Just to Rant and Ramble

This is gangrel_pri's fault because he posted that Muppet thing of Bohemian Rhapsody (such and awesome Queen song) and it send me in search of some real Queen (which I always loved). And I get to this and just go HOLY SHITE! Look how many people are in that stadium!? What real rock band still plays to crowds like this? It's amazing. Poor Freddie, may he rest in peace. You know that man continued to produce music to the very end even when he had grown so weak it was all he could do to record one song in a session before he was exhausted, but he kept plugging away at it.

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it's made for colorful times. Your life hasn't turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness! Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

http://www.thetoyzone.com/2009/blog/10-disturbingly-shaped-vegetables/

Just go look.. *snort*

Who sleeps in bed next to you?
Ah... pillows... usually on either side because I like to throw my legs over them when I'm sleeping on my side.

What did you last eat?
Em... chocolate actually.

What kind of books do you read?
Mostly Fantasy, though at the moment, I'm rereading James Clavell's Gai-Jin

If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?
Right this second? Hahahaha! I have no idea in the world. Someplace warm, you know? Standing on a pile of $1000 dollar bills that were all mine. How's that?

What's really creepy?
People you don't really know who want to stand practically right on you when they talk to you. I hate it when people stand so close to me that I can smell their breath.

Name one odd item within five feet of you.
A koi kite I bought at a garage sale for $3. I have flown it, but to be honest it doesn't actually fly very well. It tends to fly sideways and then fall down before I can ever really get it going. I can keep it flying as long as I'm moving with it, but I can never get it high enough to get it into the prevailing wind, and I'm actually pretty good at flying kites. This one fails. It's cool and unusual though. it used to hang from my ceiling until I put my house up for sale. Now it's pitiful over there on top of that chest.

What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Fullmetal Alchemist. Been getting into Tsubasa lately and a number of other things that I've been watching recently from the Library.

What did you really want to do today that you didn't?
Nothing really. I pretty much did what I wanted.

What are you most excited for?
Ok... not right now but earlier... So the State Route 4 Southbound connection to I-75 has been closed the better part of the year because they are rebuilding the ramps. Well the new ramp southbound is open and I was coming down 4 for the first time in months and months with the intention of driving on that new ramp for the first time. I was so excited about it. To be honest it was a little anticlimactic. The work isn't finished and even with the new flyover ramp, the intersection is not yet that much improved. I don't see how they intend to improve it either.. the connection still comes in on the left... there are still two left exits that as I understood it they were supposed to be getting rid of, and the arc of the ramp is still way too stiff, and it's not banked enough for as stiff of an arc as it is. It's nothing compared to the new flyover ramp Northbound I-75 to Westbound I-70. I'm just saying.

What websites do you always visit when you go online?
LiveJournal
Ravelry (A crochet and knitting etc site)
Dragon Cave

What was the last thing you bought?
Hangs head in shame: A ball of yarn. Yes... this ball...

(or one identical to it)

If you could have any pet, what would it be?
I have her already. One ginger female cat. She's my sweetie.

Your past life: Tell me about it.
It's complicated... There were a lot of others between the first Ishte and me.

What do you want right this minute, off the top of your head?
Money, Yarn, A different house.

Where is the place you like to return to in order to calm down/relax/etc.?
Hrm... well... I'm generally pretty calm... Usually if something riles me up there's not much I can do to escape it. I'm really not that high strung.

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll centre of a Tootsie Pop?
Who cares? Seriously. It takes as many as it takes.

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?
You don't know me at all. You've all but ignored me for about half our friendship now, still pretend you know me so very well, and you know virtually nothing about me or my life, much less how or what I think about anything.

Are there any bits of childhood that you miss?
climbing trees maybe... romping in the Arboretum... when I've gone as an adult it's just not really the same. Also, it's no fun to me to romp alone, and most of my friends can't even begin to keep up with me.

Say something to the person who tagged you.
Come and visit me soon. I won't be able to get off work, but who cares. Visit anyway.

My super sexy tags: brokenbrawler burnrequiem indigocub littlechemist01 marynachaotica phoenixfyre1 spookshow1313 teserandi

Some of these will never do it... Maybe they'll try to prove me wrong since I've said it though.

Why must I be constantly plagued with dragons of the same sex? I took me about 6 tries to get a male green dragon. Now I managed to pick up 3 punkin dragons after playing at it on and off all day, and then the last one finally hits puberty and she's a third girl, when I just wanted one boy. Can't get a gold dragon to save my life either. I've tried and tried and tried. He's producing eggs to at a time now with Rojas Cedami though so I guess I'll keep working with them and see if they won't give me a gold throwback eventually.

Does anyone locally have a copy of Katamari Damacy they would let me borrow for a couple of weeks? I desperately want to play it, but I have a feeling that it'll be a game like Spiro that is loads and loads of fun to play, but which will make me visually dizzy after only a short time, so I'm hesitant to buy a copy without trying it first.

in 2006 due to the first formalized scientific definition of the word "planet", Planet Pluto was reclassified as Dwarf Planet Pluto. There has been some pretty hot debate on this since then, and some scientific parties still feel that Pluto should continue to be classified as one of our nine planets.

I would like to see some discussion on both sides of this issue to help me build my argument for an essay I need to write in my English class. I'll leave out which side I'm going to be taking. (haven't actually fully decided to be honest... so you might convince me one way or another. I'd just like to see if any of you think of things on one side or other of the debate that I haven't thought of. Please back up your arguments with facts. Note: If I partake in the debate, please be aware that I have not taken a position yet, and may be playing devil's advocate. Also please note if you prefer I not quote you in my paper or if quote is okay but not by name. Which do you feel should it be? Planet? Dwarf Planet? or maybe Planetoid? Why?

Yes it's that time again. The time when Ishte decides that it's time for a change. And now a display of my new desktop layout.
Click through the image to see it full size.

Desktop Image came from here: http://mikayu.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-Memories-39980649 My current Visual Style btw, is Royale DX2 by Weston Campbell. The Trillian Skin is mine, modded to match it, though I'm still working on one aspect of it that I haven't been able to pin down since Trilly 4 came out. I didn't get a shot of my cursors... and now I can't find the link where I downloaded them... they came from DA but I can't find them now even though I got them seriously just a couple of hours ago. AHA! At last: they are miscategorized HERE: http://kurisuten.deviantart.com/art/full-metal-alchemist-cursors-34356833

Anyway, I note that Winry looks really happy to be where she is, but Ed looks very put upon by the camera man, like... "Dude... We're trying to chill. Can't you see we came up the tree to get AWAY from Al's cats and paparazzi like you? D'you know how hard it was to get Winry up here with that Popsicle? Buzz off!"

I'll probably work on that stain on Winry's face tomorrow. I don't know why the original person who made the desktop didn't clean it up. Personally, I'd just as soon have the wallpaper without extra stuff on it anyway. So maybe I'll look for the original. I think I have it somewhere. The pumpkin carving party has to come first though, and Beggar's Night too. I'll post pictures of the resultant Jack-o-Lanterns (Jacks-o-Lantern?) later.

Here's the Meme Part, and I rarely actually see anyone do this, but just know that it makes my day when someone does it and even better actually posts a picture of their whole desktop and not just a shot of the wallpaper they're using. I like to see how it all fits together.
Please to repost this to YOUR LJ's but sharing what YOUR desktop looks like today.

I expect my LJ layout will be next changing for fall. I've usually already done that by now.

I just have to say that. I know I said this last year and ended up writing, but NOT this year there is no way in hell I'm going to partake in that madness again the month before the holidays when I have school and so many projects to finish. Whatever moron (man) thought up the idea that NOVEMBER should be NANO (probably just because it started with an N) had no practical sense about how he was scheduling it as regards to when people actually have time (i.e. not in November). If anyone would like to move Nano to Februrary, then I might start participating again, but not now. Ya'll have fun. I'll be busy making stuff.

Another stolen image from shadow27



Favorite part is when one of the kittens escapes at the end of the loop. And the whacker has to be super careful not to actually WHACK any of them. How cute. wonder how many kittens he has stuffed in that box and how he managed to keep them all in there long enough to start filming haha.I think there's 4 for sure, maybe 5 in there. that's a lot once they become active and rambunctious.

I stole it from shadow27 today,but I couldn't help it. I love his 'Daily Fergus' photo he posts every day of his dogs because I love Italian Greyhounds, but this is something completely different. Is that a ... FOX? It certainly is orange! But damn! FUNNY!

Seriously these scores don't surprise me. I'm genuinely bummed that more of my RL friends don't use their LJ's more frequently, or more frequently actually look at mine. They'd have a better clue of what's going on in my life and my world if they did. Kind of sad when most of my long distance RL friends know me better and know more about me than my local RL friends because they actually read my ranting.

The Ultimate LiveJournal Obsession Test
Category	Your Score	Average LJer
Community Attachment	47.31% There's a party in your comments page, and everyone's invited!	22.89%
MemeSheepage	66.67% I am but one quiz among millions. My brethren surround me on the page.	27.51%
Original Content	80.65% Newsweek, People, and your journal	38.08%
Psychodrama Quotient	19.28% Your dark side's safe with us	16.57%
Attention Whoring	36.36% This quiz is part of a grand scheme to keep people reading	20.65%
Take The Ultimate LiveJournal Obsession Test and see how you match up! (By The Ferrett)

That coolness is posting to my LiveJournal from my phone. I feel so powerful now! Yay!

Today I had a rough draft of an evaluation essay due tomorrow for an English class. An evaluation essay is an essay that evaluates something. Most often it might be considered a review, like a movie or book review, or something of that nature. Now, normally I don't leave these things to the last minute, but I was hoping to write it on something else, and that didn't pan out in the end, so I had to whomp something else together. This seemed like the perfect second choice since it was something I would do pretty quickly.

I edited to mention in my last post, that the Pumpkin Snake had ended up the subject of my essay. I have had some requests to see the essay, so here it is. Please note, this is the rough draft, not the finished product, but I doubt it will change significantly, so I'll post it as is. If you see something I could clean up or correct for the final draft due on Wednesday, please feel free to point it out.

The Pumpkin Snake

( Under the cut... )

Enjoy.


Edit: I just wrote my English assignment (an Evalutation Essay) on this video. hee.

Please acknowledge that there is a difference between "cannot" and "do not want to". It's actually a big difference. It's similar to the difference between cannot and will not, since it's the difference between being physically able to do something and being willing to do it. When you do not wish to do something. Please could you just be big enough to admit that this is the case instead of claiming "I cannot." Just have the freaking balls to say "I don't want to"! Seriously. I'm very tired of hearing people say they can't do something or making excuses when the fact is they just don't want to. If you don't want to, just say so. "I don't want to". It's really quite simple.

examples:
I cannot drive to Tokyo. (much as I might want to.)
I can drive to Mexico City. Yes. I can. Am I willing? No. I do not want to. I will not.

Snatched from marynachaotica who
Snagged from shadow27

Note: Seriously? some of these things are things that are on my "never ever want to do this" list. I'm just saying.

Things you have done during your lifetime:

( ) Gone on a blind date
( ) Gave blood
(X) Skipped school
(X) Watched someone die (Literally? no... not right at the moment, but over time watched him die.)
( ) Been to Mexico (might be on my Do Not Want list)
(X) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawaii
( ) Been on a plane (NO. I will avoid this if possible.)
( ) Been on a helicopter (Do Not Want)
(X) Been lost (rarely, but anyone what says they ain't been, ain't been fully forthcoming)
(X) Gone to Washington, DC (Twice actually. Once when I was about 7 and again when I was 14 or 16 or something)
(X) Ridden in a police car (Yah, on account of being arrested.)
( ) Hugged a homeless person (opted to give them a bag of turkey instead. I thought it would do them more good.)
(X) Swam in the ocean (many times. It's not all it's cracked up to be. Sand EVERYWHERE)
(X) Swam with stingrays (Not really intentionally)
(X) Been sailing in the ocean (Do Not Want)
( ) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Ran a marathon (No but I rode my bike 50 miles)
(X) Sang Karaoke (Absolutely. It's great fun.)
( ) Volunteered at a soup kitchen
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only (Having spent years in service, I would never EVER do this.)
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch (Eh... no...)
(X) Seen the northern lights
( ) Been para sailing (This actually might be pretty cool)
(X) Been on TV (several times actually)
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't (Probably not intentionally though)
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans (I really have no desire to either.)
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Fed a Giraffe (Giraffes are cool.)
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Fired a gun
(X) Danced in the rain
( ) Been to the opera
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Serenaded someone (I don't know if it counts as a serenade, but I've sung to people before.)
( ) Seen a US President in person (seriously, I thought at first it said "BEEN a US president?")
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone (Many times)
( ) Driven a race car
(X) Been to a National Museum (in DC and other places)
( ) Been to a wax museum (again, in DC and other places)
(X) Eaten caviar (Yummy! But I perfer Salmon Roe actually.)
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating (started out ice skating when I was about 2. Migrated to wheels later.)
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
(X) Driven across the United States (not from shore to shore though, ne? but lots of driving back and forth parts of it. I don't fly.)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving (Do NOT Want!)
( ) Gone snowmobiling (maybe?)
( ) Lived in more than one country (really pretty sure no place is as good as the US.)
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser (have seen other geysers)
( ) Seen the Grand Canyon
( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty (Yes, but I'm not sure how. I don't remember going to NYC, but I remember seeing Liberty)
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle (For what reason?)
( ) Been on a cruise (do not want... boats = vomit)
(X) Traveled by train (Well I mean I didn't GO much of anywhere but yah)
(X) Traveled by motorcycle (Again, never went much of anywhere, but...)
(X) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR (not specifically in San Fransisco)
(X) Been to Disneyland/Disney world (Disney World and Epcot more than once)
( ) Been in a rain forest
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
(X) Been to Niagara Falls (I didn't think it was all that. Lots of muddy water, over a wide fall, but compared to say... Angel Falls? Yah. whatever.)
( ) Ridden on an elephant (maybe? Camel for sure.)
( ) Swam with dolphins (Not to my knowledge... but they may have been around the sharks)
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China (Not in this life...)
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf (No, but I want to point out it's a natural occurrence, not global warming that causes them.)
( ) Been spinnaker flying (again do not want... boats = vomit)
( ) Been water-skiing
(X) Been snow-skiing (not my idea of fun to be honest)
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game (bleh)
(X) Swam with sharks (erm... )
( ) Been White Water Rafting
(X) Written a book or screen play
( ) Been to a Tournament of Roses Parade
(X) Lived in more than one state
(X) Become a parent (Does a spirit child count?)
( ) Been Bungee Jumping (Not really interested in this kind of 'rush")
(X) Been to Vegas
(X) Been to a minor league baseball game (better fun than the major league game)
(X) Worked on a political campaign (Sort of)
( ) Been to the top of the World Trade Center or Empire State Building
(X) Ridden a Subway (but not in NYC)
( ) Been to your High School Reunion (Missed my 20. Next year is my 25)

So... why the HELL would an algebra teacher think it was a good idea to assign problems in an aglebraic technique that is complicated, but not usually actually difficult, but then assign only the problems that HAVE NO SOLUTIONS?

I did not want to spend an hour doing and redoing a problem over and over and over only to finally conclude that there simply is not a solution... then move on to the next one to find the same damn thing.

If you are TEACHING something you give some simple problems to prove an understanding of the technique first... you know.. ones that acutally SOLVE... and then you can give a tricky one or two. Not dig through the book and ONLY assign the most difficult ones. How the hell am I supposed to practice doing the technique correctly, if the only problems I have to work with don't even fucking WORK because they have no solutions, huh?

Let me just conclude that whether I drop this class or not, this teacher is getting feedback from me and it won't be positive. Every time I go to class having already taught myself out of the book, because his teaching is so incompatible that if I haven't already taught myself to do it by the time he lectures on it, I can't even follow what he's talking about. He runs through explanation, skips important steps that he's calculated in his head (without telling US what he calculated in his head) and then asks us if we think it's right or not. All he's doing is confusing us.

One more thing. Do not spend an hour reviewing for a test that we have to take. We 7 remaining girls and one remaining boy were ready for the test until you spent an hour confusing us so we couldn't remember how to do anything by the time you finally handed out the test, and then severely limited the amount of time we had to write the stupid test.

How frustrating to not have time to check your work, and then find that most MOST of the problems missed were because of being in a big hurry and didn't have time to double check the work. He says the math department requires that it be a timed test? what bs is that? Where in the real world under normal circumstances do you have a situation where you are required to work a series of complicated problems in less than 3 minutes each?

I'm going to bed now... and I damn well better not dream about freaking math problems again.

( Mangaverse? me? Yah... )

DON'T FORGET
3.OCT.10