My life has been kind of crazy lately. I've been running around doing lots of summer things, such as going out to movies and staying in to movies and going to birthday parties and the like. I've also been working, which is getting shittier and shittier the longer I'm there. Oh well. Such is life.

I re-read Sailor Moon, which did not hold up as well as I hoped it would to my maturity level. God, when I was in sixth grade, Sailor Moon was my entire universe. How is this manga so mediocre?

After that though, I started watching Nodame Cantabile, which. I have no words. Wow. SO good. Amazing. Heart-warming, hilarious, pretty, thoughtful, educational. Finally got me to listen to my parents collection of classical music. Finally caused me to fall head over heels in love with Tomokazu Seki. To me, this series is on par with Hikaru no Go. It is that good, that epic, that wonderful. It also reminds me a lot of Nobuta, in that it is about a haughty guy who learns how to connect to life with the help of a strange girl. And also, the necessity of human relationships, their interconnectivity, and how love and friendship make the world go round. Superb. 5 million stars. I need an S-Oke shirt for Otakon.

Then I reread Cartograhper's Craft. Which is also superb and wonderful. I never get tired of how unrelentingly clever copperbadge's plots and style are. So much fangirlism. How the man does it, I will never know.

This of course led to a re-reading of Come Write Me Down (a prequel to Cartographer's Craft written by metallumai, not Sam), which, is heartbreakingly beautiful. Reading them both back to back, I actually like CWMD better, which is upsetting. But I love this Ellis and Sirius so, so much. Their feelings and their goals and their meaning to each other. God, so beautiful. And by stopping before the tear-your-heart-out ending, my love of it isn't tainted by the overbearing angst that puts me off so many Marauder-era fics. It handles the foreshadowing beautifully though.

And now I'm sort of hovering around thremedon waiting for people to start posting madly. I want mad posting!

Next books!

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

( The books! )

This one is sort of late, but oh well.

Reply to this post with the answers to these questions so that I can get to know you better. Then post it on your journal so you can get to know your flist.

( The questions )

Posting from the blackberry again. The internet goes out at precisely 8:15 every night. I don't know what that is about, but it annoys me greatly. Here are some updates from my life.

I got a summer job. It is my very first job ever. No, I am not joking. It is a silly boardwalk job common to those under twenty who live on the Jersey Shore, but it is a JOB. I got my first paycheck. I already miss lazing about profoundly.

Otherwise my summer has been very much the same as my previous summers. Here is what I have done so far:

I tore through Pamela Aidan's Darcy series. It was thoroughly enjoyable, though there were some points in the second book where I was thrown out of canon. However, the third book more than made up for the second's shortcomings.

Actually, it amazes me how easily I default into Regency lit. When did this become the norm for me? Actually, I'm pretty positive it was Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell that started me down this dark path. Damn that life altering book! What am I supposed to do with a Regency fixation?

I also rewatched all of Lovely Complex. That show makes me sad now. The first 12 episodes or so are soooo good, and then it just starts to taper off, slowly but surely. It is still an awesome show, don't get me wrong. At its worst it is still a damn good show. I just wish it could have taken the post-get-together part at a slower pace. :/

I also rewatched and read all of Cardcaptor Sakura. I cannot believe how good that series is. I was kind of worried that the show wouldn't hold up as well now that I'm older, but it was surprisingly engaging. Although I do not appreciate the fact that it is now pervy for me to be head-over-heels in love with Li Syaoran. ESPECIALLY ANIME!SYAORAN. THE SLOW REVEAL OF HIS GENTLEMANLY CHARACTER--GOD. A 10 YEAR-OLD HAS RUINED ME FOR OTHER MEN. I FIND THAT UNFAIR.

In a similar effort to recapture my childhood, I dug out my old copy of Lego Racers the other night, which was also a surprisingly engaging trip down memory lane. I was proud of how many shortcuts I remembered, although I am embarrassed to say it took me more than a day to beat it. Mind, I spent a lot of that time futzing around with the player builder. What can I say? I am easily amused.

Also, I started downloading Nodame Cantabile today before the Internet split for the evening. THIS SHOW IS AWESOME. NEED MOAR! NAO, DAMNIT. I HATE THIS INTERNET. D:!

In other news, it looks like I am in a bind for Otakon yet again, only this time I do not even have a hotel room to my name. I do not like how this looks like I will be gathering yet more experience with con-ing solo.

My life. Let me show you it. :/

So, today was basically the best day ever.

Well, I had scary final to do and that kind of sucked, but then the thing itself went pretty well, even if it was sooo muuuch writing (three long hours of analysis in the form of short responses on Europe as an imagined space as presented in EVERY BOOK/ARTICLE WE EVER READ IN THAT COMPLIT CLASS, WHAT THE HELLLL). Afterward he gave me back the goddamn paper that I didn't proofread and wrote at the very last minute and practically had a nervous breakdown over and I got a B+ on it, which is more than I could have hoped, and then ( cut for gratuitous bragging )

WHY IS THIS GUY SO NICEEE?

Then we had a long socio/psychoanalytical discussion about why my Dad refuses to go back to France, which was awkward, but kind of cool because who doesn't like to psychoanalyze their parents. :?

So my brain was kind of fried, and I didn't know what to do with myself, so I started trying to pack and found a plate I'd borrowed from a friend who lives on loweryourwand's floor. I went to return it, but she'd taken down her name label from her door so I headed over to loweryourwand's room to ask the number. Luckily, when I opened to door I was not only greeted by loweryourwand herself, but also 1) the person I was looking for, and 2) the most delicious smelling brownies I have ever sniffed in my life. AND THEN I GOT TO EAT ONE. GOD. THEY HAD CHOCOLATE CHIPS, AND CRUSHED GRAHAM CRACKERS, AND GIANT, MELTY MARSHMALLOWS. ALSO, THEY WERE UNDERCOOKED AND STILL WARM FROM THE OVEN. GOD. I AM SO GLAD I AM ROOMING WITH THIS GIRL NEXT YEAR. SHE WILL BAKE AND I WILL HEAP PRAISES UPON HER AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY FUNTIMES LAND OF BAKED GOODS. Also, we can never fight because I will never want to ever be cut off from such delicious things of great deliciousness. LEGENDARY BROWNIES, GUYS. OMNOMNOM.

Then roommate and rommate's friend from home staying with roommate wanted to go eat, so we all went to Le Monde. I got to have the cheese and fruit platter which is also a thing of legend. And slightly less legendary coq au vin, but nonetheless, yummy french food.

AND THEN, WHILE WE WERE EATING YUMMY FRENCH FOOD, SHOEBOX UPDATED.

Life is so good right now.

Tomorrow I am going to try to go on an adventure. The adventure will involve going to the new Kinokuniya store. I haven't decided what else yet, but it will be adventuresome. Hopefully.

Hopefully, the universe will not decide to make up for all the yay today by balancing my world with a mugging. You never know

The damned papers are damned, but also done.

I had been planning to do a post detailing the epic list of activities I engaged in during my weekend of obstinate procrastination, but I can't find any levity right now. I don't think I've ever put so little effort into a paper before. I've never been so wholly disappointed with myself. I've justified what I did eight ways to Sunday, but in the end, I just ran away from a responsibility.

I've learned a valuable lesson all over again: I am my own worst critic. No matter how much I wanted to avoid confronting this paper and the judgment of the teacher behind it, whatever he says to me will not be worse than what I'm saying to myself right now.

I am not allowed to do this again.

Signs that my priorities are not on straight.

3 1/2 pages of a 9 page paper due at midnight written.
None written of short response essay that I forgot about due at 4.
Realized it was Hikago day at 12:30AM.
Realized it was Cinco di Mayo at 12:30PM.*

But I got a paper back that was a solid A, which pretty much hasn't happened ever this semester. I'm gonna take that as a sign that I don't actually deserve a smiting from the Powers That Be and go back to work.

Back to work!

*My roommate is Latin-American, which makes this a slightly bigger offense than usual.

I hate the fact that I have writer's block in the eleventh hour, with a goddamn outline right in front of my face. I just want to write this piece of shit and be done with it, but instead of contemplating the aesthetic of poverty in Ireland, my brain is broadcasting nothing but grey television snow. I HATE MY GODDAMN SHIT-ASS LIFE RIGHT NOW.

I need to stop panicking and complaining and just keep writing. I know this. Off I go.

ETA: Things going along slightly better now at 4 in the morning. Am now merely annoyed that I am working with an 80-some-odd page zerox copy (held together by a binder clip, no less) that makes it very cumbersome to skim for relevant quotes.

ETA2: It occurs to me that I should clarify: the paper I'm writing is not for the English class with the passive-aggressive teacher. She just contributed to the writer's block.

Sometimes I make this silent promise to myself that I will stop staying up until 6-ish every fucking day of the week, because I know it is bad for my health and my future and social life, but then nights like this happen and I know that while I may eventually cut down, I will never be able to give them up.

There is something so simple and gratifying about being awake in the middle of the night. Nobody expects you to be doing anything other than sleep. Whatever you choose to do with that time instead, it's all yours.

It just so happens that tonight (start time: 12:30) I watched Stranger Than Fiction with my roommate, A. This was only my second time seeing that movie, and while I enjoyed it that first time, seeing it again, with all the subtleness of its cinematography and graphic additions open to my notice, I realized for the first time that that movie is superb. Everything about it is superb. It deserves superlatives.

We had to break so that I could go do the radio show, and since Diana was off having her citizenship validated and suchlike, I brought A down with me and we had a lovely, lazy time cranking out tunes from 2-4.

Then we came back and finished the movie and I squeed some more about it, by which time A was heartily sick of me and went to bed which left me free to do a quick email check, where I learned that Drop Dead Gorgeous had updated with Chapter 10.

And then I read Chapter 10.

And then I lost my head. I went running down the hall the the study lounge--which was empty, thank God--and had a flailing FIT, in capital letters, complete with manic laughter and twitching and arm movements not seen in nature. AND IT WAS 5 IN THE MORNING SO I COULD DO IT AND KNOW THAT NO ONE WOULD WANDER IN AND SPOIL THE REVELRY IN MY MADNESS.

YES. And now I have a huge headache, but IT IS WORTH IT. YAY, 5AM.

More numbers.

1. MAXIMO PARK. Dude, this is why Christmas rocks. I ended up getting $75 worth of iTunes gift cards, and I've been trying to use it to buy albums from bands that I like for two or three of their songs. Other bands I'm considering: The Organ, Veda/Vedera, The Pipettes, Nada Surf, Cobra Starship, The World/Inferno Friendship Society. Thoughts? Other bands to try?

2. OOFURI. TOSEI GAME = HOLY SHIT WITH THE SUSPENSE AND THE GETTING MY BLOOD UP AND THE BRINGING OF THE AWESOME. GOD. I went into this manga/anime for the characterization and the battery dynamic, but I have a feeling I'll be really getting into the games, too.

3. RADIO SHOW. As in, I'M DOING ONE. With loweryourwand! Tune in from wbar.org every Friday/Saturday night from 2-4 AM to hear us spout nonsense and play weird music!

4. My 21st birthday. Will fall on Easter Sunday. There's a conflict of interest if ever I saw one.

5. THIS MUSIC VIDEO. It's weird, but catchy and kind of addictive.

6. I want bustedtees. Specifically, this and this.

7. Lesson. Never take two extra-strength pain-killers first thing in the morning and then not eat anything. That poor girl in the hallway who saw me standing over a trashcan probably thought I had a hangover, which is so karmically unbalanced I have to laugh. Please go die, uterus.

It's days like today when it really hits home that I am going to an all girls school.

My roommate and I started talking about how sad and shocking and terrible Heath Ledger's death is, and as our conversation went on, my roomate pulled down her copy of 10 Things I Hate About You. She brought in a couple of friends from the hall, and we all started watching it.

This movie defined the beginning of our teens. I wasn't lying when I said he was my first idol crush. All of us love this movie and love Heath in it. The first time he came on screen we gasped a little and groaned and were so aware of his every movement, but then the movie took hold. Before long, we were laughing and groaning at everything, simply and plainly enjoying ourselves. It became less of a thing of mourning and more of a celebration of his life and his work.

As this went on, other girls stopped by, realized what we were doing and stayed to see the movie. At our largest, there were about sixteen of us in the room. About twenty filtered through for different portions. Twelve finished the movie with us. And throughout, we shared trivia and stories and thoughts about the movie and Heath Ledger. We all came to terms together.

I'm sure we weren't the only group of girls who did this, but I'm glad I was a part of it. Heath Ledger was one of our generation's greatest heartthrobs, and he was a wonderful actor besides. He will live on as Patrick and Cassanova, as Ennis del Mar and Gabriel Martin, as Sir William Thatcher, and the speculation surrounding his death can never taint those characters, or his stellar career. He figured prominently in my adolescence. For being that person in my life, I'm grateful to him.

Right, so. Last Friday, I GOT A HAIRCUT. Like, a real, five-inches-off haircut! MY FIRST HAIRCUT. Unfortunately, it was without my consent, so uh, the shock was so great that I got sick immediately after.

( A weirdly long ramble about the event and the resulting cold... )

I started feeling better just in time to do one last movie with my friends yesterday. We saw 27 Dresses which was, overall, about as good as we thought it would be. The plot was as surprisingly mediocre (even for a romcom, it was predictable and lazy) as the performances of the leads were surprisingly strong. I never really appreciated James Marsden. I thought he was a pretty kind of okay. THIS MOVIE CHANGED MY MIND SO HARD AND FAST, I AM TEMPTED TO MAKE TEN DOLLAR WHORE JOKES, HAHAHA. God. "Bennie and the Jets" will never be the same for me again. 27 Dresses had its moments, and those moments are enough to make me want to see it again, but I am the kind of girl to which these romcoms pander. See at your own discretion.

And then today I moved back into the dorms. Hello again, NYC. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to take advantage of the city more, so let's see how that goes!

Uh, and I'm starving. Going to go make a sandwich now. Extra-crunchy peanut butter, how I've missed you!