my favorite thing about being sick

is that when i'm talking, even to myself, i dont make ANY sense.

i.e.

"normal alka-seltzer, go back in your boat!"


(not because i was referring to the alka-seltzer box as a boat, but because i think there was some banana boat sun tan lotion in the same drawer.)


yesssssss.

tim burton and i have the same taste in women.

 

seriously. the famous ladies i would be gay for in a second.

tho i very much miss the slightly rounder version of christina ricci. but its hollywood, right? she probably wants jobs and such, so i get it.

also, who else could make being a chimpanzee hot?

this has been the product of too much late night linking around imdb.

real writing

its been a long time since i've actually written anything here.
unfortunately, i don't have anything particularly meaningful to write at this moment, either - but its been so long i figured i'd better do it while i'm in the mood.

4-day weekend! i'm taking monday off as my personal holiday, becuase coming in that day at all seems lame, especially with veterans day being on tuesday. i need to grade about 5.5 fps packets tomorrow. that'll be fun. usually it really would be, but they're kind of atrocious this time, to the point of them being unusually difficult to grade. which makes them not fun.

work is good. still not particularly busy all the time, but learning some good new things. i now have 4 or 5 new reports that i'm in charge of on a weekly basis.

ooh! i'm also getting better at not spending so much money eating out at lunch. the key: soup. soup is cheap, and once i bought a bowl with a handle, it was easy to eat. and i like spaghettios. and potato soup. probably not all that healthy, but not bad, for me. especially if i bring a banana to go with it.

i cut up one of my credit cards! go me! i'm giving the other one to a friend to stick in her freezer, too. i feel the need to have one for emergencies or something, but it will be much better if its not in my own house.

i like music. i always like music, but i like music an extra lot the past week. i like a lot of people, but overall i definitely have two favorites. i like everything they do: Peter Gabriel and Lyle Lovett. in 5 years John Mayer might be on that list, but his discography isnt big enough to really impress me the way the other two do. I also started listening to Phil Collins a lot - i always like him, but only knew his songs from the radio, so hearing all of the albums has been great. And i get blown away once or twice an album to the point of going "wow! this is amazing! amazing like peter gabriel amazing!" and then i listen to peter gabriel.

anyway. thats probably sufficient writing for now. babble babble babble.

Last year i was asian and jensen ackles - now i'm sophie marceau! yeah! movin up in the world!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family history - Ancestry search

awww, man.

i'm glad i have the cake decorating skills i have.

jayne sent me a link to a blog that is about cake wrecks...

this one is my favorite. you have to read the comments about it to fully appreciate it, tho.... :)

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/09/adding-insult-to-injury.html

this is funny

Your result for The Which Star Trek Species R U Test...

Borg

Homeworld: Unknown (their origin is somewhere in the Delta Quadrant)

The Borg - the scourge of the universe. Their very name strikes fear into the hearts of species everywhere. An aggressive, ruthless species, they are single-minded in their pursuit for efficiency. The Borg believe that organic species are weak and seek to improve themselves by incorporating technology to become cyborgs. The Borg have no sense of individuality, instead having a hive mentality. As a Borg, you seek knowledge and power - you're also prepared to do whatever it takes to get these. You have no patience for frivolous things - what is the point of doing something if it isn't useful? You also don't make friends easily. This is because you are convinced your way is the right way and you're aggressive enough to enforce your beliefs on everyone else - by force if necessary.

OTHER CATEGORIES

Ferengi

Vulcan

Romulan

Human

Klingon

Cardassian

Borg

Android/Hologram

Like this test? Then don't forget to rate it!!

Want more? How about some shameless self-promotion? I've also written other tests - check them out! You know you want to...

The Trekkie Test

The Do *YOU* Remember The 90's Test

The Capitals of the World Test

The Australian Trivia Test

Take The Which Star Trek Species R U Test at HelloQuizzy

very very true

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

6 - the Questioner

you chose CY - your Enneagram type is SIX (aka "The Loyalist").

"I AM AFFECTIONATE AND SKEPTICAL"

Questioners are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

Be direct and clear.
Listen to me carefully.
Don't judge me for my anxiety.
Work things through with me.
Reassure me that everything is OK between us.
Laugh and make jokes with me.
Gently push me toward new experiences.
Try not to overreact to my overreacting.


What I Like About Being a SIX

being committed and faithful to family and friends
being responsible and hardworking
being compassionate toward others
having intellect and wit
being a nonconformist
confronting danger bravely
being direct and assertive


What's Hard About Being a SIX

the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations
SIXes as Children Often

are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent


SIXes as Parents

are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
worry more than most that their children will get hurt
sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries
Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele



http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-quick-painless-enneagram-test
The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People
Harper SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages

i really like okcupids new quiz site. its much better.

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Cutting Edge

(71% dark, 46% spontaneous, 37% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | DARK



Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top.

Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing.


PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi






The 3-Variable Funny Test!

- it rules -

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy

yay

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 87% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

i want my books back, mom.

because, really, those are the books i love. i never really got into adult books. and not even just because they are often lacking in pictures. because i super loved the littles and the boxcar children, and those weren't really illustrated. but the pictures did help.

this was only just prompted by watching "meet the robinsons" and really appreciating that i recognized everything as being from the book(s). and it really really made me miss my books. and i want them back. one day, i will pass them on to my kids, but until that day, i want to savor them. so thanks, mom, for always spending way too much at book fairs. and i curse middle school and the internet for pulling me away from books...

how i love thee, dinosaur bob, nimby, the funny thing, roald dahl, dr. desoto, elephant goes to a party, streganona, mufaro's beautiful daughters, madeleine l'engle, the story of poppyseed, and many more. you'll always hold a super special place in my heart. perhaps more special than is healthy. :)

tonight

tonight, won't be like any night,
tonight there will be no morning star...

musicals! yay!

and i really think i'm going to go home and watch cinderella. and the breakfast club.

sighhhhh.

changing!

Before i get to more relevant things, lets all just reserve a moment for the splendor that is bite-sized frosted shredded wheats. they are saving my poor-ass from nutritional deficiencies of many sorts, though most notably of the fiber variety.

heidi is leaving me! for alaska! i might leave me for alaska, too, though - so i forgive her. it was weird - she was packing all weekend and it didn't really kick in that i'm not going to see her for a really long time. so she's going adventuring, and i'm staying in my cubicle to continue to manage inventory operations....

replacing heidi for a couple of months will be Polina, who is a Russian 19-year-old living in the US for a couple of months. She seems nice, and a bit young, but i think we'll get along okay. And truth be told, the possibility that she is less tidy than heidi is very very small.

i made the best buttercream frosting i've ever made last week. it was fabulous. it had orange in it, but not too much - and it was just the perfect consistency.

i don't really have much to say. so i'll go now.

awayRun

i like it, although i think it could use a better name.
let me know if you come up with one.

there is a guy at work, and today was the first time i went in his office. he always seems a bit unkempt - in that way that i want to tell him to go wash his hair. his office smelled kind of like i assume his hair would. but, it is obvious from the decor that he has small children, and so i feel a modicum of understanding towards his situation. then i noticed his arms. he has to be in his 30s at least, but he has arms that can only be described as "nubile." it was very odd.

FINGER POLL

that maybe sounded bad.

https://catalysttools.washington.edu/quickpoll/vote/rileyk/3036

but take my poll anyway. its really not bad at all. and because i'm very curious about this.
i'm pretty sure i'm weird, but i don't know. i also need to find a way to add qualifiers like gender and left/right handedness...


and dad, i'm really curious about your answer, i think i know what you would pick, but maybe you'll completely surpise me.

and you'll have to explain to lisa what a trackpad is, i suppose. hopefully it wont be too painful. ;)

Il Faut Travailler

my first ever film on film.
i'm pretty happy with it. :)

People who teach

people who teach computer classes have infinite patience.
i am mightily impressed.

especially considering how i get when my mother asks me to show her how to do something on the computer.

i finally uploaded new pictures to flickr.

of the apartment, bowling, and ducks that live outside of APL.
for those that wanted to know.

Heidi and I Cleaned Yesterday

emotional.

so, tonight i went to a dance class. and had a horrible time. it really made me feel worse than i've felt in months. it was a "drop-in" only class - and was supposed to be a kind of "fundamentals" hip-hop class. nothing about that speed of that class was "fundamental". And i'd say 90% of the class members were very OBVIOUSLY dancers - people who picked up on steps immediately. So i just ended up feeling humiliated and frustrated and STUPID for an hour and a half. feeling stupid is about the worst feeling in the world to me, one of the cons of being an over-achiever i suppose, but i just really don't take it well. and i felt like the (stupid-)fat-girl in class which is an image/idea that has kept me away from more gyms/classes/physical-activities than i can count. and i feel like i've finally really started to get over that, and to have it shoved back in my face in a definitive kind of way was really really just horrible. it made me angry at myself, angry at the studio for posting it in a way that was misleading, and angry at jayne as well (although i know she meant well and only wanted me to have a good time) for not realizing the class for being as advanced as it was. you should take into account difference between skill levels of the friend and the class before you invite someone. and perhaps the emotional tolerance for mistakes. i'm sure some people could have just laughed it off as an "experience," but i kind of think i'm obviously not one of those people. i'm too uptight.

so. that made me really emotional on the way home. really angry and hurt and just... yeah, emotional in generally negative ways.

but in a way i liked it, being really angry and feeling kind of justified about it. and assume that others do too. I tried to hold on to my anger the entire way home. I feel like we spend so much time trying to be mellow or agreeable in normal life than when we have a really genuinely strong emotion, we try and hold on to it as long as possible. I think it's less noticeable when you're happy - as it seems natural to continue to want to be happy. but to continue to want to be miserable seems a bit odd. i don't think its all that uncommon though. (maybe i'm wrong, and just a masochist at heart. entirely possible. your comments on this are appreciated. on whether you feel the same or not. not whether or not i'm a masochist.)

its kind of like life trying to imitate art (after it has imitated life). All of our media/visual arts/audial arts/literature etc. focuses on emotions and emotional responses, and then our lives are often so emotionally dull (perhaps only outwardly) that when a strong emotion (like those that inspire art) takes hold of us, we (i) try to hold on to it because it makes us feel more human? more normal? I'm not really sure. But i know that i like being (justifiably) emotional. A lot.

So that was kind of my first hypothesis on the way home. but now i think the art thing is kind of crap. maybe true, but if it is its just an extra reflection of our original desires. Arts wouldn't focus on things like that if they weren't innate to our beings, i don't think.

Its probably just a release of energy. There is probably some scientific reason for it all.
I hate science.
I like emotions better. I like art better.


good thing i work at a physics lab. hahaha.


this was long. i could go on, but i wont.
being emotional made me want to listen to peter gabriel.

Heidi is being a GiggleMuffin

because of her "boyfriend." Thats only in quotes because she has such a hard time saying it that i couldn't imagine just writing it out plainly.

They made real soup earlier. I poured potato soup out of a can. and added cheese. it was good. and creamy.

work is overwhelming in some senses, mostly in the grander scheme of what they want me to do in the future. But i still like it, i just don't like having two bosses who have very different opinions about how to manage employees. (one is very 'big-picture' and the other is very task oriented. i'm okay with either, but trying to manage the two is a bit trying.)

And i finally broke my record! Sweeney Todd has trumped the Matrix (6 times) for most viewings in a theater with 7 times!!! (it will be 8 or more if i can convince other people to go see it). I really really love that movie. its so me i realized - very macabre and kind of goth-y, but at the same time a FucKinG MUSICAL. So FANTASTIC. and helena bonham carter is so pretty. and i want her costumes from the film.

aaaaaaaaaand.... i'm kind of cold. wearing a hat inside the house.

oh - kitcat is good. He's a normal spazzy young cat (been especially bite-y today...) but he is really sweet sometimes and kind of sounds like he's dying when he meows, which is as adorable as it is annoying. Otter Rosencrantz Kent is a pretty fantastic name, though. Cat names are so fun.

I feel like reading Heinlein.... and Hitchhiker's Guide. I'm in the mood for some science fiction, i guess.

ok. i guess i'm done with the random updates and comments for now.

Christmas in Georgia (highlight photos)

my parents expressing their general attitudes towards life.

i love abby's pose, and i'm still amazed that i managed to get such a good picture of tucker.

abby fastening the bracelet my mom gave to jane. i like the old/young hands contrast.

my father and his brother battling on Wii Baseball, while my great aunt Virginia watches. They got a bit competitive. 'Twas funny.

my cousin Matt practicing child abuse on my first cousin Faith... or at least that was the blackmail purposes of this photo. They were great hams for the camera.
I really hope everyone reads the caption for this.
Face off!

my grandpa and his wife jane. they're great together.

my mommy says goodbye to her daddy. thought it was sweet.



these are just some of my favorite pics from the trip. i took a BUNCH.
(they're all on my flickr page - there should be a link in the right column)

Overall, christmas was good, better than i had expected.
:)