Excuse me. Allow me to bask in the glow of accomplishment for a moment. Finally figured out how to get x-win to work on my computer, which means...I don't have to go to the busy computer labs to finish my lab writeup for me labs! XD (x-win allows graphics to be sent to your computer through your ssh program, which is sorta like telnet but more secure; if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, then you're where I was two weeks ago. Don't worry, I doubt you'll ever, ever have to use it.) Anyways, happy! More excuses to be antisocial! :D

Which means I have no excuse not to do my engineering lab. Bah.

XD. Of COURSE I want to do it! How could I not want to cosplay Watari? Andand I get a 003 plushie? And I can wear my glasses and not worry about being ooc? And I get to romp happily like Ayame romp because Watari romp like that too? XD And a simple costume! Yay!! I think I own everthing already but the wig, an orange hair tie, and 003. Yay! Well, wig=expensive. But if that's all I'm spending, uber cool! Everyone else sounds really well cast too! But wigness. Much wigness. That's okay. Heidi=Wakaba=CUTE!! Pekkle=Terazuma=grumpycool!! AK=KK=SQUEE!! I take it no wings though. Michelle=Byakko=let me glomp you now. No wait, Michelle is being felt up enough at college... (poor Michelle. ;_; err, virtual glomp. yup.) And Phi=Hisoka=*faint* ohmigod. More bishieness!! (No wigness, I'm guessing?) And Kevin=Tatsumi=XD! It's funny how everyone in AKG is starting to develop niches for themselves in terms of costuming... Like how Phi ends up doing bishies and Kevin ends up doing the serious/cool peoples and how Heidi ends up doing the adorable sweet heroines and Lisa ends up doing the gender confused genki people... XD I could go AKG cosplaying together agaa~aaainn!!! XD I can't wait to see what the skit for Yami would be like!

Speaking of wigness, how would something like this be for Watari? Just starting to get an idea of what's out there... Have quite a while before I need the wig, after all. Might as well shop around...

Glad Michelle had fun down in NoCal with Mirae and Phi and Kix and Heidi and Pekkle! Good luck in college, Heidi! Hope you meet cool people who don't stalk you. o_O (my roommate is having a stalker problem. He's standing behind me talking to her now. He just showed up one day and starting talking to her. In our room. Just stuck his head in and blablablah. I though he knew her, the way he was acting, but he only like, said hello to her that morning in math class. o_O) So, anyways, don't pick up stalkers everybody! It's scary. And you can't get rid of them once they find out where you live. >_< Anyways. Rambling. Phi Kix Kevin leaving soon for UCI? Good luck!! It's fun once you get past homesickness/the shock of having to go to class again. >_> (senior year doesn't count) I really need to do my homework, dammit. Kenji, you sound pretty settled. I'm glad someone is! And sorry that things are still shitty, Meimi. ;_; Well, usually when you ignore anger, it tends to go away, at least in my experience; that's what always happens when I get into fights with my mom. We go to sleep hating each other, and the next morning I'm sleepily mumbling good morning to her over morning tea and she's asking if I want soup for lunch. I guess I'm trying to say fights with parents just aren't worth dwelling over, even if you're in the right, and I'm glad you're at least getting along with your mom now; it's easier when you're not fighting with your parents, too. And blah to stupid art teachers. I hate structured art classes. They totally suppress any talent that I actually have. All my best work was junior year, when there were, like no restrictions but "use this medium" "use cold press board" and "it's due in three weeks". Senior year was my worst year ever, artwise-I totally agree with Phi there. Nothing came out decent. I wanted to burn everything I did. (except the cat picture I did with Prismacolor markers, and maybe the fairy picture... but the cat had a totally bsed background and the fairy...the atmosphere just isn't like my usual art.) I maintain that this is because of the specificity of the assignments. You cannot force me to do an abstract painting. My brain does not work that way and you'll never make me into a Picasso. I babble again. I'm sorry. I really need some tea. And notice that I did not include any links in the body of this text? I need sleep. And caffeine. Not necessarily in that order.

Oh, and the beach was fun, in case you wanted to know. (Lotsa dead horseshoe crabs. o_O Apparently because of some tropical storm...Hannah or something.) (Sachiko: the turd plushie you got at the Boardwalk! XD ....no wait...it's a sad thing, not a funny thing...I'm really out of it...)

Something I just realized. For the past year or so, I had the wrong e-mail address in my mailto: tag; @hotmail instead of @yahoo as it should be. o_O So...um...if you ever e-mailed me and I never responded, um, that would be why. Um...sorry? I'm a moron?

So I'm feeling productive homework-wise today, finished my prelab and my writing assignment, and most of my post-lab for the last lab is done...so...bloggie time! :D Told you I would today. First...KENJII!!! X chess chess set? You make? X CHESS SET!?? XD~~ How are the figures going to be made? (would die for Kakyou chess piece XD) Can't help with the kanji in Hinoto's...thingy...but I'm sure someone we know does. :P SQUEE!! You have to show it to us when you're done! Err, somehow... And about the Hikago slash, Kenji? :P You're the one who made friends with fangirls! And it's not a sexual thing anyway. Well, not for me, anyway. Though I won't speak for all fangirls. For me, it's cuteness/raburabuness/fluffiness/pretty-peopleness. And with no big-boobage involved! :D See, all the straight couples I like...cute without unrealistic boobage, and with a relatively nice and likeable heroine. Like Oujiro x Misaki, Tamayo x Koutarou (:P), Yuki x Tohru, Li x Sakura...and stuff. It's just that sometimes I can't bring myself to like some heroines... God I can't believe I'm talking about this. And I can't believe I used boobage in a sentence. Somebody shoot me.

Though I must admit that your comment about go boards and sexualness 'disfiguring the table' made me pause to think for a second. XD *snrk*

Phi has 2nd HAL album. Lisa wants 2nd HAL album. Lisa is torn. Steal HAL album and ruin a perfectly good friendship, or wait in agony until she has enough money to spare and buy it herself? Luckily circumstances make my decision for me, and as I am across the country from said HAL album, making stealing very unlikely, the friendship is safe. Still, you suck. :P And I think I stopped losing weight! Because you should see the amount of desserts I consume at dinner. o_O But...the ice cream...and the cookies...and brownies and rice crispy treats and pie....so yummyyy.... Okay, maybe I'll end up getting fat instead now. Then I guess people will stop bugging me about being too skinny? Err, rambling. When Animagic? Lisa wants to go too. But Lisa is East Campus now. ;_; Cosplaayyy.... Miss it. Well, you have double the fun at Animagic, because you have to have fun for me, too! And get enough sleep! Or I'll...poke you! Ha! (And don't forget the wig this time. ^_~)

Saachiikoooo!!! Hearing you talk about having fun with the spazzes makes me so homesick. ;_; The "insignicant ones!" XD I like that. They'll never hear the end of it from me. Poor Mark and Neil. XD Just so you know, I'll be back home in October... umm, I have to check the exact dates, but I WILL be home, for three entire days. >_> But we can plan something for it! It'll be fun! We always have fun. Because we are amused much too easily. :P

Kiixxx! Sorry about driver's license test. ;_; But it sounds like you did pretty well anyway, so no worries! And Takki is so. Hot. ohmigosh. I was looking through the picture gallery and was all O_O (catatonic state) I wish I knew enough japanese to watch J-dramas. I think I'll take a Japanese class in college. Yes. Knowing kanji already will give me a little bit of an edge, right? I hope? Maybe? Even if I don't know how to pronounce them? Grr. That's if I have room in my college schedule for it... Anyways! Takki is hot. I don't think I can get anything more coherent out than that, so I'll stop now.

Fuck, Meimi. >_< Life is just handing you a lot of shit lately, isn't it? And you still have to do college apps amidst all of that? Cripes. Well, as for art-bitch lady, and lazy classmates... I don't even know what I can say, except kick their asses, every one of them. Just blow them away. Nothing tells more than skill, and I'm sure you have it. I've always found that what makes me feel better in the face of stupidity and frustration is just showing them how much better I can do it than them, and not saying a word about it. It makes me feel really good, and I don't have to resort to anything angry and/or violent. Half-assed advice on my part, but the best I can give. Of course, if you say that paint is not your forte...err. A little more difficult. I'll admit to swearing at my paintbrushes on numerous occasions as well. (Anyone who's watched me when painting knows how scary that I can get. o_O Kenji, Phi, Kix, you've seen it. You know what I mean...) Is the paint unskilled-ness a time-tested thing, or is just that whenever you've had to do projects with it, boomyuck? Because the first few dimes I did acrylics and watercolors...boomyuck. Especially when I was just doing the practice sheets. No skill whatsoever. The way we were supposed to use the brush, how we were taught to use it, just did not make sense to me. It felt totally awkward. Eventually, I guess I figured out my own way to do it... I wasted a lot of practice paper with very gross things, and generally got very frustrated with myself, but eventually, something clicked, I guess, and I was painting. Not the way my teacher said to, but I was painting. And I liked it. It was really just like I was using colored pencils (my forte) except it was more watery. At least, that's the way I thought about it. It seemed to help... Every brush stroke, I treated like a colored pencil stroke. And it got easier... And I've so been rambling. Sorry. Thanks for the Hikago links, by the way. I'm a sucker for Japanese fanart, and I have such a hard time searching for fanart sites... And SUMIWAYA!! <3 Okay. Done.

Lisa needs to go take a shower. It's 11. After that is calculus homework. Also finds this completely hilarious. And Lisa had a lot of milk tea today, so Lisa is hyper. And she needs to catch up on sleep. Five hours a night for the past three nights. And if I don't blog before Friday, I'm gone Friday night - Sunday afternoon for a beach trip that some of the people on my dorm floor are going on, because my roommate owns a beachhouse. *_* East coast beach. Lisa will bring a camera. And art supplies. Lisa needs to draw. Now. Bye!

Just had to say this really quick: was revising essay, and I was typing "life", but "laugh" came out instead. o_O Out pops my existentialist bent again!

I will social blog tomorrow. Really. No classes in the afternoon. XD Oh, and if you see Amanda, could you tell her sorry for me, Sachiko? Haven't had time to e-mail her back yet. Or Sarah, for that matter. Or anybody. Crap. Hate backlogs.

And Tomoyo-imouto? (Get a pita, by the way. Easier to communicate.) Little treat for you! Found clips of english Kingdom Hearts theme song! :D Here! At Hikaru Utada's website! Err, to tell you the truth, I like the japanese version better; her voice sounds deeper and fuller in the japanese version, and they changed the melody a bit in the english version... But anyways, I think you'll enjoy it! :D Feel better soon! I'll e-mail you back when I get to e-mailing everyone else. >_<

That turned out a lot longer than I meant it to be.

XD Read this. No really, just read it. Read and tell me if you don't break down into helpless giggles. Then I'll know you're not a computer nerd. :P

SQUEE!!! Pearl milk tea! Pearl milk tea!!! (you don't want to know how many times I had to type that in order to spell it correctly.) Also known as boba drink, zheng zhu nai ca, and milk tea with tapioca balls. You may recall that I'm addicted to it. You may also recall that I assumed there were no places that sold pearl milk tea in the Durham area. I am happy to report that I was wrong. There is this excellent cafe about a fifteen minute bus drive from my dorm that sells excellent Chinese food (*_* the owners and the cooks are actually Chinese) as well as pearl milk tea. It isn't as good as Fantasia pearl milk tea, but it's still pretty decent. And that makes me very, very happy. You can't even begin to understand. *_*

And Michelle? If you want to upload songs, I can set up an account with you on my webspace; I seriously have like 200MB of space that I'm doing nothing with, and I don't use up even a small fraction of my bandwidth, so if you'd like, and if I can remember how to do it, I'll set up an ftp account for you. :) And oohooh! Meimi! Since you've been wandering around the japanese Hikago fan world...(I find that rather difficult to do, myself >_< damn my language impaired brain) Any sites to recommend? :D I'm partial to the Hikaru x Akira pairing, the Isumi x Waya pairing, and Mitani x Akari of all things. o_O And any other pretty art is good too. :D And just so you know, I think going to sleep at 12 is horribly late. Who are you calling old? (pouts)

Been reading? Actual books: Barbara Kingsolver and a scholarly dissertation on the sexual politics in Anne Rice's books that is somehow dry and entertaining at the same time. (snrks) Fanfiction: everything that I possibly can by them, especially their new Yami no Matsuei fic and a number of their original (gigantic!) stories, and this Daiken fic. Meep. Can you tell I'm trying to avoid my homework? I have a lab to do that I don't want to do. And calculus homework. Shit, calculus homework. I really should be doing that. I skipped tennis today so that I would have time to do it. (Okay, I skipped tennis because I was feeling lazy, but blah.)

And Kenji? If you're reading this, what's wrong? I'll e-mail you as soon as I can, but I'm already backlogged...and I'm worried. Very worried, actually. I hate being so far away from everybody. It feels like I can't do anything, and I can't really, I just...yeah. At least when I was in everyone's physical presence, I could say or do something at least and feel like I maybe made them feel better. This all just isn't the same. ;_; Kenji, really, what's wrong? That person? Or someone/something else? If I know you right I think I know pretty much, then...and in that case, I guess Sachiko would be better to talk to, huh? Oh, I'm useless at this anyway. If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine, but I'm worried and you're so far away. ;_; And damn that three hour time difference. I never know WHEN to call everyone else.

I have to stop now, or I'll never get to my homework. (not that I would mind, but you know, responsibility and expectations and guilt and all that...) Later now! (Is it safe to poke you about Bound yet, Meimi?)

I'm starting to become vaguely worried that I will be hit by the Freshman Fifteen after all. Except, opposite. Because I think I'm losing weight. (I don't know for sure. No scale. But my clothes are all getting looser...) And I'm starting to skip meals. (I haven't actually had dinner since Thursday. That makes for a grand total of two meals on Friday and one meal on Saturday.) And I eat small meals. Actually, I'm not vaguely worried. I'm very worried. A 110 pound 5'8" person sounds very not healthy, if the fifteen pound thing does end up happening... Okay, I just have to force myself to eat more. Yup. ....but dammit, I want nice, normal Chinese food again. Like my mommy makes. ;_; I sound so cliche. Shit.

Preordered Kingdom Hearts. Yes, that's all.
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...oh, fine. And Wada Kouji actually has an album out that I didn't know about! <3<3 So that means my CD backlog includes the two HAL albums, the Wada Kouji album, Hikaru Utada albums, and a few select singles that I really adore. So, yeah, I really do need a job. And you suck. :P Too pretty! Especially the hair and the skin tones; very subtle, with a pastel quality without actually being pastel. Does that make sense? And the facial hair thing on the CLAMPesque board was really...vaguely disturbing. o_O Hmm. And that's really it now. B'bye.

Went to anime club meeting today. It was okay, I guess; we watched Vandread (fanservice. blatant fanservice >_<), Fruits Basket (XD), Azumanga Daioh, Crest of Stars, Orphen, Gunbuster (bounce. bouncy bounce. glint-off-sunglasses man. jump-roping mecha. so this is where Gainax came from), Now and Then, Here and There (someone called out, "Leia! Hear me!" at the end of the episode :P) and Witch Hunter Robin (good show, just too...gothy? and maybe if Robin showed more of a personality...) Anyways, that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the lack of fellow fangirls. ;_; I was the only girl (besides the president) there for the first half hour. Later, I think a grand total of three other girls wandered in. None of them seemed like fangirls to me. (Maybe the sole Asian one o_O but she left before I could talk to her at the end of the meeting.) So anyways, the point: I have no one to squeal fangirlishly with. How could I be the only fangirl to have ended up going to Duke? ;_; I want to be in California again. I want to be at a convention again. I want to see all my California friends again. ;_; ...wah.

So, no fangirling for me here. Darnit. At least the guys aren't obnoxious fanboys, either. Even during shows like, oh, Vandread or Gunbuster, (where cheesecake shots reign supreme >_>) there weren't any catcalls or anything. And they seemed to enjoy Fruits Basket, or at least, they didn't make fun of the obvious shoujo moments or Yuki's, uh, femininity. That's a blessing; considerate fanboys! Anyways, I'm going to have to continue going to meetings, to see Fruits Basket, at least (this is what, the third? fourth? time I've watched it?) and it's kinda nice watching anime with people that laugh at the funny parts and make appropriate comments aloud. Though I still wish there were more girls.

SQUEEE!!! SACHIKO~!!!! got a pita! XD My (other) little sister!! *big big hug* If you need help with a layout/htmling and stuff like that, just ask! We can make it all pretty and happy! <3 But it's not all that hard; I'm sure you could learn it on your own if you had the time. But if you want any help, just ask, okay? :D Yay, you got a pita!! Now we just need to convince the rest of the spazzes to do so as well... Oh well. We'll see.

Meimi, of all people, I think you need a boost right now. But I don't know what to say, so you get the nothing-I-can-say-will-make-you-feel-better, but-maybe-I-can-help-you-take-your-mind-off-it treatment. Yeah, I know, I suck. So, anyone up for cute Japanese Hikago fanart? :D Okay, start here: here. It would be better if you weren't eating anything when you're browsing. I wouldn't want to be responsible for anything untoward that might happen to you. And warning: don't let the innocent little drawings and Hamtaros (I'd really like to know what is up with the hamsters) fool you. Some of it's really, uh, special. Yeah. And, once you've OD'ed on cuteness/strangeness, go here for pretty, pretty, PRETTY work. The Akiras made me melt. *_* So that's my feeble attempt to spread joy to the world. If something in the first link freaks you out, I'm not responsible. Just so you know.

Homework homework damn. Must do prelab, 1500 word essay, last weeks lab writeup, chemistry problems, calculus homework, and engineering assignment, in roughly that order. Before Monday. And I'm sleepy. And I didn't eat dinner and I'm hungry, but I already brushed my teeth and I don't want to go brush them again. I'm that lazy. So...Oh, screw it. (Eats Twix bar.) At least I'm not off getting drunk. Yep, that's Lisa experimenting in college for you; not brushing her teeth before she goes to bed! Gasp! Rebel! .....oh, and I decided I want to do Kingdom Hearts Yuffie cosplay. It appeals to me. So Lisa will now be working on improving Ayame, improving Sai (I think I'm definitely going to get the black hair extentions like I was considering; they're not that expensive, really, not like the Ayame wig), learning to play Go (^^;;) and now, Yuffie. Lisa's convention plans for next year, so far. But then there's Masq at Fanime and AX... ..........hmm. I hope we don't end up sewing entire costumes in our hotel room again. That would really suck... Well, I think I might drive down to So Cal sometime in May before conventions to meet and plan things out with everyone (and visit everyone~!!! XD) Actually, this is kinda really far ahead of time, huh? ...well, it's fun to think about anyway. Planning to see everyone again, that is. ;_; When do you all get out of school? (Yes, I know you're doing summer session Phi. You crazy motivated person you.) Erh, I should really either do homework or go to sleep. ........sleep.

I am currently in my Engineering lab section. I got here very late, didn't hear a word of the instruction lecture, and I thought I was screwed. But here I am: I finished the two assignments half an hour ago, with no difficulties, and everyone else is moaning about how there's no more time left, and how they're going to fail their first lab, and how oops they deleted their root directory! ....If I find this amusing, does that make me evil?

Somehow, I'm managing to do all my math homework questions correctly. On the first try. Without having actually listened to the teacher's lecture. At 1:15 AM in the morning.

Maybe this says something about my state of mind at 1:15 in the morning. God, I hope not. I hope it's just the Cafe Mocha. I had two today. I should really go to bed. Anime club meeting tomorrow at 7. I missed the last meeting, I should really make it to this one. And DDR club meeting Saturday. Must go make a fool of myself. And I need to go preorder Kingdom Hearts and memory card. And the Robin Hobb book. Preorders are good. And I think I've decided that there's no way in hell I'm staying in the engineering school. Did you know you need three years of calculus to satisfy your requirements for the engineering school? I got rid of one year with AP credits, but that still leaves two years. There's no way I'm taking two more years of math. I've decided that this year will be the last I'll take math. Ever. Math 103, Math 111, Lisa is done, HA! I mean, math is good and everything, but it bores the living daylights out of me. At least in, say, Chem lecture I can find enough material to interest me so that I stay awake. Math? Ha! So, the current plan? After I switch out of the engineering school at the end of the year, I major in Bio with a biochemistry concentration (probably premed, too), and minor in English, and if time and class scheduling allows, minor(s) in Chinese and/or Art, as well. And I want to take a Japanese class or two. And a psychology class. And I think creative writing is under the English department; I want to try that out, too. And philosophy; that sounds fun. Hell, I want a liberal arts education, dammit! Why the hell did I apply to the engineering school? ....I know why! Cuz I'm stoopit! ....well, I did think at the time I wanted to be an engineer....but....even though I like science and math (okay, science, and math that can be applied to things, not straight math), I like a lot of other things besides science and math. And in engineering, you don't have time for anything else. Especially if you're doing premed at the same time. So.... Yeah. I'm rambling. This is what happens at 1:30AM; my inhibitions go out the window. Sorry. You really didn't need to know all this, I guess I just needed to get it off my chest.

Now I need to do some more of my math homework and go to sleep. >_> Blah.

I have ten minutes to blog. Yes, I'm timing myself. After that I have to go get my laundry from the dryer in the basement, fold it as quickly as possible, get ready for the biomedical engineering open house thing, and then go get led around the engineering department for an indeterminate amount of time. And I still haven't done any homework yet this week. I see coffee in my immediate future. At least I have money now. My parents just deposited another $500 in my checking account. Sweet. o_O I don't know what to make of it. It looks like buying Kingdom Hearts + memory card shouldn't be a problem, yay! If I actually have time to play the game, I'll be doubly happy. >_< Anyways...

Waaa, Michelle! ;_; I feel for you about the communal showers. I'll be looking forward to going home just so I can have my own bathroom again. And not worry about my slowly eroding sense of modesty. >_< Grrr. Must not let it happen! And get sleep and take care of yourself and we love you so be happy! (Even if you do draw 100x better than me. :P poo to you!) Shit I have four minutes left. Phi? *hug* Kenji? Glad you're staying away from the cigs. I won't have to hurt you. (And stay away from scary rib girl, too!) Mirae? I'm e-mailing you as soon as my workload lightens (weekend!) and in the meanwhile, *hugs* and I'm glad you decided to go where it felt safer. I have -2 minutes left. I type too slow. Meimi, I won't poke you to work on Bound right now because you're so $#&@ing busy with everything else, and that would just be cruel. (Weekend coming soon! Good! Everyone loves weekends!) But I'll be bugging you as soon as I deem it appropriate. And as far as I can tell, concerning volume 17 and Isumi and Hikaru, they never actually tell you who wins, unless they mention it offhand somewhere and I forgot about it. That's all I'll say about that without verging on spoilerdom. And I'm sure I'm missing someone, and if I am, sorry! I'm at -4 minutes now. Time to go check my laundry. Later, everyone~!! I still have a lot more stuff to write. ;_; (Like I said, coffee in the near future.) (-5).

You can't poke me anymore! Because I got off my lazy...butt and finally informed Meimi about Operation Lobby! So nyah! (congrats on the Go win! I've won...one game. It was against a computer. I'm pathetic.)

Andand my dorm has a PS2! No, seriously! My dorm, collectively, owns a PS2! As in, everyone is free to use it! Which means...Lisa can play Kingdom Hearts!!! XD So, Kingdom Hearts is out September 17th. It'll cost a little more than $50. Memory card is around $25. Add the $30 or so Lisa will need to buy the Robin Hobb book, and that's around $105-$110 that Lisa will need in the immediate future. Doable. But my WALLET. >_< And then, I want to get a tablet, a scanner, a sewing machine, and cloth for costumes, too! $200+$100+$1?0 = $400+. >_< And I need to make sure I reserve enough money to pay for conventions next summer! >_< I think...I need to get a job. Now. And I can ask for some of the stuff for Christmas.

Christmas seems a long, looong time away.

I need to social blog and catch up on e-mail and post pics. I will do so, but not today, and probably not tomorrow, because I have classes until 5:10 tomorrow. Tuesday is undeniably my busy day. But! I'll definitely get caught up by Wednesday! And I'll even try to work on Love Hunters just for you, imouto-chan! (Yes, I'm talking to you. I really am working on it. In my head.) And the sushi here, at least, is authentic Asian food. Thank goodness something here is.

There's a Hikago fanfic section at FFnet now! And there was actually a pretty nice fic it in that I hadn't read yet! <3 Err, lessee. Link. Ah, here. Not perfect, but the problems I have with it are pretty superficial, and it's cute and fluffy and the person writes Daiken type things, too, so I'm happy. :D And I did my laundry! (cuddles sweatshirt) Yay for Bounce! And Phi: thanks. XD There is no logical reason why that would make me crack up, but it did. I don't question that sort of thing.

And yes I really should be doing my homework. Moo.

Holy CRAP!! Robin Hobb's next book is coming out on October 7th! 2002! Observe! *panics/hyperventilates* MONEY! I NEED MONEY! GYAAA!!!;_; ....well, that still is a month away. But that's no better, because that means I have to wait at least a month to read it and I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG. Wah. ;_; You know, I thought my Robin Hobb obsession had lessened. Obviously not, if only the mention of one of her books coming out puts me in this state. Dude. (if you were reading my blog about a year ago when I found out Robin Hobb's PREVIOUS new book was coming out...you know what I mean. :P)

And the fourth book in George R. R. Martin's series is coming out soonish, too. >_< I haven't even read the third yet! (A glaring oversight on my part.) I am so behind on my reading it's not even funny... Oh, and apparently Robert Jordan's tenth book in the Wheel of Time...thing is coming out too. Considering I stopped reading them at book 7, and book 8 is still propped up on my bookshelf, I'm not all that excited. But Mat Cauthon did show up again in book 9. And *spoiler* happened... That alone might get me reading the series again. Dammit. I think the last time I read one of the books was in junior high. Or thereabouts. Heck, I lost track of what was going on when I was reading all the books in sequence. Maybe I'll do myself a favor and just ignore it...

And I know I've babbled about books this entire entry. Don't rush me. I'll get to all the things I've been promising I'll do. Really. And! Found a site with Hikaru no Go game kifus! Happy~!! (Phi! Don't go there! You might be spoiled and I don't want that, because because being spoiled sucks. ;_;) err, actually, it might be the real games that the Hikaru no Go games were based on, I can't tell becasue babelfish is giving me such interesting gems as "Tower arrow Akira vs Shin rattan light", which, to the casual viewer, was supposed to be "Touya Akira vs. Shindou Hikaru." After I figured out what the #@&$ was going on, I laughed my head off. XD Possible Operation Lobby material~!! (I forget. Did I ever explain it to you like I promised myself I would? Things got busy around college packing time...) And my roommate is bringing me takeout Chinese food. I am pleased. I hope it's real Chinese food, though...:P FOOD!

Garrh, I don't know what to do with myself. I'm trying really hard to study, but it's not working. I just kinda sit at my desk, do a few problems, and then go BLAH and and go off and do something else. That works for chemistry, engineering, and writing, because I don't have to concentrate very hard on them, but math...I actually have to think about. Because my professor makes absolutely no sense. Not because the material's hard; it's pretty basic. 2-D and 3-D vectors, stuff like that. But he has this heavy Russian accent. And occasionally he stutters and twitches. And most of the time he just scrawls things on the chalkboard and mutters things as he goes. I'm sure he's a brilliant guy, but compared to my calc teacher back in high school... This man just has no business teaching. It's obviously not his thing. So basically what I have to do is copy down what he writes on the board on autopilot because frankly, I'm bored out of the mind the entire class, and then I come back and work on figuring out the chapter and the problems on my own with the help of my textbook and my notes. This, however, requires concentration. Which I have not regained yet; the environments still too new, and it's too loud around here. I really might have to go to the library to study after all. Less distractions. Yeah, maybe I'll do that tomorrow... Haul my calc book and notes over to the library and puzzle the chapter out. Sounds good. God, I'm a nerd; planning to study on Friday afternoon... >_< Well, I don't like partying anyway...

I'd have to say that so far I like high school better than college. In high school, I didn't have to worry about my teachers speaking English, or about the person in front of you smoking openly when you're walking to class, or about hauling your ass over to the cafeteria to eat dinner, or about not having my own bathroom. Or about not making it to your next class because the bus is already crammed full of people. >_> Or about drinking enough milk (which is surprisingly hard). And I'm homesick and friendsick, which I have been since I got here. And I haven't done my laundry yet; I'm scared I'll blow something up. Or something. Yeah. Another thing I'll do tomorrow, or this weekend. And I'm still the tall one here. And there's no Chinese food. And I forgot to bring bags of Lipton tea so I can make milk tea for myself in the morning. For that matter, I miss pearl milk tea. And I can never find anything when I need it. And the classes are either gigantic sized or tiny, both of which make me highly uncomfortable. And why did I decide I wanted to be an engineer again? Because 4 years with 3-4 out of 5 classes every semester being science or math classes is just not appealing. Well, I guess I like the sciences, but blah to math. I never paid attention in math classes even back when I had interesting teachers back in high school. >_> (So of course my math course would be my only 100 level course this semester. >_> Go me.) Maybe I will do what I was thinking of doing and switch out of the engineering school at the end of this year and go major in something like...oh, I dunno. Chemistry. Literature. Studio Art. :P Something I actually might enjoy. I've been thinking more and more seriously about doing premed, for various reasons...mostly that I think it suits my personality, I'll get to directly help people with their problems, and I like science. I'd love being a pediatrician, I think. We'll see. For the next year, I'm stuck in the path of a first year engineer student, and then...we'll see.

Okay, complained/ranted enough~!! Good stuff: the food (lotsa variety, even if the chinese isn't really chinese), the FAST internet connection, the gorgeous surroundings (I did mention that Duke's campus is surrounded by a forest, right?), the libraries, the fact that there's a DDR club and an anime club, both of which I joined :P, the fact that Broadway shows play here throughout the year (I am SO going to the Scarlet Pimpernel and Rent productions. $20 for a relatively GOOD seat? Hell yeah! I love student discounts!), the gorgeous gothic architecture, my roommate (who's a sweetheart, and I get along with her family, too), the hot guys XD, and the fact that I have no classes at all on Thursday afternoons. And there's some nice people on my floor, too; I've had dinner and breakfast with them lots of times. And we have pretty big walk-in closets in my dorm. And the computer store sells Intuos 2's. *_* happy~~yy

And thanks for being concerned about how I was doing in college, Kenji! It gave me one of those warm fuzzy feelings inside. ^_~ Sounds like you're doing great at AISC! Lotsa interesting people, nice landlord-type person, err, except for the smoking and stuff... If you start smoking, Kenji, I'll hunt you down and poke/harass/whine/be scary at you, and you know how annoying and scary I can be, right? ^_~ Just some motivation to not smoke. Got it? Lisa will be pissy at you! And hope you're having fun at Disneyland, Phi! Quack at the ducks for me. :P (err, you're probably home already, huh? Oh well. Quack anyway. It's funny. XD) And I miss you. All of you. ;_; I have pictures for you. Really. I'm just lazy. I'm already looking forward to Fanime and AX so I can see everyone again. It's kinda pathetic. Maybe I'll actually start using AIM. o_O That'll be the day. For now, I'll try for frequent pita updates. I have the time, but I've been really disorganized the past week... Well, not disorganized. Frazzled. This is a very unfamiliar environment. Completely unfamiliar. But if I can deal with not being with my family and friends in a new place in a new living arrangement with different food and classes with entirely different format, I can deal with anything that comes up later. So I guess it's good for me.

And I finished reading Atropos. *_* Ish happy. Happy happy. I will so reread it one of these days.

And I still haven't send the e-mail out with my phone number and address. Oops.

It's morning. I refuse to walk all the way over to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, so my roomie and I are eating breakfast in our dorm. It's cold. Yes, you heard me right. Cold. It decided to start raining Sunday night and has been storming off and on ever since, and it's freezing now. Weird. It was 104 degrees last week... Anyways! Just wanted to check in with everyone! Yes, I really mean to send everyone my phone #, yes, I really mean to post my Umi no Hi and AX pictures, and yes, I mean to talk more in depth about my college experiences as of yet, and do social blogging too. All this afternoon, because I don't have any classes this afternoon. Promise. Really.

I sound like a salesperson. Dammit.

....yes, I'm alive. Yay! ....yeah. I'm tired. Look, I have a new layout! I'll comment on it where I'm more coherent. And my new college internet connection gave me a 701kb/s download today. And a 2.5mb/s one earlier today. Holy #*$&. And it is very, very hot here at Duke. My roommate and I have at least 4 electric fans going 24/7. Even when we're sleeping. And I'll rant about everything else later. Now, I want to go to bed. Relatively soon-ish.

I'll e-mail everyone my cell # and my address ASAP! Which doesn't mean very much. >_< Busy busy. College is busy. And I also need to post my AX and Umi no Hi pictures! Yes, I have them; it's just a matter of cropping/uploading them. Andand I already have a homework assignment and classes don't start until Monday. Crazy crazy. And my schedule is nutty. Observe:

Monday:
9:10-10:00 -- Engineering 53L (um, programming and stuff)
10:30-11:20 -- Math 103 (aka intermediate calculus)
11:50-12:40 -- Chem 23L (chemistry. same textbook as AP.)
2:20-3:35 -- Physedu 40 (beginning tennis)
Tuesday:
9:10-10:25 -- Chem 23L
10:55-12:10 -- Writing 20 (on the other campus. yes, OTHER campus.)
1:10-5:10 -- Chem 23L, lab section (back on the same campus as the other Chem 23L
Wednesday:
9:10-10:00 -- Engineering 53L
10:30-11:20 -- Math 103
2:20-3:35 -- Physedu 40
Thursday:
9:10-10:25 -- Chem 23L
10:55-12:10 -- Writing 20
Friday:
9:10-10:25 -- Engineering 53L
10:30-11:20 -- Math 103
1:10-3:35 -- Engineering 53L, lab section

Well, you all already knew I was insane anyway. At least I decided to postpone taking organic chemistry until next year, right?
One more thing: my daddy bought me an external CDR burner. XD <3<3<3~!!! And the LotR DVD~! As a dorm present. :D I love my daddy. Andand I found out that the Duke computer store carries Intuos2's!!! *_*(dies) At a reasonable price, too! Need to save up money now. Andand blah. The Nyquil is starting to get to me. SHould sleep now. G'night! ....well, it's night for me here...