"Reversing Your Buts"

So, I just read through this cute little book, a mere 58 pages long, called Confessions of an Unbalanced Woman by Emily Watts, a Latter Day Saint author. I just particularly liked this passage:

I learned a little trick years ago that helps me make a quick perspective shift when I need to. . . . A strategy that goes by the unlovely name of "reversing your buts." . . . It works like this:

Maybe you're thinking, "I love you, but you're driving me crazy." Instead, try thinking, "You're driving me crazy, but I love you." Isn't it amazing how different that feels?

Try another one: "I have a great job, but it's really stressful." In reverse, "It's really stressful, but I have a great job."

I just liked that. It sounds like a totally useful tool for perspective management. :)

It's a Virtue

So, patience has always been one of the attributes that I've been quite confident I can claim for myself. In a very mellow, go-with-the-flow kind of way, I'm one of the more patient people I know. (And yes, I'm rather humble, too! ;) )

But it turns out there are a few things even I can't happily put up with for long.

Though I doubt many of you would know it, as it turns out I hide it pretty well. Which is a kind of patience still, I suppose.

Maybe sooner or later I'll give way completely, lose all patience, and expound on this topic. Or maybe not. It'll probably stop mattering to me in a few hours, anyway.

Oh, the Brick.

So, my laptop died . . . again. I assumed at first that it died in the same way the old one did - it stopped registering that the cord was plugged in. I had my friend Fredjikrang look at it, and apparently the cord is missing a connector, so I've ordered a new one off eBay. So hopefully in a week or so, I should be up and running again . . . Which is almost too bad, because I really dislike a lot of things about my laptop, and would love an excuse to replace it . . . :P Mainly I hate the design. When I *do* buy a new laptop (someday), I want one with the fan on the back, not the bottom; the ports on the sides, not the the back; and of course it would be half the weight, have a multi-card slot, and an internal wireless card . . . but those last are on pretty much *any* laptop these days.

Really, I don't need or want anything more than a cheap word processor. In my ideal world, I'd like to have a nice, heavy-duty desktop that can handle whatever graphics, photo editing, movie watching, whatever nonsense I want to do. I'd do most of my work on it, be it story writing, web developing, whatever. Then I'd just want a lappy for, of course, being mobile. If I want to head off to the park and sit in the grass to type some story. Or if I'm traveling, or whatever.

I keep looking at the new fad of "netbooks" out there, because they seem to cover all of those bases . . . (well, I guess I don't know where the fan and ports are located and that stuff . . . but they're ultra-portable, very cheap, and intended for just the basics.) Only I really don't know if I'd like typing on that scrawny of a keyboard . . . though if I did go in for one, the Samsung NC20 is looking promising . . . (costs twice as much as the uber-cheap $2-300 netbooks, though, for which I could also get another refurbished brick, or something . . .)

My old laptop, the one that's definitely been broken for a good while, I let Fred go ahead and crack open and see what he could see. He's successfully opened a few laptops in his day, and this one had been gathering dust on my desk for a couple years anyway, so I figured it was worth the risk. He got it open and tested the power jack, and as far as his equipment would show, there was *nothing wrong with it.* That made me irritated. Stupid computer appears to be perfectly fine, but it definitely wasn't taking a charge at all, even with a cord I knew was working . . . which is why I bought that other one.

So we put it back together, but of course we couldn't check to see if it would magically work now, because of course the power cord is messed up . . . plus, I really didn't care to try any more with old clunky. So we salvaged the hard drive and put it in an external case Fred had lying around, and I'm just going to donate the rest of the computer to those people who take old laptops. If they want it. For parts or something. It wouldn't even be worth trying to sell anymore. So now I have a 40G external HDD. Which is cool, I guess. That's 40G that was just gathering dust before, and now can be put to use, at least.

So slightly-less-old-Clunky is now just chillin' in my living room, waiting for a new cord to come along so it can power up. Hopefully. The most frustrating thing about the whole mess is the fact that I had JUST reinstalled Windows in an effort to make it faster, give it a new life and all that jazz. I was having fun figuring everything out, getting it all up-to-date, making sure I had all the right drivers (which was a pain, because apparently that's the one manufacturer's disc that I *didn't* still have in my cd case, which fact I hadn't realized until *after* doing the reinstall . . .) I'd just gotten it back up to speed, with the sound and graphics and everything that'd been giving me trouble back into working order, when this nonsense with the power cord struck. So it basically made me want to blow the whole project and start over. I mean, for crying out loud! :P

But anyway. I'll hold off on that now, I guess, at least until the new cord shows up and I can see if the comp still does, in fact, work just fine. I hope so . . . even if it's just so I can hand it down to my brother or somebody, and still move myself up one notch . . . ;)

I mean, seriously. Even a netbook could do pretty much EVERYTHING I typically do on my Inspiron Brick, except play movies and burn/rip cds (netbooks tend to lack an optical drive). But how often do I even try to do that much? (Answer: never.) Plus, I have my friends' laptops for that for now, and someday I'll have a nice desktop . . . *sigh*

Anyway, I'm still not going to spend any money *just* yet . . . we'll at least wait and see if 'Clunky (aka The Brick, I've decided . . .) steps back up to the plate. But those are my thoughts along those lines.

Also, as far as my family's current home desktop goes, I'm pretty sure I could get it up to scratch, even for my sister Meagan's movie making endeavors. It just needs more RAM and a better graphics card, I think. If it needs any more, I'm sure I can figure it out . . . after all, it's a PC, and by definition is super-customizeable, right? ;) And that'd be way cheaper than getting a whole new computer. I've already gotten it to stop locking up, and if I could just dedicate some serious time to the thing, with a lot of help from Google and various techie forums, I might could make it into a high-performance machine. That would be kinda fun, and all sorts of enlightening and adventursome . . . :D I mean, it's already loaded with some really decent hardware . . . we just need to take better care of the poor thing. I'll totally teach Meagan everything I can about it, too . . . at least, everything she needs to know to just keep it maintained.

Seriously, with all the techie forums out there to give advice, it's not that hard to become a pseudo-computer-guru, if you want to take the time on it. It's kind of awesome. :D

Anywho, now that I've rambled myself into a better mood, I'm gonna run off and do other things, now. Like browse for some more cheap laptops to drool over . . . ;) Or go outside and play (except it looks like rain). Or go to the gym . . .

Tootles. :D

But at least I FOUND my STUPID iPOD!

So, I guess I need to tell a story . . . . and chances are once I get going, I'll ramble for a good long while. Because this is, after all, a journally place for me, and I will write whatever I darn well please. :D So if you want the short version, why don't you head on over to Naazju's blog for the basics? :)

And, since It's popped into my head: "Now, this is a story all about how my car got flip-turned upside down. . . ."

:D

Intrigued? ;)

Oh, and I guess I should be nice and start by saying that Naazju and I, the only people in the car, came away from it remarkably unscathed (excepting a few bruises, a couple cuts, and some stiffness. And no other cars or people got involved. At least, not with the dangerous part. :P)

Anywho, so last week--around Tues. May 29, 2009--my roommate (Naazju) and I decided we'd take a quick jaunt down to Arches National Park to camp and do a little hiking and picture taking. It's wasn't the most planned-ahead trip, but whatever. On-a-whim trips are fun, too. :) However, since we didn't get there terribly early Friday night (around 10:00pm, infact . . .), and we hadn't reserved anything (reservations, at least for the sites I looked at, had to be made 4 days in advance . . .), we ended up driving some 30 miles up and down a particular highway, checking all the campsites along the way, and being completely unsuccessful in finding one. So we spent the night in a motel in the nearby Moab. (Turns out some other friends of ours were also camping that same night, and there was an extra site near them . . . Go figure. If only we'd known, and all that. :P)

So anyway, we spent a touch more than we'd planned, but whatever. We were content. Took some ridiculous pics in the Motel--reading the Gideon's Bible, laying on the hideous covers, nonsense like that. Then we read some Old Testament, got some sleep, woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed into Arches for the lovely picture-taking part. Which was every bit as fun and lovely as we'd planned. :) I'll get some of my fave pics up in a later post.

We left Arches at about 1:40pm on Saturday, because we wanted to get back home in time for a wedding reception and a birthday party, respectively. So we didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch, or anything . . . but we'll hit that next time, maybe. Anywho, so we drove along to Green River, got some gas, and headed on up the freeway. Only apparently I missed an exit very shortly thereafter . . . (another result of not planning--we didn't have terribly useful maps.) Anywho, so we just coasted along westward on I-70. We'd have gotten home eventually . . . it just may have taken another hour or two. So much for making that reception . . . :P But whatever. If I'd not missed my exit, or if we'd left earlier or later, or if we'd stopped along the way for one reason or another . . . should'a would'a could'a. Didn't. Life goes on.

So we're coasting along I-70, and it's mostly a bright, sunny day, but now and again we hit patches of light rain. Nothing terribly concerning, but enough that I take it off Cruise Control and slow down a touch every time we get into some wetness. And then we're maybe halfway between Salina and Richfield, and we're driving through that very light rain, and I may or may not have been off Cruise already . . . I can't recall. Then I see in front of us this crazy looking phenomenon - it's like the mist that sprays up behind a semi driving in the rain, only there's no semi. Just ridiculous amount of rain coming down so hard on the road ahead that it's raising its own mist three feet off the asphalt. It was kinda nutty. So, knowing it'll be insanely wet for a while, I'm already tapping the brakes to slow down . . . I'm pretty sure I didn't "slam" on the brakes, because at that point I wasn't worried. Just impressed by the crazy wet.

We drive into the rain, and it's like driving into a waterfall. That abrupt, that loud, that plain-crazy-pouring. Just a deluge. It was actually kinda neat. :P

I'm still not worried, until a few seconds in I notice that the car's not facing full front anymore. And one of the thoughts that flits through my mind is something along the lines of: It's so weird how quiet it is . . . none of that brake-squealing noise, just silently spinning . . .

And then I'm trying to correct, and Naazju is advising me to "turn into the turn," which of course I've heard before, but never actually *practiced,* so I don't actually know what the junk that phrase even MEANS, practically speaking . . . So I try to correct for a while, and my brain and my body have two completely different ideas of what said correction should really consist of . . . and I basically just hope we skid to a stop in the mud.

Well, we hit the mud, all right . . . drove right off the road and into the median. At some point we got completely turned around so the car was facing east instead of west, and beyond that, I don't know what else happened when. I just know that the car did some crazy jostling, and when I heard the sound of shattering glass, that's when I screamed. (Sorry, Naazju. Guess that was shrill. . . .)

So we're stopped, and we're upside-down, and I look (a bit wildly) at the windsheild and at my window and take special note of the dirt clods and grass that are all I can see, and the first words out of my mouth are "We're on the ground, right?" And since that doesn't sound completely coherent, I follow immediately with "We're on the dirt? We're not in the road still, right?" Because, as I've noticed, my first impulse every time I get into a crash (I've been in three now in which I was the driver) is to GET OUT OF THE WAY of any more danger. Once I've stopped moving I'd like to stay stopped, thank you, until I am good and ready to start moving my own durn self again.

So there we are, upside-down, and I'm breathing pretty fast and hard, as might be expected. Naazju, remarkably calm in a crisis, asks me if I'm okay and I answer that "Yes, physically I am perfectly fine." Mentally, emotionally, maybe not so much. My voice is all sorts of shaky. She calmly tells me to unbuckle my seatbelt carefully/slowly, and I respond something like "Not just yet. I just need to breathe for a second." (remember the above? I ain't moving an inch until I want to. :P Also, I was quite comfortable where I was, nicely harnassed in, resting my hands on the wheel and practically able to rest my head on the ceiling.)

"Well," says Naazju, "here's something that should make you feel better." And what does she hold in front of my face but my iPod Nano, which I had lost in my car about 3 months prior. And dangit, I SEARCHED that car. With a flashlight. In the cracks. Under seats and in random holes. That stupid iPod. . . . In my head I'm pretty sure I said, upon taking the iPod from her, "HOLY FREAKING CRAP!" Out loud, I laughed hysterically for a moment before switching to a quick, equally hysterical bout of sobbing. A perfectly reasonable reaction, I would like to think.

Upon which Naazju gets to ask again whether I'm okay. I'm fine, okay? Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional. Perfectly f.i.n.e. Just need to cry for a minute. Plus, as I said then, "I'm okay, it's just . . . I broke my car!" *sob*

We're both still upside-down, me because I have yet to even desire to attempt to get down, and Naazju because she somehow managed to get wrapped in her seatbelt, so even though she's unbuckled, she can't get down. She makes a few quick phonecalls from this unusual attitude, leaves some voice-mails with parents, and arranges for Kralc to come pick us up, since we're pretty sure at this point I won't be continuing the drive myself. Even after some minutes to become fully coherent again. See? Ridiculousy composed in a crisis. I mean, I'd like to think I was *relatively* calm . . . after I got my breathing under control, at least. I could answer questions, assess our current safety, move about on my own, and all that. I could even form complete sentences, though they sounded funny, all pitchy and interspersed with sudden breaths. But I was a total wreck in comparison to the utter calm of my loverly roommate over there. Which is cool. Calm in a crisis is definitely a worthy skill to own. Just makes me look bad in comparison. :P (jk, of course . . .) ;)

What finally got me to start reacting again, instead of just waiting for calm to find me, was the sudden rapid tapping at Naazju's window. Ah, they're here, I thought, because of course one of the parts of my mind was rather curious as to when another car would pull over to help us out. At one point I wondered if anyone had even seen us crash, as there were a few cars on the road but they were pretty spaced out, and that rain was kinda blinding. But they came, a nice group of people down from Iowa on vacation. As soon as I heard the rapping my brain powered on again and I turned instantly to open my door, if I could. Turns out I couldn't. :P Too much dirt in the way, plus anyway my door just didn't open again, even when they got the car turned right-side-up. But that's jumping ahead. I also unbuckled my seatbelt at around that point, or possibly a little eariler. I forget.

Anyway, they got Naazju's door open, and the first thing I think either of us said was you're basic "We're all right. No one's hurt." Get that panicky idea out of their heads right away. As it was, they were still rather anxious to get us out of the car asap, which caused them to try to tug Naazju out, despite her still being quite wrapped in the seatbelt. Which efforts choked off her air for a bit. We both tried to direct them to unwind her in the right direction, and just as someone was offering to grab a knife to cut her out, we managed to twist the right way, and she was free. Huzzah! We both got out and stood barefoot in the mud (our flip-flops had flown off in the crash), with our rescuers holding towels over our heads to keep off the last of the rain. That's right, "last of." It was barely a minute, maybe two, after we'd first hit the monstrous wall of water, and already the skies were clearing again to a friendly, frustrating blue. Ridiculous.

One of the rescuers was a cute little lady in scrubs, conveniently just on her way to work at some local hospital. Not a minute later we also had a sheriff and an EMT on the scene, both of whom happened to have been nearby and saw the crash. We sat in the squad car for a bit, one of the Iowa fellows scrounged in the remains of The Shiv (my car) to find our shoes, Naazju's purse, and my cell phone, and we both made some more calls. Mostly to parents. Naazju called Kralc again to confirm that we were safe and well, and let him know where exactly we were. (which caused its own set of confusion, as that's the point at which we figured out we'd missed an exit clear back in Green River . . . but we got it sorted out eventually.)

By the time I got off the phone with my mom there was a whole cluster of EMTs waiting to check us over, and another police officer, and not long after that came the ambulance and the tow truck. Of course long before the ambulance arrived we'd already decided we were quite all right, but they still wanted to check our vitals and everything and get us to sign a waiver and such-like. Rain's completely gone at this point. Stupid rain. I've got my phone and my shoes, thanks to whats-'is-name, and my iPod. Still hanging on to that stupid thing. Put it in my back pocket for safe keeping.

Then it's all "Are you all right? Are you sure? Were you wearing seatbelts? Were there any other passengers in the car? Who was driving?" from about seventy-five different people . . . you'd think they could coordinate a bit better, so I don't have to answer the questions over and over again . . . "How did you crash? How fast were you going? And you're sure you're okay? Were there any other people in the car? Did you have your seatbelts on?"

*Sigh.*

Then the towtruck arrived, and we got to watch it flip my car back to its usual upright and locked position. Got some lovely photos, mostly on Naazju's camera and her phone. (my camera was still in the car . . . and then we discovered that it had broken. The LCD screen has a purty great crack in it now.) the car looked surprisingly okay, after what I'd been expecting.

Naazju has more and better pics on her camera. This is just what I took on mine, which as it turns out still *takes* pictures, at least, though you can't see them on the screen . . . I'll maybe get some more pics up later.

We rode with the tow truck guy to Richfield, where we got the car open again (it had managed to close and lock itself when it got turned right-side-up . . . which didn't help any with the police officer wanting my insurance information . . . but that's a different story. And one that's taken care of now. I think. :P) We got a few of our belongings out, including the breakfast brownies to munch on, and my purse, and we went to the Burger King next door to await Mr. Shining Armor, Kralc.

He arrived, we got *everything* out of my car and into his, less one Switchfoot cd (which was in the player, and we couldn't turn the car on because the towyard people had the key, and they'd gone home, as it was a Saturday . . .), and went home. Safe and sound, and not even gonna *try* to make the tail end of that birthday party.

Remarkably (miraculously, astonishingly . . .) the only casualties of the crash, other than The Shiv itself, were my camera and four novels that sustained water damage (two paperback "Once Upon a Time" books, one Calvin and Hobbes collection, and one hardcover copy of the second Fablehaven book). Nothing else was harmed, not even Naazju's scrapbook paper. And as stated at the beginning of this most lengthy of posts, only some minor bumps and bruises on Naazju and myself.

And yes, we are ridiculously fortunate, especially considering we were traveling at something just under 75 mph at the time . . . and I certainly express lots of gratitude to that effect when I take the time to talk to God. Which I'm constantly trying to do more frequently and regularly . . . but yeah. We're all glad it wasn't worse, and we're all quite happy that Naazju and I are alive and well.

And gosh dangit, It's ridiculous and stupid and frustrating and hilarious, but I'm happy that I found my STUPID iPod.

Gah.

:P

Deadline is a scary creature.

But I guess they're useful when it comes to getting anything done.

Though it is hard when you're setting your own deadlines. As I (kind of) am with this Ward Directory nonsense. It'd be nice if it were out last week or so . . . but dangit, it's HARD getting a hold of that many people! And now I've forgotten email adresses. So I get to (with the help of my lovely and wonderful roommate) stalk the apartments one last time, push the deadline back one day more, and try to rangle in a few email addies. *Sigh.* Stressful.

But tomorrow - TOMORROW - blank emails, missing photos, and whatever else right or wrong, those dang things are going OUT.

:D
:P
:S

Gah.

So sometimes, randomly,

I feel kind of depressed. Not like full-on depression by any means, of course . . . just ind of lethargic and less than content. I figure it's pms. :P

But that's not nearly as annoying as the times when I get this weird frustrating combination of energy and lethargy, where I want to do somethinganythingeverything and yet can't seem to collect the motivation to get off the couch . . . that sensation I generally attribute to writer's block. And either writing a few pages of story or watching a good action and/or dark fantasy flick will usually deaden it some. :P But I always have this strange urge to run at times like those . . . maybe I'll try indulging that side of it sometime. Go running. I don't like running. But sometimes . . . .

Anywho. Random. Ta-ta.

Ooh la la. :D

So, the dream is to someday make up a web page that lists all my family's movies, is searchable, has a check-out form, etc. Until then, look what I can do with Google Docs! :D

Pomp and Circumstance

Huzzah, I'm graduating! In like, 5 days! :D :D :D



And since I didn't want to spend all sorts of money on announcements, I made up just a few for mom and grandma and the like, and the rest of the world gets this lovely photos. :D Enjoy.

Brave New World

So, I heard the weirdest radio commercial this morning.

A bunch of women were talking about making a little extra money, and how their moms used to do Tupperware parties, but "that's So 1980's."

(Naazju: More like 1960s.)

But the commercial goes on to say there's something new to have parties for . . .

Tasers!

Let's have a taser party!

Get all the women you know to protect themselves!

And I'm like, Holy-wha . . . ?

Tasers = Tupperware.

o.O

I mean, hey, protecting yourself is excellent. If you want to do it with a taser, fine. But a taser-PARTY? I mean, really??

I can just see a group of cute young ladies in polka-dot dresses, sitting in a kitchen with a teal or avocado-green fridge, ooh-ing and ah-ing over some lovely little . . . tasers.

Behold, the Brave New World.

What the heck.

Action, This Day.

So, I really like this quote from Stake Conference. It's apparently something Winston Churchill would write at the bottom of his letters to the government, when wrote describing the problems his men were facing in the war, without the resources necessary to do their jobs.

I've decided I'm going to make this my new motto to myself. I kind of have a problem with self discipline/motivation, which makes getting my homework done and getting to bed on time and a variety of other good habits not so easy to maintain. I can plan out my ideal schedule quite happily, but implementing it doesn't always happen.

So, now if I want to get something done, I'm going to think to myself, "Action, this day!" Or this hour, or this second. So maybe I'll get up when I mean to in the morning. I'm already doing quite well at getting out and exercising regularly, which is fun. :D I like walking up to Rock Canyon Park of a Saturday. :) Especially now that the weather's getting nice enough to sit on the grass. (Less those few recent days of snow.)

Now all I've gotta do is make up a cute little plaque with my new motto on it. I'll get around to that one of these days . . . . ;D

Yes, awkward questions *are* FREAKING AWKWARD, why do you ask?

Seriously, if you ask an awkward question, no matter how noble your intentions or how much you've steeled yourself for that brutally honest answer you're counting on, you're still going to get an awkward answer. Especially if the ask-ee doesn't do brutally honest. You're just going to get the run-around. And around. And around. And the roomates of the ask-ee (and probably the ask-er, too) are just gonna get annoyed watching the drama from the sidelines. (Because you're clueless if you think we don't talk about it. We're girls. We talk. Mostly we try to help, or commiserate, or happy-dance together, but we definitely spill.)

If you really want brutally honest answers, you're going to have to ask a brutally honest person, and not that friends-with-everybody sweetheart who feels guilty for being in the same room with someone who's upset, much less for making someone upset. It's not gonna work. Stop trying. Seriously.

What is an "awkward question"? Well, if you have to ask that, I'm currently offering a correspondence course in Tact 101. (Which, as you can tell from this blog post, would be the blind leading the blind. But at least I occasionally have a clue.)

And while we're on the topic of awkward, everybody loves an awkward situation. Right? Yeah, right. So here's a clue: if you think a situation has gotten awkward, you're probably right. In fact, you're dead-on by definition. If any member of a group, large or small, is feeling awkward or uncomfortable, then obviously something is awkward. Can I be any more redundant? (Probably, but we won't go there.)

So if you find yourself in such a situation, fix it. Change whatever it is that's making life awkward for you and/or the group. If it's your very presence, the solution is simple enough. (Harsh, I know. ;) ) But really, who of us hasn't been a third wheel at some point? I know I have . . . and it's even less fun for the third than it is for the couple, so you're doing yourself a favor more than anyone by just finding something else to do for a while. Don't worry about it, mushiness comes and goes, and the best friend will still be there later, with or without the bf/gf, when they're done canoodling. :P (On the other hand, if they're never done canoodling, then you are no longer the one to blame for the awkwardness. So long as you're doing your part and giving them their alone time, they can do theirs and be regular people in public. Am I right? Of course I right. *channels Fiddler's Yenta*)

Of course, the main thing to remember is that everyone is horribly, irretrievably awkward some of the time. Especially between ages 13 and 30. The thing to do is to recover from it, and avoid making the same mistakes again. DON'T intentionally make the same mistakes again - that's just dumb. And don't listen to me if you don't want to. I'm just a crazy person, anyway, who feels better after that nice, lengthy rant. Congratz for reading it all the way through, ya crazies.

I'ma talk to you later.
Buh-bye.

Wa-a-a-y too much fun . . .

I'm playing with blog skinning lately, and I'm having way too much fun with it, and staying up rather too late. :P But it's exciting! I'm learning so many cool tricks . . . :D For instance, you may notice that I've removed the top NavBar from most of my blogs, because it really doesn't match anything, ever. That's the super easy part, though--hundreds of forums show various hacks to accomplish that. (And yes, it's legal--Google has officially that while they encourage people to keep the NavBar, they don't require it.)

The tricky part was retaining some of the buttons like the "new post" and "customize" and "dashboard" links. That hack was much harder to find, and while I can't take the credit for creating it, I'm still uber proud I found it and fitted it to my purposes! Of course, non of you can *see* my triumph, because "Blogger Buster" taught me this nifty way of making an "admin toolbar" that only shows up to the blog owner (me) when I'm signed in. It disappoears for you guys. Isn't that NEAT? :D
Yeah, yeah, y'all probably don't care. But I'm having a great deal of fun learning these tricks!

A couple of blogs I've skinned are in my bloglist to the right (Tryn's stories). They're also the intros to a couple of my stories, if you care to read them. I plan on actually working on the werewolf one for a while in the near future . . . I also plan to pop up any of my other story starters that I feel like sharing, just so I can design new skins for each of them! ;D
Yeah, way too much fun.

Most of the skins I've "created" so far are actually just modifications of layouts designed by others, who are still credited at the bottom of each blog. I'm just tweaking each one to fit my tastes. For instance, I hate a blog that's too skinny, and almost everyone's layout is too skinny. I need at least 900 pixels to feel comfortable. :) (This one's probably an exception right now--I'm still working on it.) The skin on "Tryn's Crow Story" is more or less mine, though. Not sure where I stole the image from . . . I guess Apple uses it a lot? I'll have to see if I can find a credit for it . . . Anywho.

That's what I'm up to the last few days. Blog skinning, and mostly keeping up on my homework. (hooray!) Oh, and starting a writing group with Merry. :D Huzzah, werewolf story!

New Horizons

I read a TON, but it's mostly in the same genre (fantasy, with smatterings of Sci-fi.) But lately I've been expanding my horizons a bit, just for giggles. I read a western called Shane recently, and it was good. I started another western called The Outcasts, and it was super boring . . . despite have two gun-fights, a couple bounty hunters, and an orphaned baby dumped on a roving, wrongly-accused outlaw, all within the first 50 pages. I mean, how do you manage to make that boring?

. . . anyway. I've read a few skanky romance novels too (skipping the raciest parts), and one of those was actually pretty engaging. Most recently I read Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, which was very enjoyable, and I'ma have to nab the 2nd one. Admittably, there's a definite sci-fi twist to it, being about a 200-year-old Victor Frankenstein running around modern day New Orleans and building a New Race of super-humans to take over the world . . . but it read as a very good detective/mystery/suspense novel (which I understand is what he's good at). Kind of CSI crossed with X-files. :D It was lovely, and I think I'll check out some more Koontz after I read the rest of the Frankenstein series. However many are in it. (Oh crap . . . I just checked, and its a trilogy, the last of which is coming out this year . . . which means waiting . . . Bah.)

So yeah. Expanding my reading horizons. I'm especially open to suggestions for good books to read outside of my preferred genre . . . :) Easier to pick up something someone else likes than to wander aimlessly through unfamiliar parts of the library and end up picking up another Outcasts . . . :)

Yum!

I'm a big fan of the chicken-apple-tacos I invented the other day. I've managed to make them twice, so it's not a fluke, and the process is totally easy and the results are quite delicious! :) I just fry a chicken breast with a few random spices (in this case, onion powder and "french fry seasoning," of all things . . .), make some rice, and then add apple slices right in with the (fully cooked) simmering chicken, and let them sit long enough to get all soft and mix flavors with the chicken . . . then I put the lot of it on a tortilla, and perhaps layer some cream cheese (as opposed to sour cream) over it. Very tasty. Cream cheese tastes quite good with the sweetness of the apples.

Just thought I'd share that. I'm rather proud of it. And I brought the leftovers to work today. :D

One of these days . . .

I'm gonna have my own website, and not some limited blog incarnation. :P I want a place where I can not only ramble, but post story ideas and photos and all sorts of stuff in an other-than-chronological order. Some place with links and a site map and message boards and a gallery . . . *dreamy-eyes*

Next semester, perhaps, or maybe later (being after I've graduated), I'll take an extra web-development class so I can learn more of the ins and outs of building the web page of my dreams without being too dependent on costly outside services.

But for now, I guess I'll just use Google Blogger to ramble on about nonsense. Since certain people *really* want me to . . . ;)

So here I am. Happy, Naazju?