So, I liked the Hunger Games film. It doesn't top the charts of films I've seen this year, but I liked it. I can easily see beyond the things Hollywood does to films (like typecasting), and can often separate film experience from book experience, knowing they can't fit everything in there.

There were a few things that bugged me:
1) 90% of the cameramen forgot their tripods and had to do hand-held shots. Can be useful for dramatic affect during war scenes, but totally unnecessary for EVERY scene! I eventually got used to it, thank goodness, because those first couple of scenes just bugged the shit out of my eyes.
2) Gail - age 18. Don't cast a 22-year-old who looks like he's 27. I can forgive most characters who don't match their book descriptions to a tee, but for some reason, the look of this guy angered me - I felt like I was seeing that a-hole who never wears a shirt in Twilight. He had that look to him.
3) Relationship development. Where'd it go?
4) How Katniss got the Mockingjay pin / the district token - This only sort of bothered me; something I could have let go, but couldn't - Madge, the mayor's daughter gave her this token (all tributes are allowed one personal token in the games) and made a big deal about Katniss accepting it. But here in the film she finds it in a junk shop? And then it's like a big taboo to bring it with her into the Arena. I don't know. Maybe they're setting it up in a different way - like everyone else on the planet knows what it means except her (which is pretty true).
5) Avox and other sundries- they may have slipped in the word once, and alluded to them (mentioning getting their tongues cut out as punishment), but they were seen in just one minute, and were completely blurred into the background. They just CRAMMED information into the scenes, and mentioned things so fast, they probably just blew over the audience completely.
6) The missing confession that Katniss's affections were just for the cameras. Something they'll probably save for the beginning of the next film, but I wish it was in this one - maybe they didn't want to destroy the young lovey-doveys in the audience so they'd come back for more... whatever.
7) Cultural diversity. It didn't bug me too much at first, because that's what Hollywood does but every character is white except District 11, who are all black and farmers, yeah, no allegory there. Even the Capitol had a bright array of faces, from all nationalities.
EDIT: I REMEMBER WHAT ELSE BUGGED ME Career Tributes - the kids from Districts 1 and 2 train their whole lives for the Games. In the books, this is an illegal activity, but is overlooked. In the film, it's a special academy. No.

Things that didn't bother me so much:
1) Katniss's skin - Mediterranean or Italian, I thought, but hell, if one parent's so fair-skinned, she can still be standard white with an olive complexion. You wouldn't peg me for a quarter native american, would you? I'm motherfucking pale over here.
2) Omitting the dead tribute pickups / dog muttations - If you admit you won't be able to pull off something, say the muttations with the dead tribute eyes, then you don't need to set up for it.
3) Omitting the bum leg - this might show up in the next film, but I don't think the ailment will be bothered to go into the films.
4) The twirly fire dress during her interview - I felt like they threw that in there to play with the fire FX again, in case there's not going to be another movie. I'm just glad the dress didn't turn into a giant mockingjay, since its significance hasn't been revealed yet.
5) Rue and Cinna are black. When they described Rue, I didn't picture her black, I pictured her Native, or Indian, or maybe Hawaiian, but black... never crossed my mind. Her district's male tribute Thresh is exactly the way I pictured him, though. Cinna, I pictured as a small, frail, white older-middle-aged gay man with a subtle class about him. But I think Lenny Kravitz did it pretty well, too.

There are other things I wish were in the film, but I won't go too far into it.

I still liked Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, even though he's not really what I pictured. I hope when they make the video for the 50th Game, they'll be able to go back in time and grab a young Peter O'Toole (and dye his hair black), because that's who I pictured as young Haymitch.


Anyway, I'd better go before I remember the rest of what I was going to say about this film.

I don't know how to start this entry. I had a good weekend, sort of bitter-sweet, though.

The day started off sad. I found my black moore Banjo clutched to the aquarium filter, upside down, bug-eyed, mouth gaping open, and not black at all anymore. I kinda saw that he wasn't doing very well- his colour was waning more and more, fins kept to his sides, and he never ate well (he didn't like the food, but would bottom-feed when he got really hungry- I was advised against separating him during feeding time, or trying to feed him bloodworms, both which I will try next time if I feel the need). I gave him a flush, and declared we leave the house.

After breakfast at Mt. Hope Diner, we looked at another house. We also looked at one yesterday - one was okay, but much smaller on the inside. And the other turned out to be Charles's grandmother's house where his whole family lived and frequented for 30 years. The place is right in our range, GORGEOUS inside. So many rooms and spaces and lovely fixtures... But the roof needs a little work. And Charles is having second thoughts. I have to say I'm really disappointed - I was ready to sacrifice ideal location for this place, and I wasn't at first! No, I didn't like the idea of living in that area, in that house, at all. But then I saw the inside. Roamed the neighbourhood. And loved it. And now he's thinking differently about it. Typical. I have a feeling I'll be getting my own apartment when the time comes for us to move.

Then we went to the toy show at the Village Gate. I almost bought mooncalfe a set of Ninja Turtles qees (Mirage-masked), but Charles spent too much time trying to convince me to save my money. When I finally convinced HIM I wanted them, the person right in front of me bought one of the four, thus ruining the set :( I ended up buying pax_athena a thing or two, though ;)

Earlier this week:

Thursday night, I went to Mt. Hope Cemetery with Brendan and Casey. Sneaking in was easier than sneaking out, because we needed to find a separate hole in the gate (there used to be tonnes of entry points, but they've recently fixed the fence). We walked miles of the land and still didn't even cover half the cemetery. I loved it.

Friday, they picked me up to head over to Shamrock Jack's for a free show by a great local Irish punk band called Sisters of Murphy. Despite the references, they don't cover Sisters of Mercy, and hardly cover Dropkick Murphys - they mostly cover traditional Irish folk songs, Flogging Molly, and original songs. They are fantastic. I also ran into one of my co-workers and his wife. They bought me a great drink and we chatted for a bit between sets.

Saturday, after nursing my hangover, I got a text from my mom saying to meet her at the Village Gate for sushi. The rice and tempura were green! Then I went to a drinky party, where I had one drink that I didn't finish, and left early due to one annoying douche bag.

At the end of my weekend, I made fudge for SOMEONE who stood me up AGAIN because he is a massive heartbreaker and loves the taste of my tears.

And then I went to turn the aquarium light off and was reminded that I only have one fish now :(

Text conversation
Me: "OT tonight?"
Brendan: "Yes."

Before I headed over to the Olde Toad to meet with Brendan and Casey (for our newly-appointed usual Monday night trivia), I headed out for a jog. I've just started a running programme which involves ZOMBIES and I can't be more happy with it. I really like to jog, even if I can only go a minute at a time right now. And I love the story this Zombie App is unfurling.
I overshot last night's "mission" by ten minutes, so I wasn't near "base" when I completed the mission. So I had a nice, ten minute warm down (walked right by OT), and thus unlocked the radio-podcast part of the app :D

I cooled down, distributed the supplies I gathered to the various parts of the base camp, and got ready to go right back out and walked to the Olde Toad. I got there first, but they were totally packed. I even stuck around about 20 minutes to see if someone would leave so we could snag the table, but no dice. So we decided to walk around the corner to Matthew's Bar and Grill, then walked over to Java's for Turkish coffee.

With the night still young, and the weather so great, we decided we couldn't end it there. We explored all the alleys and crevices behind and between all the shops and bars along the East End. We verbally threatened the Channel 10 building, PK'd our own way (our own way involves balancing on rocks or bricks on the ground, leaping from curbs, and stepping on fire hydrants... so lazy parkour), and running from mounties.

Then we ended the night.

I haven't gone to bed feeling that good in a long time :D

I'm home sick today with either the stomach bug that's been going 'round, or food poisoning. I see one important problem with each possibility: 1. It can't be the stomach bug because I've hardly left the house in a whole week, and when I have, there's been minimal human interaction. And 2. I ate the same thing everyone else ate last night. So I don't know what this is. Maybe I got the one bad cider in the pack? And to top it all off, period. FUCK you, universe.

Anyway...

I saw two movies last week, both of which contained wonderful automatons - Hugo, and The Woman in Black.

Hugo was amazing. I loved the book, which I got and read as soon as I heard about it on NPR. The movie was just as good because it really got me on the edge of my seat. Plus it was shot in 3D - I usually hate going to see 3D movies, but this was really amazing. The feeling of watching it embodied everything about the original moving pictures, and that's what the film was about all together :)

The Woman in Black was classically pop-out-and-scare-you, and pretty predictable, but still good. The house, and the sounds, and the automatons... all great! And I didn't think of Harry Potter once the entire time (until a line came up: "we've got one thing they didn't have back then" and Charles said- "MAGIC. wait, wrong movie"). We did end up getting our money back because one of the speakers was broken in the theater, and Charles, being a sound producer/editor, insisted (and also, ten bucks a ticket??). I have the worst luck ever with that theater when it comes to the sound and such. It's like there's only ONE perfectly working room in that whole theater.



Anything else? No, nothing else. Nothing I can think of, anyway.

Charles told me about running into a student at Starbucks last night. He let the kid use his laptop to find phone numbers and try to contact friends/family so maybe he could have a place to crash, since he's just run away from home. Charles feels terrible for this little gay boy who is massively ADHD, most likely bipolar, and is FRIGHTFULLY sheltered (mommy forgot to cut the cord, and even at school, his mother sat by his side in his classes- everyone thought she was a student, too. Nope. Just an overprotective psycho). So after a while of trying to find people online, he went on his merry way, continuing his aimless gallivant around Henrietta, traveling to payphones and trying out different numbers he's found, until he lands on mine at 2am.

At 2am, though, I'm at the losing end of shots roulette down the street at a party. In the noise and confusion, I handed the phone over to someone sober, who had to ask a dozen times who she's talking to. I got it back and tried to zone in on the garbled sound that is THE RAMBLING GAY BOY, with a voice so effeminate, I thought it was a girl, til I heard 'professor Chuck', and the name Joe, and I remembered what Charles told me earlier in the evening. This is the little runaway.

No one involved still has any idea why Charles gave the kid MY number to call if he's in a bind. But by 3am we had a skittish 19 year old kid on our couch for the night, using my laptop to find his sister or any facebook friend (and let me say, this kid was baffled by facebook - thinking the main page were all messages to him from people he hardly knows, and then he examines every person on his facebook trying to figure out how he knows them, messaging everyone currently online, and being baffled by the lack of such people online).

We set him up on the couch with a blanket and pillow, and went to bed. I had him put the computer away, but then heard my computer being restarted 4 times. Then the rustling began. I peeked through the keyhole, and saw him going through every crumply plastic bag he had, tearing up papers, and throwing things away. Ugh, for over an hour! I finally went out and told him to go to sleep. Which led to over another hour of him detailing each item in his bag, including each free sample he horded in his first hour of homelessness, and every type of tea he had in there (ten minutes to describe echinacea and honey teas), and then gabbing away about his friends not getting back to him. I had to explain twice that it's fucking 5am and the odds of one of his pals being up at the ass-crack of dawn on a Sunday morning ain't even on the table. I also had to explain to him that once the computer goes off, no matter how many times you re-start the computer, it's still gonna ask for a password! I turned off all the lights and told him to sleep.

Now with a stranger in our midst, and a liability on our hands (being a student at Charles's school), we weren't sleeping anyway, but at least now we could get some peace and quiet for a couple hours.

I guess I could thank him for making a hangover damn near impossible, not that I didn't have a wicked headache anyway.

Next morning, I peaked my head out to see if he was still asleep. To my surprise, I saw his head planted on the pillow and his eyes shut, but he must have been listening for signs of life from one of us, because he immediately jumped up bright eyed and bushy tailed, and just had to describe every detail and thought regarding his weird friendly happy eerie cool sweet soothing super fun best dream ever.

Yeah, after that, I went back into my room, collapsed on the bed, curled up under the blanket, and told Charles, "your turn." He went out, and I got some sleep while he took charge, they went through the kid's rolodex of addresses and phone numbers, and found gramma. Then somehow, since mom used to work Student Services of the school, she was on the phone with Charles getting info, and lo and behold, she managed to find granny's phone number! We were going to just go over and drop him off, but then Charles announced we got the phone number. I handed over my phone, and that was the end of it. Kid sat on the line and didn't even mention he's now fucking homeless with nowhere to go until 20 minutes into the gab-fest. I woke up and went out there, trying to find one single moment where I could say "tell her you want to come over!" but shit, that kid doesn't fucking breathe!!

So after FOREVER, we were finally on our way to fucking Newark (ny). Not one moment of silence the whole 45 minute trip there. I drowned it out as best as I could, and was totally aware of my mouth gaping open, eyes unblinking and glazed over, like I'd just had a lobotomy, and inside my head, I tried out several different firearms on my face. What I wouldn't have given for a pair of sharpened chopsticks to shove in my ears.

Kid begged for us to meet granny. She sounded like the Squidbilly's grandma, and looked like a spooky version of TrueBlood Sookie's grandma. Half blind from a recent retina surgery, she seemed pretty unhappy by us dumping him on her, but we had to. He needed to connect with family while he's got the chance away from his mother.

We washed our hands of it, got some breakfast, and enjoyed the silence.

Oh, and I didn't realize til after we'd dropped him off, but the kid MURDERED my phone battery. And called my phone FOUR MORE TIMES between 7 and 9. I didn't get any of them because the phone died. I wouldn't have taken the calls anyway. We need to disconnect from him because he cannot think we are his best contacts when he's in a bind. Best part of dropping him in Newark is that's not a leisurely jaunt across the neighbourhood for us, so we can't go pick him up again if we need to. He's got to find a shelter. Our liability risk went far enough.

Blah.

Anyway, that was an ordeal. Now we sleep.

(x-posted at my dreamwidth)

It's that time again, and this year, I've doubled my prospects.

1. Keep at least one resolution.
2. Put on deodorant.
3. Move into a house.
4. Update my website.
5. Update mooncalfe's site (Green Oblivion).
6. Keep home clean with a weekly list (working on the list right now between cleaning breaks).
7. Keep my high GPA high (3.756).
8. Use LJ and Twitter more often (at least once a month).
9. Write one page every day.
10. Write to Keegan once a week.
11. Draw or colour one comic page every day (I'll be lenient with this one and say every other day... for now).
12. Make more jewelry.
13. Make clothes (Charles bought me a serger!).
14. Practice French every week.
15. Make a 'daily look book' for a month.
16. Take more pictures.
17. Keep fish alive (BOTCHED THAT ON DAY ONE!! :(
18. Add BJD demographic to my shop/site.
19. Hit the gym at least twice a week, eat more healthily, and use loseit.com more.
20. Organize my closet.

(x-posted at my dreamwidth)

About time for the year to wrap up. With the exception of one year in particular, I usually look at the year behind as 'okay'. This year's about the same, but I think it went out pretty nicely there at the end. I switched majors (could not be happier about that), I joined a gym, and I am finally getting my teeth fixed. I am fairly content where I am right now in the scheme of things (as ever-changing as they are), though Charles and I are finally looking for our own house now. Not looking forward to another winter move, but it will be worth it. Dinner for everyone who helps, just like last year, of course.

I kept most of my resolutions from last year. I've yet to compile a list of resolutions for the coming year, but I know it will include the first two from every year, as well as #3: keep better tabs on my going-ons throughout the year (without chiefly using facebook status updates).

And now, I give you my year's end post:

Where I am now:
It took me quite a long time to finally bite the bullet and give in to art. I switched my major for the Fall, giving me a fresh new start. I made an immediate rapport with my art teacher (who I had for all three art classes I've taken so far) and we began exchanging comic books and movies and things throughout the whole semester. I produced a little bit of crap, but mostly, everything I did felt so freeing, and wonderful. I love just about all the things I've produced (pictures soon). I have A's in all my classes (except fine art theory, the only class I hated, in which I got a B).

At the beginning of the semester, I joined Andy at the Student Technology Help Desk in the Library. I love it there. I like having that little extra kick in helping the students. There's no pay raise, but I still think of it as an upgrade from the ELC, though I will miss my co-workers there. Yes, after three years of working at the ELC, I'm moving on, and giving all my available hours to Andy at the Help Desk. It's difficult to say goodbye to my beloved co-workers, but really easy to say goodbye to the one who gives me hell all the time (at the time I wrote this, this was true- since then, it was decided I'd give my remaining free 3 hours a week back to the ELC, the bastards).

Honey in my Gears is finally starting to take off. I finally found something people love (and have sold more than ten of them so far). I sold my last Friends of the Ood (Doctor Who) pendant this week, and will be making more in the new year. I have merchandise in a shop in Seattle, Washington, called BedlamBedlam, and my jewelries have made me almost $400 this year alone.



And in the past year... (The following recaps are to the best of my memory. I may have seen/read/done more, but I may have also forgotten some...)


Shows I've seen:
Aside from almost seeing Emilie Autumn in Toronto (skipping classes to do so, for a show that was already moved once, then cancelled again),I saw Voltaire twice this year; once at Diablo in Buffalo, in a venue too small to hold him since his last performance there in 2005. It didn't help the crowds with Rasputina there, too. My last time seeing them was also in Buffalo, but at a different place. I saw him again at The Haunt in Ithaca, with two amazing bands (Hellblinki, and This Way to the Egress). I also saw Bella Morte at the same Ithaca location less than a week later, with mooncalfe. Those shows are always fun.

Movies I've seen:
I saw a lot of movies, old, new, and new-to-me, at Lux Lounge, free (with free popcorn too!). Every Wednesday over the summer, they put up the screen in their back yard and show a fun film. There I saw Meet the Feebles, which I never saw before, as old as it is- I loved it, but Charles was feeling a little green around the gills; Strange Powers (a documentary on Stephin Merritt, one of my favourite singers- of the bands Magnetic Fields, Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes), which I'd actually seen when it premiered at the Dryden theater; Man on Wire, another gripping documentary about a French tight-rope walker, who walked along a wire between the Twin Towers, before they'd even been finished; Pecker a movie I'd never heard of, regardless of my sister's frequent Furlong-a-thons. Very good movie :)
Movies I saw outside Lux: X-Men First Class, Harry Potter VII-Part2, Sucker Punch, Limitless, Win Win, The Help (which I saw as a double date with my friend Vino and his new girlfriend), and Midnight in Paris (which I really, loved, despite it being a Woody Allen film).

Books I've Read:
First of all, my beloved Friday comic FreakAngels finished up. I cried a little when it reached its last week, but it was the week BEFORE the last that had me bawling. That was the big goodbye that ripped out my heart.
As for other comics, I caught up on some of mooncalfe's comics (both his own, like Wet Moon and Shadoweyes, and ones he let me borrow, like the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics!); I translated two French comics (Clues 1 and Clues 2) by one of my favourite artists Mara; and borrowed Lost Girls from my art professor Franzie.
I started to translate La Mécanique du Coeur, by Mathias Malzieu, as well as his newest novel Métamorphose en Bord de Ciel, but was distracted by schoolwork. I started on the easier task of reading Chuck Palahniuk's new book Damned, but then was struck with a new distraction called THE HUNGER GAMES!!! I just finished the third and final book in the series tonight. I've just seen the film lineup, and am not TOTALLY disappointed... yet.
EDIT: Just got a book in the mail, written by my first boyfriend, about his difficult relationship with his alcoholic girlfriend (who he dated after me). I plowed through it and loved every minute (except the belly-button page- GROSS), but I also felt very sad for most of the book, too, making me wish the NOW me (slightly stronger, slightly wiser, and significantly less alcohol-induced) could go back and replace THEN me (girly, stupid, and drinking whenever I went out- hardly to the extent this other girl was at) and maybe, I don't know, help out or be there better or something. Anyway, it's a good book, a NOT A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE BOOK involving Ant-Warriors, called Love Is Not Constantly Wondering If You Are Making The Biggest Mistake Of Your Life.
Now starting on The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God and other stories (starting with the story 'Kneller's Happy Campers', the tale that gave us the awesome film Wristcutters).


Other Things:
Toronto. Not as much as I'd like, but still very important to me, being my most treasured city. I attended a mini UER meetup and adventured in a city far from my own, I attended TCAF, and I ran into the real Scott Pilgrim and friends at my favourite midnight TO haunt Sneaky Dee's.
I joined the Rochester Rufflebutts- the local Lolita fashion crowd, and have attended garden walks, mini-golfing, tea parties, and cupcake gatherings, but now I'm running out of outfits.
Over the summer, I dyed my hair white, I went camping with my friend Kevin, I almost lost a couple of friends in Japan's tsunami, and Charles's dog Toby was put down.
In the fall, Charles's dad had heart surgery, I was a movie extra in a film starring Charles's brother Jeff, I went to Vermont to the Center for Cartoon Studies with mooncalfe, and I finalized five pages of my pet comic book project.

This month, I've attended a couple parties, framed some art, celebrated the holidays with my best friends, and got a dreamwidth account, for just in case LiveJournal takes a dive in the near future... (and as I end this post, I realize the only person I've tagged is Ross, who may possibly be the only friend I have left on LJ who I hang out with on a somewhat regular basis).

Is that all?

I imagine it's really awkward to hear someone else's name come from your girlfriend's mouth. No, not during sex- that's just I game I play.

I've been seeing the name Paul all over lately, and every time, it makes my heart stop for a second. I'd even recently become back in contact with my friend Paul Sizer (the guy who drew those cartoon pictures of me, over in Whitechapel).

You all remember Paul, right? My dead ex-boyfriend, who I still wanted to get back together with, long into my relationship with Charles, til the day he died...

Apparently, I've been thinking of him a lot lately, with all these other Pauls popping up here and there. I didn't really realize it was getting into my head like that. Of course I always miss him, but I... I guess it's just that time of year or something.

So in the throes of cuddling, I said softly to Charles, "I love you, Paul." I was on the brink of sleep though, so I'm unsure how I managed to explain myself there. That was my second offense. I can't remember the first time (where, who, what...), but this was the second in two days.

I don't know how Charles feels about it. I asked him again this morning if I'd really said that, and apologized, said I was thinking of him a lot lately, and miss him. Told him that was the second time, but he thinks I may have dreamed that one.

Ugh, so fucking weird. Paul's probably laughing at me.

So, here's a couple pictures from my phone from Vermont:

Not a lot has been happening with me lately. Some big things, but not a lot of them.

I started reading The Hunger Games last night. On my Nook eReader. Haven't used that thing in a while. I haven't really had a lot of time to read ANYTHING lately, not even comic books- and I have a big pile of comic books and graphic novels to read. Can I do it by year's end? Anyway, so far the book is really good - a lot more gripping right away than I thought it'd be. I'm still at the point where I think it's going to be a Battle Royale rip, but still... And I haven't seen anything regarding the movie. I hope to stay unscathed til I finish it.

I've got a great average in all my classes (I think). I was able to successfully complete three tests in one sitting from when I missed class for a week due to a couple things I'll get to in a minute. That's how easy my classes are (well, that's not entirely true...).

My art classes are amazing. I have the same teacher for all three - Franzie Weldgen, by far the most amazing art teacher I've ever had. We developed an immediate rapport and began exchanging films and comics (he let me borrow the Batman comics drawn by Sam Kieth, and a big trust- Lost Girls. I feel awful that I haven't had time to make a real dent in that mammoth graphic novel). I have Franzie for Drawing 1 (mostly boring, but some cool projects are underway), 2-D Design (which is my favourite, I think, and the class for which I've finished the most projects- one of which, courtesy of a tip from Franzie, is framed and hung in a gallery right now!!!), and Comics / Sequential Art (my second-favourite, or tied-favourite). For the comics class, Franzie asked me to create the cover for the student Comic Anthology, and I was honored to do so, giving him my best idea immediately- themed kid-friendly zombies. We should be getting some early editions in the next week or so. I'm really glad I got to do the cover, because I'd no idea what to submit otherwise!

I got about 15,000 words into my NaNoWriMo story before giving up for other projects. Furthest I've gotten in a few years. I'll try again next year.

I was in a movie as an extra! This guy from RIT is doing his student thesis film called "Literally Figurative" and he made a call for extras one day. I found out because Charles's brother Jeff is the lead! The scene I was in was shot in a junk yard in the next neighbourhood. It was fucking freezing, but I had fun anyway. The scene was the 'town courtyard' or whatever scene, and it involved as many extras as the director could muster last second (there were about 5 of us, max, plus the actual cast). The idea behind the film is a bunch of homeless bums are being literally affected by figures-of-speech (things like, birthday suit, keep your eyes peeled, flipping the bird- my extra's character was 'hair-raising' and I spent the whole shot lifting my hair above my head). Jeff's character avoids being affected by eating 'an apple a day'. It was fun, but the director doesn't have his shit together, so he's pissing off cast AND crew and messing up everywhere, probably due to rushing against the winter weather. Oh well.

I got my first commission check from Bedlam Bedlam - $130! ...kinda eh about it, since I have about $1500 worth of merch over there, but I guess slowly but surely or whatever.

I went to the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) with Ross mooncalfe, in White River Junction, Vermont. I had a pretty good time, considering all the steep and not-so-steep hills I had to trudge, making it painfully obvious how out-of-shape I am (we walked across a bridge into New Hamshire and had sushi, too). I think my favourite part of the trip was when we arrived and met with a bunch of students (great and crazy characters, them) at the local pub for drinks and fat-chewing, all night. I met a gal named Katie (who fed us delicious pumpkin soup) who I hit it off with so well I'd have dumped Charles for her if I didn't have to work in the morning. The talk Ross gave was fantastic! No idea what that loser was so worried about. He filled the whole two hours, then some. And everyone loved him.

Worst part about the trip, though? Ross would say it was all the dead cats and getting NO SLEEP (the train junction was RIGHT OUTSIDE THE HOTEL WINDOW). But me? I say, something gave me a very bad allergic reaction. I still don't know. I'm going to blame the Luna Bars that Ross fed me, since that's the only out-of-the-ordinary thing I did the whole trip. But I've never had hives before, and it freaked me out. I had to go to the emergency on Sunday, it got so bad, and I got it checked out and came home with a bunch of prescriptions... which I just remembered I have to take right now. Check out a Podcast with Ross and Nick where Ross talks about the whole ordeal :)

And lastly, I think, I bought a PS3 (under the name fawndolynvalenti - cuz they wouldn't let me finish it, and diello seemed already taken). Games acquired with it: Silent Hill: Homecoming, Bioshock 1&2, Fallout 3 & New Vegas, and Dead Space :)