Saturday, April 10, 2004

   I got a cellphone!! WHOOOOOOOO! It's got color display (very pretty), nice ringtones, the capability to download pictures and more ringtones, and access to the internet. Lovely. Life can be kind, sometimes.
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Once again: The Gravitation DVDs are being delivered priority mail to my house possibly this very minute! It turns out that they cancelled the order because of a mistake on the web page, so we reordered and it's now actually coming. Also, I'm getting a Pillows CD from Tower. Good stuff.
It's Easter tomorrow! Happy Easter! Or, in case you don't really celebrate Easter, Happy sugar-covered marshmallow season! I can't believe it's really tomorrow. Lent went by so fast. And then I was so focused on Good Friday that I almost forgot Easter was so soon! Tory needs some gingko, ne?
My Sims games have stopped working randomly. First the expansion pack messed up the video (it got all blocky and weird), so I uninstalled it and reinstalled it, except that didn't help, so I tried installing it on my mom's computer. Well, it suddenly decided it wasn't going to install properly--for different reasons every time, of course--so I tried uninstalling and reinstalling AGAIN on my comp, which didn't work, but my mom fixed it, and now it just won't play anymore. *deep breath* I'm pretty pissed 'cuz I paid a lot of money for the game and the expansion, which I never even got to play. GRR!
Who said anything about relaxing over spring break?
Oh yeah, and next Thursday we leave for NYC. I'll see if I can bring back some kind of souvenier for y'all. (I'm bringing Lisa every single flyer from all the stores we pass--there tend to be a lot.) Rare anime DVDs and merchandise, HERE I COME!
Here's a nice little place--located in NYC--that has a multitude of interesting anime things. They do shipping as well as having a store location. Just a good place to look at if you're searching for something hard-to-find.
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Wednesday, April 7, 2004

I'm still waiting for those DVDs...
I'm really starting to miss my once-interesting life. All I do now is sit around doing homework and playing Lunar Legend till my thumbs drop off. I have become utterly boring and... normal. I can't stand it! I feel like I've lost every ounce of individuality I ever thought I had! Bwah!
Sorry... I guess I'm complaining again. There's not a lot to be excited over, is all. Spring break starts in two days and we're going to NYC for a few days during it, but I wore out the excitement over that...
Oh yeah! I never mentioned it, but now Greg and Kelly are basically going out. It's really cool, I think. ^_^ He writes her poems and stuff. It's really cute and sweet! It's so great to see him enjoying himself. Did I ever tell you guys that he smells really nice? ...Well he does. But anyway.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2004

   WHOOOOHOOOO!!
Gravitation DVDs are being shipped priority mail to yours truly! Within the week I shall have this masterpiece within my grasp... And then I shall RULE THE WORLD!
Or the couch at least.

I'm dying in math again. It's hopeless. English is also going downhill. The two subjects I'm best at. I just can't remember for the life of me to do my homework! I've been too busy with Twelve Kingdoms and experimenting with hair junk. Oh yeah, not to mention the practically 3 days I spent at Ashley's. That was much fun.

I don't like the girls in our class very much. I know they mean well, but... They just don't get it. Megan at least I know is someone I want to avoid. I'm positive the only reason she associates with me is because she's dead sure I'll be famous someday. Flattering, but not the most sefless reason. She even asked me for my autograph once. It's all for bragging rights. Uckies. Plus there was one time when she was talking to her friends about her ideal boyfriend, and mentioned something like, "I don't want any of those psychos that, like, cut themselves or anything." Aw, gee, thanks, Megan. Not that she knows. *sigh*

But I've been happy all day cuz I'm getting Gravi! Wheeeee! I love the world! *skips off into a sparkly field of pastel flowers and butterflies*
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Sunday, March 21, 2004

Still not dead. You haven't killed me yet!
*sigh* I'm officially registered at Good Counsel now (or in any case, last Saturday)! I'm so excited! Here are the classes I'm taking:
Honors religion - 1 credit
Honors geometry - 1 credit
Honors English/lit. - 1 credit
PE (real PE, CPR training, and weightlifting) - 1 credit
Latin I - 1 credit
Art fundamentals - 1 credit
Study hall - no credit
My mom and i figured that with all my honors classes study hall would be useful and a throwaway class (art) would be nice. Also, the art class is necessary to take studio art in coming years. I got most of my uniform staples, and I'm psyched! GC is such a cool place. Oh yes, and I'm also signed up for volleyball and at freshman orientation the clubs will have presentations. I'm joining the anime club for sure, and I'll see what else there is. Next year is going to be so cool-- a new place, new people, and a very diverse school atmosphere.
The one thing I'm sad about is that I won't have the cool teachers at Pallotti. The religion teacher there was really funny (and kind of handsome too... "handsome" meaning he's sort of old-fashioned good-looking ^_~). But I will persevere!
This summer I'm going for a cartooning class and a studio drawing class at the art and design college nearby. Those should be fun and will ward off the Summer Boredom Syndrome.
Speaking of which, I drew a really nice picture today that I'm very proud of. It's in charcoal and colored pencil, and i used a model from a hairstyling magazine. Those are really handy for hair ideas. Anyway, I'm happy with how the eyes came out. Probably my most realistic eyes yet. I'm going to need to invest in some fixative if I keep using all this charcoal...

Someday I'll actually work on my art homework. Promise. >_>
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Thursday, March 18, 2004

   MANGAAAAAA!!
My life so totally rocks.
Ok, here we go. First off, Viz has the rights to some more manga, blah blah blah, including Here Is Greenwood and Yami No Matsuei. Greenwood being a show I've only seen on video at a particular Hollywood video rental place, and Yami No Matsuei being a series I've searched high and low for and have now finally found. Not only that, but a few things are coming from Tokyopop too. Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade, a hilarious and very odd series I've seen the first 3 DVDs of, and DNAngel, which I'm sure you probably have heard of already. Good stuff, anyway.

Unfortunately, I came across an anime disgrace the other night. Knights of Ramune. They don't live up to the soft drink. It's basically animated porn. Lots of gratuitous nudity, which is not compensated for with plot, dialogue, or anything else. The plot is nonexistent, every other sentence is "What's going on? What's happening? I don't get it?" (the audience often echoes these refrains), and the drawing style is generic and nondescript. Like Slayers, only not. Slayers was funny. And had a plot, and good characters. Knights of Ramune does not.

Just something to avoid. Good luck in thy anime and manga travels, my friends.
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Sunday, March 14, 2004

Confirmation Proclamation
(I apologize for the odd subject line; I thought it was funny for about two seconds.)

Well, I am now officially Victoria Anne Raphael ***** (last name censored for personal privacy). That's right, I got confirmed. ...There's not a lot to say about it. It was a nice little ceremony. Uhh, I got money! Which is always nice. Yes yes. *is so happy she's not broke anymore like she used to complain about at least once a week*
Umm. That's all, I s'pose. It looks like there's a storm coming, judging from the wind and cloudiness. Bleh. So...jaa!
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Friday, March 5, 2004

   Now I know how an elephant feels
We went on a very sepsal field trip to the Johns(?) Hopkins Space Academy or some such place. I'm bad with names, as you all well know. In any case, we attended a press conference about space weather, and we got to be the press and ask questions and stuff. TV and newspaper reporters were there cuz they don't let schools come and have access to the testing buildings and stuff very often. So we and a couple other schools were divided into groups after the conference and had lunch (pizza!) and put on these "clean suits", big white papery suits with a zipper in the front. Those things werwe terrible. They were made to be woven so tightly that even skin cells couldn't get though, and they were quite baggy and a bit sticky. Oh yes, and we were wearing our huge, bulky skirts underneath them. It felt like having an extra layer of skin hanging off of you, bulging in odd places and restricting your movement because the crotch is about at your knees. We then split up and our group went to the testing building first. It was pretty boring, mostly because it was extremely uncomfortable standing for about an hour in hot rooms with unbreathable suits on. Then we switched back to the auditorium and had a presentation with experiments with this rather funny guy named Marc. We blew a lot of things up. First we had alkaseltzer (spelling?), water, and film canisters, which popped nicely, then shriveling balloons in dry ice. Then we had to find a way to get a water balloon that was just too big through the neck of a bottle by using a match and air pressure. Then came more fire, when Marc heated up a grate inside a tube and made some interesting noises, did the old plastic-bag-hairdrier trick, and completely demolished a water bottle with water and more dry ice (liquid nitrogen, like frozen air). That one was quite loud.
We got to keep the suits and I got Greg's nametag, which was in quite a shambles when I got it. And there's a party tonight with a blacklight dress code--black and white-- at Stephen and Michael's house. I'll go back to ushering tomorrow and therapy went well last night. Haven't had a late assignment for several days. So it's nice but boring over here.
OH YEAH! Almost forgot to mention. If you have Comcast cable, watch whichever news station it is you only get with it (I think it's 8 or 9...) and see if you see me (they should have the clip where I say my name if they're going to show me at all! if they don't, then I guess you'll just be in the dark :P). I got interviewed briefly, along with a lot of people I know very well, aka classmates. I'd also like to copy DES and ask what you think I look like. People who have seen me or my picture aren't allowed to guess, because that's cheating! O_O Whoever gets closest gets a prize of their choice, within reasonable limits. This is really just to nab some free comments, but hey, I feel lonely!
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Thursday, March 4, 2004

I think one of the most disgusting creations of man is the public school. It's a nice idea, a school where all children can be accepted and get an education. The problem is, in order to be funded by the state, people think it has to be a religion-free zone. The point of the separation of state and religion was to enforce religious freedom, not restrict it. This creates problems in public schools.

Let's take a look at New Port Middle School. One of my friends (or enemies, depending on how he feels on any given day) goes there and gets beaten up a lot and bullied. Another friend of mine, Tassia, is harrassed by other students and excluded. I don't know of any people either treated like this or treating people like this in my private school (which is the one good thing I can say about it -_-). What could possibly be the cause for this strange coincidence? Well, think about it. At St. John's, we pray every day, go to Mass on first fridays and days of obligation, take religion classes, and receive sacraments periodically. At a public school, problems arise just with the pledge of allegiance because it has that dirty word "God" in it.

You can make a school where religion is a crime. That's bad enough. But if you make no effort to enforce morals in these kids, what kind of future are they going to have? What kind of present are they having? If you take a bunch of people who are going through tough and confusing times in their lives, don't bother differentiating wrong, right, and practical, and stick them in an environment together-- Let's just say, people are going to get hurt.
You could argue that if children are sheltered in their school years they won't be prepared for the job world. Well, if children are taught the right thing to do in their school years, there will be considerably less predators roaming the adult world. You aren't just shielding the antagonized kids, you're taming the beastly ones too. That's what education is about: not only learning how to cope with things thrown at you, but the right kind of things to throw back.
More practice for my OO. It's gonna kick butt this year. ^__^
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Wednesday, March 3, 2004

WOW, it's been a long time since I've posted. What have I been up to? Well, not a lot really, except my mind has been dangerously dirty these past few days and I've been drawing some odd pictures in my notebooks that THANK GOD no teachers will see. No, I'm saving them for the last day.

Ah, that brilliant last day, shining like a beacon at the end of a grey fuzzy tunnel of mystery and gloom. All the plans we have for fun, all the emotions sure to arise. Sadness, happiness, relief, anticipation, reminiscence. My summer will be a lot of sitting around on my butt doing nothing, or else going to Lisa's to hang out when she gets back from Hawaii (she's going for a graduation trip). No camps, no summer school I hope, and my beautious computer calling to me to explore the deep dark caverns of the internet.

And to wrap things up, here's a poll question: Do you think this is the weirdest tangent I've gone off on in posts? In case this is too rhetorical for you, here's a different question: Am I too manipulative of conversations? I worry that I am. It almost always happens by accident, turning one person's comments into something about me. Mostly it's just me remembering something I wanted to discuss because of what they say. But I do it anyway, and I think I should get out of the habit of talking about myself so much. It's just, there's not a lot else to talk abut, me being an ignorant and naive person.
Whatever. Jaa ne.
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