Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sacrifices for Summer Quarter

As I get closer to the end of this quarter (only about fifteen days left), I feel strange because for the first time ever I'm not going to get a summer vacation. Nope, this is my 4th quarter in a row. This is going to be really shitty to not have a summer vacation but it's going to be very worth it in the end.
I haven't done this for awhile. I'm going to look at my credit standings at CBC as of now and see if I do need to take a full schedule this summer or not. I'm going to count the classes that I'm taking this quarter as passed because I'm pretty sure I'm acing all of them.

Requirements to get my AA
Communications- 13 Cred- DONEEngl. 101- 5 cred
Technical Writing- 5 cred
Speech Essentials 3 cred

Math Proficiency:
Took Math 96 this summer to prepare for Math 95, which I'm gonna be taking this summer.

Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning: 0/5
Gonna be taking an introductory C++ class in the Fall, which will cover this stupid category.

Humanities 15/15 DONE
Intro to Literature: 5 cred
Music Appreciation: 5 cred
Survey of Asian American Cultures: 5 cred

Social/Behavioral Sciences 15/15 DONE
General Psychology: 5 cred
Survey of Anthropology: 5 cred
Intro to Sociology: 5 cred

Mathematical and Natural Sciences 10/15
Intro to Environmental Science w/ Lab: 5 cred
Nutrition: 5 cred
Going to be taking biology this summer to finish this up.

Health/Physical Education: 3/3
Fitness Center 1: 1 cred
Fitness Center 2: 2 cred

Electives 20/24
Japanese I: 5 cred
Japanese II: 5 cred
Japanese III: 5 cred
Jogging: 2 cred
Drugs and Health: 3 cred


Basically, then... All I need is math 95, 5 elective credits (which will be Japanese IV next quarter) and stupid C++. Then I'll be DONE DONE DONE DONE, yayyy!!!

The only thing that concerns me is this. On the bottom of AA requirements, it says "A maximum of fifteen credits from a restricted section can be applied." Does this mean that I won't get credit under my electives for Japanese IV? It says to go see a councilor but it's nearly impossible to get an appointment. oi.
I talked to a guy in the computer lab and he said it shouldn't be a problem. So, that being said, I'm so close to being done I can almost taste it. Registration for what I need has already been taken care of, but I wanted to know if I needed to take a full schedule this summer or just do the two classes that are potentially time consuming anyway: Biology and Math 95. I'm just sad I can't take any art classes for the hell of it. Drawing I is in the morning... so is my math class, and there are no other math classes with Zhang that work with my schedule. Probably for the best though, this summer I'm going to need to dedicate about three hours a day to math, according to the people that have taken it.


So yeah, summer is going to be not so fun. Summer quarter begins June 27, just one week after my finals. So I do get a week vacation to do NOTHING (I'm planning on reallllly enjoying this week, since I'm not going to get much of a break with FIVE DAYS A WEEK schedule). The last week of summer quarter is August 19... yep, whole summer. But then I get a break until September 19.

During the summer I don't typically do much though, so I'm not missing out on anything...

Except for a trip to California to see my family, more than likely-- which is HUGE because I haven't seen them in two years now. Because the week is five days a week instead of 4, I no longer get three day weekends and the trip would cause me to lose 2-3 class days. This can make a HUGE difference in a math class, especially one that is rapid paced but even more so because the quarter is 9 weeks instead of 11. I have no choice, I have to do it. As sad as it is. I just wish my family could come up here instead, but with my aunt's business she wouldn't be able to leave it either. That's just how things go I guess. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can take a driving trip with someone to go see Humboldt university and go and see my family. Probably won't happen though, I'm too poor ass and I can't trust my car for that lonnnnnnng trip.

Anyway, Better get going, gonna go home

yours,
Emily




Sunday, May 29, 2011

all over the place.



My eyes feel dry. It's 9:26 pm.

 I feel alone.

Alone because my friend has my phone, probably still over in Kennewick with her boyfriend. She has made no effort to get ahold of me what so ever in regards to my phone, and it makes me mad that I've had to not have it all day. I can't help but wonder who has texted me. Is this cell phone addiction? probably. I want to talk to Jacob but I know that I'll probably be talking to him a lot in the next week or so, so it doesn't matter. I wish Katelynn was here. She's still at wal mart. I hate wal mart.

Time seems like it's going by extremely slowly. I look around me and realize that this is the same place that I've been spending most of my time my entire life. That dining room is the exact same dining room where I had a birthday party in Kindergarden and everyone was running around wearing paper cat ears. The same dining room where my family all had Thanksgiving dinner shortly before my grandpa died. That ugly chandaleer has always been the same. There's one light that is noticeably brighter than the others. Under it is all of my scrapbooking stuff. I hope to get my scrapbook done by the end of the night.

But I doubt I will....

Tonight I'm going to do some pilates. Try to simultaniously exercise and relax. I hate exercising. Seriously, I can't help but wonder if other people are as obsessed with exercise as I am. Like I have to do some a day or I get depressed or irritated. I almost feel anxious. Like if I've been laying in one spot for a long time, doing some homework or studying.. my body will seem to tell me that I need to go do something

.


This video has inspired me to maybe start making clay charms to sell. They're really adorable. I don't know if I would have the skill/patience to do so though. Still, could be a fun thing to do.

I don't want to write anymore...

yours
Emily

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Kuro Neko Con Costume Plan

This blog entry is probably going to take more than an hour to make because I am going to have to search all over for the sites that I need to buy from. But now that I realize it's almost june, I need to figure out where and when I'm going to buy things so that I don't wait until it's too late.

Potential Dresses:

Neko Maid cosplay.
I personally think this one is super adorable, though I don't know about the neko thing. I wasn't intending on doing the cat ears, as it sort of creeps me out for some reason, but I really like this dress and it comes from a good brand (for American cosplay, so the sizes are built to American bodies. I'd rather avoid what happened last year when I got that school girl outfit in the mail). With this brand, you enter in your height and weight and they size it accordingly.
$85
Not a bad price, what I'd expect to pay for the main part of my outfit...

http://cosplaysky.com/gothic-lolita-cat-maid-cosplay-costume-sissy-dress.html Link to where to buy it.

Lolita Dress.
This is not the most maid like, but if I wanted to take it in the maid direction this is sooo cute. I like the pleats. The only thing that concerns me about this is that my bulky forarms will show. I have been working out a lot and my body looks great, but my forarms don't seem to slim down, I hate it. Also, because I'm going to be volunteering in the maid cafe, if something spills on me the trip is ruined. Better pray it doesn't happen. Better also have a backup plan in the car....
$69.99

Shoes:

These are super cute but I don't really want to spend $60 on them. At least you guys kind of know what I'm going for, but some black Mary Janes that aren't heals like this would be sufficient.

That's pretty much it... that didn't take that long.

I'm going to order the outfit next time I get paid for Ebay. Better list more things today.

yours,
Emily

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Really interesting unsolved mystery-- Michael Riemer and Diana Robertson

I want to know what happened to these people.

After getting finished with my every-Tuesday drugs and health assignments, I was browsing around Charleyproject.org. I used to do this a lot when I was in middle school. For some reason I've always had an interest in people's cases, both resolved and more interestingly, unresolved. This case in particular was under resolved, and states:
Michael L. Riemer Jr.
Riemer
Riemer, 36, disappeared from Pierce County, Washington on December 12, 1985. He went missing with his girlfriend, Diana Robertson, and their two-year-old daughter. The child turned up wandering around a local store, alone, later that same day. Robertson's body was found on an old logging road south of Elbe, Washington in February 1986; she'd been stabbed 17 times and strangled with a sock. Her murder remains unsolved. Riemer remained missing until April 2011, when his skull was found near Mineral, Washington, about one mile from where Robertson had been located. Authorities have been unable to determine a cause of death. The first thing I notice is that this case is quite close to home. Pierce country neighbors Yakima county, and is only a couple hours away from here. Interested, I went to a website that provided more information.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2011/04/12/police-link-skull-to-1985-cold-case-komo/

The jist, if you don't want to go to the site. The couple and their child disappeared from Pierce County in 1985. The couple had a history of abuse, and had a two year old daughter together. At one point Michael signed a restraining order from his girlfriend, as it was reported that he threw her down some stairs. On the presumed day of the murder, their two year old daughter was found wandering alone in a K-Mart in Spanaway-- where I'd assume they come from, as Spanaway is in Pierce county. A year later, Diana Robertson, the mother of the toddler was found on a snow-covered logging road in Lewis County in a town called Elbe. Next to her was a note that said "I love you, Diana." Neither the prime suspect of the murder, Michael Rieme, or Robertson had been seen since the day their daughter was found in the K-Mart.

The note. If you'd like a more in-depth and personal story on the case, check this site out. Warning, somewhat gruesome. http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/mur_diana_robertson.htm

Just recently (April 2011), Rieme's skull was found in Mineral, WA, a little town just a mile from where Robertson's remains were found.

What makes this case interesting to me is how, one would obviously say that Rieme would be the prime suspect because of their history of abuse, and the note which would point out that there was some sort of bond between the murderer and the homicide victim. But because his skull was found, and because of his own disappearance, perhaps this was a double homicide and Rieme did not kill Robertson or have any involvement in her murder.

In finding the skull, they now know Rieme's whereabouts, which was a mystery for about twenty five years. However, all this tells investigators is that he's not out living his life. This does not give any information on what happened to the couple on that day.

Another major problem is that they have no witnesses. Their only source of information regarding the case is their two year old, who needless to say had no idea what was going on and couldn't give any information. All she said was, "My mommy is out in the trees." Sounds like typical two year old talk and probably doesn't mean anything. However, coincidentally, both parents were found in a heavily wooded area. Could it be possible that their daughter witnessed the murder but did not realize what she was seeing? Perhaps she was dropped off at K-mart before or after the deed was done.

Another VERY interesting fact about this case is that Reimer is not only the prime suspect in his girlfriend's murder, but also of two neighboring campers two months earlier in the same area. But it's very possible that Reimer himself is a victim.

The two theories behind this is that either A) Reimer is a serial killer and killed his girlfriend and left that note behind, as well as two other people before taking his own life, or B) A serial killer got all of them and the couple wasn't involved in eachother's murders.
Personally, I lean more toward Reimer killing his girlfriend based on his history of blaming her and domestic violence, BUT I would want to know if the skull had any sort of evidence of trauma. Because if their was evidence of blunt trauma to the head, then he was most likely murdered. If he would of killed himself, he would of probably shot himself in the head, not in the heart or another vital organ in fear of the shot missing and causing a slow and painful death instead of a quick painless one. So I can't help but ask what condition they found the skull.

The news did not include the facts that Diana's body was found near Michael's truck, and their were blood stains on the truck's seat.

All the evidence points at Michael but with no other evidence and no witnesses or leads, the case will probably never be solved unless their daughter decides she wants closure and looks to find out what happened to them. Otherwise, I doubt investigators have this case on the top of their list, because they have no way of talking to the prime suspect. Perhaps if they examined Robertson's body they could get evidence of foul play with Michael, but it's not likely.

Just thought I'd share that with you guys. So interesting.

yours,
Emily

Monday, May 16, 2011

French maid? :p

We got our math tests back, and it irritates me that two of the three that I missed were wrong because I didn't pay attention to the < and > signs. It's funny, I wasn't good at those in elementary school either, and using them in equations is just as bad as when I was a little kid going, "So... what does the aligator eat? The smaller number? OKAY!" I remember I almost failed the 2nd grade because they thought I thought that 2 > 3 (two is greater than three..). That was the teacher's fault though, stupid metaphors.

The last couple days since I got back from the System concert have flown by, and now it's back to the old grind. It's funny, now that THAT is over, I have to think about other things that I need to save for.

I want to go to Kuro Neko con this year, and I am intending on wearing a french maid costume so I can volunteer in the maid cafe thing. The only thing that concerns me about this is that Sophie Dituri (Jed's girlfriend) probably hates me because of the Sakura Con trip experience. I never really insulted Sophie or Mikayla, the only one that I've really insulted was Alberto because he talked shit about me WAY after the event was said and done. But, because Sophie/Jed/Mikayla are Alberto's best friends, obviously they're going to dislike me as well. I might not volunteer just to avoid drama, but it would be fun.

So yeah, I need to start saving for a costume and the trip itself. It's in July, and will probably be my next big purchase. I'd also like to get a haircut and some new acrylics soon, so I'm going to list more stuff on ebay.

Robert is sitting next to me. This is the first time I've seen him in months. He looks the same, lol. It's really sad that we hardly ever talk anymore, but that's just how it goes. He has a practically full time job, plus school, plus a girlfriend. That adds up. I have a busy life too.

Tomorrow I have a kanji test, and I originally came in here to study for it but obviously that hasn't worked out so far. I'm intending on studying more when I get home. Kanji is a pain in the ass, but I really enjoyed Japanese today. Seems like I'm really getting the hang of short form. Tonight my goal is to study at least 2 hours.

yours,
Emily


Sunday, May 15, 2011

Friday the 13th, the most insane day of 2011. System of a Down Concert experience.


No, I didn't take this video, unfortunately. I didn't get any actual pictures of the artists at the concert because I didn't have my camera. I was too afraid of losing it. I'm actually happy that I didn't bring it in though because if I would of, I would of potentially spent the entire time trying to get good pictures and wouldn't of been able to enjoy it.

Me and Katelynn left my house at around 9:30 AM, which was later than we had anticipated but it didn't matter that much. We had anticipated to walk around Seattle and visit Uwajimaya and Daiso before we headed to the concert line. Her friend was going to hold a spot for us, but we didn't end up making it. I'll explain that later.
The drive up there was pretty smooth. We stopped at Applets and Cottlets and I actually ate a cheeseburger, and broke the pescatarian thing again. For some reason I craved it really bad, and there weren't any other options really at the gas station besides hot dogs that ALSO broke the rules. I really didn't have much of a choice because I needed to eat something that was going to fill me up for an extended period of time. I didn't know how long it was going to take to get to Seattle from there.


About three hours later, we arrived in Seattle. We parked near Uwajimaya, and had nearly no problems finding it, considering that we've been to Seattle before and got lost looking for it the first time. This is me eating an onigiri, which was really good. The sushi I got on the other hand for lunch was actually really gross. It tasted like smoked salmon instead of raw, which needless to say didn't taste right. I knew I should of gotten the donburi bowl instead, or at least got something out of the food court. The sushi didn't really stick with me throughout the day, but I was too excited to really care.
FUN FACT: Katelynn ALWAYS orders better than I do when we go to a restaurant.

Everything she got in this picture was only $9-- just as much as how much my meal costed, but look how much food she got. She got some soup, kimchi, rice and beansprouts... plus a coke. Versus my old boxed sushi and onigiri. I should of either gotten one of those fresh Bento box things, or something at the Korean place, or even pad thai... Luckily, she got a ton of food so she shared with me. The soup was INCREDIBLY good. I thought it was going to be too spicy but it actually wasn't at all. It was super full of green onions, kimchi, and other deliciousness. I didn't really like the slimy noodles in there, though, but they were only at the bottom. They were clear and it sort of creeped me out.


The sushi that I got that was very yucky. Looked good, but I had to put a LOT of ginger and soy sauce on it to make it even edible. The rice was too wet, like the yucky stuff they sell at Winco. The fish tasted cooked.



Here's me and Katelynn, lost.

After we left Uwajimaya we went to Daiso, I blew $21 on crap I didn't need but loved regardless, and headed back to my car. There was this black woman next to us, taking a nap in her car with her dog. I wanted to change clothes but we were afraid that someone would walk by and see me, so I made sure the coast was clear before I started stripping. It was sort of awkward, because there was this guy walking around trying to get people's tickets off their car, but he only bugged us once.

I changed into a black tank top, a dyke-y plaid shirt, and jeans. Originally I was wearing shorts. It was cold and windy outside, but I had to wear something light enough to survive in the concert, but still enough coverage to keep me from being miserable in the wind.

This is where things get a little weird. Me and Katelynn drove to find Key Arena, and when our GPS said we were only .9 miles away, we decided to just go find a parking spot and do the rest on foot. We found a place that was $12 for 10 hours, which sounded good to us. It was sort of in a richer area of Seattle, on a hill, near some construction. It was on Bell Street. When we parked, we decided that we were going to take our purses and such with us to go find Key Arena and then bring it back once we found it. It was still early at this point, around 2' PM. There was hardly any line.

We wandered. For what seemed like hours, unable to find Key Arena. We asked for directions a multitude of times, and passed the stupid Science Center again and again and again. Eventually, we realized it was by that big fountain and EUREKA! WE FOUND IT. Then we realized... oh shit, how do we get back to the car? Neither of us wrote down the street, but we figured we'd be able to retrace our steps. Negative. We walked for a couple miles to get back. When we did, we were both exausted, and smoked for a bit to calm down. We put our purses and such away, and I grabbed my debt card, my phone and my keys. Katelynn only had her phone, and she was debating taking it. Thank God she did. I remember saying, "Am I forgetting anything?" and Katelynn responded, "Uh... I don't think so..." This time Katelynn wrote the street of our parking lot on her wrist so we could find it later tonight.

So the second time getting back to the Key Arena wasn't the biggest challenge, but still took time and effort. It was about 5:30 PM at this point, the concert started at 8' and more people were starting to line up. The second we got there Katelynn asked me, "Do you have the tickets?" I openly yelled out "FUCK!!" She seemed pretty embarrised, and me being a bit stoned I felt guilty.... really guilty. I felt really, really bad for "embarrising" her (this continued to cross my mind, even if she probably wasn't embarrised at all, but probably more irritated with how many times I apologized...).

Even with the address on her wrist, this was the hardest time finding the car. We began to feel rushed. We were nervous that we would be getting in line behind hundreds upon hundreds of people and wouldn't get a good spot... when really we had nothing to worry about. I walked up and asked directions from this one business looking guy who sort of looked like Wes Richardson. He told us that he was actually going toward the same place, and was using GOOGLE EARTH to find it on his IPhone. We started following him, and soon realized that he had NO CLUE WHERE THE HELL HE WAS GOING.

It was then 6:20 PM-ish that I started to get desperate and used my car GPS to find it. My GPS is only for use in a car, and I remember trying to use it when I was in Seattle going to Sakura Con and it led me, Jed, Alberto, Sophie and Mikayla for miles until we hit a highway.... So obviously, I wanted to avoid using the GPS unless absolutely nessasary. But we did. And it led us first in a huge circle (because we were going to be taking a left on a crosswalk one-way right turn road, the GPS first led us somewhere else...). Then, once it got it's shit together actually led us there. Me and Katelynn.. and this guy that was now depending on us, all ran. Literally. Almost all the way to the car. Once we found it, I got the tickets, shoved them in my pocket, and we ran almost all the way back.

By about 7:20 PM, we finally made it to the line. Thank the lord, right? Well, we soon realized how long the line now was, and Katelynn's friend who had been in the front of the line was already let in. This was discouraging, but we didn't really care. We were here, that's all that mattered.

On our way up, a couple idiots walked up to us, first trying to sell us tickets (which, needless to say, were bullshit) and some weird black kid wearing a sweater that says "I NEED TICKETS." I basically told them both to fuck off, these were OUR tickets. The tickets that I had to work my ass off for to afford this trip. All the weird plans and loopholls that me and Katelynn jumped through to get to this point. Then I started to wonder... Does this kid with the I  Need Tickets sweater do this shit at every concert? Probably. I hate stupid maggots scumbags that try to scam people.

So walked passed about 500+ people to get to the back of the line. We stood there, wondering how crappy our situation was. Were we going to end up in the back? Then we realized that once the line started moving, that they were seperating people-- People with General Admission tickets (non-seat) and seat tickets.



This is the layout of the Key Arena. AA and BB is where the General Admission gets to stand. Though being down here might not get you the most fantastic view in the world if you're short, you still get to dance and jump around and be the closest to the band if you can fight your way to the front. At the point that we walked in, we were right there in the front. We were about the 4th row from the front. We couldn't believe we got so close. Me and Katelynn linked arms, and decided that if we stuck together we'd be able to stay up in the front. We couldn't of been more wrong.


We met up with Katelynn's friend that works with her at Wal Mart and his group of friends, and I found a guy that was going to latch onto me during the concert. He's tall, but sort of scrawny, and he had a better shot of being in the front if he had someone to cling too because together we were harder to move. So we had this miniature chain going. When the openning band started to play, we were already more packed than we were at the front in the Coheed and Cambria concert. But we stuck together. As we got closer to the show starting, I got very nervous... There was a group of cute guys standing next to us that told us that they felt sorry for me because I am going to get squashed and advised that I go to the middle. Not listening, I responded, "No.. we should be fine."

System gets on stage about 9:30 PM. They started with their two roughest songs: Prison Song and BYOB. The guys next to us said that during BYOB, we're fucked.

There was a water bottle being passed around, and a friend of Katelynn's offered a sip to me. I took a drink, asking if it was sealed when they got it. They claimed it was. I took a swig, and passed it on. This was probably my worst decision of the night.

It only took about a minute to figure out that I had to get the fuck out of there. The second it started, there was a wave of people that came in and crushed me. Me and Katelynn were seperated, but the guy behind me still held on tight. I was like "Fuck, fuck. FUCK!!" when I was getting squashed to the point that I couldn't breath and felt like I couldn't move. I put my hands up, as if to push people back, but soon my arm got pushed across the front of me and I felt like it was going to be dislocated. The guy behind me was like, "Lets get the fuck out of here!" We fell back. Without Katelynn. I was scared that she was still stuck in the mess. We had a hard time getting back, but we noticed that we weren't the only ones. Some people had to be taken away because they couldn't breath. We managed to get to the middle and I almost felt like crying because of it. I wanted to be up in the front sooo bad, but it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. We were still pretty close, about exactly in the middle.

I texted Katelynn, worried. No response. About thirty minutes later, I got a text from her saying "I fell back." I thought this just meant she got to the back of the crowd, and I told her to head toward the middle and she might find us. Little did I know that she meant she was actually TAKEN by a guard that thought she was attempting to crowd surf because she was pushed nearly over the bar, and she got KICKED OUT OF THE CONCERT. I was SO pissed when I got the whole story about this. I got this text at 10:07 PM, so she was in there for about half of the show. She said she wasn't disappointed because she "saw most of it" and someone offered to get her a beer. I was, however, extremely disappointed and wished she was with me. I felt it was somewhat my fault, and we should of hung out toward the middle in the first place. But having been to the Coheed concert where we managed to be in the very front packed like sardines, we thought we'd be able to do it.

Just a side note about this, about 90% of the people at the concert were men. There was a pretty uneven gender distribution. About 40% of them were over 6' ft tall. So this made if very difficult for me to see, and I had to find little holes where I could see a clear view of Shavo without being completely blocked. I jumped around a lot, so I saw a good portion of it. I don't feel like I saw any more than most people did in the front. I could of either been in the VERY front, so squashed that I was unable to see them at all because I'd be too focused trying to keep from getting injured, or behind someone taller than me. Regardless, I really tried to make the very most of it.

The performance itself was incredible. Shavo is INCREDIBLE in person. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing him. It was unreal. He didn't sing that much, and neither did Daron. Serj did almost all of the singing, even in songs where Daron and Shavo usually chime in. Serj himself is like a vocal acrobat. Most of the songs were very close to the album version, especially instrumentally-- nothing was changed. In some spots, Serj changed it to show off his range, which got a little old in some of the songs because at first a lot of us didn't even know what song he was singing until the chorus because it was so modified.

I was super dehydrated at about the 21st song or so (they performed 29), and had to go get a drink. We left at Chop Suey, and walked up the stairs to go the drinking fountain. Having been jumping around, dancing, and singing along with the music continually for about an hour and a half (being surrounded tightly by hundreds of people), I was extremely dehydrated and overheated. When we got to the fountain, I took a drink and it didn't have any effect. I continued to drink, and my mouth continued to be super dry. I thought it was weird, but we rushed back when they started playing Forest-- one of my favorite songs by them.

I can't remember what song they ended with, but when they did end I was both sad and a tad bit relieved. The heat was getting to be too much. I was starting to get scarily dehydrated.  My body was exausted, my feet sore. It was 10000% worth it though. This was my favorite band ever and getting to see them was a dream come true.
We were horded out of that concert like cows. There were thousands of us, so getting up the stairs was a challenge. I had to go up because I had to get a shirt-- this was super important to me because I wanted PROOF that I was here because I couldn't get any good pictures of the band themselves. I texted Katelynn to PLEASE save me a spot in line for the shirts. I know this seemed selfish, but it was sort of a meeting place as well. I felt bad, but looking at all of the people I realized that it was my only chance of getting one. Once again, I owe Katelynn big time.

After getting out of the arena, I had to get up to the next floor. This was also crammed with people, and we were moving sooo slow. It reminded me of being on the Titanic where the people were stuck behind the locked gates. It took me about 30 minutes to actually get to the shirt thing, and then I faced another problem-- SHIT I GOTTA GET CASH. Typically, these type of things never take debit cards. I ran to the atm, and fiddle fucked with it three times before it finally gave me my money. I found Katelynn, right in the front of a huge crowd surrounding the stand. I passed her the $60, and managed to get up there myself. I was set on a shirt that had the concert dates, because the sweater didn't and just looked like something you'd get at Hot Topic.

I got the shirt out of a small box of them. When I got it, I was amazed. I got everything I wanted out of going. I got to see them, I got to be near the front, I got a T-shirt to prove I was there. I was still sad that Katelynn got kicked out, and pissed at the guard that literally picked her up and falsely accused her. She didn't seem to bent up about it, considering that were going to go party at Zach's house that night.

We made our way back to the car after buying Slurpees (on me) at 7-11. Our feet were killing us. I felt at this point that this had been the greatest day of my life. It was 11:30 pm, and we were going to drive back to Zach's friend Sarah's house in Everett. We sat in the car and drank Slurpees for like 30 minutes, waiting for the crowd of people coming out from the concert to die down a bit. My mom laughed when I told her this, because she said "That shit is never going to die down!" Lies, our drive out of there wasn't even that bad. I used the GPS to get us back to I-5 South, and we got to Zach's house very smoothly.

Zach is very feminine, as I imagined. I did not imagine however that him and Sam were VERY nice and not snobby at all. In fact they were extremely welcoming. I really liked Samantha. I was really tired, and felt weird. I asked if I could take a shower. I got in the shower and just stood there, feeling as if I was covered in a layer of filth from the concert. I got out, blowdryed my hair a bit, and was almost immediately asked "What did you take at the concert?" as if I did drugs (aside from pot). I was like, "Nothing...". I laid down, and told everyone that I was gonna crash. Not to be a party pooper, but it was 1:30 AM and after a super long day I was too tired to party.

I very shortly, began to feel very sick. I felt like I was going to puke. AGAIN. This pattern of sleeping at foriegn places and getting what resembles the stomach flu pisses me off. People thought I might of drank something laced with Acid or Ecstacy, and I thought maybe I had been too. I was dancing and jumping around like CRAZY at the show, and didn't realize that I didn't get tired. I however did not feel nessasarily happier or that I had extra sensory. But I am convinced that because it was combined with Wellbutrin, I didn't get the same effects that someone else would of...

Or maybe this was just from paranoia. The add up of all of the stressful things that had happened that day, such as getting lost, worried about being caught smoking (even if it's the last priority of policemen in Seattle and you could practically smoke it walking down the street and nobody would give a rats ass), and even how much money I'd spent. I felt weird and unattractive after the whole ordeal, and being surrounded by really fully decked out people in makeup made me feel a little insecure. Maybe this pushed me over the edge. I started puking, dry heaving, and having diarea. This was a nightmare.. I felt like I was a total party crasher, and I hate, hate HATE PEOPLE SEEING ME VULNERABLE.

Katelynn was nervous. Really nervous that whatever I took will get me dehydrated to the point that I had to go to the hospital. I felt like shit, didn't sleep, and at about 6:30 AM we got up and sat in the car to head home. Neither me or Katelynn got any sleep the previous night, and might of even been better off just heading home after the concert instead. Katelynn said she could drive the whole way, but at about Cle Elum I was feeling better and we switched. I drove us to stupid Toppenish, the most ghetto town ever. We stopped at a gas station, and this idiot bitch cashier wouldn't put the right amount of money into our gas machine.

It was about 10:30 AM, and katelynn drove the final stretch. We got home at 12'. I really hoped she did have a good time overall, regardless of all the crappy shit that happened. I really wish I hadn't of gotten sick and we all could of just had a good time at Zach's like we'd planned. Next time we go, we're going to have a solid plan of WHERE we are going to park and the amount of time we can spend at certain places.

No concert is ever going to top seeing System of a Down, but I intend to see more concerts at the Key Arena in the future. I know now that I can travel with Katelynn, as she's patient enough to deal with me constantly misplacing my keys and phone and camera andandandand...

Overall, success.

yours,
Emily

Thursday, May 12, 2011

THE FINAL PLAN. Here it is 1 day away, but we've finally got this shit figured out. :)

Happy Thursday!

An especially happy Thursday because the SYSTEM OF A DOWN CONCERT IS THIS WEEKEND, OMG. I'm so excited!! I don't know if I've mentioned this on here yet but I'm going just with Katelynn, which I think makes the most sense and we're going to have a total blast. She's getting a free ticket out of it, and in exchange she is hooking us up with a place to stay for the night after the concert. So it's all worked out nicely.

Honestly I was getting a little bit nervous of how this is all going to work out. I mean at first I thought I'd be going with Sean, who now REALLY dislikes me-- so obviously THAT didn't work out. Then I thought I'd be going with this random guy Josh Murray that I met on the internet, but I was so afraid of another Michael situation that I got out of that because the last thing I want is another obnoxious experience in Seattle. THEN I thought Shelden could go with us because he likes System... uh, kind of, he used to like them in highschool. But then shortly after I invited him it turned out JON couldn't go so I'm like... Wow, okay, why not just go with Katelynn? I mean that's what I wanted originally, but the original plan was that Katelynn would be taking Jon up there for his birthday, and they'd walk around the city while the concert was going on. But since Jon got a job, he now can't go so it's just gonna be me and my best friend so it's gonna be even more amazing. SO THAT IS THE PLAN*.



 Zach, one of Katelynn's friends from childhood. Though I've never had any extended conversation or interaction with him, he creeps me out. And I feel bad because I think I'm being judgemental.
*Honestly, the only potential variables now is what time we're planning on leaving, and if we really are going to stay with Zach. I don't really know him, though the first time I had an encounter with him I was extremely skeeved out. Which is weird. I mean, two of my really good friends are gay-- one of which being pretty flamboyant. The difference between Nathan and this Zach kid though is that Nathan doesn't wear makeup and doesn't do hard drugs. So it's more the drugs thing that bothers me than the "Gay" thing. Because obviously, I do get along well with most gay guys-- they tend to be better friends than girls are. But, that doesn't change the fact that this kid creeps me out... and I can't seem to figure out why.. I imagine there are going to be enough people there that it's not going to be a big deal. Maybe I'm being judgemental. Maybe I'm being a bitch. I should really try to be open minded on this one.

The fact of the matter is, KATELYNN DEALT WITH MICHAEL AND REFRAINED FROM RIPPING HIS HEAD OFF (which I know was hard for her when he continued to slap my ass and disrespect me). I OWE her one, big time.

School is getting harder. I know that there are going to be a lot of challenges here in the last few weeks, and I just have to keep up with it and continue to study and do the homework every day. Math is starting to get into stupid geometry. I fucking hate geometry because I'm terrible at it. Hopefully there is only going to be one unit on it.
I need to study Japanese for four hours today. Why? Because in today's speaking activity with Hannah I completely bombed the short form stuff, and it's been like this for a few days now. I really have to step it up with this grammar. It's yet to click yet. Though I feel with just a few more hours, it'll really click, and with that last one hour, it'll solidifty and will be second nature. : ) So I better get started.

Today something caught my interest, but it is too early to even talk about it.

Yours,
Emily

Monday, May 9, 2011

Dark Brown Contacts.What my Mom/Sister find Beautiful vs. What I think is Beautiful.


THIS IS GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF PICTURES, SORRY ABOUT THE PAGE STRETCHING.

Okay, so as I've told a few people, I've always wanted dark brown eyes. So now, I'm considering getting dark brown contacts. I am going to make an appointment at the eye doctor for Wednesday, and I already have my perscription so it shouldn't take long at all. Unfortunately, because my perscription is really weird, I might not get the exact color that I want.

My eyes are hazel, which is a rare color, and a lot of people think my eyes are really pretty. I love my eyes--they're my favorite part of my face. They're huge, and I love their shape and I like how they're not too close together or two far apart. I however, have deep rooted issues about the color.

This story may sound a little silly, but I'll tell you anyway...

When I was a kid, so many times when I was with my mom and sister and my mom would talk to someone she knows, my sister's eyes would be brought up. As many of my friends know, my sister has really pretty light blue eyes. She has an extremely rare color.

Like this.

They would always be like, "Oh!! Avery's eyes are so pretty! Wow, that color is incredible!" And, not wanting to hurt my feelings, they would say "Oh, and yours are nice too..." I always knew they were just humoring me because my eye color is nothing special at all.

The main reason why I want to get brown eye contacts is to have my eye color appear to be the polar opposite of my sisters.



What I find beautiful: Brunette, pale skin, dark eyes.
The next reason is that Magibon, who I think is the most gorgeous person in the world, has brown eyes. Therefore I want brown eyes too. I think my face would look a lot better with brown eyes, personally.



Needless to say, like most fashion and beauty things that I like to do, my mom totally disagrees. She said that by having brown eyes, I will inevitably suck all the color out of my face "like I did with the black ones". The black ones were COSTUME contacts. Those aren't meant to be worn on a daily basis. I think brown ones would look way more natural. It was obvious that the black ones aren't real, but it wouldn't be so much with the brown ones.

What my mom thinks is beautiful is basically this, which is everything I like to contradict in the way that I look.


What my Mom Finds Beautiful.


blonde: My mom and sister are super-blonde, and my Mom always tells me that I look better with blonde hair. I couldn't disagree more.


I think I look ugly as shit with blonde hair. My hair looks unhealthy and fried. The only times in my life that I've EVER dyed my hair blonde was when, sadly enough, I thought it would be attractive to guys. I've always HATED how I looked blonde. And they fact that I did it thinking that OTHER people would like it more makes me even more sick. Getting brown contacts has NOTHING to do with other people, it's about me, and only me.

Tan: My sister always goes tanning, where she'll either get a spray tan or do a tanning bed. My mom used to scorch her skin every summer in California. Because my mom and sister have the same skin, the tan actually improves the way their skin looks..
But not me.
This is me last summer after a sunburn. Notice how rutty and nasty my skin looks. I like myself pale. Though my mom and sister might disagree, I think it makes me look a lot prettier because it's more doll-like, which is what I go for.  

But for me back in middle school, these spray tans were the reason I got ridiculed because people called me Orange. My mom thought it would be a good idea. Spray tanning always looks super streaky on me because I've got my dad's mormon side skin, where it's super white and nearly freckle free when I'm not exposed to much sun. All the sun does for me, naturally tanning, makes my skin look ruttier and ugly.

You get the point...

My mom and sister will never understand WHY I like to look a certain way, and why I will never conform to the American steriotype of "hottness" with tan skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. I actually like how I look as the polar opposite, and I think I look prettier this way.

Just had to get this off my chest.


Yours,
Emily

Sunday, May 8, 2011

I'M DOING IT, I'M DOING ITTTTT!!! :D [My pescatarian grocery list...]

OKAY it's officially been a week and I've done a pretty damn good with this vegetarian thing.

I've only messed up once on thursday when my sister brought home pizza. I ate a piece of it and after I got done with it I realized that... omg, that had pepperoni on it. You really have to think about what you're doing. I don't know why but it didn't cross my mind once that that pepporoni has meat in it.



I like spinach, but it has a funny texture if you pack it in your lunch and it gets all soggy.

I've run out of fresh produce over this last week though and my mom said I could take her debt card tomorrow to buy more at Fred Meyer. I have been really satisfied with the groceries that I got there last time.
My grocery list for tomorrow is:
-2 Loafs Dave's Killer Bread
-Whole wheat english muffins
-Vegetarian burgers
-Bean soup
-Spinach
-Romaine lettuce
-Black beans
-Kidney beans
-Tomatos
-Cucumber
-Whole wheat cheerios
-Green apples
-Fat free milk
-Grapefruit
-Hummus
-Vermicelli noodles
...And whatever fish that I come across that looks good.

My mom needs:
-Regular milk
-Chocolate cheerios
-Raisen Bran Crunch

Yep!! Anyway, I need to get going with my day.

yours,
Emily

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Officially May, my favorite month of the year!

Yet at this point it's the most intimidating month because of my classes this quarter.

 If I can just get through Japanese this quarter, I'll have the whole summer to brush up on my skills as well as learn the last chapters in the book that we didn't get to. The reason being is, I don't know if I'll be at CBC next fall. My parents want me out of the house after the summer, but I really want to get my AA. I'm just so freakin close. Plus, if I DO take japanese next fall, I'll be officially ready for University level 2nd year Japanese. In most colleges, they use the Genki books as well, however they do four chapters a quarter instead of three. However, because sensee felt she was rushed when doing it this way, she decided to do only three chapters per quarter. So if I were to transfer, I'd probably have to do Japanese III all over again... no thanks.

I surprisingly woke up early this morning, at around 9'. I got up and ate some whole wheat cheerios, drank my coffee, and now I'm wondering how I can make the most of my day today. Though I don't have as much homework as I usually do, if I do a lot of studying and work ahead a bit, I'll set the stage for a better week.

I'm going to try to be a pescatarian!

I know it sounds crazy, and very unlike me, but I'm going to do it for a week and see how I feel. Above you actually see the Okinawa food pyramid, which is almost identical to what I'll be doing. I want to go on a diet that can help my skin and hair, as well as help me lose weight. I really don't *like* chicken and beef, but cutting ham is going to be a bit more difficult.

My diet will include milk, because most vegetarians consume milk because it doesn't harm the cow particularily. I really don't care much about animal rights, to be honest, but if I do go along with this, it'll be part of the package. If I continue to buy fresh produce on a weekly basis, I should be able to consume as much as this food pyramid calls for. Leafy greens are fantastic for the skin and hair, and I really like spinach so that shouldn't be too hard for me.

We'll just see how this works out.

Today for breakfast I had:
-Whole wheat cheerios
-1% milk
-Coffee

For Lunch I'll have:
-Spinach salad with tomatos, carrots, and crutons
-Buttered toast
-Hot tea

For dinner I'll have:
-Salmon onigiri and miso soup
-Diet coke

Snack: Almonds

Lets see how well I can do this. :) I scored a bunch of frozen salmon at Fred Meyer yesterday. I did a bunch of grocery shopping and scored lots of delcious goodies. I managed to keep it under $100, and got everything I'll need for at least a week and a half.

My goals for today are:
-Do my laundry
-Study Japanese for two hours (1 hour with book, 1 hour with DS game)
-Run a couple miles
-Do math homework
-Read chapter for drugs and health.
-Eat everything that I said I would eat on the list above.

yours,
Emily