A Year in Review: 2009

So I'm rushing to get this done so I can be ready to celebrate the arrival of 2010. So here we go!

Warning: It's a long one! (Yeah go ahead girls... say it...)

January
I made a joke about Cody getting a Jeep. A friend got nicknamed Alice by a few Twilight lovin' friends and since I love Rosalie (Cause Bella is a freakin tool) I got nicknamed Rosalie. (Juvenile? Yes. Do I care? That's a big hell no.) So then Cody got nicknamed Emmett (without his knowledge). So then Abby and I are talking and I made a joke about getting a Jeep (cause you know, he's Emmett) and he heard it. He was so excited. I didn't know he has always wanted a Jeep (known each other for like 8-9 years and never knew that one). So he was so excited I couldn't take it back.

We bought a Jeep.

No, it's not our Jeep but we kept seeing Jeeps all the time and here, though it's hard to see, there are three parked on the street.

February
A block away from our house Cody is headed to work and some lady, doing god knows what t-bones him in the Jeep. Srsly. The day after buying the Jeep we went all the way to Denver & ate lunch with the in-laws. The next day, Sunday, we went to Estes and drove around in Rocky Mountain National Park. The next day, a block away from the house... *wham*

Yeah. She was making an illegal u-turn or some shit... not really sure. But yeah, t-boned the Jeep that we bought Friday, that Monday. >.< But we got a rental car for a week. :D


It had an AWESOME stock sound system. I gotta say though I discovered something new about Abby. She doesn't get loud stereo systems. O.o

March
Our anniversary.

2 Years. I love you baby! :D
I could go in to all sorts of hilarious details... but I will save it for March 2010, for our our 3 year anniversary. Yes stay tuned for some definite hilarity. :D

Also notable: Margi & I's personal party in Hastings while waiting for the Twilight DVD to release.

& of course I was wearing my Cullen contacts just for this special occasion.

April

Cody's birthday. :D

Also, I found the Rosalie shoes.
Yeah. They rock.

I also created my best ceramic project EVER. Inspired by the Mad Hatter
I worked SOOOO hard on this and I was actually proud of it.

Then an ADVANCED ceramics student loaded the kiln with a pot that wasn't dry. Oh & kids... your teachers lied to you if they said that air bubbles were what blew up a pot in a kiln. Here's a science lesson- what really makes pots blow up is if they aren't dry when they're put in the kiln. Water gets above boiling and *KABLEWY*
Yeah. I cried. A LOT.

May
I found gold.
Had to go through some stuff back home and trash some things (we had a huge flood in the basement where all my stuff was being stored), plus we were having a garage sale and I found gold.


My first Celebrity Crush, Wil Wheaton. Oh yeah... No not autographed sadly, but still gold.

More Gold. I was a member of the Kenny Rogers Fan Club.

Omg... I loved this thing and used it all the time. It rocked. Sold it in the garage sale so now some other lil girl will write her hopes and dreams down in it too. *tears up*

This is a set of mixing bowls my parents gave my grandparents. I have always thought these were the COOLEST ever. Totally circa late 70's early 80's. Grams was selling them in the garage sale. I was like bs you are... here's $5. (& of course declined the $ no matter how much I protested, lol).

June
I got my phone.

I fell in love with Blackberry.

My Blackberry Storm became my new addiction.

July
Concert of Epic proportions.
Margarita, Abby, Amy and I went to Vegas for a concert. But not just ANY Concert. We went to see HYDE. *swoon*

Yeah, that's just Margarita. Chillin with Ju-ken. Yeah Ju-ken of VAMPS. Ya know, VAMPS, Hyde's band... that we went all the way to Vegas to see. Yeah, she's totally gonna marry a rockstar someday and she will have the most rockin entourage EVER. #truth

We found out I have a house in Vegas. Who knew? ;)
(My friends from back home & Sterling all call me Cat)

Hello well stocked junkfood box in expensive ass hotel.

*drool* Hello even better stocked with extremely expensive booze fridge.


The look on Abby's face is priceless. Absolutely priceless. She was so creeped out by this one guy that the rest of us were talking to, lol.

Amy, in front of our expensive ass hotel. Little known fact: The guitar strings move. *snort* No they really don't but it ended in an argument of sorts about whether they do or not.

There was a ton more awesome in that trip but I could write an entire blog on it. I mean the Pink Taco with the girls and the pitcher of margaritas with Amy (after I took an excedrin to combat a migraine the last day we were there) is worth a blog all on it's own.

Srsly.

August
I had to buy lots and lots of REALLY expensive school supplies.

This however was probably my favorite. This is one of my bestest friends ever. :D

Yes, my camera is a bestie. I love it, and we've been through a lot together. Like the Lens Fiasco of '09

September
I went to Utah for the first time, and not just to pee on it like we did when we went to Country Jam a few years ago. (Sorry UT friends, I love you and am now sorry for peeing on your beautiful state but I was drunk at the time when we decided to drive the extra 5 miles to UT from Mack, CO)

This is where Mom-in-law and I learned that In Utah- The Sun Comes Up in the South


I discovered that there is a Herbarium at UNC that requires a hazard notification. I believe this is where they are keeping the mandrakes.


October
I became a full fledged hunter.

I shot my first deer. It was epic. I think Cody was more proud than I was. Oh and spare me the "poor bambi"s cause I hunt and I'm not going to change that just because it doesn't sit well with you. I hunt for the meat and this ol' girl filled our freezer. Also in October... smashed toes from meat falling out of the freezer because it was so damn full.

Tempted, the 6th book from one of my favorite book series, House of Night was released. I bought it the day it came out. I procrastinated reading it though, partially because of school, and I was afraid of the end.

Halloween. My all time FAVORITE holiday.

Bestie Kacey got my Vampyre Vodka. I, the vampire bunny, was super excited as you can see.
Sadly my costume was VERY last minute. :(

Bestie, Kacey- aka Cinderella, met Billy Mays (back from the grave) and drank some Oxy Clean Spray (tea & vodka).

November
I fell in love with painting.

I used to HATE painting. I hated it with the passion of 1,000 suns, but this semester and with this painting I fell in LOVE. This was also my first A in my painting class. I'm actually proud of this thing and it has since spawned a commission. I have my first art commission. EPIC.

My birthday was awesome. I turned a quarter of a century and got lots of cool goodies from family and friends. :D

Margarita and I went to see Dir En Grey in concert. Again. It was awesome, short, but awesome nonetheless.

December
Christmas. Lots and lots and LOTS of awesome.

I'll TRY to contain myself on pics here.

The boiler for the heating in the apartment went out. Pipes froze and burst. We froze.

The culprit in the Lens Fiasco of '09

Sakura tried to help Grandma (Okaasan, aka my Mommy) play Hollywood Rummy. It didn't work out well. ;)

I got breakfast made my Gramps. It was amazing. He is the best at cooking breakfast, nothing will EVER compare. :D


Well everyone that was this vampire bunny's year! Hope you enjoyed it!

Wow. Blogging Fail.

Yeah so it's been a while since I posted eh? Probably the longest I've gone without posting since I started here on blogger. I am sorry that I have failed you. All two of you. Lol.

So let's see...

I have a Thanksgiving post I started... but I haven't finished. Mostly because I feel like I should be thankful for everything I have everyday. Not just because there's a holiday saying we should be thankful. So yeah... Maybe I'll finish it someday, but here's the thing. I have a LOT to be thankful for. And for that, I am thankful. :D

So school is out. Which is awesome. I haven't gotten much done though. I started a novel for NaNoWriMo and have yet to finish it, which was one of my goals for break. Take the two weeks of November that I missed and finish my novel. Instead I've been working on the other one I started earlier this year. >.< So I have two novels I'm writing. Which means both will probably forever be "in progress". I suck.

I have however been doing some reading. I finished Tempted and now I'm sad that I have to wait until April for Burned. I cried so much at the end. It was ridic. I loved it. There were parts I didn't like but that will all be discussed in a podcast I hope to do tomorrow. I keep promising but it's hard to have a conversation with yourself about a book, lol. Well actually this is me we're talking about and I have conversations with myself all the time, lol. I figure as long as I don't start start telling myself jokes I've never heard then we're good to go. ^w~

Christmas was great, even though it only felt half like Christmas. I dunno why, I was listening to Christmas music all the time but I just couldn't get in the mood. Then Christmas was just so... uh I dunno. I didn't even see my grandparents, which was depressing. Mom had to work nights so she was sleeping during the day, but she did get to join us with Cody's parents for Christmas dinner (which was what we normally have on Christmas Eve) then because of weather we missed my Mom-in-law's parents Christmas get together. It just didn't seem like Christmas.

I did get some awesome gifts though, Cody got my more of the Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine, Mom got me the first Night World book, an I <3 my dachshund sign for Ichigo & a hematite crucifix. In-laws got me a turtle neck and a super warm hoodie and then "santa" brought me sparkly nail polish, a ladybug necklace, and way too much candy. There was other stuff I'm sure but my rememories are failing me. I was stoked.

Been reading Dark Lover by JR Ward and I'm loving it. I spent most of yesterday nose deep in it. Definitely gonna have to get this series. Then I gotta read the first 3 Sookie Stackhouse before I get lynched, lol. Then into my next three Morganville Vampire books. Likely with Burned thrown in there somewhere as I'm sure school will keep me busier than a one legged man in an ass-kickin contest. We shall see.

I've been an RPing mad-woman. I'm loving it. I'm on two Twilight RPGs, one of which I run - Deja Vu in Forks (if you like to RP plz, Plz, PLZ check us out, I'm currently temping way too many people as there are only three of us that are active) and I have three charies in another, prolly about to be four. Then someday soon I hope to open a House of Night one as well, but it may have to wait until summer. I just love RPGs, it's fun to play someone else, and it takes like 5 minutes for each character and you can post once a week to everyday (everyday is WAY more fun for everyone though) and everything in between.

Last week I worked a full time week. It will be nice come payday but holy hell it was murder going from not working all week to working a full time work week and now only 2 days. O.o Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for my job but I feel like a yo yo. >.< But what can ya do? That's right, nothing other than go with the flow!

Anyway. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was good to you. I saw him at work and I put in a good word for ya. ;)

Books I Can/Want to Sink My Teeth Into (aka My To Read List)

I decided to write a To Read list, mostly to remind myself. ;) It's huge... and growing. (That's what she said!) *shakes head at that's what she said joke* I will update it when I find new books to read and finish books. ^w^

House of Night by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast I discovered these one day at Barnes & Noble and had all that was out (first 4) within a week & that was only because I had to wait til I got paid to get 2-4. They are amazing and I share Zoey's love for Count Chocula. (But I'm not afraid to admit I love Star Trek)
Marked
Betrayed
Chosen
Untamed
Hunted
Tempted
Burned - Currently Reading

Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine Margarita is to blame for this one!
Glass Houses
The Dead Girls' Dance
Midnight Alley
Feast of Fools
Lord of Misrule
Carpe Corpus
Fade Out
Kiss of Death (coming early 2010)

Anything by Ursula K. LeGuin I was forced to read the Earthsea series by LeGuin in middle school and I ended up LOVING them. I want to re-read them soon and check out some of these others she's written. (This is NOT a full list of her novels)
Earthsea novels
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea
The Other Wind, 2001
Earthsea short stories
"The Word of Unbinding"
"The Rule of Names"
Tales from Earthsea, short story collection
Hainish Cycle novels
Rocannon's World
Planet of Exile
City of Illusions
The Left Hand of Darkness
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
The Word for World is Forest
Four Ways to Forgiveness
The Telling

Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward Kat is to blame for this one!
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine

Divine by P.C. Cast
Divine by Mistake
Divine by Choice
Divine by Blood
Divine Beginnings

Mysteria Anthologies by Mary Janice Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter, & P.C. Cast
Mysteria
Mysteria Lane

Blue Bloods by Melisa de La Cruz Also blaming Margarita for these.
Blue Bloods
Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Alen Legacy

Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare Margarita's fault... again.
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels (coming out March 2011)

The Lens Fiasco of '09

So I should most definitely be studying for my Nihongo final but I'm not. Haven't been all night. You'll know why I failed. So here is a tale, that I wish were just a tale and not being told from first hand experience. However, highsight is 20/20 and there are no time machines (Though Sheldon would argue that going back in time to fix something like this would merely eliminate the need to do and... oh dear... off track... um in any event the past is the past.

So I have a Pentax SLR (Two in fact, 1 is a model Sears put out years ago that my Daddy got my Mommy) and after hearing that you can use Pentax SLR lenses on a Pentax DSLR I was like hell yeah, well that and my Pentax (though most pro photogs hate them with a passion but can never really say way) has served me quite well. So after I, a beginner in DSLRs, read an amazing review from Pop Photo saying it was perfect for beginners and found out that there was an amazing deal on B&H Photo and Video on the set (with the kit lens was cheaper than without kind of deal) all with how good Pentax has been to me thus far in my photo career had me sold.

I want to start off by saying I love my Pentax K2000. It is not just a piece of equipment, it is a friend. To most that may sound weird as hell but as you work with a camera like this and you enjoy photography and constantly learning (are we ever really done learning?) you become very attached to your camera and even some lenses, yes, lenses. This is why tonight I was absolutely heartbroken at one point.

My Mom had also gotten quite a few lenses over the years (maybe Dad got 'em for her at the same time as the camera... not sure) A few smaller lenses and then my favorite, the zoom lens. So tonight I get the balls (or lose my mind, who knows) and try some of the lenses on my DSLR. Now all of these have been used with ease on both of my SLRs so I wasn't worried. It's all Pentax or made for Pentax. DUMBEST ASSUMPTION EVER! So I get to my dear old zoom lens put him on and go to click it into place and he clicked in an odd spot. So I'm like WTF? Then I try to take him back off to examine the issue and THE DAMN THING WON'T COME OFF!! So I'm freaking, wriggling it a bit, but also scared to break either of my lil buddies. So I search the interwebz and find nothing. I am pretty well dying at this point. Tears are streaming down my face and I'm wondering later how I even have the tears anymore as hard as I was crying. Also surprised I didn't wake up Cody with my sobbing.

So I search for a while, then fiddle with the camera, then set it down and search some more, fiddle, search. Then finally I really get to looking at one of the initial sites I found (hey I was not in the state of mind to be thinking rationally, I had just fucked over two of my friends- my DSLR and one of my fav lenses) and then I really start freaking when I see this guy's solution:

http://erdener.org/pentaxlensremoval/

I was horrified. NO I CAN'T DO THAT TO MY BABY! I kept screaming in my head while bawling some more, mumbling incoherently. Then I realize the site I gotten this site from had a better solution, though it was still very scary and I wasn't sure I could accomplish it before I had to shoot my next hockey game.

http://moyworld.com/StuckLens/Stuck_Pentax_Lens.html

So I'm still crying, telling myself how horrible of a photographer I am and how I don't even deserve to own my camera or any of my equipment when I finally calm down enough (or rather I think my tear ducts finally went on strike and said "screw you drama queen, we're outta here") to read thoroughly and still think it's a lot of work. But wait. He got the first idea with the little feeder gauges from a different site.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=19214685

Honestly, I could kiss this man. I want his address in order to send a thank you card, maybe with some cookies. Hell, maybe I'll send a hot stripper to his door with cookies and thank you card in hand! So then my next mission was finding something small enough to get between the AF and pesky pin on the lens when it hits me. The cheap-ass palette knifes I got with my paintbrush holder. So I figure out where the AF pin is (like the second guy, I marked it with a silver sharpie and that mark will stay there, a kind of badge of honor for my little camera buddy for having survived my stupidity) and work to get it in between the two and about 5 minutes later I think I have it. I carefully reach around (Heh, reach-around) and turn the lens and....
.
.
.
.

OFF HE COMES!!! I literally danced around the room with lens in hand. No really, I kid you not. The furkids were scared to death at my sudden change in mood. So the moral of the story kids? Only Pentax brand lenses should be trusted and while those made for Pentax will likely work, research to make sure. Oh and the funny part? The last site where I found the solution? That is EXACT SAME ZOOM LENS!! O.O Which makes me feel better to know that I am not the first to have this problem and that luckily, enough people have screwed up that by the time I came along there were several solutions to try and even more luckily, the least destructive worked.

So that my dear friends, is the story of The Lens Fiasco of '09. Please take care of your little camera friends and face-snuggle them extra close tonight. Also, with that I am off to remove the pesky little pin from my lens so we don't have another Lens Fiasco of '09 or of '10 as well as come up with a name for my camera. I think I owe her that much after all that we've been through. Enjoy your night and I hope you got a laugh or two at my expense, I know I did.

Art History Final- Survived.

So our professor for our Art History class is also a professor at CSU and they're still in classes this week or he had a final there at the same time or something so he said we'd have a sub. "So if you walk in and someone else is standing here, don't freak out." Lol. This prof was awesome but the material and tests were a total bitch. Like stab yourself in the eye just to have an excuse for sucking on the test, hard kind of tests. We're jamming tons of artwork, artists and art periods all on one test. This final was over- 17 art periods (all of which we need to know the time period for), 80 artists and 82 artworks (there were more talked about but slides to study was only 82). Yeah, pain.

So our tests are a bunch of multiple choice of identifying an artworks either art period, date, or artist as well as a few multiple choice of just random info like "What psychiatrist's work inspired the artists of the ___ period?". Then there is the dreaded essay in which we have two artworks which we much compare and contrast in addition to knowing the artist, art period and dates.

So our sub was Chip, who is probably the most hilarious prof in the entire university, no joke. He collects shoes. Yes HE collects shoes and he has quite the impressive collection of funky colored sneakers. I once watched him teach a student how to knock on a door. He opens the door, tells her to stay right there and then do what they talked about. He shuts the door and she knocks. Then he opens the door and says "Hey! How are you, come on in!" Then says "See how that works?" and I almost fell of the floor in laughter. It was nothing less than amazing.

With that being said, here (finally) is the funnies from today's final. Chip cracked a few jokes here and there "oh this is definitely Monet" on works that weren't, etc. Then the best comment all day was made.

One of the multiple choice questions was this work by Jeff Koons:



And Chip says "Oh those Italian pornstars" and the entire room erupts into laughter. Some of us are even giggling three slides later. It was epic.

Then comes the essay and yay I knew both of the works, their time period and their date and one of the artist's name. Crap. So I shit you not this is what I wrote:

The first work is a feminist work by a woman whose name escapes me at this point and time. Heh, oops. So then I just kept referring to it as "the feminist work" and then as I'm finishing the last paragraph, BAM! Barbara Kruger! So I go back and go to change it and realize how lengthy my little sentence was, and hoping that my prof and his sense of humor can appreciate my intial effort merely cross out (with one line) my orginal statement from "a woman" on and write her name above it. Hope he gets a laugh out of it anyway, I know I sure did.

Beer & Art History

So I told my dear Twitter followers I would explain why I need beer to study for Art History. So yeah, here it is.

When I went to NJC (a 2 year college in CO) I took Art History I & II. I met my friend Jared in that class, and he was also a model for our life drawing class the second semester (when we were also taking art history II). Oh the memories. Like the time we embarrassed out professor so much with our dirty jokes (of which the quietest and most innocent girl in our class was also involved) during which Jared was a model that he never asked Jared to model again. Oops. LMAO. Anyway so Jared and I started hanging out and then we were texting one night and he was at the bar, studying, to which I was like "yeah sure, studying the female form." So then one night before a test I go with him to hang out at the bar and studying. We started with the books, but ditched em quickly for a game of pool and a pitcher of beer. So then we started quizzing each other as we were playing pool. The next day I ACED my test. It was freaking awesome.

Yeah this class... not going so well and I blame Jared. He knows it too, lol. ^w~ How dare he go to one of the best colleges for his major and leave me here to study by myself? Lol.

A Guide to Gas Stations

So for those who don't know, I'm a gas jockey, aka I work in a gas station. (No, I will not tell you what one, or even what chain. As much as I may whine, I like my job and most definitely need it). At work today (in between the endless mopping sessions- it snowed today) I was thinking about if I were to write a blog about advice for patrons to gas stations, which is pretty much everyone unless you have someone that does that for you, in which case- SHARE THE WEALTH. So here it is, mostly so I can vent for a moment. Disclaimer- while these are valid points I try for the most part to not be too bitchy about it, but we'll see if that comes across.

1. Do NOT bitch about being ID'd for Ciggs, lotto, or booze. Seriously. Now, honestly, I used to be one of those people but you must realize that these places have people who are underage come in and attempt to buy these items with the intention of tricking us into not IDing them and then bam- red card. What does that mean? Well most places your first red card mean a nice big boot out the door. "Thanks for working here, don't come back for your next shift." Yeah that's right most places FIRE their associates for the first red card and if it's not the first it IS the second that gets you the boot. Just take it as a compliment (it's hard to do, I know- I look 12 so I get carded for lottery tix) and go on about your day. Note: ID means a GOVERMENT ISSUED ID- military ID, license or state ID, Green card or Passport. NOTHING ELSE. I also believe it is state law to not accept expired IDs either (it IS ok though if you have your old, hole punched ID AND the paper they give you, but not just one of the two). OH! Most importantly, don't throw your ID at me either- someday I may throw it back.

2. Gas Pumps, oh gas pumps. Those tricky things that you apparently need a degree in rocket science to use. Yeah... most of those things give instructions, either via the screen or a note pasted to the pump, and if you are having trouble DO NOT act like the station attendant is too dumb to help you. We have been trained to work AND troubleshoot almost any problem you may have and the chances of it being an ID-10-T error on your part is much higher than you would like to know.

3. Signs. Specifically: Out Of Order. These signs are self explanatory. No, really. I'm not kidding, if it has those words posted on it, I'm not just selecting things to hang them on randomly just for fun. It. just. doesn't. work. and arguing or pleading doesn't help, trust me, I tried so I wouldn't have to listen to you do it.

4. Those who chew. You will get the date I give you. Whining about what date is on the bottom of the can will only irritate me AND the customers waiting for you to get your shit and get out. If I gave everyone that complained the freshest chew, I would still have chew from 1999.

5. Winning ticket. Yeah. a- I wouldn't work here anymore if I could pick winning numbers. I would be living on my own exotic island drinking something with an umbrella in it. b- I hear this joke a million times a day and it lost it's funny after the 2nd time.

All I ask is for you to keep these in mind the next time you get gas. ^w~ I joke (or at least I attempt) but for the most part these are things that irritate most gas station attendants (I've worked at 2 gas stations) so please, be kind and in the words of Wil Wheaton- "Don't be a dick".

Mental Exhaustion

I had to take a break from my attempt at homework. I have to vent and do it quick or I may explode. Warning- my sailor mouth is exposed in this post.

My day has been crap. Migraine which I fought all day, and having to go print photos in a brightly lit room while staring at a computer screen was not helping at all. Then I've finally got it down to a dull roar so I can work on other stuff and I'm so damn stressed I can't focus. I keep bouncing from one thing to another and I'm not getting a damn thing done as a result. I keep bursting into tears, which definitely isn't helping matters either.

So I have a little "interview final" due in Japanese tomorrow. Sensei will ask questions and I have to answer them. Simple right? Yeah you'd think so other than the questions are in Japanese and I'm having a hell of a time translating them, and well without knowing what the question is asking it's a bit hard to answer it. Don't tell me to try online translators either. I've tried them all and nothing ever fucking works and I've had it.

Then I have a final photo project due tomorrow which I'm stressing hardcore. Still not sure how I want to present it and what's in my head looks spectacular, if only I had the means to make it reality. Then I'd like to have resubmitted some photos from previous projects and done extra credit for this one as well but it just ain't happenin'.

Then on top of all that I'm pretty well failing Art History III. That class if fucking ridiculous hard. As in I don't know how anyone that doesn't have a perfect photographic memory could ever pass with anything more than a freaking C. Oh the best part? I have to pass it with a B. _^&!_#^&!#(_^&(@#&^!!!!!!!!!! So I decided to do all the possible extra credit available, which is a whole 4 art work comparison that will help me out with 40 test percentage points, which may help had I not failed two of the three tests we've taken. It would also help me out greatly if I could just stop bursting into tears from the stress so I could read the damn textbook and see the computer screen in order to write it. At this point it would be better if I could fail it outright, then at least I could do grade forgiveness...

Then on top of it all my dumbass agreed to do a party tomorrow evening. Why? I'm a glutton for punishment apparently. Normally it's something I look forward to. I get to have fun, crack jokes about sex, educate women on keeping things spicy and make a some money while I'm at it, yet I'm so stressed out that even that joy has been sucked from my life.

Pretty much I hate everything right now.

Also, feel sorry for my husband who sat here all evening, watching me burst into tears every little bit and not knowing what the hell he could do to help. Poor man.

In Utah, the Moon Rises in the South

No joke. So I'm sitting here thinking that I want to write a blog but I'm not sure what to write about. Then I remember that I'm pretty sure I promised I would explain the time my Mother-in-law and I discovered that in Utah, the moon comes up in the South.

Early in the semester there was a death in the family on my father-in-law's side. So we all packed up and headed to Utah, specifically Fairview. So one of the nights we were there my Mom-in-law and I hung out at the hotel while the guys went and did something, can't remember what. So we go across the street to the restaurant and were discussing what direction we thought was which. Random? Maybe. So I say North is one way and she says it's another, so we flag down our waiter to ask cause it's driving us nuts. He initially looks at us like we're on drugs and then answers. We were both WAY off. Then, and only then, do we realize that from our table we can see the moon. >.< So then we were cracking up that by her directions, the moon had come up in the South. Then of course, when the guys got back we slipped and told them of how turned around we got (in our defense if you have ever been to Fairview, UT it is in the mountains, as in surrounded and therefore very easy to get turned around in. That's my story anyway, lol) and haven't been able to forget it since, largely in thanks to my Father-in-law and husband. My husband is forever asking what direction the moon rises in in Utah and making comments about the moon rising in the South. Lol. Gotta love husbands.

Black Friday

So I hate Black Friday. I worked in retail for two years and watched people almost get into fist fights over stupid material things that likely wouldn't last a year. People have been trampled and taken the hospital (not at our store but in general) or even killed. For what? A freaking passing fad like Tickle Me Elmo? Ugh.

We did however brave Best Buy after about 2 this afternoon though. It was pretty crazy still but after discovering that our insurance wasn't going to cost as much as we were planning on, we decided it was time to buy a game or two, or something fun at least. So we didn't end up with anything from Best Buy (not for a lack of things we want, which if anyone wants to buy us Wii Resorts with the lil Motion attachments, Tekken 6 or Need For Speed, we wouldn't protest ;) ) but we did end up at Radio Shack after finding out today and tomorrow that the inkd buds from Skullcandy are on sale for $10. I looked, wasn't real sure as the only colors were black, white and pink but finally went with the white ones. Then we hit the mall and spend a whole lot of time finding nothing, lol. Well with the exception of a charging station for the PS3 controller, but it got us out of the house, which was good since I was determined to have a day off- no work, no school, no obligations whatsoever.

So we got home and we're sitting around and I decide to try out my ear buds. Now I have Skullcandy Lowriders (which have seen better days but still work) and I love them. I always have issues with earbuds though and usually chuck the ones I get into a drawer somewhere.

Not anymore! These headphones are AH-MAZ-ING!! I put em in, and everything was muffled and I was like "big hairy deal". Well I turned on my Zune (on 6 which normally isn't near loud enough and between 6 and 8 is PERFECTION! Once I started my tunes I couldn't hear a damn thing around me. Cody even tried talking to me and I didn't even know it! HAHAHA! Then he tried em when I was telling him how awesome they were and then he told me to talk, so I started talking and he didn't even believe that I was really talking! XDDDD

So yeah... if you need new headphones, Skullcandy is the way to go. Great sound and they have a warranty. It only fully covers manufacturer screw ups BUT if your headphones break, they will give you like 50% or something off of a new pair! Now that is awesome.

Wow... last blog and this one were completely and totally random! I am all over the place today. Even more than usual. Hell, the thought processes don't even make sense to me anymore...

O.o

Goodbye NaNoWriMo, Hello Week of Hell

So Thanksgiving was great. Okaasan made it and it was a good thing she got here when she did as the turkey got done an hour early so then we were rushing around trying to get everything else fixed, lol. My rolls failed. They're edible but they didn't rise cause I wasn't thinking when creating them, hahaha. It was still awesome and we all ate ourselves into a turkey coma and I had to take a quick nap before work. Oh and speaking of work... it was the longest four hour shift EVER. It was pure torture. Plus I accidentally knocked one of those big ass bottles of the "smart water" crap and it fell on the lid and busted and I ended up with a good portion of the damn thing in my shoe. It was super and of course it was as I was putting the last item on the shelf before I left for the night. >.<

But then we drove around and got some photos of Christmas lights as there is a house here in town that is just effing INSANITY. Seriously it's like daylight surrounding the house. It was a lot of fun though. Then we came home and watched Star Trek. For those who don't know I am a HUGE Trekkie. As in while in Vegas on our honeymoon we went to Star Trek the Experience (where I got my pic in a borg regeneration chamber, in the captains chair of the enterprise and with a Klingon that was hanging out in Quark's bar.) Proof?



Yeah my face is way red. It's what happens when I'm buzzed/toasted, which is about the only way I would have the balls to ask a Klingon to get a pic with me. Yes I'm sure these guys get this all the time but they don't break character for anything. Hell they prolly don't break character for a freaking fire, LOL. Yeah I really want that job. No joke. It is on my list of dream jobs.

Though the original series is not my favorite (They go in this order- TNG, Voyager, DS9 then TOS) I was excited to see this movie as it looked awesome so finally we rented it. And?


IT WAS FREAKING EPIC! I loved it. Plus JJ Abrams is my new hero. He uses some of the most simple things that most wouldn't even think of to achieve certain effects and he is totally going to be a huge influence in my photography in the future. So yeah it has my official seal of approval! Even Cody liked it. Yeah I'm totally going to turn him into a Trekkie.

Then today we put up Christmas decorations. Tree, the furkids' stockings, some garland, well loved nativity set and a few other odds and ends. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few shots of the nativity set and stuff put up and explain about my nativity set and ornaments in the next week or so. Someone remind me. Kthx. ^w~

So I have officially thrown in the towel on NaNoWriMo. I just don't have the time to write 30,000 words this weekend and most of tomorrow, Sunday and likely all night Monday, I will be spending on a painting. Also at some point I need to take glorious photos of said awesomesauce Christmas decorations for my final photo project. Oh the joy. Then finals are next week... AAAAHHHHHHHHHH! So not ready for them but so ready for this semester to be OVER! I have decided though that I am going to finish my novel though. It just isn't going to happen in time to submit it for word count. Super disappointed in myself but I just can't let my grades take a back seat so I'm going to finish the first week or two of winter break. :D

Anyway... enough babbling. Hope everyone had an AMAZING Thanksgiving! <3

^w^

Lady A has made me break my own rules!

For those who don't know, I love country music and my absolute favorite country band is Lady Antebellum. They have one album and a new single off of an upcoming album called Need You Now which I have been obsessed with since it came out, which if you follow me on Twitter I'm sure you're aware of, lol. Now they've released their version of Baby It's Cold Outside which is nothing less than amazing, which is the usual for them.

Now as to the rule they made me break. I have a rule about not listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I just feel like to do so is to gloss over the wonderfulness that is Thanksgiving. Odd I know but you can bet the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas music comes out while we put up the Christmas decorations. :D In my defense though this song in no way mentions Christmas so I'm maintaining that I'm, merely bending my little rule because it is thought of as Christmas music, lol.

So I wanted to share the song with you if you haven't heard it. Here they are singing it last Christmas Eve on the Today Show. My favorite part is when Charles sings "gosh, your lips look delicious". It makes my heart melt EVERY time.



Oh Charles... the things I would do given the chance you sexy, sexy man. Yeah I met him once, and it was probably the closest I've ever come to fainting. It was amazing and I didn't want to wash my hand afterwards. (I kid, I kid) He is even more hot in person and he rendered me silly after he winked at me. Yeah, I'm sure he winked at every girl that came through the line but in any event it. was. AWESOME.

In fact, here is a photo I took from said concert that I met him at in Greeley, CO at the Stampede.



Hotness monster! ;) Okay... I'm done. For now. ^w~

Diru Concert

Okay so this was almost a week ago but I've been too busy editing photos to edit photos. Lol. Make that too busy editing photos for assignment to edit leisure photos. Better? Good, if not, too bad. ^w~

So here are a few photos from the concert- not really edited either, lol. I'm feeling lazy today, you're lucky I'm even posting them! ^w~


The sign out in front of the Gothic. We was super excited to get inside, partially to see Diru and partially to get out of the freakin cold!






And of course, Kyo started to shed clothing. And yes, everyone was happy, ESPECIALLY me.


No blog about a Dir En Grey concert is complete without the totally shirtless Kyo shot either. Sadly his arms are covering that ripped and sexy torso of his. *wipes drool from keyboard* Oops. Sorry about that guys, I try to contain myself but it's not always possible. ESPECIALLY when hot guys are involved.

My bestie, Margi, was also awesome enough to get me a CD and she got a DVD so we were able to get autographs afterwards. Sadly it was only Kaoru and Dai, but it was enough to make my night! Margi got autographs last year too and again it was only two members so she decided (&I agree completely) that getting Dir En Grey's autographs is like collecting pogs. (If you are too young to know what POGs are, please, go enrich your life- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs ) Now all she needs is Kyo.

We had a blast, stalking the Diru tourbus after the concert too. Yeah we totally stalked the bus and didn't get arrested or get whined at about being arrested. ^w^ We weren't the only ones though and one guy almost made it to the bus. The best was watching these other two girls, one who, honest to god, tried to blend in with a brick wall when one of Diru's roadies came around the corner. It was a riot watching them. Plus there was always the strange antics of two other girls in corsets. Crazy bitches anyway, bet they shed em when they got home and one probably had bruises. ;) Yeah the crazy bitches were us, and we totally shed them as soon as we walked through the door. Lol. No more corset for me for a while. For a concert breathing & blood circulation is overrated... everyday life not so much.

So yeah. There they be!

Thanksgiving!

So I'm super excited about Thanksgiving. I wasn't but I am now. My Mommy is going to come up and spend Thanksgiving day with us (I have to work but only a 4 hour shift) so we're going to make the whole dinner, which should be interesting in Cody & I's tiny ass kitchen. Seriously I've seen bigger closets.

I am also happy that I will actually get to enjoy the holidays this year too. The last two years I worked at JC Penney's and they started playing Christmas music the day after Halloween which is just too damn early, plus all the commercialization which I just couldn't handle. YAY! For some reason the approach of the holidays is making me feel all house-wifey too, lol. I just wish I had the money to buy stuff to make more decorations, particularly a wreath for the door. No, not buy a wreath, buy the materials to MAKE a wreath! To hell with some crappy walmart overpriced wreath that has no meaning to me or my family. (whoa... uhhh, getting off of my soapbox now...) I'm also going to make (or rather attempt to make from scratch) pumpkin pie and rolls for Thanksgiving, which is a little scary as I'm not good at that kind of stuff, lol. Cody's happy though, it's one less thing he has to cook! Hahaha! He does most of the cooking, mostly because I hate to because I worked in a restaurant all of high school and a few years after, blech. I'm getting back to liking it though, just don't tell him that, lol. ^w~ Actually though, if it weren't for school and all this homework I would likely cook much more often so he will probably see more meals from me come graduation, or at least after Spring semester. :D

I'm also excited that Mom will be there til afternoon the day after Thanksgiving too so we can put up Christmas decorations. It's a tradition that I love! Snacking on Turkey sandwiches and decking out the house with decorations I've had since I was a kid (even ones I made as a kids). Plus there's always picking out a new ornament for Cody and I and another for the furkids.

Anyway, I suppose I should get back to doing something productive, like studying for my Nihingo exam, which I almost forgot to do. Oops!

Quickie Post #01

I say quickie... but we'll see how quickie it really ends up as I have a tendency to babble like a brook.

So first...
I got by best grade of the entire semester on my most recent assignment and get this... it was the only one I totally hated and it was a last minute decision (rather forced decision) to hand in. Here's what happened. I shoot hockey games and when I do so I change my camera format to jpeg. There's no reason to shoot in raw when all I'd have to do is convert it to send them in. In class we have to turn in originals in raw (or dng rather but my camera takes the photos in dng to start with which saves me a good 20 minutes- I love Pentax). Well I went out, took some photos and edited one in class no big deal. Well I was working on it again early Friday morning when it was due and I realized I had forgotten to change that setting. FUCK. The one good photo I had was now shit and I could never turn it in, so after bawling and screaming into a pillow and making my headache even worse, I went with a photo that was in raw that was one of many I took for my painting and then took a pic of flower, that was now dead, and boom. My two best grades of the entire semester, which are STILL only B's. Don't get my wrong I'm happy I finally made a B+ but son of a biznatch this entire sitch was well beyond frustrating.

I should not be blogging...

But I'm very easily distracted today. Which is bad. Bad bad BAD! Honestly it really isn't different from any other da- oh look! Shiny object!

Anyway. Tonight is the Dir En Grey concert with one of my besties. Then, we come home, sleep for a bit, I got to class, we have a homework party and then... New Moon at 12:01 with her and a few more besties! I'm excited. I really can't afford (as in don't deserve because I haven't been a good kid and gotten my homework done) to take part of this all this week but who cares! I've slaved away and been super stressed and well if I can't have a new tat or piercing I'm going to have some fun at least!

On a sadder note... I am going to be 20,000 words behind on NaNoWriMo as of tonight. T^T

Anyway... off to do some photos, gesso a canvas (a much smaller one this time) and check on that delicious smell the roast is creating (It's either deer or antelope... not sure which as we forgot to label bags. Cody said "eh we don't need to label them, we can tell em apart" then two nights ago said "I really wish we would have labeled these" to which, I being the loving wife I am said "but I though you said you'd be able to tell em apart.").

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and hump day!
^w^Bitten Usagi^w~

p.s. My bestie and I are totally making t-shirts for New Moon. Anti-werewolf t-shirts cause we're with the vampires and who wants to hang out with a smelly dog? ;)

Meteor Showers, Adventures & Horrific Pain

So for those who don't know I am a total astronomy geek. I took Astronomy 101 & 201 in high school (part of a dual credit program where I got high school science credit as well as college credit while taking it with one of the coolest teachers I've ever had- yeah it was a total win.) and I've been fascinated with the stars and space since I was knee high to a cricket bug, or at least as long as I can remember. I'm sure my being a Trekkie and loving science fiction has a role to play in my love as well but I digress. I have missed every freaking meteor shower in the last like 10 years. I either fall asleep before I can view it, forget, it's cloudy or I'm immersed in other things like homework so when I found out about the Leonid Meteor Shower I decided I was going! I went online and found out the peak time was supposed to be 1:30 am to 3:30 am so I twittered to see if anyone was willing to brave freezing temps, my driving and the possibility of a gang rape (we do live in Greeley, CO after all so at that late of night that's a possibility anywhere in town) and of course my beloved bestie Kat was all for it. Well after she got layered up, found her phone and I layered up, unlayered in order to find my ever-elusive keys and then relayered we were on our way.

So we headed North (or was it East Kat? ;) No worries hun, my mother in law and I recently discovered that in Fairview, Utah the moon comes up in the south, LMAO) to go where my family does every year to watch the 4th of July fireworks thinking that was our best bet. Wrong. The farther North we got the foggier it got. >.< So we decide to head South to Evans in hope to find clear skies and that a spot on the outskirts of town that would make for prime real estate. I had a place in mind, a place by the bridge just as you come into town on highway 85 that I had been to to take photos and is completely innocent and unscary during daylight. Night however is a different story. After driving and then falling through ice into a pothole half the size of my lil Ichigo (my car's name is Ichigo, which is Strawberry in Japanese bc to be she's shaped like a strawberry) we pull up and realize exactly how scary it is and decide to turn tail, so I backed up a lil to flip a u-y. That's when it happened, something in the shadows moved, Kat yelled & then said something, and I wasn't staying long and didn't bother backing up again and high tailed it through snow praying Ichigo didn't pick now to get stuck in the snow for the first time. It was just a fox, and later I realized that's what Kat had said but all that was working was my flight response.

So we tried the Evans community complex parking lot to no avail as well. I realized that while searching for the peak time of the meteor shower I probably should have looked up where in the sky. I was trying to on my phone but the only site with a sky map on gave me the constellations Leo & Cancer to judge from and all I can recognize easily is the Big and little dippers and Orion. So then we went off to the UC, stared for a while, still not seeing a thing. I was still searching the interwebz for a helpful site and realized I can still find Casseopiea (sp?) which I made a little internal jump for joy about and then I finally found a site that told me what direction in the sky to look and we moved and right away saw one! That however was the beginning and end of our show though. We sat there for who knows how long before I saw it was damn near 3:30 and I said to hell with it and we went home. Lamest. Meteor. Shower. EVER. Granted I knew it wasn't going to be spectacular (unless you were in Asia where it got up to 200 to 300 meteors per hour) and was only supposed to be 20 to 30 per hour but 1? REALLY? Killin' me smalls, really killin me.

The good news though was that Kat and I had a late night, er, early morning adventure and some good laughs so it was worth it. It was a good distraction from my current woes, which I sorely needed. So for that, Kat, I thank you for being my meteor shower buddy and going to creepy places on the outskirts of the city. I look forward to seeing the video documentation, no matter how Blair Witch it turned out ;) (actually I liked the Blair Witch Project but that's a whole other can of wormies) and I'm happy we lived to actually post it to YouTube.

Now the horrific pain part, which is my current sitch. I gained a headache in my staring at the sky and took an Excedrin knowing full well that if I go to bed with a headache I will still have it or it will be a full blown migraine by morning. Well apparently I was mean to be in pain today and I had to take yet another Excedrin... and with that I bid you adieu as I can no longer stare at this computer screen without wanting to die. Thanks for reading.

^w^ Bitten Usagi ^w~

So Much To Do!

So let's see. Last week was my birthday, it was great cause I got to hang out with my Mom, Grams and Aunt for most of the day and we ran around and went shopping. My Aunt got me a necklace, my Grams got me a card and Okaasan (Mom) got me the Twilight Saga Journals and yummy Ferrero Rocher chocolates. She almost got me a calendar too, lol. I had taken a pic of a RPattz Calendar for Kat (I take pics of RPattz stuff all the time for her, lol) and my mom thought it was because I liked it. I was just glad we figured it all out before we got to the checkout, lol. I got the rest of my gifts this weekend. A Scentsy warmer and three new yummy scents from my hubby, some $ from my in laws, a card from my gran-in-laws and lots of fun. :D

On another note I am stressed the hell out! Classes are totally kicking my ass as is my financial sitch. Ugh. I am so done with stress... unfortunately it doesn't even seem to be close to being done with me. >.< Big photo project due Friday and needing to start a new painting. Think I may have finally come up with an idea for this painting though, which is a huge step.

Going to take a study break (yeah that's kind of what I'm doing now too but let's not dwell on technicalities) later with Kat to check out the Leonid Meteor Shower. I'm excited (gonna hopefully be a photo or two that works out) since I've missed the last few meteor showers. Just hoping we don't get killed by gang bangers out in that area of town. I'm kind of hoping there will be a few other peeps with this idea parked out there so maybe there's a less chance of us getting raped or murdered. Yeah... The more I think about it the more I want to find somewhere else to park to watch it lol.

Anyway... that's about all that's new with me... oh other than being over 10,000 words short on NaNoWriMo. But since most of my homework is photos and painting (which I don't have the money to buy my stretcher bars til tomorrow anyway...) so maybe I could bust some out after taking some photos!

Here's to hoping I don't go insane soon....

Today was good, er bad, er... alright?!

I'm currently super irritated. I dunno wtf the deal is other than after I got out of class I had a voicemail from my boss telling me to call her because we needed to "have a chat". What?! What did I do? Well now I gotta wait until tomorrow to find out. I realized there is a training I forgot about, but I remembered that today and was gonna call and see if I could do it tomorrow. That's the only thing I can think of that I could possibly be in trouble with. The waiting is what's irritating me though. I hate waiting and not knowing. Now hopefully whining about it here will help me forget for the night.

The good news for the day- I got my painting finished (after pulling an all nighter to finish it) so that was a relief. I was nervous for the critique, this painting was so much more personal than the previous ones, so there's that putting yourself on the line with your subject matter, technique, etc. Got really good comments from my critique group and then I was talking to my professor about possibilities for my next project and she said that if I could just add some green in my background she'd like to display it in the hall! I almost jumped for joy. She's a pretty tough prof too so I'm really excited about it. She said it was "really beautiful" and during this semester I have really learned a lot from her and come to respect her and value her opinion, so this was HUGE.

Here is my painting (You'll have to rotate it so the blue is at the top):

http://twitpic.com/p0q8w


It's a cross between the technique of Anselm Kiefer (a german artist who used mixed media in his paintings, such as straw) and Georgia O'Keeffe who did the really big flowers to help illustrate their beauty and inspire viewers to look more closely at nature. I combined the two by doing a flower like O'Keefe did but I used grass to bring out the beautiful veins of the rose petals (and if you didn't know rose petals have veins you really need to pay more attention to them! I spent probably a good 20+ hours on this painting. It's 30" x 40".

Plus on top of that I get a night to myself, which is nice, though really it needs to be spent preparing for my next painting and next two photo projects. *sigh* Guess I don't really get a night to myself but I'm going to take it anyway... I'm running on no sleep so that's my excuse. I may post another blog later if I feel like it, but who knows. Damnit I hate having good news and then depressing news... it's so much easier when it's they other way around.

Girl beaten to death by painting

That's what the headlines for the papers may be tomorrow, as it is possible that any minute now this painting will commit murder.

Seriously though, this painting is driving me nuts. Some areas are blending oh so well while others... well they're killing me. There's no rhyme or reason to what's working and what's not either. It's depressing.

Yeah well there she is, my first entry on Blogspot. Superb.

Been taking painting breaks in order to fix up my background and make a banner all with pieces found from thecutestblogontheblock.com and with any luck I will still be alive later today and survive my critique in order to start this blog properly. We shall see though.

And if it's months after this was posted and nothing has happened.... it was the painting.