A romp through the insanity patch!

I GOT A 93% ON MY CHEM MIDTERM :D

I VERY LITERALLY SQUEALED AND JUMPED OUT OF MY CHAIR AND CLAPPED MY HANDS AND DANCED.

AND THEN RAN TO TELL MY PARENTS BECAUSE I AM A DORK.

THERE IS A RIDICULOUS LEVEL OF HAPPY GOING ON HERE RIGHT NOW.

...

That is all.

HEY KIDS

GUESS WHAT

I HAS A KINDLE :D

Yup, got one for Christmas. A Kindle Keyboard~ I also got a quilt kit (EEEEEE MORE THINGS TO MAKE) and tuition money and a pretty new sweater and assorted other things~ Best part was when I opened the Kindle case...before I opened the Kindle. I was like, "Gee, wonder what else could be under the tree for me." This was right after my sister opened the cables for the Blu-Ray player that she had not yet opened and said pretty much the same thing.

But yes, I have one and I am a happy girl \o/ And I may or may not have already downloaded all the Arsene Lupin books they have on Amazon because I may or may not be a total nerd like that. But now I have a favor to ask of all you beautiful people...


BOOK RECS. I NEED THEM PLZ :D


What are your favorite? I want to put books on my Kindle for reading purposes, but I'm way out of the loop. So if you've got some titles that you love and think I might enjoy, pretty please share them with me? I'd appreciate it :D


Hope everyone has an amazing holiday, whichever holiday you celebrate ♥ Much love, everyone!

So I went out to run a few errands on this loveliest of Black Fridays (seriously, though, it's in the mid-fifties!), and something happened that I must share.

My last stop was at Old Navy. As I was walking up to the store, I heard a kid go, "MOMMY, LOOK, THERE'S SANTA!" Startled, I turned around.

And sure enough, there was Santa Claus, in his full red and white regalia!

...driving his motorcycle around the Commons strip mall.

...I lol'd :D

I just finished Professor Layton and the Last Specter.

...

I...but...I just...

...

*quietly lays down and wants a hug*



All in all? Unwound Future is still my favorite of the series. Granted, this game probably would have had to cook me a gourmet dinner and clean my room to unseat Unwound Future. But this has taken second place. Diabolical Box, you're still on the bottom of the stack because your ending was just a little too weird.

AND MOTHER-FOOKIN' TIM CURRY VOICING MOTHER-FOOKIN' DESCOLE OMG DO WANT DO WANT DO WANT YES PLEASE.

I need to get the music from this game. And near the end when Layton's theme started playing during that cut scene? I fangirled. Hard. Becaus And then...the actual ending happened.

...yeah ;_;


Now to check out London Life \o/

Dear plunnies,

No. Kaito and Shinichi already investigated the whole magician-themed murder thing. So you see, they REALLY do not need to investigate a series of murders in which the criminal replicates nursery rhymes. They really don't. Really. Now stop it.

...although it might be fun to use on Layton like th--NO NO BAD.

No love,
~ Me

I HAVE NEW PROFESSOR LAYTON GAME

Now the big question: should I start playing the game and relax after a long day at work? Or...should I do the responsible, mature thing and study for the Algebra test I have to take on Thursday after work?

...

...

...okay see ya bye it's GAME TIME :D

Dear self:

You are working two jobs, one full-time and one part-time.

You are taking two classes, Algebra and Chemistry.

YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR NANOWRIMO, SELF :|

SO STOP THINKING ABOUT IT

Love,
Self~


...seriously, I have it on the brain. It's interfering with my pathetic attempts to wrap my mind around algebraic functions, easily the most useless chapter in the book. CAN I GO BACK AND DO MORE QUADRATIC EQUATIONS? I LIKE THOSE THEY ARE EASY.

Things I learned tonight in Chem class:

The first column of the periodic table (the alkali metals) are all TOTAL WHORES. They'll give it up to anyone.

The second to last column (the halogens) are all crackheads. They'll do anything for JUST ONE MORE.

The last column (the noble gases) are the prudes. They're too good for everyone else.

And most of the middle are the potheads. They just don't care.

In short? The periodic table of elements = high school.

We also decided that chemical bonding = ELECTRON MUGGING. GIMME YO' ELECTRON OR I CUT YOU.

And sodium is the biggest goddamn whore on the periodic table. JUST BECAUSE.

The guys in my Chem class are friggin' awesome, in case you couldn't tell :D

A few weeks ago, my little sister (known as Bug on this LJ, primarily because she hates that nickname and I am nothing if not an old sister :D) moved to another city after college graduation. She's got a job and everything, but after talking with Mom, it seemed that she was a little bit down in the dumps. So I get a text message on Friday while I'm at work asking how I feel about a day trip.

So a little before seven AM on Saturday morning, we piled into the Santa Fe and headed for Winterset, IA. Why there, you might ask? For starters, Mom and I had been looking for an excuse to make our pilgrimage to the Mecca of Quilting: Fons and Porter's Loving of Quilting shop. (For those not in the know, Marianne Fons and Liz Porter are internationally respected quilting experts...who live here in freakin' Iowa. Go figure on that one.) So we spent some time in there. Bug lacks the patience for quilting, but she got sort of into the whole picking fabric thing when Mom said she'd make her a table runner.

Winterset is actually a very beautiful town - Dad used the word "picturesque." It's really rocking that old-timey small town vibe. There are shops lining the streets, and most of them appear to be locally owned. After we finished at the quilt shop, we walked around the town for a while, just enjoying the sights, wandering in and out of stores, and having a good time hanging out and giving each other crap. It helped that it was a really great day out - it got a little warm later in the day, but still pretty good weather for late August in Iowa.

After a while, the four of us piled back into the car and drove to Des Moines for lunch at Felix and Oscar's. I had a really cheesey bacon, chicken, and ranch pizza. I could only eat half of it, which may shock a couple of you who know my appetite *laugh* Good stuff, though.

After lunch, we headed to another of Winterset's little landmarks: the birthplace of John Wayne. Yup, little tiny white-painted house on the corner is where the Duke himself was born in 1907. There's a gift-shop, and a van that someone painted with all sorts of John Wayne murals. On one side was a painting of him from the original True Grit movie, which actually made my dad fanboy just a little bit (he loves that movie, hasn't seen the remake yet, though).

My sister picked up a bookmark with a bunch of Iowa trivia on it and quizzed us all in the car. She asked what year Iowa became a state. I said 1847 - it's actually 1846, but considering that the last time I heard that was probably fourth grade, I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

Then we headed off to yet another of Winterset's sights, possibly the most famous. Have you ever heard of The Bridges of Madison County? Because they exist. In Iowa. Three hours away from my house. We drove around and saw three of the six bridges. There used to be seven bridges, I think, but one of them burned down in 2002 due to arson (how sad!). Most of them have been moved from their original places, I learned.

I wasn't really expecting to be impressed by the bridges, but they are actually quite lovely. They've been restored, obviously (the three we visited were either built in 1870 or 1880 - ya know, back when my dad was in elementary school), but they still look...old, if that makes sense.

And inside all three of them, there are signatures on the walls and beams where signatures and families have sort of...made it official. A lot of hearts with initials and dates in them, traces of handprints labeled with names of family members, little notes...all over the place. At first I was a little put-off by it, but...well, if you think that the book (which my mom said was fantastic) is a love story, it sort of makes sense.

Next to one of the bridges was a little trail that led down to the creek it passed over. Mom doesn't like steep inclines or water in general, so she stayed up by the bridge while Dad and Bug and I headed down to check it out. It was sort of like a sandbar down there, so Bug and I took our sandals off and went walking. We saw tadpoles and watched a frog jump into the water and Dad saw a water-snake on the other bank. We walked as far down as we could. Bug took some pictures, and then we headed back to where Mom was waiting for us.

The last bridge we went to was in a park, and there was a sign there about a tower. We figured eh, we're here, let's go! We wound up driving up a very narrow, steep gravel road through a forest with no shoulder and a very steep drop-off. So naturally, Bug and I rolled down the windows and watched it all go by. I think even Dad was having fun with it - it was like something out of a car commercial, except with less mud splatter. That area would be GORGEOUS in the autumn, when all the leaves change.

The tower itself was almost disappointing - only three stories (ground, first floor, and the top). Put it this way: Rapunzel would have needed a haircut for this tower. And yes, I may or may not have started humming "I See the Light" from Tangled.

Mom hates heights, so once again Dad and Bug and I headed in. The windows on the ground floor were tall enough that Bug could actually hop up and walk through them without bending over. Then we headed up to the top, which involved climbing a slightly rickety metal ladder-staircase hybrid. Once up at the top, Dad turned to me and asked if I remembered any Monty Python taunts. So he wound up yelling down to Mom, "I fart in your general direction!" I told her, "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Both Bug and I had a little trouble going back down the ladder. Turning around for that first step was a little disorienting. Dad said it was like being back on ship from when he was in the Marines, so he went down first and played safety net. Then we hopped back in the car for the drive down. Truth be told, the drive up and down from the tower was more fun than the tower itself. Again, we rolled down the windows and watched it all go by. So cool!

We dropped Bug back at her car after that, gassed up, and headed back. Mom and I dozed for a good chunk of the three-hour drive. I crashed very early last night, and almost took a nap this afternoon.

But yeah, it was a really fun little family outing, we all had a good time, and the only mishap was when Bug dropped her slice of pizza at lunch and burned her hand a little. Good day, family! \o/