tortoisegirl

30 Day Meme
Day 27 → This month, in great detail

There's not much of this month to talk about, but it doesn't really matter because that post where I talk about my week? It would be that, minus the interesting stuff, x4. Classes, work, homework- the only differences would be the specific things we're studying. Stuff of note so far: The wedding reception, which I already talked about. Voting on the 2d. My polling place is in a hunting/fishing store, polling booths nestled between the stuffed mountain lion and the mounted deer heads. I stayed up to follow election results that night but went to bed once it was announced that I now live in a Republican state :( Pennsylvania, I am disappoint. Yesterday I had lunch with the_duckay and we saw someone dressed as a rat in clothes and a crown walking around. I think it was the Rat King from The Nutcracker, since we were near a theater where that's performed.

Predictions for the rest of the month: Certainly busy with school coming to an end. I have two long papers due the first week of December (on the same day asdfdjskl), so lots of researchin' and writin'. I still haven't thought of a topic for the 19th C. American Lit class, though it'll probably be on "Herland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. We're reading Art Speigelman's Maus in Contemporary Lit and I wish I could write on that because I'd love to do something academic on a graphic novel, but our topics are due before we even start reading it. Boo. But I think I've got a good idea for Autobiography of my Mother by Jamaica Kincaid.

Don't really have anything planned for non-school stuff. Thanksgiving will happen and I suppose I'll be visiting family. I'll probably cook a bunch of stuff for that. Complaints about it getting dark earlier and earlier will likely increase. I was in a super Christmas-y mood earlier this week so I might start planning Christmas shopping XD (I usually don't think about that until school's out in December, at the earliest.) Oh, I plan to buy the Scott Pilgrim movie after work today so I'll watch that a few times, I guess.

Wow, I'm boring.

I'll get back to the 30 day meme soon, but the next few prompts are long and complicated and I'm not up to it right now.

I went to a presentation on careers in the publishing industry yesterday and I think...I think I need to get a Facebook. They kept mentioning promoting via social networks it might actually hurt me to say I don't know how FB works. The office I work for now has one but my coworker handles it. Whenever I have to log on to upload something or friend someone (like, twice so far) it takes me forever to navigate and get it done. I don't want to deal with people finding me though...maybe a fake name just to get used to it? I don't know, would it look better to an employer to not have a FB at all, or to have one they can find that's free of all the crap that gets people fired? I really don't want to deal with pretending to be interested in people I kinda remember from high school.

But other than that revelation the presentation was very useful, and hey, maybe that line about "something in publishing" I've been feeding to people who ask about my job plans could actually happen. I need to work on my resume. And read up on the book industry.

Still need to find something to wear to my dad's wedding reception tomorrow. I have my standard dress that I've worn to a few dressy things already, but it shows off the tattoo on my back. And my grandparents don't know that I have any tattoos. They wouldn't throw a fit or anything, but it's not a conversation I'm sure I want to have. Maybe I can find a shawl to keep around my shoulders since it'll be cold anyway. My sister's going to be late to the reception b/c of a band competition that day and for some reason I'm stressing over it. I'm kinda scared she'll use it as an excuse to skip it all together, and I don't wanna think about what that'll do to my dad. I also hope I can find my camera before tomorrow- it's been missing for about a month.

I so wish I could do NaNoWriMo this year. I've gotten a laptop since I last tried which I think would help my word count (made it to about 25k words last time). Too much school work though. Maybe I'll try to write my papers in the style of NaNo; write 3000 words of nonsense to fill the pages, edit it later.

Taking a break from the 30 day meme for, uh, another meme!

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload) 5 songs you love that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

findmyantidrug gave me the letter W.

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Wet Sand
2. John Frusciante- Wednesday's Song
3. XTC- We're All Light
4. Pearl Jam- Wasted Reprieve
5. Led Zepplin- When the Levee Breaks

( Youtube videos for your listening ease. )

30 Day Meme
Day 23 → A YouTube video

Leave it to a Star Wars parody to get me listening to a Kesha song over and over.

30 Day Meme
Day 21 → A recipe

This a recipe for majdra, a lentil and onion dish that I make a lot. It's delicious and easy and pretty cheap.

1 c. uncooked lentils
4 c. water
1 lg. onion, chopped
1/2 c. olive oil
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cumin
Salt to taste
1/2 uncooked rice

Rinse lentils and put them in a saucepan with the water. Boil for 20 minutes on medium heat. Saute chopped onions in oil. Add onions and oil reside to the lentils along with the rice and seasonings. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. May be eaten hot or cold.


I had two of my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. It went fine - the most unpleasant part was that my dentist is someone who likes to fill time with small talk, even as the novacaine was taking effect and I couldn't feel my face, let alone speak coherently. And it's weird that even with all the advancements in medicine and dentistry, tooth extraction is still pretty much "grab onto it and pull really hard." Afterwards I wanted to get some stuff at Whole Foods and my mom, who was taking me home, said it was fine, though I had a Hyperbole and a Half moment trying to ask her about it with a numb face and cotton in my mouth. I have some prescription pain pills now, which make me kinda loopy.

And I'm trying to color my hair red. Well, red-ish, since I know it won't actually be red without bleaching it. I've got the henna in, which is difficult and messy to do on your own, and now I'm just waiting until I can wash it out.

30 Day Meme
Day 19 → A talent of yours

Eh, I guess writing counts as a talent. I'm in the middle of trying to churn out several papers for school and my writing really doesn't feel like anything to be proud of right now.

It's been a busy week at school, since all my teachers conspired to have the big assignments due around the same time, and at work now that my boss is back from Brazil and we're working on a big international student exchange project. I'm putting together most of the promotional material which means I get to do a lot with graphics, which is the more fun side of my job at least. I mentioned a while ago that my childhood cat, Stripes, had been doing badly lately and last weekend my Dad emailed to say that Stripes had died :( He was a old cat and he died quietly in his sleep, but it's still sad. We've had that cat since I was 7.

But, despite the workload and unavoidable sad things, it's October and beautiful and cool out, and I'm in a lovely fall Halloween mood. I've painted my nails orange and I'm planning all sorts of apple- or pumpkin-flavored things to cook once I'm done with school stuff.

( Except there's more whining here. )

30 Day Meme
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)



One of my favorite paintings, Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold.

Not much to say. There's been nothing but rain this whole week and it's been pretty depressing. And tornado warnings but no tornadoes, which would have been more interesting. And I skipped a few classes this week :( I'd been doing well this semester up til now. Apathy's setting in.

I never really addressed this here before, but since this is a personal journal and a good part my friends list is from fannish places I'll just clarify that all the personal posts are open for comments from anyone. Doesn't matter if we don't know each other in person or know each other that well. Of course no one's obligated to comment, but just in case folks were wondering about my stance on that. I always like to hear from people :)

And today's 30 day meme prompt is fandom-related anyway!

30 Day Meme
Day 14 → A fanfic

One I found years ago that's stuck with me because it's a magnificently hilarious, cracked-out mess. First Encounter, the story of the Hogwarts Castle and the Hogwarts giant squid and how they find love~ Or at least find tentacle sex. And um, I guess it's rated R for...sex between a building and a squid, so be aware of that if that's not to your tastes. And it's gay sex, because apparently both Hogwarts and the squid are male. Who knew. I came across it here at pottersues.

To keep up the theme, new Deathly Hallows trailer!
Dead Dumbledore! Bill and Fleur's wedding! Dobby ;_; OMG Ron and Harry yelling at each other. I love you Ron even when you're being a jerk. I love the last shot, with the lightning bolt going into the logo and the theme music. Can't wait!

And you know how with TV shows people will say "Haha, X and Y should have their own show together!". Apparently the Lost creators were reading all the message boards with that sentiment, because Locke and Ben are getting their own show. Okay, it's not really the same characters from Lost (they're ex-government agents in this one), but the same actors. The two best actors from the show, and the ones a lot of people were saying they wanted to see more of together. Props to J.J. Abrams for giving the people what they want!

30 Day Meme
Day 13 → A fictional book

Any fictional book? Okay, I'll go with the one I just read for school, Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. It reminds me a lot of Slaughterhouse 5, with a non-linear narrative and WWII and a dark sense of humor. Which happen to all be things I really like in a novel! It's a fairly simple plot that's told in a way that really requires the reader to think and get involved in the story- the kind where when you stop reading it takes a second to reorient yourself to the real world (at least for me). I love it when books that start off as school assignments end up becoming favorites, and this looks like it might be one of those. I might actually want to write a paper on this.

Also, for those in the US this Saturday is Free Museum Day. It's limited - you get two free tickets to one museum, but hey, it's better than paying full price.

30 Day Meme
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago



Awww. Little me with my bff Jack the dog.