Too Hot to Drink

I would really love just one day, one day, where all of the dogs surrounding my house did not bark constantly every. single. hour. What the fuck are they barking about all the time? And how do they still have vocal cords left? And where are their fucking owners?

Unlike last year's grand and perilous debacle, this year I am prepared for PAX. I've got my full weekend pass purchased, I've got tickets on the West Coast Starlight to ride the PAX train, and oh yes, we're staying at this hotel.

So~ who's going?? We must plan meet ups!

One gratuitous shot of my hotel, because we scored a SWEET deal on it (like, 50% off on the room rate), and wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise.

It is the Friday before classes start back up again, and I think we're more or less settled in the new place. Tomorrow we are getting up early to go grab the last furniture items we need, and then we'll be set.

It's been a crazy two weeks: severe cold (complete with loss of voice), tooth extraction at the dentist, Aaron's parents visiting for a week, finals, and then of course the moving and working.

The house has a really tranquil quality to it. Even with the chickens and crows and dogs making noise all day long (our neighbors on all sides have pets of one variety or another, and the crows simply come with the neighborhood), it still somehow feels more peaceful than living downtown. Plus, the St. John's neighborhood is just completely hauss. Early-morning coffee by the riverfront, surrounded by trees and roses is sublime.

We're putting off the housewarming party for a few more weeks until our landlady can fix the yard. She told us before we moved in that she was going to have it resodded for us (it is, at the moment, a jungle of all manner of weeds. I can't identify half of them), but that still hasn't been done. We've been told now that it will be another week or so, while they schedule something with the contractor.

I'll keep everyone posted on dates/times!

P.S. Straight As on Spring term! Working 60 hours a week at two jobs combined, and a full load of upper division courses is still my bitch. Hoo-ha!

Now completely moved out of the Stratford, keys turned in, walkthrough done. Most of my stuff is in boxes at the new place in the garage, but we didn't get finished at my place until 1 in the morning last night (having started out at around 10 a.m.) and we were meeting up with Aaron's parents for the PSU Farmer's Market this morning at 9. Therefore, the unpacking process must wait until possibly Monday.

This period between terms is always so jarring. It's like jumping on a trampoline and then being stuck on pause mid-way in the air. Everything stops very suddenly. I've now got a week all to myself before I start summer classes.

Also, read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and didn't care much for it. Aside from Austen's usual witty criticisms of the upper classes, there was not much entertainment. Plus, it ends with an incestual marriage where the heroine is pretty much treated like the faithful family dog to the very last page.

This term has been crazy as well as awesome. This week has been really, really interesting.

I completed my first ever graphical video game, Drug Hunt. It's still a little buggy, and I still need to get the bazooka animation to load, but it is playable, bottom line. Aaron helped me tons with the logic, but I know way more about C# than I did before, and I know that I really enjoyed figuring things out with it.

I completed my term project on community newspapers, with a fair amount of success and a lot of interesting results from my data gathering efforts.

I also completed my last article ever for the Vanguard and quit as online editor. I'm not leaving media, however. I'm starting up a new project for PSU called Kommeinia, which has a lot of potential to really form a cohesive community here.

And perhaps the biggest change of all, I'm finally moving off of PSU campus. This is my last night in the Stratford. I can't say I'm sad to leave, but I'm a little nostalgic for the era and a little nervous for the future. I haven't cohabitated with anyone in almost four years, and while I'm excited about the house in St. Johns, I'm also a little wary.

I dunno, maybe it's just that this is the fourth time in as many years that I've packed up everything and moved my life around. Maybe it's this cold I've got coming on.

Hey LJ peeps

For one of my classes this term, I'm working on a project that explores community newspapers and how relevant they really are to people in the communities they serve.

So, if you are in the Portland metro area, please please PLEASE take this quick 10 question survey here: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB2299GJV323Q

You will be doing me a huuuuuge favor.

Unrelated note: House party at my new house (yeah a HOUSE not an apartment or a dorm!) towards the end of June (probably Friday June 19)!! Everyone is invited. More details to come this week.

Thanks again for throwing some survey love my way!

As part of my online-editor duties for the VG, I maintain moderator/godlike status over our forums. Recently we've been getting plagued by spambots galore, so I set it to admin-moderated user creation this morning. Since then, I've received an average of 3 username requests per hour all day. Just a few minutes ago, "VAGSASSOZYWAK" tried to register. I denied the request but I think I'm going to steal that next time I need a character name for something.

Also, I've come to realize that this LJ has turned in to my little net-diary of nerdism. It is my only outlet!

Two questions:

Does this remind ANYONE else of the illustrations from the South American supplement books:



Also, isn't her eyeliner just so rad?

Full Mexico City swine flu mask art here.

So excited for the RCPM show on Friday

From Laughing Squid.

They are trying to rename "fish" to "sea kittens." Yes, seriously. They are. I don't even have words for this one.

http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/about.asp

On Saturday I went to the Someday Lounge with my friend Erik to check out "Get Mortified." It's a live show where people get up on stage and read from their high school diaries. The result us oftentimes hilarious, though I did learn that if I ever decide to teach, it's sure as hell not going to be in Cleveland.

The show is coming back in April and I will definitely be there. It's kind of like sharing an evening of "remember when we were stupid?" with a packed-to-the-walls crowd of strangers.

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