Hello, everyone.  :-D

I know, I've basically.. stopped using this..  Heh.

Anyway!  I have a question that Sarah or Liz or Tyler might be able to answer.  Remember back in the day when we put stuff we'd written online?  It was a site that was LIKE fanfiction.net but wasn't?  It was more for..  not!fanfiction?  I can't remember what it was called at ALL and it's driving me crazy.  It was the first time I'd ever used the name 'paixe' for anything.

Help!

So, since my thesis advisor fell down and broke her knee, we did the big review-my-thesis-draft over the phone and it took FOREVER and made me 15 minutes late for my Brit Lit final, but it's ALL GOOD, MY FRIENDS.

BECAUSE I GOT AN A+ ON MY THESIS!

HOOOLEEE CRAPPPPP!

So excitedddd!  She says she never gives A+ on theses, but she's giving ME one!  I could have crapped rainbows I was so happy.

But also stressed, because I was late for a final.

Soooo, the only thing I have left to do in the world of undergrad is to take a final a week from today at 10 am.  Then I AM DONE WITH COLLEGE.

It is such a weird, weird feeling.

Also, interesting note.  I started this journal a few months before I started here.  So my entire college history is recorded in LiveJournal.  Just thought that was interesting.

Also, Barney is on my coffee cup sleeve from Starbucks.  I was so surprised.  How I Met Your Mother Mocha Uberraschung.  Did I spell that wrong?

Now I'm off to work til 3 am!

I like this one better. Love how Prospero and Polonius ended up one on top of the other, in the same size, because they're basically polar opposites.

I sent it off to Diecidue, my adivser, a few minutes ago. The conclusion definitely isn't good enough, but I'm at a point where, all said and told, I'd be content with being DONE.

And now I'm hungry. :-D

PS: I gave Beth mono. *sigh* Oh, and we're going to look at apartments today, hopefully!

So, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not really using LJ much lately.. Sorry about that.

What I am using is My Daily Photo. I've updated every day for 45 days now! It's awesome. If you have a digital camera, I seriously suggest you look into joining mDP with me!

Here's my link: http://mydailyphoto.com/paixe/

I got my brother to join!

In other news, I'm trying not to die of stress. It's just LIFE OMG over here. How the hell are we going to survive in the Real World when we're forced to graduate? Panic, panic, panic.

My shining star is Beth. We passed 6 months, by the way! At the end of February on her dad's birthday. She makes me so, so, so happy. She's what I work for, so that we can have our own place someday soon.

If I can find a damn job in Orlando that will make me able to afford an apartment. And if she can secure a similar job with Disney.

So many ifs! Trying not to think about it!

Thesis is going well, if not quickly. Oh, and I got the email that says my application for graduation has been approved, pending completion of my current classes! That's awesome. I mean, I knew it would be approved, but it's still nice to have it in writing. I'm considering printing the email. For memory's sake.

Graduation is on May 1st. Then the Real World starts.

Holy hell.

I just spent $58 on a shirt and a tote bag from this guy to help support the Caboodle Cat Ranch.  I KNOW I don't have money to spare.  And I probably should have waited until I wasn't all drugged up, but I believe in this cause!  This random guy just started taking care of unwanted and homeless cats, out of his own pocket and any donations he gets.  He bought 30 acres of land and spends all his time there, building them shelters and underground dens and nature trails.  He built them a walmart!  No joke!  He spent $100,000 right out of his pocket, and lives in a little cabin nearby.  For a guy who had that much to spend on cats, it must have been a significant lifestyle change for him.  You should see this little news video about it.  It makes you go squee.  http://www.zootoo.com/petnews/walmartfelinetownbuiltfor500ca-1128  The guy is just a.. guy.  Who is trying to do something good for the hundreds of cats who don't have homes.  He's based near Tallahassee, in Florida, but he takes in cats from all over the country, actually.  People can bring him their pets, if they can't care for them anymore, and he won't refuse anyone.  He sounds like a humble man who's found his purpose in life and I wanted to help him with it.  Bad luck that his purpose ended up being really, really expensive.

I found the link to the story through the lolcats site, and if it got me to buy something, who never buys anything online, then hopefully it'll get others to donate too.  I want this guy to succeed.

Also, I'm a little bit high on t3h sleeping pillz.  I'll use that as an excuse as well.

GO, crazy cat man!

So I've been playing around with this site lately.  It's called myDailyPhoto.com and it's basically awesome.  You upload a picture a day, kind of like a photo journal or something.  It's fun.  :-D  My username is the same there as it is here.  Paixe.

In other brief news, I FINALLY have direction in my thesis!  I've been thinking about it all day and am kind of sick of it at this point, but in brief, I'm studying father/daughter relations in Shakespeare, particularly in Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear.  I've had the topic for a day and I'm already much farther than I was when I was doing whatever I was doing with Much Ado and Taming.  I'm sad I picked Taming to focus on for the comedy, but it more obviously fits with the rest.  And of course I'll be talking about as many plays as possible to fill up the 30 pages I have to write.  Ew.

Also, the damn alarmed door is beeping at the end of the hall.  That sound makes me kind of..  annoyed.  No, really annoyed.  Seriously.  I go 'grr' inside every time I hear it, which is about every 27 seconds or so.

Hopefully they'll fix it tomorrow.

High school girl customer yesterday:  "I read The Giver by Lois something, but I'm looking for the second one called The Receiver."

Me:  "...?"

Seriously  You can't make up stuff like that.

Funny ol' world, innit, when things start working out.  When the things you agonized over, and spent hours creating harebrained plan-bs around, comes to pass, and you can breathe again.

This is a happy post, my friends!

Alright, well.. guess what?  Right now, Florida is COLD.  It's not even November and I needed a jacket at the middle of the day today.  Right now Bradenton is 50°, Tampa is 51°, and Orlando is still only 54°.  That's cold enough to require jackets, am I right?  Beth can back me up on this, can't you, babe?  She had to wear long sleeves to work today!

By the by, for those interested, today is our two-month-versary.  Aren't we adorable?  *GRINNZZ*

I'm at the library now, "studying" for this semester's hardest exam, that being my Historical Archaeology midterm.  Five essay questions in an hour.  The major I come from, that means over 30 pages.  I knowww she only expects a few paragraphs each, but this is a foreign concept to my English Major mind.  Also, the questions are all made of whack.  She listed 7 on blackboard over the weekend, and 5 will be on the exam.  I just KNOW the two I actually understand will not be on the actual exam.  Instead I'll have to try to write intelligently on something like, "Compare and contrast the historical archaeological approaches of James Deetz and Stanley South."  Do I even remember who these dudes are?  Of course not!  I know one wrote a book that I was supposed to have mostly read by now, and the other did something with artifact patterning that was later basically disproved by a guy named Roderick Sprague, which is an AWESOME name.  But that's it.  Also, she wants me to "define the HABS/HAER program" and to "include discussions of CDGIS and HALS."  Holy acryonyms.  English classes did not prepare me for this kind of thing.

I really should stop complaining, though, and get back at it, since I do actually like the class and I love the professor.  I like to think she's at least a little bit gay.  She would make an awesome archaeologist!lesbian, I think.

Oh, also, I have work at 9 in the morning tomorrow.  WHOA, right?  Actually, I think this will be good for me.  I got one shift a week from 9 to 1, four hours, where all I have to do is put up random Paperchase crap.  If you haven't seen the Facebook album I made for the seriously random crap I sell in my section at Borders, you should check it out.  It's an opening shift, and I get there an hour before we even open, which will be kind of cool, I think.  I've never really worked with the IPT people.  Inventory Processing Team.  The weirdos who get there at six in the morning and are leaving around 2 when I'm just getting there.  There's a new kid on the IPT staff named Patrick who wears these stupid pants that everyone makes fun of, but I think it's kind of endearing.  Or something.  He looks like he has chicken legs.

Right then.  Time to get back to whipping the horse or something.  Woe is me, for I have severely cramped my style by failing to prepare in an orderly and timely manner.  Woe, woe.

And in parting,

I love you, Beth Baker!

Life just got about six times easier today.  Lately I've been.. off.  Down.  I dunno, it's just residual stress about stuff.  It was getting bad yesterday.  Yesterday was just.. baaaad.  This isn't going to be a very linear entry, I can already tell.  That's because I'm also "in class" at the moment.  This stupid online chatroom thing that's supposed to pass for a class lecture.  I feel like typing *passes note* or something like that.  Hee.

Anyway, let's talk about yesterday.

So.. actually, let's talk about the $105 worth of parking tickets that I'd accumulated.  That's a lot of money, right?  So, luckily, I got a few extra hours yesterday.  I was going to start making some of it back.  A good thing.  So I woke up yesterday, but I didn't feel.. up.  Do you ever get the feeling that your head is just.. fuzzy?  So I rambled around and then went in to work.  I've been listening to Lamb, by Christopher Moore, in audiobook for the past few weeks during my car trips to work and Orlando.  It's generally really, really funny.  Except I'm at the very end where Joshua (Jesus dude, lolz) is being all.. killed.  And it's told from the perspective of his best friend, who's trying absolutely everything he can to stop that from happening.  It's all very heartbreaking, actually.  Plus I wasn't really.. all there, in my head.  So I was driving along, and all of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere, I hear the "whoop whoop" of a damned police siren, right behind me.  With the flashing lights and everything.

Remember where I got pulled over last time?  Yeah, one more stopsign down.  It happened again, the exact same damn thing.  And this time, the guy gave me the $141 ticket.  *dies a little inside*

Apparently there was not enough irony in the world.  I'm driving to work for extra hours to pay a ticket, and I get a ticket.  What the HELL.

But anyway.  I worked.  And it was actually really nice.  I liked the people I was with, and I got to do Paperchase, which I secretly adore.

So I stayed up until almost 5 this morning, doing who knows what.  And then I slept til 3.  Because my 3.00 class was canceled.  And then I went to Archaeology and watched a movie about Custer and how his Last Stand was really his Last Epic-ly Failed Retreat.  And then I had Subway.  And then I came back to my dorm and everything was just.. crushing.  Again.  It had been turned off for a while, but it all came back.  Fears about the future, about becoming a success and worrying about failure.  It's hard to explain, but my family has basically brainwashed me into thinking that anything less than a 100,000 a year salary is a failure.  It's kind of a lot of pressure.

So I called my mother.  And she made everything better.  I feel like I can breathe again, because she told me that it would be perfectly fine if I ended up working at a bookstore for the rest of my life.  She made it sound like she'd always known that's what I really wanted to do.

And she's right.  I freaking love my job.  Sure, I complain about it.  And the management track has to deal with a hell of a lot more stuff than I do right now, most of which might be really unpleasant.  But the environment makes me happy.  I think it's where I want to be forever.

Of course, I'm still thinking about Grad school.  It would be really hard, I think, to go back to school when you're older.  Balancing family and career and whatnot.  I found a track at the University of Florida , Cultural Studies.  It's a MA program in English.  Sounds perfect.

But it's nice to know that if I don't get in, or if I can't stomach spending all the money on a degree I might not ever use, then I can fall back on a place in a Borders, and I can work in an environment that makes me happy, with the kinds of people who make me happy.  And my parents will still approve.  Even if I never make enough money to send them on a fabulous cruise.

Also, they have bookstores everywhere.  Even Orlando.  Where Disney is.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for sticking through all of that.  It was seriously boring, I can already tell.  Woo.

And now, it's almost 9.30, which means my time sitting in this "class" is almost done.  Yayyyy.

Okay, peace out everyone.  I hope your lives are going well.

:-D

Somebody stole my laundry basket!  Right from the laundry room!  WHY?!  *is very grumpy about this*  I mean, I had my detergent and dryer sheets in the basket, on top of the washer I was using.  They took the stuff out of the basket, and STOLE IT.  I left it down there all of last year and nobody ever showed the slightest interest in it.  Wouldn't it be more profitable to take the soap?  I mean.. laundry baskets are, what.. $2?  *doesn't understand*

WTF, mates?

Beth, we might have to pick up a new basket for me at the Wal-Dog when we cash your check today.  We can also get you one, if you haven't gotten one yet.

Damn.  I hate people sometimes.

Now the big question: how do I get my clothes upstairs this time?

So, I'm in my room.. chillin'.  And I just found this thing (a la author Scott Westerfeld's blog) called Wordle where you put in a bunch of text and it picks out the most frequently used words and makes a pretty picture out of it.  Lookit what happened when I did my LJ!



Isn't it AWESOME.  I love it.  I like that THINK is all huge in the middle.  And look, Beth's right there in orange!  Some of the words are confusing, because I don't think I had "alcoholic" in there enough times to merit inclusion.  Also, I like how Bollywood got to be in all capital letters towards the bottom.  And BLEAH got to be in capitals too, along the midde on the bottom.  I think the longest word is 'aforementioned,' right under since, which is all huge.  Though.. not sure why there's awkward.Why on the far left side.  Or all.Note on the top.  HA, head and desk are right next to each other.  Very appropriate.

This thing's a little bit fascinating.  Everybody should try it out!  It's over here.  You have to prnt scrn your results though since they're all freaky about you stealing their bandwidth or something.  But then you could upload the prnt scrned image to Photobucket or something and share it with the world!

La.  Okay.  The end.

I'm starting a new mini-segment here on this blog, entitled Ali's Secrets.  I (secretly - ha, get it?) love Post Secret and I've thought up ones of my own, but since I never have the time/creativity/ambition to actually submit any of them, I will instead jot them down here.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having it be secret, right?  Oh, well.  I'll probably forget about this in under two weeks anyway.  So, here you go.  First secret!

People who scratch all the scratch-and-sniff books and don't buy them freak me out.

Seriously.

Anyway, classes start tomorrow.  My schedule is pretty consistent, actually.  Class Monday through Wednesday, 3.05 to 5.50.  Mondays and Wednesdays: Contemporary Literature followed by Historical Archaeology.  Tuesdays: Cultural Studies and the Pop Arts.  The Tuesday class is as long as both the Monday and Wednesday classes combined, but I suppose that makes sense since I only have to go once a week.  Since it's in the afternoon and not the evening, I think I have a much better shot at actually attending than when I've tried these once-a-week classes in the past.

I'm eating microwave popcorn that came with pepper on it.  It's.. weird.

Also, there is a dead cockroach behind my desk.  I have decided to name him Joey and treat him as a pet until someone who has a stronger stomach stops by.  Seriously, I have yet to find something as primordially GROSS as a cockroach.

That's it.  My room's all set up just like last year, except posters are in different places and I don't have my armchair yet.  The room feels oddly large without it.  Also, I have to sit on the floor to watch TV.  O, the trials of my sad, sad life.

..

I feel.. weird.  There's some weird shit in my head.  And I've got a stress back ache.  School hasn't even started yet, wtf?

I just got back from Beth's birthday dinner at Acapulco, and it was brilliant.  :-D  Rest assured, everyone.  Both Beth AND I had alcoholic beverages.  Well, beverage, really.  And just one.  That we split.  ..Anyway.  It was fun!  And Beth gave me her illegal light saber for safekeeping because weapons (even plastic light-up ones purchased on Disney soil) are not allowed.  Ah, well.  Fear not, darling, I will keep it safe.  Or if not safe, then it will certainly be returned to you in the condition you bestowed it upon me.  It can chill with my Gandalf sword, in the back of my closet, away from my darlingest baby brother.

Um, other than that, I've been doing assorted things related to moving back onto campus for the FOURTH and final time.  I HAAATE this whole process of loading up the car and then checking out a squeaky, unwieldy cart that smells bad from the Castor desk, unloading the car onto the cart, dragging the thing on its squeaky wheels MILES to the dorm, up four floors in the elevator, and down the turny hallways to my room.  In the disgusting heat and rainy muggy grossness.  BLEAH.  (I have strong feelings about this, in case you couldn't tell.) 

But I love being in the room itself.  It's comfortable, with high ceilings, which is oddly important to me.  OH, and the door to my hall has construction paper letters proclaiming "BOLLYWOOD" for no discernible reason.  And there are paper flowers on the doors with our names on them.  I shall investigate this matter in greater depth and report back.

Also, I got my hair cut and re-highlighted.  I'm happy with it.  The hairstylist ended up selling me gobs more hair stuff than I'll actually use.  Somehow, she sold me TWO conditioners.  I'm.. not sure how this happened.  Plus two mousse-ish products.  On top of the shampoo and conditioner that I actually planned on buying.

This just goes to reinforce the fact that money and I DO NOT MIX.  Impulsiveness + money =/= good.

There is a cat sleeping behind my computer.  She's blocking the vent.  I've always wondered if this is hazardous for the computer.  Don't think I could move her, though, seeing as how she's so damned cute.

Starting tomorrow, I will officially live on campus once again.  Daddy's going to help me move my refrigerator, microwave, and bookshelves up tomorrow morning, and then I think I'll be all set.  I'll work during the weekend with the shorter drive (YAY) and then be set for classes on Monday!  Woo hoo!  I think the excitement is mostly because I'm taking classes I really want to take.  I'll have to pay for this next semester, when I take my ONE leftover stupid Brit Lit survey course and three other random electives, but for now the sky is rosy.  ..Or, you know, enter your cliche of choice here.

Man. Fried ice cream might be the best thing ever to have ever been invented ever.  I wish I could meet the person who thought it up.  I'd totally shake their (er, I mean his/her) hand.

I have come to appreciate my nose.  Many people dislike their noses, but not me!  My nose, in the right conditions, is quite cute.

Also, my aunt and two cousins are going to be at my house in about 15 minutes.  I haven't seen them in at least 3 years.  ...Ahh..

Lastly, check out Facebook for my pictures of the Brandon Borders Breaking Dawn party!  INSANITY, my friends!  I'll post a link when everything's up!

TWO FRIGGING DAYS.

That is all.

Note: I have painted nails for the first time in YEARS which is making my typing slow and awkward.

Why do I have painted nails?  For the release party of Breaking Dawn, of course!  (Yes, I followed the cliche.  They're bright, bright red.)  I'm working my store's party deal.  Tina, one of my bestest work friends, is our Mistress of Ceremonies and I, dear reader, am second in command!  This is exciting!  I even have a title.  I am the designated Stephenie Meyer Expert.  It says so on our official instructions from the home office.  Not entirely sure what being the Stephenie Meyer Expert entails, but I think mostly I have to do what Tina tells me, which isn't much different from every other day.  That, and I have to help run all the events.  We're doing trivia, a costume and handmade (er, hand-decorated) t-shirt contest, and a ridiiiiculous formal Edward v. Jacob debate.  I think I'm the only pro-vampire staff person, so I guess we all know who will be running that side of the debate.

I think the turnout is going to be way huger than anyone is expecting.  I got calls all day today for last-minute reserves and such.  The cafe is closing at 11 (lucky bums) so the four of them get to help at the register.  Hopefully I won't have to do much register work, since it would be so boring.  Some of the prizes for the aforementioned contests include spots at the head of the line.  I think that's fun.  Plus, t-shirts, buttons, and stickers (which I think are ALL pro-Edward, which is supremely entertaining).

In preparation for this gala, I have decorated a shirt of my own!  I even have pictures; let me show you them!
Isn't it CUUUUTE??  *squee*  I am quite pleased with myself, I must say.  *puffs up*  I'm going to wear my black skirt with it.  And a red tank top under it, since, er..  Yeah, some see-through issues.

I have to be there at 4 tomorrow.  And I'm scheduled til 1, though, even if we only have 150 people show up, there's no way we could get them all through only 5 registers.  Ick.  More likely I'll get out around 2am.  At least I don't have to work until 7pm on Saturday.

And now for something completely different!  Beth, Liz, Sarah!  SIX DAYS!  *faint*

So we got the results of my mom's MRI this morning and she has a torn ACL and a meniscal tear as well.  This basically sucks.  She has to see the surgeon Friday, at which point they'll decide what kind of surgery is required.  After surgery, there's a SIX WEEK to THREE MONTH recovery time with all sorts of painful physical therapy.  She said she didn't want to go back when school started up again, but I don't think this is what she had in mind.

This is going to kind of be a running subplot to your visit (Beth, Liz, and Sarah) but my mom said she'd never dream of asking you not to come.  She said it would do her good to see people, and she's not exactly a cripple.  And she HATES being treated like one, even if she is.  So, full steam ahead on the visiting, but there might be some.. family stuff I'll have to deal with along the way.

Apparently the surgeon did her friend's husband's surgery and he's really good.  And cute.  So yeah, not feeling worried there.

The main thing is going to be the boredom.

And, as she has reminded me, Tiger Woods won the US Open on a torn ACL.  :-D 

Okay, my Boston and New York albums are complete!

Next, I have to upload the pictures I took last night of Doug and Diane's last-day party at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Practically everyone I work with was there.  It was fun.  :-D

Now I'm just waiting for funtimes to begin!

Ohhh, can someone bring V for Vendetta?  I still haven't seen it.  Also, I will be in complete love with anyone who brings me some of the pink Ramune (I'd be perfectly satisfied with four.. heh..) and the chocolate Hello Panda cookies and a few tubes of Hob Nobs from the World Trading Store Place by Liz's Office Max and Beth's B&N!  I'll even pay you back!

Tomorrow I don't work, but I must make my "Go Team Cullen" shirt for the midnight Breaking Dawn release party thing.  Tina's all Team Jacob.  Hah.  I wanted to be Team Alice, but the parents probably wouldn't understand.  So I've decided to support ALL the Cullenses.

I'll take pictures, as it is sure to be a masterpiece of cutting-edge fashion design.

Whoa, I just accidentally deleted this whole post.  Wow.  Good thing it was only a few sentences long so far.

Anyway, to repeat myself...

I'm back from Vacation Part One!  Vacation Part Two will start (*pushes the right buttons this time*) in 13 days!  So close, guys!  Anyway, I'll post my remaining vacation pictures to Facebook soon, including my self-proclaimed New York Photo Shoot.  It's good stuff.

Of course, no Franklin vacation is complete without a medical emergency.  Our first night in New York (of two) featured a visit to Ellis Island and a Jersey City emergency room, in that order.  My mom's FINE, nothing life-threatening.  It just.. sucks.  Somehow she tore a ligament in her left knee.  It's hella painful, but she won't die from it.  She spent the entire last day in the hotel while my brother, my dad and I explored the city.  She gets kind of freaked out by lots of people and such, so she might not have enjoyed it much, but it would probably have been better than sitting in the hotel all day.  Regardless, we made the trip home without any major woes, she had an MRI this morning, and hopefully we'll know what the Hell is going on by tomorrow.  The hope is that surgery won't actually be needed.  Hopefully.  If not, the recovery period is something like EIGHT WEEKS, which is hella long.

Okay.  I think that's everything I wanted to post right now.

Except this idea I have for an actual blog, which I've gathered research for but have yet to actually write.  I know, weird, right?  See, back a few weeks ago, Entertainment Weekly did this whole huge thing on the 100 best books, movies, albums, tv shows, and so on of the last 25 years.  That's cool.  I mean, as much as I'm against canons and such, it's nice to read lists like this to find stuff you wouldn't have heard about otherwise.  Generally, I agreed with a lot of the choices, at least in the book, tv, and movie categories, since I know next to nothing about music.

So that's all well and good.  They even did these little blurbs about interesting side notes.  Like the best movie posters.  Thing is, they did one for the best book covers.  And it made me want to cry.  I mean, there are SO many better book covers than the ones they picked!  They had The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which looks boring and does not interest me in the book at ALL, and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, which is a cool book, but the cover?  It's blocky and boring!  Born to Kvetch by Michael Wex is good for a quick laugh, but in no way particularly moving.  I must say, though, that I do like the other two.  I would have put A Million Little Pieces on my list because the photograph is well-shot, dynamic, and meaningful on as many existential levels as you please, but is also just.. cool.  (Even if it IS an Oprah book..  Or ex-Oprah book, not entirely sure.)  And the fifth is Everything Is Illuminated.  It's a very simple black and white, but it does something I think is important.  It focuses on the title of the work and, through color and shape, emphasizes the words, which, as we all know, are an integral ingredient in the novel itself.  Also, I like that the EAN barcode is on the cover.  Hee.

However, in general, the list disappoined me.  Therefore, I spent a truly grueling last hour of work a few weeks ago writing down a huge long list  of covers that would have been on MY list.  Then I came home and saved them all off of Amazon, with the intention to make a post about why I thought these covers were better than EW's list.  Except then I went on vacation.

So I guess you can consider this a teaser for a pseudo-intellectual artsy blog yet to come.  Are you intrigued?  :-D