrrgh.

I'm not really particularly chaotic or unpredictable, no matter how much some people seem to think so. Some things have to be done a certain way, in a certain order, or I get angry and/or cry.

But now Norton is running a full scan so it is time to shower and go to the renaissance festival!

Homework

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:52:15 GMT

This is my 'style portfolio' for English 374. The point is to write a short story in a particular style, and then write it again and again in five DIFFERENT styles. Don't mind the story itself, I used the names and plot that happened to come to mind. :p And then I made up some details to fill in.

My professor has read the first four stories and told me they are very good, exactly what she's looking for. :) She asked me specifically to mess with the actual syntax of the last two, and suggested sentence fragments as one of the options. I pulled Anadiplosis out of a list of styles.

Newsworthy

At 2pm this Thursday past a small group of adventurers from House Balla successfully repelled the latest zombie attack. Sent by Necromancers unknown, the attacks have been occurring with increasing frequency these last few months. The attacks originate from all directions, and trackers have been frustrated by trails that simply vanish in the forest barely miles from the town of Carreg Wynn.

The local ruling forces have offered a reward of 100 gold coins for the successful destruction of the zombie master. Sherrif Kain in particular is adamant that the threat be removed as soon as possible. “Right now we’re fighting them off, but what if this Necromancer finds a bigger supply of bodies, and starts sending more at once? We’ll be spending the rest of our un-lives shuffling around and moaning, that’s what. Nobody wants that.”

Rush, the self-proclaimed Ranger leader, has led several scouting missions with no results. He remains hopeful, however, that the zombies can be tracked. “Teleportation spells only work over a set distance, if we keep looking we’ll find the real trail, and then we’ll have them.”

The alchemist Fax has since cleared his name and provided much appreciated assistance to the defence of the town, after suspicion that he was secretly behind the attacks. His potions to confuse and delay the undead saved many lives, and proper medical care meant that this latest attack was repelled with no lasting injuries.

The local Houses have been invaluable in organizing the defence of their territories. House Balla to the east of town and House Seshu on the west, not to mention the Kaern enclave to the south and the Temple of NOS to the north have provided warning and initial cover in various attacks.

The local elven population has issued a statement indicating that the zombie attacks are certainly none of their business, and that as long as those elves living in Carreg Wynn come to no harm they see no reason to offer assistance. Any harm that does befall the elves of Carreg Wynn will be dealt with by punishing those that failed to protect them. Sherrif Kain has refused to comment on the elven position.

Think Of The Children

You may be most assured, dearest ones, that there shall be no zombies. Our warriors have fought them off bravely! Master Fax fixed those brave men and women right up, so every one of our townsfolk is now well. Anyone that said Master Fax was a bad man was just trying to make trouble. The great Houses and the Temple give us ample warning to be safe, and Lord Rush will track the filthy creatures to their lair so they will never walk again, magic or no magic.

What is this worry you tell of, that the zombies are stronger and stronger? That is nonsense, and you know we would never lie to you. Our Sherrif has offered a reward as a gift, from the good of his heart. It certainly wasn’t necessary to convince anyone to do the work! Why, if we were really in trouble, the elves would come from all over to protect their kin. If they believe our town elves are safe, then safe we are. You musn’t listen to Sherrif Kain’s moanings, it is his job to plan for the worst.

Go to sleep, darlings. That noise is nothing; it is merely the wind and trees singing to the stars. House Balla is practising sword-work as they often do, have no fear. We are safe, there are no more attacks. Go to sleep.

In My Eyes

I saw the zombies first, and gave the alarm. I was in House Balla’s courtyard, on the woods side, and I swear I smelled them before I saw them. I had one of that good man Fax’s potions in hand, and it exploded handily when I threw it in their midst. That gave us time to rouse the House and get assistance from the rest of the town. If Fax were really behind all this, would he be so helpful? Or is his recent helpfulness just a useful cover? That doesn’t matter at this moment, the important thing is to fend them off and be ready for them to come again, and again, until we find the source and destroy it.

They must be travelling under some black magic; the Rangers have yet to keep their trail more than a mile into the woods. Our supplies are growing thin; zombie bones dull a sword as badly as any living creature and our alchemy needs rare ingredients to be of any good. I think of that fact ruefully as I consider the impact of my explosive. Should have sent it a bit more to the left, but hindsight won’t help me now. Even our good magics grow difficult to replenish, as though the Elemental Gods themselves are retreating from the stench of dead flesh. I am too distracted by this thought, one of the foul undead digs its nails into my calf before I can behead it with my sword.

I had hoped the reward might bring in great hunters from the wilds, or at least more men from the cities. 100 gold coins! As near a King’s ransom as this small town can afford. But it brought nothing but fear that we were abandoned, and no one would care if we vanished. I wasn’t surprised by the cowardice of the elves, but I had hoped the Church would care about its local Temple.

Rush and his men show up just in time to make short work of the last few zombies, and are off again to follow the trail back as far as they can, and then farther. Rush hopes to find the other side, where it starts again beyond the magic travel, so that the lair can be found. I wouldn’t want to walk into a Necromancer’s house, personally, but that’s why we have great men like Rush around.

I limp over to Fax, and he mutters strange sounds as he touches my wounded leg. I feel the flesh knit itself together and purge the zombie foulness with a pleasant sense of warmth. And now I must prepare for the next time.

Talk It Out, With Feeling

“They’re coming from the east! House Balla, rise and defend!”

“I see them! Taima, you have one of Fax’s explosives? Then throw it, by the gods! A good throw, and now archers, fire! Archers reload, swords charge and hold the line!”

“There are more than last time, I swear it! They grow stronger every time, and soon -”

“None of that, keep heart! We nearly have them, and look, the Rangers are here! And that was the last of the monsters, what quick work – ah, but Rush is gone, he’ll track the foul things back to their Master if there’s an ounce of good on our side. Where is Fax now? We have injured folk that need tending.”

“I am here, if you’ll be quiet and let me do my work.”

“Sneaking around in that dark cloak will get you killed one of these days.”

“I’d say it’s what’s kept me alive so far, despite the bad opinion of some close-minded idiots. Here, soldier, stay still… There. Go on and clean up properly, we can’t expect to get too much rest.”

“We’d have more rest if the reward had worked, I don’t know what the Sherrif was thinking. One hundred gold pieces may be a fortune to us, but to the nobles with their grand armies it isn’t worth the trouble. And those elven cowards will leave their own kin to die rather than trouble to stir themselves. And House Balla defends the east alone, while the rest of the Houses are too slow to rally help to us.”

“That’s none of my concern, help me cut this one open. I could use some new zombie flesh for my potions.”

“That’s one thing you needn’t fear a lack of.”

Little Pieces

Zombies, again and again. East side now. Balla rallies, victory. Stronger zombies now. Future victory uncertain. Zombie origin unknown, must be found. Source hidden, trackers failing.

Reward offered, no good. Sherrif frustrated. Townspeople suspicious. No help from elves. Houses defend.

Anadiplosis

This time, the zombies attack from the east. East is House Balla's line, and so they defend. Defend the town against the threat that comes from directions unknown. Unknown sources must be found. Found by the Rangers, since the reward failed. Failed to bring new warriors to protect the townspeople, townspeople that are becoming suspicious of their own neighbours. Neighbours such as the elves, whose kin also failed to offer assistance. Assistance is vital, for next time, the zombies may attack again from the east, before Balla is ready to defend again.

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:24:13 GMT

My first finished project:

And my current work in progress. I'm actually further along, but not far enough to warrant taking another photo.