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I really want to upgrade to a paid account, just for the icon space, but I really don't have the money. :/

Hablaré sobre Haití, y lo que yo sé de este país tan pobre. En mi último año en la escuela secundaria, tuve una clase de las políticas y el gobierno, que todas las estudiantes tuvieron tomar, y por crédito extra leí un libro sobre Haití. El autor era un doctor que ayudó a los pobres de Haití, especialmente con la enfermedad de la tuberculosis. Construyó hospitales y pasó mucho tiempo en Haití, ayudando a la gente enferma. Él escribió mucho sobre lo que vio en Haití, porque mucha gente estaba enferma, pobre, y desnutrida y fue una visita (¿) muy, muy triste. El libro era de hacía muchos años, más de diez ahora, y los descripciones de Haití fueron tristes, pero ahora, la situación en Haití es mucho peor. Hubo un terremoto en Haití y muchas personas murieron. Las casas se destruyeron y no hay dinero para arreglar la situación. Mucha gente de otros países como los Estados Unidos está dando su dinero, ropa vieja, y otras formas de ayuda a la gente de Haití. Hay grupos de Facebook dando dinero para cada persona quien participa, grupos de conciencia, y organizaciones benéficas. Hay un concierto en Mount Holyoke para recaudar dinero por Haití. Todo el mundo quiere ayudar este lugar que la necesita.

There is a word in Latin that means "full of rabbits".

It's cuniculosus, if you want to know.

A certain someone's livejournal entry (hi there!) about what it is to be working on a story made me think of all the old stories I've worked on before, and made me wonder how I ended up where I am now, writing a science fiction... epic. Thing. That I will now link shamelessly to, because I'm a whore like that.

whore
whore
whore
whore
whore

Anyway. About how I ended up here. I always used to love fantasy stories. The longest story I wrote for a long time was 73 pages hand written, and it was a lame fantasy story about thirteen-year-old twins that were totally perfect and awesome and you know the type. I gave up on it after a while, and I realized how much I hated it. I kept writing fantasy stories until my failed comic, "The Thirteenth Month." I don't gave up on that after I realized I preferred writing to drawing, and couldn't motivate myself to draw the panels anymore.
Then I was stuck firmly in reality, somewhere along the way I got my deviantart account and was stuck with the gay boys ("Roommates" being the main example) for a long time. And then, somehow, I started getting fantasy ideas. The difference was that it was modern fantasy, like in "100 Souls for Death," where I felt more comfortable than some fantasy world I had invented. And, separately, I experimented with the future, like in "The Revolution."
And now I'm playing with science fiction, and thinking about it like fantasy with science instead of magic makes me happy, and it makes a lot of sense, but I still look at the past several years and wonder how exactly I got these random ideas and characters.
And the transition's not exactly clear, is it? I mean, I jump back and forth, my ideas change, my plots get tangled and confused and stories remain unfinished, with promises that I'll return one day and intentions to go back, but I never will. It's hard, once you've left the world, to dive right back in. I find myself struggling to get back into the pace of "Tea Boy" after so long, but I don't want to drop the story, I love the characters. It's been less than a month, just because I didn't write a new chapter every day doesn't mean I didn't think about them, but now I'm not used to it any more. The pacing. It's... off. Catherine noticed it on one of the chapters shifting from the "blue aliens and torture" plot to the culmination of the "something's moving in the darkness" plot. It feels to me, not that it's too fast or too slow, but there just isn't enough between it. They should have walked across the wilderness longer, or hung out in the van more, or something. I don't know.
I'm getting off topic.
This always happens with livejournal entries.

Long story here. If anyone can figure out the thought process here, help me out, because I'm lost.
( Your non-existent instant messenger isn't working! )

I bought my roommate a cookie at Blanchard and left it on her desk for her to find with a little note thanking her for letting us have a sleepover in our room.
I do believe in karma, but that's not the only reason to do nice things for people. It's also fun to know that you've brightened their day.

Also, I distinctly remember there being an animated icon of Chekov (Star Trek movie of awesome!) running through the halls with the words "I can do that!" I'd really like to find it, anyone know where I might find it?
Found it!

This is what I'm doing for my audition piece. That's right, next weekend I'm auditioning for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! It's going to be amazing, amazing, amazing. I really want to get in. I'd love, love, love to be Penny, but I'll be anyone, really. Bad Horse Chorus, random homeless woman, anyone!
Anyone at the five colleges can audition (LAUREN!)

Curious, I did a search for what kind of jobs you can get in Anthropology, and noticed that most people get their degree and use it to teach Anthropology. So, essentially, it is an entire field that exists only to teach itself.
And, well, do other things too, but I thought that was amusing.

I just had a conversation with my dad about how my grandfather was a great writer, but how he never did anything with his writing, how it never led to anything more. I hope he'll follow through with his plans to gather it all together and get it published, that would be really great. I at least want to read it.

Someone: It warms the heart shaped mollusks of my heart.

Becca: I like your hair. You have nice ears. They're pretty.
( Read more... )

I'm going to keep this short because I'm really not in the mood to write a ton about it right now.
My paternal grandfather has been in and out of the hospital for the past few months. Last week he went into the hospital again, and pretty much everything was failing. My dad and his brothers were spending almost every afternoon in the hospital and when they weren't they were on the phone with doctors who all had the same question: "How much should we try?"
He was very sick. They did everything they could do to help him, and after over a week nothing had improved and he was only getting worse. My uncles and my father made the decision to literally pull the plug. He was taken off his machines and they stood around him and after a few minutes, he died.
There will be a small private ceremony, just between the three brothers, his only remaining close family. I won't be going home from school, mostly because my family can't afford to take the time to come out and get me, bring me home, and then get me back here again.
I wasn't very close with him. I don't even remember what he looked like. From what I understand he was a jerk to pretty much everyone up until the day he died. But I'm sorry he had to die, and mostly I'm sorry because I know it hurt my dad a lot.

Yet more vocabulary words, aren't you excited?
( Read more... )

I was wandering through the streets of the city
Rambling through the avenues of time
When from nowhere my eyes fell onto a girl, and by chance her eyes fell onto mine
(Ehh)
So I sat and I acted all nonchalant
She smoked her lavender cigarette
Reading the future that lay in my hands, as my shadow played a bass clarinet
(Where are you going with this Bret?)
We waltzed down a moonlit boulevard
Just two silhouettes in the mist
(Oh yes)
Days went by and years went by
Moments went by when we kissed
(When was this?)
She said "your beard is woven of heartache"
And we'll drink for the lonely, tonight
And the moon is a horny old drunkard
(Uh Bret, could you please move over to your right?)
We drank dandelion wine and we reminisced about the moment when we first met that day
(I'm trying to watch TV)
Then we reminisced about how we first reminisced
(Oh yea? Sounds a bit gay)
She handed me a broken memory
A keepsake to forever-more save
That a brief taste of love is as sweet as any
And with that she made her way

She said her name was a secret
Then she said her name was Cherie
(Is her middle name Cherie?
So its a secret Cherie? Maybe?)
Hmm maybe
(What'd she look like?)
She looked like a Parisian river
(What, dirty?)
She looked like a chocolate eclair
(Thats rare)
Her eyes were reflections of eyes
(Ohh nice)
And the rainbows danced in her hair
(Oh yea)
She reminded me of a winter's morning
(What, frigid?)
Her perfume was Eau De Toilette
(What does that mean?)
She was comparable to Cleopatra
(Quite old?)
She was like Shakespeare's Juliet
(What 13?)
The bohemians of SoHo did pirouettes, as we waltzed through the streets of Manhattan
On rivers of ribbon and sailboats of songs
(Bret, did any of this actually happen?)
The girl I described, she's as real as the wind
Its true, I saw her today
The other details are inventions
Because I prefer her that way

I was thinking about this earlier, how all my characters are based off other characters from other shows, so I figured I'd do a chart to explain how I think of them and stuff.
( If you're interested in Tea Boy characters, click! )

Everyone is trying to do something for Haiti right now, my inbox has been inundated with messages about what color shirt to wear in support, where to send my money, and so on. I thought I'd compile a list here of things you can do, organized from least amount of effort to most.

Attend this Facebook event and wear red next Tuesday.

Sign this petition to reduce Haiti's debt so that all money donated can go to helping the victims of the disaster.

Join this Facebook group and they will donate $1 per person (supposedly).

Donate that $1 (or more) to Doctors Without Borders.

Check this list of trustworthy organizations to donate to.

Text "YELE" to 501501 for $5 to Yéle Haiti, the cost of donation is charged to your bill.

Text "Haiti" to 90999 for $10 to the Red Cross, the cost will be added to your bill.

Go to Haiti and volunteer your time and help!

Yet more Spanish Vocab, yay!
( Read more... )

So here's the deal, I've been taking good notes like a good student and now have a ton of random vocabulary words written down that I've encountered in class. Already knew some, some I just figured out. Some have different meanings in different places, and some are swears (we had a mini-lesson on how to curse in different places)
You can kind of follow the general subject of the class as the list progresses, too, which is kind of neat.
( Read more... )

So here's the deal, I've been taking good notes like a good student and now have a ton of random vocabulary words written down that I've encountered in class. Already knew some, some I just figured out. Some have different meanings in different places, and some are swears (we had a mini-lesson on how to curse in different places)
You can kind of follow the general subject of the class as the list progresses, too, which is kind of neat.
( Read more... )

Primero, necesito decir, no puedo hacer los acentos aqui, lo siento. Tambien, lo siento para mi gramatica horible.

Esa semana he estudiado espanol por 9 horas cada dia, y ahora estoy muy cansada. Me divierto, y me gustan los clases, pero es mucho trabajo. Aprendi mucho, y tengo dos semanas mas para esos clases de espanol. Hemos hablado de la naturaleza, la tecnologia, y la biologia (Lauren, te gustarian los clases de biologia en espanol). Tambien hemos aprendido la gramatica y practicado los formos de los verbos. Miramos peliculas, hablamos mucho, y es muy divertido (y deficil, pero todos los clases de lenguas son).
Ahora, YouTube, Facebook, y Livejournal estan en espanol para mi, porque quiero practicar. Es un poco extrano y deficil, pero bien para practicar. Quiero saber mas de esa lengua! Quiero saber todo! Y mi problema muy grande es el vocabulario. Voy a practicar.