Category: Life in General

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Fail Vlog(s) 3: Peas Feed Me Herpness

All right, I think I have these two videos in the right order. I can’t tell for certain right now because the videos are being converted and can’t be played as I edit this blog. The first vlog should be me talking in my pj’s about my drive home from Dallas. Also, wtf am I doing with my legs/feet? I think it’s safe to say that I fiddle quite a bit when talking, in one way or another. Of course, I also fiddle around when I’m not talking . . . I’m just a fiddler. Fiddler on the roof? Obscure (maybe) Jewish movie reference from BCA.

Anyway, this first video was filmed the same night I got back home from Dallas, which I probably say somewhere in the video. But I can’t be sure because I haven’t watched it since I first filmed it over a week ago. Oh wells.

This was the recording of the game “Peas Feed Me” on my old computer at home. I said that I didn’t know what the game was based off of in the vlog, but upon closer inspection, at the intro screen, it says that it’s based off of a TV show. Makes sense, I  mean I can see the game setting being an actual scene in a TV show.

I’m gonna try and find it so I can have it on my laptop too lol. It’s always nice to have a game (or something) you can play (or do) that requires no real thought and is amusing, and therefore, relaxing to play (do).

The outfits looked something like this, but my sister's was pink and silver instead of red and gold. Red and gold is reserved for the actual wedding day.
The outfits looked something like this, but my sister’s was pink and silver instead of red and gold. Red and gold is reserved for the actual wedding day.

So yesterday (Sunday) was my sister’s engagement ceremony. Traditionally, in the Vietnamese culture, the male’s family prepares/performs the ceremony for the female’s family. I guess one could compare it to the man asking the woman’s parents for her hand in marriage. Except more fancy. Since my sister’s fiance is not Vietnamese, my parents decided not to force Brad (and his parents) to prepare the ceremony themselves. Of course, the ceremony could have been skipped entirely, but my parents wanted to do this for my sister because “they’re worth it.” Not entirely sure what they mean by that, at least, not in specific terms.

In any case, it was nice and there was lots of good food and my sister and her fiance got to wear fancy traditional Vietnamese clothes for the ceremony. I got to meet Brad’s parents (along with the rest of my family, which means parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles . . . the whole kit and caboodle), and they left me (and I think most everyone else) with a good impression. However, aside from the honoring of ancestors and procession of gifts at the beginning of the ceremony, the whole thing didn’t really feel much different from a regular holiday get-together.

The roast pig is so good! It has a crunchy skin while the actual meat remains moist and super flavorful.

I guess this is a nice way to describe the ceremony and give some detail about the reasons behind certain parts in a short-and-sweet kind of manner.

What’s funny is that my mom told me that I have to marry a Vietnamese guy because she’ll cry if both of her daughters marry “American” guys. I think it’s relatively safe to assume that American = white. When I told my sister that our mom had said that, she laughed and replied that “it’s not her decision to make anyway.” Which is all true, but to be honest, I’ve kinda inherently known that my parents expect that of me, or would like that, so my preferences have been shaped to include that as a requirement. Of course, before this little conversation, the preference hadn’t been as definite, and I’ve only dated white guys so far, but I’ve always felt that it would be best if I found a Vietnamese guy who also fit all my other preferences.

The point is, I don’t mind that my parents have really narrowed down my “sea of fish” into a pond. Even though it was my mom who brought it up, I’m sure that my dad feels the same way.

So, in other news, my cousin accompanied me back to Dallas last night. He’s a high school senior and is using his college days to visit my campus (more as an excuse to miss school than due to interest in my college). We didn’t get back to Dallas until 12:30, and early on in the ~5 hour trip, we stopped at a gas station to fill up my tank and grab some energy drinks. I had the bright idea to grab a Monster Java Loca Moca (energy drinks and coffee have never really worked consistently on me; half the time I feel they had no effect at all, the other half they’re super effective), and by the time we got to my apartment, I was pretty awake. As a result, I’ve pulled an impromptu all-nighter, one in which I actually wasn’t totally unproductive. I gave my cousin a tour around campus, we sneaked into some of the buildings, and I actually did some studying for one of my classes.

Thank goodness I only have one class today (technically, I have two, but the second class is pretty fail). I feel somewhat tired right now, but not like I’m going to pass out. Hopefully I can stay up until this evening, and then go to sleep at a decent time.

My cousin leaves for Houston tomorrow evening/afternoon, and the plan seems to be that he’ll take the Greyhound bus back. I’ll have to drive him to the station, though, and I’m not entirely sure where that is, though I’ve been told it’s in downtown. I just hope I don’t get stuck in rush-hour traffic.

And even with all this extra time I got from not sleeping, I still haven’t unpacked my clothes and whatnot.

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Fail Vlog #2: The One That Is Entirely Too Long

Sorry guys, I had no idea that I could ramble so much. Originally, this video was ~28  minutes long — apparently I consider my rambling important enough to still make you listen to 20 minutes of it. I’ll try to keep my list of topics uber short next time!

Ghetto setup #2 (And hopefully the last one)
Ghetto setup #2 (And hopefully the last one)

I’m going to go ahead and post this now, but I’ll probably edit the text portion of this blog sometime in the future.

Also, I was totally kidding about having a boyfriend. Because he figured out that all he wanted was a “casual” relationship, and I have no understanding of that concept at all. Casual relationship = friendship to me. That should make sense, right?! I suppose that will be the topic for my next text (only) blog.

SPRING BREAK HUZZAH.

Extra time for me to study for the two exams  I have the week I get back from spring break looollll.

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Whoooaaa, It’s a Vlog!

If I don’t look directly into the camera lens for a really long time, it’s because the eyes are the window to one’s soul AND I DON’T WANT YOU TO STEAL MINE. (HERP LOGIC)

All right, I know that I haven’t posted a blog in a while (2 weeks wow, has it really been a month?), in spite of saying that I’d post one at least once a week. Sorry! We’re trying something new in this blog. Although I state in the video that every other week will be a vlog post instead of a blog post, I’m sure that I’ll still have some text to go along with the video that comments on the video or adds anything I may have forgotten to say. In other news (since I didn’t really give any updates on my personal life at all in the video), I’ve been doing pretty well in my classes. The lowest grade I’ve made on an exam so far is an 88. I have one tomorrow, and another neeeext week, I think? And then it’s SPRING BREAK, HUZZAH! I’ve found the solution to keeping Jager from peeing on my furniture and whatnot; cats appear to seriously prefer the sand-y texture of regular clumping litter, rather than the more earth-friendly biodegradable (and flushible!) Feline Pine that I use. Except, he still uses the covered litter box (that contains Feline Pine) to defecate in. The uncovered litter box, which contains regular kitty litter, is used only for urination. Is just weird that my cat should have two litter boxes all to himself. Ummm, I got my navel pierced last Friday, and the story behind it is pretty lame. So I shall spare the details on that.
This is my ghetto camera setup because I don’t have a tripod.
Ahahahahaha. I’ve definitely fallen behind on my workout schedule, but luckily, I’ve found people from class who like to workout after class every Tuesday and Thursday, so I’ll probably begin going with them to the gym. In my off days, I’ll try to get myself to do some stuff with the balance ball I got from Target. Those workouts are pretty challenging! D: Umm, ummm. I suppose I should do a video of a close-up of the Kindle Fire case that I made. Like 3 weeks ago. Next time? I thiiiiink that’s most of what I intended to say. Also, it will take forever for me to get used to the way my voice sounds to other people. I think I sound rather nasally. And awkward. Very awkward. But so nasally! Oh and I have a boyfriend now what?Except I shouldn’t because I should be focusing on school and premed stuff and stuff.
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Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot

I just failed so hard at eating dinner. At the end of last week I made a pot of rice and prepared some lap xuong (a type of Chinese sausage), and practically every chopstick-full of rice I ate resulted in dropping rice grains all over myself. Not to mention that I spilled rice even before I started eating because my hands were being all derp and dropped the chopsticks multiple times.
No matter what the amount, getting money is always fun. Even if you don't yet understand the concept of money.
But anywho. Uhh, today is lunar new year. Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (“Happy new year” in Vietnamese.) It’s the year of the dragon, the 5th sign in the Chinese zodiac which symbolizes power, good luck, success, and happiness. The day where lunar-new-year-celebrating-Asians will get little red and gold envelopes filled with dollars bills and the occasional $5 or $10. OR, you could be really lucky and get $2 bills. /sarcasm? Unfortunately, I was not able to return home and partake in the Tet festivities. I wonder if I’ll have any red envelopes waiting for me the next time I visit home. So, so, so, I bought a Kindle Fire off of Craigslist last week, after waiting for what seemed like foreeveerrrr to find a price I liked and a person who actually responded to my inquiry. I got a pretty good deal (25% off retail price), especially considering that some people insist on trying to sell their Kindle Fires above the price listed on Amazon.com. I may have mentioned in a previous post the idea of rooting my Kindle Fire. As of right now, I’m pretty pleased with the Fire the way it is, even if the roulette showing recent activity is pretty ridiculous. In addition, the root for the latest Android build (Ice Cream Sandwich –> ICS) has already been made, although it’s buggy and still being worked on by developers. Besides, if I root my Kindle, then I won’t be able to have access to the Kindle Reader’s Lending Library or whatever it’s called, as well as free access to selected movies and TV shows. Of course, to take advantage of these perks, one needs to be a member of Amazon Prime. My only real complaint is that there are no decent note-taking apps (that use handwriting, rather than typing the text) on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread, which is what the Fire has, albeit changed up and slightly crippled). The promising apps I found are only available for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and up, and apparently the code for Honeycomb wasn’t released; the only roots available for the  Fire as of right now are the full-blown Android Gingerbread and buggy ICS. In any case, not being able to take hand-written notes on my Fire isn’t remotely close to being a deal-breaker. The 7″ screen isn’t exactly ideal for that kind of thing.
Total "wtf" title, but it makes sense after it's explained.
  As for the academic front, I feel like I’m off to a decent start. I’ve been exercising on a regular basis, though not every day like I originally planned. Right now I’m only up to 1 hour gym work-outs Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. But hey, it’s a start, right? I also bought this ebook off of Amazon during the break when it was on sale called Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. Kinda seems ridiculous, but for me, it’s helped quite a bit, and I’ve only read 3 chapters (less than halfway). The main thing that it’s stressed so far is to plan ahead. For you non-procrastinators, this seems like a no-brainer, right? And perhaps even for procrastinators too. But the simple act of writing everything down actually helps a lot. Granted, I haven’t been completing everything I’ve written on my To-Do lists for the past two days that I’ve tried it, but I’ve been able to get the most important things done, at least. It’s gonna be a challenging semester, probably moreso than I realize, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the long run. It better be, though for $1.50, if it doesn’t turn out to be worth it, at least it won’t be a big loss. Last week I had my first counseling session for the semester, and my counselor noted that I seem much happier than I had last semester, though we both aren’t sure yet if that’s because of the break, or because of the Wellbutrin. That being said, I do feel happier this semester, as well as actually motivated to do well. Of course, the motivation may be due to me only taking classes that I’m actually interested in for this semester, rather than because I need it as a prereq for med school. My lifestyle in general has become more healthy; I’m eating 3 meals a day at more regular intervals, rather than the 1 or 2 I would eat in the past few years. As I already stated, I began my journey to getting fit. My sleep seems to be more restful and undisturbed as well. I just feel good. Knock on wood. We’ll see how things are after the first round of exams. Which come at the end of next week. Yikes. Also also also, I applied for a job on campus. It’s a typing data entry thing and only pays $8/hr, but a job is a job, and at least it’s not my only means of support. Actually, it’s more for personal spending money. Project money. I applied Saturday evening (I think?) and haven’t gotten a reply yet, but hopefully I can nab it. If not, then maybe I can get a job at a center that specializes in programs for ADD, ADHD, autistic, dyslexic, etc. children, which would be more up my alley what with being a neuroscience major and all. It’d probably look better on my resume too. I’m hoping to be able to stay on campus for work, though. Geebus, so many things to talk about! I swear this is the last thing. It seems that I’ve finally gotten a volunteer position at a hospital. People must not like to communicate with me, because scheduling an interview appointment with the volunteer coordinator took forever (and didn’t even happen when I applied last spring). So did scheduling an appointment to get my TB test. And the first two people I tried to buy a Kindle Fire from on Craigslist never responded; one contact number was completely wrong. People just don’t pick up their phone. To be fair, I screen my calls too. Anyway, the volunteer orientation is this Wednesday. After that and after my reference gives back a completed reference form, I should be all ready to volunteer. The only thing left is to get my DART pass so I don’t have to drive in that abysmal traffic. (Srsly, why is there traffic when there are no vehicle accidents or anything???) Also, someone stole my bike. Really? My bike? And why the fusk can’t I change the color of the strike-out font? P.S. My cat has been much more affectionate as of late. I feel loved.
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I Really Miss

This used to be the homepage for Gaia Online.
Role-playing. Way back in the day when I first got acquainted with the internets and was an illiterate n00b, I was (and still am) a member of Gaia Online. I don’t know exactly how to describe the site, but a great deal of my pre-college days were spent on it. It’s been years since I’ve done anything more than lurked about and reminisced about the past; I don’t remember exactly why I stopped frequenting the site, but I think it was mainly due to many of my online friends getting lives leaving, as well as a feeling of strong dislike and derision towards the younger members of Gaia (an elitist reason, to be sure). This demeanor developed after I had begun to role-play seriously, which involved me abandoning my chat-speak-emoticon-laden-grammarless style in favor of the grammatically-correct and content-relevant style of posting. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that Gaia was where I first had my experiences with role-playing. Some of them (all of the literate roleplays) were short-lived. The other, more casual, role-plays were also fun but too superficial for my tastes. I viewed role-playing as writing stories in collaboration with others. I always did like to write. Hurr durr, that’s why I have a blog. A blog (almost) no one knows about. YAY ME. Every so often, I’ll log onto Gaia and visit old threads that I used to post in, old role-plays I had a part in, and the few posts I had in my journal. My journal on Gaia was used to archive bios for characters I had made for various role-playing threads. I just went through them earlier tonight, and I’m kinda surprised at how much I wrote for some of the bios and role-playing blurbs (which were sometimes a part of applications to participate in a role-play). They aren’t actually all that bad, either. The main thing that bugged me about all my old stuff is that nothing really seemed original. Many of my characters were half-animal. I guess it was sort of a “thing” back then to have characters who were Therianthropes (I had to google for that term). I’m pretty sure that every single character I made had some sort of distinguishing quality that I possess(ed) myself. Which, of course, made it all the easier for me to role-play, since half the time I was just typing stuff I would do in whatever situation the character happened to be in. Of course it’s easy to come up with story stuffs when it’s something you would do. I don’t think I ever tried making a character whose personality was, for the most part, something that I could not identify with. I probably didn’t want to go through that much effort. It already took me long enough to think of a cliche and unoriginal bio. I remember spending a great deal of time in writing posts for the literate threads. Hours, even. That site ate away all of my time. The days before Facebook. And MySpace. It was the closest thing I could get to MMOs/MMORPGs, since my shoddy internet connection was too slow to allow me to actually play any. Rambling. Like a boss. (SORRY I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF)
I just found this image on Google, and it actually *is* a baby MMO!
Gaia Online is actually a pretty diverse site. Maybe it just seems that way to me because I haven’t been exposed to many sites of similar intent. In any case, I think it’s kind of interesting to have a site that has forums for art, writing, tv/anime/manga, etc. It also has this baby-MMO kind of thing, where users can explore the land of Gaia through their user avatars. I only tried it a few times (meaning, my internet only worked that hard a few times), so I can’t really say much about what there was to do on that part. There is a game section where users can entertain themselves through puzzles, word games, arcade games, and thereby earn gold (with which they by accessories for their avatar). Nowadays it seems that you get an aquarium, build a house and furnish it for the MMO-ish aspect, and maybe even have a car? Now that I think about it, the last few points I mentioned make me think of Facebook for kids. Man, I used to be really obsessed with that site. (I even installed a toolbar so I could post in threads more quickly and efficiently!) My hardcore weaboo days,  I suppose? Every time I visit it, there’s a part of me that considers trying to integrate myself back into the community. I mean, some of the people on my friendslist are still somewhat frequent visitors, from what I saw on their profiles about last login and most recent posts and other stuff that I was being a creepy stalker about. So couldn’t I do the same thing? I guess what keeps me from doing that is the feeling that I’ll just compare everything to the way things were when I first joined that site (only a few years after the site was first conceived). In addition, most of the people I knew back then are no longer there; the ones who still are, are now strangers. I’d have to start all over again and build new relationships from scratch, and honestly? I have no motivation to do that. So I guess I’ll be stuck forever reminiscing. And half-heartedly searching for another site with which I can experience the joy of role-playing once more. Geebus, that ended on a rather depressing note.
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Holy Heebie-Geebies

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Which is when we celebrate Christmas in my family. Dannngg. Where did the time go? I typed up a post last week, but the USB to which I saved it was left at my parents’ house, so I’ll upload that sometime next week. So this past week, I’ve been hanging out at my sister’s house. We don’t really do much, but it’s always fun spending time with my sister and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend, Brad, recently got Elder Scrolls: Skyrim for his PS3, and I’ve gotten a chance to play it quite a bit as well. It’s preeeeetty awesome. It’s ridiculous how much you can customize your character; it feels like it should be an MMORPG. Surprisingly, I haven’t gotten addicted to it yet. It might be because I’m still getting used to the controls and gameplay. I’ve pretty much got my Christmas gifts done for the family. I made everyone a snuggie, except for my mom. I thought of making socks for her, but I no longer have time to get it done before Christmas. I feel kinda cheap for buying her something when I made something for everyone else. My sister and I have gone shopping a lot during this week. She received a ton of coupons, which is why we went shopping in the first place. I’m pretty pleased with my purchases. I bought some new makeup, a sweater/cardigan type thing, and this little owl-shaped doohickey to neatly wind my earbuds around when they’re not in use. My sister used the coupons more for Christmas shopping. Duuuude. I am sooo excited for Christmas day because Brad is proposing to my sister on Sunday. He’s been planning for a while, but money constraints have kept him from popping the question any sooner. He asked my parents for their blessing sometime in November. I accidentally found him in the jewelry store making the purchase after he wouldn’t answer his phone multiple times while we were all in the mall. I think it’s safe to assume that my sister just expects to receive “regular” jewelry. Bwuh, I wish I could be there for when he actually proposes, but alas, I have to head back to my parents house because we are spending Christmas Eve with the extended family tomorrow. My cat has been staying with them, while I took Toto with me so he could hang out with Gus and Lucy, my sister’s dogs. Apparently Jager has been having a ball getting the house all to himself. He’ll probably be super bewildered on Sunday if Teresa and Brad bring their dogs with them (if they can stay overnight). Oh, I’m so excited for Sunday. Pretty sure my parents consider the engagement as a type special Christmas gift. Some of the extended family has been asking about them getting married for a while too. Is gonna be AWESUM. On another cool note, Brad taught me how to drive stick shift in his Jeep today. It was pretty chilly, especially as there were no doors and he had taken the top off of it a while back during nicer weather, but it was still fun. My legs were actually too short to comfortably reach the pedals, so the work I had to put into pushing the clutch all the way when shifting gears had me sweating a little bit. I picked up shifting the gears pretty quick, but starting from a stop is gonna take a while. I’m so excited for the next time I visit and can drive it some more. Of course, there’s always a chance that it won’t be here the next time I visit, since Brad has been planning to sell it for a long while, but hasn’t because he’s been fixing it up. I’mma totally get a stick shift when I buy my own car. Like in ten years or whatever. IT’S GONNA HAPPEN. This Christmas will probably the my favorite/best Christmas for a while. It’s a good thing almost no one knows about this blog (especially my sister), otherwise I’d be a total blabbermouth.
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Rambling. Like a boss.

Lol my dad had to write the letters for the keys that had been rubbed down by overuse on the keyboard. Toto is freaking out because I fed him outside and he’s not used to not being around me all the time. He’s worried that I’ll leave him or something, I suppose. Jager seems like he’s having the time of his life; his tail is constantly swishing back and forth. He probably likes the bigger space of a house compared to my apartment. There are also more places for him to climb on, which makes it easier for him to get away from Toto. My parents don’t really like the fact that he jumps everywhere, though. Last night, he slept on the bed beside me a few times because it was tall and big enough to where Toto couldn’t bug him unless he jumped onto the bed himself. He tried to a few times, but was pushed off each time and quickly learned that he wasn’t allowed on it. Lady has been hanging out inside the house a few times since I got home last night. My parents don’t seem to mind it at all anymore, though she can’t stay inside because she’s used to being an outside dog. I haven’t seen her go to the restroom before, and she probably doesn’t know yet that she can’t go to the restroom inside the house. Toto’s really trying to bust through the back door. Sandy bit someone while they were visiting the house, apparently. My mom took her to the vet to see if she has rabies or not. We’ve never kept our dogs up to date on their shots, but my mom sounded upset that my sister and I hadn’t taken Sandy to get her rabies shot every year, since it costs only $13. Sandy has to stay at the vet for 9 days for them to observe her and verify whether or not she has rabies. If she does, she’ll have to be put down, so here’s to hoping that she’s okay. She’s always been wary of visitors, and sometimes nipped at their heels if they got too close to her, but she’s never actually bitten anyone. Time for some old news? Hmm, well, I finished the semester rather poorly. Got a C on my last Neuroanatomy exam, leaving me with a B instead of an A. I straight out failed the Biochemistry final (not cumulative, thank goodness), leaving me with a D. I doubt I’ll be retaking the class, and this just makes it more official that I’ll be applying to that masters program at UNT for premed students needing to better their GPA. The only problem is telling my parents of this decision. In any case, my other classes finished on a good note. I herped up plenty of times during the piano recital, but more due to nervousness than my inability to play. My professor was able to tell that I put effort into it, which is what was most important. Toto is body slamming the door in his attempts to get in. He’s really not used to being in a separate room from me. Poor baby. My psychiatric appointment left me confused. The psychiatrist said that, if I had ADD/ADHD, it would most likely be ADD, but the little rank-these-statements-on-a-scale-of-1-to-5 questionnaire isn’t a definitive test, so he couldn’t say for sure. Same thing with the depression questionnaire. Both said I likely had mild forms of ADD and depression, respectively. Based on our conversation throughout the hour session, he said that I had depressive symptoms, but didn’t say outright that I had depression. So . . . what the fuck? He didn’t hesitate on asking if I wanted to try a medication to see if that would help my problems, and I would like to think that he’s not one of those doctors who prescribes medicine to keep their patients from complaining or something. So I’m going to interpret his prescription as a confirmation that I have enough symptoms for it to be highly likely that I am mildly depressed and may have ADD. :< Anyway, I was prescribed Wellbutrin. Our follow up appointment is in January, a week before classes start. During this month, I also intend to try the Ubermann sleep schedule, where you basically train your body to go into REM sleep every time you go to sleep. You take 20 minute naps every 4 hours, or 30 minute naps every 6 hours, leaving you with 2 hours of sleep and 22 hours of time awake. People who have been on this schedule state that once you get used to it, you feel energetic all the time, but that missing a nap is hell and quickly drains you of energy. Not to mention that the process to getting to that point is almost like hell. Toto’s gonna end up tearing the door apart, and it’s time to eat. I’m going to take care of both those problems now.
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Hey there.

So it’s been a bit under a month since my last post. Sorry guyyysss. So, first of all, on November 19, one of my older cousins got married. I was a bridesmaid for his wedding. Except. He got mixed up and didn’t say that I was actually the Maid-of-Honor, seeing as I was the only bridesmaid. But no big deal. So for his wedding, I drove home the night of the 17th because a dress rehearsal was on the 18th. The night of the 18th, I stayed at the hotel with his fiance because we had to be prettified early early (5 AM) the next morning and it would be better if I didn’t have to drive an hour and a half from my parents’ house the morning of. And they were sick. Lemme stop here and take the time to say that when I get married, I’mma make sure they give me some simple hair style because having to wash the hair spray caked in your hair late at night after having been gallivanting around all day for wedding stuff is a big pain in the butt. The number of guests for the wedding was small; it was just my family, but even so, that was about 50-60 people total. Since it was small, being the maid-of-honor wasn’t too stressful. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that I didn’t get to spend much time with my other cousins during that weekend, and since I didn’t go home for Thanksgiving either, I won’t get to see them again until Christmas. So, wedding was all fun and whatnot, and my sister caught the bouquet. There’s this rumor going around amongst the aunts and uncles that my sister is planning on getting married next year, but when I asked her about it, she had no clue what I was talking about. Asking my aunts and uncles about the source of their information pointed me to my mom, but she claimed that she hadn’t said anything about that either. Many people are curious as to when my sister and her boyfriend are going to get married, though, so I guess it’s not too surprising. My second counseling session was the Monday after the wedding/before Thanksgiving. After expressing further interest on how I might get an appointment with the on-campus psychiatrist, my counselor took all the necessary information from me in order to fill out the referral form, since it seems the only way to get an appointment with the psychiatrist is through a referral from one’s counselor. After getting that out of the way, we ended up discussing my relationships with other people (keeping them distant) and why my relationships might be the way they are. At least, that was what fueled whatever we discussed for the rest of the session. My next session is this coming Monday, and I have an appointment with the psychiatrist for next Friday. Even though UTD had classes up to Wednesday (Thursday and Friday being the only days we had off for Thanksgiving holidays), I went to class only on Monday. Why? Because I got sick with a cold from the bride and groom. It wasn’t all bad; I was able to finish reading Eldest and Brisingr from the Inheritance cycle by Wednesday night. After finishing Brisingr, I immediately went out and bought Inheritance . . . and ended up finishing that Thursday afternoon. I was supposed to use Thanksgivin g break for studying, since next week is the start of finals, but I’m so weak to temptation. D: My parents, after having heard I was sick, decided to visit me and bring me food and, in general, baby me. They arrived Friday afternoon and left Saturday morning. Even though their visit was short (as it always is), I’m glad they came. It reminded me that my family is very amazing. The rest of the weekend was spent practicing piano and
OOhh, I want a tablet so bad!
wasting time looking at Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and falling in love with the concept of Amazon’s new Kindle Fire even though I really don’t need it and there are many cons about it especially since it’s the first generation of it but I still really want it anyway. Since Amazon and Overstock.com both have Cyber Monday deals all weak, I’ve still spent a lot of time looking at all the sales, even though I haven’t found anything worth buying. I really like the idea of the Kindle Fire. I have Amazon Prime already, and Amazon Prime users are given movie options to watch/download for free. As an eReader, those with Kindles have access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which allows one to borrow a book for a month for reading without having to pay for the book. As one who likes to read, this is a very appealing aspect. My sister pointed out that a regular Kindle eReader may be better for me than the Kindle Fire, but if I’m going to get a Kindle, I’d rather be able to have the option of using it for other things that just reading. The Kindle Fire isn’t exactly a true tablet, but for $200, it’s not expected to be, either, and I don’t intend to use a tablet to replace my laptop. With some tablets costing nearly as much as a new laptop, I don’t see myself purchasing a full-blown tablet any time soon. As my sister said, “I’d want to be able to play games (WoW) on it, but you can’t do that.” Akshually, I went to Best Buy yesterday evening to check it out (because, you know, it’s good to have a look at things you’re thinking of buying), and some of the bad things I heard about it aren’t really that bad. Some people complained about the interface being schizo, but the model in the store seemed perfectly fine. Yeah, the speakers are in an awkward place and don’t have much power to them, but I’d use earphones if I were watching a movie or listening to music. I have to admit, the power button is in a really stupid place. Why anyone would put it on the bottom of the device is beyond me. However, you can just flip it upside-down (and the screen will also flip) so it’s usable that way as well, aside from a few applications. I’m not sure how much the lack of a volume rocker will bother me, though, especially for applications that don’t have a way to change the volume in their settings. I guess that’s enough of my Kindle Fire spiel. (Also, there’s already a way to root it, which would give me more freedom to do what I want with it toooo.) Aside from being a good-for-nothing who spends too much time watching anime and reading manga and being useless in general, I’ve also been practicing my third piece for my piano class. We’re having a recital tomorrow night, which also takes the place of our final. I’m still having trouble with a few spots, but I think I’ll be all right by the time the recital comes around. That’s what’s been occupying the rest of my attention the past few weeks. I’ve only been practicing this piece for a total of about 2 weeks, while the other people in my class have been practicing theirs for closer to a month or more. Good news! My only final exam is for my biochemistry class, which is next Friday morning. As I already mentioned, playing in tomorrow’s recital takes the place of the final for my piano class, I’ve already finished everything for my two online classes, if you have a passing grade in Neuroanatomy, you’re exempt from the final (it’s only for people who need it to pass), and for my History of American Medicine through Film class we have to write a paper on a movie we choose (and compare it to a movie we’ve watched in class). This weekend is gonna be crammed, since the paper is due next Tuesday, and my fourth Neuroanatomy exam is also on Tuesday. Well, I should probably get started on some of that stuff. Yay for another boring update that doesn’t really give any insight. Posting weekly makes me churn out more thoughtful content.
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I had a dream

That I overslept again and both Toto and Jager peed everywhere in my apartment. And then my parents visited me and where like, “Wtf.” And they brought McDonald’s to eat for dinner. What? I guess that’s what I get for taking a 3-hour nap at four in the afternoon. So, my first counseling session was on Monday afternoon, and while it was kinda weird to be going to counseling, overall, I was comfortable with who I had been assigned as a counselor. I have to attend a few more sessions before being able to see the psychiatrist, and if I want to know from them whether or not I have ADD/ADHD, I’d have to go to an off-site testing area to get tested (which would cost money). If I don’t want to wait til I’m eligible to see the psychiatrist on campus, then I have to find one off campus and either get tested by them, or just talk with them and see if they think that I do have ADD/ADHD (which would still cost money). I’m not sure whether or not I want to wait, as most of the studying tips she suggested are things I have already tried. One of my friends suggested I write in my books while I study as it helps one concentrate on what they’re actually reading if they actively take notes; while I can see that working, my mind immediately balked at the idea and said, “NO, it is forbidden!” And some of the textbooks I have do not belong to me. As for my anger issues, she suggested that I try meditating daily. And said I should try and have a healthier lifestyle in general, which I know I should. I haven’t been really getting quality sleep lately, I never really ate regularly or healthily (I have more incentive when I’m cooking for other people, rather than for just myself), and I am soooo out of shape. I’m hoping to remedy that this coming semester by making a schedule that has me starting classes at the same time every day and finishing early in the afternoon, allowing me time to get into a habit of waking up at the same time every morning and giving me time to work out for an hour every afternoon. Wish me luck! I’m also much closer to the Activity Center than I was last year, so making the trip from my apartment won’t be as much of a deterrent when it’s cold. Or freezing. 8:40 – It’s so easy to get sidetracked watching videos of cats. Pretty sure I started writing this blog at 8.  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss So that was my dog, Toto, giving his input. Maybe he was trying to imitate the creepers from Minecraft. Speaking of pets, I think Jager and Toto were actually playing today! Well, Toto always tries to play with Jager, so that’s not news. However I think Jager was playing hide-n-seek with Toto today. It’s big news! It really is! I’ve never seen Jager play with Toto like that before. Anyway . . . Hmm. Last night I was out shopping, so on the way back I stopped at my ex-boyfriend’s to pick up some stuff that I’d forgotten. We ended up talking for a while, and it became pretty clear to me that we’re better friends than we are boyfriend and girlfriend. I’m glad that I had the chance to talk with him. It’s put my mind at ease. Even though I haven’t been strong in my faith in the past, I can’t help feeling that God helped me out with this one. My close friends were very supportive of me once I told them, and even having the initiative to go and talk to Chris in the first place was not something I would have been able to do easily in the past. I’m glad with how this whole situation concluded. I am uber excited for this weekend; my friend, Beth, is visiting Dallas for a swing dance class she’s taking with her swing dance club. Since it’s close to campus, she’s spending the night at my apartment for the weekend, and we haven’t been able to really hang out in a long while. (That was another reason why I feel God was really helping me this past week.) In addition, one of my other friends is having her birthday party on Sunday (eating out and going bowling). I love to bowl, so I think it’ll be fun overall, even though I probably won’t know anyone besides the birthday girl. The only damper is that I have a biochem exam next Monday, so I should really be studying right now instead of blogging. I haven’t even eaten dinner yet! I’m soooo bad. My ex has a snake and it’s so cool and I want a snake. My house is going to have a zoo.
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Cat.

Why did you pee on my blanket? Did you not realize that the covered litter box is still your litter box? It is late. I am sleepy. Yay for extra hour of “sleep.” Don’t forget to turn all your clocks back by one hour!