As yesterday Hilary reminded me that I do in fact have a livejournal and might want to consider posting in it from time to time, here is an official notice that this journal is not dead. Just bleeding. Like my soul bled when it took $50 to gas up a freakin' vw beetle. In other news, I woke up today in South Hadley, and lay down to sleep in Georgia. A good day. The road is theraputic.

So, yeah, as an official moron, I'm doing NaNoWriMo.

My creation is a bizarre fairytale type thing.

Because a couple of people have requested to read it (why they would want I don't think I'll understand--after all, nano's are so rushed and with no editing and with... anyways). So yeah, if anyone wants in on the NaNo filter of PAIN, here would be the place to say so.

Saw 30 Days of Night tonight with Steve. Poor thing was loaded with plot holes. I'd take zombies over that any day.

So, I'm working on planning/logistics for this weekend, and wanted input on best times to arrive, leave, and where lodging would be available/best/whatever.

And any non-Gina and Vera people reading this, want in on planning? I'm hoping to get the cooridinating done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

For creative writing, one of our assignments was a page and a half using sentences of 5 words or less. (No genre, no fun...) I'm not sure if I'll actually submit this one--it might be a bad plan. Regardless, it was fun to write.

My story under the cut. Anyone can feel free to give input of ANY kind.( Read more... )

So, I wanted to get cable hooked up in my dorm room, and instead of calling the thingie you fill out a form, they pretentiously call it an "application." So, what is an application without... an essay! Here's mine! Now I just need to get together a reference sheet!

As Boris, my pet beta fish, once said, “Blub blub swim swim.” I agree with his statement fully, as far as it pertains to my use of cable. I have a long history of responsible cable watching. I started at a young age, where my major concentration was in cartoons. But because I was an advanced cartoon watcher, soon I was able to progress to sitcoms, R rated movies, and the occasional history channel special. I took my studies to a more multicultural level when I started watching the Japanese game show Ninja Warrior this summer, along with my normal course of study, which is heavy in The Colbert Report.

My current registered status of alive serves as proof that I am able to pick and choose wisely which activities from television programs to emulate. I have had great success picking and choosing which television and movie tropes to adopt to further my life and studies. So, while I do have a tendency to indulge in the periodic montage (I am especially guilty of this during finals and midterms), I have yet to attempt any common television gags that involve the use of physics of some other planet.

I realize that cable is a very big commitment, so I plan on balancing it out with a rigorous routine of video games and DVDs. Although in the past I have had difficulty getting in enough hours of video games, I have already made necessary arrangements with a support group that will encourage me with such words of wisdom as, “I already beat that level six hours ago, n00b,” to keep me motivated and on track. I have also invested in the proper text books, known in this field as “strategy guides,” to insure success. So, the fine people of cable can rest assured that I have already taken many precautions to prevent cable abuse.

Everyone, especially everyone named Kelsey, must watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Nc1kvAF3A

So, spent yesterday night in NYC at Gina and Vera's place! They were having a little party thing to celebrate the new apartment, so Laura and I drove up there. (BTW, me and Laura make a rather badass driving team.)

Was a lovely trip. Mike and Diana stopped by for a little while. We watched such art gems as Scifi channel's MEGASNAKE and Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was hysterically funny.

We also ate food! This included a pie made by Gina, and cookies by Vera.

...I want to visit more.

So, yeah, tonight at Laura's, tomorrow in Hilary's room, and Tuesday I move in to school to become an orientation leader. Fear for the incoming class!

Successfully completed the drive to Laura's house! Only a few days left till I'll be back at MHC. Fun times.

And also, a meme! This one swiped from Laura!

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, [even if we don't speak often] please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE-UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised [or mortified] about what people don't actually remember about you.


...And, on a lark, I think I'll rate all of the state's I've driven in this summer! 5 is best, 1 worst.

Massachussetts- 3.2. Interstates generally well kept, people generally drive ok, the speed limit is a little low, but they make up for it by everyone speeding.
Connecticut- 2.0. Decent roads, decent speeding to counter low limits, but THE DRIVERS ARE CRAZY.
New York- 1.5. Gas prices suck, as do speed limits. Yeah, this rating is totally for the gas prices.
Pennsylvania- 3.0. Pretty scenery, but the speed limits were a bit low, and the people could have used a little more speeding.
Maryland- -.-. What? I blinked! Did I miss a state?
West Virginia- 3.4. Decent speed limits, decent road condition, and very quick to pass through!
Virginia- 2.5. Speed limits could be higher, speeding could be more common, and the state just passes toooooo slooooooowly. Felt like I was in it forever.
Tennessee- 0.1. Speed limits suck, drivers have no clue what they're doing, road construction that BURNS MY SOUL. Tennessee is not an A++++++ eBay user.
Georgia- See Maryland.
Alabama- 3.3. Pleasant enough roads. Decent speeds and speeders. But the scenery? It needs work.
Mississippi- 2.0. Craptastical, except for the decent speed limits.
Louisiana- 0.32. Decent speed limits, decent speeders (not to mention it's the place I know I don't have to worry about tickets), icky scenery, and it loses a lot of points just for being Louisiana. Oh, and people don't know what a turn signal is in Louisiana.
Texas- 4.0. Good moving roads and traffic. Boring scenery, but it passes quickly, especially for it's size.
Oklahoma- 1.5. Booooooooring. Painfully so. Passes slowly.
Kansas- 0.1. If hell were on earth, it would be Kansas.
Colorado- 4.9999999 Best speed limits, best traffic flow, good scenery, A++++++++++++++ WULD BY FROM AGAIN!!111

Yes, that tells where I drove THIS summer. Maybe next one will have more road trips..

Quick note for the Notoriety Squad-- I got us reservations for next year's Otakon at the Sheraton that connects to the convention center.

So, this is Hilary posting for Ann again. Lots of pictures ahead!
Here are my pictures from Otakon! We will start with ( random cosplay. )

Then we can move on to ( about 30 million FFXII pictures. )

So, I have a ton of Otakon pics that I'd be delighted to upload.

Except, the evil firewall won't let me. It's decided that posting lj entries is ok, but uploading images is not.

I've tried lj scrapbook, imageshack, and photobucket.

Anyone know of any other uploader I should look at? Not that it would actually make any difference.

I love the South Park WoW episode.

So, I ended up having my car break down today.

I drive a yellow bug. See: old school Bumblebee

The tow truck comes to save me. It was a huge cabbed truck with flames painted on. See: movie Optimus Prime

Watching my bug get towed, my mind was totally all "Awe, Prime came to save Bee! So Cute!"

Why yes, I am a dork.

I decided to take advantage of Gina's internets, as tomorrow I return to the land of "will lj post or will it not?" firewall hell.

So, we survived Otakon and made it back Gina's. Otakon was... ok, but not great. There wasn't enough to do, and I learned something important about cosplay! My old cosplay rule was: LOOK FOR THE CHARACTER WITH THE LONG BLONDE HAIR CUZ OMG WIGS SUCK.
Now I know the importance of also cosplaying characters that I am not indifferent to. I think I would have had a better time if I'd picked a character based on liking them instead of ease.

We also ran into Jenna on the way back, at a rest stop. That was pretty amusing.
And I do not support New Jersey traffic laws. They are silly.

...Finally have the ability to post, but lack things to say.

The best of the pictures I took will be put on TEH INTERWEBZ later.

Hah! My firewall can't stop me from lj now! That is because I am not at home! Currently with Gina and Vera in NY, a few hours away from going to Otakon.

Meaning yesterday was a day of journeys. The plane trip was delayed about a milliondy hours, because of weather, then airtraffic, then dragons with cowboys zooming around. My time at the Dallas airport was rather weird. For some reason, guys kept trying to impress me with weird stuff. Like, one guy was all using airplane jargon about models and years, and another told me about important people he met working as a civilian military contractor with lots of AWESOME NIFTY SEKRIT PROJECKTS! Kind of weird.

Then, on the train I took from the airport to meet up with Gina, there was a lovely showdown between the conductor and a group of kids. He laid the vocabulary smack down on them. They tried to defend themselves, but kept misusing words and he just kept ridiculing the hell out of them. I was very entertained.

At OOTP last night, some stupid little girl was boasting about how she was going to read the end of the new Harry Potter book right away to shout spoilers and who-dies at the people still in line.

It's really ridiculous when headphones/earplugs are needed for book releases. Just so sick of people who are so selfish that they'd do such immature, stupid things.

(Edited to add: WOW! This thing let me post! I guess LJ hates HP-Bitch as much as I do!)

And clearly the best and most awesome being ever in every possible way.

...she is also the one posting this for Ann because LJ refuses to load for her. So, without further delay:

The following post was written yesterday, but refused to post. So, read all the time things in it for yesterday.

So, I've been crap for keeping in contact with people this summer.
Partially, this is because I'm lazy and hiding from people on general
principles. But the bigger part isn't my fault--it's the wonky
internet connection at my house! (Most of the time, it won't even let
me make posts or send emails, I just kind of have to keep trying until
it decides to be nice. It really is ridiculous. Like, this post? I've
tried at least half a dozen times to get it to stick.

So, auditions came up for the summer theater show around here, the
musical "Assassins" about people who have or have tried to kill
presidents. I decided not to do it (I mean, the production dates
overlap when I'd be returning to school, the concept is "...eh? um?
not quite?", and I'm kind of sick of theater). So, last day of
auditions I get called by the director who wanted to make sure I was
involved. When I said I'd have to leave before the run of the show
completed, he tapped me for administrative duties (basically,
rehearsal stage manager). Yay, if yay means "OH GOD WHY DIDN'T I SAY
NO?!?!?!?!?" So, I wish I could quit, but that whole responsibility
thing. I guess I can just hope that a member of the cast ends up being
a diva so we can have a screaming fight that ends with me saying "I
REFUSE TO WORK WITH THAT... THAT... {insert something appropriate for
whoever here}!"

I sewed a Gogo costume for a friend today. I just kind of let him
decide what he wanted where, what colors to make what pieces, and what
not. I mean, every Gogo picture is so different that to do an accurate
one... yeah, I don't know. I figure helping him on this will pay off,
however, as he does fiberglass and welding.

Speaking of cosplay, OTAKON GROUP! I need to ship my faux crossbow for
Marle to someone--no way am I taking it on a plane, even in checked
luggage, with all the terrorism crap.
--SIDENOTE: With the words "presidents", "assassins", and "terrorism"
I wonder how many government watch programs this post will ping--
So, yeah, I need to be able to ship it to someone so that I may be
re-united with it for the con.

Also, riding a lot (though the stupid show rehearsals are about to cut into that). Finally making progress--makes me wonder if I want to ride at school next semester, or look for a nearby barn for better lessons.

In other news, more stuff happened but I'm too lazy to write of it now.

In fact, I'm too lazy in general.

And Hilary Ann is going down.
(this was altered for obvious reasons. Ann should consider herself lucky that I didn't write a bunch of unbelievably insulting comments about everyone on her flist in a clever plot to distance her from them. Or something. :P)