o n w a r d ! p r o g r e s s !

Since the beginning of this month, I think I've had at least five zombie dreams.

I don't think they quite qualify as nightmares. They can be scary and lots of running and hiding is involved, but they're not all that gory, terrifying, etc. Also, I'm never alone. I'm always in a group of people and no one has died so far.

The dream I had last night was a lot more introspective. I pondered things like "Will the zombies starve and die off once they have nothing left to eat? Can they smell the living? Can they open doors and climb over fences? Set traps? Will they evolve before dying out due to lack of brains? If they did, could we ever hope to repopulate the Earth?"

Also, sarahtales was in my dream. Yes, for seriously. She was apparently traveling solo and didn't appear to have interest in joining our group. For the record, I have very little recollection of who was in my 'group'. I think they were just generic people. I figure there was a mix of men and women, but I can only specifically recall one man. Anyway, Ms. Brennan was very chill and relaxed, and apparently content to hide out on her own.

The previous zombie dream I had was just silly. It involved fretting about being in PJs (and no bra!), which was just not suitable to being on the run and surviving. So we went back into the house to where we locked in the zombie that was after us. So I could change. I kid you not. Everyone was like "*sigh* Fiiine."

Waking up from a zombie dream always feels weird. I still feel on edge and a bit hunted. Relieved it was just a dream, but also giddy because zombie dreams are fucking awesome.

I don't think I've ever been this enthused about Halloween and the whole month of October.

I totally want to spend at least one night this month just watching zombie movies. Also can't wait to see Zombieland again. And again. And again. But seriously. Spending a night just watching zombie movies and possibly drinking sounds like a good idea.

Mmph. It's late and I have to be up early for work in the morning. It feels good to be doing something. Getting money is good. I'm so broke. I just hope the feeling sticks even after the monotony sets in.

I think I need to get back into the groove of actually doing things. I've spent so many months mostly idle, it's odd training my mind back into the right mindset. Where I can focus on times and dates and what I have to do. I feel like I've just been floating for so long.

We'll see. I think tomorrow will be good.

So I got a job finally. Hurrah! I'm working at the Walgreens in Mission Viejo. It's a bit of a drive, but it also pays and it's near where I'm taking classes. Hopefully it'll work out alright.

...
Heh, I totally forgot what an 8 hour shift feels like. I've been sleeping enough, but I still feel exhausted. The job honestly isn't too bad. It's enough to keep me occupied and I'm having a surprisingly easy time of dealing with customers. I'm still technically training, this was only my second day. Now I'll be working Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Only 20 hours a week, but maybe I'll be able to get more soon? We'll see.

Mmph. I find myself craving McDonalds of all things. I've no idea why, but I want to go find some now. And then maybe I'll pass out for a bit x_x


Also, You Should Know: If you thoroughly shuffle an ordinary deck of 52 cards, chances are practically 100% that the resulting arrangement of cards has never existed before. The number of possible configurations is mind-blowing and nearly unfathomable.

I love shuffling cards. If I'm ever out somewhere for a long period of time with nothing else to do, I will always buy a deck of cards and just shuffle. Knowing this just makes me feel better about it. Every shuffle is something that has never been done before. It's a good feeling.

Okay, so today I went shopping. I bought some slacks, suspenders, white button-up shirt and a tie.

Once I find my camera, I'll try and take better pictures. Until then, shitty cell-phone-in-mirror shots will have to suffice.

Also, my mom's coworker just gave me a sweet leather motorcycle jacket. It's a bit stiff so I'll have to condition the leather, but it's aawesome. Vintage Bristol, black with orange stripes. Needless to say, I'm pleased as punch. :D

Man, my life has taken an interesting twist lately.

I've had some doubts and reservations over the past week or so, but I finally feel sure. Even if it ends terribly, I've already decided it will have been worth it. It's funny how friends laugh when you say you're dating a professional dominatrix.

My grandmother is crazy. Or rather, she's going to find a dozen ways to make me crazy.

It's always been a fact of life that my grandma will attempt to feed you if you are breathing. She will insist on it. Since I've moved in, the second sentence out of her mouth every time we see each other is asking if I'm hungry or if I want anything to eat.

I don't think I eat like a normal person. I spend hours in front of the computer which usually distracts me from being hungry. For years I've lived with people who only eat one meal a day. I don't do diets. I eat whatever the fuck I like, whenever I like (which is whenever I manage to drag myself away from the computer). Thankfully, I established early on that I wouldn't regularly eat meals with them. So at least 95% of the time when she asks me if I want food, I will say no. I'm not hungry, I already ate, I'm busy, I don't want any of that, I'll get something later. Whatever.

But 5% of the time, I agree and I let her feed me. And I swear every time she gives me food, she tells me "If you keep eating that, you'll get fat."

...

I've grown up in this family long enough to just ignore half the stuff that comes out of their mouths since they usually find new and creative ways to be spectacularly offensive. And I hardly registered her telling me this. But last night as I was looking through the pantry, I reached for a box of Wheat Thins and then heard her voice in my head telling me I'm going to get fat.

Facepalm.

I love my family. But living here can't be a long term arrangement.

...

I just realized how little of Jennifer's Body I remember.


I was so fucking drunk that night ._.

I didn't mention it, but my guild, Afternoon Delight, fell apart about a week ago. Our awesome GM decided to quit =/ This is fast on the heels of another major Alliance guild, Departed, disintegrating.

Kul Tiras has always been a backwater realm. Not at all great, but not terrible, either. Just relatively unknown with a fairly small pool of talented raiders. Since Wrath, there have only been 3 good raiding guilds. Departed, Afternoon Delight, and Lexington. Now, only Lex remains. And they're full, which means a whole lot of good raiders were left guildless.

Most of them have transferred off server. And there's not really any reason for new talent to transfer TO KT, now.

Lex is doing great, full roster and everything. But a server with only one raiding guild Ally-side is not going to do well for long. Having other guilds for competition is good. More raiding guilds means a larger pool of capable raiders. It means higher standards for the server. I was kind of shocked when I went to BlizzCon and realized that, compared to really new BC servers, KT is doing pretty well. People were impressed that our Naxx25 pugs could consistently get the 3 Minute Patchwerk achievement. But with most of the players who made this possible disappearing...

Kul Tiras' future looks pretty bleak.

But AD has definitely been a highlight of my WoW-playing career. I met some truly excellent players. Flinn and Zordak hands down are two of the best tanks of their class. I met some of the best DPS in AD. We were a new guild at the beginning of Wrath, and we always managed to progress with less players than any other guild on the server. We did more with less. I still believe we had some of the best players on the server. I'm sad to see it go. We had some fun times. Besides being talented, AD was a funny, laid-back group of people. How often does your guild leader offer to suck dick and take pictures if you down a boss? Exactly.

Anyway, RIP AD. I'll forever miss our pre-raid jam sessions. Nothing like crowding on vent and singing along to our old favorite saturday morning cartoon songs! And, of course.

Skyyyrockets iin flight!
Afternoon Delight!
Aaaf-aafternoon Delight!

Wrath was a good expansion for me. I obviously didn't stay the whole time and I probably won't kill Arthas. But it's satisfying enough to know that I could have, that for awhile I could top DPS in one of the best raiding guilds on the server. I'm proud that AD got some server firsts. I'm proud that we were the only guild to get the Naxx25 Immortal title and our Black Proto-Drakes.

I miss my guild. It was good while it lasted, but I guess I saw it coming. I won't be back before Cataclysm, but I'm looking forward to it. It looks like the game is getting better and better. I can't wait to see what it brings.

I'm kind of baffled. I changed the oil in my mom's car last Thursday. Triple checked everything, drove home, and checked everything again. Perfect levels, no leaks underneath, everything on tight. Ran smooth all the way home. I handed the keys to my mom and didn't see her for about three days because of conflicting schedules.

She got home last night and told me the car smelled "bad". I've no fucking clue what "bad" is supposed to mean, but I get outside and sure enough, it smells bad. I pulled the car out of the driveway to park on level ground so I can check engine oil, etc. None of the maintenance lights on the dash were on, but I popped the hood and went to check the oil dipstick. It was quite dark out and all I had was a dim flashlight. As I'm pulling the dipstick out, I realize the engine head looks kind of wet...

I realize the entire inside of the car was splattered with oil. And the engine oil cap is gone.

What. The. Fuck. I've no clue.

Thankfully, there was still enough oil to protect the engine. But I'm a bit worried about contaminates that might have gotten in? Still, none of the lights came on and the smell was just the oil getting all over the place, not necessarily the engine burning. The drain bolt and filter were replaced perfectly, at least. No leaks there. Just... oil all over the underside of the hood, the engine head, etc. Anyway, I ordered a new cap from the dealership. It'll be in tomorrow morning.

In other news, I'm so excited for House tonight! I saw these two awesome HQ promo pictures via wiresinabox. Can't wait~

Recently on Reddit: Random Thoughts from People Our Age
- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes

In other news, I'm totally freaking out because Burning Man is Coming to LA. I'm so down. It obviously can't be as epic as actual Burning Man, but still. I can't wait. Cannot wait. Though as one friend asked, "Does LA really need a Burning Man when it just spent the last month burning, man?"

Oh, California. One day I'll look into the horizon and see not smoke...but a giant wall of water as we go crashing into the Pacific. Until then,

Guys. You guys. Mass Effect is so much fun.

What's stupid is that I just got around to playing it. Before it even came out, I was excited because it's BioWare and the concept looked amazing. I was going to buy the PC version, and then all the SecuROM shit came up. I felt guilty about pirating it (who knows why, they never should have used that DRM in the first place), so I guess I never got around to playing it.

But now I am, and it's amazing. The immersion is great and I love sci-fi :P

On a vaguely related note, Hubble is awesome. Here are some of the latest pictures which are absolutely breathtaking. I'm using the first one as a desktop. fembuck pointed me to a program called Rainmeter that I've been having fun messing around with. It adds widgets like CPU information, date, time, notes, etc. to your desktop. It's highly customizable and the skins for it are great.

( This is my desktop so far )

In other news, it's finally cooling down. It was, gasp, actually below 70 degrees today. I know, California must be ready to break off into the Pacific or something. I can't wait for winter. I love summer and winter. Something about extremes makes everything seem more vivid; I feel more alive.

Alright, I think it's time to start effecting some masses again.

Hung out with Nick tonight. He helped me take out my resonator and power steering. Checked the transmission fluid and oil. Car has 72500 miles on it, now. It was 64500 when I bought it, but the drive to Portland and back alone put over 2000 more miles on it.

Admittedly, the steering is going to take some getting used to. It feels better without it when I'm going 20+ mph, but below that, I feel like I really have to fight with the wheel. Getting used to slow turns will be interesting. I just have to remind myself to be cautious until I'm more comfortable with it. At the least, it should make my arms stronger.

Driving around late at night is a lot of fun. Santiago Canyon Road is a definite favorite, now. Nothing like speeding past reflectors and crosses at curve's edge while flaunting the posted speed limit. Especially since my SRS light popped on like two weeks ago. Oh well.

Didn't sleep until 6am last night (morning?). Woke up around 11:45. I took a nap earlier in the evening for nearly two hours. Had a weird dream. I had been walking along the beach, apparently, when I 'woke up' in the dream. Suddenly I realized that I'd walked much farther than I intended, over two miles away, and the tide was coming in fast. I was no longer at the water's edge so much as in peril of getting slammed by waves. It was odd. I sort of panicked in the dream and hoped someone would drive over and come pick me up so I wouldn't have to walk back.

Yesterday I put my bed frame together, the one I inherited from Ralph. My bed was already pretty soft, with a very soft foam pad on top. It previously just rested on a solid wood surface, but the frame I'm using is kind of like a cot. That sort of material connected to the frame by springs. In any case, my bed is -very- soft now. You really just sink into it. I didn't like it when I first sat down, but it lulls me to sleep very quickly. Or maybe I'm just exhausted. In any case, I've been sleeping well.

I think I'll go do that now.

Beach bonfire without the bonfire. Playing catch in the dark. And then we walked through a tree.

Malibu and coke. S'mores cooked over a stove. Scrubs. Never have I ever. I was negative 10 fingers before the last person got out. What's up with that? Left at 3:30. Got home at 5am. I don't even know.

I think it's bed time now. Hooray Labor Day weekend!

My great grandparents (Lolo and Lola), great aunt (Trinie), and I are sitting around the table eating lunch. There are several large stacks of books in a corner that once belonged to my step-dad, but he left them in the house so my mom took them.

Lola: [Tagalog] Those are all Meriven's (my mom) books.
Trinie: Did Ralph buy all those books?
Me: Yeah, probably accumulated them over several years.
Trinie: Do you think he read all of them?
Me: Yep.
Trinie: *laughs*
Me: *puzzled look*
Trinie: The last thing I'd ever do is sit down and just read! *laughs more, because such an idea is PREPOSTEROUS*

This marks Day 1 of moving in with my grandmother.

PS: It was 90 degrees by 11am. This calls for beach-going, methinks.

Went to Doll House again tonight. Dragged Paul and Samantha with me. It was fun, and I actually saw the same people I met last time. Exchanged info and stuff. Even if it's a bit of a drive, I'll definitely try and come back regularly. Most of my friends will be leaving for college again soon, but I figure this is a good way to make new ones.

I dunno. Hopefully the coming year won't be so bad. I can't imagine it will be terribly productive, but at least I won't be bored.

Debating between a 2am snack, and sleep. Hmmm...

Moving leaves you sweaty and a little sore. Kind of like sex, except much less satisfying.


...
Also, I usually don't end up with nearly this many bruises. It's nearly 6am. I should sleep.

Well, I'm done helping Ralph move. Finally. Gurgle. It's been a long day.

But I do have the whole house to myself, now. It's kind of odd. Seems like so much space for one person. I can't help but leave on two more lights than strictly necessary. It's not usually this bright even with two people here, but the light still occupies all the empty spaces.

Still, I really like having everything to myself. If the place weren't practically empty (no seating, TV, stereo, etc.), I'd invite people over. On the other hand, there is a computer and usually that's plenty to keep my friends occupied. Hmmm. Unlikely, but I wish :P There's still too much random shit just lying around, waiting for someone to take care of it. I, of course, have no idea who it belongs to or what to do with it. So it probably isn't going anywhere. Still, it's occurred to me that I could pick someone up at a club and bring them to my place and have it not be awkward! I'm only here for a week before I move in with my mom. Perhaps I should take advantage of this? Lucky's is tomorrow night. I'm tempted, though I have doubts regarding my ability to, y'know, pick someone up at a club :P

I still have to get my stuff packed and moved, but it doesn't seem so urgent now that Ralph's stuff is out. It'll also be easier since I have more space to work in. I actually had to move my computer to his room to get internet. Usually my tower is under my desk, but right now it's resting on top of his old one. Which I actually prefer because my computer looks awesome. If I had a camera, I'd take a picture because the green and blue LEDs make me happy.

Hm. Nick just texted me. Apparently some people are chilling at his girlfriend's place. I foresee terrible boxed wine in my future. Apparently Coors Light isn't cheap/shitty enough for Nick anymore. I think I'll shower and cruise over. And I don't have to drive home tonight, so no 4am-irresponsible-and-not-quite-sober driving home. Because I kind of hate myself for doing that.

Also, this song has been stuck in my head.



Cheers, lovelies~

Just saw District 9. But I feel pretty sick, so this won't be a review. Later.

Paul and I were going to see it at 8:30. He insisted on leaving at the last minute, so obviously the show sold out. Also, for the first time ever, every single parking space was gone. No, seriously. Next to our movie theater there is a 3 story parking structure. The second floor is rarely more than half full, and the top floor is always empty. Tonight, there was not a single free space. Oddly enough, we ended up watching The Ugly Truth (Gerard Butler drooling, etc.) and got lucky with District 9 starting right after. The place was packed, but we managed to find 2 seats that weren't at the very front.

About halfway through the movie my stomach started clenching up for no apparent reason. They're not cramps; I can't figure out what they are. By the time the movie finished and I got home, I was in a stupid amount of pain. Half the reason I'm writing this post is to distract me. The pain seems to be receding, now. Which is good, because I have to wake up in less than 6 hours to drive all the way to Moreno Valley. And then back to Aliso. And then back to MoVal, then back to Aliso.

To be honest, I'm kind of annoyed at Ralph because he really fucking sucks at planning this moving shit. Any plan that involves a) waking up at 6am and b) picking up the moving truck in MoVal only to drive back to Aliso to load it up is...retarded. The drive is about 1.5 hours. That's six hours of driving tomorrow, along with moving really heavy shit in what will probably be 90 degree weather. I should probably stop bitching and just go to sleep. I took a couple advil. I don't think it's been long enough for them to kick in, but I am feeling better for whatever reason. I think I'll take this opportunity to pass out before it kicks up again.

So I decided to try logging onto Omegle. First person I talked to sounded like any other idiot I could've found in Trade Chat. Second person claims to be a 19yo female from China. So far, I'm choosing to believe her. She says she's looking for someone to practice her English with, so I offered to be pen pals.

( Conversation under the cut )

Anyway. I have to help Ralph move tomorrow. It will probably be some ungodly temperature, high 90's. I'm not looking forward to it at all ._.

Also, I told my guild that I'm letting my subscription run out. I should probably get my mailboxes and banks in order before that happens, though. Maybe I'll do that now...

So for whatever reason, I was really in the mood to watch a teen flick.

...You guys, 10 Things I Hate About You is just as awesome as I remember it being. When I was nine. Actually, I think it's more awesome now because now I have hormones. And Heath Ledger, you guys. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whom I just saw in 500 Days of Summer. OH, and Allison Janney from West Wing!

I'd totally forgotten who was in it since I haven't seen it in years. Which is kind of a lie, because you can't forget something you never knew. Nonetheless, the cast made me really happy.

By the way, 500 Days of Summer was a really good film. It was just really depressing, too. Especially to me, since it made me think of my exes, which usually puts me in a bad mood. So 10 Things was a good counter to that because it's a thoroughly happy movie and it makes me feel like such a girl. Which can be brilliant. And watching Julia Stiles dance was awesome, too.

...it's 4:50am. I must be tired. Actually, I was tired at midnight when I first left the house.

OH. That's right. I left to go watch the meteor shower. But clouds and California lights conspired against me. I mean, I still found a nice dark, deserted rest stop off the 5 between San Onofre and Oceanside. But marine layer ftl :(

I didn't stick around too long. Drove back up PCH, filled up my tank (gas is over $3 again. More ftl), and got Del Taco at 2am. The place was obscenely busy for 2am on a Wednesday. I pulled up behind a good five cars, with another five behind me by the time I left. Man, what losers would be out that late?

Probably ones trying to watch the meteor shower.

Dunno. I stayed out late. Didn't get back 'till 3, and then I decided to finish the movie which I had started before leaving. Even this tired, it made me stupidly happy. The hour might also explain why there are various fic ideas floating through my brain. I just remembered the scene were Cameron asks Bianca if her sister is a lesbian given her music tastes, ideology, and general behavior. Bianca's proof that her sister's completely straight is that Kat had a picture of Jared Leto on her dresser. I lol'd, became briefly disappointed that Kat was straight, and then realized that having pictures of Jared Leto does not make one straight. Also, she's going to Sarah Lawrence in the fall and what's college for if not, well

...
I was going somewhere with this, but I should sleep. Seeing how it's nearly 5 in the morning and it's always harder for me to fall asleep when it's light out.