Starshine

Day 3
Of the new quarter, that is. And all is still good. Lots of homework, but that's typical here. I like my Intermediate Fiction class and my Native American Lit. class. Good teachers and good people. I kinda wish Di (my creative writing teacher from last quarter) was teaching fiction, but Andy's cool. We do lots of fun silly things and write stuff, so it's all good. Native American Lit. looks interesting 'cause we'll get to hear speakers and watch videos, not just read and talk about books. Fun. :) It also helps that I'm interested in Native American culture.

Wednesday, January 9, 2002,01:44 p.m.

"And miles to go before I sleep"
Which means doing a journal entry for Fundamentals of Acting. Today was kind of a full day, even though I have only one class Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I had to do some other stuff like putting my new chair together, get an international money order in the mail, and audition for plays. The first is self-explanatory. I'll explain about the others before blogging about my class.

Instead of ordering anime CDs with the last of my Christmas money, I bid on a cute Trowa/Quatre doujinshi on eBay. I won (YAY! ^_^), so I naturally have to pay the person. One catch: seller is Japanese. No problems with language barrier, their English is good. But it means payment options are limited. I have to send an international money order. No biggie really, but it meant a walk in the cold and snow to the post office about a mile from here. I don't think the school's mail center can set me up with something like that, even if they can send it. Little digression: sidwalks here are ba~ad in the winter. I was walking on hard-packed snow a lot of the time. The joys of the north and lake-effect snow.

I also auditioned for plays this evening. Y'see, at my school there's usually more than one play a quarter thanks to student-directed plays, but there's only one set of auditions for everything. I went ahead and auditioned tonight, but there are more times on Wed. and Thurs.. Then the cast list for the main play(Twilight:Los Angeles, 1992) gets put up on Fri. afternoon, and people get contacted for callbacks for the student-directed plays, which happen on Sunday. So I'm basically going to be impossible to deal with until Friday, 'cause I want to get into Twilight. *crosses fingers*

Not much to say about Fundamentals of Acting except that it rules. ^_^ We have guest teachers that kick ass, and we get to run around screaming and really get some exercise. Nice change from just sitting around and memorizing lines and being too abstract. Both teachers are very down to earth if a bit new age. We get to call them Allison and Todd, though that's not surprising around here. Anyway, I think it'll be fun, if some hard work. You earn whatever grade you get in there, or so they told us.

Also had the regular Monday night Ally McBeal viewing. I was quite surprised by the amount of fun lines. *smiles*

One last random parting bit of info. Before I left to come back to school, my hometown's newspaper ran a short article on Queer as Folk. Very nice article it was. However, I did have to laugh at the bit where the creators were shown to express surprise that the show had a large female fanbase. They couldn't understand why a show about gay guys was so popular with women. Any guesses? Anybody?

Monday, January 7, 2002,10:35 p.m.

It all ends too soon...
Back up here at school for another 10 weeks. :( I wish winter vacation hadn't gone by so quickly. It was fun, but I didn't get as much done as I'd wanted to. I'm going to be in trou~ble when people up here find out that I'm not finished with their gift stories. I doubt explaining that the little things, and my imagination, wouldn't cooperate will help. Ah well. Such is life. It's me own fault.

And now I go once again to see if any of mine friends have arrived back yet. If no one's here, I'm going to bed early. Been up since five thirty and drove for hours on the interstate. Tired.

Saturday, January 5, 2002,06:57 p.m.

Happy New Year!
Akemashite omedetou gozaima~su, minna san. ^_^ Hope everyone had a good New Years Eve and New Year's Day. Happy Birthday to Michelle, who is 21 today, and to Alison, who turned 20 on 12/31.

Not much has been going on, really. Just been hanging out with friends and trying to get stuff done. I have to head back to school on Sat. >_< Still lots of things to do and friends to hang out with. Went to Michelle's on Mon. for her birthday party. Finally watched the last bit of Yami no Matuei. ^_______________^ I am happy, even if it does mean I now have more characters running around in my head. Will blog more fully about it some other day.

Read more of LotR, but put it down for a while. It's good, but I am very not-used to high fantasy and all the characters. Large casts typically don't bother me (some of the anime I like have a lot of characters), but in a book I guess it's a bit different. Also, the characters talk so formally it's driving me nuts. But it's a good book. :) I just wonder if maybe I should have started with The Hobbit like most normal, sane people.

Wednesday, January 2, 2002,11:56 a.m.

Title? What title?
Minna genki desu ka? Did everyone have a good Christmas? I hope so. Mine was cool. We had a white Christmas if you count the flurries that were sputtering around, and nobody had to work. My dear brother got me Prisoner of Azkaban in hardcover, and I got a big collected edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. ^_______^ I also got a nice calendar with pictures of wolves, cash, and some other nifty little things. Lots of candy. I also got to see the LotR movie on the 26, but more on that later. I used up some of my money to get the other three Harry Potter books in hardcover, giving my paperback copies to my mom who is now in the process of reading the second. (I go in there to ask her something. Her main reaction? "I'm at the part with the snake, Katie!" *rolls eyes*) I even stayed up really late (for me) the other night reading the fourth book. Been on a major HP kick for the past couple of days. Which is good, since I want to read more of LotR and write stuff. And draw. If only this pic I'm working on would cooperate...

Tonikaku, I'm going to order a few CDs off the net with the rest of my money. However, the site I want to order from will only let you pay by credit card. :( My parents will not appreciate me using the one that I have that's an extension of theirs, so I'm down to debit cards. If my thinking is correct, those work like credit cards and can be used as well. My only worry is security. Anybody know if AnimePlus has good security so that the card number won't fall into the wrong hands? 'Cause I'd really like to order from there so I don't have to pay huge prices.

And now, onto blogging about certain books.

Begin Harry Potter blog
Dude, when did this series bite me on the ankle and say "Read Me!"? Probably when I saw the movie and Harlequin started getting into it. Baa, baa. Anyway, I really like the series. Rowling has such good descriptions, and the plot takes nifty little twists here and there. Harry himself is okay, 'specially in the later books once he's grown up a little. I like it that she doesn't make him perfect. Ron and Hermione I am neutral towards, since they have redeeming qualities that set of the annoyance factor of other personality aspects. Most of the professors are okay, though there are many times I want to smack Snake--er, Snape. Draco's interesting. I can't bring myself to really dislike him, even if he is every kid I hated at that age: snooty, always getting the last laugh, and generally an ass. I want to see what she does with him in later books. I dearly love Remus and Sirius, and want to know more about Harry's dad (even though he has a slight case of death). Hagrid's cool, too. Let's hear it for the loveable teddy bear of an oaf! *helps Hagrid find a dragon* *g* Pettigrew I can't stand, the sniveling little IDIOT. I like Ron's family, except for Percy, and particularly like Bill, or what little I've seen of him.
Only two things that nag me: The apparent dependance of wizards on their magic, and their complete ignorance of anything that has nothing to do with magic. For some reason those things both bother me. No wonder the witches and wizards of Harry's world don't get along with non-magic people; the two groups have such dissimilar backgrounds. But it's a well-written series. I doubt there will be many, if any, plot holes and she certainly gives us a very good idea of the world she's trying to create. I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts!^^;;; Can't wait to read the next three books as they come out. Things are really starting to happen.
End Harry Potter blog

Quick LotR blog
The movie was great. ^_^ The effects were wonderful, the actors were good, it was all very nice. I can't really compare it to the book, since I haven't finished the book yet, but from what I can tell, very important lines and events were kept in, even if things were changed. I'm actually surprised that parents will take young children to see the movie, since it's very intense. Nothing ever suddenly pops up, but there's a sort of suspense and, as I said, intensity that really gets to you over the whole span of the movie. As far as characters go, I liked Legolas, Gimli, and Strider/Aragon. Gandolf was pretty cool. I think I'll have to read the bood to get a better idea of Frodo and his crew.
End very long bloggy randomness for the day.

Friday, December 28, 2001,07:35 p.m.

So where's the snow?
Alas, we have none down here. :( 'Twould be nice to have a white Christmas. *crosses fingers* Maybe it'll snow tonight.

Anyhoo, sorry I have been incommunicado for so long. Was running around like the hyper munchkin I am around this time of year.^^;;; But all of my friends except for Rosa now have their presents, though I need to finish Ash-chan's story. Er, start it that is. Hopefully it won't take that long.

And tomorrow's Christmas!! ^________^ One of my favorite holidays. Excuse me while I do a happy dance.

So here's wishing all those who celebrate them a (belated) happy Yule and a merry Christmas. Hope ye all are happy and safe as can be. And Happy Birthday to my buddy Megan, who turned 20 on the 21.

Monday, December 24, 2001,10:53 a.m.