I actually have things to update about!

I got the job at Fashion Bug, but i'm getting less hours and pay than before. maybe i can squeak by on some bills, maybe not. still looking for another job. The thing about working at a store called FASHION Bug is looking way nicer than i normally do. i spend twice as much time on my appearance than before. More makeup than i've ever worn, nicer clothes...i try, but there's only so much improvement i can make. a fashion dud is still a fashion dud, no matter how much i spiff myself up. my retail experience is my saving grace. that and the store desperately needed quality employees.

i recently went to my younger brother's high school graduation. his graduating class was over 800, but they still managed to keep the ceremony an hour long. waiting to get in and out was the longest bit. i'm the oldest sibling, but the shortest and stoutest, how unfair is that? afterwards, we met up with the extended members at Irish Times in Brookfield. it was nice to see my aunts, cousin, and grandma. i don't visit enough. here's my cousin and sis looking bored after the excitment of grad cards/presents. i got my bro a watchmen hoodie. the hard cider the pub had was close to the kind i liked in ireland, but had a different after taste. and i got carded by the waittress >.<. i suppose if i made the effort to look of age, that wouldn't happen.

Laura (sis) had other plans for the rest of the night. she wanted to get a new tattoo and wanted me to get one with her. pssht, like i can afford one...turns out, my wonky dad threw down some cash as a birthday present. aww dad, how sweet of you to pay for my first tattoo....i knew exactly what i wanted, and where, for over a year now. we went to The Skin Gallery in Downer's Grove, where Eloise was our artist. She was really friendly and had a great time talking to Laura, since i was nervous/too shy. (btw, she was very professional with sanitaion, etc)

i went first and had to lay down cuz the tatt is on my right side.  i wanted it where you could see it when i bellydanced, not that i'm doing much of that anymore. the bottom part didn't hurt at all, since i have a nice layer of fat there, but the top part was close to my ribs and stung like a bitch! it felt like intense, constant cat scratches. tho everytime she wiped away the ink was a perfect break to breathe and i would be ready again in a second. the sharp pain faded that quickly. still, i was glad when she was done. here it is complete, and backwards, since it's thru a mirror. and here it is the next day, starting to scab and flake (that's normal).

what it means: Shinigami. I'll trust everyone to read that.
what it means to me: no, i do not want to be/consider myself a death god. this tatt is for my friend jon who died a few years ago. he really liked yu yu hakusho and bleach, both animes that feature death gods as characters. also, i found out later that as i was watching the last ep of death note, he was hanging himself in his parents backyard. so this is my indirect way of remembering him, without having to put his face or words in a tattoo. i also appriciate kanji and find this combination to be beautiful.

Laura got a huge sparrow with color and text on her upper arm. the lyrics are from a hymn the was sung at our grandpa's funeral. hers took considerably longer. by the end she was twitching uncontrolably. i think it looks great tho. you can see her kill hannah tatt in the back ground. she was telling me and Elosie about when the main singer (of Kill Hannah) came to our high school for a radio show, she showed him her tatt and he wanted her to sit next to him for the whole show. best. story. ever.

onto games and movies:
i inherited scott's nintendo DS when the new DSi came out, and since then i've been playing Final Fantasy 6 (the gameboy advance version, via DS). i had to get used to the pixelated characters and the up/down-right/left-only way of moving. i started playing games with final fantasy 7 and that generation, so i totally missed the pixel age. i like the GBA version since it's a better translation and has extra content. the story is good, and my favorite characters are Shadow and Locke. however, i do wish they would remake it like they did for the DS version of FF4. I think that game is next on my list. I saw the opening animation...wow, so pretty. i love full CGI renderings of characters. you can see all the detail in the costumes!

Star Trek is my favorite blockbuster movie this summer (so far...). it's on par with last years' Iron Man. my bro and sis are visiting me to see the midnight showing of the new harry potter movie next month. i haven't read the books, but i like the movies, and midnight showings are always fun! plus i hardly ever get visits from family.

going to ming's for birthday sushi!

i'm all moved to friend's spare bedroom, about a mile away from scott's in east peoria.
moving stats:
12 car loads
3 hours (there and back) drive for each load = 36 hours total
140 miles (there and back) for each load = 1680 miles total.

yup, i put a bunch of miles on my car.

i've been putting out applications like crazy trying to find a job. fashion bug called me back and we had a great interview, despite the fact i don't want to work fashion retail again. if i do get the job, it will be temporary until i find a better paying one with better hours attached. whatever pays those damn loan bills.

i'm a little bit lonely since i don't have any friends of my own here. i'm going to try the local university's anime club this fall, see if it's worth my time. bellydance troupes too, but i dunno if i can handle the strict leaders since anne was SO laid back. plus i don't think i'm that great a dancer anymore. i'm beyond rusty, but the need to dance and express myself is still there, more than ever.

i have until august to find my own place, since said friend is getting married and expecting a baby as well. scott said he could help me find one. all said, it's still pretty scary for me right now. and i'm craving lin's garden sushi like no tomorrow.

( Alex! Oh Alex! )


( There you are, Alex. I've been looking all over for you.  )

in other news, i'm moving out of macomb, in what is sure to be a stressful experience as i'm leaving my only source of income for the great unknown that is peoria, il.

SOURCE

( end treasures )

woot! going to acen, cosplay almost done, hope to see many of my peeps. hope to see YOU there!

i got home from ireland ok, obviously. i had a really good time! i loved it so much over there. i took over 1900 pix and vids, equaling 3.31 gigs in my pc. i really want to share them, but it's a lot of work to go thru them all, post to photobucket, then post them here (or on FB), with exposition. i did keep a travel journal that i like very much, but don't want to type out. so if anyone's really interested, i'll make an effort on my next day off to post the good tourist-y pix.

in other news, i didn't get paid for the trip like i was supposed too, due to a beuacratic redtape error at kmart. so i was 250 in the hole. my mom helped me out, but i really didn't want to have to ask. one of these days, i want to help out my parents and siblings and be a good eldest child. that day however, is a looooong time coming. (those loan bills are bitches)

i saw watchmen, but don't feel like ranting about it. i will only say i liked it, but it's a shame zack snyder has to put too much sex and violence in his movies. and no one seemed to notice dr. manhatten's eyes were cooler than his giant blue wang

i'm going to acen with scott and we are doing couples cosplay. our first choice is luna and alex from lunar: silver star story. our backup is yuuki and zero from vampire knight. we already got the VK costumes in the mail, so we're just waiting on the others to get done. i really hate having to wear a skirt that short, but overall i think it looks good. i'll be getting my hair cut like yuuki, since it's already way too long again. the only props i have are a whistle (for yuuki), and maybe i can whip together a nall plushie (for luna).

so i'm finally leaving macomb! my lease expires in may. after acen i will be moving to our friend mikey's spare bedroom, in the peoria area (marquette heights to be exact). he's offered me cheap rent just to cover the extra ultlities. the only thing that will be with me is my clothes and pc. everytthing else, including toby, will be at scott's. my crap will be gathering dust in his basement until i can find job that will pay for my own place. *insert scepticism here*

i'm really going to miss macomb and it's various shortcomings, esp. the excellent sushi at lin's garden. i was surprised when gossip got around at work that i was leaving, and ppl were actually sorry to see me go. i will miss the bellydancing too, but i've pretty much stopped doing that already. i really don't know any troupes in peoria, tho i know there are more shows.

otherwise, i can't wait to leave, even tho i know it will be stressful with moving, acen, job hunting, etc. it's tuff, but i have to push myself outside my comfort zone if i want to get on with my life.

so here's me moving on.

Sláinte!

i have a whole ten days off work woohoo!!! and it's paid vacation!! hells yeah! take that kmart!

my mom is taking me to ireland to tour with her fav irish music band, the elders. i even got a t-shirt. so no updates till march 1st at least. i might post a photo journal too, but that seems like it would be a lot of work for an 8 day trip. i plan on having a good time, but have no idea what to expect since it's my first time out of the midwest, let alone the country. and i haven't flown since 8th grade, so i'm a little nervous.

in other news, inkheart is an english majors movie, and coraline is magic.

i am a generally lazy person. so when i put forth the time and effort to make my bed in the morning (or afternoon, as the case may be), i am quite pleased with myself. especially when it looks so flat and i can use it as another surface to spread my stuff (which spreads on its own, i swear!).

so imagine my surprise when i would come back to my room some hours after having proudly made my bed to...to...THIS! oh the horror! just LOOK at those wrinkles. thinking i had maybe disturbed the bed getting ready for work or some such nonsense, i disregarded the episode. that wasn't the end of it though, oh no. the mysterious lumps, bumps, and wrinkles would always appear on the days i made my bed. convinced my room was being violated (read: haunted) somehow, i decided to investigate the occurrence on my next day off.

on said day, i deliberately took my time getting out of bed, with plans to make the bed after breakfast (which just happened to be in the early afternoon). i was surfing the interwebs with intense interest while eating (cuz the internet IS that interesting), when LO! the answer to the enigma presented itself practically in front of me (it was actually just a smidge to the right).

my cat, sir tobias moon (his friends call him toby), seeing that my attention was riveted to the computer screen (the internet is a cruel mistress that demands my ministrations), saw that moment fit to commit the perfect crime. but, ah HA! unbeknowest to him, i had reached a lull in net hobbies and happend to glace at the curious shape occupying the corner of my eye (the right corner).

i've never heard of a cat doing this, but toby was burrowing into my blankets like some sort of giant, hairy naked mole rat. he tossed the blankets about, kicking and pawing to make way for his considerable girth in the small space (why yes, i did just call my cat fat).  when he was done being finicky about his blanket cave, i was left with a toby-shaped lump in an otherwise flat part of the bedclothes. i had no idea how to react to this development in the investigation. so i did the only thing that came to mind... i LOLed and started to poke the toby-lump and giggle maniacally (it went something like this: teeheehee!). 

toby acknowledged he had been caught by escaping the catcave and the poking to give me an indignant look (cats CAN do that). i was pretty sure i had found the problem to my frumpy covers. and being a responsible cat mom, i knew such actions had to be reprimanded. so i put toby in time out. he actually stayed there and watched me make a show of organizing the bed and smoothing the covers so there were NO wrinkles.

satisfied that toby had learned his lesson (mistake # 1), i went about my daily business, leaving the room unattended (mistake #2). i came back some hours later to find that the toby-lump had returned (with a vengence!). i actually made it easier for him to stick his head under the blankets and squirm his way into the covers. cat: 1, human: 0.


author's note: the previous is an attemp to make k-chan seem wittier than her cat. it has failed.

( pocket-kon )

you know i think i should make more LJ friends since, what, only 2 ppl read this? you can post an anonymous comment too, you know. i feel this journal is more my personal (angst) diary than an online blog thingy. what do you think?

i was gonna post about stuff, but now i don't feel like it.

it's 1.40 am and i'm not tired.

coming soon in the as-yet-to-be-determined-future:

Pokettokon 2009

toby picture story

winter pix

so i'm combining these two subjects into one post.

last year's resolutions, taken from LJ post:

1. drink more water, sugar free juice, or diet tea; eventually swear off mountain dew.
--i've mostly accomplished this. altho i still can't stand water and drink regular tea. i have a serving of dew like once a month now tho, so that's progress!

2. work out everyday (or at least 4 days every week) with the dvds and weights i have, to look good for acen cosplay; eventually swear off candy and chocolate; eat healthy meals and more salads!
--well obviously, i didn't keep up the exercise. FAIL. i still plan to look good for acen cosplay. i just don't think i'm ever going to get below 150 pounds. i don't have much sweets now, and i eat cheap junk food cuz...well, it's cheap. i try to eat more veages and the like, but salads are expensive!

3. don't buy things i don't need; save for loan bills and acen!
--i did save a lot for acen, but the tax returns helped with that. now i buy cheap food while paying bills.

4. lay off the internet and pc; read more books.
-- i HAVE read more books, but i'm still trying to figure out why internet fiction is more appealing sometimes.

5. more bubble baths. ( i have a good head start on this one)
--this worked about halfway thru the year. now i don't have a bathtub *sadface*

6. get rid off all my junk in the apt with a zen like calm; reduce clutter by at least 40%.
--yeah, moving pretty much took care of this problem.

7. play with toby more; enrich his environment so he's a happier cat.
--i hope toby is a happier cat.

8. find a way out of my current situtation with minimum hurt feelings to all parties involved; find a way to support myself thru life. this last one is the hardest and will take the longest as well. it might be a few years even.
--HA. did it in just 6 months. (but you know, i had a great motivator)

i re-read last year's 'year in review' and holy shit! i remember feeling that bad, but it's only a distant memory now. i guess whenever i'm feeling shitty, i can read that post and instantly feel better.

NEW NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS: (note: the caps means i'm yelling at myself)

1. loose some weight, eat better, YADA YADA! it's hard to eat healthy when you have 20 bucks to spend on food every 2 weeks. thankfully i have an awesome bf who feeds me so i won't starve (seriously).

2. beef up those flabby arms! dust off the weights! BE STRONGER!

3. FIND AN EFFIN' JOB AND GET THE HELL OUT OF MACOMB!! seriously, this should be number one. you have till may when your lease expires. good luck (you'll be needing it)

4. DO NOT screw up with scott. put your OCD-ness and weirdness aside. know him and yourself better so you can finally commit. (this may involve some arguements, just so you know.(but pls don't worry))


that's it i think. those are the things that are on my mind. ALL THE TIME. here's to a new year that WILL BE GOOD.

i had a wonderful xmas, how about you?

i actually had a decent break this year so i went home to surprise my family. they didn't even know i was going to be there! it was great! everyone was so pleased and very happy. i hadn't felt that good at a xmas for a *long* time. scott drove me there and helped me be sneaky about it. he's really good about sneaky surprises. i handed out my presents and i'm glad everyone liked them. i got all the adults various canvas shopping bags. you know, the ones that are popping up at groceries everywhere. dinner was great and everyone liked the dessert i made. i really had a great time, and i'm still able to visit next weekend too. thank you so much scott!

speaking of...scott got me some really thoughtful, gorgeous gifts. of which my favs are, watchmen and Z? (directer's cut). i got him some usb gloves so his hands don't freeze while playing video games. we reached 7 months already! i'm looking forward to the new year!

jessica, i can't wait to get your present! i'm really glad you liked yours!

i went to scott's family xmas too! i was a little confused about the turn based rpg style of opening presents. it was good to get to know them better. somehow i always sit next to his oldest (very protective) sister... i got gift cards to bookstores!! *drool* of course i went and got new books the very next day. i ran into some more of scott's friends too. always a plus to know people that work at bookstores, lol. remember: ultimate sodomy and neapolitan cheesecake.

we just finished season 1 of heroes. i really like it, surprisingly. of course, hiro nakamura is my fav character (and i like sylar too). season 1 finale was a little disappointing tho. i keep hearing season 2 sux, but i need to push thru it to get to this awesome season 3 i've been hearing so much about. it's the only tv series i've watched for years, since cable is so expensive. i mostly watch anime and movies streamed on the web.

next time:
year in review and new years resolutions. maybe some pix.

obsessing over your boyfriend is not healthy, no matter how cool, wonderful, and totally awesome he is. BE CALM. do this the RIGHT way and don't mess it up. don't be that girlfriend that guys complain about.

it is NOT all about you, even if inside your head it is.

sit up straight and LOOK like you have confidence.

aspirations are so disappointing.

don't be angry with yourself. instead, change what you don't like. this is hard; do it anyway.

for every time you think you hate your job at kmart, spend ten minutes hunting for a REAL job. (remember: the internet can only do so much)

just because you're nice to everyone doesn't mean everyone will be nice to you.

stop eating when you're upset. find something else to do.

you look good in royal purple. everyone says so. (then it must be true, right?)

don't ever stop dancing.

be noticed for your mad skillz (even if you don't have any relevant to the game of LIFE).

have some discipline. GEEZ.

so i am finally updating my journal:

i'm really sad that my lovely summer is over and it's snowing now.

retail sux so bad this time of year, but i will finally be able to save some money. xmas shopping almost done, and i am playing it cheap.

took a break from dancing cuz i caught mono and was too tired to do anything. it was a mild case tho, as i was still able to go to work. won't be going to IB this year cuz my mom wants to take me to ireland!! hooray! i got my passport (complete with crappy picture) too.

looking forward to the new year, year in review post, and new years resolutions that i will hopefully have the disipline to actually do.

ciao eLJay,
kchan

coming soon:
notes to self and other such daily mantras

kim moved into the apt. i'm gonna start moving stuff over with scott's help this week and next. by the end of next week, i hope to be moved in fully. kitty's letting me have to bed i'm using now. i need to get a wireless internet card for my new pc. i still haven't had the time to play with it, or move any files over. scott got a promotion he's been wanting.

toby needs surgery to remove 2 teeth. it's gonna cost over 300 bucks, but i'm gonna see if the humane society will help pay for it.

me and kim got the apartment! thru some careful budgeting for aug, i can afford aug rent, a vet appt, both loan bills, sept rent, and maybe even put more money towards last month's rent too. if i didn't get paid 3 times in aug, it wouldn't have happened. kim is excited since she has a potential job at taco bell in macomb, and her excitement is catchy. i'm gonna move in sometime late aug, with the help of scott. i'm thinking i'll leave all my books with him, since the place is kinda small. toby will stay with him too, until i get settled. so i will be in macomb till next may, trying to figure out stuff and looking for a career type of job. wish me luck ppl! (i'm SO going to need it)

in other news, anthony's apt had to be totally cleared out for the repairs. they tell him this the night before it had to be done. so he spent 12 hours getting everything out of the apt, up and down 2 long sets of stairs. they better do a good job with the walls. i was there the other day and the walls and carpet were covered in mold and ceiling tile sludge waiting to grow mushrooms. it was so nasty. we're all thinking there was mold colonies in the walls before this all happened, and now they're just running rampant. i think they need to redo the inside roof too.  i saw a bunch of guys on the roof yesterday, so at least we know stuff that should have gotten done a month ago is getting done now.

on july 26 i participated in whitney's walk. it was sorta a last minute thing, but it was so perfect. their logo is the kanji for life on a green background, and the walk was at the same place as the ren faire. jon would have liked it, i kept thinking that. jon's mom set up a team, and before she knew it, every one of jon's friends had signed up and donated, or commited to walking the 3 miles. the entire "jon's good time crew". we raised way over our goal, i was so proud! we were even in the macomb paper!

i spent the night at scott's the night before, since the walk started early,  and i navigated our way to the park. we met up with jon's mom, julie, and the crew. even kurt and linda made it, and they live far away. julie printed out these awesome pix to put on everyone's t-shirt on the back, as is whitney's walk tradition. by the time everyone got there, our crew was huge! it was nice to visit around before the walk started. there were a lot of participants, most were familiy and friends with pix like ours on their tshirts. the 3 mile walk wasn't that bad. me and scott hung out with chris and his family while we walked. at the end of the walk, we signed a giant poster too. we were even coordinated enuff to get a group pic at the end. check out this giant angry bug that was on scott's car. we all went to steak and shake for brunch, and took up an entire wall of seats. it was such a blast to hang out. we would have stayed talking in the parking lot, but anthony was being difficult to talk to, so we beat a hasty retreat.

later that day, while scott was at a bachelor dinner, i had dinner with his friends christina, alisa, and dan. i like getting to know more of his friends. the girls and i walked around alisa's cute town and got ice cream. we saw this adorable stray that reminded me of sebastien. only ten pounds lighter. these cats are good roommates.

me and scott just had our 2 month anniversary! hooray! he got me more of those special fanbooks, even the one i couldn't find at acen! i let him have one of his bday presents early, a 6 piece mini figure set of the main cast from final fantasy 4, that just came out for the DS. i'm so glad he liked it, now all i have to do is figure out how to be sneaky for the rest. he also made me a computer!! is super more awesome than my pc from 2002, and it has tomoe on the side! i think i'll name it 'pc no sharingan'. yeah, cuz i'm a narutard that way.

i've been trying to get an apt with kim, but there are a few variables to worry about. such as if i can afford it, if she can afford it. if we can even find a decent one in macomb this late (10 month leases start aug 1st). some of my stuff was ruined in the flooded apt. but i have tons of books and a few bookcases to move still. i don't even have a bed, since i've always used someone else's/shared. i have one twin bed spread, and one full, with one pillow where i used to have four. i'm gonna need to take back a bunch of stuff from anthony, like cleaning supplies and flatware (after i wash them with bleach a few times), since it would be too expensive to replace them.

anthony's place is still a mess. they ripped up some of the carpet, but nothing is getting done since the agencies are arguing over some bureaucratic nonsense. it looks like whoever remodeled the place, lowered the ceiling so no one would see how bad the roof was, since there are still light fixtures above the ceiling. so basically he's homeless, but still paying all the bills for a place he can't even live in. i suggested he and charlie move to the complex i was looking to move into as well, since it's the nicest most affordable place in macomb.

hours are cut at work, so pay sux right now. but the 4th quarter starts soon, and that's were all the retail money is at.

i moved toby to scott's house since it was just the best decision to make for him. he didn't like the long car ride too much, but it went ok.

slayers REVOLUTION, anime and manga, is awesome. more nostaligic moments. and i wouldn't have a problem with the zel/amelia pairing if she would just grow up a little. naga and her dad are really tall, so why is she still drawn as a little kid with giant breasts?? me and scott can sing "give a reason". i love that fanboy!

source

my reward for working over one thousand hours at kmart during 2007 was two weeks paid vacation! here's the first week i took:

(hugely summarized since my first draft was lost in cyberspace and i haven't had the energy to write it again and so i've forgotten the finer details.)