Thursday, April 30, 2009

Blue-lips.

One thing I DIDN'T like about BEDA was that I felt I was restricted to writing one blog post per day, and I had to make each one a big ordeal.
Before BEDA I used to post short little random ones whenever I felt like it, and it's nice to be back to that.

So picture this:

I'm sitting in my room, fingers poised over the keyboard about to do passage identification write-ups on Rousseau, Gadamer, and Freud (bleh). All of a sudden I hear the ice cream truck.
Me: "JUSTIN!?"
Justin: (from downstairs) "I HEAR IT TOO."
Me: "SHOULD WE?"
Justin: "RUN!"

I scramble to grab two dollar bills, slip my feet into some shoes (I learned my lesson last time), and race downstairs. Justin is already out on the front lawn. The ice cream truck is two blocks down already.

Me: "I think we can catch him."
Justin: "No. Get in the car."
Me: "But I left the door open."
Justin: "Open, or just unlocked?"
Me: "Actually open."
Justin: "..........get in the car."

He's parked the wrong way, and we have to turn around. The road is narrow so we Austin Powers it back and forth a few times before we successfully change directions. Meanwhile the ice cream truck hasn't moved and is still only two blocks away. We drive two blocks. To put this in perspective, the drive is literally 20 seconds long. We get out of the car. We give the ice cream man our money. HE'S OUT OF WATERMELON BOMB POPS. We settle for the regular ones. He tells us to have a nice night. We get back in the car, drive two blocks home; meanwhile nobody snuck in our house and stole anything even though I left the door wide open.

Lips are blue. Mission successful.


I hope the ice cream truck coming is a regular event. Maybe we should get ski masks. This is going to be a good summer.

Day 30: The end!

It's officially the last day of BEDA but I'm really not too concerned. We've built this beautiful little blogging community and I would be very surprised if anyone was going anywhere any time soon. My google reader tab is one of my most frequently checked and I know I'll continue reading blogs. I hope you continue reading mine. :)


In the last few days I watched a video Wheezywaiter made and read a blog michaelaranda posted at their respective Chicago and LA fiesta training sessions, and it looks like loads of fun. I am really really excited for mine and I know I'll have all sorts of great things to tell you about it after it's all over.

I am feeling REALLY anxious today. It's Thursday. I have one class today. We're on the psychoanalysis week of my theory class, and I took an entire class on Freud in the fall so it's a lot of repeat. Tonight is laundry night. I'll probably clean my room. Then I'll probably pace circle on the floor in my bedroom because I am SO EXCITED for the things happening to me shortly.

Tomorrow at 4:00 is the start of the Fiesta weekend, and then Alex gets here MONDAY.
To bridge the gap between the two, Eia and I might take a trip up to the Skagit Valley tulip fields on Sunday if we have time. I LOVE going to to the Tulip fields. Imagine just acres and acres of beautiful colorful glorious tulips. :D

I also have a midterm paper to write at some point this weekend so we'll see how that goes.

We're wrapping things up on the Parselmouths album as well, so that's really exciting. I still kind of feel like the amount of things I have taken on this year are flying around my head like some big huge out of control tornado, but things will fall into place. I mean I hope so. They always tend to.

One of the biggest things stressing me out is also super exciting news, though.
DFTBA is going to start a publishing branch of their distribution label and they want mine and Alex's novels to be their launch titles.
This means my book will be published and available to the public probably by late August/early Sepetember.
While exciting, this is also terrifying, because that means I need to be FINISHED editing before that date, and adding that to the long list of things I've already signed up for in the next few months... *panics*

But I'm going to do it. It's been a dream of mine to have people read my writing since I was old enough to read my first Babysitter's Club Little Sister book when I was like 7. Oh Karen Brewer. How inspirational you were.

On that note, I will conclude my 30th and final BEDA post. Thank you for a wonderful and inspiring month, everyone. Honestly, all the comments that many of you left telling me how much you enjoy my writing was that extra push I needed in the right direction to agree to publishing a book through DFTBA. You may think I don't have time to read my comments of that your opinion doesn't matter, but it really, really does. Because of a handful of you, you've given me the courage to put my writing out there. I'm grateful.

Here is the last BEDA word! (What was I calling it? SINWEEDA? I dont even remember what that means. xD) I'm going to be lame and pick one I thought of because I never have before. IT'S MY BLOG I CAN DO WHAT I WANT.

Today's Word: Nounjective.
To use a noun as if it were an adjective. -ME
Ex. Girl 1 walks in wearing a book on her head.
Girl 2: "That hat is so book."
Girl 1: "Thank you!"

Runners up (words I have been holding on to that didn't quite make the cut):

FTM (for the meh)*: used for situations that are neither FTW nor FTL, just kinda "blah". -Sean (credit goes to easavoy)

Flump: trying desperately to think up an original and witty word for Kristina's blog, but failing miserably, resulting in your brain turning into flump.
Ex: I spent 20 minutes sat here trying to think of a word, but just ended up flumping. -tommykay

Doctow Who: Season 3, Episode 7
Days until Alex gets here: 4

Subscribers: 18,630 (+85)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Day 29: Greatest captcha of all time

I can't believe it's almost May.

This year is going by quickly, it's nearing summer, it's nearing the end of BEDA.... to put things in perspective for you, last month I blogged 23 times, without BEDA. This month it will be 30. I wont be stopping blogging any time soon. The only difference is that loads more people read it now. Hehe.


I got an overwhelming amount of comments on my post about birth yesterday, and thank you to everyone who spoke up, even those giving differing views. I know my opinions are a little biased, but we live in a VERY biased (the other way) society so I don't think it really hurts much to see another point of view. And by saying I think midwives are great, I'm not saying SHUN hospitals. Emergencies happen and it's very important to have a backup plan or a hospital nearby in case you DO need special medical care. Cesareans are necessary sometimes. :)

In other news, I found out yesterday that my Grandmother reads my blog. Hi Grandma!
I am very surprised by this fact, as I didn't even know my grandparents knew what blogs were. I'm a little embarrassed now; I hope I never said anything I wouldn't want my grandparents reading. xD

I got a comment on one of my videos yesterday saying this:

"GringaVsNapoleon: your really pale just an observation but its not your fault you do live in seattle"

First of all, THANK YOU for telling me. Gosh, imagine, walking around all this time not knowing I was pale. And how gracious of you, not blaming me for this huge flaw of mine. And speaking of, what IS this elusive "sun" thing I always hear about? Since, you know, we Seattlites have never experienced it ever.

...

Maybe I don't believe in going to tanning beds or roasting in the sun. Maybe I just appreciate having skin and couldn't really care less what color it is. Pale. Okay. Observation noted.

If you missed the announcement on YouTube, I've released a new album called "Songs in the Key of Email" (non harry potter music - it's essentially just nerd-rock) with Luke Conard and you can buy it here. :D
Our band is called "ALL CAPS" and I am pretty excited about it.

Also, yesterday when Alan Lastufka commented on my blog post about babies and childbirth, he had what MUST go down in history as THE FUNNIEST captcha code of all time (click on it to really get the full effect):



Now I am off to the dentist (blech) and I am not looking forward to it because they always hurt my gums. :(


Today's Word: Neramopey
To be sad because you miss Alex Day. -VicMorrowsGhost
(It just made me lol)

Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 5 (progress, finally!)
Days until Alex is here: 5

Subscribers: 18,545 (+98)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Day 28: BABIES.

So first of all, I am going to comment on the number of people who read and leave comments on my blog that are in long distance relationships. I feel like it's an incredibly high percentage for such a strange sort of relationship.
Maybe it's just because I speak on it a lot of and it then makes those of you reading who are in them want to speak up... because I know a lot more people read this than comment.

I am so intrigued by this that I would like to put together a little collection of stories, if any of you are interested. Maybe for a blog post I write later this week, in 2 or 3 days or so... I would like to compile short blurbs of how you met if you are in a LDR. It might help shed light on how it happens for those who don't understand how it's possible. If you wanna leave a little paragraph in the comments explaining how you met your far-away significant other, that would be lovely and then I will share it in my blog soon.


Okay. Yesterday enough people expressed an interest in what I have to say on babies and birth and hospitals, that I am going to write about that now.

This is knowledge I have been taking in over the last few weeks and I don't have exact figures or numbers, but I can give you general ideas of things so you at least know the issue.

In America, 99% (ish) of births take place in a hospital. We see it on TV, in movies; the women being zoomed around a perfect white establishments and the doctor saying "it's time" and her screaming and pushing while lying on her back and the whole thing is a pretty terrifying experience.

This isn't how birth needs to be. In fact, it shouldn't be.

In other countries, that rate of hospital birth isn't so high.
It's more common in other countries actually to have a midwife rather than a doctor.

I know that sounds crazy, "I want a trained doctor delivering my baby!" but let's break this down. A Doctor is trained in surgery. A midwife is trained in CHILDBIRTH. To say you would prefer a doctor is like buying your ipod from Walmart instead of the Mac store. The ipod is cheaper at Walmart, yes, but do they have everyone's best interests at heart?

When it comes right down to it, it's ALL about money.
In a hospital, when a doctor says "It's time. This baby needs to come out," they're not telling a mother that her baby is ready to be born. They're telling her that she has occupied bed space long enough, that they'd like to get more patients in and out, that his shift ends in an hour and he'd like to get home for dinner... you think I'm kidding but I'm not.

The greatest part of childbirth is that moment when the baby has been born and before they take it to clean it up or cut the cord or anything, they just thrust the baby into the mother's arms and they get to be together for that first moment, knowing they just completed the miracle of birth together and will love each other their whole lives... mothers experience a rush of hormones called oxytocin that is stronger than any orgasm they will ever have right here, when this happens. Mother/baby bonding begins here, right at this moment.

When you give birth in hospitals, Cesarean Sections are so common that 1 in 3 women will get them. When you have a Cesarean, this bonding moment is stolen from you. It's true that every once in awhile there will be a complication with a baby where a Cesarean is needed, but that is very uncommon. The fact that C-Section rates are so high in America is because we're leaving the act of childbirth to DOCTORS, and Doctors are trained in SURGERY. A quick 10 minute surgery is way easier, more time effective, and what the Doctor is much more trained in. Also, with a Cesarean, the mother can't go back and sue Doctors for the child's health complications the way they can with a natural birth. Doctors will suggest a Cesarean at the drop of the hat, as a preventative method in a long labor when there might not be anything wrong with the baby at all. They'll pull the "it's best for your baby" card, knowing mothers are in a state of mind where they'll do ANYTHING that's best for their baby at that point.

You may think you're skipping the pains of childbirth by having a Cesarean, which is true, but you're forgetting it's MAJOR abdominal surgery. Then after your child is born, when you need to feed it and rock it and learn to care for it, you're stuck in bed with scars and horrible recovery pain, whereas natural birth allows you to bounce back much more quickly.

Also, the fact that hospitals have you lie on your back to give birth - this is one of THE stupidest traditions, as it is a terribly awkward position for the Mother to be in. Her pelvis is literally smaller in this position, making it more difficult for the baby to get out. It makes much more sense for the Mother to be standing or squatting, but THAT in turn makes it awkward for the Doctor to crouch under to catch the baby.
So the lying-on-back method is what's convenient for the DOCTOR, not the MOTHER.

People look down their nose at midwives because it sounds old fashioned, like something we've progressed beyond, but imagine being able to give birth in your own home where you're at ease and welcome and around people who you're comfortable with and support you. If that's too weird (which it can be for some people, I get that), imagine going to a birth center, where they have big tubs for water birth or at least for managing your contractions by sitting in a hot tub of sorts, or with people who don't care how long your labor time is... they want your baby to come when it's ready, not when the big football game is about to start.

It's terrible that women aren't more in control of their own births. They do have OPTIONS, plenty of them, but the American media makes hospital birth seem like the only way to go. For instance, I'll admit the blame does not lie entirely with doctors obviously. A huge problem is that celebrities are making Cesareans trendy, by being able to schedule their surgery and get it over with in one short trip, and this is WRONG. It's not how birth is supposed to be. You don't schedule your birth between your nail appointment and your bikini waxing. How messed up does that sound?

Hospitals and Cesareans and fancy surgery methods are great for emergencies, and it's wonderful that the technology is there if we need it when things go wrong, but we've been giving birth a LOT longer than that stuff has been around. Nature will make birth happen on its own, most of the time. We don't need to intervene with surgery 1 out of every 3 times just because we can.



So there you go. Why hospitals aren't necessarily the right or only option.
I only wish more people knew this.


Today's Word: Extach
1. A mustache that no longer exists;
2. A detachable mustache;
3. A mustache on the face of an ex. -euphonious

Days until Alex is here: 6
Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 3

Subscribers: 18,447

Monday, April 27, 2009

Day 27: Wasted Opportunity

I was going to tell you fun facts from birth class today but we mostly just talked about ethics.
I still found it all fascinating but I don't really want to get into heavy discussion about women's rights and why hospitals arent the best places to have your babies here on my blog today.

Maybe another day.

In SUPER AWESOME news, I officially caught up on the Office today. The next episode I have to watch will be whatever new one airs on television. I am pretty proud of myself... I don't think I have watched an entire show that quickly since I caught up on the first eleven months of Brotherhood 2.0. (Not to brag but I watched January-November's videos from 2007 WHILE doing Nanowrimo in 2007. I think sometimes that I am part machine.)

Someone left me this comment on my 5AG video today:

"I seriously don't mind your repeating of stories, in the blog we don't get to see the absolutely awesome hand gestures you make : )"

Here are some nice had gestures to make this blog feel a little more like how I generally talk.

OMG SO THIS IS WHAT I DID TODAY!!!!

Okay, anyway. Tonight I was lying around in my room (probably watching the Office, I dont remember now) and then I heard the unmistakable tinkly ice cream man truck noise AGAIN. I already had ice cream once today, and I wasn't in the mood for running, but let me tell you, the feeling you get when you hear that music and don't chase after it is CRUMMY. That, my friends, is the feeling of wasted opportunity.

I am going to be announcing really exciting news on YouTube tomorrow so keep an eye on your subscription boxes. :D

Today's Word: Fanghbl
An excited fangirl that can't seem to hit the right keys on the keyboard.
"OMG WGEN IIS NETIMONS NWXT VIDWO!?!? I :OVE YOI NRTIMON!!!!" -Melody

Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 3
Days until Alex gets here: 7

Subscribers: 18,429 (+82 from yesterday)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 26: Just a Sunday.

Completely not in the mood to blog today.


I worked on driving a manual more, I recorded more vocals, I took my old clothes to GoodWill, I watched some of the Office, and I had a cream soda float.
I don't know what to talk about in a Monday video for tomorrow because I talk about everything interesting already here and I feel like people will judge me if I repeat things.

I'll probably just repeat things.

I am going to watch more of the Office and go to bed early probably.

Alex gets here in 8 days and I am really really getting to the anxious part of this whole waiting thing. It's been a month now since I've seen him. :/ Too long.

Oh yeah, today I did an interview with Amy Snow for WZRD, a podcast I have wanted to be on since I found out about it in 2007. :D Mostly about wizard rock, but we talked a fair amount about NaNoWriMo actually. And I spoke a bit on Brittany leaving the band.

I should probably have more interesting things to say on Day 27. I have my childbirth class tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have all sorts of fun facts to share.

Today's Word: Gramaul
To be savagely told off for using bad grammar. -VicMorrowsGhost

The Office: Season 5, Episode 17
Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 3

Subscribers: 18,347

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Day 25: Beeping Torture.

Well this day is off to a great start.

I literally had one hour to write this pretty complicated paper on theory because the rest of my day is full and busy, and Eia's alarm wont stop beeping. Loudly. Right across the wall. I don't even think she's home to turn it off.

NO ONE can write an intelligent paper on Gadamer and Althusser at 8 in the morning with a constant BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP happening 5 feet from them. I just sent Eia a text message telling her how much I hate her and thanking her (rather passive aggressively) for the Chinese Beeping Torture.

I can't even write this blog post! I keep staring off into space because my brain can't focus on anything beyond hating the world for this incredibly unfortunate situation the world has presented me with this morning.

I have 20 minutes now, to write this paper. I need ear plugs. Noise cancelling headphones. A jackhammer, to break into Eia's UNECESSARILY LOCKED DOOR, and then I need a mallet to DESTROY the alarm clock.

I am so annoyed that I'm not even doing a word of the day today. NO FANCY BLOG THINGS FOR ANYONE, WE MUST ALL SUFFER TOGETHER.

RAWR.


Update: An hour and 53 minutes later... still beeping.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Day 24: Fiji and Ouija.

I just gave myself a MASSIVE papercut pulling my laptop out of my backpack, and I am extremely unhappy about it. :(

I am not going to think about my throbbing finger and instead tell you about the weird things I have thought and seen today.

First of all, I am not a HUGE fan of the college lifestyle. But sometimes, like today, there are things that make me feel so lucky to be here. I was rushing from one class to another and then when I was going through Red Square, I see this stage setup and a huge crowd of people. So naturally, being a curious human, I wandered over to find that it was a big island tribal music festival thing. I walked up to hear 4 women singing a Fijian melody of some sort, and then immediately after all these people in red and white dresses came up and did a Hawaiian dance thing. I completely forgot I was supposed to meet with a group member to talk about the presentation I had to do in an hour because I just got swept away in the dancing and the music.

I really like that I live and go to school in a place that on any given day, there may be some random festival going on. I walk by different things happening in Red Square all the time and it's just... fun. One time there was a guy in a giant dragonfly suit just walking around shaking people's hands. And one time someone lit himself on fire, but that was just scary and sad.

In my theory class, the TA used a Ouija board reference to explain a concept to us. Naturally because I think this class is boring, my mind started to wander and I began thinking about Ouija boards. I own one, and had it at prime Ouija board time in a young adolescent girl's life. (I would say this is about 9-14). I will be the first to admit that I was always the one who cheated, because somehow I always knew in my brain what the word was going to be before we spelled it out. But I was always super amazed when halfway through I would stop pushing it myself and the rest of the word would be spelled without my help. It's like they KNEW.

Today, because I gave it half a second of thought, I realized why.
It's just like predicted text on a cell phone. If the question is "Which boy at school has a crush on Alice?" and I want to gross her out by making the Ouija board spell out Brian, the name of the weird kid who picks his nose, then all I do is sneakily urge the planchette toward "B". Well, suddenly it's been narrowed down to just the Bobbys, the Billys, the Bens, because everyone playing has a shared knowledge of the boys at our school. With skill I then switch course and send it over to "R" and now we're down to two options, Brandon and Brian. At the first sign of an "I" next, suddenly everyone knows what name we're spelling and whether or not they realize they're pushing, my work is done. The giggles are already erupting and Alice's face is bright red.

It's that easy. It's not magic. It's the power of suggestion.
Maybe this is obvious and I'm just slow. But regardless, I thought it was a really neat psychological discovery.

In other news, in my Geography class, I noticed today that up front there is "Clock Needed Here" written on the wall in sharpie. I found this incredibly funny. I wonder how long that clock has been needed there. I realized I didn't know what time it was.

This is how my mind works: I walk around life all day, inputting sights and experiences and cataloging them in my brain in little files labeled "Use in a Video", "Tell Alex", "Complain about to Eia", and "Blog About". My "Blog About" file has been particularly active lately, and sometimes I have to think of ways to remember things I see so I remember them. Often it's a little chant. Today's was so funny that I am going to share it with you: "Fiji and Ouija, Fiji and Ouija..." xD

Today's Word: Offixation
Fixation with The Office! -Natalie
(Pretty self explanatory)

Doctor Who: Season 3, Ep. 3
The Office: Season 5, Ep 14

Subscribers: 18,169

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Day 23: Corn is EVERYWHERE.

There is something very rewarding in knowing that because you happened to mention Doctor Who at work, your manager proceeded to watch nearly the entire first season on her sick day and now you can discuss the episodes at work.
This is the same manager I have weekly Lost discussions with. My job is fun. :)

I have been putting off recording the flute part for one of the last Parselmouths songs we have to record stuff for. I should just buckle down and do it but I feel out of practice and scared that it's not going to sound great and therefore I just haven't done it. Tomorrow I will need to tell you whether or not it's done yet, and please be disappointed in me if I didn't do it.

Liz is coming over tonight so we can wake up early tomorrow and take the new tshirt design to the screen printer.

Oh great, I was going to write this entry in class but now we're watching a movie and it has study questions. That's annoying. I haven't needed to answer questions while watching a movie in class since high school. Looking over the questions, it appears to be about Iowa corn farmers.
I am now preparing myself for an enthralling 50 minutes.

Okay. I spoke too soon. The video was about these two guys who moved to Iowa after college to plant a one acre plot of corn (lol) and see what happened and to learn about corn in general because if you weren't aware, corn is in pretty much everything. There are about 45,000 products in an average grocery store in America and corn is in at least a quarter of those. Tortillas and salsa, yes, but also carbonated drinks, mayonnaise, hot dogs, frosting; even in nonfoods like garbage bags, diapers, batteries, and so on. There is corn in our HAIR. Just from how much we intake.
Most corn that is harvested isn't even edible to humans; it's turned into feed and fed to cows, which is horrible for them as they are not meant to be on all corn diet. And then they keep them solitary so they gain weight faster, and literally slaughter them before they get too sick from the crappy corn diet.
The corn that isn't used to feed cows is used to process all the aforementioned foods that don't sound like they should have corn in them. Like frosting. Don't try to tell your mom you're getting your veggie intake through birthday cake; that's not what that means. xD

I love these weird life discovery stories, so I was enjoying the movie. Although I get a little bit more depressed about the state of the American economy and business/money aspect of EVERYTHING each time I find myself uncovering new hidden truths about this world we live in.

My dad grew up on a farm, anyway, milking cows and collecting chicken eggs and bailing hay in North Dakota, so stories like this are important to me. My heart goes out to the modern farmer.

Okay, in not weird food economic news, um...... no, corn is all I have today. Bye!

Today's Word: Bacqua
Backwashed water... Ew. -Jordiekins
(Okay I was saving that word for days because 1. IT IS SO FUNNY and 2. Jordiekins is literally the best at this game and always wins so I was holding out for awhile)

Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 2
The Office: Season 5, Episode 10

Subscribers: 18,070

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day 22: 20th Runner Up (lolz)

I feel like I did nothing with my morning, but I in fact finished my scholarship essays (with a little help from Maureen Johnson), worked a bit more on cleaning my room (this is a long and serious process), finally set up a dentist appointment (it has been awhile :/ ) and recorded something for the album.


But I also spent.. gah I don't even know how many hours lying around talking to Alex on skype video chat which is a bad little habit that I frankly don't want to kick. Internet purge does not equal boyfriend purge.

I saw pictures from the LA fiesta training session (michaelaranda and olgakay were there and it looked funnn xD) and I wonder if there will be anyone I know at the one in Seattle? I looked through all the people who were selected as agents and I recognized a pretty big handful of them from YouTube-y things, but I dont think anyone lives near me.
Anyway I get to go stay at a Sheraton in Seattle and it's going to be exciting. I just hope I will be able to successfully drive the car home by myself. Hahhaa.

Aw. I was just texting Michael to ask him how the car is (since people in different parts of the US get them at different times) and then disclosed to him that I am still nervous about driving it, and he said if he wasn't busy this week he'd drive up to Seattle and let me practice in his. Ahhh the joys of free gas.

I was in Alex's blogtv show this afternoon for about 15 minutes before I had to leave for work, and then when I was leaving (and making a dramatic exit, naturally) someone said "Oh Kristina, congrats on getting 20th runner up in Buck's Miss YouTube contest!" and even though I was running late to work I just stopped and said "WHAT?"
I left the blogtv room and raced to Michael Buckley's channel and clicked on his most recent video... sure enough, there I was, last of the runner ups but still acknowledged with 30-something votes in his list of YouTube girls. I didnt even know this was happening, so I am pretty surprised that people would even vote for me.

I am at work and I am thirsty. Also I saw 17 Again last night and I'm sorry but Zac Efron is cute. So is Mathew Perry though.

A woman just came to the window and is using a picnic basket as a purse. A wicker picnic basket.

Today's Word: Wetisher
Somebody with a fetish for moistness -Cody Hotel
(that's just... awkward)

Doctor Who: Season 3, Episode 2
The Office: Season 5, Episode 9

Subscribers: 18,020 (woo!)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day 21: Ice Cream Truck.

I'm not really going to comment on Alex's video or diary entry today, because I know there are people out there who are sore at him (which is stupid) for "turning his back on the UK youtube community because he's moving to America" (also stupid, we have plans to go to Summer in the City and are super excited about it; one of my favorite days in London was when we met up with everyone at King's Cross and hung out all day) but the point is, when it comes right down to it, this email I read that was sent anonymously to him made me feel a little like I was to blame, like he was turning his back on his UK friends because of me, and that makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Personally I have gotten to know a lot of them much better BECAUSE of my relationship with Alex. Liam and I are super close, Lex and I are friends, Rosi and I have been speaking more, Dave and I exchange words now and then, I've spoken with Anna and Johnny and this is all just silly. He wants to better himself and spend more time doing things that will help him be financially able to move to America. That's all. Let him.

How about this. *I* still watch all your videos, so when you post something great, I'll just send him an email telling him to watch it. Problem solved.

Speaking of purging, I got ride of 3 bags of clothes and 2 boxes of boxes/dvds yesterday. Well, by "get rid of" I mean they're now sitting in a pile on my floor, because I'm not quite sure where to take it all. When I lived at home I would just put bags of stuff in the garage and my parents would take care of it. Now I have to like... find a GoodWill myself.
Eia was so impressed... I walked into her room later on last night and she was going through HER clothes. I was happy to inspire.
Spring cleaning is great. :)


In other more happy and exciting news, yesterday afternoon it was 72 degrees here in Seattle. I walked home from school in capris and a tank top, passing tons of sorority girls laying out on their front lawns on towels in their new bikinis. People were playing frisbee, suntanning, studying in the sun.. it was nice. It's supposed to be in the 70's again today. It really doesn't take much here in Washington. We don't get a lot of really warm sunny days, so give us something in the 70's and we're ready to hit the beach.

The best part of my day was when I was sitting in my bedroom, windows open and warm spring air wafting in, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear that unmistakable tinkly musical sound of an ICE CREAM TRUCK.

I was having a conversation with Sam on skype but I completely forgot about it as I ran into Eia's bedroom, said "Is that..?" and she said "YES IT IS," so we each grabbed a fistful of change and RAN down the stairs and out the front door.
I honestly couldn't tell you if he really didn't see us or if he was just a jerkface who liked watching two grown girls run for ice cream, but the ice cream man didn't stop for FIVE BLOCKS. Neither of us were wearing shoes so we literally FLEW down the rocky street barefoot for all that time and my feet STILL hurt, even though it's been a good 12 hours since it happened. But let me just tell you, it was the best Bomb Pop I've ever had (you know, the red white and blue ones?)

Prices have gone up a bit since I was a child though. I used to be able to get a good popsicle, like those ones with the gumball eyes, for a mere dollar. The bomb pop cost me $2 and the gumball eyes ones were $2.50! Do they think the children of America are made of money?


I got 55 comments on my last blog as of right now and I just wanted to thank all of you, again. I really really enjoy reading what you have to say, and check for your comments a bit more than I should for someone who is trying to purge Internet habits. xD
I'm really flattered by the amount of you who say you look forward to reading my blog every day or that you like my writing style. It makes me smile every time because I never expected a public blog I made would get this kind of response. I kept paper journals my entire life; I hastily scribbled things about boys I liked or friends I fought with or things my parents did that upset me in marbled composition notebooks from age 9 to pretty much like a year ago. It was always such a solitary activity, and I am really enjoying making it bit more interactive here.

So basically I'll never stop showing you gratitude because you guys amaze me every day.

Today's Word: Coscop
A person who keeps costumed conference participants in order, rather like the fashion police. -Ariel
(I just have this wonderful mental image of police with beat-sticks at a HP conference... haha)

The Office: Season 5, Episode 3
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Day 20: Downsizing.

Woooo 20 days into BEDA! *dances*

Now on to important things.

I know I just sound like a bandwagon hopper when I say this, because other people who highly influence my life (namely Alex and Hayley) just announced (in a way) something similar.... but I am going to try to stop wasting so much time on websites that don't add anything to my life.

To clarify, there are some Internet sites that are very important to me. This blog is growing to be one of my favorite things to do because I never feel more comfortable than when I am writing down my thoughts. YouTube is important to me. Obviously my email is one of my life supports, and I love keeping up with my favorite blogs and things because a ton of my friends are brilliant writers and I love reading their words.

But I'm going to stop cross posting my blogs on Maureen Johnson's ning. It's just extra work that gets me nothing beyond a few more comments from people who read it over there. It already exists HERE, it doesn't need to be there.

I think I'll stop dailybooth. This was a hard decision because I LIKE dailybooth, but I was looking at my usual tabs today on firefox and it was one that I didn't really care if it was there or not so I decided it would go. I was living a nice, happy, fulfilled life before dailybooth existed, so I can easily revert back to that.

I've already reduced my facebook time to checking my inbox for messages and replying to only the necessary wall posts. The myspace was abandoned months ago, but I have picked it back up for the sake of preparing fans for our new album. And this morning I deleted about 60 of my youtube subscriptions that I just don't watch anymore.

I miss reading.
When I was younger, I would read a book in a day. I would come home from school and I would grab my book and sit in the living room on my favorite side of the couch by the lamp and read until dinner. And then I would read after dinner until it was time for bed. And then I would read under my covers with a flashlight unless I heard my dad walk by my room in which case I would flick off the light and lie still, pretending to be asleep.
Ever since I was introduced to social networking sites and the magic of the refresh button, I don't read much anymore.

I'm not an extreme enough person to just delete everything like Alex, but I am cutting down. I'm missing out on things I like to do, because I am too busy reading about what every else is doing. THAT, my friends, is a sad, sad statement.


Kayley left me a comment on my blog yesterday asking me the following question because she is a smartass, so I will now humor her with my answer:

Q. Who is your favourite fiveawesomegirl?
A. ME

I have my childbirth class today and I am so excited.
That being said, two night ago I had a dream that I had a child and I buckled the child into its car seat and we were going somewhere together. And then my dream shifted and I hopped on a bike and was exploring and finding all these awesome places and then my dream shifted again and I remembered the child and knew I'd forgotten to crack the window and it was probably suffocating. :/
And last night I dreamed I was showing someone how to change diapers. I don't even really know how to change diapers.
What is this class doing to meeee.


Grammar lesson of the day.

It's = it is.
"It's a beautiful day!" = correct.
"That is not how it's supposed to look." = correct
"Give the dog it's bone." = NOT CORRECT.

It looks like it should be a possessive, but trust me, it is not. ALWAYS do the "it is" test. Always.


That's all. I have a growing fondness for the people who read my blog and especially those of you who comment. This is such a nice little pocket of webspace. Thank you for inhabiting it with me. :)


Today's Word: Insongnia
The condition when you have a song stuck in your head and you can't get it out. -morgan.
(I always thought there needed to be a word for this.)

The Office: Season 5, Episode 2
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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 19: Creepy Mr. Next Door

Hmm. What to talk about today.
Maybe I'll answer more questions.

OH BUT FIRST. In my bathroom there is a window by the shower that looks right into our neighbor's house and today Mr. Next Door was sitting at the window with the blinds up just enough to see right out and smoke while he enjoyed a nice morning view of me bathing myself. There he was, looking right at me.
I did not enjoy that.

In other news, I pulled my flute out of my closet today and dusted it off because I am going to play it for one of the songs on the new album! I am very excited about this, as I really haven't played since my freshman year of high school which was 6 years ago.
Problem is I want to practice but I wake up so much earlier than anyone in this house, so I can't yet. I am giving Eia until noon and then she has to sleep through my fluting.


Okay. Questions time.

Q. Out of all the places you've traveled to (& I'm assuming you travel quite a bit...lucky!), what's your favorite place? Would you go back?
A. Well, first of all yes, I do travel quite a bit. My mom used to work for United Airlines so we got to fly for significantly cheaper than normal or sometimes even free. We used to do stupid things like on Friday night we'd rent and watch "Escape from Alcatraz" and then Saturday we'd go to the airport and catch an early flight to San Francisco, and then we'd actually go to Alcatraz island. Then we'd have lunch in the city, head back to the airport, and go home. Sunday morning we'd still get up and go to church. xD
As for my favorite place... that's hard to say. I like any places I have been with people I care about. I'm going to invent my own question and tell you where I'd LIKE to go, which is Japan, Australia, and really anywhere in Europe.

Q. What is your biggest "guilty pleasure" music or movie?
A. Music - anything pop on the radio or even some rap. I cant HELP it. It's FUN. Like Sean Kingston.. come on. How can you not think he's fun.
Movie - the Lizzie McGuire movie. I don't care what you think of me. ALL FIVE OF THE 5AG AGREE ON THIS.
I'll just go ahead and tell you my favorite guilty pleasure book/tv show is Gossip Girl, though I'm sure you already knew that.

Q. If you could skip forward in your life and be exactly where and who you want to be... what would that be like?
A. I would never want to skip forward in my life, but I will say I am highly looking forward to the day I am finished with college and living with Alex. But these are some of the best times of my life, and even though being away from Alex is hard and being in school is annoying, I wouldn't skip it.

Q. What would you do if the internet just went? Like everywhere so no Internet at all.
A. Watch a lot more TV? I dunno. It's a hard question to answer because so much of my life takes place online. SO many of my friends are people I dont get to see every day but are only a quick email away. I contact fans about band stuff via the Internet. I express myself on YouTube via the Internet. I learn all sorts of things about the world by reading on the Internet. I'm sure I'd find new hobbies, but it's hard to imagine.
I bet I'd be a lot more like 10 year old Kristina, before I had a computer. I'd read a lot more, I'd use the library a lot more, and I'd play outside more.

Q. What is your favorite country in the world?
A. That's hard haha. I am partial to America because I live here and I love it, but I am also obsessed with Japan and its culture. I also happen to think a lot of really great things came out of England as well. :)

Q. I might be very out of the loop on this, but please humor me? How did you and Alex meet?
A. I'll humor you. Pre-2008, I was just a Nermie. ^^ During 2008, we became friends because of our simultaneous fiveawesome projects, and through that became emailing buddies who talked about life, about whichever boy/girl we happened to be interested in at the moment and needed advice about, or about Lost. In early 2009, we realized there was a whole lot more there and acted on it. That's basically it.

Q. If you could have starred in any movie of the last 20 years, what would it be, what character would you have played & why?
A. That is such a good question. I'm tempted to say Luna just so I can be part of the whole HP movie thing, but I don't think I could pull that off. Maybe Bridget in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Or hmm... this is so hard. I don't know! How about this - what character would YOU cast me as if I were in a movie?

Q. If you were the Doctor's assistant where would you choose to go? Past, Present, Future? Earth or another planet? Also, why?
A. If I were the Doctor's assistant, I would hope we would go more than one place. xD I think first I'd want to go to other planets just right now in the present. To see how other creatures are living at this same moment in time. THEN I would want to see the past on Earth. I think I'd save the future for last because I like that element of mystery still existing. I don't think I'd like knowing what's coming.


Okay that's all for today. I'm going to go figure out if there is anything edible in my kitchen.

I need more word suggestions, guys! I had to use an older hayleyghoover suggestion to get by today. I love you, Hayley.

Today's Word: Demint
Exhaling heavily because the mint you were eating made your mouth too cold. -hayleyghoover

The Office: Season 5, Episode 2
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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day 18: I'm lame.

BEDA is a really great idea and I've loved writing every day, but doing it while recording an album is making me uncomfortably aware of what a solitary creature I have been lately.

My days for the last week have consisted of waking up, emailing Alex, showering, going to school/work, coming home, RECORDING until I cant take it any more, eating random crap for dinner if I remember, watching the Office, falling asleep halfway through the episode and sleeping with my laptop next to me in bed through the night.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

So I am trying to figure out how to say new things each day when I literally have nothing new to report.

I guess I can give you band news, since I am swimming in a pool of Parselmouth-ness this week anyway.

  • New Parselmouth buttons arrived in the mail and I am excited to be selling them at LeakyCon.
  • We're probably about 80% done recording for the new album. After that is production and all that fun technical stuff. Then it's IN YOUR HANDS!
  • New tshirt design is well underway and hopefully something people will really like.
  • Eia and I have a photoshoot tomorrow with Liz for the album artwork.
  • Alex is officially playing with us at Leaky and is actually on 3 tracks of the new album.
  • I spent a good portion of yesterday and today remodeling the Parselmouth myspace because it was embarrassingly outdated and bad. You should go check it out. :)
I wasn't self conscious about the lame-ness of my current life until Luke asked me last night "So, what are you doing tonight?" Not realizing it was Friday, a night when normal humans usually do something fun, I said "working on the Parselmouth myspace."

...wow.

So yeah. I am in need of general funtimes. Tomorrow after the photoshoot is Doctor Who marathon day with Liz so that will be nice.

Oh and I have plans to see 17 Again on Tuesday with Eia and the Miley Cirus movie or whatever they're calling it with my manager on Friday. Hahaha. This isn't making my life sound any less lame, I've realized. xD

T-minus 2 weeks until I get my Ford Fiesta. I have one more manual-driving session lined up with my brother for next Saturday after work.. and it's the last one I have time for until my training session on May 1st. Eep.

Today's Word: Bedoome
An expression of death for a nerdfighter.
"I'm Bedoomdoomdoomed!" -Jordiekins
(Not only was this word necessary, I just want to also acknowledge that Jordiekins is AWESOME at this game. ^^)

Status on the Office:
Season 5, Episode 2

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Day 17: Finding yourself.

Sometimes I have loads of interesting things to talk about.

Sometimes I just don't.


Ummm. I am sitting in a cafe at my university eating a big fun salad that I think was way too expensive because I was charged by the oz?

I like baby corn and cottage cheese in my salad. And mushrooms. And black olives. And egg slices. And I snuck some pesto pasta salad in there as well...... okay maybe I wasn't overcharged. xD

Oh this is exciting. Yesterday I bought my airfare to London this summer for my study abroad/European adventure. Thank god for frequent flier miles. I cannot believe I am only 21 and I already had enough frequent flier miles to buy a trip to London. I will officially be there from July 28 to September 23! I also plan on visiting Edinburgh (because Eia will be studying there), and hopefully Ireland and Italy as well. I am so excited.

I was just in one of my classes which is kind of a philosophy/theory class but not quite, but we were talking about Gadamer and the circle of hermeneutics. That makes it sound a like more technical and intense than what I am about to say haha. Basically my teacher was talking about how you can't make something from nothing, and anything we learn comes from the fore-meanings we have from our own experiences and history.
He said "This is why no one just goes out to sit in nature to learn about themselves. You learn who you are by how you interact with the world."

This just made me chuckle because I had this friend in high school who was really struggling with self-identity, and he kept telling me that he was going to hike deep into the woods to sit in solitude and "find himself".
This always infuriated me, and I told him, over and over, "You can't FIND yourself. Your self isn't some where in the woods, crouched behind a tree, waiting for you to stumble upon him. You have to MAKE yourself. If you sit in the woods you're just wasting time and in fact HIDING from yourself."

So, I had a very smug moment in class today when a college professor essentially said to a room of college students what I said in rage to a friend of mine when I was 17. ^^

This salad is so good that I think I am going to stop typing now and enjoy it.

Edit: Funny exchange I just had with Alex over email:

Him - "The Parselmouths has a Gryffin and a Ravie and we just need a Huffle to change your name to The Everyone Is Welcome Band"
Me - EXCUSE ME. This is still an evil band thank you very much. You're just as bad as Eia. I still can't believe we have a song about Hermione on our next album. SHE'S WHINEY LIKE A CAT.

:D

Today's word: Manomedi
The word used to describe the kind of happy you are when a boy you like makes you feel better (like happy pills of the boy variety). Opposite of "manthrax", where a boy you like makes you feel like crap. -lanna-lovely

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 14

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Day 16: Song Recording.

I have spent the last 4 hours on skype video chat with Alex writing what will be the 10th track for the new Parselmouth album. I really like our song writing dynamic, and it's amazing we can actually do this over video, thousands of miles away from each other.

I can hear him recording the guitar part for the bridge right now as I type this. :)

It's a song about the Parselmouths approaching Harry Potter because they obviously share a gift, and want to propose he joins the band. Really, I think they're just using him for his fame.


All I have eaten today is half a chocolate easter bunny (I ate the ears yesterday; today was its face, upper torso, and basket with what I think was supposed to be its baby inside). The legs and pelvic region are still sitting, abandoned, in the box on my desk.


I am very excited because I have managed to turn my good friend Liz into a Doctor Who fan, so this weekend when she comes over to do album related things (she's designing our new tshirts and the album artwork) we're also going to watch a bit of DW together. She's almost caught up to me, so I am going to rewatch the Season 2 finale. I think watching it again might help me to move past it and finally start on Season 3. xD

I don't really have any funny anecdotes or stories to tell today like usual. I've just been doing music, nonstop, all week. Literally. But I love it so much and I am soooo excited for the world to hear this album.

Oh there's one other thing I did... the grocery store near my parents' house is going out of business, so I saw all books and magazines were 70% off and I bought a copy of Cosmo, which I never do because usually it's expensive and I'm not going to waste my money like that.

But here is a word to the wise: If your boyfriend lives in another COUNTRY, don't read Cosmo. That's just a stupid idea. x.x

I got our new Parselmouth buttons in the mail today! I went downstairs to get my guacamole chips because I am disgusting and don't eat real food, and I saw on my little mail spot on the entryway shelf that I had a package and there they were! Adorable little pink and green beauties that we'll be selling at LeakyCon.

I'm trying my hardest not to talk about the YouTube redesign because EVERYONE is talking about it and I don't want to go on a rant, but I have a whole list of things I don't like currently that I truly hope get changed before this is finalized. I have switched my channel over for the time being just to show YouTube that I CAN embrace change even if I dont particularly want to, but I haven't even been on YT all day because I don't want to look at it.

Today's Word: Exstrawpulation
The phenomenon that a straw will not stay down in your glass of soda. -Chelsea

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 14

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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day 15: Kristina Laptop is my name.

I have this problem.


The problem is that I am too lazy to go get my car stereo installed, so I listen to a lot of radio on my commute to and from work because I have no auxiliary input in which to plug my ipod.

I'm not going to pretend there isn't a fair amount of music on the radio that I actually like, because there is. I love my Katy Perry and my Panic at the Disco, I'll admit it. But sometimes, there are songs I don't like. There are songs I really, really don't like. And SOMETIMES these songs are cleverly disguised as catchy fun tunes but if you take a moment to actually listen to the lyrics (which I usually do, as I am a lyricist) you would be appalled.

Well, maybe you wouldn't. But I was.

Today's Bad lyrics of the Day are:
"I like you so much better when you're naked. I like me so much better when you're naked."

This was the chorus, just repeated over and over. I don't think I even need to break this down for anyone to explain why this is so stupid, but I'll just say it. How would someone else being naked affect how you feel about yourself? It just makes so little sense ahhh. I don't understand why it needed to be written in a song. Sometimes when I get struck with an idea, I think "hm. Should I write about this in my blog? Twitter it? Make a video about it? Write a song about it?" The artist of this song should just just sent it in a text message to their boyfriend and moved on with her life.

If you follow me on twitter you'll have already heard me complain about these before, but for the rest of you, here are some of my favorite horrible/offensive/stupid lyric finds from the past year or so:

"Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips."

"Don't even know your name, so I will call you 'Medicine', you can ease my pain."

Just... gah.

In other news, I'm at work and the last person I talked to on the phone had the last name "Inkpen". That's SO COOL. I want that last name. It's so defining. It would be like having the name "Kristina Laptop" or "Kristina YouTube" or something. Ha.


All I have left to say is that if all I could eat for the rest of my life was Jamba Juice, pistacios, Chipotle burritos and Cinnamon Bun ice cream... well, I may not be healthy, but I'd be happy.

Today's Word: Enoid
The act of being annoyed with someone over the internet.
(Example: "And he just kept IMing me. I was so e-noid.") -Raven Zoe

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 13

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day 14: Ice Torture.

My childbirth class yesterday was AMAZING. I have never had as much fun at school as I am having in this one class.

So in class today, we had this guest speaker come in, and she brought ALL sorts props and toys and visual things to teach us about labor. I am going to reiterate that this is a class full of non-pregnant people who just want to learn about the beauty of childbirth (we have two moms and a boy in the class now too! exciting!). Anyway, first we watch this movie on the stages of labor and learn a fair amount about contractions. THEN she comes around and hands each of us a stack of paper towels and a pile of ice cubes. We're just looking at her like "why do we need these icecubes?" and she gets this devious grin on her face and says "We're going to simulate contractions via ice torture."

...

So we had to pick up a handful of ice and squeeze it in our hand tightly for an ENTIRE MINUTE, suffering the pain and burning that naturally happens when you hold ice cubes in your bare hand. It was terrible and everyone was squirming, biting their lips, making little moaning noises.. and then she said "Okay contraction over!" so we all dropped the ice and shoved our freezing red hands in our pockets to warm them up. She let us rest for a few minutes, and then said "Contraction started!" and we had to pick the ice up again, but this time we dimmed the lights and focused on our breathing. It was a little better, but still hurt really badly. Afterwards she told us we'd gone for a minute and a half that time.

We repeated this 5 more times, next using a specific breathing pattern, then standing and dancing around the room to rock music, smelling soothing essential oils, and eating chocolate.

These are of course all methods of calming women in labor, but the point was that the pain should have felt the same each time but with the distractions it became more bearable and tolerable.

I thought I was one of the biggest wimps to walk the face of this planet, but I can hold a fistful of ice like a pro. It's a lot harder than it sounds. Try it. Go hold some ice clenched in your fist and tell me how long you last.

Then we watched another video of live births, which I'd never seen before, and right away it kind of freaked me out but by the end I was able to watch without flinching or anything, and the bell rang to tell us class was over but everyone stayed 10 or so minutes later to finish the film.

Ahhh it's just awesome. I like it so much.
I feel like I am actually learning something really useful and fascinating. Even though I don't plan to have kids for years and years, I love that I am preparing myself now. Plus it's just beautiful and interesting.


ANYWAY, now to talk about things that aren't childbirth...

I would estimate that the new Parselmouth album is about 1/3 done. I am very, very excited but also exhausted because recording as much as I have been the last 3-4 days takes a lot out of you. It's fun work though. My favorite kind of work. I'd rather record TEN songs than write another paper on Rousseau.

My computer was just telling me with a mean red underline that "Parselmouth" wasn't a word. That's being fixed right now. I think it's hilarious how many words I have to add to my dictionary when I get a new computer. "Kristina" isn't ever a word, or "Parselmouth", or "Issaquah" which is the town I work in... "Draco" is underlined, "vlog" is underlined... it makes me feel like I am living in some made up world that my computer refuses to acknowledge as real unless I force it to accept my words.

Surprisingly though, it recognizes "blog". Yay BEDA!

I didn't even start my laundry yesterday, I feel I need to own up to that since I said in my blog yesterday that I planned to do it. I'm bad.


Funny conversation of the day:

Hannah: im going to azkatraz
Me: Me too!
Hannah: are you playing?
Me: Yeah. Not the cruise thing but after the ball.
Hannah: ohh cool
Hannah: whats the cruise thing?
Me: The big show.
Hannah: its on a boat?
Me: and, its going fast and, it's got a nautical themed pashmina afghan.
Hannah: Hahhaha

Today's Word: Joyapole
Being happy about a pole (or a tall person). -Jordiekins

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 7

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Day 13: Fry Bread.

Things to do today:
1. Laundry (hate it)
2. Write 2-3 page paper on Rousseau and Bacon I've been putting off since Friday
3. Record vocals for 3 songs


My day wouldn't be so bad if two of those three things weren't so terrible.


I have become so dependent on my email, I've realized, that if I dont get a new email in over an hour, I literally start to worry that there is something wrong with gmail and that it's not working. I haven't even gotten SPAM. IS THE INTERNET BROKEN?

Okay I'll admit it; I'm in my geography/food class right now and my teacher just said something funny that I am going to share: "Fry bread is a lot like sex. When it's good, it's really good. When it's bad... well it's still pretty good."
(We're talking about the food culture of Pima indians over time or something.)
Haha, now she's talking about how the English rejected the potato in the 16th century, saying it was a food fit only for "an irish man or a clown".
Why were you guys so mean to the poor little potato?

Today I asked for questions on twitter and I am going to answer some of them now.
I'm not sure why this happened, but at least 50% of the questions were about Harry Potter. Alright then, if that's what you want to know...

Q. Favorite Harry Potter character?
A. Draco, hands down. This is a life commitment favorite character type thing. Not many people know this about me, but before there was wizard rock, there was fanfiction (at least in my life). I was as into fanfiction as much I am in YouTube these days, but the point is, I had these two close online friends I met on portkey.org (Crystal and Daniela, aw, geeze I miss them) and we bonded over attempting to rewrite THE ENTIRE SERIES in Draco's POV. Wow. Yeah, that never happened. But we did spend 2-3 years planning it. xD

Q. Are you going to 789? Any of the other 5ags?
A. I am not going to 789, no. Sorry. But, I AM going to the NW Portland gathering in June and I am going to Summer in the City. I have no idea what the other 5AG's plans are. :)

Q. What are you studying when you come to summer school in the UK?
A. I am studying Race and Health, but it's also an "Exploration Seminar" so it's a lot about just going and having a cultural experience and taking field trips and things. Although, eh hem, I kind of plan on sneaking away from my group now and then and having my own "cultural experiences" with the friends I already have over there. ;)

Q. What was the most similar fandom experience you had to Harry Potter before Harry Potter?
A. I've never really had a similar FANDOM experience, but the theatre program at my highschool was the closest comparable experience I have had to the tight-knit community that is Harry Potter. As for fandoms - Anime fanfiction is actually what got me into Harry Potter fanfiction, which is what got me into this fandom.

Q. My other harry potter friends make fun of me cause I'm a slytherin, what should I do to stop them?
A. Well, you're a clever witch/wizard... and since you're a Slytherin, you have little regard for the "no magic when not at school" rule. CURSE THEM.

Q. If you had to describe yourself in 3 words what would they be?
A. NEEDS MOAR WORDS. ;)

Q. How you coping with Alex being dead and what not?
A. Yeah I really wish present!Alex was smart enough not to tell past!Alex to kill himself.. but I did decide to date Nerimon. This is what I signed up for, I guess. xD

Q. Who is your favorite Pokemon and why?
A. It's always been a tie between Flareon and Dragonair. Why? I've always been about the cute ones. Hehe. HEY. At least I didn't say Clefairy (I like Clefairy too).


STILL NO EMAIL, WHAT IS THIS?

Today's Word: Quebef
Slang. The common response to accusations of stolen beef-based foods.
"Did you take my hamburger?" "Quebef?" "Okay, well now I know you did it." -John

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 5

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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Day 12: Ahhhhh.

I AM HAVING A GRUMPY DAY.

Basically if I were to write a full blog today, it would be a lot of complaining and whining about school and money and parents and jobs and stress.
And since I am no longer 17, I don't want to do that.

I will just be thankful that I don't have to throw "boys" into that mix anymore. Fortunately, that's the only avenue of my life in which things are JUST GRAND, thanks. (No seriously. I'm too grumpy to figure out how to not make everything I say sound sarcastic, but truthfully, Alex is good and keeps me sane.)

I will share funny anecdotes and then I will leave and come back tomorrow when I don't want to STAB PEOPLE.

Anecdote #1:
On a previous blog post, Allison asks in regard to my food log for class:
"Do you log the humans whose brains you eat? :) "
This made me LOL. I don't think that would make for a very educational analysis, although it's much more entertaining than the special K cereal and chicken burgers I have logged now.

Anecdote #2:
We have a youth discount for people under 21 at the theatre, and this girl who looked like she was toe-ing the line bought tickets this afternoon. So I asked her, "Are you under 21?"
She gets this extremely disappointed look on her face and says seriously, "Aww shoot. I used to be."
Yes honey. Everyone used to be.


And yesssssss yesterday I hankroll'd a whole bunch of you. lolol.

One of my coworkers, John, just brought me a Jamba in one of the secret flavors, and now he's talking about "Tigers in Space: the Rock Opera" which I THINK is a show he's writing himself but I'm not sure because I am only half listening as I type this up.


Also, to clarify, I wouldn't actually stab anyone. D:

Today's Word: Peprot
Term used to describe those overly happy or peppy individuals that are moving into old age. -muse88
(This word is just insensitive and horrible. And thus, I love it.)

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 4

Subscribers: 17,206

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Day 11: Brain hurts. :/

Summer planning is stressful.

I had to sit down today and have a talk with my parents about our yearly summer trip back to North Dakota to see family and whatnot. We usually go for the 4th of July and I've gone just about every year since I was born. I came into the conversation today ready to tell them that I can't go this year.
Yeah, that didn't work so well.
I am now trying to squeeze a family trip in between a YouTube gathering in Portland and a week Lauren is supposed to come spend with me before Azkatraz, all the while when I dont even know if Alex is planning on still being here.
Not to mention with the 2 months I am already taking off for my study abroad in London, I also will have no time to WORK this summer. I am crossing my fingers that youtube numbers stay up because I will need to afford rent somehow.
Vacation is supposed to be relaxing!

Not to make myself sound like a complete whiner; I AM very grateful for the amazing summer I am going to have.
1. LeakyCon (playing)
2. Portland YouTube Gathering
3. (Apparently) Quality time with the family in the midwest
4. Azkatraz (playing)
5. A month studying at the University of Greenwich
6. 3 weeks to a month with Alex/various other UK friends

I just hope I can, you know... afford all of this. I've been saving up since I graduated high school for a summer like this, but going that long without working at a conventional job panics me a little bit.

Also, in unrelated news, I am not going to reveal anything yet, but Alex and I had a brilliant idea for the Parselmouths and I am very excited about it. This band is getting an entire makeover.

-

Okay I wrote all the above stuff literally like.... 8 hours ago, and just now found the open blogger window on my computer. Oops. I have spent all day recording vocals for things and spending "quality time with the family".

MY BRAIN HURTS.

I'll let you decide which one hurt my brain.

Nothing else epic today, sorry. Oh just this sweet news article: READ ME


Today's Word: Wooscriv
The act of interrupting someone whilst they are exclaiming euphorically.
"WO-" "Shut up." -Georgina

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 3.

Subscribers: 17,141

Friday, April 10, 2009

Day 10: Chapped lips are FASCINATING.

I dont have much to say today.
I spent all morning watching the Office, Alex called me to inform me that I had overtaken WhattheBuck in Dailybooth followers (that puts me at #3 :D) and I went to school. Now I am at work.

Jenn and I talked Lost theories while Coral contemplated killing us (she hates Lost and we insist on discussing new episodes in depth every week). Now I am just bored, tired, and excited to go home to my parents house tonight (again, for Easter, and to continue with manual car driving lessons). The excitement is not so much the going home part as much as it is the kitchen full of food I didnt have to spend my own money on part. xD

Oh right. I do have something to say.

I was on facebook today and suddenly I had the little red notification doo-dad thing pop up. I clicked on it, and it said this:

"Alexa Otero just answered the question "Would Kristina Horner lick their lips before going to a party to make sure they're not chapped? " about you. Click here to see more. [ Is this spam? ] 8:56pm"

Okay. Let me unpack this for you.
1. First of all, WHY do you care?
2. Of course I'd lick my lips. That's what human people do. We lick our lips if they are dry.
3. Why would I want to "see more"? Are you going to ask if I yawn when I'm tired? If I sharpen my pencil when it gets dull? If I eat food when I am hungry?
4. Why a party? Why that specifically? I would lick my lips in a library to make sure they're not chapped. I would lick my lips in a grocery store to make sure they're not chapped. That one is super convenient too, because if they ARE chapped, I could just pick up some chap stick along with my milk and cinnamon bun ice cream.
5. Yes, it's spam.
6. Also, how do you KNOW, Alex Otero? And if you're just guessing, what JOY do get out of guessing? Yes. I lick my lips. OOOoooOoOO. Doesn't EVERYBODY?
7. WHY DO YOU CARE?

This... this is weird. Facebook applications have always annoyed me; I'm not a zombie, or a werewolf, I dont want you to send me an easter egg or a growing mystery plant or an Edward Cullen, and I REALLY dont want your bumper stickers. But a chapped lip trivia questionnaire application? Too far, facebook. Too far.

Okay. Rant over.

Working on album stuff and I am very excited about it. I cant wait to be able to put a new song on our myspace at least. I've realized nobody has heard ANYTHING, not any sort of preview or anything, from this new album. It'll be 100% a surprise!

Today's Word: Unmed
The act of throwing up medication. -Jordiekins
(That one made me giggle. xD)

Status on the Office: Season 4, Episode 1

Subscribers: 17,051 <-- exciting!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Day 9: Office pranks.

I am going to give you a taste of what it's like to be me, at work.

Most days I rush off after school, racing the traffic and attempting to at least get there on time. (I commute 30-40 minutes to work). But SOME days, I find the traffic (for some unpredictable reason) opens as if the Gods are saying "Yes, Kristina, you may get to work on time today."
And my policy is, if I have at least 15 minutes when I get into town, I will stop and get a Jamba juice.

Now, yesterday was a particularly slow and boring day in the life of a box office associate, and after the day shift people went home around 5, my manager Coral and I were there alone for 2 more hours. I don't know how to explain Coral, really. She is the assistant manager, and one of my very good friends, and the only reason this job hasn't made me lose my mind (I've worked here for THREE YEARS). Now that I have watched enough of the Office (Update: Season 3, Episode 7) I can relate to you that together, Coral and I probably make up the Jim of our office. Like the time we reset everyone's monitors to be sideways when we knew we weren't coming in the next morning and no one that WAS coming in would be computer savvy enough to fix it. xD I'll get to that, though.

Yesterday, I was bored of facebook. I was bored of bloons. I was bored of freecell and god forbid, I was bored of proofing subscriptions (what I was actually supposed to be doing). So instead, I was staring at my Jamba Juice cup. After much pondering, I turned to Coral and asked, "Big strawberry or small blender?"

We decided after much debate that it could really be either, but we HOPED it was a big strawberry, because there is nothing cool or exciting about a small blender. In fact, I would go so far as to say a small blender would be kind of stupid, and a waste of everyone's time.

Later, Coral was trying to print something, and couldn't because of a backlog of things that had been waiting in the queue since Jenn, the manager, had gone home. Coral just let them print, assuming they were important. They weren't. What printed was FIFTY copies of a document we didnt even need, and instead of writing "I HATE YOU SO MUCH" and tacking it to the corkboard like Coral usually does when Jenn messes up the printer, we instead decided to staple all fifty pieces of paper to her desk.

We left the place at 8:30 looking like this, quite proud of ourselves:


Just another boring day in the life of "Kristina when she's not on YouTube or being a Parselmouth." Now you know the sad truth. I'm just an easily amused office lady.

Today's word: Tardisniffles
Resulting condition after watching an Russell T Davies-inspired season finale. -randomcherries

Subscribers: 16,899

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Day 8: Birthdays.

Today I don't know whether I should feel elated or sad.

One of my best friends and my boyfriend (Sam Friedman and Alex Day respectively) are celebrating birthdays and I cant see either one of them today. It's my own decision that my best friends live so very far away from me, and usually that's pretty okay by me because I would never sacrifice the relationships I have with amazing people for mere convenience of friends who are a little nearer by, but it's really frustrating on birthdays. I have to send birthday tweets and text messages and post birthday videos; twiddle my thumbs and hope it's enough.

I'm missing both of them a lot today. It's only been 2 weeks since I last saw Alex, but I haven't seen Sam since early December. And before that, she and I spent basically every day together for 3 months. Gaaah.
I'm seeing her at LeakyCon and we've already decided that when we first see each other, other people probably shouldn't be within a 2 block radius. We dont want any casulaties in the insane hugfest that will commence.

Today is day 3 of zombies vs. humans but I dont think I am going on campus at all, so I am going to have to work extra hard tomorrow to make a kill so I dont "starve" and can continue to play.
I dreamed last night that I made like 3 awesome consecutive kills but then I woke up and remembered I am not that stealthy or skilled.

I have been power marathoning the Office. It's only 10 AM and I have already watched 4 episodes. I can't stop. I feel like I NEED Jim and Pam scenes. Hahaha. Not that I really plan on having a bad breakup (or any breakup) ever again, but I feel like if I did, Jim and Pam could help mend my broken heart. Well, maybe.
And anything Jim does to Dwight just cracks me up. I think one of my favorite parts so far is when Jim puts all Dwight's stuff in the vending machine and he has to buy it back with nickels. xD
I am on episode 2 of Season 3, and I am rather proud of myself because this is the fastest I have ever done a catch-up of a tv show I didnt already watch from the beginning on tv. In fact, it's really the only time. I attempted Arrested Development but I am still on Season 1. And Doctor Who I am putting on hold until I finish the Office.

I used to pride myself on not really watching much tv. Oops.

Today I work 3-8:30 and I dont think I am going to get out of bed until the very last possible minute.

Also earlier, I tweeted this:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY @ISNOGGEDHARRY, I LOVE YOU! (You too, @nerimon. xD)
To which John Green replied:
@KristinaHorner wait wait. Happy Birthday @nerimon or you love @nerimon?

...it made me chuckle.

Today's Word: Destioni
Ravioli that you're destined to eat. -hayleyghoover
Hayley sucked up in order to get me to pick her word, and demanded special treatment as my friend. Little did she show, I think this word is TERRIFIC and would have picked it this time anyway. Don't you feel silly now, Hoover?

Subscribers: 16,783

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Day 7: Killing machine (kind of).

I successfully made my first kill today:


I felt pretty baddass. Yesterday Alex told me I was the cliché blonde, getting turned into a zombie on the first day, but today I was sitting on the steps of Suzallo Library and saw a human walking by... I surprise attacked him and his nerf gun jammed and honestly, poor Jake Anderson never stood a chance. Be afraid, UW. Be afraid.

Yesterday I had my first 2 hour childbirth class. I know a lot of people have been snickering, thinking it's the type of class where you bring your pillow and your partner and practice doing contractions; IT'S NOT. The whole process of birth is this anomaly that no one thinks to start learning about until after they're pregnant, and that's silly. There is so much to learn. It's fascinating. I want to keep this blog G rated so I wont divulge much, but all my life I thought a natural birth would be terrible and painful and I would just want them to put me under and cut the baby out and that's that, but after just one day I have already changed my mind.
Not that I plan on having kids any time soon. I have SO much living to do first. God no, I am not mother material. But someday. :)

Not to awkwardly go from talking about having babies to this, but Alex and I have officially been dating for 2 months today. Not much else to say on the subject, aside from that it makes me incredibly happy and I miss him a lot today.

I have to do this thing for my Geography class where I keep a food diary for 7 days and then do a write-up on what it tells us about our diet... I am already feeling pretty terrible because although yesterday's breakfast was pretty okay (Special K cereal with strawberries) lunch was chinese take-out and dinner was Paggliachi's Pizza. :/
I know we're not supposed to purposefully eat better for the sake of the project, but one day has passed and I already FEEL like I need to eat better. I am going to actually cook myself something tonight. We'll see how that goes.
For the record, I really dont know how to cook anything.
Besides grilled cheese. And like.. big whoop.

I think this is all for today. I am sitting on the couch in the living room with my housemate Justin and it's pretty funny because he's still a human and I'm a zombie and we're adjusting to different species living peacefully while under the same roof. It's hard. I want to eat his brains.

In fact I am going to make him take a picture with me.

Look at that amicable diversity. :D
(This is totally just a product of being in the safe zone. If we were not within the block we live on, I guarantee I would be devouring him.)

Today's Word: Lactista
Spanish women who are intolerant to dairy products. -lalalaamichelle
(This made me BURST out laughing. Best word yet. xD)

Subscribers: 16,732

Monday, April 6, 2009

Day 6: The flesh of the living.

There are two things I want to talk about today.

1. Doctor Who.

2. Zombies.


Zombies: My school is taking part in humans vs. zombies tag this week, and today was day one. I dont normally get involved in school activity type things, but I live with the blood guy for Night Zero and am personally featured on the cover of the first issue, so how could I turn down a zombie game? I left my house armed with rolled up socks in my pockets and my orange bandanna tied securely around my arm.


The walk to school was terrifying, because day one only has one zombie, walking around unmarked so you have to really be on your toes. I passed a few other humans, but essentially made it to class with no trouble. After class, I left Bagley Hall and literally a few seconds later, while I was scoping out the crowd looking for suspicious people, this guy walked up, tagged me, and said with a smile "Welcome to the Zombies".
WHAT? I didnt even last a day! I never stood a chance!

Basically tomorrow at 6 AM I begin to feed on the flesh of the living, so if you're a human and you go to my school, watch the eff out for me.

Doctor Who: I watched the Season 2 finale this morning, and I dont want to spoil anything for anyone but I bawled my EYES out. Rosi has informed me that people bash Rose fangirls on the Internet so I wont say much more, just that my heart was ripped out and stomped all over and it's going to take me a while to get over this. Also, I love this show. So much. Thank you, Britain.

It's BEAUTIFUL outside and I am typing this up from outside on my college campus under a tree. Excuse me for being arrogant and posting a picture of myself, but lookeeee:


This summer is so filled with wonderful funtimes that the first inkling of nice weather is just overwhelming me with euphoric smiley goodness. That was a really wordy way of saying "I am happy and excited today". Haha.

I have three hours to kill here at school before my Birthing class (hahahaha) and I think I will watch the Office on my laptop for awhile before jumping into Season 3 of DW. My heart needs time to mend. Jim and Pam will cheer me up, for sure.

Okay, I think I am losing steam on this entry. I will share with you a funny comment exchange on today's 5AG video and then I am going to wrap this up.


Oh, subscribers. xD

Today's Word: Haripp
The act of pretending to be a wizard, specifically Harry Potter, while in the supermarket.
E.g. Person one: "Hey, wanna make this more interesting?"
Person two: "How?"
Person one: "Lets haripp!"
Person two: "ZOMG! YES! Accio bananas!" - lanna_lovely

Subscribers: 16,629

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Day 5: Beverly Hills NO.

It is SUCH a beautiful day out, and I just have to sit here appreciating it through the window of my stupid box office. If I didn't like my coworkers so much I would hate this job on days like today.
On that note, I really like when work feels like I am on a sitcom.
... I had just typed up a story of something funny that happened yesterday at work, but I realized how lame it made me sound, telling work stories in my blog, so I deleted it. Just know that work can be fun, sometimes.

In other news.

Last night I spent the night at Liz's house and aside from food and making fun of the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua (her parents were watching it, sigh) we went upstairs and I showed her the first episode of Season 1 of Doctor Who.

Wait, hold on. I'm don't think I am done talking about Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Liz and I were listening kind of from the kitchen, and her parents kept cracking up after lines that I didn't see any humor in. There's a scene where an iguana is trying to escape from a store or something by hiding under a pinata and one of the employees is chasing it? That's the entire joke. Her parents were rolling! And in general, I'm finding there is a huge population of that world that is highly entertained by a talking and dancing dogs. This movie brought in $29 million, debuting it at number one in the box offices in the first weekend.
WHY AM I NOT AMUSED BY TALKING AND DANCING DOGS?
Sometimes I wonder if I am missing out on a simpler form of entertainment because I am so much harder to impress. SHOULD dancing dogs amuse me?

Dogs, cats, monkeys: when animals speak in movies, and the movies are not Babe, Charlotte's Web, or Homeward Bound - or a cartoon - I don't want to see it. I don't find it funny. Ahhh.
Similarly, I saw Bedtime Stories and thought it was a pretty okay movie, but they insisted on putting in this stupid guinea pig with big weirdo cartoon eyes that served no purpose other than to be funny, and it WASN'T, so it ruined the entire movie for me. RAWR.

Okay, I am moving on. So I showed Liz Doctor Who and I am proud of myself for spreading it on and I am happy she likes it. :D I am almost done with Season Two. Halfway there!

A few months ago I did a Parselmouths interview for radio with this girl I met at a Wizard Rock show named Abby. I really enjoyed this experience because she is blind and was using it as a learning tool for future radio shows she plans to execute. It was a lot of fun and we've kept in contact a bit since then.
The point of this story is that today she wrote on my facebook wall and I turned to Liz and asked her "Hey Liz, how do blind people use facebook? In fact, how do they use computers?"
Neither of us knew so we spent about 20 minutes on google learning about all of the different methods, such as brail keyboards and systems that essentially read anything on a webpage out to people. This was all making sense until we got to this sentence:

"Sometimes visually impaired people dont even bother hooking up a monitor to their computers at all."

We were both just like "What!?!!" and then a split second later said - "Oh, well that makes sense, they can't see the monitor after all."

But then we were both quiet for a few minutes while we both sat and contemplated the idea of using a computer without the monitor. It seems so - wow. I don't even know. It's STILL blowing my mind. Have any of you ever considered this? I just can't imagine surfing the web, checking email, reading wikipedia... without a monitor. This is literally just like - 100% data transfer from machine to brain with no visuals.
We rely SO MUCH on our visuals.
The craziest part is that I was reading a web forum about this and someone even replied saying "Hi, yeah, I'm on such a computer right now. It just takes getting used to."

People are walking around using monitor-less computers and interacting with us and we don't even KNOW. People amaze me. Every single day.

Today's word: Extubsas
To have a bad attitude after taking a bath. -VicMorrowsGhost (This word amused me because the definition is completely phonetic. Ex-tub-sas. Being sassy when you exit the tub. Hahhaa.)

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