SCA event today, daytripped. No pics, as my camera is dead, poo.

Ikan no ho sewing issues, copy and pasted from my email to the sca-jml

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Going to sleep and/or read Turn Coat now. Yay Dresden Files!

Tomorrow I need to work on curriculum project -- and find the paper that I had started drafting stuff out on. I have a syllabus kinda put together, and a rudimentary class period structure outlined, but I don't have a handle on the day to day content yet. I'm making a five-week (two 1 hr classes/wk) lesson plan for middle schoolers at an eikawa (English conversation/cram school), topic focus on travel and vacation. If anyone has any tips, they would be greatly appreciated.

...yeah. Was finally told, no, we're not giving you your financial aid cuz you've taken too many classes. Fill out form A and maybe we'll give it back. Maybe.

I fucking hate this system sometimes. And I have a midterm today.

*studies through frustrated tears*

Had a meeting with my Calligraphy teacher today to discuss the paper topic. I expressed undecided-ness, and (as the paper is on calligraphy's effect on some other cultural aspect, like related to the student's major interest) that my major was Chinese. She started going on about history of Calligraphy and its wonderful tradition, blah, blah. Then she started bulldozing towards modern calligraphers and I'm thinking, "Oh /heylllll/ no." So yeah. Thus began my slightly rude interrupting about Old Sinitic relations to Persian, or Tang civil service exams, pretty much anything to put her back on the track of ancient Chinese.

Apparently she's working on a thing for Tang calligraphy, and now I'm expected to write on it because she'll be so happy to be able to judge that I researched it properly. *headdesk*

At least it ties in with my SCA period?

And soooooo probably not going to do the broad overview throughout history if she actually wants any sort of depth, because that would mean 20 page paper, at least. gah.

Having discovered the scanners in the library, on a slightly related note, I'm making copies of the research books I end up lugging around and getting late fees on. I figure that I might be able to get some done before my calligraphy today, if I don't get lazy. Actually... I'm going to post what I have so far on photobucket. Or does anyone recommend flickr or an alternative host?

Had a pirate picnic/teaparty today. We went to a park named after squirrels, which had swings and tables and a dog park. Since my camera has no batteries, we have no pictures, which is sad. I'll be reusing the outfit though, because it was fun and better than my current steamy outfits :D And I only had to borrow/trade the corset! I was surprised at what my closet and jewelry box produced.

So. Did:
Swung on swings.
Ate nommys.
Played tag.
Chatted.

Need to do:
Calligraphy hw.
Classical Chinese hw.
TESL hw.
Sewing Ottoman Turkish clothing for Hoggetowne (medieval/renfaire/open event sca puts on).

Note: I wrote this a week ago, and will backdate it when I get the chance. Will write something (or link to photos) for Steampunk picnic soonish.


I'm really bad about these... heh. Feel free to ignore if you don't care!

So. Friday.
Left G'ville around 2:30, arrived in Atlanta at 7:30. w00t. Checked into hotel, picked up con passes, went to Olive Garden (pomegranate martinis aren't bad, though the alcohol part was noticeable on the swallow. *hates alcohol taste*), and decided to not actually go back to the con that night. So, missed karaoke, but not too much else we were interested in.
Notes: Ashley sprawls. Our smallest person took up half of a king bed on her own. *pokes* Also, True Blood is made of pr0n. 4srs.

Saturday.
Laur and I actually get up when alarms go off. Perhaps because they were our alarms, but whatever. And the Princesses are off!
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Lots of pics were taken, even though I doubt even half of them recognized the series. Was still fun. Panels attended: Otaku Bellydance Fusion, Cosplay Makeup (very helpful!), Steampunk Gadgetry (very amusing); also caught part of the AMV awards. Laur and I were interviewed in the Makeup Panel about cosplay. Offered help with a wardrobe malfunction in the bathroom. Met some people from the sew_loli comm. Ducked out of the Atlanta Loli Meetup after standing around uncomfortably and listening to a couple of them complain about how it seems there were ppl that were only fans of lolita, and some snide remarks about outfits. I thought I left the snooty elitist ****s behind in middle and high school, and that's not the subset of the loli population I really want to associate with. So. Sorry to all the nice people I could have met, but didn't. Left for the hotel for a dinner of leftovers. yumm. Oh, as we were leaving saw Joe from high school (chorus and gamer's club). Talk about a blast from the past.
Observation: My hair is apparently recognizable even while pink. People really like nurses, while I'm actually not a fan of that egl type. Huh.

Saturday Night. Because it doesn't count as part of the rest of the day, apparently.
While Laur rushed off to a wing-making panel, Kristen and I waited in line to see Death Note 3. A very long line. Watched the cosplayers go by (including g'ville friends), and chatted with the people in front of us (some rant about emo kids getting away with stuff that regular people didn't?) and behind us. The girl behind us had a skele!dog plush that had a hole in it, which I ended up repairing with my emergency sewing kit.
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Yay networking. It meant that I got one of the few empty seats in the room, so hey, its all good. We had to leave halfway through the movie (so absolutely adorable, we have to finditnow) for the concert. We had The Emeralds (in which over half a dozen of us were knocked over by a tug of war over a band towel, I lost my camera and someone found it for us, and we found a necklace charm and the person who lost it -- much friendlier than normal concert scenes, despite the physicality), TsushiMaMiRe, and The Captains.
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(No pics of tsushimamire, but a vid clip up on youtube: here)
Did I mention that I got near the front? Second row. Which leads to my next observation.
Observation: Despite the mixed crowd, only the male band members were groped relentlessly while against the crowd. I think everyone was afraid to touch the girls that much. Also, girl in panda sweatshirt? Next time you start moshdancing with elbows, I will hunt you down and put the hurt on you. I was right behind or next to you, you contributed heavily to the stampede, and were very rude. MUCH. PAIN. As for Sailor, PurpleHair, and Fanboy? You were great. :D Hope your hand is ok from the stampede.

Sunday.
Decided to do nurse!Joker, since I had the outfit and the toy gun. I didn't have grease paint for the white, so I wasn't as pale as I could have been, oops. Twas fun freaking people out.
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Had a few pics taken, but not like the day before. Possibly scared people away, though -- definitely overheard more character recognition than the day before :D. Found a superboy/robin comic. Arrived back in g'ville at 530-ish, and went to bed at 8.
Observations: Apparently, I like the photographic attention for cosplay. Self esteem booster. ...I'm not sure I like that about myself, but at least I can take note of it. Also, Joker-voice is easier to do than guy-voice, at least when I remember to do it. I can rasp and have weird high-modulation in voice, but can't stay in a baritone. Hmm...

If you want to see the entire album, go here

And now I have to do lit chinese hw. And sew for the steampunk meetup saturday. and the SCA Michaelmas even needs hanfu made for the Saturday after that (though it depends on when Beth is going, and how long, and willingness to transport both laur and I as to whether or not I go). Plus, midterm in astronomy this week, and I don't have the text yet -- turns out my address had some issues in Amazon, and the seller has been trying to get ahold of me for the past... 5 days? gah.

Went to my first SCA event yesterday, and didn't get back until 4:30 this morning. It was... interesting. Was a little irritated at the girl driving us by 1:30, 2:00 in the morning, but that could have been my lack of sleep kicking me hard.

So, we got there, paid, wandered a lot... shopping, watching fighting, looking at the cranes by the lake... then we actually (or I did) chatted with people. I think I'm getting a little better with the whole socializing thing. Plus, info and inclusion. We were volunteered to serve feast, so I kinda hung around the kitchens for two or so hours instead of standing at the court meeting, which had already been postponed twice at that point. More chatting. And then serving. Gah. I only had two tables, and it wasn't like I had to take orders or anything, but still. It wasn't bad at all, I'm just thinking I don't want to have that sort of job fulltime. But! I had three people come up to me later that night and thank me profusely (seriously, it was weird) for doing such a great job as a server. Huh.

Main part of this? Costume!!! I made a Tang dynasty-esque (fewer layers than typical aristocracy, but whatever) outfit, twas fun, and fairly comfortable, too. However, its one of the styles with the skirt-above-bust, so I was mistaken for Korean, by those slightly familiar with asian stuff, and Japanese by people with no clue whatsoever. One woman placed it as Song dynasty, which, yanno, is about right anyway. I... didn't have a camera, so I'll dress up in it again (minus the spiffy hair) and post a picture. Or not, considering the state of my promises in the past regarding photos.

anyway, dead now. After a presentation monday, a chinese resume tuesday, and two presentations thursday (one of which involved the making and filming of a sock puppet show)... I was pretty dead. Then Thursday I started on the costume, finished the top during classes on Friday, and then sewed until 11:30 pm at Lauren's (oh she with the rufflefoot)...yeah. This past week, I think I've only gotten about three to six hours of sleep a night, when I should be getting at least seven to eight. Completely crashed when I got home this morning, woke at 2pm, and still want sleep, in that my-eyes-are-not-focusing sort of way.

So. Yeah. Classes have been going for a few weeks so far, and I've come to understand a few things.

1. I dislike business. No -- watashi wa business ga daikirai de, nigate desu. Nigate = do poorly at and dislike. Wonderful word. I talked to the prof for Business Chinese, because yanno, no business background and I wanted to know how to better participate. I'm not sure if he really understood what I was getting at, cuz he was just saying "oh, no one has background in it, and you're understanding more, right? You'll participate in the coming weeks, so its all good." or something to that effect, anyway. it worries me, but hopefully, since i have broached the topic with him, i won't end up with bad grades because of lack of class participation.

Oh, wait, so this is the one place i haven't bitched about it yet. Yeah. Turns out Business Chinese is (at least starting out as) an International Business class. Taught in Chinese. Meh. I should just stick to the classical culture stuff, but... *sigh*

2. I do, however, like my Chinese Business course. Go figure. Business culture, how people interact and such, I like that. I think the other class would be a hell of a lot better if my grasp of language hasn't been slipping so much lately. *sigh* And if Ai were still teaching it. Oh, Ai-laoshi, why must you abandon us and only teach a one hour lecture?

3. Speaking of Ai, I need to talk to her about grad schools for East Asian studies. I... wow, I just realized that she's one of the few language teachers that I've cultivated enough of a relationship with that I'd go and get advice from. Odd, that. Or, well, not so odd, considering the complete lack of extra effort on my part. I'm a horrible student.

And looking at grad schools? Terrifying. Absolutely fucking terrifying.

4. I'm waffling. Sometimes I get enthusiastic about horticulture, and wow wouldn't it be cool to work on greenhouse and hydroponic projects, and maybe even in China??? (was talking to the prof of my current Greenhouse and Protected Agriculture, and he said there should be internships in China, if I was interested o.O) And then I think, mmm, culture... what if i did stuff like with museums and research and stuff on old musty Chinese artifacts? *has a DanielJackson moment* As stated above... currently looking at like, U of Chicago's grad program for all things east asian, and it both excites and depresses me (my qualifications and confidence are like, zero).

Plants, Chinese. Plants, Chinese. *sigh*. Chinese plants?

5. I don't care about Japanese so much anymore. Stupid language. I haven't been watching anime, or keeping up with anything Japanese (unless you count fanfiction and the old copies of Gackt and Miyavi music i have on my comp, which yanno, yeahno). The culture and sociohistorical bits still interest me, but I'm taking the language just to finish out the year, and unfortunately, that hasn't been enough to motivate me to, well, do much of anything for the class. I'm trying to get better, but... yeah.

6. I'm using the gold star method to motivate myself outside of class, in other news. I have a weekly calendar for the rest of term set up, with categories of Japanese, Chinese, Chinese Art, and Chinese History. This is all in an effort to make me feel less utterly incompetent, btw. (I want to get into an EALL prog, but I don't feel i have enough of a culture background. Meh.) In any case, if I get the reading I've assigned myself done in a category, it gets marked out. If I take full notes in addition, I put a star there. And guess what?

I got a gold star! yayz!

(I went over the first chap of the first year book and the current section of the second year book, and copied all the vocab, kanji and grammar points within. w00t.) I can't start on the Art section yet, as my textbook is still at home, but I'm giving myself until sunday to outline the highlights of the Xia dynasty and earlier, as well as take notes out of the third year chinese textbook.

So, now that I've finished my hw, and I need to get up at seven, and its friggin 2 in the morning (Damn you Maldoror, and your LeeGaara fanfic!), I should probably go to bed.

Night all, and dreams.

i leave at nine am for UF. I think I've packed everything...possibly too much. Dunno. I only have one suitcase for clothes though, at least I'm not bringing my entire wardrobe (my costumes stay behind...pooh). I feel like I'm forgetting something, a very important something. I wont be able to copy all my files in time, i know that already, though i've got a damn good start on it.

i'm so frickin nervous. I'm not good at socializing, but I absolutely cannot stand being left alone in a crowd. supposedly the girl i was talking to online who's in my dorm is moving up tomorrow (today?) as well, but... gah. Hopefully we hit it off. I'm expecting the worst though -- still havent gotten in touch with my room mate, who will probably be someone who cant stand me. Heh. And despite auspicious beginnings, Ashley (the online girl) will probably end up finding me annoying, or vice versa.

I get so clingy when I'm nervous. I want someone i know to be up there with me, so we can explore the campus together, and I wont be completely paranoid and alone. I'm afraid that I'm going to cling like a limpet to any potential friend *cough*ally*cough*, and end up scaring them off. Leaving me alone. Again.

Maybe I should just plan on staying in my dorm until Eric moves up. At least he's used to my clinging, and doesnt seem to get irritated /too/ easily with me... (and doesnt /dis/like me... thats a good start, too. And I havent freaked him out to the point of pushing him away yet -- another good sign!)

Ok, back to hovering over the copying files... and trying to ignore my nerves. At least Cathy-chan and Jessiebear are going with me tomorrow/today/whatever.

Yay! I got my IB diploma! I so happy! And, I got a 7 in math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a 6 in english! which was quite surprising...


The breakdown of scores:
English HL: 6
German SL: 5
History HL: 4
ITGS SL: 5
Biology HL: 4
Math SL: 7
EE: C
TOK: C
Extra Pts.: 1
Total Score: 32

YAY! And my extended essay sucked ass, but I still got an extra point! squee! Jessiebear and Eric beat me by one point, but thats ok. I only needed to get fours on the tests...and i thought i'd do better on the bio, but *shrug*. Must have been my labs that brought me down, because I hardly got any wrong on the second and third tests, and I passed the first one...hmmph. Oh well.

I'm happy.

But there's bad crap thats gone on today.

First of all, the stupid Bright Futures thing has me under the wrong category, cutting a thousand dollars off my financial aid. Which I need. Badly. And...the ppl at UF finally fixed PART of my financial aid package, but the pell grant thing isn't on there anymore...so minus another thousand or two. But!! Instead of 7500 for expected family contribution, they have it down to 3600 or something. Its supposed to be 2400, but at least its better now than it was. Plus they're not done...so *crosses fingers*. I also hope I get offered the subsidized load, cuz the unsub is just a regular one...and I dislike loans as much as I do credit cards. Perhaps more.


Anyway...the monsters were horrible today. I had escaped most of it, but Noah was pitching a fit cuz he wanted to play on the playstation, and Matt (who's not even 5) was on for hours, and he was pitching a fit too...Even after trying to negotiate, Adam finally just went and turned the power off for that section of the house. Problem solved. I convinced Matt to go outside with me to look at the weather, then go pick up and wash the pool toys we saw, then go look and smell and pick the flowers...suffice it to say that I distracted him. Then Noah and his friend were outside playing basketball, then catch...Noah got hit in the eye, Jacob wanted to go home, Noah was pitching a fit (with tears this time)...

It was a mess.

But thats ok, I'm in a corner in my room away from it all. I don't like kids, and i don't really allow for their immaturity. Which I should, considering they're young and /probably/ don't know much better or cant control themselves... I /AM/ good at distracting kids though. So I am capable of taking care of them. I just dont have any desire to do so.

My mom was talking the other day about me and kids. How I was never going to have kids of my own. Maybe adopt, but never go through childbirth *shudder*. She pointed out that I couldn't even climb a mountain; go through childbirth!?! I counterpointed that she didn't climb the bloody mountain; she said "But I've gone through childbirth." Hmmph. She was talking to her cousin, anyway. But my mom and I are built similarly -- not exactly built for heavy exercise... My mom was a skinny minnie in high school though. Who knows. I'm built like my mom was ten years ago, not like she was when she was my age. Actually, I think I'm heavier than she was...but yeah. *shrug* We're both stronger than we look -- when my mom's really pissed, she doesn't hit/spank -- she grabs your arm. Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch. Not literally bruising, but close. (At least, I don't remember bruises...)

I have no idea why I'm talking about this. I'm going back to work on my website.

http://feikoi.fe.funpic.org/fanfiction/

go me!

w00t: just wanted to show off my new avatar! cathy-chan is currently playing a self-help recording..."i am equal to all other, i have what it takes; i am always good enough; i trust my inner guidance; i speak lovingly to myself" etc etc...each is repeated three times....

anyway, got back from uf yesterday, and i reeeeeeeally hope i get into Hume Hall -- broward sucks... And apparently, there were no japanese courses reserved for freshmen. None. So, I'm taking chinese now! Beginning Chinese I, Chinese Buddhism, Analytical Geometry and Calculus 1, and my honors class, the Tao of Star Trek. Yes, that's an honors course. Aaaaaaaaand, i ordered my books for calc and chinese, and having the chinese books sent to my aunts house, since we're going to be staying there for, oh, about a month. Fun stuff.

I could go on and on and on about...something, i'm sure. We (cathy-chan, jessiebear and i) are watching queer as folk episodes...and i'm compulsively organizing my schedule and where everything is at uf...


Ok! i'm going now!