Jess and I talked about housing options over the weekend. I don't think I'm going to find this one, though...

Your home is a Rough Wizard's Ranch Your kitchen is manned by a team of Keebler Drow Elves. There's a pantry stocked with beef jerky. Oh, and deer jerky. Your master bedroom is decorated to look like the treetop village of the Galadhrim. Your study has every fantasy novel ever written, including multiple editions of the Silmarillion and advance copies of Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition. One of your garages houses your Hummer, and others contain your H2, and H3... with room for an H4, if they ever invent one. Your home also includes a roost for griffons. You've never actually seen a griffon, but you keep the roost ready anyway. Your guests enjoy your home theater with hi-def plasma screen TV, and the thrones you watch it from. Outside is the moat that protects your home from goblin invaders and extended family. And, you have a pet -- a unicorn named "Shadowhooves". Below is a snippet of the blueprints:

Build YOUR Dream House!

  The Reincarnationist, MJ Rose
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I am occasionally lexiphanic. I occasionally use pretentious language. I was accused of this in grade school (not in so many words, of course, we were too young), but before that it never crossed my mind that I might be using words that my classmates didn't understand, or hadn't come across yet, since I read so much more than the average person.

Word of the day, eh? Read about it.

  Night Air, Teddy Geiger

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All day long I've been watching the snow fall outside. It's pretty as long as you don't think about driving in it. The view from the window at the lab includes a platform that used to support the garage that stood over the Metrolink tracks, but the garage got demolished some years ago. However, the platform stands, I assume because it would be too much of a hassle to Metrolink to take it down (the car cable is attached to the underside) and it's possibly going to become part of the new building to take the garage's place (when that might be I have no idea).

Anyway, for the past few days, there's been a green plastic soda bottle sitting on the platform, probably thrown up there by someone unconcerned with littering. The wind hadn't blown it off, so today it slowly got buried as the snow continued to fall. There's a tiny sliver of green still showing, so at least we know the amount of snow on top of the platform was at least the width of a soda bottle...

took entirely too long to write that, I suppose, but you know me. Never concise when I can be verbose.

  The Mixed Tape, Jake's Mannequin

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...but I still have time to take quizzes. I'm approximately 3000 words behind on NaNo and I still have to write out the biochem paper. But I will get there, I promise.

Raise your hand if you're not surprised at the rating I got on this quiz. Wish I could do so well on Biochem.

Swimmer You are 70 % fantastical!

You breathe fantasy as a fish does water. Excellent job! Chart your course and start swimming, because there's more for you yet in the fantasy seas. Feel free to ask me for any book recommendations!

  Immediate Music Abbey Road (think zoomy trailer music)

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Woman bakes cookies on dashboard - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com Too bad my dashboard isn't big enough to cook much on.

I am going crazy with this med school application stuff. Who knew there was so much you had to do to get the damn thing finished? It's not enough that you have to take the MCAT, but then you get this complex application that costs a lot of money and requires so many things...oy. wish me luck. I need it, and I need inspiration on writing the essay. I have to get my vague, unformed idea about wanting to be a doctor to help people into interesting, appealing shape so those admissions committees might give me a chance.

So happy it's friday.

  Otherland: Volume Two: River of Blue Fire, Tad Williams
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...that will surely show up now that I have a digital camera. Yay for my mother, who is very nice and said she would get me one for my birthday. Alas, neither of us could decide on which one to get before my birthday, and there were no sales, and there was no(t alot of) money. So we waited until after my birthday, until today, Labor Day (thank goodness there is a holiday after the Queeny Park show!) when there was in fact a sale of sorts and a helpful salesperson named William at Sears. I did end up paying the difference between a 2 year and a 3 year warranty, but it will probably be worth it with all the things that I hear can go wrong with said cameras.

We went to the mall near my parents' house, since my mother wanted to drop off some film (at another place, which was unfortunately closed, being a holiday) and we had tried Best Buy &c, so we figured why not give it a try. There was a nice selection, and the aforementioned William actually owned the camera that's now sitting beside me on my bed *pets* so that turned out to be a good thing. Hopefully he wasn't full of bs and being a slimy salesman like some of them are. There was a whole weird thing with checking out and when we finally did they didn't have any in stock, so we had to drive to another mall to get one that was. Well, we didn't really have to, but I wanted it today, so we did. Eventually I will install the software and have lots of pictures to show you all. Eventually.

But I promised myself I would look at my A&P book tonight, so this is me signing off...

file under: celebration , miscellany Posted by Jen at 9:58 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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AOL News - Male Chromosome's Demise Exaggerated, Study Says

I can't believe it's a new month already. Geez. My birthday is already last week. Sigh. Time marches ever on, tempus fugit, etc, etc.

So I suppose you could call me an adult now, being that I'm 25 and I signed up for a retirement plan at work and I get to pay my car insurance all by myself and I have renter's insurance. I'm really beginning to hate insurance, because I'm the sort of person who would never ever need it until it was gone. Here's hoping that never happens.

I really do need to find another way to make money, though. You people aren't buying anything from my affiliate links Hopefully once this Fall Festival of Art is over, we might have enough for a digital camera and that will make it substantially easier to put things online. Keep an eye out for ebay auctions from us!

I just got an email from my softball coach informing us that only one of the three games that were rained out will be made up. One game that we only got to play three innings (but scored 20+ runs to the other team's 3) apparently counts. Poor other team. The one game we do get to make up will be after the tournament on the 10th. Go fig. Seems sort of like a moot point after the tournament, eh? I guess if we go out in the second round like I'm a little worried we might (since we're playing a team that's beaten us every single time we've played them, including the games last year) it gives us another chance to play. As long as it's still light out, I guess. Whatever. BBQ tonight!

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 10:42 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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If you think you know colors, then check this out. Amazing how nearby colors (ahem) color your perception.

I've been playing around with the blog, upgrading the MT software to version 3.2. Now with unlimited blogs! Lots of fun plugins! More ways to procrastinate!

Theoretically everything should work right now, please let me know if it doesn't. I've got an idea for a new layout but I'm not sure when I'll be able to work on it.

This weekend is the St. Louis Fall Festival of Art, and my mother will have a booth. Please head out to Queeny Park (550 Weidman Rd, a few miles west from the intersection of 270 and Manchester, friday night, saturday and sunday) and support her and the other artists this weekend. It's a juried show so all the artwork there is very well done.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 10:00 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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First:

Second: Yay weekend! I am so ready for it. But I continue to be appalled and/or grateful at how fast the weeks are going. Happy Summer, by the way.

Third: I spent more money on perfumes. Alas. I haven't quite sold my soul to BPAL but it's a darn close thing. And now I really have to say to myself, no more spending until a) rent and loan is due and b) Furies of Calderon comes out in paperback, both of which occur next week. I really have to break myself of this habit of not being able to enter a bookstore or Target and only buying one thing. Even if I make a list, I always end up spending more. Boo me.

Fourth: Cece and I had dinner and a movie last night, I'm quite excited to have a new roommate. Who I don't actually have yet, and won't for a few more weeks, as Olga has, just today, gone back to Colombia for two weeks and will move out immediately thereafter. I feel a little bad about that, like I'm kicking her out or something, but it is the end of the lease and that's how things go. I hope she's got her lodgings secured for July, and I hope she's able to get a place out in CA with her boyfriend.

Fifth: it is really freaking hot outside and last month's utility bill was through the roof. Ugh. Welcome to summer in St. Louis. Thank God for AC even if it's heinously expensive.

Sixth: I really have to a) get to the public library and renew my card and see if they still have a book on hold for me and b) get home so I can have chicken and dumplings and banish this cold for good.

Seventh: Nah, there's no seventh. I'm done.

  La Tortura, Shakira
  
file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 10:34 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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so I've determined that for some odd reason AIM doesn't want to let me change my buddy icons on my laptop. Boo. I might have to reinstall it, see if that works. Weird.

Another weird thing, on saturday morning as I was leaving for lab, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye under the tire of a car parked near my apartment. I looked back and saw it was a rather big something, but I didn't have time to take a closer look. The car was still there when I got back from lab, and this time I did take a better look: someone had run into the rear driver's side bumper, really hard, hard enough to drive some of the bumper over the rear driver's side wheel and another part of it under the front driver's side tire. That's what I'd seen earlier. You could tell it had been done there because there was all sorts of debris around the car, and it looked like it had been hard enough to bump the car up onto the (admittedly low) curb. When I came outside the next day someone else was looking at it and the person who lives in the house next door said that it had been a drunk hit-and-run, but it wasn't his car. I wonder whose it was, and if they knew about it over the weekend, because it didn't get towed until yesterday afternoon. It was a nice car, too.

While I was on my way to lab, I noticed this car parked horizontally across an alley, and I was like, "wow, that's rude," but then I saw that the entire front tire had been shredded. I mean, it looked like it had exploded, which is possibly what happened. I didn't have time to examine it, as I was driving, but when I came back after lab I had to stop at the stoplight and could look at it a little longer. I don't know what the person ran over, but wow. I guess the alley just happened to be the easiest way to stop, but I would have thought they could have pulled a little farther forward. At least the car wasn't totally blocking the way. I have no idea if it's been towed yet, I'd assume so, but it's kinda funny how I only go that route if I'm going directly to the hilltop from the apartment, which I only do on saturdays. Weird.

and just so you know, lab was terrible. I think I'm doing ok, but I didn't get out until quite late, and I feel really bad. It's probably going to reflect on my grade that I left late so many times. Boo. And of course, our paper is due a few days after our last test (not the final, but the fourth test). Of course. Just the luck.

I just have to keep telling myself, just a few more weeks. And there are some bright spots in there, like the Kingdom of Heaven premiere, parents' anniversary/Kate's birtday/friends in town/et.com turning 3 but there's two tests and a paper. Sigh. Still feel crappy.

  The Soul Weaver, Carol Berg
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JK Rowling says that today is Remus J Lupin's birthday. And he may not be *your* favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he is mine, so there.

Did I mention how orgo is just not fun at all? I really must do homework. Boo.

And here's a gripe...for HIPAA regulations (privacy rules) the med school can't allow POP mail anymore, since it's not secure. So all access has to be from the web. The whole reason I like my Outlook Express is because all my accounts are in one place and I don't *have* to get on the web, I can just open up the one program and save the hassle of clicking through. Ah well. I understand the need for privacy, but *sniff* I like my convenience. Just another instance of me being spoiled, I suppose.

I should go home and study. I will, I think. Shortly.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 5:42 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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(That's a line from RENT, in case you didn't pick it up immediately after I gushed about it yesterday and memorized it. Sheesh. I don't think I've memorized my 'it was red and yellow and green and brown and..." Joseph's-coat-of-many-colors bit for the AHS drama thing. Ah well. More practice tonight! I guess I should go about finding my matching blacks...)

Actually, there was. I forgot to mention our interesting sledding escapade. Perhaps you had to be there, but Kate and I couldn't stop laughing about it, even though it had the potential to be very scary. Funny scary though.

Anyway, after seeing RENT on Saturday, I persuaded Kate to go sledding on what little snow remained (I hate it when snow falls, looks really nice for just a day, then melts (or is sledded over too much) for me to go sledding. Bah!) So we drove over to Art Hill to see if it was totally sledded-out, which is was, then we moved onto another hill close by that I'd had luck with in the past, which was slightly better. It was a little too warm for good sledding; you had to find packed snow because the untouched stuff would just stop you cold. No pun intended.

So, we sled a bit, and then we trek over the crest of the hill to see if we could get anything better on the other side. We're on a golf course, which is what's underneath most of the western end of Forest Park, so it's got some nicely hilly spots with putting greens and fairways and brush, etc, etc. Well, we decide to go down, and I persuade Kate to go down first (makes it sound like I have persuasion skillz, don't it?) and she goes, and then suddenly she just drops out of sight!

It was like one of those cartoons where you see Wiley E Coyote go over a cliff and hang there for a second.

I mean, of course she didn't hang there, but she literally dropped from sight so quickly it was like she disappeared. I felt bad then for making her go first when I saw her stand up. She was ok, but what we both thought was a nice bump in the hill turned out to be the upper edge of a sandtrap with a nice four or five foot drop. Needless to say I decided to avoid that bump when I went down myself.

See, even as I'm writing this I'm realizing how not-funny it sounds, but by the time I got down there (narrowly missing the pit myself, since the packed snow practically led the sled there...must have been nice when there was snow on the sand to propel you forward!) we were both laughing. Yeah. Guess you had to be there. But we kept laughing about it all the way back. And did we let it scare us? Hell no! We went back down that slope several times! Staying well away from said pit

I want more snow on weekends so I can sled more. And mom used the lovely white interlude to point out that if I had a boyfriend he would have already been at the apartment when it started snowing so I could have gotten primo sledding time. Alas. She's right though. Darn. How do moms get so smart?

Get Your New Pagan Name! Mine is Deirdre Tara Moonfire. Aww.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 6:05 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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what the word "wiki" means...

read all about it.

Anyone who has not yet encountered a wiki while surfing the web will sometime soon, for wikis are proliferating quickly. In fact, the word wiki comes from a word for "quick."

A wiki is a collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone with access to it, and the word wiki is a good example of how the invention of new technologies requires the invention of new words. Wiki is an abbreviation of WikiWikiWeb, the name that American computer programmer Ward Cunningham chose in 1995 for his new code permitting the easy development of collaborative websites. Mr. Cunningham explains that a name such as quick web or the like would have been appropriate for a system that makes webpages quickly. He coined the word WikiWikiWeb from Hawai'ian wikiwiki, "fast, speedy" (a reduplication of wiki, "fast"), with the thought that WikiWikiWeb was more fun to say than quick web. Wikiwiki was the first native Hawai'ian word that Mr. Cunningham learned on his first visit to the islands, when he was instructed by the airport counter agent to take the wikiwiki bus between terminals. Since this word was new to Mr. Cunningham, the agent explained that wikiwiki meant "quick." Mr. Cunningham himself advocates the pronunciation wee-kee for the new word, since it is closer to the original Hawai'ian, rather than a pronunciation wick-ee. The word wikiwiki in Hawai'ian is akin to Tahitian viti and vitiviti, "deft, alert, well done." The Hawai'ian word has a k where the Tahitian has a t, a regular correspondence between Hawai'ian and the other Austronesian languages.

  Guster: Happier

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Hope you all had a Merry Christmas or whatver holiday suits you best. I did pretty well with the presents I thought about putting up something but I was just too lazy. Bad Jen. I still need to make some email presents for my buddies in the Philippines. Sorry I'm so late, guys!

There was supposed to be an entry earlier today, but the computer ate it. I think that was the first time that Firefox crapped out on me. Silly virtual memory paging file, whatever that means. Ah well.

I'm very excited about Kingdom of Heaven, Orlando's next movie. Medival Orli, what more could I hope for? I do hope it's not another Troy. As much as I liked that movie, it really wasn't that good. But the trailer for KoH (which I've watched about ten times now) looks very good, slighly Gladiator-ish (not surprising, since Sir. Ridley Scott directed that too) and quite exciting. *crosses fingers* Sigh. This fangirl is impatient. May 6 2005, folks...and just so you know, when you do finally see the cool trailer, the music used at the end of it, at about 1:50, is from Jonathan Elias' The Prayer Cycle, a very beautiful album. The song is from Movement III: Hope. Check it out.

Hope you all have a stunning New Years. We'll see if I have anything new to talk about in the days to come

it's only a little gripe...

I am a little peeved because I haven't been able to take a full *day* off of work. I don't mind going into work, they pay me nicely. It's just that I'd like to get at least a day, preferably several consecutive days, when I can just not have to go in. I've been doing half days, but it's just not the same when you still have to get up and go to work. Ah well. One of these days. *prays that there will be some free time before the orgo class starts up again* *grumble* Stupid orgo. I'm insane.

  George Winston: December (piano solos)

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Chesterfield and Springfield MO made the list of the Top 100 places to live in the US. Yay MO! Homestore: Real Estate News - General - Top Cities (I still wish we weren't a red-for-republican state, though.)

I really should be writing or studying at this point, ideally both at the same time, but we all know how unlikely that is.

Wanna see a volcano?

I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving. The nice folks at Human Resources finally realized that everyone takes off the friday after Thanksgiving anyway, so it's an official holiday that we get paid for. Whee! I'm glad I already got Mom her birthday present...I am positive she will like it. But I'm not sure if I should give her two things for her birthday or save one for Christmas...Christmas will probably be pretty small this year, since my parents have quite a bit to pay off shortly. It makes me sad to hear that they're struggling. Bugger. I want a web design job so I can finance my new laptop and a greenhouse/studio for my parents. Yeah. Let me get cracking on that one.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 10:31 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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From Time Magazine by way of ElfLady:

Squee!

And I am off to Target to pick up Roswell season 2 and Peter Pan, because I'm silly. Thank you Leo for taping channel 4 for me tonight. One of these days I'm going to have to get those shows watched. I'm already behind. Then again, it is October. And COLD! Sigh. Weird weather.

Keep praying about that roommate sitch, eh? Olga from Columbia came by on Saturday and she seemed nice, but I'm kinda weirded out that only one person has come by. I just think the apartment is too nice to just hoist it off on the first person that showed up. I guess I'm making it too complicated though; if she's the only one than it makes my decision easy. And then Leo will feel better since she knows what she'll be doing with herself. It will all work out somehow.

--How will it?

--I don't know. It's a Mystery.

Little Shakespeare in Love there for you. Goodnight!

  John Mayer - Clarity (live)

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 7:11 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Born Before 1986? Then You Are......OLD! And here's proof.

Gee thanks. Amazing to think that kids born in 1986 are now entering college...they're only six years younger but still. They seem so young! Some of the stuff on the list is really funny but thought-provoking.

Speaking of thought provoking, who wants to visit Milan? 'Da Vinci Code' Readers Flock to Milan's Last Supper. I shouldn't be suprised that the Da Vinci Code is still at the top of the bestseller lists...it's really interesting the things that it brings up. And it in turn makes you hungry for more of the same...hence me actually buying a hardback copy (gasp!) of The Rule of Four because I'm just that interested in it. Waiting for RoF to get better...it's still pretty good but haven't quite made it to the actual mystery plot yet. Soon, my pretty. And since Amazon was so obliging and told me I might like it too: I'll have to see if the library has a copy of Codex. Yay library. *side note: the library does. whoo hoo.*

The stuff after this is just to remind me of places to go.

American Sewing Guild
Costume Society of America
Costume-Con which St. Louis will be hosting in 2007...

I need more friends into sewing.

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They played Pirates of the Caribbean music for an Olympic promo again last night Makes me happy. That makes two so far for recap music and once PotC music was used during a floor exercise in the women's competition but I don't know who used it, as it was playing during an american/romanian/russian gymnast's balance beam routine so they never showed the floor. Ah well. I like seeing how the Americans do...yes, sometimes they seem to hog the screen, but hey, we're american, we should be able to see our people. Too bad we don't have cable for to watch the networks of NBC and get to see everything. Ah well. Silly cable, being expensive and all that.

I'm surprised I haven't really mentioned the Olympics yet, since they started last week. It's been neat watching the records being broken and medals being won...congrats to Paul Hamm in men's gymnastics, he came back from a 'disaster' to win the gold. And look at Michael Phelps. He looks like he can win eight medals these games...too bad seven won't be gold, but shoot, to have any piece of metal hanging around your neck at the end of the day at the Olympics has to be good. I can't wait for the track and field stuff to start...watched what they showed of the shotput competition last night, an American got silver because he only managed to get one clean throw in...sucks to foul. Gail Devers might just do the hundred, which is exciting...but she might not to give Marion Jones a chance. Who knows? I love watching sprints. Too bad I can't really do them anymore...I really need to start working out. But where is my motivation? Silly. I have motivation, just not the will. Ergh. Or the desire to get up early and run. No way.

Second to last softball game tonight. Hope we break our two-game losing streak...I think we're at exactly .500, five and five. I think there's also a playoff game, no matter what our record, but let's hope it's on the winning side

  Pirates of the Caribbean: OST

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 12:05 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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...of all the things I want to buy. I've been pretty good lately at not spending money because a whole lot of things that required a bunch of cash have come up recently, so I've been saving...go me! But it just means that once I've finally saved enough, there'll be a bunch of things that will deplete my account... like the Roswell Season 2 dvds, which I want not only because it's Roswell, but because S2 contains the single best episode of all three seasons: the End of the World. And that's the only episode that ever convinced me to write fanfic. Course, I can't get the dvds until they're released in October. Blah.

But I also want Ned Kelly and the Spidey 2 and King Arthur scores, all of which will have to wait until August 10, when Order of the Phoenix comes out in paperback. It doesn't look like any Borders are having a midnight release, which is sad, but I bet I wouldn't have gone anyway. So I'll just go to Waldenbooks and use my discount AND coupon and save money. Yay.

but EEK! Elizabeth Haydon's Elegy for a Lost Star came out yesterday! How did I miss that? Although I'll just have to wait for it to come in at the library, because you know me, I won't buy hardcover unless it's severely reduced in price! The public library doesn't have it yet but I'm 10th in line for the county library...nice to know that I've got more than one way of getting it! Mwahaha!

Yeah. Perhaps I should actually do some work today. Thank you, sorters! Hmm. Blue and yellow, eh? I like pastel blue and yellow together. When they're not muted they can be a little too bold for my taste, but whatever...looks like I belong in ravenclaw

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The Onion | Study: Majority Of Americans Out Of Touch With Mainstream

From the John Mayer Road Journal:
"I told the Ticket Fairy that LA Songwas in the encore, then I was all like 'just kidding' then she was all like 'that's mean!' and I was all like 'I know.  You know what else is mean?  The average of a set of numbers.' " --Scotty, JM's tour
manager or something...

Scotty apparently considers himself a bit of a wit. For example:

I share an office with the Much Loved Ticket Fairy.  She walked into the office, grinning ear to ear, with a girlish spirit about her.  In her hands she held a pine cone, nurturing it like a little pet.  "Oh my pretty little pet, I love you."  Stroking it and petting it and massaging it.  I looked at her quizzically, to which she replied,

"Whaaaat?  I LOVE acorns."

Acorns, huh?  How do you feel about pine cones?

(in case you're wondering, the ticket fairy is someone who goes around at the shows giving out front row or similar seats to worthy looking souls. Or hot girls to fill out the seats. Too bad I have yet to be in either of those groups. Josh Groban has a ticket fairy too, but I doubt any of them actually make it up to the mezzanine.)

It's really hot today. Like triple digit heat indexes. And I still haven't started my NAFLD isolation. Bah. Guess I better get on that. Maybe I'll go to the zoo tonight for the alumni thing. Maybe not. I'm just great at prevaricating, you know.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 11:10 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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so I've finally finished the mammoth Stone of Farewell and moved onto the third "book," To Green Angel Tower, Part I. This book is so big that it had to be split into two books in the transition from hardback to paperback, each with over 800 pages. We'll see how long this takes!

Now back to your regularly scheduled serum thawing...

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Stem Cells without embryos Wouldn't it be nice if this actually works? Then all those pro-lifers could stuff it. Er. That sounds harsh, I realize. I just wish they'd let the research go on...I sure hope Kerry is in favor of SC research.

Oy. This past weekend everybody went down to my grandparents' farm and cleaned it out. They had to be out by yesterday so I guess it's a good thing...it's so unfair that they had to move. There was all sorts of stuff about them being there in the will of the guy who owned the land but the will got broken and the woman who inherited just didn't want to take care of the land so she sold it. I don't really know the full story but it just pisses me off. So lots of heavy moving and hard work and little air conditioning. Just my parents and I spent sunday night in the only motel that Richland offers (which, aside from the ant problem, was quite nice) and then we did the last of the moving. I will say I won't miss the bumpy 15-minute drive to get there from the highway...but they still live three hours away. In a trailer moblie home. This may or may not be permanent, depending on the market. There's a really good family diner nearby with barbeque chicken wings which happens to be the only thing my grandpa could stomach, but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the little town. At least everybody really does know your name.

And on a sad note I managed to lose my WU track jacket somewhere between the front door of my apartment and my car. I was carrying a lot of stuff (loading up for the weekend) and I guess I dropped it along the way (the SHORT way) and didn't pick it up. But I didn't realize that I didn't have it until later that night; I assumed I had left it in the car, but I was already dressed for bed and didn't want to go outside and check. It probably wouldn't have helped anyway. Before we left for my grandparents the next day we stopped by just to see if it was still there, but it wasn't...there was a note on one of the apartments across the street but I didn't have time to read it. Wish I had. Probably not about the jacket anyway. I put up a sign on the tree near our place, but I'm not holding out much hope. I just hope you feel stupid, whoever you are wearing my jacket with MY name on it! I know it's just a thing, it shouldn't be a big deal, but man, I paid for that thing, it was useful, it has memories stored in it. Sigh. I'm trying not to think about it. I was down the whole weekend anyway and that just made it worse.

I'm getting fairly excited about the third Harry Potter movie. I just reread the books (and have to pick the fifth one up at the library so I can read that again) and I have to say the third book is one of my favorites of the series. I've heard this one is darker, more sinister, just plain more. This is good. Potter Tale takes Darker Turn. Probably won't get to see it on opening day, alas. Someday.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 9:47 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Take a look at Lyrnessa, the little nation I created Who knows how long I'll stick with this, but it looks like fun.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 4:58 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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From Owls' Court - in the absence of light, darkness prevails and various other places...

Literacy Test: Highlight in bold those books you've read. (Although I don't know how accurate this may be. I do realize I read a lot of drek but I'm certainly more literate than your average-woman-on-the-street. I just chose not to read classic literature )

Author - Title

-- Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart
Agee, James - A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice but nothing else. I should, really. Does seeing the movies count?
Baldwin, James - Go Tell It on the Mountain
Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March
Bront�, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Bront�, Emily - Wuthering Heights Have it, haven't read it...
Camus, Albert - The Stranger
Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop no, but I did read O, Pioneers! and lordy how I hated it.
Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales my mom did, and can still remember the first few lines from when she memorized it in high school
Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard
Chopin, Kate - The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans
Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage
Dante - Inferno and the two smash sequels!
de Cervantes, Miguel - Don Quixote
Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe Does it count if I read the abridged version when I was a kid?
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities etc I loved Oliver Twist.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment
Douglass, Frederick - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreiser, Theodore - An American Tragedy
Dumas, Alexandre - The Three Musketeers

Eliot, George - The Mill on the Floss
Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man I tried to read this once, but I don't think I got through it
Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Selected Essays I know I read essays by him junior year of high school but for the life of my I can't think of which one
Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying
Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury
Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones
Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby It was too hot to read the whole thing so we watched the movie with Robert Redford.
Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary
Ford, Ford Madox - The Good Soldier
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust in two languages!
Golding, William - Lord of the Flies Lord how I hated this book. And it's so unfortunate that it has the same title form as Lord of the Rings. Bleah.
Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter
Heller, Joseph - Catch 22
Hemingway, Ernest - A Farewell to Arms
Homer - The Iliad
Homer - The Odyssey
Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre Dame but not Les Miserables?
Hurston, Zora Neale - Their Eyes Were Watching God
Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World Another terrible english class requirement.
Ibsen, Henrik - A Doll's House
James, Henry - The Portrait of a Lady
James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw
Joyce, James - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lewis, Sinclair - Babbitt
London, Jack - The Call of the Wild
Mann, Thomas - The Magic Mountain
Marquez, Gabriel Garc�a - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Herman - Bartleby the Scrivener
Melville, Herman - Moby Dick
Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
Morrison, Toni - Beloved
O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man is Hard to Find
O'Neill, Eugene - Long Day's Journey into Night
Orwell, George - Animal Farm
Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
Poe, Edgar Allan - Selected Tales
Proust, Marcel - Swann's Way
Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49
Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front and there goes a sophomore english class horror
Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac
Roth, Henry - Call It Sleep
Salinger, J.D. - The Catcher in the Rye What's the hype about this? I just don't get it. I suppose that's because I don't have the conservative mindset of the time.
Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
Shakespeare, William - A Midsummer Night's Dream Had to do a monologue from this one.
Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet and just about everything else
Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Silko, Leslie Marmon - Ceremony
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Sophocles - Antigone in two languages!
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath What about Of Mice and Men?
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
Thackeray, William - Vanity Fair
Thoreau, Henry David - Walden
Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer
Voltaire - Candide
Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Walker, Alice - The Color Purple
Wharton, Edith - The House of Mirth Egad! Not Ethan Frome?
Welty, Eudora - Collected Stories
Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray I always wanted to.
Williams, Tennessee - The Glass Menagerie
Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse and plusieres autres titres
Wright, Richard - Native Son

Sheesh. Well, at least those boring english class books made me more literate

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 4:30 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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get a palm reading

Your Life Line reveals that you like to travel, but will always return home. You need a lot of space which is why you prefer spending time outdoors. You tend to have strong romantic tendencies.
Your Head Line reveals that you are over-confident and at times brash. Your independent nature often causes you to make impulsive decisions.
Your Heart Line reveals that you have a masculine nature and are easily aroused by your own desires. You are able to maintain a good balance between the physical and emotional sides that accounts for your warm and generous disposition.
Your Fate Line reveals that you felt a lack on independance in the early part of your life and are less certain about your career plans. Your career start is more restricted and not utilizing your full potential. Throughout your life, you will maintain a strong connection to your family.
You have a Water hand. You are a person who is quiet, reserved, dreamy, insecure and intuitive. Your optimal career choices are to work as a nurse, psychiatrist, chiropractor and psychic.

That was a little spooky. Try it out...is yours accurate?

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 3:21 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Happy Leap Day! Those of you with birthdays today...I'm sorry Couldn't let the day pass without commemorating the once-every-four-years day...

So the Academy Awards are about to start, and you know what movie I'm rooting for I hope LotR wins all the things it's nominated for, unless Pirates wins something in the categories they're head to head in...and wouldn't it be great if Johnny Depp won? btw, Angelina Jolie looks really good tonight. Wonder if Orlando will be there?

I realize things are all wonky with the blog layout, but I'm working on it. Feel free to comment on what you want me to do with it. At least I got Movable Type working. There will be a new layout sometime soon, probably getting ready for the next Bloom movie, Troy

Hostees, I'm still working on the ftp bit. Please let me know how things are going with your site! I hope people with email addys through me are getting all their mail. Let me know if you aren't!

*fingers crossed for LotR: RotK* Here goes!

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 7:25 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Er. I was just trying to be clever. It's my half birthday today Yes, in 6 months I'll be the ripe old age of 24. Seems a little scary, and every so often I have to remind myself that I am actually 24, living in the real world with a real job and I'm not in college anymore. Doesn't make me delusional...just imaginative.

And I apologize again for the funkiness of the layout. I'm working on it.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 1:07 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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If you're ever in town on a date I highly recommend Cyrano's. I guess you could call it a french restaurant, as it has some typical french cuisine, but it's really just more of a gourmet restaurant with some eclectic foods. WONDERFUL dessert, though...that's why we went. Cyrano's used to be close to where I went to college, but then it closed down for a while and now it's back, in a rather different place. Anyway, my cousin came into town before her (grad) school shopping trip which includes New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa...and her birthday is tomorrow so my parents and I wanted to take her out to dinner. Cyrano's had just reopened so my dad suggested that and boy was it a good idea.

I'd already had dinner so I was just going for dessert but we did end up having some french onion soup and I tried one of Corey's mussels. Interesting taste, that. But between the six of us we laughed up a storm while praising the fine food. Then for the desserts: I had a tarte tatin, which is a french apple upside-down pie. Trust me, it's good. Especially when served with cinnamon ice cream. Since we were there for Corey's birthday she got her 'Cleopatra' dessert free...and a whole lot of whipped cream. And if you're on that hot date...get a flambé. Sure they're expensive but they're prepared at the table and you get cool effects when cinnamon and nutmeg is thrown into the flaming pan! Mmm, brandy and cherries. Rock on. You should go.

Mom and Dad made these little party favors with Corey's grad pic on them...they were the kind where you blow in a tube and a paper tube unrolls...we had entirely too much fun with those. Thank goodness they didn't make noise or they would have thrown us out of the place. We had to wait about an hour for a table because they don't take reservations...but it was worth it. Especially because we had a pretty cute waiter and the food was great of course. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. Laughing is good for you, you know. It burns calories! lol.

I need more posters, or at least more things to hang on the walls here. It's still quite bare even though we've been here what, four months? sigh. Where's my domestic spirit? lol. it'd rather be in bed with a book like I am *rolleyes*

And so I tagged along with Alex and Leo as they started their joint Atkins diet exercise plan. We just went to the weight room at the athletic complex at the uni, but it was a little weird being there again after all this time...sigh. I keep saying I should work out and I'll say it again. I'll probably hurt tomorrow even though I barely broke a sweat. Those squats will get you every time. One of these days I'll give my new pair of running shoes a better workout, I swear. Really. Where's my motivation? When did I become such a couch potato? And think of the contradiction...I love track, I miss it, but I don't want to spend the time to get back into it. I'll put it off a little longer at least. First I'll stop rambling--

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 9:45 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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and here I answer some pretty inane ones.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what some website had for the translation

Anyway, here are some answers to your burning questions.

Q: where can i find legolas's bow? A: I've already answered this, several times...take a look at the sidebar under "right now" and you might be able to figure it out. As of right now the bow is not officially available.

Q: buddy icons. A: Also already answered this...you people don't check back often enough. I don't really have time to make a lot of icons, so there aren't a lot on my site. You can find plenty online!

Q: What is this website for? A: This website is my personal journal/portal to all my other sites. A place where I can ramble about my (argueably) unexciting life. Click on the 'what the heck is an etoiline" link on the sidebar. NOT affiliated with Orlando Bloom, Lord of the Rings, or anything in Hollywood. Just a fangirl! Am I gonna have to make a disclaimer?

Q: How many times has Orlando Bloom factured his skull? A: I'm not quite as obsessed as some, so I can't tell you for certain. I believe just once. Though he has broken his ribs three times. and Q: how much money did Orlando Bloom make? A: As I'm not his agent nor his accountant I am not privy to any of his financial information...honestly, people. I must not sound like a girl! and Comment: I'm a big fan of you OB and I was wondering how could a guy so hott{sic} like you not be married but then again maybe you could stay single for 11 years{laugh}? Where on this site does it say I am Orlando? Can someone tell me why this looks like anything other than a fansite? There's nothing official about it. Go bug full bloom.

Q: will i marry legolas? A: Gosh I sure hope not because that would mean you are delusional. Not quite so obsessed with the lovely elf prince that I don't realize he's fictional.

Q: Age? A: Come now. You obviously didn't look at the site very long, did you?

Q: what does the back of arwen's crown look like? A: Wait, let me ask her to turn around for you. I wish I knew, but I'm not a metalsmith so I couldn't even begin to guess. Do I look like a jeweler?

Egad. I had more of these than I realized. Maltese falcon screencaps indeed. I've never even seen the movie. And I don't think Billy Boyd or Orlando will marry anyone who visits this site...and I certainly can't tell you what they're thinking! And yes it's true, the cast are all friends still. Read any interview and you can see that is true. I have only sketched Orlando in his Legolas and Will Turner guises, and just pure sexiness as himself. Maybe more later.

Just heard Melissa Etheridge's new song, Breathe, as originally sung and produced by the St. Charles (near my hometown) band Greenwheel. They're both on the same label, and she picked it up. I recommend the Greenwheel version.

file under: lordoftherings , miscellany , orlando Posted by Jen at 1:05 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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The title's just to remind myself of something. Ignore it.

You probably realized by now that I don't agree with what Bush decided to get us into. But since we've got fighting guys and girls over there (anywhere, really) and I think they should be respected, send a thank you to a service-man or -woman.

I'm working on a new layout for the site, really. I don't know if it will be up in time for next week or not. I had this idea which should have been cool but ended up not being something I liked. So.

The Etoiline.com network has a new member! Please welcome Daph and her site, Enabled Element. Hope you enjoy it! And don't forget to visit my first hostee, Nessa, at Orlicandie.

I need to be more responsible around the house. Mental note.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 1:49 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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The Origins of Mardi Gras

Though New Orleans is the city most commonly associated with the Mardi Gras celebration in America, many historians believe that the festival actually originated in nearby Mobile, Alabama.

The celebration, which can be dated back to 1703 in Mobile, was originally called Boef Gras (Fat Beef). The name changed to "Fat Tuesday" as it became a widely known festival in the 1830s and 1840s.

The date of Mardi Gras depends on the date of Easter. Mardi Gras takes place the day before Ash Wednesday, which begins the 40-day season of Lent before Easter. "Fat Tuesday" is the last day to celebrate before the season of discipline and contemplation that leads up to Easter Sunday.

This year, Mardi Gras will be celebrated on March 4.

Source: www.mobilemardigras.com

Still a little sick, but muchos better than I was. Quite peeved because the AC adapter for my laptop is broken, so no power to the laptop, and not that much power left on it cause I didn't realize it was losing power cause the darn thing was plugged in. Sheesh. Peevish cause a new one costs $65 unless you can find them on eBay which I'll probably do. Even if I get a new comp I'd have to get a new cord so I could have enough power to transfer the stuff over. Bleh.

Bookbuying spree today...and Clinique spree...freebies my butt. Ah well.

Mom was seriously angry with me this morning and yesterday. She wants me to move out. As soon as I get a job, of course. Apparently I'm hard to be around. Now, don't take this the wrong way. I probably *should* move out, it would be better for all involved. It's just that she's sick, she's got this disease which could and probably will kill her unless it gets under control. She gets angry easily which isn't good for her. And I just don't know what to do cause whatever I do seems to be the wrong thing.

To be clear: I'm not getting kicked out, or disowned or anything. It's just that it's getting harder to stay at home. We're all under too much stress.

I don't want to air too much dirty laundry here. It's not something that y'all should be worried about. I don't really want people sending me emails or commenting on how you hope she feels better and that I'll find a job or whatever. I just thought I should let you know why I haven't been around lately.

That's all. Bowl...

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 7:26 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Yes. I am doing a bit of a countdown. "The girls have gotten a bit excited..." (Orli on the status of his fangirls...) Yes. I know it's silly. But damn, this movie is gonna be cool.

Thanks to my cousin Nick...your laugh for the day.

Subject: Memo from Santa

To: All Concerned

From: Santa Claus

I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, I will no longer serve the States of Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas on Christmas Eve.

Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North American Fairies and

Elves Local 209. As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind.

However, I'm certain that your children will be in good hands with your local replacement, who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences between us.

Differences such as:

1. There is no danger of the Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads: "These toys insured by Smith and Wesson."

2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave an RC cola and pork rinds [or a moon pie] on the fireplace. And Bubba doesn't smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an empty spit can handy.

3. Bubba Claus' sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flyin' coon dogs instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my reindeer one time, and Blitzen's head now overlooks Bubba's fireplace.

4. You won't hear "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen.," when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you'll hear, "On Earnhardt, on Andretti, on Elliott and Petty."

5. "Ho, Ho, Ho!" has been replaced by "Yee Haw!" And you also are likely to hear Bubba's elves respond, "I her'd dat!"

6. As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus' sleigh does have a Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words "Back Off."

7. The usual Christmas movie classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" will not be shown in your negotiated viewing area. Instead, you'll see "Boss Hogg Saves Christmas" and "Smokey and the Bandit IV" featuring Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus and dozens of state patrol cars crashing into each other.

And Finally,

8. Bubba Claus doesn't wear a belt. If I were you, I'd make sure you, the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put presents under the tree.

Sincerely Yours,

Santa Claus

Member of North American Fairies and Elves, Union 209

And a Christmas present from my secret santa

Send a Christmas Tree!

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 11:03 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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please buy something from my affiliates at left... I'd like to go to UPenn in the fall, and I realize that this won't help too much, but at least it's something... it's worth a try.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 1:43 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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which is odd. cause I don't think I've made any enemies recently. But I'm getting negative karma votes! sigh. tut tut. what did I ever do to you?

alas, I am at work on a saturday. again. oh well. this is not exactly your 9-to-5 job, although it never was. I'm waiting for the media to block the FC receptors on the day 6 embroid bodies. Yeah, I don't really know what that means either. waiting sucks, although I am able to communicate with you fine people, I suppose. Please God let me be doing this right.

don't you just love getting weird emails from ex-boyfriends? it's so sad that I haven't had a boyfriend since sophomore year of high school. I wonder when Billy gets back to StL, and whether her's still with Amy. I can't believe I knew him at the beginning of the year when he was gf-less and I didn't have the courage to do anything about it. I'm such a wallflower. Wasn't the word I was going to say originally, but it will suit.

Pray for Kitt. She's going through some tough times.

file under: miscellany Posted by Jen at 2:38 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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