you can never predict 'em Hey all! I'm Laura, 16, a high school/college student (depending on how you look at it) that is currently spending her summer learning how to program computers and irk thirty-something-year-old men. This is the story of me, my cubicle, and our long, rainy summer here in the Atlanta suburbs. E-mail me? if you are ever so kind ~ Kikyou.net ~ the africam the season of flowers on fabric This layout features part of a picture from CLAMP's famous manga series Magic Knights Rayearth. The reason why I chose it is because the girls in the picture are wearing kimono, and although they are not the traditional summer apparel called yukata, they are nevertheless very beautiful. As for the title of this website, I've called it "summer rains" after a quote I heard on the TV show Ed, Edd, and Eddy a very long time ago: "Summer rains... You can never predict 'em." I'm afraid that this summer in particular, Double D's words are very true. some links ~ A New York Escort's Confessions ~ Trixie Update ~ Petite Anglaise ~ Celluloid Eyes ~ And Suddenly I'm ~ Epicyclical ~ The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster ~ The Flametroll ~ Milky Fangs ~ I Am A Cheeseburger ~ Aerogem ~ Blue ~ And then... ~ Moelost ~ Bell Land ~ Cali Beach ~ Pretty Words ~ Fierce in Onederland ~ Utility Pigeon ~ Nimrodel ~ Dooce ~ Shutterbug ~ Olega archives ~ May 2005 Powered by Pitas.

Thursday, June 30, 2005 I need to... * Create the July layout of this website * Create a new desktop wallpaper for my computer(s) * Bake my mom a cake * Call Ranu (about South Carolina) * Withdraw money from my checking account ($55 total) * Figure out everything that I want to donate/get rid of * STUDY READ STUDY READ STUDY READ!!! If I think of anything else, it'll go up here... Laura @ 08:10 a.m., Wednesday, June 29, 2005 So I got a 92.3% on the Purity Test. And I always thought that I was oh-so-horrible. After seeing all the crazy things that are listed there... Man, people have some weird sex lives... That workout I did yesterday is biting back full throttle. My entire abdomen area and my neck are sore. I'm going to try out walking an hour and a half each day when I get home, then showering before bed. I'll see how well I can read/study while on a treadmill. I've got German stuff to do (fortunately, no new grammar items in this next chapter) and some reading to catch up on. And my jeans... are literally falling off. I don't have any belts that fit me, either, because they're all from middle school/early high school. Mom says that we'll wait and see how much weight I lose by August, then buy some new clothes, but I don't know how I'll make it wearing regular jeans that could now pass as hip-huggers... This Friday I find out my AP scores. I kind of hope that I don't have to take Calculus I, but I kind of hope that I do. It's at a great time right now, and it would be a good basis for the next semester, but I don't want to have to face the horrors of Calculus at GT, not to mention I just want to be done as soon as possible. We'll see what happens. I just can't wait to find out because I really want to go ahead and get my textbooks! Reminder to self: activate KSU card, or you won't have money for books... Laura @ 08:17 a.m., Tuesday, June 28, 2005 I'm thinking about getting a job when school starts up again. It will be a good way to make some extra saving money. I'm not really interested in buying anything, I just want to save up for college, get some working experience, that kind of stuff. I'm looking at Publix because Thom said they were good about scheduling, and I know that I can't work on weekdays, it would have to be on weekends. Dad said I can only work Friday evenings (not the whole day because I need to study), Saturdays, and Sundays, and I hope I get off at a good time because I don't want to be sleep deprived when I return to classes on Monday. So Hans got booted off the next food star show (not sure what it's called). That's sad. I liked him. They knew he had tons of potential. I think that they booted him because the female judge, who is in charge of marketing, knows that this competition show is going to be more popular than the new food show that results from it. Putting a gay people against an African-American woman would make for good TV, now wouldn't it? But Hans lost. It's so sad. What's funny is that my parents got to meet his dad once, and Mary's mom knows him personally because his restaurant is in the town she grew up in and they're both in the food biz. John really needs the pictures for the new percussion website. I'm thinking about getting rid of Kikyou.net once and for all, and putting the images on disc or on the internet to send to him. I haven't had any time at all to switch out the computers in my house (which I still plan on doing, regardless of the percussion website), and I have nothing to put on the domain anymore, so what does it matter? Give me blogging websites and PhotoBucket and I'm set. Sorry for the delay, Skittle! Yesterday I made myself kind of sick by not eating healthy at all. I don't think the way I ate Sunday helped, either. On Sunday, we were out of my regular breakfast foods, so I settled for something a lot less, ate a larger, earlier lunch, and a later, massive dinner (not like it matters because I burned so much walking all over the park!). Yesterday I ate my regular breakfast, didn't feel like eating my regular lunch so I ate some other stuff that I shouldn't, and barely touched my dinner. It took me about an hour last night to slowly eat enough food to survive for the rest of the evening. Animal House certainly helped take my mind off of it! Such a classic. Tried a new workout this morning. I think my body was getting immune to DDR, so I needed to switch. I was looking through some fitness magazine of my mom's and found a good, timely exercise that really worked well. I just need some weights (apparently we have some somewhere) and a crunch ball (which we do not have). It was pretty tough. I altered a couple of things because I knew they would work better. Even though the total time I exercised was less than DDR, I was a slow eater and kind of zoned out in the shower so I came out a few minutes before my usual time. Fortunately I didn't have to make lunch today (dad's taking me to get a salad from McD's because I'm tired of eating tuna sandwiches). Gary's here! Yay! Glad to see he's back. :) And Harry Potter is coming out soon! And I start photography class soon! And I get a day off next Monday! Happiness. Laura @ 08:18 a.m., Monday, June 27, 2005 There are no words to describe how mentally and physically exhausted I currently am. It rained at Six Flags yesterday. Mary, Kelly, Jeff B. (who from now on I will be calling Bro for reasons that only insiders know), Bro's dad, Kenny, and I went. Kenny screamed on the Mine Train like crazy and about five rows of people in front of us looked behind to laugh at the crazy guy saying things like "The squirrels are attacking!" (after I pointed out a squirrel to him and Bro) and "The bolt's coming undone!" Then on the Great American Scream Machine: Kenny (at the back of the coaster with Bro): "Use da buddy system! BUH-DAY!" Me (at the front of the coaster with Bro's dad): "BUH-DAY!" Bro: "BUH-DAY!" Bro's dad: "BUH-DAY!" Mary: "Oh, God..." I bought some pecans while we were there, but I think Kelly ate most of the pack, and Mary bought her own. And I am dead tired from walking around so much. Georgia has way too many hills. It was still fun, though. Ranu got her SAT scores in the mail. She didn't do too hot. I asked her if she answered every question and she said she did, and I knew that was the problem. She has been studying like crazy for this thing and I know she knows her stuff, but answering all the questions takes off points because if you answer one wrong, then it counts off one-fourth of a point. I hope her parents don't get too angry at her. At least she's taking it again. Mat went off to scout camp (for the last time), and he invited me to his performance (a skit, I think) on Friday, but there's no way I can make it. That would require having to stay overnight because the camp is about two and a half to three hours north of here. Sorry, Mat! Mmm. Monitors are confusing. If only Gary weren't sick today. Poor guy. I need to figure out how to make money during the school year. Maybe I can do a few projects for these guys. Or maybe I'll just have to settle for a part-time job. The question is, where? Maybe I can help with set-up for weddings or something... Joe brought me a magazine that has an article on robots. How nice! I sure hope it helps me with Robotics. I'm really worried that I won't know enough to help out significantly. Thinking is hard. Good thing dinner tonight doesn't mean too much thinking. Laura @ 02:48 p.m., Saturday, June 25, 2005 The Final Fantasy concert was great. I think the ASO was far more entertained with the crowd than the audience was with them... They were looking around at all the geeks in crazy hair-do's, cosplay, jeans, etc. It was packed. Only a handful of people were from Georgia; most were from out-of-state. Connor was complaining about how One-Winged Angel was not on the program, but they ended up playing it as the encore... Twice! And the conductor said we were allowed to cheer (because in regular concerts, cheering is considered unproper etiquette), so just imagine the screaming. It was nuts. I saw Thom, Connor, Ryan and his girlfriend, Ted and his girlfriend, Andrew, Jesse (not sure what his last name is, but he's in orchestra with Ranu), and Brandon and his parents. Ranu stuck with me and my parents the entire time (except for where she sat). I had fun. I got angry at how people don't dress up for things like this and STOMP. If you're going to see the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra or you're going to the Fox Theatre, don't look stupid. Look good, because you're going to an upscale place, that's my take on it. Ranu also mentioned that she's applying to SCAD. I always wondered if she was going into medical school or art. I know Thom wants to go to SCAD, too. Personally, I don't, I want to get some kind of science or engineering or math degree first, then I'll think about humanities. I know I can't write, I can't draw, I can't act and I can't perform, but I think photography or film school at NYU would be school. I doubt I'll do it, though. My main goal in life is not to concentrate on those dreams of making it, but to keep real what is most important to me, and that is the people I love. I just want to relax. Be with friends and family. That's what matters to me most. Batman last night was good. I think the most entertaining part was listening to Mat's mom trying to get Mat's dad to go see something else, and asking me more than once how I put up with Mat in the first place. His parents eventually decided on Cinderella Man, and it took me about thirty minutes to figure out that Christian Bale was in Swing Kids, but it took me no time at all to think he was pretty hot! And I love the way they portrayed Gotham. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. And one of the guys looks like the principal of our high school... The last thing I remember was Mat figuring out that Opie is Ron Howard and saying that that movie with Renee Russo (I'm not sure if that's how you spell her name) and the gorilla was called "Curious George and the Ether Bottle." Mmm. Yeah. He's weird. Right now I'm watching the Miss Georgia pageant because I know one of the girls competing, but she's already been voted out, unfortunately. The contestants' titles are interesting... "Miss Capital City," "Miss First City," "Miss Conyers-Cherry Blossom," "Miss Southwest Georgia," "Miss Spirit of Georgia"... Why don't they just do it by county? And the bathing suits look like they all just ordered the same bra and bikini underwear, but in different colors. I wonder what title my friend was given...? I met her through my dad; they go to the gym together, and she told him that he was her inspiration. And she looks nothing like a Miss Georgia kind of girl, quite honestly, but she's really pretty and really nice, so it's all good. If you haven't read any other weblogs, I highly recommend the following: And then..., the blog of woman who dreams like me; A New York Escort's Confessions, a highly entertaining (and yes, sometimes erotic) story of an elite New York City escort; Milky Fangs, a photography and everyday weblog of a German girl that is currently in the United States; Dooce, the hilarious journal of Heather B. Armstrong (more on her profile); and finally, Shutterbug, a website full of stunning photography located mainly in Sydney, Australia. Isn't the world interesting? Laura @ 10:09 p.m., Friday, June 24, 2005 In roughly a half an hour, my boys will be getting out of summer school, and going home, and doing whatever it is they do. As for me, well, I'm about to fall asleep; I've got only a handful of problems with monitors at the moment, and since I've more or less just eaten, I'm really sleepy, too. Not to mention my shoulder blades feel really painful, but why, I don't know. Yesterday began as a disaster for me. I had to fax my new schedule to KSU, but almost broke the fax machine by paper-clipping two sheets of paper together. I have never felt so incredibly stupid in my entire life. It got me really depressed, but dad kicked my butt and I had to get back to work. When I got home, I was on the phone most of the time, texting and talking. Mom changed our plan while I was talking, but fortunately it's enough that I'm pretty sure I won't go over. I freaked out when I was talking to Jeff B. because he said that Prashaanth wasn't in school yesterday, and I had called him both Wednesday and Thursday, so I started thinking the worst and got too scared to call. Kristen RSVP-ed about Six Flags (no, sadly, but there's still time left in the summer) and I asked her to call his mom's cell phone, and she did, and then she called me back, and then he called me, then I calmed down and felt really embarassed. Then his sister Riti held up the phone to the radio so I could listen to Hindi rap music, which was very interesting! Yeah. And I found my lost DayTimer sheets before I went to bed, woohoo! In the end, a day that seemed like all was lost turned out to be not so bad after all. Laura @ 02:16 p.m., Thursday, June 23, 2005 Just to organize my thoughts: ~ Tomorrow: Talk to Prashaanth about Six Flags; get final arrangements made for Sunday. Call Mat to go see the Batman movie when he gets off of work, so that would be around six-ish, I suppose (I might need a ride; my parental units are going to the gym). I get paid and can finally pay back my parents for a whole lotta stuff. ~ Saturday: Laundry in the morning. Get DayTimer organized. Search like crazy for lost planner sheets. Pick up Ranu at 3:30PM (don't forget pictures, the bird place brochure, and the biscuits from Cherians). Final Fantasy concert. Get home not too late. ~ Sunday: Hopefully Six Flags. No Kristen, Ranu, or Rajit. Jeff B.'s dad can finally process his season pass. ~ July: Senior pictures (drape, kimono, and a nice casual outfit). Freshman orientation for KSU. Possible trip to Nashville for the Murfreesboro DCI Summer Music Games (maybe we'll go to the Opry, too, and if I'm even luckier, I'll take somebody!). Ranu goes with me to South Carolina. All the fish in the Atlantic ocean better beware, because I'm moving in on Calabash, the seafood capital of the Carolinas... ~ Tuesday, August 23 at the Philips Arena at 8:00PM: Green Day concert. My parents, me, Mat, Prashaanth. So far, so good. One hell of a birthday (even though it's more than two months early, but that's okay!). ~ End of September/beginning of October: Operation surprise birthday kidnapping start. Just pray it ain't you. I'll just say it isn't the guy that I need to borrow a Darth Vader voice changer helmet from... Rajit is so hearing from me when Robotics rolls around. Depressing moment of the day: confirmation that I am not going to Japan next summer, the event that I have been counting on since eighth grade. I sure hope I can hit the road, because if I can't make it to Shibuya and Kakegawa, can I at least make it to Glacier National Park, Six Flags, and the Big Apple? I'm short a few hundred, but at the rate I'm making money and with nothing on my wishlist for birthday or Christmas, my funds should be enough for about two weeks by next summer... Laura @ 09:41 p.m., Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Today I'm going to discuss... politics and religion. I know, these are those two things that you're not supposed to argue about with people, but I always get so angry when I read something that I don't agree with. If you don't agree with me, then I'm not sorry. I have my opinions and you can count on never being able to change them. First off: This poor boy. I don't understand why he has to be forced out his sexuality. Yeah, I've heard the whole spiel about how it's a sin, it's unnatural, it's wrong, etc., but obviously those people can't seem to get it through their thick heads that a person's sexuality really isn't decided by that person. It just comes naturally, and it just happens that the majority of the world prefers the opposite sex, right? In addition to this, I am highly against people forcing a religion on a person. I don't care if it is "the right thing to do" because in my opinion, there isn't a right! Every person has their entire lives to decide what they want to believe in. I finally became a full-fledged Christian after 16 years, but it wasn't because my family is a group of extremist Southern Bible-thumpers, it's because I wanted to be. These things--sexuality and religion--are like love; you can't explain why you feel or believe the way you do, it just comes naturally. For some people, however, that apparently isn't a legitimate excuse or reason. Secondly: I remember once a friend telling me that in this country, we are not as free as we think. I didn't say anything, but I thought about it. Now I would have to say that I disagree with him... sort of. I personally think that freedom is a very difficult, almost impossible word to define. Webster can't always be the solution. So basically, how can one judge the status of our freedom if a person cannot define it for themselves? Once I hear their idea of it, then perhaps I'll concur. Also, I don't think much of the politics in this country because to me, they're not any better than anybody else. There will always be people that support who's in charge and people that aren't, and it's not like the other candidates are going to better anything that other candidates or previous presidents or emperors or dictators have already done. I guess my point here is that nobody can make everyone happy. All we can do is to keep on trucking and if you're like me, pray that whoever happens to be the boss won't try to get us involved in any stupid wars. Prime example: Bush and the French airplane corporations. That pissed off even my mother, the most conservative Bush-supporter that I know. It just proves even further that this so-called "War on Terror" isn't going to be over for a good while. What else... I think abortion is retarded because even though it's the woman's decision concerning what to do to her body, I would certainly hope that she respects herself enough not to harm her own body. I'm sure you've already heard all the talk on how it kills the baby, but that's not what I'm concerned about. I just think that the woman who is putting herself through pretty much the pain of giving birth (knowing the baby is dead) when she could have never had to put up with this by taking the stupid BC pill. What's so bad about it? You know when your period is. You can regulate having a baby when you want to. They work, I know, I'm taking it (but not because I'm sexually active, which I have reiterated many times before; it also provides other good medical treatments). Why put yourself through some kind of Hell on earth when you can just as easily never let it cross your mind? I guess I just don't understand... Last but not least, gay marriage. Dubya has banned it. I don't think he should have because of the declared separation between church and state. Civil union is for the state, marriage is for the church. Why do people care oh-so-much about the "sin" of homosexuality? Why do they care if another person that they don't even know "sins"? I guess our society is still at such a primary stage in maturity that they can't seem to get over the fact that just because something is different doesn't mean it's evil. Don't think I know what I'm talking about? My parents are from small, Southern towns. It makes me wonder what would happen if those people ever saw a Hindu person or a Muslim. They'd probably tell them they were going to Hell for not believing in the same God or for being a terrorist. I know how those people think: if you don't believe in God, then you are going to Hell. Yeah. Sure. Enough ranting for the day. Now here's a question for you all: what "wing" would you classify me as? I'm curious to know, but don't worry, I won't yell at you unless you don't comment. :) Laura @ 07:33 p.m., Tuesday, June 21, 2005 I am in a much better mood today! I don't know why. Hormones, I guess. My parents and I ate dinner with Mary and her mom last night, and I get to see the Final Fantasy concert on Saturday, and I get to go to Six Flags on Sunday (if the weather allows). As for the issue from the last entry: who am I trying to kid? Two summers ago I dated a guy in secret, made out with him, then broke up with him because I didn't want to cross the line. He was the only guy I've ever kissed. So one thing that I don't enjoy thinking about just leads to one of the greatest things I've done during my teenage life. I'm sure most of you can guess who the guy was, and he is still my friend today. Funny... Thinking about all of that makes me think more about the guy I like. But I've learned my lesson after three long years. Don't date your friends. And at the same time I'm totally infatuated. Guess I just gotta deal with it, huh? I've also decided to save hundreds of dollars on college applications by applying to only two: Kennesaw State University and Georgia Tech. If I don't get in to Tech, then I'll go to KSU and transfer in. That's just how badly I want to go there. I'll have my bachelor's before I'm twenty. And while IE technically stands for Industrial Engineering, it definitely doesn't stand for Imaginary Engineer: we call it Instantly Employed. :) And not only will I meet KSU college kids this fall... I'm getting a season pass to the GT games! Wow. Like I said, I feel so much better. Somebody call me! You all know my number! Laura @ 08:22 a.m., Monday, June 20, 2005 What's happening, everybody...? I imagine Christian is back from Germany by now, but I haven't called him or whatever. I got my SAT score today (1880 total, over 600 in each area, a nine on the essay, but most importantly, I never have to take it again). What's even more shocking (or in my opinion, exciting and at the same time scary) is that the world of marching and playing instruments has moved up in the world: Drum Corps International (DCI) championships have moved from local channels to Primetime ESPN2. The bug bites I got at Steven's house itch horribly. I'm amazingly angry at a person that shall go unnamed because he seems to think I'm a whore (when the whole reason why I broke up with him was to maintain my virginity, which I have proudly done ever since). I'll just have to get over it because he's not worth the time. I've got my heart set on other people and things right now. The one thing that scares me is that I'll be mortified if two or three certain people hear from him. It's hard to comfort myself by telling myself that other friends of mine have done worse. I don't know... I guess there is a part of me that has just been overwhelmed with memories of an exboyfriend that I really, really do not enjoy. I don't want to look at the past anymore, I don't. What'll I do? Laura @ 08:55 p.m., Monday, June 20, 2005 I got to come home work early today because I had a doctor's appointment. It lasted about forty-five minutes from the time we left work to the time we left the doctor's office. My allergy doctor is cool. His license plate says "ACHOO" on it. I took a picture of it because I'm a dork like that. Mom said that I can take some photography classes over at KSU in a couple of weeks. They aren't like regular credit-counting courses, just one night a week I'll go learn how to use a camera. So far the plan is that I take Photo I and Photo II (a total of eleven Tuesday nights from seven to nine) and Darkroom Black and White Photography (six Thursdays from seven to nine). I'm so excited! My parents are letting me use a couple of cameras that they've had for a while. I plan on using the Nikon F for the regular photo class and the Canon AE for the black and white one. I prefer well-done non-color photos over color ones, and I read a review that said the back of the Nikon F is more prone to open than the Canon AE, so I chose the better one for black and white. But I'm so excited! I have a few ideas in my head already. I get paid this Friday, so I'm going to buy a camera bag and some henna (finally! yes!). I also need to dig around for the tripod and some film, and call some people that I want to model for me (so far I've thought of Ranu, Mat, and Prashaanth...). It won't be anything over-the-top, but one idea makes me grin and giggle like a schoolgirl... Laura @ 04:16 p.m., Sunday, June 19, 2005 Oi! I'm tired. I've had a busy weekend. Yesterday I wake up really late (which is nine, which is really early for most of my friends), exercise and shower, do some house chores, run errands... We ended up going to an Indian food store called Cherians that Koran had recommended, and it was pretty cool. I called Ranu and got some cookies for her (and also some for myself). The most interesting part was the incense; there was a lot, but one box caught my eye in particular. It was green and said "Cannabis" on it, so I was like, "That sounds familiar..." Then I look at the leaf on the box and realized it was incense of marijuana! It was crazy. Then my dad got two different types of banana chips and we left. And I had never seen so much rice in my entire life, and I'm Japanese, for crying out loud! We also got dad and I some new jeans (I don't have enough to last me but a few days). And I got a bathing suit that actually works quite well for my body shape. Then today I woke up, gave dad his Father's Day card, and told him I would be his chauffer for the today. I cleaned up the house a good bit, picked up my pictures (they finally came in), and watched Liar, Liar on TV until I felt like heading over to Mary's. It turned out that the club wasn't going to show any movies today (only on Saturday evenings), but we hung out at the pool and ate a small dinner. We (we meaning Mary, Kenny, and I) decided to head to her house, but I got to drive! Woot! (My parents let me drive there by myself, yay!) So they walked and I beat them there, bwahaha. Then we played some DDR, played with Bitsy (her chihuahua), and just talked. Kenny and I talked mostly about kids from our school (more criticizing than gossip), so Mary had a somewhat hard time following. I feel kind of bad about it, but why should I if the people we talked about talk ten times worse about us, including saying things that aren't true? So, no gossip for us, just expressing our anger at their stupidity. Then Mary called her dad (who didn't invite her to go to Florida, and is a person that I could say many bad things about, but shall refrain) and was pretty sad for reasons she didn't say. And both of them approved of the guy I have a crush on, and Kenny thought it was good that I'm not going crazy pursuing him. I just want to concentrate on school, not any significant others. Too much to worry about... And then Kenny proposed that all of us (including Bitsy) give up guys, but nobody agreed, although he was like, "That would be a good thing for me!" Last night I went to Steven's for Teen Fellowship. I didn't know they were Pentecostal, so I didn't really agree with everything they said, but it was a nice, calm setting and his friends are really nice. There was only me, two guy friends of Steven's (Nick and Dustin), and Steven's dad. I showed up early while they were having dinner and got to talk to his mom a little and see his siter, but they took off about the time we started. After about an hour of Bible stuff, we played ping pong and went to Bruster's. I left about a half an hour early because my dad showed up that early, and there was not much left to do. Nick led us in three songs; Dustin didn't sing, I whispered and am extremely tone deaf, but the other three were fantastic. We even sang one of my favorite songs: Hank William's I Saw the Light (except I don't know if it was originally a hymn or not). But yeah, it was fun. While we were waiting on Dustin, we played on a trampoline and I got a bunch of bug bites. Yep. After I left Mary's today, I realized that I had left my towel at her house, but I'm eating dinner with her and our parents tomorrow. Then it was still early evening, so my parents let me go to Great Wraps so I could something to accompany my very early dinner and to also bug Prashaanth, but they apparently close at three. Oh, well. There's always another time. I really hope Ranu can come to South Carolina with me... Too bad I can't bring a guy if she can't go! Most of my best friends these days seem to be guys, anyway. Go figure. I've resurrected the africam after only a couple of days because of the pictures! I'll be putting up a new one each day, so check it out! Laura @ 09:09 p.m., Saturday, June 18, 2005 To do today: * Clean house...a lot * Call Mary * Go to Steven's for Teen Fellowship * Figure out what to make for lunch * Go to Indian food store * Get a bathing suit * Maybe get some new jeans * Sort clothes (keep/trash/donate) * READ READ READ!!! (My book is almost due at the library...) * STUDY STUDY STUDY!!! (I'm way behind in German!) * Switch out computers: move my laptop into my room, put my desktop computer in mom's office, turn mom's computer into the new server for Kikyou.net * Pick up pictures from Eckerds * Get some fruit juice Hmm...yeah. Busy. I'll write a little bit, though. Last night we went to pick up Prashaanth from work. My parents, Mat, Prashaanth, and I went to see Cinderella Man. I had called Jeff A. earlier, but he was at work, so I called again before the movie because I knew he got off at nine. He rushed to the movie and joined us. I don't know if the others got their chance to punch him, but added on a reason why because he "saved a seat for him, and he didn't take it!" We actually planned on Batman, but it was sold out until the 11:30PM show, so we obviously decided against it. And I got a picture of Jeff A. driving Herbie... At least, the cardboard version of it.... Time to get busy! Laura @ 10:06 a.m., Friday, June 17, 2005 As I sit here waiting on my father to give me a task to replace the excess amount of monitors I'm working on, I'm thinking about many different things. I remember yesterday Prashaanth telling me that summer school was "the biggest stupidity convention in Georgia," and how Canadian has been declared an official language by Whose Line is it Anyway?. I remember getting in huge arguments with my parents yesterday, which I am pretty much over at the moment; now I'm so tired that I could care less what I'm doing. I know that I need to call Steven at some point about Teen Fellowship, which is so tentative about my attendance that I'm going to have to say no; not only are there meals to cook, there is the possibility of going to Atlanta Fest with Mat, if I'm lucky. I also need to call Mary about the movie at the pool on Sunday, and figure out what I'm going to do for father's day besides sign a card. I've also been dying to plan a road trip so that I can start saving up for it, but when I get home I have to call people and do laundry and work out and shower. Today I could hardly wake up, so I didn't workout or shower this morning. Why can't there be more hours in the day? Then there's even more about yesterday... I feel like it was a dream, almost like it didn't really happen. Dad took Mat, Prashaanth, and I to Hamada and we ate. And Mat learned how to use chopsticks (the chef almost seemed angry at him). And the chef made one of those volcanoes out of onions, except this time it was more like an hourglass. And then he took one of Prashaanth's shrimp, cut it in half, smashed the two halves, and used his cutlery to toss them into the Prashaanth's mouth (only of the halves got in, and I got a picture of it, bwahaha!). Then we went home and dad and Prashaanth purposely crashed into each other on Gran Turismo 3. (I can't stand that game because I'm a car person or a racing fan; it just happened to come free with the PS2 when I got it a few years ago.) And then we messed around on NCAA Football 2005, and watched part of the Robin Williams's movie The Birdcage (I think that's the title). Tonight I go see Prashaanth after work. Hopefully I can get Jeff A. to go (I don't think he's working tonight, and if he is, I think he gets off at nine, too). We're going to catch a late movie. One of these weekends, though, I want to take some folks up to Blue Ridge to the drive-in movie (although according to Ranu, there is a drive-in somewhere here in Atlanta). Then we can go watch the stars and take pictures of the mountains. It's gorgeous up there. Three last things: I finally got to meet Koran today! Apparently I met him two summers ago at lunch at the same place we ate today (a pizza place called Johnny's). He said it was three or four months ago. At least he remembered; I didn't! I felt so awkward. The only person I really talked to was Eric. I hate being shy sometimes. And Philip picked on me about getting my driver's license. Second thing is that Taylor didn't eat with our twelve-person group (which was pretty darn large for where we were; we almost didn't get a table) because he left sometime this morning (at least, I think he did) to go racing in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jimmy said he was the driver, so I wonder if he is on a team, but doesn't always do the driving, then...? I would like to go see him race someday even though, like I said, I'm not a car or a racing person. Last thing is that I've decided to get a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, hopefully at Georgia Tech. I want to just be done with school, get a decent job, and if I'm lucky I'll travel. If Prashaanth goes to California or New York for school, I'll visit him. If Mat goes into the military or decides to go to college, I'll visit him, too. If Ranu goes to GT with me, then a humongous YAY!, but I'll visit her wherever she goes. If Thom goes to SCAD, if Jeff B. goes to GT or UGA or LSU, if Jeff A. goes to UT, I'll visit them all. As an IE, I'll be done with college before I turn 20. It's a beautiful thing. Laura @ 02:57 p.m., Thursday, June 16, 2005 Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Today was one of the worst. Yesterday I was really energized at work and doing great, and the party was fantastic. Pictures will hopefully come soon... Today, however, I was told that I can't drive worth crap by two different people (even though I passed my driver's license test...), and all of a sudden my dad says I'm not allowed to drive by myself. Which totally ruins my plans for having fun and not feeling like I'm being stalked by my parents anymore. Not to mention that mom told dad to take me out to dinner, but she herself never told me she was going to be out late tonight, which makes me feel like I'm just not worthy of getting to know where she's going. They don't mind keeping me in the dark, but I'm not allowed to be honest about where I'm going in the daytime... Enough of that. Mat and Prashaanth and I hung out today. I was bored to death because like stated above, I was not allowed to go anywhere. I cannot explain how horrible it was just sitting around, hardly talking. I mean, these are two of my best guy friends, and I hated the fact that I couldn't do something cooler with them. I also got to go see Jeff B., Prashaanth, and Rajit get out of summer school today at Pope. We waited in the hot sun for a good long while. I only got to see Rajit for a few minutes, but it was still good to see him. Jeff left at some point, then Prashaanth and I sat down and talked until his mom came. By that point there was only one, maybe two kids left to be picked up. But yeah... The party was great. Kyle never called back, though. He'll pay for it! Rawr! Haha... But so many great things... We played carrom and DDR, but nobody wanted to play the couch game (where everyone piles onto a couch to see how many people we can crush). Then we went onto the deck and took a bunch of goofy pictures, so much fun! Near the end we got out the guitars and Mat played. (Too bad we haven't put together the amp yet...) Here are some of the quotes that I can remember: "I'm illiterate, I can't read music!" - Mat "I'm diet Catholic. It's called Lutheran." - Thom KENNY [to Mary]: You mean you didn't go to Alaska and get an Eskimo for us? What about the slave midgets, too? MAT: I don't believe in midgets! Another thing we did was watch some of Thom's movies. He actually took a couple of the guys to get the one embarassing one of me on the presidents version of the dating game, but he ended up getting some others. He even broke into Jason's house to get them. So we watched a take on Dante's Inferno, and also another one that had something to do with training soldiers (a. k. a. Nick wearing a beanie instead of a beret while teaching Connor and Kenny the war-needed skills of DDR; later through the forest, Kenny gets hurt by a land mine, all the while singing Go Down, Moses while Connor is dancing over the landmines singing Captain Jack). Some other videos... Good times! After the party we took Ranu home, drove to Thom's to return the videos he left at my house, then searched the entire house for my ADAP card (which mom found this morning, thank the Lord!). My mom saved all of Jeff B.'s seven-layer dip because she loved it so much... Last interesting tidbit: I went to American Eagle on Tuesday and while I was trying on clothes in my stall, I heard this conversation between a girl and her mother in a different stall, and I found it kind of strange when the girl said, "Mommy, you can almost see my butt-crack in these! See, look, there it is! Peek-a-boo!" Weird people, I tell ye... Laura @ 11:13 p.m., Tuesday, June 14, 2005 The new class schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays: 8AM-9:15AM Japanese I, 9:30AM-10:45AM Honors English I, 11AM-12:15PM Chemistry. On Wednesdays I also have Chemistry Lab from 2PM-4:45PM. (How can three hours a week only count for one hour of credit?!) Tuesdays and Thursdays: 7:30AM-9:10AM Calculus I (which might be changed to Tuesday/Thursday 2PM-3:40PM Calculus II depending on my AP Calculus AB score that comes in July), 9:30AM-10:45AM Honors Government. SAT scores come back next Monday... And Prashaanth lives much closer to me than he thinks... Laura @ 10:05 p.m., Tuesday, June 14, 2005 My, oh, my! Being quite the busy bee is pretty annoying, especially for my mom. She had to come home really late last night (like ten o'clock), and she's not even here yet today. It makes me sad because I really wanted to cook gyuudon for my parents. The bright side is that I got a ton of grocery shopping done, as well as major house cleaning and even clothes shopping (in which American Eagle took a whopping number outta my wallet). I hope mom comes home tomorrow for my party! Tomorrow I'm beginning my daily workouts in the morning: fifteen to twenty minutes of DDR, cool-down by eating breakfast and making my lunch, then a nice shower before I take off for work. So hooray! Majorly boosted metabolism for up to 24 hours! Woot. The only people I haven't heard back from about tomorrow are Kaylon, Amanda P., and Kyle. Kelly can't make it, Mary is a tentative yes (she might be going to Alaska with her cousins tomorrow), and Rajit said that he had summer school (even though so do Jeff B. and Prashaanth, and they're coming), but apparently he told the aforementioned other summer schoolers that he didn't have a ride. I hope he calls because it won't be a problem to get him a ride... Over half the people coming to the party live within less than a one-mile radius of his house! Today during lunch my boss Philip's brother came in. For some reason Philip's door was closed, but we all knew he was in there. So his brother, Michael, took all the books off of one our bookshelves that contains piles of computer texts, then he took the empty bookshelf and put it in front of my boss's door. I only wish I saw Philip's reaction! He came out about forty minutes later, but I guess didn't make too much fuss about it. I wish I could make a webcomic about my time at work. It's fun. The guys are all totally nuts. Ranu called today during lunch, too. I have bad reception in my area, so I only heard some of what she said, but she helped me pick out some good Indian food that I am going to cook sometime soon for my parents (and if I'm brave enough, her family). I finally get to go to the Indian food store! Yay! So exciting! Whose Line is it Anyway? is the best TV show. Ever. And I saw the LaRosa's at dinner today at Las Palmas! Cool! But now... Time for TV! Laura @ 09:49 p.m., Sunday, June 12, 2005 Ugh. Life is so aggravating. I've been so busy this weekend, mainly due to the sudden impulses of my parents to want to do something. Yesterday I attempted to curl my hair in the morning, went to the doctor's in the afternoon, and saw Howl's Moving Castle with my parents, Nadia, and Mat. Today I wake up because my dad wants to go to Cedar Town, the place where I will be taking my driver's test on Thursday morning; the parallel parking space looks huge. I pray that I will pass. I think that I will be able to, but I'm not going to keep my hopes up too high. I made dinner again tonight and now I finally get to watch The Maltese Falcon. Mary e-mailed me yesterday inviting me to Six Flags, but I didn't get it until today! AAUGH! I'm dying to go! Sometime soon I might just take a day off during the week so I don't have to worry about getting Prashaanth to go with me (he works on weekends). Everybody else is either working, going to summer school, is afraid of roller coasters, or won't bother to tell me that they don't want to hang out with me. Just reminds me of why I detest people so much, and why I need to get over it because they're not worth the pain. For some reason my left arm is really sore. I think it might be because of some stuff I did yesterday, but it might be from the shot on Tuesday. The nurse said that the shot might make my arm feel like I threw a ball too hard. I feel like I can hardly pick it up sometimes... So six yes's for Wednesday: Nadia, Jeff A., Mat, Ranu, Thom, and Jeff B. Kenny is still a yes-if-I-can-get-a-ride, but I have a feeling that it won't be a problem for him. Tomorrow I need to call Amanda P., Kristen, Brett, Kaylon, Rajit, Prashaanth, Kyle, Kelly, and Mary. I know Prashaanth should be back sometime today or tomorrow (maybe even Tuesday) from a wedding in Virginia, and both Mary and Kyle should be in town, but I don't know much about the others. I hope nobody is allergic to pizza...! Laura @ 08:36 p.m., Friday, June 10, 2005 I hate it when I write an entry and forget so much stuff! Like yesterday I cooked dinner (which turned out to be way to many servings, crazy cookbook!), but didn't do laundry because none of the piles were remotely close to being filled, so I'll do it on Sunday. Still haven't had a chance to study any German or watch The Maltese Falcon, but tomorrow my parents and I are going to see some new Hayao Miyazaki movie down in Atlanta, at the same place where the Spirited Away Atlanta premiere was shown. I finally cleaned my room and finished reinstalling my computer. Hating the weather every day. Dying to ride a roller coaster. Mmm. Life. Laura @ 07:58 p.m., Friday, June 10, 2005 So I took down the link to the africam just now. I've decided not to have a photo journal because my camera is a total piece of crap, and I definitely don't want to spend $300 on a new one... Anyways, Kenny called today! I'm having a somewhat small party next week, and he is the third to reply. Nadia and Jeff A. were the firsts. I forgot to put an RSVP date on the invitation, so I really hope everyone calls me back. If not, I'll just call whoever did not respond on Monday night. I'm pretty sure Ranu can come, and I hope that it is 100% official because then we can play carrom. I need to call Jeff B. and ask him to get that seven-layer dip recipe from his sister, make it, and bring it. Lastly, I need to call Thom so he can bring a back-up DDR pad; both of mine are fine, but one has the cords hanging out near the lights at the top and I don't want it to die on us all of a sudden. But yeah. I can't believe it's Friday already! Wow. I got paid today! Woohoo! I do not make minimum wage, which is $5.15... Oh, no, I make $5.25! Ten cents more per hour! Not a big impact, but nevertheless better! I've decided that since each paycheck (which is every other week) is roughly $225, I'll be splitting it this way: $100 into future savings, $10 put aside to pay back mom $40, $15 put aside to pay back dad $95, $20 budget on a pair of men's jeans and a t-shirt for donation, $20 into savings for fun stuff this school year, and the rest for fun stuff now. All I really plan on buying are some clothes, but that's not really for a while. By the end of the summer I'll have another two inches off of my waist at the rate I've been working out; ever since school got out, I've lost one inch! Woot! But anyways, that's my raving on payday. Humorous moment of the day: I went to eat lunch with a bunch of the guys that I work with today. We went to Las Palmas, and when dad and I got back, Eric, Jimmy, and Taylor had also showed up. I was first to the door, and so I decided to hold open the door--you know, common courtesy. They all seemed a bit surprised, but said thank you. Then Eric was like, "There was something really wrong about that." Taylor: "Yeah... Yeah, there was." I just laughed. Lunch had been fun. It must've been an interesting sight with me and Jimmy; he was the only non-white person, I was the only female, not to mention the only teenager, too. Rod accidently spilled his drink on my dad. Haha. Time to work out! Aiya! Laura @ 07:46 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, 2005 I forgot to mention that I got to see Jeff A. today! Yay! (For future reference: Jeff A. is the extremely tall Jeff, Jeff B. is the Cajun Jeff, and those really are the initials to their surnames.) I ran out of bread making my lunch this morning and later in the afternoon he called me, but I knew he would be at work by the time I was able to call him back, so I went to visit him. Right as I walked in, I waved and headed for the bread, heard somebody else say his name, and a few moments later he's in the bread section with me, returning unwanted products to the right aisles so they don't pile up at the cash registers. He was totally drenched, too. It's because of this dumb weather! Aaj mausam bada beimann! (Today the weather plays tricks on me!) I was so ready to ride my bike more and get a bathing suit, but every time I get home from work (where it always seems to be hot and sunny outside), it starts raining. Rawr! But yeah, I had fun seeing him. And I still have Prashaanth's sweater, which will hopefully be returned to him next week, but sadly does not smell like him anymore... Then again, everything in my room seems to smell different for some strange reason... Laura @ 10:40 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, 2005 There are just not enough hours in the day. Or maybe I just need eight days a week. Sooo... Friday we went up to Blue Ridge to spend the night. It was really nice up there and that afternoon was when the weather started to clear up. I never knew the mountains could be so much fun! I guess ever since the time when I was really little and I went to my aunt's house up in Virginia (which was literally sitting on the edge of a very high cliff, and my cousins and I were told not to play outside because of mountain lions) I've been deathly afraid of heights and mountains, which seem to go hand in hand. But it was so relaxing. I had fun. On Saturday I got up and went to the local high school to take the SAT. Unfortunately, we had to wait until almost nine to take it (we were told to be there at eight) because we were situated in the auditorium--all of us. Imagine hunching over the SAT booklet on your lap and fitting both your hand, the answer sheet, and sometimes a calculator on a desk that is smaller than a standard-sized sheet of paper. It really sucked. I saw one girl that I knew, but either she didn't see me, didn't recognize me, or just ignored me. Whatever. Then we finished, we ate, we drove around the small town and mountains for a while, I saw some cute baby ducks and Chinese hamsters, and listened a lot to the Cold Mountain soundtrack and the song O Rey Chorri from Lagaan. For some reason, they all fit the scenery very well, and Gracy Singh sings beautifully. I have no memory of what I did Sunday, to be quite honest. Yesterday was back to my cubicle. Eric mentioned a meeting and I so I just assumed I was expected there. I was right. It consisted of Eric (my boss-in-training), Philip (my current boss, training to take his father's executive position), my dad (who is extremely embarassing), Gary (a really cool guy who always has his coffee cup with him, and therefore smells very much like coffee and soap), Taylor (the guy who doesn't bother to turn in his time cards, obviously showing that he is not married or has children), Charles (the Internet coding guru... he's nice, but I don't know much about him), Greg (the sweet country bumpkin who lives twice the distance from here to Alpharetta), and Matt (the "disembodied voice," as Eric put it; he just got back from Israel, where he saw Laura Bush and elementary school field trips escorted by oozies, and he is currently getting his doctorate at seminary in California). I didn't say a word throughout the entire thing. Just looking around. Sort of internally giggling at Philip dissecting his pen (or maybe pens... I'm not sure, actually). At least it wasted time. When we were done, it was lunch! Hooray. Then after work I went home, went to American Eagle to buy a couple of things, and played DDR for a good hour and a half. Today I went to work again, then in the morning I went to get some shot for college (or I'd die in less than 48 hours if I was diagnosed with the illness). I was really freaked out, so I told dad to hold my hand and he started singing some stupid song about how I should love it, and the nice girl started singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, but later apologized and said that she was used to working with younger kids. I've been mortified of shots and needles ever since I took my first skin test (the allergy test... basically dozens of needles in your back, which I've had done twice, and between ten and twenty extremely painful needles in one of your arms, which I've had once with numbing creme that only partially worked). This only took a second and then I got a cute Hello Kitty band-aid, yay! I think one of these days I'm going to buy them a nicer VCR. Or maybe just a not-so-messed-up version of Lilo and Stitch, whatever the case may be. Today I also finished the final version of this one program I've been working on. My last post was a picture of one of my more advanced betas, the first where I learned how to insert pictures. I updated it and called the new one Papa Smurf, which has an icon of Papa Smurf up in the left-hand corner, but not other pictures. The final version works like this: you open the program, see a picture of a thoughtful-looking Snoopy, insert the COM port and address, while it's testing you see Linus and his blanket, if it passes you see Snoopy dancing, and if it fails you see a picture of Charlie Brown going "AAUGH!" as Lucy steals the football away from his kick. It's great. I was supposed to join Graeham and his family for dinner today because it's his birthday, but they made reservations for eight o'clock, which is really late, in my opinion. I thought he would say five or six, which I could do, but eight is too late for me because I have a lot of stuff I need to do before I go to bed (which ought to be really soon!). Now I remember what I did Sunday. I cleaned house, rode my bike, and watched Malcolm X in its entirety. Great movie, really good, but I think that it definitely needs to be accompanied by the book to really appreciate it. Yeah. Story of my life. Tomorrow I go to get my hair trimmed; Collie is going to yell at me for having this huge knot in the back of head. I'm praying that she can get it out without killing me! I know I can't. I also need to clean up the house a lot tomorrow, and start thinking about what I'll be cooking for dinner, which I'm going to start doing. Then Thursday I get to do laundry. When am I going to get time to study German...? Laura @ 10:07 p.m., Friday, June 3, 2005 Hehehe. Check out the program I made. Laura @ 01:58 p.m., Thursday, June 2, 2005 Hooray! A new month, a new layout! It's not overdone, it's pretty easy to navigate, and I like it. The colors took me a long time to choose, however; the background color made it difficult to create a scheme that looked good and didn't hurt the eyes. Anyways, this job still is pretty crazy. I'm just another gopher. Why do I have to be the gopher? They don't call it that, though; they use the term "intern." I suppose it's to make me feel better, and reassure myself that I am getting paid to switch on tiny LED lights and Field Commanders and paste Lagaan icons not-so-subliminally into my message box designs. But yeah, what I mean by gopher is that somebody tells me to do something really easy yet I have no idea what it actually does, and they more or less tell me what to type and I do. Yesterday morning my cubicle was packed for about two hours with mainly Eric and Andy, but also Taylor and my dad and Gary and I think even Greg came around once. Pretty much all I did was listen to Eric and Taylor telling me to type stuff, but in the end it enabled me to do the task I received from Eric single-handedly in one hour out of the ten he gave me to do it in. So proud of myself! But anyways, while I was being gopherish yesterday, they told me to do something that Gary said previously that I would never have to use. Ironic, isn't it? And then I got made fun of for taking things so literally (as they put it, "Ed's daughter"). Everyone I work with is so weird, but they probably think the same of me, I'm sure. They're fun to hang out with. I'm also up to my ears in debt to my dad for a bunch of manga and a couple of CDs, so there goes half of my first paycheck! The other half is going into savings. Then I split my next checks by putting half into savings, buying some jeans and a shirt for men (part of a small donation thing I'm starting once I get paid), buying a couple of things, and putting what's left into my check card account. My goal is to buy the few things I have listed on Amazon and then put the rest into savings and buy more jeans and shirts for donation. I don't feel like working out tonight, but I really need to. It's such a drag. And tomorrow I get to go all the way to Blue Ridge, spend the night, and then take the SAT on Saturday morning (it was either spend the night or wake up at 4:30AM, so we chose the former). And then I have to do at least one German assignment, but I'm so far behind! And I have to mail a bunch of people a bunch of stuff, and I'm just so overwhelmed!! There are not enough hours in the day, I tell ye. Sigh... Laura @ 08:32 p.m., Thursday, June 2, 2005 Test, test! Laura @ 08:27 p.m.,