Wedding plans are proceeding apace. 26 days to go, and I'm not actually freaking out yet... We still have a LOT to do though.

I finally (well, it was April 25th, I guess that's not that bad considering my track record) posted pics from the lovely Regency High Tea Bridal Shower! :D Danielle, Meisha and I all made dresses (and one of my mom's friends, who is also the cake baker, dressed up too!). Lovely tea fare, croquet, a "turn about the grounds" and then we had an "afterparty" including the menfolk at our apartment.

It's on Flickr. My account is set to public so there shouldn't be any trouble viewing it, but if there is, let me know.

And D, we missed you. :( I wore the blue flower bobbypin you got me so you could be there in spirit. I hope you're enjoying Hawaii!!

Julie's Regency High Tea Bridal Shower!

I'm not sure I can answer this. Bret is probably more traditionally cute, but Jemaine has grown on me over time. And of course, they are both completely awesome.

Some things about 2008:

- I got engaged in January of this year! :D We'll be getting married on May 30th, and I am totally freaking out about the planning. I still have soooo much to do.

- I spent most of this year without Bryon, who was deployed in Afghanistan. It wasn't easy, it wasn't pleasant, and it was definitely lonely, but we got through it. He got back on New Year's Eve, when his dad, Mike and I drove through crappy weather to go get him in Syracuse. It is soooooo good to have him home again.

- This was a reading year for me, no question. His last deployment was when I learned to knit and pretty much knit stuff all year; this year I only knit about 2 inches of a mitten, and that only started in December.

- As evidence, I present to you the complete booklist of 2008. Kinda crazy - 181 books, I think. Compare this to last year when I think I read 65. I'm sure this year I'll get much less reading done. I tend not to read so much when Bryon is around.

- The other big thing that happened this year is that I quit my job and went back to school. Huzzah - it really was about time. Now I'm working on an associate's degree in Web Design, and enjoying it. It would be nice if most of the computer courses I need didn't overlap each other, however, as it makes it hard to cobble out a schedule. I don't regret this decision one little bit. I just hope it works out well.

That's about it. 2008 was an okay year for me, but I'm glad it's over. Let's go, 2009!

Yup. Semester is ALMOST over. I just have a whole bunch of projects to get done, and it's my own stupid fault for leaving them this long. *sigh* Happily everything else is all finished except for two finals next week.

Something amazing:
I managed to re-wire the entire entertainment system, and hook up surround speakers, and it all works. Yay!

Something kinda... "huh":
Cast announced for The Last Airbender. Jackson Rathbone? Really? Mind you, this is not a negative for me. I'm happy to give anyone a shot and I actually LIKE him so I'm even MORE willing to give him a shot. :D I'm really happy they went with an unknown karate champ for Aang! Honestly the entire concept of this movie getting made is weird, so anyone they put in the roles is going to seem odd.

Something good:
11 days til my birthday! 13 days til Christmas! Wheeeee!

Working tomorrow and Saturday. Will probably be super-busy.

Hope everyone's doing well. (P.S. I do read LJ way more than I post on it.)

Naptime.

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY aurillia!!! :D :D :D

Secondly, I can't believe it's a) almost the end of break week, b) almost December, c) less than a month from Christmas, and d) less than a month from my birthday.

I have a biggggg homework assignment to do tomorrow, and the thought of it has been weighing on me all week (I did get some other homework done earlier in the week). I worked a bit this week, including Black Friday, but it wasn't NEARLY as bad as I was expecting.

And yes, I did see Twilight. I had mixed reactions this first time around; Rob Pattinson did an EXCELLENT job, Kristen Stewart nearly as excellent, and the rest of the Cullens were fine although you really didn't see all that much of them. The humans (Charlie included) were even more endearing and hilarious than they are in the books. Also: bad vamps = awesome. The first two thirds of the movie were perfectly fine despite editing and alterations, but the last third had a lot of things that bugged me, mostly because they were out of character. I still want to see it again, and this time I'll take my mom (Aunt Lisa went with me the first time).

I've managed to finish a couple of books over the break, bake a pumpkin pie (from scratch, including the crust), have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with my family, talk on the phone to Bryon for half an hour!, and do all of my laundry. Oh, and catch up on Bleach (NEL = AWESOME!!!). So, it's been fairly productive.

What's been going on in your world? :D

1. 40 days til my birthday!! :D

2. 6 days til my brother's birthday!! :D

3. This cracked me right up: Twilight: The Lost Script

4. I would also like to point out that I am RUNNING the Twilight pre-release party Saturday night at work. They knew I would have fun with it.

5. I finally took the plunge, and had Fawn (hairdresser) dye part of my hair hot pink. WAHAHAHA. I just didn't want to hit 80 and go, "Crap, I always wished I'd done that once." Besides, I'm a college student again. What better time? Pics are here.

6. We bought a PS3. Once I found out we would have to track down, specifically, the first model (60 gig) in order to have one that would play PS1 and PS2 games, I started searching. After losing several eBay auctions, one of the local GameStop stores got in a used one. We have Soul Caliber IV, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Band, in case anyone is interested in playing online or something. :D

7. Stressssssssssssssss... lots of homework and a big test this week, plus some longer shifts at work. I am working ALL THREE of my class-free days this week. Bleh.

8. Oh yeah, Halloween! I went as Jem this year. :D :D :D The pics are in my Scrapbook - here.

Wowww... ok, a look at the EW cover for the new Star Trek movie:

Entertainment Weekly Star Trek cover

(a link which I found via cleolinda)

...it's so weird. I can still see Zachary Quinto in there but... whoa.

I am so excited about this movie.

1) Programming = AUUUGH. I almost have this one right but I've run into a roadblock.

2) ILU MICK ST. JOHN.


....that is all.


Oh wait, that's not all. Another big HUZZAH, cuz I was looking up mp3s on Amazon earlier, and it turns out that Keane's new album is their $2.99 Deal of the Day today! :D :D :D I don't mind only having it on mp3 if it means I can get it for $2.99.

So, first off, HAPPY (CANADIAN) THANKSGIVING to everyone who celebrated yesterday. I forgot to post about it yesterday, which is really pathetic considering I actually thought about it ahead of time, and still forgot.

Secondly, I am proud to say that I figured out another tough exercise in my programming class... I was confused yesterday, but I went to see the tutor, and he basically just let me talk myself through it until I got to the right answer. :D Now I have to write out the pseudocode and then code it in Python. Bleh.

It's going to be a busy next few months. I have some interesting things potentially in the works, and a lot of stuff to get done. Job is still going well, and I still managed to finish a couple of books (Marked and Inkspell [FINALLYYYYYY]). I also am all caught up on How I Met Your Mother now, go me! And am up on Heroes, and nearly up on True Blood. We shall not discuss SG: Atlantis or Joan of Arcadia at the moment, but hey, at least they both have finite quantities. I'm also looking to watch the Romeo and Juliet anime, Chrno Crusade, Freaks and Geeks, and the rest of Moonlight. Eeeep. Oh, and the rest of Doctor Who Season 4.

We are getting closer and closer to when Bryon should hopefully get home. HUZZAHHHH.

I'm off to code or read or something.

Ok, I'm posting these under cuts so I won't spoil anyone who doesn't want to read my mini-rants on both the first House of Night book, and the True Blood TV series.

Admittedly, I've totally cracked and started reading/watching every vampire-themed thing in sight (uhh, minus Anne Rice. I don't think I'll ever have any desire to read those. We were watching Interview at Danielle's last time D was home and I was disgusted to the point that I gave up halfway through and half-fell asleep. I will say, they portrayed the vampires' movements etc. pretty nicely.)—I just can't help it. But you know what? It has cleared something up for me.

I was sort of wondering if I was going to turn into a raging vampire fan. But you know what? The vampire-related stuff I like has nothing very little to do with the fact that there are vampires in it. My favorites? Twilight, obviously, The Historian, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and so far, Moonlight. In every one of these, when I think about them, I don't think about how awesome or sexy the vampires are. I remember the characters, and the storyline, and how they intertwined.

Edward and Bella both so drawn to each other but trying so hard to do whatever they think would be best for the other person. The family of Cullens creating a lifestyle for themselves that makes them feel less like monsters. And yes, the whole love triangle with Edward, Bella and Jacob.

Two intellectuals swept up in a Europe-wide chase after a legendary figure of evil, trying desperately to save someone close to them. Plus, of course, a very interesting period of history as the backdrop (I learned a LOT from that book, and it made me go read other books on the subject too).

Meier, a vampire, fighting his desires to protect his beloved Charlotte.

And, well, Mick St. John, also fighting his nature to live among humans and munch on some bad guys.

I need self-sacrifice; love; likeable characters... which is why I really don't care for any of the vampires who just go around snacking on whoever they want (a la Anne Rice, and True Blood). Anyway...

( House of Night stuff )

( Aaaaaand..... Sookie Stackhouse's transition to the small screen. )

Ok, I'm done with the ranting. It's my last day of break and I'm going to enjoy it, darn it. But I also have some stuff to get done.

*REVIVES CUZ SHE REALIZES SHE CAN'T SEE THE MOVIE IF SHE'S DEAD*

OH MY GODDDDD.

I gotta say, I've been holding out hope for this movie, but the two previous trailers did not really make me that hopeful.

BUT OH MY GOD THIS TRAILER. AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH *FLAILS*

*FLAILS SOME MORE*

First, this just cracked me up: Conversation with a Snake, via cleolinda.

Second, I DID IT. I completed my Library Book Challenge! My books were due today, and they are all safely back at the library, with no overdue fines, and all have been read. Wheee! It was definitely interesting, but I don't think I'd do it again because I like being able to throw some other random books in that I just happen to feel like reading at that moment, without any pressure.

I have another slew of library books out already but not as many as before; and the next thing on my list is Dead Until Dark, which I borrowed from work because I want to read the book before I hunt down the episodes of True Blood.


...

I have a LOT to do. It's break week, so I don't have classes, but I am working later in the week and I'm trying to get a bunch of wedding planning stuff done too. I've already done some fun stuff; bridesmaid dress shopping with the girls again, dinner at Friendly's, visiting Kim in Binghamton on Sunday (shopping and IHOP, oh what a day...) and lunch with Danielle, Jesse and Tina today. I even exercised a bit (half an hour of DDR workout mode plus some pushups... I am sooooo sore).

Watched Heroes. I am completely not impressed with this season so far. BE MORE AWESOME, HEROES. Nearly done with Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother; still hilarious, mostly.

I'm just missing talking to Bryon at the moment—he said he might not be on for a few days.

Amazingly, I started a crochet project. I have not knit or crocheted anything since Bryon left. I'm not sure why; just haven't felt like it (whereas during the Iraq deployment, I learned to knit and knit solidly the whole time he was gone). I am making a scarf, striped longways in purple, medium blue, light blue and grey. It's coming along nicely.

Oh, I have also discovered Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale. This stuff is fabulous.

Annnnnyway, I'm off to read or crochet or something. If only I could figure out a way to do both...

Ok: this post is targeted at the Australians on my flist...

I just read How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier (wife of Scott Westerfeld).

The book had a lot of odd slang in it. Now, I know that Scott Westerfeld likes to make up a lot of slang etc. for his books, but I don't know how to tell if his wife is doing it as well, or if some of the stuff she is using is just Australian slang I don't know. -_-

So, if any of you get a chance to read this book, please enlighten me!!

It's a fun read, with a pretty unique setup, and it would take 1-2 days to get through. If I could remember more of the slang, I would just post about it. The only one I remember clearly is "spoffs" in place of "breasts." I don't have the book anymore either (had to return it to work) so I can't flip through it to find more.

Ok, out of curiosity, I downloaded the first episode of Moonlight, a vampire show that I already know got canned after, what, 16 episodes?


I think I love it.

In many ways Mick St. John is like a live-action Edward Cullen, minus the sparkles (as far as I know). He's a vampire who's found a way around having to kill people, and he's basically made a living out of being in what for Edward was his rebellious people-killing stage—hunting down bad guys, predators... those who harm others.

He's polite, he's a good guy, and well... gorgeous doesn't hurt. Also has that vulnerable "I've never let anyone get close to me before" thing. It's kind of hilarious how similar they are (so far Mick St. John is a bit less emo, hahaha).

But then again, I love Edward, so it's not surprising that I am loving this show (so far).

Bonus points for his vampire buddy who's living the high life. He's fun.

Cheese points for playing "My Immortal" over the resolution of the first episode. HAHAHAHA. That made me laugh.



Anywayyyy... after a completely exhausting last two days, it is now break week and I am soooooo sleeping in tomorrow. I am actually SORE from all the returns/stocking of the last two days.

Yoinked from infiniteviking:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
6. Tag five other people to do the same.

Hmm, I tag: aurillia, _ocelott_, madhowan, destroyingangel, and omdog. Mwahaha!

( I was literally LEANING on this book when I read the meme... )

Printer running out of ink. Need printer to do homework, of course. Solution: ran to M&D's to print stuff out for tomorrow. I shall have to stop tomorrow and get an ink cartridge.

In good news: having a couple of days off this weekend actually allowed me to get some housework done, woohoo! I'm slowly rearranging and moving stuff into the second bedroom, now that my brother has his own place. It's weird actually having space for these things.

Off to switch the laundry.

1. Maximum Ride: School's Out—Forever - James Patterson


2. Maximum Ride: Saving the World & Other Extreme Sports - James Patterson


3. Maximum Ride: Final Warning - James Patterson


4. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld


5. Specials - Scott Westerfeld


6. So Yesterday - Scott Westerfeld


7. The Last Days - Scott Westerfeld


8. Bound - Donna Jo Napoli


9. Hush - Donna Jo Napoli


10. Queen Bee - Chynna Clugston


11. In the Small - Michael Hague


12. Montmorency: doctor, aristocrat, murderer? - Eleanor Updale


13. Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale


14. Circle of Magic: Shandry's Book - Tamora Pierce


15. Tweak - Nic Sheff


16. Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison


17. Cradle and All - James Patterson


18. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

4th Maximum Ride book, and Book of a Thousand Days down. That's 13 out of 18, plus I flew through How to Ditch Your Fairy so I can take it back to work. Woo! Up next: Hmm.. maybe the Montmorency book.

Ok, how cool is this:

I've had the last two books of Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles on my BookMooch wishlist for months now. They keep notifying me that paperback editions have been posted—but I specifically want the original hardcover editions with the covers by Trina Schart Hyman, like I used to get out of the library every summer.

Today, I got two notifications: BOTH of the books were listed, on the same day, by two different people. So I jumped over to BookMooch and requested them immediately. I'm so excited! :D :D :D

Oh, finished Book of a Thousand Days as well. I really liked it; it's my favorite Shannon Hale book.

I'm working today from 1:45 to 9, the first couple of hours of which will be face painting for a Kids' Day event. Heh.

Wish me luck.

[edit] Would like to report that, happily, I actually got to paint about 8 kids' faces today. This is 4 times the number I painted at the Brisingr release. Huzzah. [/edit]

BITTEN AGAIN. Here I went a whole week or so with no bites... AUUUUUGH.

It's completely crazy-making.

In other news, I did get a main page up for onetrooluff.net and managed to get my Doctor Who mood theme set up at the new host.

(side note: haha, look, Rose's parents are arguing in my mood icon.)

1. Maximum Ride: School's Out—Forever - James Patterson


2. Maximum Ride: Saving the World & Other Extreme Sports - James Patterson


3. Maximum Ride: Final Warning - James Patterson


4. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld


5. Specials - Scott Westerfeld


6. So Yesterday - Scott Westerfeld


7. The Last Days - Scott Westerfeld


8. Bound - Donna Jo Napoli


9. Hush - Donna Jo Napoli


10. Queen Bee - Chynna Clugston


11. In the Small - Michael Hague


12. Montmorency: doctor, aristocrat, murderer? - Eleanor Updale


13. Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale


14. Circle of Magic: Shandry's Book - Tamora Pierce


15. Tweak - Nic Sheff


16. Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison


17. Cradle and All - James Patterson


18. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

11 of 18 complete. Also have to sneak The Black Moth and How to Ditch Your Fairy in there somewhere, as I have (idiotically) borrowed them from work.

Today was... okay. I visited one of my professors during office hours and got him to explain what we did in class on Wednesday, which at the time had me so lost and confused I was almost in tears. So that was good. Also had the critique for our second web design project (a political campaign website) and that went well.

Sat in on Jesse and Danielle's radio station debut while trying to finish up Slaughterhouse-Five (ended up reading the last 10 pages after I got home). Attempted to go see Burn After Reading with my brother, but we screwed the timing up and apparently the plan wasn't as solid as I'd thought it was, so we'll have to try another time.

Went to Staples and Barnes with Danielle and Jesse, briefly, then home. So far I've vacuumed, cleared off the coffee table, and started some laundry. Wahoo!

Oh yeah... I also changed web hosts, after something like 7 years with DreamHost. They've been great, but their prices aren't as competitive as they once were and I frankly gotta go cheap at this particular point in time. My contract was up for renewal, and I found that I could use GoDaddy.com and pay less per year for hosting and a domain, PLUS $10 a year to keep my old domain name (so I can forward people to my new one, etc.) than I did for one year at DreamHost. Sorry, guys... them's the breaks for a once-again poor college student.

The new domain is onetrooluff.net, although nothing is set up there yet.

I miss my fiancé. Yes, I am talking to him online right now, but it's not the same thing. Ack.

Anyway... *shakes head and changes the subject* The Heroes premiere was fairly awesome, although it managed to squick me out both physically (C/Sylar, need I say more?) and morally (near the end). Auuugh. I know this is the season everything is going to go to crap - good guys will become bad, bad guys will become good, blah blah. I'm just a little disappointed how easy it seems to be in certain cases. Looking forward to more.

I'm maybe 8 eps into season 2 of How I Met Your Mother. I laughed SO HARD at the Swarley episode... not at the Swarley part although that was great too... just... oh I have not laughed that hard at any other episode. :D This show makes me happy.

Reading The Last Days (another Scott Westerfeld book, the sequel to Peeps). It's amusing the heck out of me. I love that all the chapter titles are also band names. (Garbage, Taj Mahal, Poisonblack, Stray Cats etc. etc.) I've sort of accidentally gotten myself in a bit of a reading overload... at the moment I am partway through Clique (the first one—got it for BookMooch but I'm blowing through it just to see how it is—must say, it is WAY less skanky so far than the one Gossip Girl book I flipped through. Ack!); still about 2/3 through Slaughterhouse-Five; 1/4 through The Last Days, and maybe 30 pages into The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer. I have to return that one to work and I'm not sure when the "due date" is, so I'm trying to hurry. Wheee!

Library book count: read 9 of 18. So I'm halfway there!

School is being very school-like. I'm busy with homework, and I am so wiped out that I caught myself nearly doing the head-nodding thing (a.k.a. Neck PT) in my first class. On the good side, I finished the web design project that's due Tuesday in class today, so I don't have that hanging over my head, and I got 50/50 on the huge project for the HTML class that I was working on til 4 a.m. the other morning. So that's good.

Taking advantage of a quieter evening to get some housework done, and some reading. And some HIMYM.