No content...no content...

Yeah, I worked, I slept, I had food, I avoided studying and I tried to start knitting a toque. (I felt very Canadian, and patriotic while I did that...then I realized I'd twisted the stitches and messed the whole thing up...whoops.) So that's been my last couple of days. Luckily, I will be saved from the evil "no content" demon by the Friday Five!!

Friday Five, brought to you by Saturday afternoon.

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?
Yes. I can be somewhat materialistic, but mostly I like to collect stuff. I collect books and craft stuff and other stuff. I don't like the aftermath of shopping though. (credit card bills, cheques bouncing...etc.)

2. What was the last thing you purchased?
I bought a tartan tree ornament at work yesterday, and ten minutes before that I bought a 5' x 5' wreath box that I put all my yarn and most of my cross stitch stuff into. I'm buying another one today...it's only $11.66 and they would fit under my bed if I had legs on my bed.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?
I'm going to go with "yes". I love actually being at a store and seeing all the stuff, and feeling it...especially clothes and books, but I also really like doing the online shopping thing. It's so much easier to buy stuff from, say Powells than it is get to their physical location (Portland.). Overall, I'm going to say I like real stores better.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?
Yup. I actually stopped getting it in April 2003...when I finished school. :) At it's peak, I was getting $20/week and I started out with $1 a week when I was a kid. My mom's going to take me shopping for work clothes though. I've got a $400 clothing allowance there.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?
I did regret buying a sweater because the pocket was ripped and I couldn't return it, but then I took the pocket off and it's my favourite sweater right now. I don't think I can think of anything right now...I tend to make fairly inexpensive purchases which just add up, so any one thing isn't really a big deal. Maybe my car. It's kind of expensive...

Awwwww!!!!

From Donna. This will take a loooooooong time to load.

Disconnected ramblings

Ugh. So sleepy.

Ha! So why am I not asleep? Because I have the urge to blog. And check email, and other stuff. I had a wonderful moment a couple of minutes ago. "Ooh! I've got $200 in my chequing account that shouldn't be there...
...
...oh. A $200 cheque hasn't been cashed yet. Damn."

Oh well. :) At least it ain't in the red, and payday is this Friday, and I'm owed a couple hundred bucks by various people, whom I haven't had the time or energy to collect from. Which also sucks because it means I haven't gotten to visit with them. :(

Speaking of which, I need to visit more people. Who do I need to see?

Meesh, Kittens, Cat, no name yet, Justy, Bimkins ('cept it's more difficult cuz he's in another province...a better reason to visit him though...)

Wow. I have to go to bed. :p Shower first though, with the cinnamon candle. Mmm...cinnamon. I should go make some cinnamon toast...nah, I'll do that tomorrow.

I wonder if I'll miss having a payday when I open my own business...

Where do I sign up?!

Please take me as a volunteer!!!

Fitness, yay!!

20 minutes biking, 20 minutes treadmill, 15 minutes rowing machine.

Boo-ya! Go me!

Now include the private karate lessons on Wednesday and Sunday, plus the two hour dojo workout on Saturday and I'm in fine shape for exercise goals this week.

Owie..

Yep, it's the fourth Wednesday of the month. Tummy ache time! Fun fun. I need a coke slurpee. For some reason that helps with cramps.

Whoa.

Meandered over to arwen.org, a little later than usual, mind kind of half there (which is better than most days) noticed that an actor had committed suicide. Huh. That sucks. Something kind of tweaked in my mind (self: she was fourteen and obsessed with him...hmm...I'd probably actually recognize the name since we're the same age...)
*clicks on the link*

Jonathan Brandis.

Kittens and I giggled over him a LOT when we were in junior high. Granted, she had a slightly (read: astronomically) higher obsession with him than I did. (BTW, thanks Kit, I still get nightmares about clowns because you made me watch that freaking Stephen King movie. *smack* Incidentally, I still get nightmares about really bad movies because you made me watch Neverending Story II...)

So, yeah. That's my weird feeling of the day. Wow.

I'm...emotions.

I don't know how I feel today. I wrote that crazy post last night late, then worked early this morning, slept most of the day and now I'll need to go to work at midnight. So, I'm feeling kind of numb, but not with the bad connotations of numb. Or something. *sigh*

I think I'll go take a long shower (my most recent relaxation therapy) with my cinnamon candle burning, then watch my guppies for a bit. I restocked my fishtank, and I've already got two dead females. Again. ARGH! It's so frustrating...I thought I fixed the problem with the tank (it was too cold) but now there's not really anything I can do about it.

I'm going to try and get to the gym at 930. Wonder if anyone wants to join me...

Short-ish post

This is supposed to be a short post. It probably won't be. :p Deal.

So I've been pretty happy the last couple weeks, but I always have this impending "Yeah, that's not going to last"...or as Sluggy Freelance puts it: " 'Oh.' said God. 'A challenge.' " So I had a minor meltdown last night. Those are usually triggered by something minor going wrong...in this case it was me hormonally blaming Candyman for something that I don't even remember now, and me being pissed off, then dissolving into tears for an hour or so. It's also often brought on by lack of sleep. (sh)It happens way too often for my liking. :p I'm better now.

There's very few things going on in my life. I have a 99.9% of the time great relationship, I love my job, I don't have major bills to pay, I'm healthy, I live in a great area of the world and I'm adorable. However, there's something rotten and nasty inside me saying that I don't deserve what I have, that I'm spoiled and that it's all going to come crashing down on me when the Cosmos realizes that they screwed up and my life is supposed to be given to that chick down the street. Like in Cambodia.

Am I supposed to be grateful for what I have? Sometimes I feel like it's not enough, and other times I feel like it's too much and I don't deserve it. It's really strange.

However, I went to karate tonight. My mind feels clearer. I feel better. Karate is something that I can see myself improving in everytime I attempt it. It's something which allows me to push myself in ways that I never have before, and that's something I need. It's giving me clarity, purpose and a sense of being grounded in something that is larger than I am. Being karate-ka (karate student) is forcing me to take my time, to work towards something, but know that working harder isn't necessarily going to get me there. "Life's a journey, not a destination." and I need to remember to focus myself on that.

Last night while I was very angry and upset, I said something which really struck me. "I'm going to be so pissed off when I move out and discover I'm still so miserable." I didn't realize it at the time, but I think that's part of my problem. I'm one of those people who, if they aren't smacked down, will go through life like this...

"I'll be happy when...
...I finish high school."
...I get a job."
...I move out."
...I find a significant other."
...I get married."
...I have kids."
...the kids move out."
...I retire."

Whoops, I'm dead. And that happens to TOO DAMNED MANY PEOPLE! I refuse to let myself do that. This is part of the reason why I started this blog in the first place. I have let the stars (moving out, getting a job etc.) blind me to the fact that I am currently living my life. The only one I get, depending on who you believe, but dammit, right now it's the only one I have, so why should I waste my time screwing around with it?

Um, anyway...comments are welcome. :)

Friday Five

On a Friday, no less! Will wonders never cease?

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
Bake a cake.
Finish a scarf.
Clean my room.
Get The Cheat online
Finish Myst

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.
Laura (woo, she got in contact with me this year)
Stephanie
...
That's about it, really.

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
Crochet
Sew
Drive standard
Start my own business
Be organized

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
Buy a big house with my own craft room
Adopt/sponsor/foster some kids
Go to school and take fun courses
Have a horse
Cure diseases

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
Knit
Cross stitch
Read
Take a shower, especially with candles (no bathtub in my room. :( )
Cuddle with Candyman

WHEEEEEEEE!!!!

Just printed out my last paper. Thank Deity(ies). Thanks everyone for putting up with me while I stressed and panicked through this semester. Thanks to...

...

...

Huh? Finals? CRAP!

*zooooom*

Top ten signs I might blog/read blogs too damn much

10. I remember it's time for my *YEARLY FEMALE TEST* by reading about other people who're getting theirs.
9. I blog/read blogs over at Candyman's house, when I haven't seen him in days (weeks...) instead of cuddling.
8. I search out new blogs when I have an assignment due (well, I also clean my bathroom and cook when I have an assigment due...this isn't really a good test)
7. I bug people in real life about not blogging enough.
6. I use my blog as a goal setting mechanism. (weight etc.)
5. I expect people to know what's going on in my life because I blogged it.
4. I go back and read my blog archives every so often...you know, just because.
3. I have to go onto my blog and check when stuff's due because I know I posted it.
2. I have to go onto my blog and check what I got on an assignment because I know I posted it.

And the number one reason I know I blog/read blogs too much...
1. I'm trying to start a meme!

So, people who post or read too damn much: write your own top ten list and comment back to me!

Bobbing for guppies

*looks at the amount of work still to do on her research paper*

I'm fucked. Thank you.

The ceremonial "throwing Karin to the lions" will occur at 2200 tonight. In lieu of lions, guppies will be subsituted. Justy has agreed to be my second, holding my hair back as I commit seppuku by fish tank. (My sword isn't sharpened.)

Luckily all this is ceremonial. ^_^

Yay! I wasted six minutes blogging about this rather than working on my paper! And I wonder why I never get stuff done ahead of time... :/

Just say NO!

I really like this because I actually know someone who's allergic to wheat, and it affects him like pot affects most other people. So, listen up to this! It's some scary stuff. ;) Got it from Donna, but I don't know where it came from originally.

Bread & Crime

I've done a little research, and what I've discovered should make anyone think twice....

- More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

- Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

- In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid,yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.

- More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

- Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than that in one month!

- Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis.

- Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as little as two days.

- Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cold cuts.

- Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 80 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

- Newborn babies can choke on bread.

- Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.

- Most bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.

In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread restrictions:

- No sale of bread to minors.

- A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete with celebrity TV spots and bumper stickers.

- A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills we might associate with bread.

- No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.

- The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

Remember: Think idiotically, act globally

*grumble*

Well, I worked from midnight until 8 am this morning. That sucked. Then I slept most of the day and went to work for 530 this evening. I was told that I should go home. Um, hello? My schedule says that I'm supposed to be working. NO ONE told me that my shift had been cancelled. I was truly annoyed. I'm better now. I did some schoolwork and got a little ahead. That's good.

This week is the week for webcomics, apparently. Three new ones have been added to the sidebar...Oh my Gods, Partially Clips and Something Positive.

Saturday Five

1. Using one adjective, describe your current living space.
Messy (synonyms: disasterous, cramped, bomb-went-off)

2. Using two adjectives, describe your current employer.
Supportive, efficient

3. Using three adjectives, describe your favorite hobby/pasttime.
Creative, intellectual, spiritual

4. Using four adjectives, describe your typical day.
Hectic, tiring, exciting, fulfilling

5. Using five adjectives, describe your ideal life.
Spiritual, creative, intelligent, fulfilled, house-not-so-messy

Ohhhh, maaan...

I'm sick. Officially. And not even that stupid cold that's been ravaging everyone in the store. Nope, I've either got some minor food poisoning or stomach flu. Crap. I even called in sick to work today...for the first time since I started working there. And it was going to be an eight hour shift too! And I had to give up a five hour shift because I would've gone over 40 hours for this week. Oh, the irony. :(

Recipe for anti-nauseants

(it's all very precise...)

1-2 dashes of powdered ginger
1/8 cup boiling water (or enough to make it look like bouaibaisse soup broth)
Honey to taste (I put about half as much honey as I did water...I really don't like ginger...)

Dammit.

I keep breaking my blog when I try to fiddle with the template. Links will be reappearing on the sidebar...um...eventually.

The moral? Karin shouldn't fiddle.

Heheh.

Hmm...a new meme...

OCTOBER:
Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to takes things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn't pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

Do yours here!

What a good idea.

Bimkins wrote this in his blog, and I'm going to copy him. Let's see how many people will do this.

Flander's Fields
In Flander's fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place and in the sky
The lark still bravely singing flies.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe.
To you, from failing hands we throw.
The torch be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow.
In Flander's fields.
--John McCrae (1872-1918)


Wow. This is still an incredible poem. I memorized it when I was in grade seven, and rewrote it here from memory, even though I hadn't recited it in ages. I think that struggling with the words made it more meaningful to me. Lest we forget, indeed. With all the fighting going on these days, and how it's more personal to more of North America it's important to remember today.

Ugh. Busy.

Wow. I'm working a LOT this month. 35 hours scheduled this week (so far...I usually get asked to stay an extra couple hours), last week was 37, week before was just a hair over 40. Week before that was around 35. Despite being at minimum wage, I'm making a damn fine amount of money. And I'm staying at or slightly below my weight from when I got my wisdom teeth out. 158.5 yesterday. :D Happy, happy.

I'm doing some hard thinking right now. I'm having some interesting thoughts on spirituality and Wicca, and Buddhism, and karate. It's kind of all jumbling together... Huh. Oh well. I'm sure I'll figure it all out eventually...but by that time I'll be dead. :) Cheery thought, ne?

I need to start getting Saturdays off so I can get to karate. :( I really miss it.

I need a couple of cheery thoughts to end on. Um, I had smoked oysters as part of my lunch today...they were tasty.

There's a new Strongbad email up. It was funny.

I'm not dreading the winter as much as I usually do. :)

I still love my job!

Good enough. I gotta dash. Work from 330-1130pm tonight. :ppp Sucks a bit, but oh well...whatcha going to do? Me? I'm going to take a shower, brush my teeth, reflect on "oh crap, I didn't do any homework today like I was supposed to" and go to work.

Yay!!

My paper's finished with a couple hours to spare!! It's not very good, but I'm beyond the point of caring. I just want this semester to END.

Friday Five

You know who it's from

1. What food do you like that most people hate?
Haggis.

2. What food do you hate that most people love?
Nothing I can think of. I get sick of pizza really quickly.

3. What famous person, whom many people may find attractive, is most unappealing to you?
Hmmm...that's a tough one. I guess Eminem. I can't stand the Rock when he's in his "Rock" persona, but I've got serious hots for him in Scorpion King. George Clooney doesn't do much for me either.

4. What famous person, whom many people may find unappealing, do you find attractive?
Sean Connery. I don't really know. *shrug* I think Nicole Kidman is hot, but most people (men and women) I've talked to disagree.

5. What popular trend baffles you?
Low carb diets. Actually, any diet that forces you to deprive yourself of any one food group, or to only eat one thing (cabbage soup diet, etc.)

Well, good news and bad news.

The Bad

1) I'm getting sick. Nuff said. Well, maybe not. :) Taking some echinachea stuff...tea and tincture...which seems to be helping. Need to eat more garlic. Theory: Garlic isn't actually anti-bacterial like the claims...it just keeps people away to prevent spread of illness.

2) I got back an assignment and got 4.5/10 on it. If anyone's paying attention, that would be more than twice as good as I got on the previous one. *sigh* Oh well. I'd just better kick some ass on my research project.

3) I haven't done shite on the research project. This could be problematic. Incidentally, anyone want to take a survey? You gotta be older than 18, and take another survey about two weeks afterwards. Thanks to anyone who responds. kinkygrrl1701@yahoo.com or my other emails if you know 'em. Or tell me in the comments.

The Good

1) I'm not completely stressed over the paper I've got due tomorrow. I had yesterday and today to work on it, and I've finished about 1/3 of it. I've got all tomorrow to work on it as well before I go to work at 6. It's due at 430, so that gives me some time to decompress after I drop it off at university.

2) I got a bit of room cleaning done, including some laundry and sorting some craft stuff. Is there a bigger "little joy" in the world than finding some stuff that you were positive you'd thrown out, then realizing that you really need it...dammit... :( And then it becomes found!! And life is good!! And you still need it...unlike some other stuff that I've found and gone "Holy crap...I really could've used that three days ago...but now it's too late." That happens all the time with Hallowe'en costumes for me.

3) I found some really kick-ass knitting sites. (whoa, talk about your contradiction in terms...). I'll probably post some craft links on the side bar at some point. I'm lazy right now though.

4) I've found some really good Wicca sites. Again, these will eventually be posted. I'm so glad I don't have a quota on bookmarks. :)

5) I got an Assignment from Hell back. 84% BAYBEE!!!! Only one more of those fuckers to go. :D

6) Got some Vancouver Symphony Orchestra information. Long story short (TOO LATE!) bottom line...if I can get 8 people who want to go to any concert, I can get tickets for $30 apiece. It's called a "flex pass". If less than 8 want to go, it'll cost a bit more per person. Again, let me know, either through email or comments.

I don't know how much I'll be posting in the next couple weeks...school and work and relationships (oh my!) will be chewing up a lot of my time. Plus, I'll be making some of my Christmas presents, which will also be taking up some time. Working retail through the holiday season. Why?! Why did I choose to do this?! Because I'm MAD!! MAD I TELL YOU!!! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!!

ahem.

So, yes. I might not be updating much. (incidentally, every time I've said that, I usually update like crazy...so who knows...)

SUDDEN REALIZATION

I'VE GOT A MONTH LEFT IN THIS SEMESTER!!!! OMG! Thank goodness...I really really really want this semester to be OVER!!! I got my course newspaper in the mail today...there's some really interesting cours--

NO!!!!

Heheh. I never learn.

Dis is funny...

Got this from Donna. You'll need Flash.

That is all.

*sniffle*

...uh oh...

I'm not still having an allergic reaction, which means I'm getting sick. Fsck no. Not now. Not when I've got a crapload of stuff to do for school and practically full time hours at the store. Nonononononooooo.. Not allowed.

So, I'm not exactly working on my term paper...I'm kind of working on working on it, if you know what I mean.

Whoa...panic. I looked at last week's schedule and thought it was for this week... :/ If that was true, I don't get today and tomorrow off to play on the computer be productive on my assignments.

Our roof is getting fixed today and yesterday. There is much banging and pounding going on over my head. Luckily I got a lot of sleep last night. :p

Went bowling with Candyman and some of his co-workers last night. That was fun, even though I had a bit of a sore shoulder from lifting boxes of books yesterday. It's really quite sore now, despite icing it when we got back to his place. I've had this shoulder giving me problems all fall. :( It was bugging me through Ultimate and a couple of times with karate. Ugh. I hope it'll get better in the next couple of days. That seems to be the pattern.

So bowling. I hadn't been 10 pin bowling for ages...like since I was nine or so. Man, was it ever fun!! I didn't totally suck, in fact I beat Candyman in one game and broke 100 in it. Breaking 100 is always my goal. It's strange, after over ten years of not going bowling, I've gone twice in two weeks. I think there will be a bowling night in the Tri-Cities. Ok, after my finals, a bunch of people are going to get together and play some five or ten pin bowling semi-close to my house. Who's in on that?

Flipping allergies.

I was doing stock at work tonight and good God, do I feel awful. I can't really type either. :p So I'm going to bed, since I have to work at 0700 tomorrow. Bloody hell.

And what's with Blogrolling not letting me ping them? *grumble* (hopefully now that I've mentioned it, it'll work.)

$166.72 later...

Ok, I think I've got enough craft stuff to last me until...December.

At least.

So, um...anyone want a knitted scarf for Cmas? I bought about 20 rolls balls packages of wool today and another pair of needles...

Actually some of the stuff I bought is for gifts. And some of it will be gifts for me...my parents are very cool with me giving them stuff and saying "This was $75.94, I'll have this for Christmas please. Make the cheque out to me." :)

Oh, and that would be $166.72 with the 50% included, so really I bought over $350 worth of stuff. :D

Ooh, now I have four huge bags of craft stuff in addition to the three other huge bags of craft stuff that I need to put away in my room...or at least hide whenever Candyman comes over... :/

...

...

Crap.

Friday Five...on Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY...

Work and school have been eating me alive, hence no updates...

1. What was your first Halloween costume?
I was 21 days old (birthday on Oct 10) and my mom and dad dressed me up as a clown and my dad carried my around in a huge pumpkin.

2. What was your best costume and why?
I have a wide variety of medieval type dresses, so they're probably my best costumes. Either that or my PVC stuff. I like black shiny material. :) But why limit yourself to Halloween?! I wear that stuff for fun. :)

3. Did you ever play a trick on someone who didn't give you a treat?
Nope, everyone's always given me a treat.

4. Do you have any Halloween traditions? (ie: Family pumpkin carving, special dinner before trick or treating, etc.)
Not anymore. My mom always buys way too much candy for the amount of kids we get at our door (2 this year). Does that count?

5. Share your favorite scary story...real or legend!
I don't like this question.
5. Share your favorite scary story...real or legend!
5. What was Karin's costume this year?
Whoa, a personalized Friday Five!! Right on! Well, I was a medieval chick at work on Friday (no ladders, thank goodness) and I was an '80's girl rocker that night. I wore fishnets with a garter belt, denim miniskirt, a wicked black and red and silver shirt with the shoulders cut out and chains across one of them. And ankle boots.

Hehehe...my brother wore fishnets as well...he was dressed as a ho and his buddy was his pimp. It was pretty funny, especially when he asked about the costume...

Karin's Brother: Hey, I'm dressing up as a ho for Halloween.
Karin (not really paying attention): Uh huh?
Karin's Brother: Can I borrow some of your clothes?
Karin: I'm not sure if I should be insulted that you think I might have slutty clothes, or embarrassed that you're right.

Heheh. I'm so witty. :p