Thursday, May 27, 2004

"Dum-di-dum, I am a blank page. Care to scribble on me ?"

Anyway… I don't really have anything that I know I want to ramble about. Right now my thoughts all seem to go back to yesterday's post and then I get lost, haha.....
So if you guys have any questions burning on your minds or suggestions to stuff I can get inspiration from *points to comment box*

EDIT: Okidei, I managed to write something down. Funny how things inspire you and how that moment of inspiration takes a life of its own. I had one line, and that was it. Then I got an idea of how I could work myself up to that line, but it took a completely different direction as I was writing. Intriguing....

It'll be up tomorrow *teases*

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Wednesday, May 26, 2004

"Shine for me"

"Have you ever looked into the eyes of a complete stranger and felt overwhelmed by a desire to smile at them ? I'm not talking about a polite smile because you happened to stare at each other at the exact same time and feel embarrassed about it ... no ... I mean a smile that feels like absolute – pure – happiness, spreading throughout your entire being. Just by looking into the eyes of a complete stranger.

And you take every opportunity to steal a glance, try to accidentally meet their gaze again, while biting your lip to prevent yourself from surrendering to a bubbly giggle.

As they shuffle about, you wonder if it's an invitation for your eyes to wander over to them again. Maybe they're asking you to gather the courage to say 'hello' as their eyes meet yours and shows no sign of wanting to look away. It could be that they're suppressing that same smile ..."


... Or not.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

"At my most beautiful"

After a morning of hell and an afternoon of torture, I'm all set for an evening of wallowing and selfpity. Yay…


Oh boy, trying to write structured posts was draining. I'm happy to leave that sort of thing to others and return to my random sillyness. It was fun to try it out though and the responses/reactions I got on the period post was highly interesting (kudos to all the girls and Solo, SomeGuy, AJeh). Not to mention I had so much fun writing it. I was laughing myself silly, thinking about the possible reactions from the guys.

*pauses*… And speaking of my structured posts, one of them was on videogames. Today I saw a Nintendo 64 + 'Zelda – Ocarina of time' for about $50. Tempting…

Doggy - "It's just a vase of flowers !"
Kitty – "Just a …"

"That is a ticking time bomb to a curious kitty !!"

Doggy - "But they look so innocent!"
Kitty – "Stop torturing me !"

Sara's avi is from this comic, which I just love and that strip felt fitting today. Everyone is so adorable and quirky, with plenty of good points snuck in. I only know that it's called "Mutts" and is drawn by Patrick McDonell. I'm sure Sara could fill in the gaps of whatever else you need to know about it *nods*

Time to wrap this post up.
*huggles everyone*


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Monday, May 24, 2004

"Somewhere beyond the sea"

Topic of today: Travels
As in going to a foreign country, not taking the bus to the neighbouring town (and Denmark doesn't count, because it's practically next door). I've tried to keep it fairly short, to spare the people who read this, hehe. (Believe me, I could've gone on for much longer than I have *swoons*)


Iceland – April 1997 (Hehe, I've raved about this before, so forgive any repetition.)

It was with my class of 9 years and the reason we went to Iceland was because our homeroom teacher suggested it (he taught in Biology and Chemistry, go figure) and since we said it was a cool idea, he immediately decided that that's where we would go. *blinks* We protested at first, because it seemed that it'd be a trip that consisted of Bio/Chem lessons, that only he would enjoy. (We were more interested in having a good time and end our school years on a positive note.) After a short and pointless debate, it was agreed that going to Iceland didn't sound too bad.

Our teacher also took it upon himself to contact a class that we'd pen-pal with and then visit once we got there, which was kind of cool. My pen-pal was a guy by the name Jóhan… I actually wrote to two or three people, because there were so many in their class and so few in ours, but Jóhan responded quickest and was generally more interesting than the others :p

Meeting up with everyone the first time was incredibly embarrassing. You see, the teacher had printed up t-shirts that we had to exchange with our pen-pals, so we got into this classroom and everyone sat in a huge circle. When our names were called we had to walk up into the middle of the circle, shake hands with them and hand over the t-shirt, while everyone else stared.
Some of the girls noted that one guy looked yummy, so when his name was called and my fellow classmate walked up, I couldn't resist muttering "Lucky" loud enough for most of the crowd to hear. That spawned quite a few giggles and gasps *grins* Hey, it took some of the edge off :D

Unfortunately they were in the middle of their exams and we didn't get to hang out that much with them. My pen-pal often took the way past our hostel though, getting lots of banging on the windows and cheerful waves from my room. Hehehe ^___^
On the last night he, and two other guys from his class, came over and stayed until we had to get ready for our flight. There was lots of hugging going on and pictures taken before they left, heh.

To cut this short, the nature was mind blowing and I had a fairly good time with my class. I'd love to go back someday ^_^


London – May 1997, February 2001

My first visit to London was with the local youth centre. (They arranged trips each year and you did odd jobs to earn your travelling ticket.) Instead of flying, we went by bus through a couple of the European countries, spending a day and night in Holland (checking out the flowers, walking on a pier and getting wet in a 'water park'. I skipped the latter.)

The hotel we stayed at in London was budget level (and that's being nice about it).
I think it was called 'Europa Hotel', or something to that effect. The elevator was malfunctioning and our rooms were on the 5th floor.... Boy did I get lots of exercise *_*
Oh, and our rooms were freeeezing cold at night, the shower/toilet room stank of… odour… and breakfast was … not fulfilling. But other than that is was an ok place to spend the nights, haha.

Most of the things we did were touristy, like going to London Dungeon (eeee, creepy place *shudders*), Harrods and swinging by all the photographical buildings (ie Buck Palace, Big Ben, etc).
The times I spent alone (three of my friends went along, but they kept occasionally ditching and paying little attention to me) were the best parts of the trip. It was really nice to stroll around the city and observe people, explore shops and just being there.


Going back a few years later, with my oldest sister, was a lot more fun. Actually getting there and back again was really tiring, because we went about it somewhat backwards. I won't go into that, since it gives me a headache just thinking about it ^_^;;;
It rained heavily upon the arrival and we didn't quite know where the hotel was, so a lot of our packing got kind of soaked. After asking for directions we made it to the hotel and agreed that it was pretty comfortable. Not to mention close to the tube – Victoria Station a mere 5 minute walk away.

A main reason for our visit (other than having fun) was that my sister planned to study translation at a school outside of London. So we thought it'd be a good idea to go there and meet up with the teachers she'd have, as well as checking the grounds out. The buildings themselves were dull and uninspiring, but they were surrounded by lots of greenery, which made it feel a bit more welcoming.
Back in the city, we ran into an old friend of my other sister and she played guide for us on the last 2 days.

It'll be good to go there again with my older sister and I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves ^_^


Vienna – June 2002

I had made some friends on a message board and went over a weekend to hang out with them. That probably sounds really crazy, but we had known each other for a good couple of months (close to a year), everyone's parents were notified and cool with it. One of the girls let me bunk on the sofa in her apartment, which was really nice (and it cut down on the hotel cost *cough*).

They took me around parts of the city and it was a mix of old and new. Really cool. We stopped by this church that still had cannonballs stuck in the walls, from the war. Can't remember the name of it though…

The last day was spent in an amusement park of sorts, it was called something that I can't remember (of course). We went on a couple of rides and then headed to a girls house and relaxed, watching tv.

I also bought some proper chocolate to my mom, from a store that delivered to the Royal Family ~_^

Another thing I did was going to a forest that overlooked the city. The view was spectacular and it was really windy that day, making the trees rustle, sending shivers all over my body. It was so beautiful up there *sighs*

All in all, it was a great (albeit short) experience and I had plenty of fun ^__^

Those are my travelling memoirs so far, but I expect to expand on them.
Mimmi – coming to a town near you :p

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Sunday, May 23, 2004

"Before the night is over"

Topic of today: Sleep
Because I haven't been getting enough these past three days and my ability to communicate has suffered by it. Sorry to anyone who's been subjected to this ^_^;;;


When I was a baby and took naps, my mom would let me sleep in her bed and she'd lay next to me. Apparently I was so relaxing to watch, that she fell asleep also. [Insert 'aawww' reaction]

Dozing off on the couch was no problem either, which meant that I got to 'stay up' later than my older sisters. Since I was still awake by the time they went to bed, they were kind of jealous of me. But as my mom pointed out 'she's not bouncing all over the place or watching tv'. Which I wasn't. It was just easier for me to fall asleep in the living room, curled up on the sofa, close to mom. I'm sure it saved her a lot of hassle trying to get me to sleep in the first place :p

My younger sister and I shared a room for a couple of years. Trying to settle down for the night with her in the room was difficult. She was very restless at times and would want the lights turned on, which meant that she took the opportunity to read. Hearing someone constantly turning a page and making a ruckus finding a new book, when you're trying to sleep, can be very annoying. Getting a room of my own was wonderful.

I used to be pretty good at going to bed at a reasonable hour, as well as getting up. During my school years, I slept about 9 hours (around 10 pm – 8 am). Being up late was sort of not an option, it was just impossible for me to stay awake.
Being a paper-girl messed with my sleeping schedule somewhat. It meant that the hours between 3 am – 7 am were lost. But as long as I got to sleep a couple of hours afterwards, I'd be fine.


These days my sleeping habits have changed somewhat. Since I don't have to rise early, I tend to stay up really late and catch up with people over AIM. The lack of sleep does get to me, as is evident if you've spoken to me when I'm sleepy, heh.
I either get really slow in my responses, or overly hyper. My communicational skills (I love saying that) go down the drain and I make little or no sense, often putting my foot in my mouth. This has resulted in some interesting/embarrassing conversations lately *cough*


3 Sleepy facts:

* Preferably I like up to 9 hours of undisturbed sleep, but I can get by on less since I nap/rest in the day time.

* It has to be quiet and dark in my room in order for me to sleep.

* I sleep with one pillow and usually on my sides, curled up a bit.


Anyway, that's all I can think of today, concerning this particular topic. I am fully rested, so it's perfectly safe to talk to me ;p

Feel free to ask, suggest or randomly state things in the comment box ^_^

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Saturday, May 22, 2004

"I recall Central Park in fall"

Topic of today: Video games
Yes, I know I'm not a professional gamer and therefore anything I say won't be structurally cool or have any valid points. But I have fun whenever I play and since this place is a silly one, I'm hoping to get away with randomly sharing my memories and thoughts :p


I can't say for sure what year we got our first console, but it was a NES and it wasn't that long after it was released. After visiting our cousins (on dad's side) and playing on their NES, dad was pretty quick to get us one. "Super Mario Brothers" was the game that was always slotted in first and my older sisters and I would take turns playing, while the younger sister watched and said stuff like "Now you're wet !" whenever Mario got out of a water world *giggles*

Dad was forced to play at night, or early in the mornings, since we hogged it the rest of the time, hehe. (We'd get up earlier to play Mario and other games, than when we had to go to school O.o;;;) Mom wasn't interested, but I'm sure she had lots of fun hearing us live vicariously through Mario and his adventures :p

Some games we got to the NES:

Anticipation - Basically you had to anticipate what a big pencil was drawing and when you thought you had a good guess, you'd have to spell it correctly within a time limit. If you messed up on the spelling twice, you got laughed at (by the game) and the chance would go over to the other player. This was a highly educational game, since it was in English and I for one was too young to know the more sophisticated words (especially the Science ones). It was fairly tricky too, because the banana and sausage was deceptively similar ~_^
My vocabulary grew immensely thanks to this game and to this day I still think of it when I hear "sausage", hahaha.

Ice climber - Grab your ice picks and try not to leave your climbing buddy behind, as you whack your way up to the top of the iceberg. Ugh, this game seriously flustered me. Especially that annoying bear that showed up and was all "Ooo, look at me. I'm over here and you won't get to me in time. Haha !" -_-;;;
There was a fair bit of falling out with the sisters when playing it ("Aaaahhh, you jumped before I was ready !") >_>;;;;

Goonies II - "Eeeee, all your Goonie friends have been abducted by the evil Fratellis. It is now up to you, Mikey, to go save them all !" With weapons such as a boomerang, sling shot, yo-yo and bombs (O.o) you'd run through dragon lairs and shark infested waters, to free everyone.
I must've played this game a thousand times and it never got boring. I think the boomerang was my favourite weapon that Mikey had. It could do double the damage, hehe ~_^

Bubble Bobble - Hyperness ! "I gots the shoe and am Speedy Gonzales, watch my dust as I kick it in your face, zooming to get that giant plum. Oooo look, a bubblegum with fast bubbles and don't you dare take it when I just lost another life as you were downing the cakes and crowns… Aaaahh the white whale, run !!!"
............ ehum. ^____^;;;;;
Yeah, I love this game. Especially when playing with my younger sister, hehehehe.

Some games we borrowed, but never bought:

Chip 'n Dale – Rescue Rangers - played it with my younger sister. Most of the time was spent throwing boxes at each other *grins* It got annoying at times, because it was so sensitive to how close you moved to "danger zones". Dissappointing end boss *shrug*

Flintstones - I remember playing basketball... at some point I got really good, but I don't know if the rest of the game went well :p

Solomon's Key - My older sister played this one most. I wish I had given it more time, it looked fun.

Tennis - that and Ice Hockey, were the only sports game I enjoyed. My oldest sister and I would try to get into as many fights as possible when we played Ice Hockey, just to see how many people we could get into the penalty box *lol*

Paper boy - could either be played seriously (getting the papers neatly in their place) or you could wreck havoc (smashing windows and stuff). Hehehe. I liked this game, it was super fun ^__^

Super Mario 2 - for some odd reason we never acquired this one. Though to be honest I didn't mind, since it was my least favourite of the Mario games >_>;


When SNES came out we (dad) bought a used one, because I think we were a bit short on money. It made no difference though, it worked just fine. Having the two consoles also meant that everyone got more play time, heh. So us kids claimed the rights to the SNES and dad got more time with Super Mario Brothers, the only game he ever truly got hooked on, probably.
We didn't buy many games to the SNES (or the NES for that matter), now that I think back *ponders* Apart from the Mario game, "Donkey Kong" and "Sim City", I can't remember if we had more……

Neither can I recall what happened to those two consoles and games. They sort of went back and forth from my sisters apartments and I think the NES broke at some point *shrugs*

A few months back, dad bought both a NES and a SNES, with some basic games.
Now that I've reminiscenced about my younger gaming days (*giggles*) it would be fun to see if I can get my hands on some of the old games I enjoyed so much *makes mental note*


And of course, in 1997 my older sister bought a Playstation and FFVII.

At first I was just watching her play, baffled as to how it worked and blown away by everything. Then one day she got a phone call as she was playing and handed me the controller with the words "Here, try it out". I had no clue as to what to do and died pretty quickly, hahaha. I was pretty content to going back to just watching after that :p
However, my sister had school and obviously couldn't play at any given moment just because I wanted to know what would happen next. So after a while I decided to start a game and see if I couldn't get to grips with how it worked.

And then I couldn't tear myself away from it, hehehe. As my older sister moved out, dad (once again) helped out by buying the console and my younger sister and I bought the FF games together. I would play first and she'd give it a go when she had learned from my mistakes ~_^
Now we both own a PS2 each and the days of shared game play is over *sniffles*

Aside from FF, "Bust a groove" is the only game I've tried out on the PS and I think that it's a kick ass game. My older sister bought it and I don't know what happened to it. The manual is in my cupboard, but the game is nowhere to be found *blinks*
I should try and track a copy down....


Other than that....

My family had/have 2 "Game & Watch" games. One was with Donkey Kong and the other one was with monkeys… that's about all I can remember, haha.

My cousins (on moms side) had Sega and we'd spend more time playing Sonic, than playing with them ^_^;;;

I haven't tried out any of the new[er] consoles and barely played any Zelda *hides from fanboys and girls*

Anything else you'd like to know ? ^__^

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Friday, May 21, 2004

Partly Educational Rant Including Odd Drivelling Sillyness

Yes, that is the topic of today: Periods.
And not the ones you get in school, but the one you get as the female body begins to manifest itself into womanhood. If this kind of subject (haha) bothers you, then I suggest you leave now and get yourself a nice bowl of ice cream.


I was about 1 month away from my 11th year on this earth, when I got my first period. Needless to say it was quite surprising, since I hadn't expected it at all. But then again, I don't think anyone at that age does, haha.
I promptly went up to my mom and said that it had started, upon which I received a motherly smile, pads (props to Queen Asuka for informing me of that word) and a chocolate elephant. My mom and sisters were all really sweet and nice about it, so I figured that maybe this period thing wouldn't be so bad. (I mean hey, I got chocolate !)

Then the pain kicked in and a good kicking it gave me…… I was completely knocked out by cramps and fever. Luckily this kind of reaction didn't occur much after that introductionary one. Or maybe I've just gotten used to it, heh.

When school started, I was under the impression that I didn't have to go to school when I had my period. Yes, this is how silly and naïve I was as a child (and still am to this day, to some degree). It was a pretty safe bet that I was the first (and only) kid in class to have started on the period, and the maturity level at that age is…… non-existant. So I kept it to myself, trying to go on about the days as usual, which can be tough when the cramps are strong and you're worried about bleeding through. Ugh.

For a while I took these pills that slowed down the bleeding significantly, but because my hormonal balance was going berserk and adding problems with spots/acne (alongside all the other issues), my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to get on the pill. I had no objections and started with that when I was 15.
It solved pretty much everything and it was nice to know exactly around what day it would start, instead of having to worry every month.

For the past year I've been off the pill, since my stupid doctor thought it had something to do with my sickness (which it didn't, I might add). I was free from my period about 6 months and then it slowly started to come back late last year. Now it's fairly regular again. Maybe that has added to the sudden overhwelming feeling of having Spring mess with me :p


All things considered, I've been pretty lucky with my periods. The cramps are usually only bad on Day 2 (and there's always aspirin and bedrest for that), my period lasts around 5 days and the bleeding is not that bad. I do get a little moody and my patience drop somewhat, hehe. The chocolate addiction worsens slightly also *grins*

Hm, that was pretty much all I had planned for this entry.
Feel free to add, ask or generally state your mind in the comment box ^_^

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Turning the tables ~_^

I'm doing the tables ! I was thinking about fiddling with it some more, but it looks like this will be the finished product :p

Much thanks to CrH for giving me lessons. It seems that even I can get into the groove ^_^

I'm planning do to a proper post, which will hopefully be up today. But for now, let's focus on the tables !

Thanks for all the compliments -^_^-
*huggles everyone*
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Thursday, May 20, 2004

One cup of laughter, one cup of love.

I'm pretty sure you are all familiar with Momo, you were just distracted with my inability to explain things properly :p

Michael Ende is the author that has written about Momo, who one day appears in a town and settles down in an old amphitheatre. Momo is a girl who has the extraordinary gift of listening. This might not seem like a very special gift, but by simply listening to the troubles of the townspeople, she inspires everyone to come to insight all on their own. It's as if they find the time to figure things out when she sits there and gives them all of her attention.

She makes friends with everyone and they visit her everyday, until the men in grey arrive. They claim to be helping people save time. This is done by cutting down on all activities outside of working. Eating, sleeping, enjoying the company of family and friends - these are all deemed as inefficient and slowly, but surely, the people are convinced to save their time in the grey men's bank.

Suddenly Momo's friends doesn't have time to visit and she becomes increasingly lonely. One day she meets one of the grey men and learns of their true agenda. It is now up to Momo to stop them and save her friends from the grey men's plans.


I could be more detailed, but I don't want to spoil more. If you haven't read this book, then I strongly urge you to pick it up. I read the cover and it said that it's been released as "The Grey Gentlemen", so maybe that title will ring a bell.

And I'm so thrilled that you know of those Fairy books, Dagger ! ^___^

---

Naruto !
- skip this if you're not interested in me making incoherent ramblings about anime -
I am a little bit disappointed with Neji. It didn't feel like they executed his story very well and it was rushed compared to others. At least they gave a very valid reason for his behaviour, even if it by no means excused what he did.

Shikamaru gained much respect from me, because I really didn't expect anything from him. But once again, I have been reminded that Naruto is a show with character development. And I love how you have to give it time, to not be hasty with assumptions. Let's not even touch upon the emotions and thoughts they bring up *gestures and sobs*

I was tremendously satisfied with Gaara. Those episodes absolutely broke my heart and were incredibly well done. To think that they will raise the bar again is just incomprehensible, but I look forward to it muchly ^_____^


Ok, Naruto ramblings closed for the day :p

---

I checked out that Tree thing that I saw Azure and Pretty Boy have in their MyO's. This is what I got:

PINE TREE (the Particular) - loves agreeable company, very robust, knows how to make life comfortable, very active, natural, good companion, but seldom friendly, falls easily in love but its passion burns out quickly, gives up easily, everything disappointments until it finds its ideal, trustworthy, practical.

Hm, very interesting indeed. I would have to disagree completely with the "seldom friendly" part. "Gives up easily" is true in some aspects, but in general I am very stubborn. The only time I surrender a fight is when I know nothing good will come out of it and my time is wasted (heh).
As for the "falls in love easily but its passion burns out quickly"…… I do get attached easily to people, though I would say that any passion I feel is transformed into friendship pretty quickly. This is because I know it'd be pointless to fool myself that there could be more and I'd rather have someones friendship than nothing at all.
"Everything disappointments until it finds its ideal" ? Not sure what that's about, but anyway ^_^

Cookies and milk to you all !
*huggles*
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Wednesday, May 19, 2004

"We need body rockin', not perfection.
Let me get some action, from the back section"

I love how my brain works. Sometimes I don't even know what it's up to, until I look at whatever it is I've used it for. What starts off as nothing in particular, just me being creative (whether it be writing or making a greeting), ends up with me staring at the finished product and going ".... Oh". Then I realise how far ahead my thought process actually was. It's as if it works so fast that it takes a while for the rest of the brain to catch up with what is going on, haha.

Not that I mind, not at all. It makes it so much more interesting, because I know that from those moments of inspiration, I will learn something about myself. Connect with the inner me on a broader spectrum, I guess :p


Sara asked what my favourite fairy tale was. (Which is kind of fitting, since I wanted that little story I started on to have that kind of feel to it.)
The second I started to think about it, I remembered this book filled with fairy tales. All of them had a very ornamented writing style and were mostly about princesses and their adventures (I think). I can't recall the title, but I am now inspired to go and see if I can find it.

EDIT: It seems there were 7 books, each coded with a color ("The Red Fairy Tale book", "The Green Fairy Tale book", etc). At least I think these are the ones that my memory vaguely remembered. We'll find out when I borrow them :p

But yes, my favourite one would be.... Momo. (I don't know if I'm entitled to refer to it as a fairy tale, but I couldn't think of one that correctly falls under the category.) It is so sweet and has a lot of depth to it. The writing is excellent. You get swept away very easily, even though mr Ende doesn't pull out the violins or cymbals when he describes certain situations. It feels very low-key and yet you find that your heart is racing when she has to walk so slowly, you are moved to tears when she is fighting what seems to be a futile battle.

I should read it again and make a more proper explanation as to why I love it so much. My body and brain aren't working together very well today, heh.


Ugh, I had completely forgotten how horrible Day 2 was. Until now *groans* And we have no aspirin or good painkillers in the house, which means I'll have to pull myself together, get out of the house, go to the pharmacy and back again. I can't imagine doing that when I struggle to even sit up straight -_-

I think I'll end the post here and go get that aspirin now....
and sweets, lots of sweets :p
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