First Visit To A Japanese Temple

Yasaka Shrine, which we visited
before Kiyomizu-dera

Hey look, a post I started to write ages ago!

Well basically at this point I've decided to write totally out of order in favor of just getting things done. I started to write this when the memories were still fresher in my mind, and then finished it up today. So here goes: skipping about two weeks ahead, I'm going to talk about my first trip to a Buddhist Temple.

right outside the temple,
a pagoda

My friend and I managed to work out a time to go visit Kyoto, which is sort of her hometown, and also an old capital city of Japan. 

For any of you who would like to know how it is written (or to find out if your computer supports japanese text, haha) these are the kanji:  京都

So anyway, I got to visit Kyoto! Specifically, kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), an old temple that is both sprawlingly large (well technically it's not large but there are a lot of small surrounding shrines and other things so it's like a big complex of shrines and one fairly large temple) and breathtakingly beautiful.

thank God for google images -
yatsuhashi unbaked

google images gets credit here -
yatsuhashi baked

google images to the rescue: warabi-mochi

 Before and after visiting the temple, I got to wander through small streets where all sorts of little shops were hawking regional specialties like yatsuhashi 八橋 (dough made of rice-flour flavored with cinnamon and sugar - they come in two delicious varieties: baked crispy and served with ice cream like a super-thin shortbread or raw and filled with chocolate/red beans/etc. The dough itself also comes in other flavors, though traditionally it's cinnamon) 
warabi-mochi 蕨餅 (starchy jello-like cubes that are then covered with powdery flavored things, a bit more on the undersweet side but very flavorful) , 

google images - tsukemono

tsukemono 漬物 (literally means "pickled things", my friend who went with me described them as "things you put on rice". They are a lot of pickled vegetables and come in a HUGE variety of flavors, my friend and I probably tried two or three at each shop and each shop had like twenty or so, and we still managed to eat about fifteen or so different varieties of pickled veggies. They might be pickled in a normal brine but also come in soy sauce brines, miso brine, and various other flavors), 

google images - umeboshi

and umeboshi 梅干 (pickled plums, which I used to think I hated until I tried these. Turns out I just don't like cheap umeboshi. These pickled plums varied between extremely sweet with a hint of sour and so salty I wasn't sure if it was actually plum or just salt and vinegar with plum waved over the top. They all had a really good flavor, and the shop also served some sort of seaweed broth with it that tasted like sea water but not quite, it had a bit of some sort of soupy essence to it. like if you made soup out of ocean water maybe... )

Finally, last but not least, Kyoto is famous for its matcha 抹茶 (a powdered green tea with a very strong flavor. If you've ever had green tea ice cream, it's a little bit like that, only imagine it much more concentrated. Very good, though according to my friend there are quite a few people who don't like it, they think it is too bitter. I love it though, which means that when my friend and I decided to get a green tea parfait  that cost an arm and a leg but ended up tasting FANTASTIC and was almost too much even though we'd decided to split the parfait and price... haha.  I loved it. There were also matcha cookies that had white chocolate fillings and it was like heaven in your mouth, the subtle white chocolate and the powerful matcha... the easiest way to describe matcha is to have you think of coffee.  I KNOW IT SOUNDS STRANGE, JUST WORK WITH ME HERE FOR A MOMENT. So matcha, like coffee, is a very strong flavor that can be bitter but addicting. Like coffee, there is matcha flavored ice cream, matcha flavored cakes, matcha flavored jello, matcha flavored desserts in general. Now technically matcha and coffee taste nothing alike. But they have very similar qualities in that they both have a very discernable flavor that is an acquired taste but can be used in a myriad of ways. And I love it, so of course I had tons of fun trying the different matcha flavored things in kyoto.)


Now to go into detail about the fantastic temple:

kiyomizu-dera from a distance

it was beautiful. Surrounded by trees, made of old worn wood, the sound of water running (this temple is famous for a waterfall that can supposedly cure ills), a light breeze, the last of the cherry blossoms drifting down from above... the atmosphere was perfect, it wasn't too warm out, and I'm pretty sure my friend was sick of hearing me saying "Aww! So pretty!!!" over and over again.

a shrine connected to kiyomizu-dera

Unfortunately, my camera died almost right away because I couldn't figure out how to get it to tell me if it was running out of batteries or not last night and so I hadn't charged it (stupid me, I know). Fortunately I have a japanese cell phone that, while its photos aren't the greatest, they are of a decent enough quality that I can post them here, though they are a bit fuzzy, sorry.

a buddhist monk chanting

So the first thing that we did when we got to the temple was wash ourselves before entering. This was really interesting to me, because I know that purification is an important concept in Christianity, and I love seeing the things that carry over between cultures because to me I see that as the little pieces of ourselves that God has primed for wanting to know and please him. So to me, realizing that a religion so different from Christianity as Buddhism/Shinto (both have places to wash, particularly shinto shrines) also seeks to purify one's self before entering the presence of a great, eternal being, I was reminded of how we are also meant to approach our creator with a contrite heart, and how important repentance and respect are in our relationship with God. One thing that I absolutely loved about the purification was that not only did you wash your hands before entering the shrine, you also wash out your mouth. 

my friend sabrina took this picture at
kiyomizu-dera, I just stole it from facebook

There was something so intimate and powerful about recognizing that uncleanliness not only comes from what is outside you, but also inside of you, in this simple act. It reminded me of the scripture that says "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks" and reminded me that the natural state of the human heart is wicked and dirty, and it's only through Christ Jesus that we can become clean.  Every time I visit a shrine or temple in Japan, I find myself in awe of how a pagan ritual can actually bring me to new understandings of God and what he tells us in his word, and it makes me so happy that he can use these sorts of experiences to teach me, and, I hope, in turn help me to relate to those who are still lost by pointing out universal truths that have been pursued and found in the wrong place. Because no matter how many times you wash your hands and mouth, your heart will not get any cleaner. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can truly purify me.

burning incense in front of the temple

As we continued from there, I was able to look at the temple's interior, which had a large statue of Buddha and was burning incense. If there was one thing I took away from this trip, it was how strangely comfortable I felt in this place, and at the same time, how intensely sad it made me. I was expecting to feel afraid or awkward when visiting a temple, but instead found myself feeling introspective, and concerned for all the lost who came to this place looking for answers that a wooden statue covered in gold leaf could never provide. In the time since I've had the chance to visit many shrines and temples and out of all of my friends, it's safe to say that I am the most comfortable in these spaces of worship, despite the fact that I am also the most vocal about my faith. I once discussed with an Atheist friend why she was so uncomfortable in the space, and she said to her the idea of religion was so foreign that it was hard to come to terms with it. She also mentioned it felt threatening to her worldview in an abstract way, which I found interesting.

kiyomizu-dera is known for having 3 streams
of water - one for good luck, one fore healing
and one for something else, I forget. people
come to drink from the streams of water.
Another interesting analogy to ponder...

To me, I explained, despite the fact that I don't believe in Buddhism or Shinto, I had no problem interacting with the religious spaces, nor did I feel particularly threatened by them. I suspect in part this is because I approached the space as an opportunity to understand how to better reach those who followed it's practice, and also approached it with the understanding that very few Japanese actually practice these faiths. For the Japanese, religion is more like a way to connect with the past than a personal conviction, so many of these shrines and temples are little more than a place to go to "cover your bases". Much like a lot of cultural Christians in America today.

I don't know if the reason I didn't feel much tension in these spaces is because I am not considered a threat by the enemy (I really hope this isn't it, I like to think I'm making a difference), or because I am approaching this religious fixture almost like Paul did on Mars hill  - here, look at your religion, it is close, but you are missing the most important piece: Jesus! The unknown god!

You are worshiping the created rather than the creator! 

One thing I do wish is that more churches in the US were set up like buddhist temples and shinto shrines in Japan - not in the sense of statues and insence, but rather the deep and powerful beauty of these areas for religious gathering. These spaces are beautiful, and so carefully cultivated to really display the vast and intricate beauty of nature. Really, God created this world in so many fantastic ways, and I love that these shrines and temples so strongly display the beauty and wonder that he has created. I think that's probably what I love best about visiting Temples like Kiyomizu-dera -- looking around and seeing God's handiwork, from the nature, to the craftsmanship that was created through talents he gifted... 


When I go to a religious space in Japan, it is created in such a way that I become more attuned to the beautiful and majestic creations in our world, and I wish that churches in America today would bring me the same sense of wonder and beauty. I wish it would be easier to find spaces like this in America, places where I can revel in the handiwork of God as I praise him in a peaceful and beautiful space surrounded by architecture, pools of water, trees, plants, and the wide open blue sky.

Trip to Japan: the Sequel

...because it's just no fun to have a "Part I" that is actually followed by "Part II". It's much more fun to throw expectations out the window and generally be dorky about things.

Well yet again I'm over here apologizing for the delay, believe me when I say it WILL happen again and I'm truly sorry for making you wait, but hopefully the wait will be worth it-ish, or at least not so underwhelming that you decide to never read my blog again, because then there would really be no point in writing.

So all right, last time I checked I was on a plane bound for Seoul, South Korea, where I would have a layover in order to hitch a ride on a plane destined for Kansai International Airport in Japan.

This airpline flight took about 13 hours, which is a very long time to sit on AN ENOURMOUS AIRPLANE THAT ACTUALLY HAD TWO FLOORS DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN ABOVE I'M STILL TRYING TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THE SIZE OF THIS HUGE AIRPLANE -- ahem. Anyway. The air did not work, so I was stuck on an airplane filled with a bunch of people and no cool air. You know me and heat -- it's almost impossible for me to sleep without cool air, much less trying to sleep sitting up.

On the bright side, the couple next to me were super sweet, an elderly couple headed to meet their family in the Philippines. They were very kind and we chatted a bit. (I know, I know, Rachel? Chat?! WILLINGLY???) Anyway as we're sitting on the airplane it's time for our first meal on this giant floating bus. The options were chicken, beef, or a korean dish called Bi Bim Bap. Now, I've actually never eaten Korean food. But I figured it was a good time to get used to new things since I was headed for 6 months in a foreign country. The stewardess was like "Are you sure?" and of course I'm like "Oh yeah, sure," and she looked pretty worried when she handed me the meal. But it was good! the only thing I wasn't really a fan of was the seaweed soup, because basically it tasted like lukewarm sea water to me. It's probably an acquired taste.  But the Bi Bim Bap was quite yummy. The most amusing part was seeing the stewardess's face when I handed the tray back with only a bite or two left (there was a lot of food), and about one third of the seaweed soup. (I really did try to like it). She was like blown away that I'd actually managed to eat it, I think she was afraid she'd have to dump the whole meal because I was some dumb tourist who thought Korean food would be an  "experience". Well, it was an experience, and some time I'd like to eat Korean food that isn't going to be served on an airplane.

After that meal, the second meal offered chicken, or beef and noodles or chicken and noodles and I went for the chicken with rice, which happened to have a nice teriyaki sauce and was quite yummy. it also had a creamy cheesecake like dessert. yum! they also served coffee and offered me alcohol, though i declined the alcohol in favor of seattle's best coffee. Nice to know the PNW leaves it's mark all over the world, even on Korean Airlines.

In between the meals we got several servings of tea/coffee/juice/soda/etc, and while the plane floated over the ocean for about 13 hours I watched several movies: Rise of the Guardians, the new movie from DreamWorks. (I love it, the animation is fantastic and beautiful and I quite like the storyline, the only thing is I'm not sure if the movie is trying to make the moon a metaphor for God or not and I'm not so into that but otherwise I really like the message of the story so....) I also watched "Hotel Transylvania", which is a cute coming-of-age story about a vampire girl and her overprotective father. super cute. Then I watched Wreck-it Ralph, the new movie from Pixar, and that was also a great movie, super sweet, lighthearted, great story, all around just adorable.

...then I watched Rise of the Guardians again, in Japanese, because they had Japanese dubs on several of the movies. And then I watched Rise of the Guardians in English again. Then I tried to sleep for about an hour unsuccessfully, following that with another viewing of Rise of the Guardians, though I just skipped to my favorite parts.

The plane finally landed, and I was forced to once again chill with TSA, only due to the previous plane delays, I was pretty convinced I was going to miss my boarding. So it was more like me standing in line frantically glancing at  the clock like "it started boarding six minutes ago, I'm going to miss my flight noooooo, God, I can't sit in seoul for another ten hours or something, I'd go insane, nooooo"

well, long story short, I got there in time to board with everyone else in economy class. So no sob stories of me trapped in seoul, thank God. So after all that, the trip through customs in Japan was surprisingly straightforward. I filled out a paper that told them I had nothing particularly valuable, they waved me through. The only bit of excitement occurred when I accidentally dropped my passport and they were like "excuse me! you dropped it!" and pointed at my passport.  After that "craziness" (seriously, I was like 10 times more itimidated by the TSA people than by customs) I headed outside to find the shuttle stop that would take me to my hotel, where I met two women from france that might have been sisters and may have been a lesbian couple.

I don't know for sure, the two ladies were very nice, we discussed international politics some and the little boy they had with them stared at me with big blue eyes under a shock of white-blonde hair. Their english was very good and they were going to the same hotel as I, so we stood at the shuttle stop together. A Japanese family also rode in the shuttle but they were a bit intimidated by our use of English, so they didn't attempt conversation.

Finally we arrived at the Kansai Airport Spa Hotel, where I and my new acquaintances checked in and headed to our rooms, me lugging my two 25-pound carry-ons and both 50-poundish suitcases (ha, you forgot about those, didn't you? Well I DIDN'T, it's quite hard to forget that you're practically lugging around your body weight in luggage)

Annnd that my friends is where I shall end this post. Next post will have photos from the window of my hotel and also the bus ride to Kobe. Kansai International Airport is in Osaka, not Kobe. But more on that next post. Which hopefully will come sooner than later, but no promises.

Trip to Japan Part I

Well by now I'm sure most of you have despaired of me ever updating my blog at all. (I'm with you there.) I suppose my only excuse can be that I really dislike writing about myself and so it takes me a lot of work to get motivated to write here.

Of course once I get started the words start flowing and it's all good but really it's frustrating that I've left y'all hanging while I try to work myself up to writing about my trip so far. Well okay, now that I've groveled sufficiently, let's get back to what you're actually interested in hearing about.

JAPAN （日本）

 All right so I'm going to just start at the beginning, which of course means dragging two giant suitcases as close to the 50 pound limit as possible and also lugging about two carry-ons that are as close to the 25 pound limit as possible. Once I arrived at Portland Int'l Airport, I shuffled over to an airplane and flew to LA, the first leg of a journey that would end up taking about 24 hours all told.

Once I landed in LA, my ~40 pounds worth of carry-ons and I had to make our way across the airport and make our way to the international terminal in LA, which just so happens to be waaaaaay at the opposite end from the domestic departures. Ugh. So after walking the equivalent of about four city blocks in the sun with about forty pounds' worth of unwieldy luggage, I managed to check into Korean Airlines and made my way through a second security checkpoint. I did this because I had mistakenly read the clock as being an hour ahead and thought my flight would be boarding in about twenty minutes. Once I reached my gate I realized that the plane would actually be boarding in about seventy minutes. (it took me 10 minutes to find the gate). Well. Unfortunately all the restaurants were on the OTHER side of the security checkpoint, and I had not yet eaten food that morning. (though I had managed to get a cup of tea).

the security checkpoint had also gained a large line and being the paranoid person I am, in addition to my extreme aversion to spending time with the TSA, I decided to just sit there and eat some oranges and beef jerky that mom had sent with me. (I discovered that you could take oranges with you through a security checkpoint after a Model United Nations conference in new york that began with me trying desperately to foist off my oranges before we had to get to the airport, only to discover that I needn't have worried and the oranges did not have to be tossed in the trash)

So I was thinking to myself, okay, let's just read one of the books you bought from the Powell's in the airport, and as I'd never read the Great Gatsby and it had been on sale I figured it was worth a shot. (Note: unless you find yourself with the time to really consider the implications and messages presented in The Great Gatsby, don't read it. It's just a frustrating realistic/true-to-life story about dysfunctional people who suffer because of their own actions and attitudes. Ew. Where is the sci-fi, I ask you! Where is it???)

Anyway as most of you probably know I abhor with deep loathing being watched by people and thus I was not at all impressed by the fact that the people at my gate were sitting around while I was there (no, they were not actually staring but it feels that way so bluh). Since people were there and any odd movement had a high likelihood of drawing stares it took me awhile to finally work up the courage to go fill my water bottle. (I told you I don't like people staring. It's true. I would almost rather dehydrate than be watched going to find a water fountain.)

Anyway by the time i got back, korean airlines was apologizing because  the flight was delayed. Which meant I'd really had the time to go get food from the airport had I so desired. But now of course I was paranoid because I wasn't sure when the plane was going to arrive so did I go look for food? no.

(but that's okay  because the flight to Seoul served two meals)

Annnnd tragically I must take my leave here in order to go to class, but I will continue the airplane story in my next post and then eventually catch up to the madness and stress and also fun and excitement that is Japan.

Until then!

The One About Body Image

Oh dear, seems like everyone has something to say about this topic, don't they? Well now it's my turn. *cue dramatic music*
...
...
...
Okay, since my sound engineer quit because I forgot to pay him, we have no dramatic music. So we'll just settle for a few gasps of surprise. *cue horrified gasps*
...
...well since I'm the only one here, I guess I'll just gasp and ask you to gasp along. Don't be afraid of looking like a fish out of water, it's for the good of interactive reading!

Well all right, that was a pretty good horrified gasp. Try and put a little more emotion into that inhale next time, but it'll do for the moment. Now where was I? Oh yes... body image.
*cue horrified gasps*

This is a topic people seem to have a lot of opinions about. And even I myself used to say things like "I don't understand [insert name/random passerby/whoever here], they're so pretty. How can they be so insecure about [insert random physical characteristic here] when they look so good?"

I've started to shy away from that though, because I've begun to see in myself how there is much more to body image than just how you actually look. Body image is about your own perception of yourself, and as the old saying goes: "you are your own worst critic."

Let's take myself as an example. It makes sense, since this is my blog. (haha, see how I managed to grammatically include both 'since' and 'sense' in the same sentence? I love being a nerd...) Recently, I've had the unfortunate displeasure of a horrid outbreak of adult acne. I never really had acne even through high school, and the only time I "washed" my face was when shampoo got on it in the shower. So when this acne decided to interrupt my life about midway through 2010, I did my best to ignore it. Unfortunately, acne doesn't take that attitude well, and I've spent the last few years figuring out how to deal with these pimples that seem to have taken up permanent residence on my face.

While I can keep them somewhat under control, using makeup only exacerbates the condition, which means if I try to cover up the existing acne I will only be creating more acne. Talk about unhelpful. So I've learned to cope and wash my face twice a day and use toners and anti-acne moisturizers and all those other things that I didn't even know existed before suddenly they became essential. From what I understand, my acne is caused by stress. Which basically means my life gives me acne, because when was the last time going to school away from your family wasn't stressful?

But I'm not writing this to complain about my acne. (Okay, maybe I am, a little.) What I didn't realize was how much acne would affect my self-esteem. (woo-hoo! another hot-button topic! I'm just throwing these words around like confetti!)

See, before my acne, I'd considered my face my best feature. I've never been particularly skinny, and in a world where supermodels are practically all anorexic and it's a cardinal sin to have an above-average BMI (I'm within the healthy weight range, but I'm nowhere near skinny), I'd found that the best way for me to feel beautiful was to "rest in the knowledge" that I had a nice face.

Cue acne. Suddenly, I felt like everything beautiful about myself was gone. I'm still not skinny and probably never will be. But now I also had a face with puffy red marks on it that wouldn't go away. How was I supposed to live like that? Some days, even if the acne's bad, I still feel okay. Other days I just want to wear a Burqa (or a giant burlap sack over my head) and be done with it.

And it's funny, because every morning when I look in the mirror, I have a different idea about myself. Some days, I look at myself and think "Oh hey, you don't look half bad. You have a nice body shape, even if you're not a twig." And other times I look in the mirror and have to walk away, because all I can see is this hideous thing staring back at me. And there's no real rhyme or reason to it. I suspect it's part hormones, part sleep deprivation, and part moods in general.

Thinking back, I realize it's always been this way. And I suspect I'm not the only one. Why do we as people place so much value in the physical? Because it can be seen and heard and felt. But what amazes me is how little value we place on the spiritual. Ultimately, the one who made us, God, knows us best.

And he loves us. Even in our sin: weakness, selfishness, foolish pride, and so much more, he still continues to love us dearly. And in his eyes, we are exactly what he made us to be. God doesn't want cardboard cutouts, so why should we? Our culture places so much pressure on men and women to conform to  "ideals" that have no place in God's kingdom. What a blessing to know that when I get to heaven, I won't ever wake up, look in the mirror, and think "Ugh, I'm hideous."

Instead, each day, I'll wake to the sound of an angel choir (singing perfectly and in perfect harmony -- how fantastic does THAT sound?), and when I look in the mirror, I will see a perfect and holy child of God.

Somehow, this vision gives whole new meaning to that verse in 1 Corinthians.  Specifically that verse that says "now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face." It's such a beautiful thought. (Even better that this verse begins the wrap-up of 1 Cor. 13, otherwise known as "the Love chapter".) God knows and loves us, and when we have been made perfect in him, when we reach heaven, we'll see ourselves the way we were always made to be. And I don't know if that means I'll be skinny or just that my size won't make people see me as someone headed down a diabetic path, but I know that it will be beautiful, and more wonderful than I can possibly imagine right now.

That last bit of 1 Corinthians 13 gets me every time, so I'll put it here in case you don't know it:


¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
  
It just makes me want to cry in happiness. "When I was a child...I understood as a child". All these physical characteristics we put so much stock in here on Earth are truly childish things! When we become the people God calls us to be, we will put aside foolish things. (Now I'm not saying we shouldn't be healthy, our body is a temple of the Lord's. I'm just saying that starving the body or running it into the ground is no better than overfeeding it and never exercising.) 

"Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." There's something truly beautiful about this picture. Right now, we can catch little glimpses of the beautiful person God's made us to be, broken and cursed as we are by our sin. But one day, we will know as we also are known. When God looks at us, he doesn't see the flaws, he sees us as we will be. He sees us, covered with Christ's blood, his beautiful child who is reborn, redeemed. And he thinks we're beautiful. One day, we too will know the beauty in us that God already knows.

I guess that's what it boils down to. I hate myself some days. I hate my body some days. I hate my sin when I'm not in the act. (which happens more than I'd like to admit)

But God? He loves me. He loves every last piece of me. He sees me as I should be, not broken and destroyed by this cruel, sinful world.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these...

is Love.

I write, just not here

SO I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON... and not just because I'm inherently sinful (though I'm sure that has something to do with all this madness).

I can't seem to keep myself accountable with much of anything. I don't write regularly, I don't exercise regularly, I don't eat regularly, I don't blog regularly, I don't even do my homework regularly (I tend to put it off to the last minute and then beat myself up for not doing it sooner)!

So. Hello again. It's been too long. (No seriously though, the last time I blogged was before Christmas, right? So it's been more than two months.)

Why am I writing today, then? Because I'm on caffiene and can't bring myself to write fiction so I thought I'd post here.

To be more accurate, I've been looking at my stories and having fun picking them apart and realizing how terrible I am and crying with happiness at the tiny pieces of gold I sopmehow managed to eke out of my writing. I live for the day I actually manage to write something valuable, as currently I'm pretty much just writing stuff that barfs out of my brain and onto a page. Yes. Basically my stories begin with a "stream-of-consciousness-oh-hey-lets-just-vomit-on-a-page-until-something-makes-sense" sort of aesthetic. they then graduate to "this is total crap" and eventually reach the pinnacle of "I just need to re-write this whole thing and start over". That's pretty much where I've been for years now.

Someday I hope to write something that reaches out and grabs the reader and wrenches hearts and makes a difference. In the meantime I find the little chunks of my work that keep me going amidst the "GAH THAT IS SO CLICHE WHY" and the "WHY DIDN'T I THINK THIS THROUGH" or the ever-famous "Wait, why are you doing that, character? I thought you were doing this...?"

Novel writing is murder. So are short stories, mostly because it's hard for me to develop a concept that can be effectively portrayed in 5,000 or so words. 50,000 words or more tends to come easier (if longer), though I'm beginning to suspect that part of that is my inability to utilize an economy of words. But yeah, an abundance of plot and too many characters probably help that along.

But today, instead of talking about my life and everything that has been happening (or not happening, or trying to happen), I'm going to talk about my stories. Because despite the endless hours of pain and frustration they cause, I actually love them all dearly. Specifically, there are parts of each story I've written that just make me happy to be a writer: when I feel I've captured the emotion, when I write a fantastic fight scene, when characters interact in a realistic way... there are so many moments I adore.

So I'll share a few of my favorite with you. Let's start with some of my older stuff, and work my way up:

 1. from the story tentatively titled Rise of Invectus (I rarely 100% decide on a title).

“Yeah! What he said!” I cried, whirling on baldy. Why was he yelling at me anyway? I was hungry, tired, sore, and extremely confused. Honestly, I wanted my mother, and I wasn’t ashamed to say so.  “Get my mom in here and leave me alone!” I screamed, sitting straight up. The restraining straps around my chest and stomach snapped. I glanced down, staring at the bands in shock. A moment later, I felt the burning sensation on my skin where I’d shoved against them, and my muscles twinged painfully. So that’s why I hurt, I thought to myself. Then I frowned. How did I do that?

 So basically we've got a kid who was infected with a virus that gives him super-strength, but it's involuntary. It only flares up when he's angry. But unlike the Hulk, he doesn't turn into a big green rage monster. So at least we've got a little bit of originality. This bit was written about two to three years ago (hard to pinpoint exactly as the document was viewed and edited for typos recently)

2. Another excerpt, from Cyborg Wars - Book 1: Soldier (again, tentative title for both series and book)

For nearly six hundred years, the bold and proud Laham’rhi family had ruled the planet Gaal’ver’diitron from the great imperial city of Gaal’lyn. Wars, famine, constant flooding and poor soil had done little to shake the foundations of these proud rulers, and nothing could take the people of Gaal’ver’diitron from their home among the stars.

I like this excerpt because you kind of get the sense that this family whose name people can't pronounce (I can, but I'm the author, so that makes me exempt from this) rule a planet with a name that you also can't pronounce. Yet despite these unfamiliar words, the concepts of "pride" "strength" and "determination" are universal concepts that ring true with me (and hopefully others), creating a sense of familiarity despite the strange names. You can feel the struggle of these people and you're already rooting for them, even if you can't pronounce their names. This was probably written about a year ago.

3. This bit comes from The Academy Chronicles - Book 1: LX-2, one of my most recent stories. It's a bit long, but I really love it.

Squirt and Jayden exchanged glances again before deciding to make their escape. “Well, I think I’m going to go play some more video games,” Jayden said, gathering up his food tray.
“I’m going to go… not be here,” Squirt said. “You two look like you have a lot to talk about.” He too left with his tray, leaving Matt and I sitting and staring at each other.
“So, when I said bruise collection, I didn’t mean it in a life-threatening way. More like a ‘clumsy so I fall down a lot’ way,” I said softly.
“No, Alex.” Matt looked me in the eye. “You meant it in a ‘Scott freaking beats the crap out of me on a regular basis and you can’t do anything to fix it’ way.”
I looked away. “I’m not blaming you.”
“I don’t care,” Matt said. “I’m blaming me.”
I didn’t know what to say. I never know what to say. Staring down at my food, I pushed it around my plate a few times before taking a bite to avoid answering him.
Sighing, Matt grabbed his tray and stood. “I’m going to work out,” he said, leaving abruptly.
I pushed my food around my plate a little more, knowing that he’d be late to bed because one of the supes would find him in the gym with a punching bag and bleeding knuckles, and send him to the med center. I hated knowing that he was so angry because of me. I hated that these self-destructive acts were my fault. And some days, when I had the energy, I would contemplate the irony of Matt blaming himself for my injuries even as I blamed myself for his.

In this excerpt, we've got two friends and two brothers. The younger brother is being bullied, and the older brother feels responsible for it, even though he can't really do anything about it. The awkwardness of the two friends trying to give the brothers a chance to discuss, the tension in how the two brothers relate to each other and how they talk about the bullying, and the internal turmoil the main character feels, the guilt that his brother hurts himself because he can't help... I just really like the tension and awkwardness and unspoken pain that builds this scene and it's probably one of my favorite scenes. I'd say it's the best I've ever written, but I don't know that. Other people might hate it. I personally just love this scene and everything that goes unsaid along with what is said.

So yeah.

I've been having fun with my stories lately. And writing makes me happy. When it doesn't eat me alive and demand answers for why I haven't been doing it more frequently.

Anywho. Here's my lovely update, that technically hasn't told you anything at all about what's going on with me or where I'm going. More babbling to follow, I hope. Because otherwise my next blog post will also open with "I AM SUCH A TERRIBLE HUMAN BEING," or something to that effect.

In the meantime, enjoy my post and don't be too quick to judge my writing inabilities. I'm still learning. and growing. (I hope).

And you thought I'd waited too long last time! That'll Show Ya!

Hey guess what?
Summer's over. Fall quarter's nearly over. And I haven't posted one word.

I wish I could say it's because I've been so busy, but mostly it's because I hate writing about myself when I could be writing fantastical fiction.

So yeah. Sorry.

So much has happened that I have to give a quick summary:

• Looks like I'll be studying abroad at Kobe University this Spring/Summer
• I loved my summer job, though the loneliness was tough
• I want to look into more tourism/museum jobs because I loved it so much
• I would also like to work at an embassy or consulate at some point to see what it's like
• I want to also potentially give tutoring in english to Japanese, but that could probably happen while I am actually in Japan
• My classes ate me alive through the first half of the quarter, though things are finally starting to look up
• Fourth-Year Japanese is impossible to 4.0, even if you're a Developmental Bilingual in Japanese, who one of the people in my class is. (Developmental Bilingual means that you grew up speaking two languages, in this case English and Japanese)
• I am hopefully not failing fourth-year, but the jury's still out on that one
• I won't be able to take fourth-year next quarter so I'll be making my own little Japanese study based vaguely on what we've been doing in class this quarter.
• I do, however, love my fourth-year Japanese prof. She's great. And nicer than third year's prof. I had the best TA ever for third year though, which made life tolerable.
• I am sort of keeping my life under control, though the same cannot be said for my desk space and bed.
• I have not had as much time to cook as I would like
• My best friend and another really good friend are up here in Seattle with me now and it makes my heart sing.
• I wish I had more time to write. I would threaten to do the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, where you aspire to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November), but it's already the 19th and well, no. It's not going to happen.
• I finally showed someone besides myself one of my songs that I wrote the lyrics to and also came up with a tune. Now I just have to figure out how to guitar and keyboard and drum it (synthesizer?) and record myself  (and autotune so it sounds reasonable) and then possibly I will put it somewhere for people to hear.
• I have other songs. I would like to do something with them at one point but not now.
•  This is the most convoluted bullet point list ever because it's basically a stream-of-consciousness list at this point.
• I probably should have skipped the bullets, but it's too late now.
• I'm just glad I didn't number this list or things could have really gone south.
• ANYway.
• I can't think of anything else at the moment

So there you have it. My most recent post, in all its lameness. Sorry for the long wait, and I know this totally wasn't worth the wait. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, bloggy blog.

A Very Much Not At All Impressive Blog Post

Hey there bloggy blog! I'm back after a month at my summer job; I just got my first paycheck and I suddenly feel so rich even though it wasn't super impressive. I LOVE MY JOB. TO DEATH.

I'm working at a state heritage site in a small former gold-rush town where I lead people through a historic building and interpret the historical significance of the site to the visitors. I also get to tell stories, and be excited about history! (Which, as you may guess, is so hard for me to do.)

My boss is amazing, my coworkers are even more so, I get to work on developing a program for school kids in the fall, and I get to meet all sorts of interesting people and interact with original artifacts from 1866-1948 AND GET PAID TO DO IT.

Since I've only really ever done volunteer work, the opportunity to do all of this great stuff AND GET PAID TO DO IT is really tons awesome. 

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of exhausted right now, brain dead. Partially from work, but mostly because I couldn't fall asleep last night. So this is a really lame blog post. I apologize for that.

This will probably be my shortest blog post ever. I am pretty exhausted...

So I guess I'm calling it. More on my awesome job of amazingness later...

It Has Been Years! (Only Not Really...)

It feels as though it's been years since I touched you, my dearest bloggy-blog, and so much has happened. Wow.  Where to start? I'm out of school now, first of all. Also, I can now reveal that I engaged in an amusing (if somewhat juvenile) prank with a good friend of mine, where we managed to convince most of our collective friends that we two were dating. (The fact that my best friend Kristi was on board served well - we never would have pulled it off without her backup.) Amusingly, my younger sister did not even find out about the fake "relationship" until the week before we called it off and told everyone the truth. So for most people it lasted a month, but for my silly and rather oblivious sister, the prank only lasted a week.

I must confess that I don't think I'll ever do anything of the sort again; lying to everyone really killed me inside and made me feel super guilty. I can't even really enjoy the prank, because it still sort of makes me feel a little bit sick inside.However, the resulting inside jokes that emerged between this good friend and I as a result of our false relationship make up for the ill feeling for the most part.

In addition, I have applied to the UW study abroad program. I'm hoping to be in Japan next summer. But what about this summer? What could possibly have me so busy that I have neglected my blog for such an extended period of time?

...A summer job. Yes, a summer job. Also a dying laptop. But more on that later. First: I am currently working for Oregon State Parks at a State Heritage Site as an Interpretive Intern, and I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far.  I love being able to take people around the site and tell them about the importance of the site and how it contributed to Oregon's heritage and history. On the downside, the heritage site is approximately 7 hours away from home, and so I have a summer far, far, away from all of my friends to anticipate. Additionally, I have no idea how I'm going to see "The Amazing Spider-Man" premier with my friends since I can't take any days off except for my weekends. Pardon me whilst I bawl, since I have been looking forward to this movie since I heard about it just under  a year ago when they started releasing production photos, etc.

Spider-man has always been my favorite Marvel super-hero (He's almost neck-in-neck with my all-time favorite superhero, a DC character known as Brainiac 5). I really love Spidey, and I really wanted to see this film with my friends. Movie premiers are no fun by yourself...

"The Amazing Spider-Man" premiers soon. It is much more
accurate to the comics than the last 3 Spider-Man movies.

This is Brainiac Five. He is awesome. And a Genius.
But mostly just awesome.

...Okay, now, where was I? Right. No movie premiers. Pehh. But hey, at least I got to see "The Avengers," which, while not yet including Spider-Man (Who DOES join the Avengers at one point, though he tends to be more  of a solo act), did have some other fun folks we met in a few other great Disney/Marvel flicks over the years. By "other fun folks" I mean:

Thor Odinsson,  "Norse God" and hammer-wielder with long golden locks that are usually 'creatively toussled' and/or greasy. An Avenger, and a good guy.

Brother of the adopted Loki, "Norse God" of mischief. Loki will get his own intro later.

Ironman, aka Tony Stark, main inventor and head of Stark Industries, though he did pass the reigns over to his childhood friend and girlfriend (fiance?), Pepper Potts. He invented the suit he wears and is quite a snarky character. He likes to go solo also, but does play a fun part in the team. Plus, because he's a self-declared "Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist," he's the one with the funds to keep a place for the Avengers to hang out when they aren't saving the world... or avenging it.

Captain America, the first avenger, named Steve Rogers. He is awesome and kind and heroic and almost too good to be real. He is also a super-soldier with strength, patriotism, and an awesome shield.  He lost the love of his life when he was buried in ice at the end of WWII and was cryogenically preserved until being dug out not too long before the Avengers started up.

From Lto R: The Incredible Hulk
(top left), Hawkeye (bottom left),
Ironman (front mid-left),
Nick Fury (mid back)
Black Widow (front mid),
Captain America (back right),
Thor (front right).

Along with a couple of other fun friends, namely the head honcho of the Avengers Initiative: Nick Fury the super spy, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), and the Incredible Hulk (Bruce Banner),  The Avengers band together to defeat the evil villain of the piece, who I still think deserves more credit and less blame then he tends to get in general circles. On the bright side, Tumblr seems to agree with me, so all of my geeky internet friends that I've never met in real life agree with me. And I've sort of managed to argue my best friend Kristi to at least admit that my point of view was tenable, though she's still mad that he killed some civilians. And I would probably be mad too, if the story were real... but it's not, so I am not mad at him and I think he's a great character with a lot of depth and fascination and I really hope that the writers of coming Avengers/Hero movies work with all the depth and interest in his character, rather than just going with the very two-dimensional "hurr hurr, I'm a bad guy and I'm evil and BOW TO ME and FEAR ME and DIE LIKE BUGS!"... because honestly, he would be a lot more fun to play with than that. But I'm not a screen writer. And if I were, I'd have a hard time not making the story TOO Loki-centric because he is just a fascinating character... but I haven't even gotten to him yet, so...

Loki Laufeyson/Odinsson "Norse God" of mischief and general chaos is the villain of the piece, wreaking havoc on Midgaard (aka Earth) mostly as a temper tantrum/general freak out because he's recently undergone intense emotional trauma, not to mention the fact that he's been hated and bullied for most of his life for what he thought was no reason. He only recently realized that he always felt different from his brother, family, and his brother's friends (he had no real friends of his own) because he actually was different. Not an Asgardian (a "norse god" like Odin, Frigga, Thor, Sif, etc), turns out Loki was actually a runt Jotunn or Frostgiant, the enemies of Asgard, that Odin brought back as a sort of insurance should the Frostgiants ever try to attack. Loki was raised as Odin's son, but since a peace accord was struck, Odin really had no use for Loki anymore, but continued to lead him on, acting as if he might actually have a chance to ascend to the throne. When Thor proved unworthy, Loki expected to recieve the throne, but did not, and this, coupled with the realization that he was actually "the monster people tell their children about at night," drove him mad and he went on a nutso rampage killing all of the frostgiants to prove that he was a true son of Odin (eep). He then went on to attempt suicide by falling into a black hole, but that failed and he ended up on Earth, where he decided if he couldn't rule in Asgaard he could at least rule in Midgaard. (I have no idea how to spell these words, forgive me for not attempting google).

So there we have it. Now, what was I talking about before I got off on a tangent? I guess it doesn't really matter. Unfortunately, my good friend Jirah has sort of developed a celebrity crush on the guy who plays Loki, and she is dragging me kicking and screaming down a similar path. In my defense, Tom Hiddleston (the guy who plays loki) is hysterically funny in his interviews, has a good sense of humor, is reportedly a really nice guy, and happens to play my favorite character in a superhero movie.

We all know I love superheroes.

But thus far I have resisted, though I did confess he would probably fit right in at a family reunion, his humor is almost identical to my dad's/brother's... I want him for a cousin. Because he has a funny velociraptor imitation, and is also really NOT self-conscious, which means he and my brother would probably end up having an awkward dance-off, or bad-joke-off, or something of the sort.

But again, I digress. And since I'm not yet posting half a dozen pictures of him, I have concluded that I just am being fed TOO MUCH INFORMATION, and unfortunately he's not like some movie stars who are stuck up and obnoxious and full of themselves in real life. If he were more like a politician it would be a lot easier to not celeb-crush... But I RESIST! I DOOOOOO!

Or I'm trying, anyway...

We shall see. Hopefully my next blog post isn't a celeb-crush post. That would probably make me cry, and then yell at Jirah for sending me all of those youtube videos and tumblr photos. Peh.

Writing, Writing, and... well, yeah.

Well. I have finally managed to get to the last item on my post I posted several months back about "not having time" to write at the moment. Well, I suppose I proved myself correct, to a certain extent. However, as the last bullet point on that list was "Writing Buddy," stating that I don't have time to write seems rather counter-intuitive.

That's me, counter-intuitive. I could blame it on the fact that I'm a woman, but it probably has more to do with the fact that I'm me. I guess it might be genetic, but it might just be something unique to my personhood. Or not. Anyway, on to what I was supposed to discuss, and that being my writing buddy. Or 'writing partner'. Though I prefer the term 'buddy.'

My awesome writing buddy and I have started writing some fiction together. I say 'some' not because we also write nonfiction, but because we both write our own fictional works in addition to this fictional work that we have begun writing together. However, I have noticed that having a writing buddy is extremely helpful for keeping a regular schedule for writing. In the past few months, we have written something around 12,000 words. Yes, 12,000. That's with a full-time school schedule, and also general busyness on both our parts. Needless to say, I don't get this much writing done on my other fiction. Which is something I have been lamenting lately.

She and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing together, and I also spent some time picking the brain of a close friend of mine for insight into how the male mind thinks. Not because I think that men and women are from different planets, but because I know that there are ways that men and women look at things that may not be as obvious to a member of the opposite gender. So that has been tons of fun.

On the downside, my fanfiction writing has taken the heaviest hit, I have not written a single chapter in any of my fics for months. Additionally, some of my stories are also suffering. I have, however, worked on editing one of my particularly favorite stories. And I am re-writing for the fourth time a story centered around a character that I first invented when I was 14 years old.  So kudos to me for sticking with my character. The classes I have been taking in school have all helped me develop these stories, and I am particularly fond of this character that I invented 5 years ago. The classes that have helped me the most with his story:

• International Relations
• I took this Political Science course last quarter, and it helped me develop a lot of the cultural systems and interactions between the planets, as well as setting me on a vague course for how and why the interplanetary war in this tale takes place. The story is about a young man who is a member of the ruling class of his society, and learns about how his planet and its culture is contrasted with other cultures of surrounding planets. There is a deep and somewhat painful history between their people and some of the other people groups. There are also some deep-seated prejudices towards different peoples, and it is interesting to see how different perspectives can affect how countries will interact. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" work was particularly interesting in this regard.
• Communication and Difference
• This is a class I am taking this quarter, and it explores the impact of Power and Privilege on people, and how denial and systems are set up in cultures in such a way that people often cannot even see their own privilege. It is an extremely eye-opening class, and it got me to thinking about the insecurities and stereotyping that is rampant in our society, and how that would carry over into cultures that are obsessed with genetic engineering and the physical representations of pure genetics. There is also the differing cultures of what is considered normal in which culture, and the differences in patriarchal societies, matriarchal societies, and perhaps societies with social structures that we don't have any comprehension of. It is interesting to develop cultures that dismiss some cultures as 'crude' simply because of how their culture has developed (ie: "You mean your people don't genetically engineer your children to have the best chances in life? How...interesting.").

And I guess that is all I want to talk about right now. I should really be studying for my Japanese test. Bah. How has Japanese helped my writing? Not really very well. It hasn't done much. My intro to linguistics course, on the other hand, has done wonders for helping me decide what I'm going to do to develop a distinct language for my "aliens." I'll probably recycle it for my fantasy stories, and then fans who read both my stories can have fun realizing that both languages work in the same way and use identical vocabulary. I think it might be kind of fun. Of course, if the Editor wants me to change it, I guess I won't have much of a choice...

In the meantime, I'll keep editing my story about genetically engineered orphans. Which actually has nothing to do with the above story, aside from the fact that they are both written by yours truly. Ha!

And now, to study...

Week of Man "Date" and House Elections

Mwaha! Just when you thought I was never going to update this poor dear, the nagging finally wore me down! Ha! Yeah. I'm just great at updating this thing... NOT. Alack and alas.

Anyway, now that I've said nothing of import, I'll get to the interesting stuff that you probably have been waiting forever to hear about (well, forever being approximately one month): My week of man "date". And also officer elections.

First things first: What is this  "date" and why is it in quotes?

Well, 'Week of Man' is an insane event that the UCU men's house puts on every year to determine who the "manliest man" is. Which basically boils down to guys doing a bunch of crazy stunts, not showering, and throwing up a lot. Yeah. I was very impressed... not.

Be that as it may, one of the things the guys can do during this 'week of man' to prove their manliness is ask girls on dates. Fortunately, no guy is callous enough to ask out a girl who's already dating someone... however, they have no qualms about asking every other girl in the house to go on a date with them... even if they ask multiple girls at once.

Well, I had two guys ask me out. I was probably difficult to locate for most of the week as I tend to hide out in my room like a hermit and cackle at anime, do homework, stalk Japanese celebrities (>.<), or write. Anyway, one guy was a dork and asked me on a date by standing on the table in the middle of lunch. He asked the other girl at the table as well. There were about six other people there, and the whole thing was awkward. He still hasn't actually taken me on that date, though he assured me and a few other girls that he'll get to it. But since he asked out like 12 girls, well... haha, his wallet can only take so much abuse.

The other guy that 'asked me out' is in the creative writing major, and wrote a story with him and myself as the characters. He sent it to me via facebook, and that's pretty much how we discussed everything up until the date. The story ended with his character inviting mine to go out for coffee or something. Not wanting to read into the story, I told him it was pretty funny. He told me there was a purpose behind writing it. I asked if he was trying to use nonverbal communication in the story to express attitudes and thoughts. Or if he was working on description. He said it was more like a moral, something to be learned at the end. I told him I was sorry but I didn't have a clue... to which he responded: "Week of man date? :D"

To which I replied that I would love to go for coffee or something and that I am a total moron. We had a good chuckle about that one. I felt really stupid. Anyway, we went and got some bubble tea together and chatted about writing, and also the upcoming officer elections, and how school was going, and just life in general. Long story short, we talked for about 3 hours.  'twas tons of fun.

And that was the week of man "date". The other one has yet to occur, but I hinted that I wanted sushi, so maybe I'll have him take me to the new donburi place on the ave and try their salmon donburi instead. I hope it's yummy!

Well, after week of man, the women's house held officer elections. For people who don't know (ie, everyone except me or a house member), there are five officer positions at UCU:

President - does tours, works with intra- and inter-house relationships, works with the alumni board, etc.
Vice President - spiritual leader of the house, works with bible studies, leads worship nights, plans outreaches, etc.
Secretary - takes notes at meetings, etc.
Treasurer - collects dues, etc.
Social Chair - plans events, etc.
House Manager - makes sure the house is running, chore manager, buys cleaning supplies, works with the cook to keep things running, etc.

So, at our house we have combined the roles of secretary and treasurer into one person. And we have two social chairs so they can brainstorm together. Anyway, I decided to run for the position of Vice President. And I won. And thus far, it's been murder. It's a huge learning curve and I feel totally inadequate. I have no clue what I was thinking trying to lead anyone in anything.

Haha, all that to say I'm convinced I'm going to die trying to lead the other people in this house, especially since I struggle to have a regular quiet-time. It's really frustrating to be encouraging people to do stuff like read their bibles and feel like a total hypocrite. It's something I would appreciate prayer for. I can find time to do practically anything except read my bible, and I KNOW it's because my spirit and my flesh are in conflict, which just makes it all the more frustrating. However, the guy's house vice president and I have regular meetings. In fact, I'll be meeting with him again tonight to talk about possible outreaches, etc.

It's nice to have someone else to talk to, and everyone is really supportive, but it's frankly terrifying to have this position, a lot scarier than I thought it would be. I just don't want to lead people in the wrong direction or make a dumb choice.

Well, now I have homework, but I think I'll update my bloggy blog of doom tomorrow. My 'bloggy blog' is how I've affectionately termed this blog, and it's kind of stuck. Not only I, but also one of my friends now refers to it as my 'bloggy blog' as well. Hehe. It makes me happy. Try saying it: "Bloggy blog."

Doesn't it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? D'awwww, yeah, I know.

And with that, I shall bid you adieu!

Until next month, or tomorrow, whenever I end up updating...

...peh.

Birthday Madness in the Emerald City

So much to say, so little time...  Where to start?

Well, I'll start with what everyone is probably wondering about -- My celebrity crush is gone. I'd like to thank God in his mercy, and also dead week (which allows no time for trawling youtube for more talk shows and interviews). So that's over. I still like his music, but I've moved on to more edifying activities like writing, reading my bible, and listening to the Worldview Academy podcast (which just happens to be hosted by my two favorite speakers, Bill Jack and Jeff Baldwin. (and because I know that Jeff Baldwin and Bill Jack always mock argue about whose name should go first, I've just alleviated that problem. Ha!))

Okay then. Glad that's all cleared up. I also breezed through my finals - Japanese, International Relations, and Intro to Communications. I'm registered for my new classes, and I'm excited to be heading home for spring break. The house where I stay has the girls switch rooms and room mates every quarter, so I'm currently sittin in my room at a super-clean desk with only a laptop and a desk chair. It no longer feels like my desk. There are no knicknacks on the windowsill, the desk lamp is gone, my printer has been packed out, and I no longer have snacks in my desk drawer. So no roasted almonds while I study. Of course, since I've finished with school for the quarter, I don't really need the roasted almonds anymore...

Additionally, I have been plotting all the many -- EH??

Sorry for the outburst, but the mildly depressing rain that had been falling from the ubiquitous Seattle grey skies has just upgraded (downgraded?) to slushy snow. If that causes any problems with public transit tomorrow I will be most dissatisfied, since I have a bus to catch home.

Speaking of public transit, I'm glad that I didn't have to take a bus back down to Vancouver to celebrate the birthday of a good friend of mine -- because he came up here instead! Besides, I had enough bothering me as I attempted to craft a unique birthday present. It didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted, but... well, shall I start at the beginning?

The Righteous Empire of Brendan was turning 21, and being awesome (because all of my friends are awesome), he wanted to spend his birthday with me and a couple other close buddies of whom I also happen to be fond. So, he stuffed his car up with Kristi, Jirah, and my little sister (who is doubly awesome since she is not only my friend but also related to me by blood), and drove all the way up to seattle. This involved waking at an early hour and driving up to get here by approximately 10 AM.

Tragically, I stayed up late the night before and into the early morning hours trying to finish the lovely birthday present for Brendan the awesome. So I overslept, had to quickly finish up the present by printing it, and then take a shower. However, having overslept, I didn't get a chance to blow dry my hair before they arrived. Kristi, Jirah, and my sister came up to get me, and we headed out into the blustery wetness that is Seattle during the winter months.

Here's the birthday present that gave me such trouble:

 

 ...yeah. It doesn't seem like it would take awhile, but it took a really long time, and I didn't even get the chance to color it. I'll probably redo it, which will involve fixing the resolution (which I wrote at, like, 3AM and so it is not particularly coherent), coloring it, and making the speech bubbles and text size bigger so that it is more readable. My friend Brendan was the United States, I was Norway, and Kristi was the United Kingdom. The rest of the people were all caricatures of the people from our Model United Nations team/class/club/thing at Clark College that we were closest to. It was sort of like a big group of buddies that did Political Science-y things together and went on awesome trips, and that's where Kristi and I met Brendan, and there are a lot of inside jokes involved with it, which is why I chose this for the present.

Anyway, after the excitement of completely bombing the present by trying to print all the panels on one page (rendering the text so tiny that it became unreadable) and racing out to the car with still-wet hair, we took off for downtown Seattle to explore. First we parked and wandered into a food court area near the Pacific Science Center, and had Subway sandwiches. I also had a small mango peach fruity drink thing that probably had way too much sugar to qualify as a smoothie. After that, we walked towards downtown-ish, with the intent of wandering around pike place.

 It was freezing. The wind chill factor was remarkable - and not in a good way. So our first stop ended up being a random Starbucks. Which isn't too bad, I suppose, since they have hot drinks and started in Seattle. Then we headed out again, and I believe (it's been awhile so bear with me, my chronological order could be all shuffled about) we ended up finding an awesome military surplus store. It had a bunch of gas masks, flight suits, bomber jackets, and some fun parachute bags and also medic bags. 'twas fun to check out all the stuff in there, look at the dress uniforms, eyeball the camouflage, attempt to read the Japanese scribbled (calligraphy and scribbling in Japanese are not all that different) on an old flag, and then duck back into the freezing cold, where we saw some people from UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) casing the street. 

Being foolish and susceptible to pitying folks who are standing out in the freezing cold, I was like "Hey! UNICEF! :D" to which they replied "Yeah! we are UNICEF! let us talk to you for half an hour about UNICEF and what we are doing to help the children in Somalia!"  Which, admittedly, is not a bad thing, but the only person who could actually sign up for their "ten dollars a month" deal was Brendan, because he was the only one of us over twenty...  

I felt pretty ashamed that I'd somehow roped Brendan into standing on a cold street for half an hour and then getting guilted into giving them ten dollars a month... ON HIS BIRTHDAY. On the bright side, the UNICEF people were friendly, and also funny. So after that, we went about another block and leapt into yet another Starbucks because it was (as I said) freezing outside. So then we bought some more drinks, and then ended up wandering over to Pike Place market. We looked at the flying fish, saw some funny t-shirts, and then after some interesting ventures into clothes shops (Brendan was thrilled at this development... not), we found a really awesome sci-fi comic book shop of awesomeness and probably spent a good hour looking at all the stuff there and posing with the life-size cardboard cutouts of Spock, Dr. Who, and Darth Vader. It was fun!

It was probably more than an hour, but time flew and it's been so long that I really don't remember. So after that, it was time to head back. So we wandered back to the car, stopping by the food court-y thing on our way back to find restrooms and possibly more Starbucks. Then we headed back to my house, and then go to dinner because it was the Women's social and we were supposed to take all the guys from the guy's house out to eat, so I dragged Brendan and Company along. We went back after dinner instead of going roller skating and hung out talking until around 10 PM, which was when Brendan and company departed.

All that to say, it was tons and tons of fun, and I hope that Brendan had a good time because I know I did. And hopefully they will come up and visit me again, because I miss all my friends from Vancouver. While it's nice to make friends up here, I don't have a whole lot in common with most of the girls here. I'm a political science and international relations nerd who likes to learn foreign languages, make stupid jokes, read sci-fi and would rather watch an action-adventure flick than a chick flick any day. Romantic comedies are nice, but I'd rather see some action. (Not to say that I don't want plot, but really... how much more plot does a romantic comedy have?)  I guess technically it would be more accurate to say that I would rather watch a Disney animated feature more than either of those, and I also watch anime and read manga. And American comics too. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who reads comics between both the girl's AND guy's houses.

But I digress. I miss my friends, and I hope they come visit me more often. Maybe then I won't have time to develop celebrity crushes. (Yes, I just blamed their absence for my momentary lapse of sanity. I prefer to think of it as "deflection"...)

Well, since my hand is cramping up from typing so much, I should probably call it quits. Hope you enjoyed this post more than my last one. (Which I might be tempted to delete but... well, it's real, it's me, and I guess it's a good way to keep me humble. Even if it is a total embarrassment...)

So long, and fare well! Or should I say...

Live Long and Prosper!