Christmas Highlights

Pictures say a thousand words, and I'm fond of them lately. So here are some highlights from my holiday. You can find the rest here (my family Shutterfly site, so don't be confused when there are lots of albums of my family and almost none of you all...) once I get around to uploading them.

Ho Ho Ho....

Merry Christmas!

I'll post more later, but I just wanted to get the merriness out there.

So Many Presents...

so little time! I'm crocheting my fingers off, here. But whatever, I'm poor and creative. And also strangely lonely, but that will be solved when New Years rolls around! :)

Cozzzzzzzzzy

Apparently you all need to see pictures of me cuddled into bed. Just because I felt like taking them. Enjoy your own beds, I'm going to sleep.

Before And After

Today we're going to learn about before and after.

This is me before my last paper was finished....



and this is me after my last paper was finished, kissing my work goodbye!



Today's show has been sponsored by the number 6 (days until Christmas,
and by the letters D, O, N and E.

Another One Bites the Dust

Another paper down...one more to go.

Procrastination Again.

Mind Boggler Survey (not usual questions!)
Ever spin around in circles until you got so dizzy you fell?:	Yep.
What's the most comfortable thing you own?:	Oooh, the new pants I just bought.
Do you wear the hood on your hoodie?:	If it's cold out.
How long does it take for you to take a shower?:	About fifteen minutes.
Have you ever stolen a sign from a street?:	I don't think so...
What was the last thing you were thinking about?:	Whether I've ever stolen a sign from a street.
If you could change your MIDDLE name, what would it be?:	When I was little, I wanted to change it to May or Mae.
Is the moon out right now?:	Nope. I mean, I guess it's always out, but it's daytime.
What's the heaviest thing you own, besides a car?:	Probably a piece of furniture... the couch, maybe.
Do you live on your own?:	As in not with my parents, yes. I have a roommate-for-life.
Who's car were you in last?:	Joe's, though I have only vague memories of it.
What's your relationship status?:	Single.
Who was the last person to ever kiss you?:	Alex.
When was the last time you held hands with someone?:	Yesterday.
Do you have a crush/like someone right now?:	There are a few people at Simmons who I could go for, though I'm not sure I actually will.
Have you ever wished upon a star for a certain someone?:	Yes, actually. I've always been a ridiculous romantic.
What was the weirdest moment with you and your bf/gf?:	Um...I'm sure there were weird moments, but nothing's sticking out as one that I'd like to share.
Is love even real to you?:	What kind of question is that?
Warm up near a fire or cuddle under the stars?:	Under the stars. Though fires are interesting to watch.
Who is the person you regret being/doing something with the most?:	This is a very strange and private question.
Most romantic: flowers or chocolate?:	I prefer flowers, but it's a slim margin.
If single... are you lookin around?:	As I said, there are a few options.
If taken... are you happy?:
Do you like being around a large group of friends, or two best friends?:	It depends on the mood. Sometimes I just want to hang and watch Buffy, but sometimes I want to be surrounded by friends.
What's one of your weird quirks that nobody really understands?:	I like to watch the same movies and tv shows over and over again...? I can't think of a better one.
Ever thought about why grass is green?:	No, but I do like the color of it, often.
Can you build a detailed sand castle?:	I never have, but I probably could if I went to the beach more often.
Ever bit someone else's tongue?:	Nope.
Have you ever tackled someone to the ground?:	No, I'm pretty sure I haven't.
What's one of your favorite possessions?:	That's so hard! I think I'd have to say Mikey.
Do you like to sleep?:	Yes, yes, yes.
Is your bed comfortable?:	Yes, usually.
What's the most awkward thing that happened to you in public this month?:	I don't think I've had any awkward moments this month....except maybe the presentation I had to give? But that was last month.
Who's the last person that freaked you out?:	In what sense?
Who was the last person to compliment you?:	My mom, over the internet.
What's in your purse/backpack/other(pockets, wallet...)?:	Lots of stuff.
Do you feel like life will be easier when you're older, or harder?:	I'm pretty sure that the level of difficulty will remain about the same.
How come macaroni and cheese is so good?:	Because it's macaroni. With cheese. Though as a child I didn't like it.
Is pink the new black?:	I never understood this phrase. Black is always black. But I like pink sometimes.
What thought made you cry last?:	That I started im-ing my mother to tell her that I was really drunk, thinking that she was Alex.
Take this survey | Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

How Dull.

How evil are you?

How I Feel About Writing More Papers

Argh.

I am filled with pent-up frustration that has nowhere to go. It makes me angry, and antsy, when I should either just go to bed or do homework. I think I'm too frustrated to do homework, I feel like it will never get done or be good in any way, so I'm going to try to go to bed. We'll see how well that plan works out.

WHEEEEEEEE!

done is good done is good done is good
coffee is good coffee is good coffee is good
energy drinks are good energy drinks are good energy drinks are good
sleep is good sleep is good sleep is good
i'm going to crash i'm going to crash i'm going to crash
work is bad work is bad work is bad

Strange Dreaming and Loneliness

I had a strange dream last night that was frightening and somewhat painful and made me lonely, and today was nice and full of things to do and people to spend time with, but I never quite shook off the lonely and the dream. I'm hoping that tonight I won't dream at all, and that tomorrow I'll be so caught up in reading for my paper that I won't notice that this has been an emotional weekend for me. Academia can fulfill me for a while, right?

On a lighter note, www.virtualnes.com has old Nintendo games that you can play online on your computer. I'm not as coordinated with keyboard keys as I was with a controller, but I've been having a grand and frustrating time trying to get Mario and Ms. Pac-Man and the Paperboy to do what I want. They even have Lemmings! Not that I remember how to play at all, but still. Fun!

Indigo Girls

Describe yourself using one band and song titles from that band
Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band::	The Indigo Girls
Are you male or female::	Girl With the Weight of the World in Her Hands
Describe yourself::	Virginia Woolf
How do some people feel about you::	Shame On You
How do you feel about yourself::	Center Stage
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend::	Keeper of My Heart
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend::	Love Will Come To You
Describe where you want to be::	Land of Canaan
Describe what you want to be::	Prince of Darkness
Describe how you live::	Closer to Fine
Describe how you love::	Strange Fire
Share a few words of wisdom:	Get Out the Map
Take this survey | Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

This Is So Fun!

I'm definitely going to do lots of these. At least two.

Describe yourself using one band and song titles from that band
Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band::	William Finn
Are you male or female::	In Trousers
Describe yourself::	Poor, Unsuccessful and Fat
How do some people feel about you::	Miracle of Judasim
How do you feel about yourself::	Four Jews in a Room Bitching
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend::	The Thrill of First Love
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend::	A Really Lousy Day in the Universe
Describe where you want to be::	Sailing
Describe what you want to be::	A Tight-Knit Family
Describe how you live::	A Day in Falsettoland
Describe how you love::	An Invitation to Sleep in My Arms
Share a few words of wisdom:	Everyone Hates His Parents.
Take this survey | Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

On A Brighter Note...

Here's a fun image for you all: me, looking ridiculous riding my unattractive bike with my sweatpants French-cuffed and my hood up over my helmet, singing the theme song to "Clarissa Explains it All" rather loudly. Including the talking bits. Imagine the looks I got when some people I rode by happened to catch the "na na nana, waaay cooool."

Also, as I was leaving the library in the same biking getup, except with the hood down, a threesome of teenage boys stared at me rather blatantly as they walked by; I stared back, unfazed. The middle boy said to the other boys, looking back at me, "What kind of person needs to wear a helmet to walk down the street?" In my head, I got on my bike (parked just across the street) and ran them down with it. In reality, I laughed at how stupid teenage boys are, and rode on home, pleased that passers-by today all thought I was crazy.

Procrastination Denied

Well, I tried to procrastinate today by taking a look at the play that I wrote for my thesis, which Becky is enthusiastic about trying to put on at HDS next year. After my files being precariously moved through three computers/devices before finally getting to my current laptop, it took me a little while to find the file. But I did find what I thought would be the one, and opened it--and it stopped halfway through. I searched for other files, newer ones, to no avail. Half of my play is missing. Either the full file neglected to make the long computer journey, or I got frustrated with trying to edit it and deleted the whole second half. Either option is really possible...I have vague memories of a newer file with a different name, that does not exist on this computer, but I also have vague memories of getting angry and deleting a big chunk of the play. Either way, it stinks. There were some things that were definitely good, or a good starting point, in the second half that I don't know if I can reproduce. It seems that the one long piece of creative writing I ever managed to finish is now doomed to remain unusable. Bah, Humbug. Clearly I will never make a living from writing.

Snapple Says

According to the cap of my Snapple All-Natural Green Tea, "A one-minute kiss burns 26 calories."

It'll take me approximately three one-minute kisses to burn off the Snapple All-Natural Green Tea. Sadly, I'm lacking in kisses of the calorie-burning variety.

More Stolen From Alex

All right, I'm a horrendous copycat. This is a great idea, and I love Christmas music.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A *Christmas* MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?


So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie

Opening Credits:
Christmas Canon - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Pachelbel's Canon, but with young boys singing. Lovely!

Waking up:
Candlelight Carol - Michael Crawford
Well, this is a beautiful song to wake up to, I just wish it wasn't the Michael Crawford version. He creeps me out, man.

First Day at Highschool:
Ave Maria - Charlotte Church
Not totally inappropriate.... I did sing the Schubert Ave Maria in a Christmas concert in high school, so I associate it with that period of my life.... Though this isn't the same Ave Maria.

Falling In Love:
Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
What a jolly way to fall in love. LOL!

Fight Song:
Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney
Hah! So not a fight song in any way....but upbeat, at least.

Breaking Up:
O Little Town of Bethlehem - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Um...am I breaking up with my hometown, here?

Prom:
Skating - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Hey, not bad for a prom! If proms were in the winter. An ice-skating prom would be AWESOME.

Life:
O Come, Emanuel - Mannheim Steamroller
Hmm....chanting monks represent my life? Interesting.

Mental Breakdown:
Carol of the Bells - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
This is a pretty exciting song for a mental breakdown, I think!

Driving:
Carol of the Bells - Home Alone Soundtrack
Haha, clearly my mental breakdown and driving are related in this movie. Maybe I break down in the car.

Flashback:
Wherever You Find Love - The Muppet Christmas Carol Soundtrack
Well, this could be a good flashback song... too bad it's sung by the ghost of Christmas present, and not the ghost of Christmas past.

Getting Back Together:
Little St. Nick - The Beach Boys
Hahaha...at least it's a happy song.

Wedding:
There's Always Tomorrow - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Soundtrack
Oh, how sweet! Though this is more like....the night before the wedding, lol.

Birth of Child:
Away in a Manger - Martina McBride
How appropriate!

Final Battle:
12 Days of Christmas - The Chipmunks
Wow. Maybe the ten lords a-leaping and so on will be my army?


Death Scene:
Waltz of the Snowflakes - Tchaikovsky
Hmm....I guess snowflakes fall, and then melt, so this could be an okay death scene score.

Funeral Song:
Whoville's Whos - The Grinch Soundtrack
What a joyful funeral I'm having!

End Credits:
And So This is Christmas - John Lennon
I'm so pleased that the movie of my life has such a meaningful ending.

Well, Now I Have To.

Now that Alex said I'm the most likely to repost this survey, I feel that I really should. lol.



1. I've come to realize that my ex... has a very smooth radio voice.

2. I am listening to... The Cherry Tree Carol (Judy Collins)

3. I talk... in spurts.

4. I love... Christmas music.

5. My friends are... scattered, but loving.

6. My first real kiss... was a funny story, actually.

7. I lost my virginity... in the month of December.

8. I hate it when people... patronize me.

9. Love is... multifaceted.

10. Marriage is... something everyone should be able to do. *coughdamnconservativehomophobiacough*

11. Somewhere, someone is... buying Christmas gifts!

12. I'll always... cry when sad/touching songs come on, apparently.

13. I have a secret crush on... Julie Andrews.

14. The last time I cried was... a few minutes ago, actually. See above re: sad/touching songs.

15. My cell phone... has a cute charm on it.

16. When I woke up this morning... I felt like hell and couldn't get out of bed.

17. Before I go to sleep at night... I usually put on some music.

18. Right now I am thinking about... how Christmas music is so varied!

19. Babies are... really cute, and happening all over the place lately.

20. I get on MySpace... to find out about the Boston Vagina Monologues.

21. Today I... slept a lot, listened to Alex's show, got emotional over music, and did some reading for class.

22. Tonight I will... do some more reading for class, and have dinner at some point...

23. Tomorrow I will... go to work and do research and reading.

24. I really want... it to snow, and to be cuddled.

25. The person who is most likely to repost this is...hmm...Katie or Becky?

OHS

Me: (after Googling Freedom High School) Wow, there's a Freedom High School in Oakley, California! And one in Orlando.

Becky: Well, that's not so weird, it's not like it's Octopus High School or something.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I'd like to ask you a really big favor. Could you maybe move Christmas to a different month? One that doesn't stink as much as December does? Usually I'm starting to get the warm fuzzies around this time, anticipating the holiday. But this year I'm really not feeling it. I've listened to Christmas music a total of twice since Thanksgiving, and I'm not really getting much pleasure out of figuring out what the hell I'm going to make/get for everyone I need to have a gift for. Maybe we could just get rid of early December, or push Christmas back until after the New Year, or something. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

By the way, here's my list:

-a puppy
-a kitty
-a horsey (the miniature kind)
-a large scholarship
-a wormhole that would take me instantaneously to Philly whenever I want to eat in my favorite restaurants there or go to Bryn Mawr to see shows
-a personal tattooist who would ink me for free
-a sexy bod (to make up for the rather non-prosperous sexy jar)
-a magic wand that would get rid of the big dark bags under my eyes
-a bunny
-really strong sleeping pills (because clearly I can't sleep)


Thanks a bunch.

Love and Snowflakes,
Rachel

Being Girly

Year in Review

Here we are, the titles and first few sentences of the first post of each month in the past year!

January: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! It kinda sucks that I'm writing this from work, where I arrived stuffy-headed and sneezing and tired at 10 this morning, but at least it's definitely going to be a slow day.

February: New Assignment, Fuzzy Feelings.

All right, first things first--I have a new job. The timeframe has been changing; the agency said three weeks, the supervisor here said two weeks, and my brain says probably more like a week and a half.

March: My Personal DNA

Interesting.

April: NYU is a Tease

NYU is so difficult to be in contact with, always. It's beginning to irritate me. I sent them an email last week asking what the timetable was for decision letters, as in, should I be worried that I hadn't yet received one, and they sent back a form email that didn't answer my question in any way.

May: May Day

May Day was lovely! Don't believe me? Check out the pictures!


June: Vacation Pictures

The photos are up!


July: Quiz from Julia

As per usual, swiped from Julia's lj:

So far in 06 have you...


August: I See Two Snoopies

September: In Boston

Hello, all. I'm in Boston. Right now, and for a sad majority of the week and a half we've been here, Boston sucks. In other news, I'm applying for a phone sex job (at least, it sounds like a phone sex job), because it's lucrative and I can do it from home.


October: Just Musings.

I don't have a whole lot to say on any particular topic, so I'm going to muse about several. The first being my schooling situation. It's dumb. They don't give me enough money for it, and they make it very hard for me to graduate in a timely fashion. But I'm determined to do it! I am not staying here past my two years, no way.

November: Vaccination

You know how, to protect you against a disease, they inject you with a very little bit of the disease? Today feels like a vaccination.

December:

Clearly I've Been Watching Lots of Buffy.....

I was just noticing that in this picture, I have the Spike scarred eyebrow thing going on.




Well, that was...interesting. Mostly it just made me sad. Bleah.

Stolen Quiz

So, my comp still doesn't really have much of my music on it, being pretty damn new, so I used my ipod. I presume that isn't cheating.

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?


So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie


Opening Credits:
Dreams - The Cranberries

Not bad for opening credits!

Waking up:
Poor Little Rich Boy - Regina Spektor

Well, I often go to sleep to Regina, so why not wake up to her too?

First Day at Highschool:
Moonlight Serenade - Pirates Soundtrack

Hah...um....well, instrumental isn't the worst choice for my first day of high school...but it's rather slow sounding. As opposed to all other music from this movie.

Falling In Love:
The Ocean - Dar Williams

This is actually a pretty good song for a love scene... nice guitar.

Fight Song:
In Your Keeping - Jann Arden

Not a fight song in any way shape or form! But I do love it.

Breaking Up:
Galileo - The Indigo Girls

Um....okay. I can handle that. Becky says it's an optimistic breaking up song. I think I agree.

Prom:
Calling All Angels - Train

Hah!! This is actually pretty appropriate, in a mood sense, rather than a lyrics sense. I didn't have a good prom.

Life:
Stand Beside Me - Brother

What a great song for my whole life! Yay for the optimism of my musical selections.

Mental Breakdown:
February - Dar Williams

Well, this is also pretty appropriate. Though it might be a better breaking up song.... It gets stuck in my head all the time, too!

Driving:
Itooshi Hito no Tameni - Fushigi Yuugi (Akemi Satou)

Nothing like anime theme songs for driving..... Lol. You hear it and you know you're in for a good time!

Flashback:
John 19:41 - JC Superstar

This is pretty damn far back for a flashback.

Getting Back Together:
Even in Death - Evenescence

I'm going to quote Becky again: "Much less optimistic than the breakup...." Indeed.

Wedding:
Soon - Thumbelina (I don't know her name)

Well, it's a love song, anyway...... But not the kind of sentiment that you want at your wedding. For those of you who are not animation dorks and have not seen this movie, the song is about how Thumbelina will find someone to love her soon. LOL!

Birth of Child:
All Soul's Night - Loreena McKennit

Not the most appropriate, maybe, but not bad either. A sort of mystical birth.

Final Battle:
A Pound of Flesh - Regina Spektor

Okay....I can go with that....

Death Scene:
Least Complicated - The Indigo Girls

An optimistic death scene, too.....clearly my life will have an optimistic arc to it.

Funeral Song:
Daylight - Alison Krauss

Hahahahaha! "I'm afraid of the daylight...." Well, that won't be a problem anymore..... Becky: "Maybe you're going to be a vampire." Clearly!

End Credits:
Colorblind - Counting Crows

Wow, I haven't heard this song in so long...but I used to go to sleep to it every night. That makes me feel good about the movie of my life.

Clearly I've Been Watching Lots of Buffy.....

I was just noticing that in this picture, I have the Spike scarred eyebrow thing going on. I'm not sure how that happened in the shot, my eyebrow isn't scarred. But it's damn cool. I tried to find a pic of Spike that shows his eyebrow, but all his promo pics seem to be from the other side. Ah well.