The Studio

Back in school...

2007-09-18T23:53:14Z

Okay. Yes. So I totally fail at answering comments. Ehe. Anyway, I'm back at school now, obviously, and it's almost my birthday. Hooray birthday! And it's on Friday too, which makes it even better. Finally got into Intro to Creative Writing this semester, which is great because you need to take that one to take any other writing classes and it fills up so fast. We are almost done with Poetry now, which is also good because I don't really like writing poetry all that much. In addition, I'm taking Major British Writers, Beginning Badminton, American Government, Spanish, and Into to Environmental Issues. So far I don't really dislike anything and the semester's going pretty well, although I don't think the constantly hungover first-year who sits in front of me in Spanish is going to last too terribly long. In what free time I have I've been working on like five writing projects with Brownie Child, including my first foray in attempting to write romance fanfic (I signed up for the 30_nights challenge, and so far it's been pretty fun). Speaking of which, Telle, you definitely called the ScarxWinry in the manga with those sentences you wrote ages ago. Not that it's canon or anything, but it is now completely plausible and adorable. I'm beginning to think that it's just BC and I who see it though. XD It's actually the pairing we claimed for the 30_nights thing. In other news, my room is now clean, which is exciting news because now we can see the floor.

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROWNIE CHILD <3

Yet another icon post

2007-07-20T00:55:58Z

Icon Count: 10

[4] Scar
[1] Ed
[1] Mei Chan
[1] Yoki
[3] Multiple

Preview:

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.

Alternate:

Please comment and credit! No hotlinking.

I killed Sirius Blaaaaaaa~aaaack~

2007-07-11T18:03:18Z

Okay, so HP5 was fun, especially the parts where we laughed at completely inappropriate moments and the manager told Julianne that she would have to leave because she was 'smoking' in the theater while we were all waiting for the movie to start (when in reality they were just stage cigarettes, so obviously the people who'd been complaining had never smelled cigarette smoke before because yeah, by then the entire theater would have smelled like it if they were real). And some random people complimented my Tonks wig, which was really cool, even if the wig cap was so tight that I couldn't feel my head. Still want to find some Death Eaters and follow them around chanting "Im-ho-tep...Im-ho-tep...". Just because. Anyway, so the movie was fun, much better than the last one as far as book-following. And then we got back to my house, I step out of Julianne's car, and see the biggest spiderweb I have ever seen outside a nature documentary or the insect house at the zoo (it was bigger than I am) with a spider that was slightly bigger than my thumbprint sitting in the middle. Less than a foot away from me. Yeah, lovely surprise that. Nearly squished BC while I was apparently trying to back through the car. Got around the spiderweb without dying, went upstairs to fish five million bobby pins out of my hair, and went to sleep. Oh midnight showings. Fun fun.

In other news, I got a 100 on my chemistry final exam, which left me at a 94 for the class. First A I have gotten in a science class since I can remember. Still can't quite believe that I actually got a 100 on a final anything, much less a chemistry one. But this should help my poor GPA lots. :D

PS: If anyone still actually cares about hearing about what happened with my car accident, I can tell that story too. Too lazy to type it out at the moment and my break's about to end.

PSS: Yes Julianne and BC I WILL post, hopefully today after work.

PSSS: Chapter still not out what is taking it so long this month argh I want Scar and Winry cuteness.

ievakasku @ 2007-06-21T20:14:00

2007-06-22T01:21:05Z

Got in a car accident a few hours ago on my way to class. Nobody was hurt, there weren't massive amounts of damage for anyone (although my car has to get fixed AGAIN), and it wasn't actually my fault this time. But it was still really scary. More details later, because I'm still kinda in shock and I have a massive headache because I could not stop crying for like two hours (which is about how long it took for the actual police to get there; there was one non-official cop there before then and he was really nice). And I missed class. Dammit.

Out of school and back to work

2007-05-25T18:22:52Z

Um wow, haven't posted anything here in a while. Not all that much to talk about I guess. Finally out of school though, as of two weeks ago today. And am now working, once more the fast-data-enterer/person-who-moves-heavy-boxes-and-builds-things (I spent most of the morning putting together a bunch of chairs) of the medical billing office. It's just as exciting as I remember it. But even if it is boring as shit, I like working here because it pays well and is an extremely casual(as in, we can walk around barefoot if we want kind of casual) all-women office and everyone is nice. We had a birthday party two days ago, that was fun.

In other news, Brownie Child and I are pretty much officially attached at the hip now. Last summer they were like 'you never go anywhere!' and this summer they are like 'wanna actually stay home for a few hours maybe?' She's even coming to Enchanted Rock with me this year, which I am super excited about because I will actually have someone to talk to, since all my old cousin friends either don't come anymore, don't talk to me anymore, or were stolen away by another certain cousin who doesn't like me, despite the fact that I've tried really hard to be friends with her, and makes it a point that I am not welcome to hang out with her and my old cousin friend through either ignoring me (which the old cousin friend joins in on) or being extremely rude and occasionally mean. Which is not cool, because I am older than her so I can't retaliate or she goes to the adults and whines. So I am very happy that I will have BC there.

Story from when I was driving back to work a little while ago with my lunch. It was raining pretty hard and I was on the service road of the expressway heading down past Mockingbird, and I realize that I have to switch lanes. So I check my mirrors and everything and pull into the lane, but there had actually been a person relatively close behind me that I hadn't seen because they didn't have their lights on and were in a dark colored car. So they honk at me and I feel like a blind idiot, and so then they start tailgating me, almost to the point of touching my car, and it's making me super nervous because it's raining and a busy service road, but I kinda understand because I did cut them off even if it was an accident, so I just speed up a little bit and wait for them to stop. But then, they pull into the empty lane next to mine, speed up, and dart in between me and the car in front of me with no warning, and there was only about a carlength and a half in between me and that car in front of me, and then darted back out into the other lane and zoomed off. So apparently just to be as spiteful as they possibly could be. I don't know what they were thinking, because even if they were a spiteful bastard it was RAINING REALLY HARD and on a BUSY SERVICE ROAD OFF THE EXPRESSWAY. If I had not had fast reflexes I would have smashed into them, probably causing a huge wreck because of the speeds and all the other people. Seriously person. Really stupid idea. Fortunately nothing bad happened because of it except I nearly had a heart attack, but yeah, still really stupid thing for them to do in those conditions. But I don't think they were thinking about that. Anyway, lunch break is almost over so I guess I'll just end this here.

And I miss you lots Miss Julianne, so I am very excited that you will be back soon. <3

Icons! :D

2007-02-16T19:36:06Z

Icon Count: 14

[5] Scar
[3] ScarxLust
[2] Lust
[1] Envy
[1] Kimbley
[1] Mustang
[1] ScarxOlivier

Preview:

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12.
13. 14.

Credits:
Lyrics in 4: "Sympathy for the Devil" -Rolling Stones
Lyrics in 11: "Through Glass" -Stone Sour
Lyrics in 12: "Beautiful Disaster" -Kelly Clarkson
Lyrics in 13 &14: "Heaven's Not Enough" -Steve Conte
Brushes and backgrounds from colorfilter and others

Comment and credit if taking please! :D

Colored Manga Page

2006-12-14T21:07:56Z

I actually colored this quite a while ago, and then subsequently forgot about it until just now because I'm just smart like that. ^_^;;;

I am going to hell.

2006-12-02T20:20:05Z

Do you know why I am going to hell? I am going to hell because I am going to write a FullMetal Alchemist/Harry Potter crossover. I have a plotbunny and it will not leave me alone until I've written it. I'm probably not even going to post it on FF.net for fear of being lynched just on principle. Although I will try to make it at least halfway decent.

...but I'm still going to hell for it.

In other news, finals are almost upon me. D: I only have three actual exams, thank God, but I for my other classes I have huge projects instead. Gah. I so cannot wait for Christmas break. Free time and real food and being able to see all you guys that'll be in Dallas. I've actually been getting a lot of writing done, surprisingly enough. Something about massive amounts of schoolwork seems to set off my inspiration apparently. Man I am so late with the next chapter of Brothers.

Wow I haven't posted here in a while.

ievakasku @ 2006-10-23T07:42:00

2006-10-23T07:47:56Z

It is now 3:42 in the morning and I have not finished this stupid anthropology essay for tomorrow and I have to wake up at 8 AM tomorrow. @#$%@* It's not even a very good essay! I AM GOING TO FAIL THIS ESSAY SO HARD AND I HATE THIS BOOK AND I WANT TO GO TO SLEEP. T____T It makes it better that both my roommate and one of our neighbors also have essays that they have yet to finish so we're all in this together BUT STILL. AAARGH.

Wow, I'm alive!

2006-09-08T21:34:22Z

OH GOD THE BUSY. Gah...so much stuff to do...but I've finally got a break with the coming of Friday. We didn't get all too much work over the weekend this time, so I'll actually have lots of free time. Hooray! I like most of my classes; for this semester I'm taking Special Topics in Creative Writing, Envrionmental Science: Landscapes and Geography, Cultural Anthropology, Painting I, and Precalculus. And Precalculus is a joke...we spent an entire class learning the equation of a line...as in y=mx+b. I was like...you're kidding, right? I wonder if it'll be like this the whole semester...he was treating it like it would be. I have yet to have to pay the slightest bit of attention in that class, because we're learning stuff that's been completely instinctual since freshman year in high school. Gah. But I love all my other classes. And I really like all my hallmates; they're fun and nice.

In non-school related news, I finally updated Brothers! *dances* And Sirius and Brownie Child, I'm probably going to finally call you guys soon! As soon as I find a place on this campus with service.

gasp I'm not dead!

2006-08-20T19:42:49Z

Despite the fact that I pretty much vanished from LJ for some time, I have not forgotten it or abandoned it or died or anything. I've just been really busy getting ready for college and stuff. In fact, I am currently writing this post from my dorm room. Which is bigger than I thought it would be, and has an ugly floor. But the view is pretty! And I have internet, which fixes most everything. I've already found two other anime fans, one of which has lent me her Saiyuki manga while I'm lending her my FMA DVDs. Saiyuki is interesting. My roomate also brought a TV. With cable. And the Sci-Fi channel. I get to watch Stargate after all! Whoot! She also brought a Playstation, which is really cool. Yay games. And she's nice, and didn't freak out at all my posters. Classes start this Thursday, and I'm meeting with my academic advisor to sign up for them tomorrow. I'm not homesick yet, which is surprising considering that I really thought I would be, but so far it's been like "Hmm. I'm in Virginia. Okay." I do miss my cats, though. Sirius, I tried to call you yesterday, but I couldn't get a hold of you. And since I have to go down (and then up again, which is the hard part) four flights of stairs to get outside with cell service, I have yet to try again. ^_^;;; Can't go on a journal raid until later, since I have to go to this activity session thingy in a few minutes, but when I get back I probably will.

Icons

2006-07-25T22:55:31Z

Hmmm...not much has really been happening lately...but I did make some icons!

Icon Count: 3
FMA
[2] Scar
[1] Dante

FMA:
1. 2. 3.

I'm back!

2006-07-17T02:17:45Z

Yeah, I'm back from Possum Kingdom Lake. Actually, I got back on Thursday, but have since been rather busy and haven't gotten enough of a chance to post. The lake was fun; we went tubing and the house we stayed at was really nice. And it came with go-karts. Muhahaha. But at any rate, I am now back. Yes. And then on Friday I had to go and get vaccination shots. Ick. Hmmm, what else...well, the new FMA chapter came out while I was gone.

OMG this chapter was really sad. ;__; Poor Scar...poor Scar's brother...poor Ishbalans...poor Rockbells...I think this was the last one in the Ishbal arc, though. God, Kimblee is PSYCHOTIC. He ATE the fake Philstone, and then blew up everyone around him! Crazyhead. Well, now we know why he's in jail. And this chapter solved the mystery of how Riza's tattoo got damaged as well. Also, something small I noticed...after having half his face blown up, Scar seems to have been blinded in his left eye. I wonder how long it took him to recover from that. And whatever happened to those notes his brother gave him? And will we get to find out what's gonna happen to Marco in the next chapter? I still want Scar to team up with the Elrics. And dammit, he needs to go apologize to Winry RIGHT NOW.

In short, this chapter tossed almost all of my theories out the window. Oh well, that happens almost every chapter.

Ugh, I have to go to work tomorrow...

PotC 2

2006-07-07T19:49:29Z

So I went to see PotC 2 last night. OMG IT WAS SO AMAZING. I went with my dad and Alex and Stephen, and although I wasn't really in costume, I was wearing my skull-and-crossbones shirt and my black pirate bandanna from Sophomore year (I thought about wearing my poofy white pirate shirt, but it would've been hot and uncomfortable, which I didn't really want to be during this movie). We got there a little over an hour early, and surprisingly, there weren't all that many people there yet (or at least, not nearly as many as I expected). There were people in semi-costume (and one person in full Halloween pirate getup) at the end of the line, so while dad was getting the tickets and stuff I went over to go get in line. I was thinking "Hey, they're here at midnight an hour early and in costume, I bet they're cool people". Except they weren't, they were giggling pre-teen Bloom/Depp fangirls (although the costumed one still gets points for being in costume). And one of them kept looking over at me and snickering loudly into her hat. It reminded me very very much of CKS and Liz Massman. Erg. Fortunately, there actually turned out to be two lines, for two different theaters, and we turned out to be in the other one. The one right next to the arcade games. :D So the next hour or so was not actually as awkward as I had first feared it would be. And it also appeared that we got there just in time, because not even fifteen minutes later both lines were HUGE. So after much waiting, we finally got into the theater and got good seats since we were near the front of the line. And now I'm going to talk about the actual movie itself. If you haven't seen it yet, don't read this because YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE SURPRISED.

This...was a really, really good movie. And after seeing the sheer amount of special effects work, I'm not at all surprised that it took them so long to make. But anyway. Guh. Jack Sparrow is the amazing. And then the scene changed to a rained out wedding and Port Royal being seemingly attacked by Redcoats (I was super confused about this at first) But then they were just arresting Will. And Elizabeth. And Norrington (but he wasn't there anymore, so that didn't exactly work). At first I thought that the person doing the arresting was Norrington (because they all look EXACTLY THE FREAKING SAME in those wigs), and afterwards my little brother told me that he'd gone the entire movie thinking that it was that Gillette guy from the first movie. So it turned out that they were arrested because not-Norrington (whose name starts with a B, I believe) wants Jack's compass, except not really because he wants the Dead Man's Chest so he can own Davy Jones' heart and control the oceans because the East India Trading Company is TEH EVIL (except that that last part wasn't revealed until later). Yeah, it was odd. Not-Norrington is such an asshat. So then it switches back to Jack, who goes to find rum and winds up having a spooky conversation with a rather barnacle-encrusted Bootstrap Bill. And then he's like "EVERYONE WAKE UP WE NEED TO LAND SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW!" Then Jack the undead monkey (who apparently didn't have the curse lifted for some reason and is still hanging out on the BP annoying the hell out of everyone...) jumps out and steals his hat and throws it overboard. And the crew is like "OMG JACK'S HAT!" and Jack was like "No, leave it! Land!" and they all went dead silent and looked at him like he'd gone completely insane...er. It was amusing. And then Jack's hat floated off and got eaten by the Kraken. Poor hat.

So in the meantime, Will's running all over the place looking for Jack, and winds up on the cannibal island. Which didn't really serve much of a purpose except to add Will, Pintel, and Ragetti to the Black Pearl Crew, and get rid of some of the excess crew members. And so off they go to some random bayou-type place to see a fortune-teller lady, trading Jack the monkey for their fortune and a jar of dirt for Jack so he doesn't follow in the footsteps of his poor hat. The fortune-teller lady kept hitting on Will, which was funny. Now, Jack the monkey runs off into another room and sits on a pair of occupied boots. I thought it was like, some random man corpse that FTL kept in her house, but I was oh so wrong. But anyway. So off they go to the Flying Dutchman to find Davy Jones and steal the key to the chest so that Will can have Jack's compass to give to Not-Norrington, who actually wants the chest and key so that the EITC can rule the world. Or something like that. So stuff happens, and Will winds up as a rather unwilling member of the Flying Dutchman fishpeople crew and meets his long-lost dad, and Jack goes off to Tortuga to find 99 more people for Davy Jones, and Elizabeth has by this time escaped and snuck aboard a ship by dressing like a man and has used her dress to freak out the crew and make them go to Tortuga so that she can find Jack and Will. I'm leaving a lot of important details out, but who cares. So in Tortuga, Jack is recruiting people and here comes Norrington! Who has SNAPPED. More stuff happens, and now Elizabeth and Norrington are somewhat officially part of the BP crew. Elizabeth also seems to be falling for Jack, which was somewhat amusing. Meanwhile Will plays a dice game with Davy Jones and his dad, both Turners betting their individual souls (which immediately made me think of Guys and Dolls, making the whole scene a lot funnier than it was supposed to be...which was not at all) against Davy Jones' key. Bootstrap (who is becoming literally more and more fishy as the movie progresses) loses so Will won't, and then Will steals the key in the dead of night and escapes, winding up on the ship that Elizabeth was formerly 'haunting'. Which then gets eaten by the Kraken, except Will escapes and stows away in the front of the Flying Dutchman. Yeah, this movie does even more switching around than the last one!

So more stuff happens, and now Jack, Elizabeth, Norrington, Pintel, and Ragetti are all on this random island digging up the chest (FINALLY), and then Will appears out of nowhere with the key, and Jack, Will, and Norrington all have very different ideas about what to do with Davy Jones' heart, so of course they get into a big sword fight, with Elizabeth screaming at them to stop being such stupid men and open the damn chest (and she is ignored), and Pintel and Ragetti run off with the chest while nobody's looking, except Elizabeth notices and chases after them. And then there's swordfighting and fishpeople and everyone's trying to get the key/chest, and Jack eventually gets both and sticks the heart down his shirt (which is not really very pleasent to think about), and then hides it in his jar of dirt when he gets back to the boat. But then Norrington steals it and runs off while everyone else is swordfighting. So they all (except Norrington) get back to the Black Pearl, and here come Davy Jones and the Kraken again! All the BP crew die except for the important people and the people we like (Gibbs, Cotton, and the midget), and Elizabeth kisses Jack. But then it was just a trick, because she handcuffed him to the mast and left him there. I was just...WTF. And so everyone escapes on a lifeboat except for poor Jack, who gets eaten by the Kraken. ;___; I was really sad for a few minutes before I remembered that there's going to be a third movie and that he is Captain Jack Sparrow and therefore on the same level of being able to come back to life as Daniel Jackson. So the remaining people go back to see FTL for whatever reason (I guess to give her the news), and she's like "Hey, wanna go to the ends of the earth and bring him back to life?", and they're like "Yeah!". So she says that they're going to need a captain who knows those waters, and calls someone down from upstairs. Remember the boots I thought belonged to a random man corpse? Well, down the stairs they came, and in my mind I was like "OMG that is so not who I think it is because if it is my brain will explode like a Dead State Alchemist..." Because only one person can stomp down stairs in those boots like that. Yes, Barbossa magically came back to life and has been living with FTL. And then he said something about "where's my ship?" and bit into an apple and the movie ended. Guh. *brain explodes* When is the next one coming out?

In other, non-pirate related news, I will be cut off from the internet until next Friday or Saturday starting tomorrow, because I'm going to Possum Kingdom Lake with my family. And I'm going to miss the new FMA chapter. ARGH. I really hope that there's some kind of internet there, because I think I might explode if I don't get to see this chapter sooner than Friday...especially since I know that it comes out on Monday or Tuesday and I won't be able to get at it. ARGH. Other than that though, I think I'll have fun.

Ice Cream

2006-07-04T01:04:30Z

Apologies for my vanishing from the internet for like, a week; I've been somewhat busy recently. ^^;; To make up for it, here's a drabble-fic!

Title: Ice Cream
Rating: PG
Characters: Scar, Ed, Al
Pairings: None
A/N: This drabble is set in the Brothers-verse, Brothers being one of my other fanfics (which can be found here). This is stand-alone; all you really need to know about Brothers to be able to understand this is that Scar was arrested and sentenced to one year of serving under a State Alchemist (aka the Elric brothers), and that the three of them are, in fact, friends (the reason why would take a bit too long to explain).
Teaser: “Ice cream?” Scar’s tone betrayed his confusion at the term, red eyes studying the frozen treats curiously.

East City, being so near to the Great Desert as it was, was always swelteringly hot during the summer months. Not many people were out on the streets at midday, preferring to stay inside or at least under some shade; those who were out went about their business in a slow, almost sluggish manner. However, there was one person in the city who not only didn’t mind the heat, but enjoyed it immensely.

The tall man called Scar strode calmly down the sidewalk, head tilted slightly upwards and almost basking in the sun’s rays. Not even the coat he wore seemed to give him any discomfort. His desert origins allowed him to thrive in heat like this; his companion, however, was not so fortunate.

“Hey...slow down, you great bastard…”

The Ishbalan stopped and turned his head back, his crimson eyes holding a slight glint of something akin to amusement behind the dark sunglasses he wore to hide them. Nearly ten feet behind him trudged Edward Elric, the young alchemist looking absolutely miserable and even more temperamental than usual in the heat; he was made yet more uncomfortable by the red cloak and gloves he had refused to shed even in the heat. A bit farther ahead of his brother stood Alphonse Elric, the animated suit of armor not bothered at all by the weather for obvious reasons.

Ed continued to rant as he caught up to Scar, “Not everyone’s a heat-lover like you, you know...damn I hate coming here in the summer!”

“Perhaps if you were to dress more appropriately for the weather, you would be able to walk faster and keep up without my having to keep stopping to wait for you,” Scar replied calmly to Ed’s mutterings, resuming his pace as soon as the alchemist drew up alongside him.

“Yeah, I’ll take off my coat in public when you take off yours,” Ed countered, the subject a familiar joke between them.

“Hey, don’t start a fight, you two,” Alphonse put a hand on each of their shoulders and nudged them apart, putting himself in between them, “We’re only a few blocks away from the hotel; you can hold out until then, niisan.”

“I dunno; not if Desert Man over there doesn’t slow down the pace a little.”

“It is certainly not my fault that you cannot stand a little heat.”

Al sighed as the two of them continued to trade half-insults; they were almost always like this. But there was no malice in it, so he didn’t try to get involved. Instead, he cast his gaze around the not-so-busy streets, a small street stand surrounded by children catching his eye. So as to not really catch the attention of his intently dueling companions and yet still let them know that he was going elsewhere, he muttered quietly, “I’ll be right back,” and headed in the direction of the brightly painted stand.

When he once more caught up to the still-arguing pair, he had to raise his voice a little before they actually noticed that he was trying to get their attention.

“What is it…” Ed trailed off, eyes lighting up when he noticed the pair of ice cream cones his younger brother was holding out, “When did you get those?”

“There was an ice cream stand a little ways back; didn’t you notice that I was missing at all?” Al shook his head, “Niisan, you’re hopeless.”

“Ice cream?” Scar’s tone betrayed his confusion at the term, red eyes studying the frozen treats curiously.

Al ignored Ed, who was gaping at Scar as though the Ishbalan were crazy, and explained, “It’s frozen cream with flavor added, for summer when it’s hot out. I didn’t know if you’d ever had any before, and I know niisan loves it, so I got some,” he held out the cones for the pair to take.

Scar nodded in thanks, taking his cone gingerly and still staring at it as though he didn’t quite know what to do with it. A few moments later, a thought occurred to him, and he looked over at Ed, who was about to start devouring his, “If it’s made out of frozen cream, then that would be milk, you know.”

Ed shrugged, “I make an exception for this stuff. Now eat, you poor, deprived soul.”

Scar raised an eyebrow at this comment, but raised the cone and gave it a slightly tentative lick anyway. Crimson eyes widened; it was good. It took some restraint on his part to refrain from devouring it quite as quickly as Ed was, but it was still vanishing at a pretty steady pace as the trio continued walking.

Neither of the brothers told him about the large smear of ice cream that remained on the end of his nose for the rest of the day.

Adventures in Platelet Donating

2006-06-23T22:40:51Z

Yesterday, I learned that donating platelets, although emotionally rewarding, is NOT FUN. The good part was that I got to miss work and sleep in. After that things kinda started going downhill. I got there on time (driven by my Mom, as I didn't really want to drive home afterwards), and filled out some papers. Then the doctor came in and did one of those blood tests where they poke your finger with that needle-device, assuring me that it wouldn't hurt at all. Liar. The needle didn't hurt, but afterwards the tip of my finger felt like it was going to fall off. Maybe he hit a weird place or something. But anyway. The doctor told me to go pick out a movie to watch, and since they were all really old and mostly boring-looking, I picked some movie called 'Volcano' about a volcano erupting in LA, since natural-disaster dramas are generally somewhat amusing, especially when trying (and failing) to be serious. I sat down in this big chair with giant pillow-armrests, and they had me put both arms out facing up and cleaned around the veins with iodine and stuff. First they tried to put the needle in my left arm. Note the 'tried'. The needle didn't fit in the vein when they stuck it in, even when they tried to move it around and find the vein (this hurt like a bitch). So they tried to put the needle on the top of my left wrist instead of the elbow, with the same results. Ow. And since I was on the double-arm machine and the only single-arm machine was taken, they said that I'd have to reschedule for either later that day or today. Unfortunately, however, my mother had already left, and did not pick up her phone when I attempted to call her. So I got to sit there for about half an hour or so and watch the Volcano movie before my dad showed up and brought me home, after getting it rescheduled to 3:00 that day. At this point my wrist had a Nickolodeon-green bandage on it, and my left arm didn't seem to want to work anymore. Got home, ate, and went back. By then the one-arm machine was free, so I got put on that. They cleaned my right arm and stuck the needle in (succeeding this time) and hooked up all the tubes and stuff. They gave me a baseball-sized foam ball that I was supposed to squeeze every five seconds, and turned my movie back on. And then I sat there for two hours. It was kind of surreal, because I would kinda halfway look down, and see the tubes, and be like "hmmm...that's my blood...there sure is a lot of it". It felt really weird too, since they were apparently somehow taking the blood out and putting it back in (sans platelets) at the same time. How this works I haven't the slightest clue, but it felt really weird and it made my elbow joint ache. I got really cold after a while, too. The movie ended just a bit before I was finished, so I spent a good fifteen minutes staring at the tubes. It's a good thing I'm not too terribly squeamish. When they were finally finished, I got yet another green bandage (this one prevented me from bending my right elbow at all) and a juice carton, and went home. I then proceeded to drink several more juice cartons and go to sleep for the rest of the afternoon. I got woken up for dinner (steak...yay), ate, and then went back to sleep again after taking the green bandages off (I have to keep the circular band-aids on for 24 hours, though). And yet for some reason I'm still tired today (and my left elbow still hurts). Oh well. That's my story.

Medical Billing is just so much fun!

2006-06-21T18:22:55Z

Except for the part where it's really, really boring. It also halfway kills my brain, which is why I haven't been posting or writing for the past week and a half. Today I've been mostly entering little notes in the computer about how this gigantic list of people isn't eligible for Medicaid (basically: enter the ID number, press enter a few times, and type "CHECKED MCAID ELIG NOT FOUND"...over and over and over and over) There are, however, occasional very interesting last/first names (such as Wigberto and Van Ruitenbeek) that help with the boredom. Apparently after lunch break I'm going to have a massive stack of demographics to enter. Oh joy. I did get paid today, though, so I think that kinda made up for it.

Last Saturday, however, was fun. Going to the aquarium is always fun, especially when accompanied by three really good friends. I'm still wondering whether or not any of the flamingos have accidentally fallen/jumped into the shark tank. And then we went to Nat's house and watched Memento, which is the most brain-killingly complicated/WTF movies ever. We had to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (which requires no thought whatsoever) right afterwards to recover. On the way back home, ther was a huge lightning storm going on (although it wasn't really raining that hard), and the freakish part was that there was no thunder to be heard until I got home. In other news, I'm donating platelets tomorrow instead of going to work, because one of my little sisters is having a heart operation sometime in the near future. I'm praying that it'll go okay.

PS: the Sunday A-Kon Report will come...eventually...

A-Kon Saturday Report (and pictures)

2006-06-13T01:38:52Z

Yeah, here's my more detailed A-Kon report...at least of Saturday. I'll do Sunday soon. Ahem. So.

That morning, I woke up at 7:30 so that I'd have time to put my scar on and spray my hair white and still get there fairly early. My dad drew the tattoo on my right arm the night before (which is good, since if I'd tried to do it that morning I wouldn't have gotten there before noon), and did an amazing job, even if it did take several tries. I wound up getting to the con at around 9:40, and actually got recognized as Scar and got my picture taken almost right away, which was pretty neat. I waited around for Ash (who was dressed as Ash, haha) to show up, and then when she got there we wandered until Jenn and Deja (dressed as Jessie from Team Rocket) got there. And then we waited around for awhile for Shippo (dressed as James from TR) and Mishi (dressed as a catgirl), and then when they arrived we had a birthday picnic for Ash in the lobby. Mmmm...cookie cake. After that we went to the dealers room and got all sorts of merchandise (I got a really cute Al pillow and a Royai figurine! ^^). I kept hearing people around me yell "Scar!" and then I'd turn around and nobody would be there, which was weird. I also got a picture with a hot Greed cosplayer, which Ash has and needs to give to me. There were so many amazing cosplays everywhere! There were also like, a millions Eds and quite a few military as well. After awhile we were really tired and wanted to sit, so we went to a random anime room. There was this really funny, cute anime playing called "Hare+Guu", and I definitely need to see some more of it. Then we split up, with Shippo and Deja going to watch a Para Para panel, and me, Ash, and Mishi going to wander some more. Somewhere along the way we ran into a Vash cosplayer that everyone else had met the other day, and he joined our group. He was pretty cool. After more wandering and fifteen minutes of a really boring anime, we met back up with Shippo and Deja and went to go eat, during which time Ash had to leave. After that we went back up to get in line for the stage cosplay. The line was HUGE. Gah...but I did have a neat conversation with the person behind me, and she showed me her sketchbook and we talked and exchanged e-mail addresses. The cosplay skits were interesting (with a few exceptions), and several of them were pretty funny. The girl from the line drew me a quick chibi sketch of Sephiroth and Reno during one of the more boring skits, which I'm going to scan and post later because it's adorable. Then one of the best parts of the whole stage cosplay happened: a Link and a Zelda cosplayer were the first in the walk-ons, and the Link cosplayer proposed to the Zelda one! It was the cutest thing ever (it was a real proposal, not a skit), and they got a standing ovation from everyone. ^^ However, by that time Shippo, Deja, and Mishi had left (without me noticing until a few minutes before). After the stage cosplay was over, it was just some other stuff that I wasn't interested in on the stage, so me and the Vash cosplayer went and hung out for about fifteen minutes before he had to leave. But I wasn't alone for very long, as I noticed a Martel cosplayer and went up to talk to her (because nobody ever seems to cosplay Martel), and subsequently got assimilated into their FMA group, who were planning an unofficial crack skit. And the group just kept growing and growing and growing, to the point where we couldn't stop moving lest we get yelled at by a security guard (who were really mean this year) for blocking traffic, and we had to group pose for like fifty million pictures. We got our own official photoshoot, too, which I'm going to get the pictures of. By the time we escaped the crowds and photographs and found somewhere to practice, it was really late and quite a lot of the group had left so we had to modify the skit some, but it still worked okay. When we finally did perform it, it was nearly midnight. By this time I'd become friends with several of them, including the Martel who'd initially gotten me into the group in the first place. Those who remained exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers, and we all dispersed. Then I went home, washed the white out of my hair, and went to sleep almost immediately. And that was Saturday at A-Kon for me. Now...pictures! Or at least, some of the pictures. I'm still gathering them from various sources, and these are just the ones from Saturday.

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^ these are all of my arm; kinda faded since I took them on Sunday, but still. Excuse the messiness of my room in the background. -_-;;

Sound village ninja from Naruto

*gasp* Somebody else actually cosplayed Scar! There was another one too, but I didn't get a picture.

I dunno who they're supposed to be, but it was a pretty neat group costume

An Inuyasha group

This is the Link who proposed to the Zelda, and the Zelda that got proposed to by the Link!

A giant Gir! :D

The Kyuubi from Naruto

An amazing dragon and a Chocobo

Kairi and Sora from KH2, including Keyblades!

AXEL ZOMG

The Vash cosplayer we hung out with, and a Millie we found in the anime room

The cutest catbus ever

This is how big the group was when I joined...

...and then it turned into this. And it got bigger after this, too. (picture's really blurry, but you can make out almost everyone...)

Two of the group's Hugheses being silly with the phones

One of the infamous scenes from episode 13 enacted by one of the Rizas and the cutest little Black Hayate cosplayer ever

And there you have it. Also note: I am probably going to be posting more con pictures as I find them/get them from other people.

As for what happened today...not much. I stuffed envelopes and copied things and put little notebooks together. But I'm getting paid for it, which makes it okay.

A-kon

2006-06-12T02:18:40Z

Yeah, A-Kon, Saturday and Sunday! So much fun. Bought stuff. Made new friends. Cosplayed (as Scar). Participated in a crack FMA skit. Took lotsa pictures. Went to the FMA panel hosted by Vic, Caitlin, and Mike (Ed, Winry, and Havoc respectively) and got my bag signed by all three. Got to hug Vic. Ate pocky and muscat gummies. Discovered a very funny anime (Hare+Guu). Got glomped by several people. Ate cake both days. Screamed and yelled and squealed a lot. Got a picture with a hot Greed cosplayer. Got a "Philosopher's Stone" from a Hughes cosplayer. Am now brain-dead, sore, limping, hoarse, and have sharpie marker all over my right arm. But DAMN it was worth it.

...

Pictures and details eventually. Tired. Sleep. But must get sharpie marker off right arm first (I start work tomorrow, or I'd leave it on).

Sci-Fi Banquet

2006-06-01T15:43:48Z

Sci-Fi Banquet was so much fun! Almost everyone was there (unfortunately my little adopted Sophomore friends were missing...actually they'd be Juniors now, but whatever...), including Nat and Allee! Yaay! It's so weird to think of myself as an alumna now...all the new seniors looked so completely natural in their blue shirts that I didn't even notice at first. I got there 45 minutes early because the invitation whatsit said to get there at 1:00...but apparently something changed and I didn't know about it. Fortunately, Nat was early too, so it wasn't quite so awkward! :D Then everyone else arrived eventually, and there was swimming and food! Yay! Shippo, you have the most amazing house I have ever seen.

PS: Hey, look! I made a moodtheme! Muses o' Doom themed, yeah! The pictures were combined from two separate sets made by frozenwithin.

ievakasku @ 2006-05-30T13:33:00

2006-05-30T18:39:33Z

I love summer vacation so very, very much. Free time is such a wonderful thing to have. My grandmother went home today (she came from San Antonio to see my graduation), and I'm excited about Sci-Fi banquet tomorrow. Still haven't managed to get the pictures from my dad yet; I'm gonna try to get them today, because I kinda want to see them too...

In other news, I filled out a job application to Borders today, and am almost finished coloring another manga page. I'll edit this post later when I'm done with it.

ievakasku @ 2006-05-28T21:27:00

2006-05-29T02:32:11Z

Yeah, I'm graduated! I'd sleep now, but I'm going to the casino party in a few hours. So no sleep for me. I'll post pictures...maybe tomorrow. I dunno. I'm tired and my feet hurt, and my brain has ceased to function. And my parents haven't let me get out of my dress yet. But I'm done. Haha...zzzzz...

Baccalaureate

2006-05-27T20:48:43Z

Well, today was Baccalaureate Brunch (and mass). We got little St Angela medals at the mass, and they gave out awards at the brunch (I didn't get any...not that I was expecting to) And they showed an amusing video about our Senior Skit (Sirius, I would like your video of it plzkthx). And then we went to my grandparent's house to pick up all my siblings and talk with my aunt, who just got back from a trip to Africa. She had 3000 pictures (not an exaggeration), and they were really neat. I got presents, too. A ceramic zebra sculpture made by pygmies (who weren't actually all that short; they were taller than my aunt), a wooden elephant necklace, and a cool beaded notebook. Pretty sweet.

Graduation tomorrow, yay!

Graduation Practice = HELL

2006-05-25T00:34:00Z

Ergh...and there are still two more practice days...and then the actual graduation, during which we will all die because we were dying today with just shorts and t-shirts, and on Sunday we'll be wearing freaking wedding dresses. Stupid Texas weather. Tracy and I were going to escape together after the curtsy session the second time around, but we didn't have to because there wasn't a second time around THANK GOD. Nnnn...the backs of my shoulders and my feet are sunburned...I guess it could be worse, though. Anyway, after hell Tracy and I went and got ice cream at Baskin Robins, and then we went over to her house and had fun with childhood memories. We went to youtube and watched the theme songs for Darkwing Duck, Duck Tales, Talespin, X-Men (the original cartoon) and Thundercats. Hehehe. Also: I have been missing for several days because the Pokemon Crystal Version I ordered off eBay got in the other day, and I've been playing that all the time. Old Pokemon games are fun. :D Oh, and also also, Vic Mignogna WINS for his new song that he wrote.

I'm DONE

2006-05-20T14:22:23Z

I dislike my internet connection greatly. It was out again from Tuesday to Thursday. Which was all exams anyway, so it's not like I had much to post about. Except on Thursday, when after exams I went out and had lunch with BC, and then came back to school to visit Sci-Fi, staying until 6:45, when we went to go see the Theater II class perform. And then on Friday, I woke up at noon and went to school (after a brief detour to Blockbusters) for the Senior Farewell. Which was amazingly fun. Our skit was hilarious, the teacher movies were hilarious, and Mr. B's movie and the tap-dancing performance (which was kinda random) were really neat. Our slideshow wouldn't work, though, so we're going to watch it at the Bacculauriate (or however you spell it...) lunch thing. And then after that was the Sci-Fi Club Senior Three-Hour Surprise. We hijacked (with permission) the UCPA giant overhead projector and watched the original War of the Worlds. Much fun. And then I went directly to a babysitting job that I'd been randomly hired for, and by the time I got back from that I was so tired that I just went to sleep without posting. Hehehehehe, I'M DONE. *waves little flags* :D Except for graduation (and graduation practice), I'm completely finished. But I'm still going up there after school next week to visit Sci-Fi club, since I'll have a bit of a hard time visiting next year since I'll be in Virginia. Anywho, now I'm off to go raid journals! Yay!