ortodoxa

 So, basically, my thoughts on Alice in brief:

1) The costumes were magnificent.

2) The visuals were enticing.

3) The acting was brilliant.

4) The plot left much to be desired.

5) Nowhere near enough Christopher Lee/Jabberwocky. Though the presence of his voice did indeed illicit squeals from me (I am not ashamed to fangirl that man's voice *is in love*), there should have been more of him.

 So, life's been a little stressful lately. >_>

Not too much is going on, out of the ordinary, working as a supervisor, trying to finish my degree, paying bills... same old, same old.

Went on a long walk this past weekend, and it was good. Went rock climbing/fun stuff weekend before. Have been practicing violin every day since this past Saturday, since Jarret couldn't make it out for my lesson on Sunday.

Have several costumes to make for Williamsburg for some folks... money to pay bills! Yay! ;) Am also going to be doing some costuming for the LA Film School, which should prove interesting.

Also have some plans to be unveiled soon for my etsy shop... hopefully by the end of the week if I can find the time... :D

Other than that, nothing new or interesting. Slowly saving toward my own violin on the side...

Beat Secret of Monkey Island. Have now beaten Attack of the Clones in Lego Star Wars. Next up to tackle is Revenge of the Sith...

 Finals are next week... ack!

Also, one more semester... done end of April! Also ack! But yay? Must work horrifically hard.

Also am studying for Bio exam. Much ack there as well. Go die, science.

In the meantime, must also start studying for the GRE, so I can ace it. Also applying for scholarships. And for Psych programs. Yale/Harvard/St. Andrew's/Cambridge/Oxford, are where I'm basically looking. EEPS! :)

Excited though, very excited. Hoping, praying, and crossing fingers for it working out.

Studying again now... 'til later, my lovelies...

by A. Valenzuela

Los Angeles, CA Citizens staged a protest today outside campuses around the nation. As finals week(s) draw near for colleges and universities, the safety conscious citizens of the United States are gathering again. This year, however, they have begun a more unified process. Cynthia Safety, of Orange County, began convincing those she knew to start a group designed to battle the threat to the roads that she, and others, felt was growing.

"These [colleges] are crazy," Safety told reporters this morning. "They don't care about what they're doing to students. And these students, who are studying until the cows come home, are going insane. This isn't safe for our roads! More deaths occur each finals season from student drivers who are falling asleep, or too busy thinking about Latin derivations and philosophers nobody in the real world cares about. If colleges stopped giving finals, we wouldn't have this problem!"

When asked what she thought would be a better solution, Safety began listing off a variety of ideas. Several protesters nearby offered their opinions as well. The favoured proposal to stopping exams and creating safer roads was raising the standard in class, and giving grades based on what students would need to know in real life. Paul Dropout, a fellow protester, and chairman of SAT--Sitizens Against Tests--said that finals "were a ploy from money-grubbing colleges who are just trying to destroy the economy and American values." Even some professors joined the anti-finals protesters, including an English professor who asked to remain anonymous. When asked why she was taking a stand against the very college she taught at, she explained, "I care more about my students learning. I don't want them to have to dose up on 5-hour energy drinks and possibly kill me as they ignore a light change in an intersection. Finals aren't necessary to see if a student knows what they're doing. It's far better to give them a research paper topic at the beginning of the course, so they can work on it all semester and not worry about any exams."

Other professors, however, see it differently. Phillip Final, spokesperson for Colleges United, objected to the protesters. "Their points are silly," Final said. "They are refusing to look at the matter from a rational perspective. They were probably just burned in school and are protesting over a C- they felt they were unfairly given. Not that it matters, they still graduated, didn't they? Besides, if we didn't give exams, we wouldn't be able to continue growing our zombie army with which to take over the world. Road safety is trivial when held in comparison to the important things in life. After all, who really cares how many people die in car accidents, or how the students feel? We're in this for power, not wishy-washy unicorns."

SAT told reporters that they plan to bring this to court, once and for all. No reply has been made from Colleges United, and at last check, they still haven't retained a lawyer. Several students at a nearby college told us in confidence that they fear that rather than arguing it out in the judicial system, like normal Americans, Colleges United will resort to absolute warfare -- revealing the true extent of their zombie army. And what better time than now, when they have a fresh crop ripe for the picking?

This post brought to you by an exam-craved, sleep-deprived, and supervisingly-insane blogger...

All that to say, I took a break (it's not procrastination if it earns you money!) from studying/work/sleeping, and set up my etsy shop, finally!

Go, check it out! And if you're on FB, become a fan! (link on my profile page, also search Designs by AV on Etsy)

www.etsy.com/shop/designsbyav

As of 9:52 PM Pacific Time...




Yeah. Eat that. 27,000 words in 2 days. Ohhh yeah.

I can average 3,000 words in an hour.

I have 23,000 words.

If I write for 1 hour today, and do some school, I can have 26,000.

If I write for 2 hours tomorrow, and finish school, I can have 32,000 (R is at school longer).

If I write for 1 hour on Wednesday, and then clean up all the house, I can have 35,000.

If I spend Thanksgiving making dinner and relaxing, but also write for 2 hours, I can have 41,000.

If I don't write at all on Friday and just visit my in-laws, I can still have 41,000.

Then, if I go to the write-in on Saturday, I can spend 4 hours writing, and reach 53,000. Well, I really only need to spend 3 hours writing to win NaNo.

Alternatively, I could spend 2 hours at the write-in, and then write for an hour on Sunday. But why do that when I could do it with other people?

Hmm.

Now I'm going to buy a duck. I promise it will be very ducky, just for Jonathan. ;)

 Blegh. Estoy muy cansada, pero mi esposo es todavía en su clase. Me frustrado, porque necesisto despertar a las cuatro menos cuarto en la mañana para trabaja. Mi esposo no está terminado hasta que a las ocho y media.

Hoy fue un día largo. El baño inundado, y produjo un gran desorden. Yo pasé más de una hora limpiando. Hemos cerrado la tienda por dos horas en la tarde. No era divertido.

Okay. Enough Spanish. Better entry later. :P

...father to son... one for all... and all for one...

Anyway. In other news, I am now officially registered for classes. Through TESC I am taking 4 classes this semester - 3 Psych, and one Elective:

-Intro to Counseling
-Worlds of Childhood
-Psychology of Personality
-One Writer's World: Jane Austen

I'll be taking Jane Austen with shadowempress , so that's gonna be awesome. :D

In the meantime, I will be taking the American Lit CLEP as soon as I can schedule it, and studying for both the Intro to Psych and Developmental Psych CLEPs. I will also start studying for the Biology CLEP so I can get the rest of my science credits out of the way. After all these, then I just have 4 classes to take next semester (Abnormal Psych, Organizational Theory, Social Psych, and Experimental Psych).

I've ordered all my books, and I can't wait to get them. I am super, super excited about this! :)

I've gotten 4 pages written on the script for the first episode for the webseries I'm writing, which is good... I'm about half-way done. This makes me happy, and I'm working on sketching out the plot for the rest of the season.

I've gotten back into exercising and working out every day, and I feel so much better about it. I'm hoping that we get a little more warm weather before autumn really hits us though, so I can swim at least once more.

In one week I'll have been at Starbucks for 6 months...

Today was really good, for the most part. I woke up with a *really* stiff and sore neck, and it still is stiff and sore, but as soon as Roberto gets home, he promised to help. He's such a sweetheart. :) Walked to the grocery store, walked back, worked out, folded last night's laundry, washed sheets... have made dough for soft pretzels, as we had the ingredients, and my husband has been really wanting some.

I plan on making mac&cheese for dinner, which reminds me I need to get the recipe from my folks...

While I made the pretzel dough, I sang songs from Disney and other classic movies and danced around the kitchen, and it was really fun to let loose... no one was around, so I could do whatever I wanted and not feel self-conscious... 'twas very fun.

Work tomorrow, and Saturday, and then off Sunday.

That's about all my news for now...

Two things.

1) Last night I discovered a shop in Santa Monica - "Whimsic Alley." It's a Harry Potter store, and I seriously need to go in and check it out.

2) A customer came in to work today and gave his name as "Tom Riddle."

I am amused. ^_^