This is my journal. Is it not nifty?

This is not a journal entry.

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:54:58 GMT

Today has been a very introspective day. Today I looked at myself and realized that I wasn't sure if I wanted to actually be a journalist. Then I cheered because, as a freshman, this isn't a disasterous realization. Trouble is, what I do want to do is not a career, per se. I want to keep writing scripts for comics, because I've realized that I'm *good* at it and I enjoy it. Looking back through my life, I think that's what I've always wanted to do. I chose journalism because I figured I could never do comics. After all, I cant draw. But I tried! Oh, how I tried. You have no idea how many stick figure comics I did. The punchlines were good but the art...

So I know what I need. I need dependable art-slave. No, no. Not an art-slave. An art-symbiote. I need to research to figure out what to do with myself. So I'll research.

Oh, and I need to talk with my advisor. Pronto.

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 04:29:38 GMT

Lately, I've been writing a lot of comic scripts for Sushi Database, my prematurely aborted Sushi Database. That's because Lynn (art slave and goddess) mentioned that eventually she'll be starting it back up again. The sad thing is that I have so many damn scripts. Lynn said she wanted something like a once or twice a week schedule. That means I have what is most likely a years worth of comic scripts. I'd have to count to be sure. I have many, many complete storylines in script form (and one almost complete storyline introducing Kate's pet guinea pig, Don Quixote). If and when she starts drawing again, it will be a long time before she'll actually need me again. I'll have time to romp around our forum... *sigh* Yes, I'm getting way ahead of myself. But you do not understand. I've always wanted a webcomic. It's my dream. Some day the big, beautiful Keenspot fairy will fly down and whisk me out of this dreary existence and carry me away to a faraway land where people will appreciate my quirky, bizarre sense of humor...

Don't you dare tell me there isn't a Keenspot fairy. I *know* there's a Keenspot fairy.

Anyway, part of my braintrip is because I've been reading even more webcomics than usual lately. I picked up Yu+Me and The Lounge (yay lesbians!) a week ago because my soul needs them. Also I've returned to How To Make a Sprite Comic In 8 Easy Bits, Wapsi Square, This Comic Sucks, and Road Waffles. Road Waffles still makes no sense to me, but I love it. You wont find a comic more purely existential on the web, I promise you. Girl Genius is another I've been reading. It has that charming "Ralph Bakshi" art style which Studio Foglio is loved for, but you really have to buy the print versions to get the full story. Maybe when I have more money. Kristofer Straub's Starslip Crisis has been another pleasant surprise. I somewhat expected it to be Checkerboard Nightmare in space, but it isn't. It has a genuine story that is entirely unlike CxN. Straub impresses once again. And speaking of Chex and Straub, Checkerboard Nightmare is starting up again. It's going to be updated monthly on Comixpedia. It isn't a huge deal with an update schedule that pathetic, but still... nice. My comic diet can always use more jargonistic randomosity.

Speaking of randomosity, I want to remind everyone to read Bigger Than Cheeses. It is easily one of the silliest, most irreverantly funny comic on the web. It deserves more recognition than it gets. I'd insert a picture of one of my favorite comics, but I don't know how to. So here:

http://www.biggercheese.com/index.php?comic=591

Gotta love the expression in the fourth panel.

Halt, evildoer!

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 03:50:38 GMT

One of the major things preventing me from starting my amv has been hard drive space- I don't have enough room for all the footage I'd have to rip onto the computer while working on the computer. Amazingly, I have solved my problem! And I didn't even have to remove Neverwinter Nights and/or Morrowind. My solution? Delete all the songs I never listen to, all my hentai movies (except AMV Hell 0, if that counts- it was too hard to obtain for me to delete it), all of my amvs except the ones I made (and the Roses are Red video), three fourths of my Naruto manga, all of the leftover footage from previous projects that I never found, and my folder containing every single Red vs Blue episode. I also uninstalled Civilization III. Why not? If I want to play Civ, I can instal Civ IV. Anyway, this massive data wipe took me from having 200 MB of free space... to 20 GB of free space. I'm not sure how I did it. The amazing part is that if I ever get tired of Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights and uninstall them, that'll free up another 10 gigs. The mind boggles at the possibilities... I could be as artistic as I wanted! Part of me wants to start now, but it wouldn't be a good idea. I have 18 credit-hours this semester, so I cant screw around. Must dedicate myself. Eyes on the prize, the prize being "not getting put on academic probation".

It's nice to see everybody again. It's not really nice to be back, though. I have this sense that doom is looming overhead and it's making me rather nervous. I guess it'll fade as I get back into the groove. We shall see. And since I have a class at 8 tomorrow, and I don't really know where it is, I should Head to Bed.

A snowman impersonating a parson? Blasphemy!

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 02:45:24 GMT

So, Christmas is almost here. Whoopdy-friggin-doo, by which I mean that I am genuinely and nonsarcastically excited. No, seriously. Because I know I am getting Neverwinter Nights Diamond Pack for Christmas, along with Morrowind. Granted, they are wildly outdated now... but who cares? Stupid gaming industry with their stupid... progress. I say that I am on the cutting edge of gaming technology! Neverwinter Nights has three, count 'em, *three* dimensions. Oh yeah. Check those bad boys out. The first two are nice, but the third... breathtaking. Sexy. Breathtakingly sexy. Just wanna take that gaming technology and... and make out with it. And if that makes me a weird person, then dagnabbit, I'll embrace the weirditude!

I made those cookie, by the way. The ones I mentioned last entry. You didn't read last entry? Then go read it, dirtbag! It's the one right under this one. Anyway. The cookies were delicious, though I am fairly sure they are not healthy. If there are any Kings of Town in the audience, you will love these cookies. I'm talking 'bout more butter than any cookie should have. Delicious... but man. Butter. My recommendation is to skip the powdered sugar, because it makes a mess (as I learned last year). This year, I substituted brown sugar in the mix, and it was much more delicious. Oh, and because there are no eggs in these cookies, you can eat the cookie dough safely. Well, maybe not safely... it *will* clog up your arteries almost instantly. But no salmon disease. You have to teach those salmon their place.

Oh yeah. Some people who read this are atheist, agnostic, or otherwise nonchristian. To you, I announce the glory of a new holiday: AGNOSTICA! Well, it isn't new... Few years old. But this is the first December that I'm celebrating it. Read: http://www.agnostica.com/

If you live in New Kent, IM me about getting together for an Agnostica party! I'm thinking maybe I'll dress up as J.J. Thomson. ....Google it, dorks.

Damn. That picture in the last entry is hawt.

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 04:33:13 GMT

I mean... wow.

Anyway.

If you know me (and everyone who reads my LJ does) you probably know that I LOVE Christmas. And you definately all know that I love webcomics. So, I'd like to offer a recipe which is becoming a Christmas tradition for me- Riff's Snowball Cookies, as introduced in the popular webcomic Sluggy Freelance. I'll just copy-paste their recipe below...

"Okay, so they may not be as cool as Riff's "Double-Tundra Hanukah Snowball Cookies," (mom never lets us add plutonium to our baking) but they're still very nifty, and clinically-proven to make Pete puff powdered sugar! :) They're very easy to make (hey, if Pete and I can whip them up in a half hour, then anyone can do it), and are really only about 1/2 pure butter, so it'll take at least a week's worth of cookies to solidify your arteries. So if you're still interested, enough chatter, let's get on with the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened to "shlumpy" mode, as shown by Riff)*
*no, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - Light" does not work!

1/2 cup powdered sugar (plus some extra for finishing)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped (or crushed, per Riff) pecan nuts

1) Soften the butter (again, to "shlumpy" mode), either by leaving it out at room temperature for a while, or by microwaving it on lowest power for one to two minutes.

2) Cream the butter (using a wooden spoon, or whatever), and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

3) Slowly mix in the flour until you have a soft dough, then add in the crushed or chopped nuts. Personally, I like to mush it all around with my hands at this point to get it mixed, but you can use a mixing spoon if you'd prefer :)

4) Roll the dough into small balls (about as large as those big gumballs in the machines at stores), and place them on a baking sheet. You can place them close together, since they won't expand much during baking.

5) Bake at 325-350 F for 12-15 minutes (You can pull them out about three minutes early and lift one up to look at the bottom. if it's a nice brown, they're done; otherwise, give them a few more minutes).

6) Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes, so that they're cool enough not to break apart when handled. Now put about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl, and roll the cookies in it until they're covered and look like snowballs.

7) Let the cookies cool, if you have the willpower. We strongly recommend having milk close by before you dig in!"

I made them last year around the Christmas season and these muthas are delicious. Seriously. But they're right about having milk handy. After eating a snowball cookie, you will desperately need something to wash it down with. I have plenty of time to update my LJ during the winter break, so I'll post more holiday suggestions later. Cheers!

What the hell? On quizzes.

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 03:24:16 GMT

Apparently...

I use sex to get people to read my Livejournal

Why do people read your Livejournal?
brought to you by Quizilla

Not sure how that happened, because the answers I chose had nothing to do with sex.

Who reads your livejournal the most?
-in-real-life friends :D

Do you post personal information in your Livejournal?
-Naw, don't want people i don't know to know stuff about me

Do people comment on your entries?
-Yea, i get comments from people who matter.

Did you customize your Livejournal to make it good looking so people will come back and read more?
-no. my LJ is still ugly ass predefied template.

And somehow, that came out to mean that I use sex to get people to read my LJ. It seems that this quiz knows something about me that I dont. I'd like to apologize to all of you for my journal being 'oversexed'. It wont happen again, I promise. Sweeping reforms will be enacted to make sure that this journal is as clean as public television.

So, I was knitting a sweater the other day when- TITTYFUCK!!!!!!!!!1

Keep it secret, keep it safe.

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 21:18:06 GMT

My Lifetime Wellness exam is in an hour, but I dont feel like doing anymore studying. And I haven't updated here for a while- might as well. After this week I get to go home (though I still haven't figured out how), and I'm really looking forward to it. Life has sucked profusely. My first semester in review... socially, it was quite fun. I've grown a lot as person this semester, socially. Academically, not so much. I no longer feel any confidence as to what I want to be, and my grades are horrible... I will have to work very hard next semester if I am going to be able to keep my scholarships and stay here. There's something not very right in my life, but I cant quite see what it is from this vantage point. I want to be back working on my video projects, but I still don't have Adobe Premiere... I probably could have had it, but John frustrated me too much and I blew him off. Ah well. I will have a lot of time over Christmas break to think over things.

People have gotten on my nerves more often than usual lately, and I worry if I'm heading to a crashing point on it. I didn't focus on things like that before, did I? Hard to remember... and I certainly dont feel that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling I usually get at this time of year. It's probably just finals week bearing down on me, I guess.

Liff in the Fast Lane

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:40:51 GMT

Jesus Chrisps. It seems like every time I update my journal, there's been some significant change in my life. Depression to elation, my life is a freaking *roller coaster*. Well, things are good right now, and damned if I'll tell any of you anything about it. HA! Trying to pry into the inner details of my life, huh? Huh? HUH?! Well you aren't finding out jack squat diddly!

Wait! Wait, don't... don't go... come back... please read my journal... T_T

In all seriousness, though, things are good. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving (pumpkin pie, bitches!), but things are dreadfully quiet here. My parents are just nagging me 24/7 (where's the luv, people?) and my brother is constantly working. Freaking workaholic. He wont watch Red vs Blue with me. Or my favorite AMVs... and speaking of AMVs, I might be back into the editing world! Damn straight! Armed with a billion ideas and (maybe soon) a new copy of Adobe Premiere Pro, I am going to be starting on my next video, Kids In America. I still need a few more things... like Digimon The Movie on DVD, the Read or Die movie, the Powerpuff Girls movie, and more Boondocks episodes... most of these things I'll be able to find cheap or free, but I'll have to scavenge. I've already decided on what "Kids in America" I want... I'm doing the remake by LEN, as captured from my Digimon Movie Soundtrack. Laugh if you want, but Digimon used to rock. Wendee Lee and Joshua Seth! WOO!

If all goes well, it'll be my best video yet! ^_^

Birthday Weekend

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:45:13 GMT

Right. Birthday was yesterday, so I'm 19 now. Dad-a-chick, did-a-chum. Chissit chassit, commala come come, work to be done. Charyou tree, come, reap, the world has moved on and the Crimson King is playing the fiddle as the roses burn. Now that I've gotten the urges to make obligatory Dark Tower references out of my system, we can move on. It was a great weekend. On Friday I did the drag show thing, and... well. I didn't win, mostly because 1) I was too nervous to be outrageous (I'm not an actor, people), 2) I couldn't walk in heels worth a damn, and 3) the competition was pretty damn good. Rad a bit weird, and Boothy didn't even try (not that he was really "competition", since he was an officer and couldn't win), but the others did quite well. Kathleen's "little" brother, Kevin, competed and did fairly well considering. He didn't look especially feminine, but his performance was cute, and he delivered a lot of witty lines. Alex's accent shifted sporadically from Hispanic to German to Russian to... something... but while he was not exactly a flawless representation of a hispanic (wo)man, he *was* hilarious. He is quite the actor, and got a lot of reaction from the crowd. The winner was "Zabina", the only participant who we hadn't known about ahead of time. His outfit was good, albeit simple... but his main advantage was that the audience loved him. He managed to always have a good line at all times, and entertained the crowd by giving lap-dances... something he was rather good at, to boot. It didn't hurt that he had a great figure, either. I later realized that he was Zebulon Wolfe, who I had never met, but knew on facebook. I was a member of the group in his honor, "Zebulon Wolfe Has The Coolest Name In all of Lynchburg". Small world, huh?

But anyway, while I didn't win the main prize of $50, I did win the title of "Prettiest", so I still left feeling proud. Friday night Chris showed up, which was fun. Saturday morning, I met the Legendary Rae. She was, of course, awesome. All of Saturday was mostly spent hanging around until we went to the mall, where I got volumes one and two of Death Note! It's drawn by the same guy who draws Hikaru no Go, and I really like it... the premise is quite unique, and the main character is very smart. The story is of an ace student named Light Yagami and a shinigami (a death god) named Ryuk. The shinigami have notebooks called Death Notes, which they use to kill people. Basically, you write the name of a person in the book, and they will die within a few seconds. If you want, you can specify what they die of, and so long as it is possible, it will happen (if you dont specify, they will automatically die of a heart attack). If you want you can even write specific details of the death. You could, for example, write what time the death takes place at, or that before he commits suicide, the victim writes a message in blood. The shinigami death gods use these Death Notes to kill people before fate meant for them to die, thus lengthening their own lives. Bored with his meaningless life, one shinigami named Ryuk drops a Death Note into the human world, to see what may happen. It is found by Light Yagami, who quickly learns how to use it. Realizing what power the Death Note can grant him, Light uses it to kill off known criminals. Since they all die so quickly, and all die of heart attacks, Light quickly attracts the attention of Interpol. They agree that something or someone is behind the mass murders, and request the help of super-detective "L" to track down the culprit. Meanwhile, people across the world begin to believe that the criminals are being killed off by an angel of judgement, who they name "Kira". It would be very easy for the story to portray Light as short-sighted and careless, having him go mad with power and setting him up for capture. But it doesn't. Light is brilliant, and uses his powers carefully and strategically. He's killing innocent (and not so innocent) people left and right, but you cant help but root for him.

Anyway, after that we headed back to campus and watched Kung Fu Hustle, because John (our adopted Liberty student) really wanted to see it. Great movie... and then came my birthday! Amy got me a litte yarn Zaphod Beeblebrox plushie, and I love it to death. In the mail, I got a package from home with a bag of blueberry chocolates (so delicious!), a box of instant spiced apple cider, and a copy of the Uncle John's Collossal book of Quotable Quotes. I actually already had the Quotable Quote book, I got it last Christmas... but who's keeping track? No Megas XLR, but it could still be in the mail. Who knows? It's good to be 19!

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 13:44:11 GMT

Alright, that's done.

This morning, I woke up at 5 and I couldn't sleep. So I got out of bed and went down to the lounge to see what would be on Cartoon Network. I watched the end of the Brak Show and was hoping some anime would come on when... suddenly, out of nowhere, there's Riley Freeman. Right there on the TV. Talking, moving, in full animated glory. Where the hell did this come from out of nowhere? The Boondocks is turning into an animated series on Adult Swim and no one thought to tell me? I love the Boondocks (even if they hate me), and this is incredible. All at once, it made me feel all warm and tingly inside. Bless you, Aaron McGruder. All is not wrong with the world.

So that got me thinking about American animation in general (particularly the ones on Adult Swim). In recent years, anime has become so popular that it has sent out a challenge to the American animation industry. Here's a confession: I like Teen Titans. Yeah, I do! I've heard the arguments before, that they rip off the success of anime series' by using their devices, like super-deformation and sweatdrops and such. They aren't the only ones, either. There are tons of American cartoons ripping off anime. They may be ripping off Japan's style, but who can blame them? Its cool! They are enjoyable, fun cartoons! And that got me thinking about my favorite American cartoon series of all, Megas XLR. Oh, Megas. We may never see a series of your like again. Truly it was a giant among cartoons. Need I cite evidence?

-It parodies Transformers, Voltron, Gundam, and Macross on a regular basis.
-It has a character named Jamie who is voice acted by Steven Jay Blum (Spike Spiegel). I wish *I* was voice acted by Steven Jay Blum.
-The guy who played Worf? He guest-stars. TWICE.
-The intro has the line "chicks dig giant robots" in it.
-The main character, Coop, references Strong Bad by naming one of his attacks "the double deuce"
-There's a character named Maganamus who is based off of Ash from Evil Dead. AND BRUCE CAMPBELL DOES HIS VOICE.
-The creators are both total anime and gaming nerds.
-The episode that parodies English-dubbed Sailor Moon... the "Ultra-Chicks".
-It pwnz your soul.

Working on that essay...

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 02:30:07 GMT

Yes, I'm hard at work on an essay explaining how Aristotle would've prefered the government of Sparta over Athens.

I'll tell more about stuff when I'm done. This is due tomorrow, you see.

And it has to be 4-6 pages long.

And I have almost 2 pages.

Ghoulies and Ghosties

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:56:00 GMT

It's funny. A lot has happened since the last entry... a whole lot. But I don't really want to write about it. I don't know for sure how I feel, or how I'll be affected in the long run. I do know that I am determined that things will not be weird and I will not be depressed. I'm not cool as a mopey person. It doesn't suit me well.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. No worries.

I have to write an essay by tomorrow comparing the Dalai Lama's Ethics of Compassion and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Lots of work, and I *have* to do it. Serious, y'all. If I don't pull up my grades pronto, I may not get a scholarship again. That means I'd have to drop out of Lynchburg and go to a community college. Mom called this morning and we talked about exactly that. I need to go talk to David Lipani about it, but I'm so busy as is... ach, stress. I'm going to party tonight, though. I have to take my mind off these things.

I wonder what's for lunch today.

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 15:06:15 GMT

I have two things I need to do: tomorrow I have to meet with Taranee and Van for our project, and sometime this weekend I have to schedule an appointment with Professor Layne. Ideally, I should be working on that right now, but instead I feel too lazy. Huh. I found out yesterday that I hadn't failed my Lifetime Wellness midterm exam after all, which is excellent. I got a 90% on it. This morning I found out that I *technically* hadn't failed my History midterm exam. Not that a 67% is very reassuring. If I was the bitter sort, I'd say it was because I didn't really study as I should have, since Laura bailed on studying with me at the very last minute. Since I *am* the bitter sort, that's exactly what I'm saying. Dammit. Maybe I wouldn't have paid attention to the material anyway, but I couldn't have done much worse. Whine whine whine, bitch bitch bitch.

In other news, I have only now realized the depths of my folly in agreeing to do the drag show thing for GSA. I'm going to be a Vietnamese prostitute... schoolgirl. Amy is the Japanese businessman. Heh. She and Kathleen are amusing themselves by arranging a costume which is matched in it's sluttiness only by it's uncomfortableness. Pantyhose, skirt, bustier, high heels, black panties... gah. And I have to shave my legs and armpits, and that will hurt. And the tightness of the top has only made me painfully aware that I am developing a bit of a tummy. Damn you, Caf! I was skinny once! I need to watch my weight, seriously. There's my October Resolution: No more getting more than three slices of pizza at a single meal! In the Caf, I mean. Delivery is different, that's a special occasion. But pizza from the Caf must no longer be excessive! And- oooo. Alfredo sauce today. Mmmm. I'm gonna have to get me a nice, big bowl of angel hair pasta and alfredo sauce. Yeah, that's a *lot* more healthy than pizza.

Carot 'Tards

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 18:33:25 GMT

Okay, Livejournal. I don't like you and you don't like me, but my friends have convinced me that I need you to continue my existence. So here; I've got an account and everything. I suppose that I'm supposed to talk about the things that bother me, or whatever's happened to me lately. My life has been... colorful in the past couple days, but since I didn't get my journal until today I wont talk about all that. Okay, that's an excuse. I just don't want the world to know everything that happened.

What am I stressed out about today? First and foremost, Laura Bianca. I think everyone who knows me knows that. She has a boyfriend now, by the way. That skeezeball Travis. NO, not Travis Blount-Elliot. Travis Blount-Elliot is a Pretty Cool Dude (or as Justin would say, he is "chill"). Nah, this is some other Travis who I dont really like at all. Yeah, well, I'm biased. I think what bothers me the most is that she lied and I'm not really on her radar at all. I'm not even a second thought, not even as a friend. I- oh, hell. I'm stopping this here. I wont delete it out of respect for stream of consciousness writing, but I'm changing gears.

I got a tarot reading from Amy today. Apparently I'm fucked. Well, no. That's not being fair to the process. Tarot cards are not a "crystal ball" method, they tell only one way that things may turn out, if you don't change your future. And they're only cards. It doesn't *mean* anything for sure. So technically, there's no assurance that there's a problem. But all of that aside, Amy's cards are convinced that I'm fucked in every way shape and form. And it's all leading to a monumental (and I use the word 'monumental' quite literally) breakdown in the form of a falling tower. The way I figure it, cards that can be shuffled have to be pretty fickle, right? Maybe later today they'll change their mind and tell me that there are no worries at all. Yeah. That's the ticket.

Oh, right. Note to self: DO YOUR FUCKING WORK! RIGHT NOW! STOP HANGING OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND START ON YOUR COMPOSITION ESSAY! Right, that should work. In a month or so when I next check my journal I'll see that and say, "Right, I knew there was something I was meaning to do."