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Saturday, December 6th, 2003
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6:31 pm - LSAC sucks L-Sack
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Today was supposed to be the day I take the LSAT. I say "supposed" because they decided it was cancelled when all of us got there. They claim it's the blizzard and therefore are not responsible.
First of all, two hundred of us showed up. I could understand not administering the test in Westchester, Long Island and Brooklyn, where you actually need cars to get places, but there was no excuse for Manhattan. Two hundred of us were there. It might have taken us a bit to get there, but there we were - they can't pull this "extreme difficult" bullcrap. Second, fifteen minutes before the test was to start, LSAC's website hadn't said that Pace University, NYU, Columbia, or Fordham Manhattan would be closed for the test. Actually, several of the people taking the test that day called Pace University administration before leaving for the test, and the administrators themselves said that the test was still on, and that there was no cancellation. Basically, the proctor called and had someone leave a note that she wouldn't be coming, fifteen minutes before the test. Okay, so she lives in Jersey, I kind of understand that - but they should have gotten a proctor in Manhattan for this scenario. Would that have been so unreasonable? Was that too much of an intelligent idea to never have occurred to them?
What bothers me the most is the nonchalant attitude they had about it. "Oh, sorry, it's cancelled. You'll be getting an email next week." First of all, it's finals week. They claim they'll reschedule it for either the thirteenth or the twentieth. The thirteenth will be finals week, and furthermore, two days before the first draft of my thesis is due. The twentieth is completely unpracticable, as I'll be in California.
They claim that since circumstances were beyond their control, they cannot be held responsible for the fact that I can't be there on the twentieth, and will charge me to change the test center. Furthermore, I might have to take it in February, since no one will administer it to me in Cali in December, which means they'll have walked away with $108 of my money.
Nevertheless, I swear upon all that is holy to me that I am either walking away with the test administered to me in a timely fashion in California, something for free, such as LSDAS (Law School Data Assembly Service) registration or free score reports to the school of my choice, or a default 180, or heads will roll.
current mood:  infuriated
current music: "Fire Water Burn" - Bloodhound Gang. Burn motherfucker, burn
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| Friday, December 5th, 2003
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1:33 pm - Ninjas Flip Out And Kill People
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12:16 am - Only Communists Say "Pop"
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Dialect quizzie thingamabob I stole from Melanie.
What do you call...
1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? brook
2. The thing you push around the grocery store/supermarket?shopping cart
3. A metal container to carry a meal in? lunchbox
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? frying pan
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? couch
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? rain gutter
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? porch
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? Soda
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? pancake
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself? sub
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? swimming trunks
12. Shoes worn for sports? tennis shoes
13. Putting a room in order? cleaning up
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? umm... glowworm?
15. The little insect arthropod that curls up into a ball? roly-poly
16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down? seesaw
17. How do you eat your pizza? I don't (usually), but with my hands when I do
18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? yard sale
19. What's the evening meal? dinner
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? basement
21. The bit of the street the people walk on? sidewalk
22. The bit of the street the cars drive on? street
23. What water comes out of? tap
current mood:  uncomfortable
current music: "Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman
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| Thursday, December 4th, 2003
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3:29 pm - Bev In A Cage
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In my stupor yesterday, I forgot to mention that I actually saw a John Cage piece performed yesterday. If you don't know who John Cage is, he was this performance artist during the 1950's and '60's who thought that everything was music, and that music had been too long defined by societal construction. He wanted to know why we gave importance to certain sounds and considered other sounds as "noise." So, he incorporated a series of random sounds into his performances, like bird whistles and water being poured into bowls and crap like that. For this, he was regarded as a genius. It wasn't precisely a waste of 6 minutes of my life, as it was interesting and entertaining to watch, but it did confirm Chris's theory, postulated about two years ago, during a discussion we had about techno, that all you really need to have your music considered "artistic" or "genius" was a cymbal and an alarm clock.
If there is a hell, John Cage is burning in it, listening to album after album of his own crap.
LSATs on Saturday. Not looking forward to that at all. Thought of just not going, but I (yes, I) paid $108 dollars for the registration fee, and it would be a pity to let that all go to waste.
Come to think of it, I'm pretty burnt out. I don't want to work. I didn't go to class today at all, though I know that I definitely should have. I went to work, though. And don't even get me started on the work I haven't done towards my two finals which are due on the 15th.
Holy shit, I'm so unmotivated, I could cry.
current mood:  drained
current music: "Hard Times Come Again No More" - Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor
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| Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003
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1:02 am - Wish List
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All I Want For Christmas Is...
- A laptop
- A Tiffany bracelet
- A 180 on the LSATs
- A retroactive four-year scholarship to NYU
- Both my honors theses written and successfully defended
- A post-graduation job offer (preferrably one having to do with text translation, but beggars can't be choosers)
- A franchise of the Sanrio Store
- My credit card debt eliminated
- $20,000 automatically deposited in my bank account to pay for my dream wedding
- The heads of Bill O'Reilly, Mariah Carey, the Hilton Sisters, and the entire RIAA
- The ability to rain down fire from the heavens
- Omniscience
- Lucius Malfoy/Jason Isaacs (and really, is there a difference?)
But I Will Settle For...
- An iPod
- A gift certificate to Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Old Navy, or Victoria's Secret
- A DVD of The Usual Suspects, The Killing Fields, The Princess Bride, or Clerks
- Oatmeal raisin cookies
- A copy of the book The World According to Garp. It's one of my favorites and it's a wonder I don't have it yet
- Money in any form (cash, credit, check, stocks, bonds) but USD only, please.
current mood:  hopeful
current music: "Eine Kuss" - (German version of "Kiss Kiss") Die Schümple
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| Monday, December 1st, 2003
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7:56 pm - Attack of the Ten Million Dollar Biopics
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Hollywood, stop with the biopics already.
Okay, I understood 1998's Elizabeth. The Virgin Queen, who was actually a pretty big slut, had an intriguing life. And hey, Joseph Fiennes was in it. Any excuse to see Joseph Fiennes' smoldering hotness onscreen is good enough for me. I understood Frida too; I love Frida Kahlo's paintings, and hey, Salma played that part to perfection. I even sort of understand Sylvia, as I loved The Bell Jar as much as any despondent adolescent female high school junior. But now it's just getting ridiculous. I think they're running out of people to make movies about.
Here are just some of the upcoming biopics that have made me pause in awe and silently ask myself, "Is Hollywood really that desperate for money?"
Monster - Okay, the reviews about this one seem to be promising, and the premise is interesting: Charlize Theron as serial killer/prostitute Aileen Wuornos (it's said that, horror of horrors, Theron had to put on twenty pounds for the role) and Christina Ricci as her lesbian lover. Serial killer movies in the vein of Silence of the Lambs tend to be pretty good, but I'm just afraid that this might be more... like another stupid serial killer movie I can't think of.
Kinsey - After gaping in utter disbelief that someone got it into his or her head to actually making a movie about Alfred Kinsey's life, I told some of my friends about it. Most of them responded with one word: "Who?" Which to me, just encompasses everything that is wrong with this movie. For those unfamiliar with Alfred Kinsey, he was this guy in the 1950's who singlehandedly created the field of sexology. Now I'm for the study of sex as much as the next feminist, but what would you put in a movie? Kinsey going from door to door with his surveys, asking married couples about their sex lives? Liam Neeson will be starring in the title role. Neeson is once again playing a pretentious schmuck, as he does in most of his movies (with the exception of Darkman, of course).
J.M. Barrie's Neverland - I didn't know that the author of Peter Pan's life had any potential of being cinematically interesting, but Johnny Depp is going to be playing him, so I won't ask any questions, and will rather stare at the screen in a libidinous stupor for two hours.
Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story - First of all, I know Ray Charles is pretty decrepit, but he's still alive, right? So what's with the tribute pic? I mean, Ronald Reagan is more decrepit than Ray Charles and still alive as of today, and he has a tribute books up the wazoo, tribute jelly bean sculptures, a tribute aircraft carrier, and a tribute airport - but nary a tribute motion picture. And I know Ray Charles is good, but man, Hollywood, is this the most interesting biography-to-screen idea you can come up with? I'm probably going to see this, just to see Jamie Foxx as the titular character. Plus, Warwick Davis (of Willow fame) has a role in the movie. Jamie Foxx and Warwick Davis. I must see that juxtaposition.
Love And Honor - Biopic about Catherine the Great with Angelina Jolie in the title role. No word on whether there is a horse-sex scene.
Beyond The Sea - Kevin Spacey plays Bobby Darin. I have no words for this.
Walk The Line - Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Truly there is no God.
current mood: hungry
current music: "Bodies" - Drowning Pool
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| Sunday, November 30th, 2003
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3:37 am - Inferno, Paradiso... Connecticut?
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First things first, let's get this out of the way: I hope you and your families had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
Anyway, here I go.
(Author's note: I apologize in advance to Dani for the words I am about to write, although from living with her for the second year now, I should perhaps assume that she would take no offense from the following entry.)
Somewhere in between heaven and hell... there is Connecticut.
I went to Rhode Island this weekend to spend Thanksgiving with my friend from high school Rebecca's family. It's a tradition; every year I go to them and stuff my face with turkey and other delectable dishes. They spoil me as if I were one of their own, make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Good times and booze are had by all. But it seems that in order to get to this smorgasbord of good food and familial warmth, I must pass through that tenth ring of inferno, better known as the state of Connecticut.
Connecticut is like a trial by fire. In order to get to your final destination, one must pass it. And furthermore, it seems as if one cannot help but be stranded in that infernal stretch of land for anything less than four hours.
It took forever to get out of Connecticut on the way to Rhode Island. We stopped by every little piddly-ass po-dunk town in between Stamford and Providence. Westport, Mystic, all the craptacular towns that no one hears about outside of the tri-state area. On the way back, I figure, "Oh, wow, we're only stopping at New London, Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford - it shouldn't take too long to get back into the city."
Boy, was I wrong.
The train was stranded in freaking New London for one hour. And then at New Haven for an extra ten minutes.
And then I came to the realization that I have never been in Connecticut for any interval of time less than four hours. I always end up getting stuck, stranded, or otherwise detained in that hellish locale.
The last Boston trip, the car I was in was stuck in five-mile-an-hour bumper-to-bumper traffic. It took us six hours to get from the New York-Connecticut border to Massachusetts. Even without rest stops, it usually takes that long.
Once, I was involved in a car accident during a College Bowl trip. We were on our way to Boston and the car fell apart at around New Haven. I rode with a police all the way to the New Haven train station. After being stuck on the highway to New Haven for about an hour, I was detained at the train station for an hour, and it probably took us two hours just to get the hell out of the state. Connecticut, I think, just doesn't want you to leave. It tries to grab onto you with its monstruous claws and won't let go until you're safely in either Boston or New York. It's a parasite, sucking every last bit of your will to live out of you that it can elicit from your soul.
If there's anything I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, it's being the hell out of Connecticut.
current mood: thankful
current music: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
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| Monday, November 24th, 2003
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11:52 pm - Jesus Christ Superstar
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 meimad and I went to the Cloisters on Sunday. It's really gorgeous; it's at the very tip of Manhattan, in Fort Tryon Park, overlooking the Hudson River. It's actual nature, too - like you never see in New York City except in Central Park. I determined that in the event that I become an eccentric millionaire, I'm going to import a European monestary to an isolated part of an island, too, and buy out entire collections of artworks, and put them in my private monestary.
I like and appreciate art, but alas, Medieval is not my favorite time period. It's as if German medieval sculptors were forerunners of Picasso and the whole surrealist lot of them, four or five hundred years before, because everything looks so grotesque and distorted. I can see now why people were so religious back in the day. I, for one,would soil myself if my vision of Christ was some medieval bloodied Byzantine Christ. If I thought that the man who was going to judge my at the end of my days was this scary-looking, scourged man with his ribs poking out, his eyes hollow and saucer-shaped. People in medieval painting are the things that go bump in the night. And so the people believed whatever they were told to be believe. Not out of love, but out of fear.
Not out of love, but fear. Plato said that. Or Aristotle. Can't remember which. I don't remember Greek philosophy that well, except for when it served my purposes or strengthened my arguments. Like with that quote.
So anyway, in light of that, here's my newest CD mix:
The Sacrilegious (Or Otherwise Irreligious) Songs CD Mix
- "I'm Dying" - Vast
- "Like A Prayer" - Madonna
- "Salvation" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- "One Of Us" - Joan Osborne (not even really remotely offensive to me, actually, but people seem to not like the speculation that God could be one of us. I find the song thoroughly inane, since if God were one of us, that would preclude Him from being God.)
- "Forgiven" - Alanis Morissette
- Anything Beatles post-1966 (nothing markedly sacreligious about their music after that point, really, but that *is* when John said they were "bigger than Jesus")
- "Struttin' Like A G.O.D." - Busta Rhymes
- "Only The Good Die Young" - Billy Joel ("I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints...")
- "Antichrist Superstar" - Marilyn Manson
- "The Martyr" - Cursive
- "Prayer" - Disturbed
- "Personal Jesus" - Depeche Mode
- "Mess" - Ben Folds Five
- "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle (because according to Catholic dogma, it's really not.)
- "Losing My Religion" - R.E.M.
- "Kiss Me, Son of God" - They Might Be Giants
Suggestions, comments, you know the drill by now.
current mood:  creative
current music: "Joy to The World" - Three Dog Night
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| Thursday, November 20th, 2003
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9:13 pm - Not-So Smooth Criminal
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"I'm still a virgin and I'm thirty three,
Even Madonna won't have sex with me,
I play with little animals, and I hang out with my collie all night
And if that wasn't strange enough, I don't know whether I'm black or white" ~ Parody of Michael Jackson's "Black Or White" from "In Living Color" Does anyone here remember, I mean, actually remember, when Michael Jackson was black?
I do, only vaguely. But seriously, when did the charming little African-American boy from Gary, Indiana who captured hearts on "American Bandstand" turn into a noseless white woman? Who spawned him, and why? And furthermore, can we take his existence and his fall from grace as proof of the nonexistence of a merciful deity?
current mood:  silly
current music: "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson When He Was Still Black
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12:49 am - And The Show Must Go On...
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Considering the somber nature of the subject matter on my blog over the past few days, the light-heartedness of this entry might be jarring to some. But, your life must go on.
So, I leave you with my latest time-waster, the fruit of my procrastination as I was trying to write two ten page papers in the space of two days. That's right, I've gotten another idea for a mix CD.
Songs In English With Foreign Words or Phrases Interspersed Into The Lyrics
- "Loser" - Beck
- "Games Without Frontiers" - Peter Gabriel
- "Eyes Without A Face" - Billy Idol
- "Caress Me Down" - Sublime
- "Psycho Killer" - Talking Heads
- "Guantanamera" - Wyclef Jean
- "Your Redneck Past" - Ben Folds Five
- "Lady Marmalade" - Patti LaBelle
- "Kiss Kiss" - Stella Soleil (if you don't believe me, listen to the bridge of the song, and in the background, you can hear the original singer, Tarkan, singing in Turkish.)
- "Eyes Like Yours" - Shakira (yes, I am aware that it is nowhere as good as the Spanish version. Leave me alone)
- "Across The Universe" - The Beatles
- "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" - The Offspring
- "Mr. Roboto" - Styx
- "One Week" - Barenaked Ladies (Yes, I'm aware it's a very brief phrase - "Watching X-Files with no lights on/we're dans la maison," but hell, it still counts.)
Honorable Mention: "Wanna Be Starting Something" - Michael Jackson. I think he's saying "Mama say, mama sa, mama ku sa" - and while I'm not sure that really means anything in any real language, I figure it should count anyway. If nothing else, it counts in the silly alien Michael Jackson language.
And as usual, contributions/suggestions will be accepted.
current mood:  contemplative
current music: "Rosa Parks" - Outkast
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| Tuesday, November 18th, 2003
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3:05 am - Torn
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News of Tommy's passing happens to almost coincide with the day Jorge's birthday present to me arrives in the mail. And that present happens to be a diamond engagement ring.
And I know I should be happy. And some part of me is. But it feel so strange, so wrong, to be smiling, to be announcing such good news in the midst of something so terrible. And every second, I repeat to myself that life must go on. Still, it feels so callous, so insensitive, so nearly sacreligious.
current mood:  distressed
current music: "Touched" - Vast
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| Monday, November 17th, 2003
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1:30 pm - In Loving Memory: Tommy Misleh (1985-2003)
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On Saturday, Thomas Misleh, a friend of mine from high school, passed away from complications due to a heart transplant, at the age of eighteen.
Everyone who knew him is still beset with shock and in some cases, grief. For some of us, the grief has not yet set in. It is surreal. We just cannot believe that someone so full of life and laughter, with so many prospects, has been taken from us so suddenly. We seek explanations, justifications, and are left with a sense of vacancy and anger at the injustice of it all when nothing can suffice.
I hadn't seen Tom since I left for New York in 2000, but whenever I think of him, I remember his seemingly perpetual smile, his passion for music, his dedication to his friends and the band, and his determination not to let life get him down. Although I did not see him during his illness, friends of mine that affirmed that he dealt with it with grace, dignity, and most of all, humor. And knowing Tommy, I believe it.
If there is a heaven, Tommy is there, playing a kickin' sax, and making everyone up there smile with his joke-a-minute personality. Please, pray for his family and friends who have been left behind.
current mood: crushed
current music: "I Will Remember You" - Sarah McLachlan
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| Saturday, November 15th, 2003
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5:39 pm - I Want To Have My Way With Chow Yun-Fat and Russell Wong
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Recently, I was invited to join a blogring by the name of "I <3 Azn Guys." Seeing as I am at my cap for blogring subscriptions at four (damn non-Premium Xanga accounts), and that I do not want to end my subscription to any of my current rings, I must graciously decline the invitation. No disrespect to the blogring leader or anything, of course. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write this entry to show my solidarity with and support of the fine Asian fellas out there. And though there has been a lot of debate as to whether attractive Asian men exist or not, I can assure you from personal experience that they are out there, regardless of media portrayal and collective American stereotypes which tend to desexualize -- dare I say, castrate -- the Asian male.
I feel slightly wrong writing this entry in defense of Asian men -- I mean, I can say that I love Asian men, but as I am not currently, uh, "loving" an Asian man (and probably won't, ever, since my beloved Jorge is likely to be my husband in a few years), I fear that my words might be construed as somewhat hypocritical. But it's not as if I'm speaking from no experience here, either. The first real love of my life was an Asian guy. Some of the most handsome men I know are Asian. And, yes, the title says it all - I want to have my way with Chow Yun-Fat and Russell Wong, as well as a host of other Asian celebrities out there: Rick Yune, Aga Mulach (Filipino actor), all the Asian guys who have ever guest starred on "Oz."
I understand that everyone has their personal tastes, and for some women (hell, some men), Asian men may not fall in line with those tastes. I have to wonder, however, how much perception, portrayal, and stereotypes affect how one might view an Asian man. Too long have Asian men been relegated to the status of eunuch. Too long have they been depicted as subservient, "Charlie Chan" type comic relief sidekicks, wizened old karate masters, docile delivery men, studious "model minority" types, bumbling, gaudy Japanese tourists who snap photos every few seconds, or martial artists with no cock. (The latter is especially strange, if one considers that the ability to fight, and fight well, is paramount in the American masculine ideal. If anything, Asian men should be hyper-sexualized for this, not desexualized. But hyper-sexualization has its own faults, as portrayals of Asian women tend to demostrate rather painfully, but that’s a whole separate entry.) There are those, of course, who think that the idea that any societal interference is bullshit, but I really must wonder - if the only imagines one has of a certain group of people is within a certain context, no doubt, it will affect your perception of that group. And I am of the belief that how Asian men are portrayed very much hinder if people see them as handsome, and furthermore, how seriously many people take their masculinity.
I don't really have any more thoughts apart from that, except that you sexy, smokin' Asian brothers are out there. I know you are, you know you are. Hotness is hotness, no matter what race you are, and if you've got it, flaunt it. Please. For my benefit, and that of all the women out there. Or men. Whatever. ;)
current mood:  okay
current music: "Sparks" - Coldplay
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| Monday, November 10th, 2003
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7:06 pm - Mix Crazy, or, Damn You Andrew Weber, Damn You To Hell
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Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my friend Andrew. Recently, Andrew has gotten into a... craze, if you will. Well, perhaps "craze" is too weak a word. Perhaps a better term for it would be "all-consuming madness." At any rate, the latest all-consuming madness in Andrew's life has been trying to get CD mixes where all the songs fit under an all-unifying theme. "Songs Containing The Word 'Road' in the Title." "Songs Containing The Word 'Life' In The Title." And so on. Which is all well and good, except that he got palaverous and Victor into it too, and so, intrigued by this, I myself have been sucked into their little universe. I spent most of today making up mix CD's. And so, right now, I would like to present to you my:
Songs With Interrogative Titles Mix
- "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" - Culture Club
- "Why Don't You Get A Job?" - The Offspring
- "What's Goin' On?" - Marvin Gaye
- "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" - Rod Stewart
- "Are You That Somebody?" - Aaliyah
- "You And Whose Army?" - Radiohead
- "Who Are You?" - The Who
- "Who Will Save Your Soul?" - Jewel
- "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" - Lenny Kravitz
- "Why Won't Jesse Helms Just Hurry Up And Die?" - MC Hawking
- "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" - Moby
- "How Deep Is Your Love?" - Bee Gees
- "What Is Love?" - Haddaway
- "Where Are You Going?" - Dave Matthews Band
and, best of all,
- "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" - DVDA, from the South Park Soundtrack
Any list additions will be accepted/greatly appreciated. And I think this will be a recurring theme in my blog entries from now on. Thanks, Andrew. *grins*
current mood:  hyper
current music: "Caught Up In You" - 38 Special
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| Sunday, November 9th, 2003
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3:49 pm
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Well, I spent my birthday in Boston. I don't hate the city or anything, but I think that every time I'm in it, I'm either in a car and therefore experiencing its most shitty roads, or I'm waiting in line for a restaurant table, and therefore hungry. So yeah, no positive association there. But I did get to see my friend from hs, Neha. So that was good.
I'd also like to thank Meghan, for her gift of a two month paid account to LiveJournal, and Lisa, for the bottle of Kahlua. Oh, also - Victor - your Clapping CD Mix was awesome.
current mood: sleepy
current music: "One" - U2
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| Tuesday, November 4th, 2003
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5:20 pm - There's No Class; What Else Are You Gonna Do?
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 | Advanced Big Five Personality Test Results | | Sociability | |||||| | 30% | | Gregariousness | |||||||||| | 34% | | Assertiveness | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Activity Level | |||||||||||||||| | 66% | | Excitement-Seeking | |||||||||||||| | 54% | | Cheerfulness | |||||||||||||| | 54% | | Extroversion | |||||||||||| | 48% | | Trust | |||||| | 30% | | Morality | |||||||||||||||| | 66% | | Altruism | |||||||||||||||| | 70% | | Cooperation | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Modesty | |||||||||||||| | 58% | | Sympathy | |||||||||||||||||| | 78% | | Friendliness | |||||||||||||| | 58% | | Self-Efficacy | |||||||||||||||| | 62% | | Neatness | |||||||||| | 38% | | Dutifulness | |||||||||||||||| | 70% | | Achievement | |||||||||||||||||||| | 82% | | Self-Discipline | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Cautiousness | |||||||||||||||| | 66% | | Orderliness | |||||||||||||||| | 61% | | Anxiety | |||||||||||||||||| | 78% | | Anger | |||||||||||||||| | 62% | | Depression | |||||||||||||||| | 62% | | Self-Consciousness | |||||||||||||||| | 70% | | Immoderation | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Vulnerability | |||||||||||| | 50% | | Emotional Stability | |||||||||||||||| | 62% | | Imagination | |||||||||||||||||| | 78% | | Artistic Interests | |||||||||||||||||||| | 82% | | Emotionality | |||||||||||||||||||| | 86% | | Adventurousness | |||||||||||||||||| | 74% | | Intellect | |||||||||||||||||||| | 86% | | Liberalism | |||||||||||||||||| | 78% | | Intellectualness | |||||||||||||||||| | 80% | Take Free Advanced Big 5 Personality Test
current mood: apathetic
current music: Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Winter - Allegro Non Molto
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| Monday, November 3rd, 2003
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6:33 pm - Oh, Trogdor, How I Pine For You
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Lately, I've been way too addicted to the Trogdor game.
I think it's my pissy mood. When life hands you lemons, start burninating.
Totally unrelated: Harry Potter fans: go here for hot Snapey goodness.
current mood: lethargic
current music: "Opening The Gates Of Hell" - Wumpscut
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| Sunday, November 2nd, 2003
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12:29 am - Dork-da-dork dork dork...
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All right, I totally admit it: I actually like translating texts from Spanish to English for fun. And for my mother's Christmas present, since she loves detective novels, I decided to translate a whole Spanish detective novel for her reading pleasure.
Will it take a thousand hours? Surely. Would it be considered an inane waste of time by most? Absolutely. Am I deriving perverse pleasure from it? Oh, most indubitably.
A sample of the translated text:
"My old lady's a royal slut," said the poorly-dressed man, who kept his gaze fixed on Hector after shooing away a fly from the table with his baseball glove-like hands.
"What makes you say that?" Hector very gravely asked the fat man, whom at last, he had recognized as Mr. Gaspar, owner of a cake shop a half a block from the offices of Donato Guerra.
"She spends all the money I give her on pink and black panties and fur-lined bras, which she’s never used when she’s with me."
"Your wife's probably just shy," the upholsterer, Carlos, offered from a corner of the room, where he pretended to concentrate on a black leather executive chair with its stuffing sticking out.
"Shy, my ass. She’s just a royal slut."
"But that's not evidence, Mr. Gaspar," Hector replied, trying to calm him.
"Of course it isn't, that’s why I hired you. So that you can find out everything, and then I can go back and stick it to her."
"Do you know what, Mr. Gaspar...?" Hector began to say.
"I’ll pay whatever you want. No matter how much it costs."
Hector continued looking at the man who was in the process of taking a carafe of brandy from his back pocket while bursting into tears.
"Look, Mr. Gaspar," Carlos attempted once more. "Don't you worry, we'll find out everything here, and we won't charge you much..."
Mr. Gaspar stared intently at the upholsterer who was grinning from ear to ear, showing the gaps between his teeth.
"Is this guy your assistant?"
"Yeah, sometimes," Hector replied, looking at Carlos, whose wide grin was frozen on his face.
"Leave twenty thousand pesos there on the table," Carlos said. Don Gaspar thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a roll of sweat-soaked, well-worn bills. He counted them out as he unrolled them.
"I'm going to need your wife's name, and your address," Hector told Mr. Gaspar.
"Amalia. Her name is Amalia the Royal Slut, and we live in La Colonia Moderna -- here, I’ll write down the address -- but I’m at the bakery all day, which is why she turned into such a whore."
The man jotted down his address and information on a piece of newspaper that was sitting on the table, and got up without saying another word. He walked toward the door as if he were carrying the full weight of his wife on his gigantic shoulders. Softly, he closed the door.
"So, now who’s going to find out if Mr. Gaspar's wife is a royal slut or not? Who’s going to find out who’s boning her, since she's supposedly such a slut? You? Just look at the mess we’re in. I just got here, and already, all this madness. I've got too much work on my hands to go to the lingerie departments of the Palacio del Hierro and check up on what kind of underwear this lady buys."
"Leave the case to me. I'll report back to you," Carlos said gravely as he neared the table. He took the twenty thousand in wrinkled bills and divided them into two piles. He then took the piece of paper and after gracing the detective with a smile as wide as the last one, left without looking at him again.
Inside, Hector was brimming with joy. He was as truly interested as Mr. Gaspar was in finding out if Madame Amalia was a royal slut or not, and why she was buying fantasy lingerie if she wasn't using it with her husband. Life was half curiosity and half compromise. The compromise here lay in stopping Mr. Gaspar before he hit her with the charge that she was a royal slut. Hector thought that everyone had the right to be a royal slut as long as it didn't interefere with someone else's life too much, and certainly not in such a way that would have allowed someone like Carlos to go out on this expedition and pocket those ten thousand pesos. If Gaspar's wife was innocent, ten thousand pesos could have bought her a whole lot of fantasy bras, garters and panties.
I'm not useless... I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...
current mood:  dorky
current music: "Strong Enough" - Sheryl Crow
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| Friday, October 31st, 2003
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7:44 pm - Happy Halloween
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Right now, I'm wearing a cheongsam and have my hair in two buns. I think my hastily-thrown-together Halloween costume is some kind of cross between Madame Chiang Kai Shek, Chun Li, and Xiaoyu from Tekken. I wanted to go as Carmen Miranda, like my idol Strongbad, but I couldn't find a flamenco dress and a fruit hat.
current mood:  mellow
current music: "Superhero" - Stephen Lynch
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| Thursday, October 30th, 2003
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7:25 pm - Six Long Years...
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