Brooke

Anyone Still Here?

brookiki — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 02:33:34 GMT

With all the things that have been happening, I ended up importing my LJ to Dreamwidth finally and was poking around a bit. I see that there’s still a bit of activity, so I wanted to see if anyone was still around. I’m on Twitter (brookiki), I have a Tumblr (brookiki), and I’m on Discord. Oh, plus I’m in Dreamwidth as (you guessed it) brookiki. So if you’re still around (or just checking out of nostalgia, like me), hit me up. I miss the people I got to know on LJ and I would be so happy to hear from any of you.

Biting My Tongue

brookiki — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:08:02 GMT

On a dog group that I belong to on Facebook, someone posted this "great" article on the policy of disqualifying breeds at Crufts based on veterinary issues and why people should fight for their "rights."

I've typed several responses and deleted them all. Most of them center around the use of the of the Niemoller quote. Most of the time when I see it used, it strikes me as trivializing the Holocaust. In this case, it's comparing health checks on dogs to atrocities of Nazi Germany and no, they're completely different. (Interestingly enough, the last time I saw it used was defending animal rights.) They're not the same. They're completely different. And comparing the two is disgusting.

I just wish people would think for a minute and realize that no, the fact that you don't like something doesn't automatically put it on the level of the Holocaust. Really.

Oh, and also? While I haven't watched the Crufts documentary referenced in the article, anyone who can argue that conformation breeding isn't doing some pretty awful things to certain breeds is in pretty deep denial.

Huge Rant

brookiki — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:11:37 GMT

Okay, so two pieces of background: I've been playing WoW for a while and Blizzcon was last week. It revealed the expansion, there was Q&A, cosplay and dance contests, and a concert by a band made up of Blizzard employees. fayoreix2 and I got the pass, so she watched most of it on the computer. 99% of it was good.

The 1% was awful. Apparently, one of the band members is a fan boy for an...um...artist called Corpsegrinder from the band Cannibal Corpse. As you can imagine, he was a classy gentleman and the people who did the show felt that the best way to experience the show was to show a video of Mr. Corpsegrinder expressing his fine opinions on the game, the factions, and the rivalry between the factions. Here's a link to the video they played (warning, extreme profanity and homophobia).

Now, oddly enough, some people were upset by this. A small handful apparently took offense to the extreme bashing of the Alliance since Blizzard is unreasonably Horde centered. A larger group was offended by the fact that he was making a lot of homophobic remarks and encouraging self-harm. Sf_drama and WoW_Ladies have a good write up on what went down.

Not surprisingly, this eventually got Blizzard's attention and, like any intelligent company, they decide to circle the wagons and apologize. Sort of. Here's the apology:

Hey guys, we read and heard all the feedback from BlizzCon this year. The Corpsegrinder bit was never intended to be taken seriously. We are sorry that we offended anyone; everything at our shows is just meant in fun. Thank you all for speaking up. We’ll definitely keep this in mind for future shows.

Our humblest apologies,

Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain

Nice non-apology, huh? And they're not even clear if they're apologizing for Alliance bashing or homophobic remarks. And if you read the comments, you'll realize that apparently a lot of people think that this was just a faction bashing issue and a lot of the others seem to think that any homophobic remarks were imagined and people are inflated. One person told Ashley that if she was sensitive enough to be offended, she'd better stay out of the sun.

And, of course, cue people saying "He wasn't insulting gays, he was just using gay in the bad way to insult people who probably weren't gay."

Cue my breaking point. I didn't get into the thread because, frankly, it's a waste of keystrokes. I've discussed it in the previously linked comms, but that's pretty much preaching to the choir. But here's what struck me:

These are the people that are helping to convince people like Tyler Clementi that being gay is a fate worse than death. Because, really, he probably didn't commit suicide because his roommate made an embarrassing video of him. It happens and people get over it. His belief that suicide was the only option stems from a society that constantly chips away at a gay teenager's self-image by telling them that what they are is the worst insult imaginable. Any reasonable person would understand that being called gay is bad, so what does that say about someone who really is gay?

That's why direct bullying is bad, but being raised in a hateful environment is worse. If someone is being called names directly, it hurts, but they understand that it's something hostile and bad. Does it help? Probably not. But I can't help but think that living in a world that constantly chips away at you and tells you that you shouldn't even exist due to sexuality, gender, race, appearance, weight, whatever... That's got to be worse. How do you insulate yourself against that? How do you go through life wondering if every word out of someone's mouth is going to be something that, although not intentional, is going to be one more instance of chipping away at what little armor you have left. And where does it end? When does it end?

I may be completely off-base here and I'm certainly not discounting bullying as a major problem facing all kids today, gay or straight, but I'm convinced that, while stopping at the source is the best option, the second best protection is to give a child (or anyone) a strong sense of self-worth and a good suit of armor so that if they encounter bullies, they'll have resources to deal with it. But if we as a society encourage casual speech that chips away at someone else's sense of worth, then guess what? We're the reason kids are killing themselves, not the bullies.

And that's why this whole thing with Blizzard is so disgusting. Did Blizzard employees accost gay players and make homophobic remarks designed to hurt and upset them? No. Did they set up a situation that reminded them once again how their very existence is so disgusting to some people that it's the worst insult they can come up with? They did. And that casual decision is what helps convince teenagers that being gay is literally a fate worse than death.

Writer's Block: Hit the road, Cupid

brookiki — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:58:00 GMT

Why would I eliminate Valentine's Day? Until my dying day, I will whole-heatedly support any holiday that involves seasonal candy and people giving me gifts. :)

Writer's Block: It's just what I wanted

brookiki — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 04:28:05 GMT

I like a mix. I like to give people a general idea of what I want (assuming, of course, they want me to do that), but it's no fun knowing exactly what you're going to get. My parents have tended to do that more and more as I got older and it's really not fun to have to tell someone point blank "I want a PSP for Christmas" or (even worse) to be told to pick out your own gifts and just get them with no wrapping paper and zero ceremony.

I feel the same way on giving. Nothing makes me happier than surprising someone with a gift that they really want. The problem, though, is that I need a vague idea of what they want to pick something out. If not, I'm just guessing at random ideas or, even worse, buying the gift I would want. That works for certain people if there are common interests, but a couple of aunts had a very frustrating practice of giving something their daughters would want and then telling me this when they gave me the gift, which made me feel like I had even more pressure to appropriately like the gift.

Gift giving practices have changed a bit in my family, which means fewer obligatory presents for relatives whose interests I'm not familiar with and fewer presents for me that felt like someone just picked out the first reasonably appropriate thing. Now, the gifts I bought were, for the most part, gifts that I really wanted to buy and so I can be excited about giving the gift because I'm confident it's something the person really wants. And, for my part, I know that the gifts I'm given were given freely and without a sense of obligation and sometimes resentment. It's really a much better trade off, I think. Fewer gifts, but more meaningful gifts.

Racism

brookiki — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:09:39 GMT

Tonight, we were browsing around for Christmas specials on Netflix Instant Watch and we came across "Christmas Classics vol 1." We've watched about half of it so far and it's pretty great....especially since we remembered a couple of the cartoons. In one, an inventor fashioned toys for orphans out of stuff lying around the orphanage. As an adult, I'm a little torn. Yes, it's wonderful the kids have toys, but he turns everything in the kitchen into a toy and turns the umbrellas into a Christmas tree. What happens when it rains?

BUT one was pretty offensive. It's called Santa's Surprise and was made in 1947. Here it is on Youtube. (Warning, there are offensive racial stereotypes, even though the overall message is ATTEMPTING to be a good one.)

For me, the initial drawings were offensive and it got worse and worse. I assume it was an African-American boy based on his accent...which was pretty bad. ("He sure does look worn!") Then there was the Chinese boy... And, of course, when they're cleaning Santa's house, the African-American boy shines shoes and the Chinese boy does laundry.

Sooo...now I'm torn on this. Part of me is saying "Why was this included on this collection?" But another part of me feels that NOT including it is somehow worse, in a way. People of color shouldn't have to see offensive racial stereotypes in older movies, but then by deleting any and all racist content, it goes a long way to letting people think "Well, sure, people weren't as sensitive back then, but it wasn't that bad." The fact that a cartoon that was supposed to be about a group of children transcending culture barriers and helping someone included blatant racism is proof that it WAS that bad. And, honestly, despite the fact that I'm intellectually aware of how bad things were and that things like blackface and these stereotypes exist, seeing this stuff makes me realize exactly how bad it was and how in-grained these stereotypes were.

I guess what I'm coming down to is that it's good to remove this stuff so that people from attacked groups can enjoy things that have a lot of merit (Fantasia springs to mind), but somehow the content needs to be available and be seen so that people understand how bad certain things were back then and how it wasn't that long ago. To put it into context, we may have a black president in office now, but a lot of the people who voted (or were eligible to vote, at least) were alive when that cartoon was made and probably watched it as children.

Sad News

brookiki — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:16:29 GMT

Bill the betta did not make it through the night. I think I've finally stopped crying for now, but we'll see how long that lasts.

Here's the memorial song for his namesake, so..... Maybe naming him after the character that didn't survive L4D was a bad call, but we loved you, Billy Bo Bob.

Writer's Block: That's good eats

brookiki — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:01:38 GMT

When I was a child, my favorite foods were grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese. My aunt who kept me as a child loves to tell about how I'd want a grilled cheese or some mac and cheese and how she'd fix it for me and I'd go back to my cartoons.

As an adult, I still love those foods, mainly because they're food that can grow with the person. Five-year-old Brooke was happy as could be with kraft cheese and white bread or macaroni out of a blue box. Adult Brooke would probably be much less delighted.... No one really knows because no one is getting me to try that. Now I like gourmet mac and cheese with different types of cheese and seasonings. And grilled cheese? Get some good cheese and bread and fix it properly and it's amazing. I guess I'm lucky I loved foods I could grow with.

Writer's Block: What's under Snape's cape?

brookiki — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:01:51 GMT

As someone who is not only into the Harry Potter fandom, but who has also been reading legal blogs and Tweets about the issues related to the new TSA decisions, I feel there's only one acceptable response to this:

People are idiots.

Quick Update

brookiki — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:08:47 GMT

I had my first tennis lesson yesterday. Since I hadn't played since last April, I was pretty rusty, but I got the hang of it again. I was incredibly impressed with Ashley, since it was her first time playing tennis. I had assumed that since it was a beginner's course, there would be a fair amount of "This is a racket, here's how you hold it, here's how you swing, etc." Nope. When we got there (five minutes late because of getting Bill situated), they were doing a drill that involved running across the court and hitting four forehands (or backhands, if you're a lefty like me). We did a few more drills with a bit of instruction, then we played points. It worked out great, since there were four people in the class, but one may leave next week since she was a little advanced. (She had apparently been told that it was a beginner/intermediate class.)

I'm still working on getting Bill settled into his permanent home. I know what I basically want: 5 gallon tank with a filter and heater, some plants (maybe Java moss or hornwort), and some tankmates like an African dwarf frog or mystery snail. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of trouble finding a place to get what I need. The closest aquarium supply stores also sell puppies, so nothing on this earth could induce me to buy from them. There are apparently some good ones about half an hour away, but I dread going. I think that it's a testament to city traffic that a half hour drive makes me hesitate, since in more rural areas, it wouldn't phase me at all. I'm absolutely going to have to do it tomorrow, though. He needs to get a good set up soon.

I plan to teach Ashley to knit tonight. I picked up some extra needles when I stopped to get my framed diploma and I found some extra yarn that I think would be good for her to work with, so we're going to settle in and get started soon.

My big frustration tonight, besides the pet store thing, was chocolate. After finding out that a lot of chocolate from the Ivory Coast is harvested by child slaves, I'm switching to fair trade chocolate. Unfortunately, even though Kroger had a few options in its health food section, nothing was Fair Trade. I did a bit of research tonight and found that, despite not being Fair Trade, at least two of the brands carried (Newman's Own and Endangered Species) were apparently slave-free since organic farms have their own certification processes that include labor. So, turns out I can keep eating peanut butter cups guilt free (except for the calories).

I don't mean to be preachy on this, but it's just something that strikes me as so unnecessary. Chocolate is a luxury, pure and simple. A child shouldn't be sold into slavery so that I can enjoy that luxury.

On the downside, though, it sucks that I'm going to have to stop eating a lot of things I really like.

Tennis, Anyone?

brookiki — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:24:50 GMT

The tennis club where I did a group session a year and a half ago sent me a brochure this summer. The session I did last spring was great and I really enjoyed it, but things got a little crazy with scheduling this year and I wound up not doing it. I decided to try to do it this year, so I called about doing a clinic. The problem is that I'm what I would classify as an advanced beginner, based on past experience (lessons as a child, a couple of years playing in high school) and the only classes offered were either beginner or intermediate. I talked with the guy who did placement today and the problem was really that it wasn't possible to predict the make-up of classes. A beginner class might consist of absolute beginners or people who were fairly proficient but came for a brush up. He told me that he had taught beginner and intermediate classes back to back and sometimes the beginners played better than the intermediate. Based on all that, plus the fact that I'm out of shape, I signed up for one of the beginner clinics. He also told me that since it only lasted seven weeks, I could always move up after that.

That's the good news. The really great, awesome, beyond wonderful news is that I've also convinced Ashley to take it with me. That way, the two of us can practice together. I'm really excited about this and I can't wait until it starts on Tuesday.

The other thing that I've been meaning to mention is that I started voice lessons three weeks ago. This is another continuation of something I did earlier. A few years ago, I did voice lessons in undergrad and I wasn't that crazy about the experience. I like singing, but the professor was really demanding. I found out later that the reason that he had openings for a non-music major is that the voice majors all tried to avoid him. Still, I would have done it for another year, but the didn't have room the next year for non-majors. Guess the majors lost their survival instinct that year.

Anyway, I've meant to do it for ages. Several family members sing well and I'd just really, really like to get good at it myself. I had to really work up the nerve for it, since I don't really know how my voice sounds. It's funny, because I guess most people either know they can sing or know they can't. After my first lesson and her evaluate, she was fairly positive about my voice, so I feel like maybe I can actually make some progress with it. I don't have really high hopes, but maybe just a little extra confidence?

So far, I've mainly worked on "How Can I Keep from Singing?" It has some higher parts, so I don't always hit the notes and when I do, I feel like I'm really squeaky/screechy. I really like the song, though. I'm also going to work on Caledonia and Amazing Grace. I absolutely love the song Caledonia and I'm really excited about doing it next week. I still have to pick a version of Amazing Grace I like.

Also, funny story:

Ashley and I went to Ollie's to check on their closeout yarn. So far, so good. We were browsing and came across the furniture. We stopped at a desk that we were a little skeptical about. Ashley started to say "Well, it looks sturdy, but I wouldn't pay much for it." At the same time, I was reaching up to open a drawer. (I touch everything in stores.) So, here's how it actually played out:

Ashley: Well, it looks sturdy.

Me: *surprised squeak as the front of the drawer comes off in my hand*

Then we both laughed hysterically at the timing.

Good times, good times.

Should Have Seen It Coming....

brookiki — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:50:41 GMT

I wanted certain items from Yankee Candle that I wasn't sure I'd be able to get in the store, so I ordered from their website. They advertised $5 flat shipping through Fed Ex and, being an idiot, this DIDN'T raise alarms despite problems in the past with Fedex. ("The reason we've held on to this package for three days is that we can't find your house...despite the fact that we just delivered a package to you today."). I got an email saying that it had shipped on August 11, but I was being patient so I didn't bother tracking until tonight.

According to the website, it was delivered by the postal service on August 13. There weren't any notification in my mailbox that there was a large package, so one of two things has happened: It was misdelivered or it's been sitting in the post office for five days. Given that we're now dealing with USPS as well, both are equally likely.

To make matters worse, when I checked Yankee Candle's website, I found this gem:

FedEx reserves the right to deliver Economy packages to the address provided or to the nearest post office along their route. These packages are not insured or traceable by FedEx and Yankee Candle will not be responsible for the replacement of lost or stolen packages.

I plan to call the post office tomorrow and see if the package is there. If not, I plan to call Yankee Candle for either a refund or a new shipment. I don't care what they claim they're responsible for or not, if I don't either get my items or a refund, I plan to contact the credit card company.

Has anyone had any success with a similar experience? Right now, I'm just really annoyed at the whole situation and dreading having to deal with it tomorrow.

Cooking Musings

brookiki — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:04:10 GMT

I think I can safely say that I love to cook. Today, Ashley and I weren't feeling well and she suggested getting some soup for dinner. I immediately went for my cookbooks to find a decent soup to make instead. I'm not a huge fan of canned soups, mainly because I just don't think they taste as good as homemade stuff.

One thing I've been wrestling with is a cooking budget. I'm working on cutting back on my spending overall and I've started keeping track of my spending. I plan to try to cut back 10% a month. I consider cooking a hobby, too, though, so watching my grocery budget is interesting. Since I like trying new and different recipes pretty often, can I just use some entertainment money for grocery money?

Tonight's recipe was just Vegetable Rice Soup.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
6 cups water
2 tablespoons tamari
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 cup frozen peas
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cupes cooked rice
1 tablespoon minced fresh italian parsley, for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the water, tamari, and vegetable bouillon and bring to a simmer, the reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

2. Add the peas and salt and gently cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in rice and heat through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with the parsley.

I used long grained white rice and skipped the parsley. I think I actually had it on hand, but didn't feel like chopping it. The part that made me happiest was that I had everything I needed except for the bouillon cubes and I could have probably just substituted veggie broth for that and the water. As you can tell from the recipe, it was a nice mild meal. We ate it with some bread from Panera and it was delicious. We also have some to eat as leftovers.

I feel really good after eating it, since we had pizza Friday and curry last night and it was just a little much.

We also saw Scott Pilgrim tonight in a theater that was built a couple of years ago. I haven't been there, but it was pretty nice overall. The seats were comfy and it was nice and empty, which is always a positive.

Bar Day 2

brookiki — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:56:21 GMT

Nothing major to note today. It was the multiple choice part and there was really nothing dramatic about it.

The ballroom was still just as cold today as it was yesterday. I found out as I came in the front way that it turns out that only the back part is freezing and I'm apparently sitting under a vent. I made it through the first part okay, but it really hit my hard after lunch. I was really achy from tensing up from the cold and I started getting sleepy. I ended up finishing about an hour early, partly because I usually fly through multiple choice exams and partly because I know that I was sort of not getting questions because I was so sleepy! I blame being sick and the cold for making me so tired. Anyway, I never can tell how I did on multiple choice, partly because I'm always convinced that I messed up because I finished so much faster.

On a side note, I really wonder about some of the people. From what I've been told, they tried a new format with shorter questions this year, so it's possible that people were using the old advice from what I've been told were page long fact patterns. Anyway, the girl beside me was underlining and circling and marking... I don't know. Most of the questions were a paragraph or two long. They fit two questions per page, sometimes three. I wonder if it's just a case of people overcomplicating things or if I really missed something... I was just like "Read question. Read answers. Answer question. Move on." Of course, I test well on standardized questions anyway, so who knows? I'll find out in October. I've pretty much given up hope on the essay part, but I'd like to pass the MBE so I only have one day of testing.

Anyway, when I made it back to the room, I was freezing and exhausted, so I pretty much just collapsed on the bed for about three hours. It's weird because I got a decent night's sleep last night....or so I thought. After that, Ashley and I hit Chili's and then went bowling. It was sort of cool, since it was one I went to with a group of people when we went to the State Fair every year for competitions.

Now we're back in the room and I'm just basically going to chill out and collapse. We have to check out of the room tomorrow by 2, then head back and get Alley from boarding. After that, we plan to just hang out and recover for a few days.

And that was my day.... Thank goodness it's over.

Bar Exam Day 1

brookiki — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:22:49 GMT

I took the first part of the bar exam (the essay part) today. It was rough, for various reasons.

First, I had to get up early this morning, which absolutely isn’t my thing. I’ve been working on readjusting my sleep schedule, but so far, it isn’t happening. As a result, I had trouble sleeping, so I went over some essay questions and hints last night while watching Cartoon Network and finally turned the lights off at around 3:30. The alarm was set for 7AM, since there was an option of filling out a card to have breakfast delivered at a certain time. Unfortunately, they were running behind so even though my breakfast was scheduled to be delivered between 7-7:30, it didn’t show up till 7:46. Registration was supposed to start at 7:50 and end at 8:15. The good news was that I only had to run down to the hotel lobby.

I only had a few minutes to eat breakfast and ended up accidentally knocking a glass of water on the floor. It broke and I didn’t have time to clean it up, so I had to leave Ashley to deal with it.

I was a little worried about getting there on time, but I felt a lot better when I saw two other people carrying computers and plastic bags...and they had no idea where to go. At least I could read the schedule.

Anyway, the organization was a MESS. The registration was supposed to start at 7:50 and apparently no one was there. It was supposed to end at 8:15 and at 8:15, there huge line and people absolutely filling up the hall. To further complicate things, there were various lines for different last names (A-C, D-H, etc) and no one knew this at the back so they weren’t feeding in properly... It was miserable. It was crowded and hot and overall awful.

Finally, at around 9, everyone ends up in the exam room...BUT apparently a good chunk of people weren’t computer savvy enough to start the exam software. So cue about half an hour of people waving their red sheets (sign for tech support) to get help. I suppose part the problem might have been computer problems, but mainly? I think that a lot of people were unable to follow basic instructions. “WAIT! WHAT DO THEY MEAN BY TYPE CLOSED IN THE BLANK AND CHECK THE BOX THAT CONFIRMS CLOSED?”

Anyway....the exam FINALLY starts. That went okay. Six state specific essay questions in three hours... The problem kicked in about midway through the exam. We were taking it in a ballroom with at least two hundred people....probably more. I assume that under normal circumstances, people moving around in the ballroom would have led to things getting pretty hot. However, when all those people are sitting quietly, it gets pretty cool. They had the air conditioning up really, really high and everyone was freezing. The guy sitting across from me kept rubbing his hands and blowing on them. I think the temperature was between 50 and 60.

I was pretty cold during the lunch break and it was cut short because of the delay in registration. So basically, I had time to eat and thaw out a bit, then head straight back down.

After lunch was the multi-state exam...and it was even colder. I was so cold that I had trouble concentrating and when I finished a little over half an hour earlier, instead of going over the answers and trying to get something else written, I gave up. I was miserable and I decided to cut my losses and head up to thaw out, get some rest, and work on my multiple choice exam stuff.

When I got up to the room, I felt like I had been out in freezing weather. It took over an hour to warm up and my arms and legs were icy. I took a quick nap and when I woke up, I had a fever. Of course.

I’ve took some Aleve and Ashley and I went out to Olive Garden for dinner (She treated!). After that, we hit Half-Price books for a few minutes and then hit Meijer to pick up a few things...namely a watch and something to wear tomorrow. The problem is that I can’t wear a jacket or hoodie with pockets, so that limited my options. For instance, I have three great hoodies and none of them worked because they all had pockets. We found a lighter hooded sweatshirt with no pockets and a heavy sweater. If they’d had gloves, I swear I would have bought them, too.

With any luck, I’l be able to get through tomorrow. I’m really not sure what’s going to happen with the exam at this point, since now I’m just feeling sick and tired. Still, I’m going to go over a few things, chill out, and take the exam tomorrow. In about eight hours, I’ll start the exam and in sixteen hours, it’s all done.

I just REALLY dread it.

Long Evening

brookiki — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:09:00 GMT

I've been stressing over the bar still and I think it's getting to me. I had a low grade fever last night and felt awful. When I woke up this morning, it was that much worse so I pretty much alternated between studying and lying around.

When Ashley got home, we were ready to get our pizza for our usual Friday night pizza and movie ritual. Unfortunately, we had a few other errands to run. We had to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, which is right across the parking lot the pizza place, so we called in our order before going in. Unfortunately, when we got our, the car wouldn't start.

No problem. I had AAA and I thought it was the battery, so they sent someone out to check that. Since we were near Borders and we had a coupon for a free drink at Borders, we decided to run down there to get a drink. (Did i mention it was 95 degrees outside?) We also had a 40% off coupon, so I was going to run back to the car to get it. As I was leaving the store, the AAA guy called and so he checked the car out. The battery was fine. The fuses were fine. Nothing was jumping out that he could fix, so the guy suggests that we get it towed into a dealership, since the problem would probably be too complicated for a smaller place to fix.

Well, Ashley and I wait about 45 minutes for a tow truck and we're stressing a bit. First, I'd just had a new transmission put in ($2600) and I was really worried about another expensive problem. Second, we had a pizza waiting for us (we'd called and they were holding it), packages in the car, and no way of getting home. We were going to call a taxi, but there was the matter of who to call, when to call, and how long we'd wait. Then I was worried about where the car would go, since I had no idea who to take it to in this area. (I get my oil changed at Midas and the dealership is in my hometown, 200 miles south).

Finally, the tow truck guy gets there and he checks it over. He doesn't find anything visibly wrong, but he suggests I put the car in neutral and try to start it. It worked. He said sometimes happened, but I'm till stressing.

Suffice to say, today sucked a bit. But we got pizza, so it's all cool.

Whoa...

brookiki — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:15:52 GMT

I'm supposed to be studying for the bar, but I happened to check my phone and saw a Facebook update. My jaw dropped.

Here's the backstory:

Back when I got into FB aps (I'm over them now), I found out that you couldn't get anywhere without a huge mob/clan/whatever in a lot of games....so I started doing some random friend adding. I cleaned most of them off, but I kept a few (mainly because we were gifting back and forth on a few applications).

Recently, someone on my friends list started making really bizarre updates. Stuff like I have decided I am not going to 1)think about sex 2) play with myself 3) watch guys on cam 4) surf the alternative underground or 5) be slutty, for 24 hours. *looks at watch*, lots of stuff about BDSM sex, and her yaoi website. I didn't really think anything of it...mainly since I had her confused with another person who I had added for an app, talked to a few times, and seemed cool.

Today, I received an event invitation from her. Not surprisingly, I was wary of what it was. Then I opened it and what do you think it was? The launch of Taming Riki. Then there was a click.

So, a few years ago, I was looking for Ai no Kusabi fic. I came across her stuff....which was basically a lot of S&M fan fic with a few touches of shota for added flair. Well-written, but definitely disturbing to read. Not a big deal, except for the fact that somewhere along the way, she started her "Kira's Elite" group or something like that, which meant that you paid her for access advanced access to her fan fic. But, being the reasonable person she was, people in lesser developed countries could apply to her and get free early access for the fic. There was also talk of her self-publishing. I can't remember the whole story, since I lost interest.

But somehow, I ended up randomly friending her on FB for an ap.

The only thing that bothered me is that she's been on there for a while and these updates started pretty recently...the yaoi stuff and the sex stuff. So, that had me wondering, until I did a bit of googling. Turns out that there was some drama because sometime last year, she got religion. Here's a link to a timeline and Yahoo group emails from her. She's apparently bipolar, too, which explains some of the more erratic behavior.

But seriously, how weird is it that I somehow ended up as a FB friend? I'd love to remember which app the add came from....

And Furthermore...

brookiki — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:51:59 GMT

Via paradisacorbasi:

Turns out there's some fishy stuff in the "I Write Like" thing (besides the fact that it accuses me of writing like Stephen King). Here's a post on it. If you're posting the links, you might want to check it out.

What Went Wrong in Law School

brookiki — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:14:40 GMT

I was taking a break from bar studying (which I'm actually doing) and came across a blog with this entry:

I recently learned from a friend of mine that he took a class over the summer, Commercial Paper or Secured Transactions or one of those stupid UCC courses. I asked how it went, and he shrugged. I prodded further, and he revealed that he only showed up on the first day and for the final exam, despite the fact that there were only six people in the class. He even received an email from the registrar two weeks before the class ended, asking if he planned to take the exam. "Of course", he replied. He then arrived a half-hour late for the final, which he didn't bother studying for, save for skimming an old outline, and received a C+. "Totally worth it", he said.

I thought I was a bad student. He sets the bar for all of us.

My response to this was "And this is EXACTLY why attendance policies suck."

(And I get to use my law school tag for one of the final, if not the final, time.)

On an unrelated bar note, the lectures frequently use hypos that use various fictional characters. I find myself getting annoyed when they don't follow canon. For instance, on the Contract hypo where Dr. House hired me to paint his house? Everyone KNOWS that House doesn't own a house.

How DOES My Mind Work?

brookiki — Sat, 08 May 2010 05:24:28 GMT

Seriously, I'm in it and I have no idea.

At some point today (possibly after finding local free-range eggs in Whole Foods), it occurred to me that it would be a great idea to raise chickens.

Yes. You heard that right.

Apparently, they don't require that much room (2-3 feet in a coop, 4-5 feet in a run per chicken), you only need four (12 feet inside, 20 feet outside space) to produce enough for yourself, and they have interesting personalities. Plus, some of the chicken coops are really, really cute! Like little playhouses.

The plus side is that I won't be able to even begin implementing my plan till this fall, so odds are I'll have a new scheme by then.

But seriously. How cool would it be to be able to have your own humane, organic eggs?

Metal Taste in Stainless Steel Bottles

brookiki — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:43:48 GMT

I was discussing water bottles with hemisphere and the subject of stainless steel came up, specifically that metallic taste some people notice. I haven't had a problem with it myself, so I'm inclined to think it's some sort of genetic trait or something.

That said, I found a tip for getting rid of the taste at eHow. In case the page goes missing later, here are the steps.

How to Get Rid of a Metallic Taste From Stainless Steel Water Bottles by Karren Doll Tolliver

1. Wash the stainless steel water bottle in hot soapy water and rinse well.

2. Mix enough of the distilled or filtered water in equal proportion with the vinegar to fill the water bottle. For example, if your water bottle is 16 ounces, mix eight ounces of the water with eight ounces of the vinegar.

3. Fill the bottle with the water and vinegar mixture.

4. Allow the bottle to sit undisturbed overnight with the vinegar-and-water mixture in it.

5. Pour out the water-and-vinegar mixture and rinse the water bottle well. The metallic taste should be gone. If the metallic taste comes back, simply repeat these steps to get rid of it again.

Writer's Block: Pet central

brookiki — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:46:27 GMT

As a general rule of thumb (and as anyone who knows me knows), if a sentence starts with "Some animal rights activists are..." I always complete it mentally with "Idiots." I don't think that this is going to make anymore difference.

Animal rights activists are either crazy or misinformed. People who actively support PETA and other AR groups and understand what they're supporting not only believe that it's perfectly acceptable to kill humans to "protect" animals (after all, in the words of Ingrid Newkirk, "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.”), they also support ending anything that remotely resembles animal exploitation by humans by any means. We're talking about a group who not only thinks its acceptable to set a barn full of horses on fire because they're better off burning to death than serving humans, but also a group that is so against companion animals that their animal shelter has an insanely high kill rate. One source states that their adoption rate last year at 1 in 300 animals. That's eight homes for over two thousand animals.

Of course, I'm willing to accept that vast majority of people who belief in "animal rights" don't understand what the movement is about. Most people don't support PETA as a terrorist organization, they support it because they believe it helps animals.

It needs to stop. PETA and other AR groups get a tremendous amount of money (mainly because they have no scruples in raising it), while actual animal welfare organizations quietly do their work in the background, finding homes and treating animals with what funds they can raise, often out of their own volunteer's pockets.

And as for the renaming of owner, I don't think it's a balanced relationship between a dog and a person. My dog and I certainly don't have one and I think she benefits significantly more than I do. She doesn't mind if I'm referred to as her owner as long as I make sure she gets adequate exercise, food, playtime, and trips outside to the bathroom.

I am for reclassifying animals somewhat legally. I'm not at all comfortable with giving animals "rights" (especially since other groups of people are fighting desperately for rights that are denied), but neither am I completely comfortable with the classification as plain property. I would prefer to see a new system that recognizes that animals do feel pain and are living things that are very valuable to their owners (even if the animal itself has real objective value), but granting them "rights" and referring to their owners are "guardians" is blurring the line a little too much.

Housekeeping (Literally)

brookiki — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:39:07 GMT

I thought I'd add a cleaning tips tag on my LJ, since I'm forever looking up how to clean this, fix that, or general care. Last night, I had to look up two things.

First, it was removing water rings. I accidentally set a pot of tea down on a table and when I picked it up, I noticed there was water damage on it. I found the answer from Heloise. Here's the tip:

Erase white heat marks and water rings on wood furniture?
If the wood has a good finish (don't try on bare wood), mix equal parts of baking soda and regular white, nongel toothpaste. Lightly dampen corner of a clean, soft white cloth with water and dip into the paste. With circular motion gently buff the marks for a few minutes. Wipe area clean, and buff to a shine. Follow with furniture polish. (If rings remain after buffing five minutes or so, they may have penetrated the wood; you might have to refinish the piece).

It worked like a charm. I had to use Crest Pro-Health Night toothpaste, since it was the only white toothpaste i had (and even then it had little blue flecks in it). Then I used a bar cloth to just buff the mark out. The only caveat I'd add is that you really don't need much. I used about a teaspoon of each and I had to throw 90% of it away.

And my second problem was laundry care. I bought new embroidered handkerchiefs to use to dry my hands when I'm out and a public bathroom is either out of towels or has those hand dryers. They didn't have actual care instructions, just symbols on the back. So, some quick googling gave me Laundry Guide to Common Care Symbols. (It's also available as a PDF t download.) The only problem I had was that the instructions had a 60˚ symbol but didn't specify Celsius or Fahrenheit. I was a little worried since they were white handkerchiefs (which makes me think wash hot), but they also had colored embroidery (which made me think wash cold). I took a chance and washed them hot water (although it only got up to 50˚) and they came out fine. So, in the future, I'm just going to assume that anytime it says a temperature, it refers to C even if it isn't specified.

Brief Update on a Slow Day

brookiki — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 05:13:17 GMT

Hemi and I spent a few hours playing L4D2 last night. We played through The Passing twice, which went well. After that, I couldn't exactly sleep, so I decided to work on my final drafting assignment for my Contracts Drafting class. I ended up revising the paper until about 6:30 or 7AM. I also sent my professor a long email with lots of questions.

I was surfing around on Netflix to found some background noise and I ended up picking Dollhouse, which I was vaguely interested in but never watched. I'm six episodes in and it's very okay. Not amazing, not horrible.

I slept disgustingly late (big surprise) and then drove around looking for a place to fix my tire. I finally found a Midas that could fit me in, BUT when the guy looked at the tire, he said there was no way it could be fixed since the puncture was too close to the tire wall to patch. Now I need to find out if I got road hazard insurance with my tires. If not, I'm going to have to pay $178 to replace a tire I just replaced in January.

After I got home, I did more work on my contract. My revision is completed and I'm halfway finished with the new part of my assignment. I hope to get it finished tonight, send off any questions to my professor, and then maybe have it done by Sunday night. After that, I'll print it out Monday, see how the formatting turned out (it's a pain), see if there are any errors, then turn it in. It's due Monday at 5, so I think I'm doing pretty well.

I've decided to stay up at my apartment till tomorrow at least, possibly through Tuesday, since I have a review session then. That way, I get more peace and quiet. I love my parents and I know I need to be at home helping out, but there's always something to distract me there.

Oddly enough, this is probably the first time I've stayed in my apartment on a Saturday night without a guest. Weird to think about, huh?

Funny Story

brookiki — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:29:14 GMT

(Note: Please tell me if you feel an entry of this length merits a cut or if I should just leave it alone. I'm trying to get a better idea of whether I should be cutting certain LJ entries for length.)

Or not. Feels like a pretty appropriate ending to my law school career.

I have a flat tire. I was supposed to head down to my parents this weekend, but instead it turns out that I'm pretty much not going anywhere. I started to pull out and my car felt funny. I stopped, got out, and my rear passenger tire was completely flat. At about 8:30PM on a Friday night.

Yay.

I did a quick google search for places that would come out to change a flat 24 hours a day. Instead, I got information on how to change it myself. Okay, great skill to have and all, but honestly? I don't want to. Part of the reason I went to law school is so I wouldn't have to. Feel free to call me out on it and maybe I should learn just for an emergency when I can't get help, but it's not an emergency, I can get help, and so....

I joined AAA. Turns out it goes right into effect the moment you join. Right now, I'm sitting in my nice cozy apartment and waiting for someone to come out and change my tire. The membership was $67 a year I think, which comes out to a little over $5 a month. I'll cut down on a latte a month to make it work. Heck, given that I get a free drink for every five I buy at Borders, that pretty much takes care of it there. Problem solved.

Also, is it bad that I automatically go into defensive mode for not wanting to change a tire? That's an interesting commentary on society, really. Or at least me.

(And one hour later, I feel totally justified in not trying to do it myself since the poor AAA guys had a hard time getting my spare out.)

Anyway, on to the rest of my day....

I had my exit meeting today. Turns out it was career counseling....which was not bad. Apparently, they just wanted to make us aware of the office and how we could go about jobs. Given that we had to give them info about our employment plans, I was terrified they'd be like "You're an idiot."

But, I'm me, so I go in and she was like "Well, where are you at now in terms of a job hunt?" I explained to her that due to my family situation, I needed a fairly flexible schedule. I was worried about my GPA, since it was lower due to my other responsibilities. So, I told her that my career plans were very up in the air and I mainly planned on trying to volunteer at the Commonwealth Attorney's office to get some experience and then go from there. She actually seemed really impressed and said I had a good plan. I also mentioned I had several contacts in the area, so that was good. She suggested that I might want to looking into clerking for a Circuit Clerk Judge for extra experience and possibly look into the Department of Public Advocacy. She said our state had a great program for training public defenders, that there was high turnover rate (as with the clerks for the judges), and that it was fairly prestigious, so if I got in there, it would open a lot of doors later. Then if I wanted to work in the Commonwealth Attorney's Office, I could always switch over there. She also suggested I contact the PDA about volunteering there until an opening came up, too.

Of course, this is all going the criminal law way, but we'll see what goes from there. I'm not sure if that's my main interest, but it won't hurt to get out and about, right?

I also mentioned I was interested in doing a Street Law program at a local high school. Again, she said I was pretty much doing what legal employers want to see people doing after law school. So, apparently, this is good.

I had to call back about some follow-up questions on a health insurance app, which was horrible. I had to release my medical records regarding my arrhythmia, but they apparently got a ton of other stuff. So, after clarifying my arrhythmia was both harmless and controlled, they then asked about the visit to the doctor for knee pain in 2004 which need physical therapy (read: I got a brace), despite the fact that the doctor found nothing. After that, we moved on the the headaches/migraines I saw the doctor for. I explained it was TMJ and fairly mild headaches. I was then asked how often I had headaches, what I did for them, did I always use medication, was there surgery or other treatment planned, had I had an MRI, etc, etc, etc... After that, I had to call my doctor for a diagnosis of the knee pain, which led to various telephone tag. The final diagnosis? "JOINT PAIN!" Also? At the end, I had a headache.

My advice for everyone is to write down when they see the doctor, what the diagnosis was, and if you have longterm treatment, be sure you get a date when the treatment ended and the condition resolved itself. Same with medication. Trust me, these insurance applications want DETAILS.

My advice for myself is to follow my advice. :D

So, that was pretty much my day. I'm going to head out and get the pizza I ordered now, and I may get up the energy to write my thoughts on the whole FB thing. I actually have a lot of them.