My day ( Read more...Collapse )

I dropped my parents off at the airport today.
( random blatherCollapse )

I was doing a random search on the order of the phoenix, and I found these quotes.

"NO! The trouble is, of course, that girls fancy Tom Felton, but Draco is NOT Tom Felton! (My daughter likes TF very much too, because he taught her how to use a diablo.)” – JK Rowling answering whether or not Draco and Hermione will end up together

“People have been waxing lyrical [in letters] about Draco Malfoy, and I think that's the only time when it stopped amusing me and started almost worrying me. I'm trying to clearly distinguish between Tom Felton, who is a good looking young boy, and Draco, who, whatever he looks like, is not a nice man.” - JK Rowling"

I am very amused. I am a huge fan of Draco/Hermione, and I devour the fanfic. But I hadnt realized that people actually wrote JK Rowling about it. One of the reasons I like the pairing is that it really does make sense. Draco, for all his evilness, was shown to be pretty intelligent throughout the books. It makes sense to me to have Draco and Hermione as a couple. Ron...not so much. I can see Hermione having a school girl crush on him, but for him to end up as her one true love is ridiculous. Hermione is smart and ambitious. Ron is not. And since im on the topic....(DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILER!!!)


I was pretty pissed off at Hermione's epilogue. We find out that Ron is an Auror but all we know about Hermione that she's a Mrs. Weasley and has popped out a couple of kids. REALLY?!? This is someone who has the potential to be headmaster of hogwarts or Minister of Magic. I would sooner believe Hermione as the Auror and Ron the stay at home dad. Hasnt Ron traditionally been the weaker of the threesome? In EVERY aspect? So yeah, I am disgruntled.
I am not saying that JK Rowling needed to make Hermione end up with Draco. (Although that would have rocked) But it kind of sucked that she ended up with Ron. At least, with the Ron that we know. If he'd drastically matured him in the last book, then maybe.
end rant.

I saw atonement last night. I looooooooved it. James Macavoy was amazing, as was the little girl who played young Briony. I really really love James Macavoy. He's just so hot, and he follows it up by being a very good actor as well. The biggest weak spots were Keira Knightley and Romola Garai, and I cannot understand why theyre currently getting so much praise for their performances. But overall, the movie was great. The movie was long, but i was pretty enthralled throughout. I think i might read the book now.
I also watched the new bbc version of persuasion. ulch. normally im a really big fan of rupert penry jones, and i think he did a fairly good job, but overall, the whole thing was terrible. The camera work was all shaky closeups, more like a sitcom pretending to do a documentary than a period piece. But my dislike might have something to do with the fact that i find persuasion one of the weaker of all the austen novels, right behind Mansfield Park. So to begin with, i dont like the characters very much, which makes me sad cuz the story idea is so cool.
I'm curious to see how a modern day remake would turn out, like Clueless or Ten things I hate about you.

I'm still doing the vegetarian thing, and its going well. Although i am gaining a lot of weight, cuz i tend to eat a lot of pasta and bread and cheese. But no animals! (Fine, I eat seafood. But no land animals. I'm slowly weaning myself off land and bird creatures and then I will tackle sea meat.) I havent really missed meat, no cravings or anything. However, I was eating strawberries today, and they smelled amazing, but they tasted like MEAT. Every bite i took reminded me of sausage or some heavy meat. I'm not sure if i'm hallucinating or not. Like my mind is so crazy for meat that its making me taste it. Or these could be some crazy hormonally treated strawberries that really do have cow parts. I dont know. But if youre gonna buy strawberries, I would stay away from whole foods for the next couple of days.
I am studying very hard for the GRE and its making me angry. It really bugs me that its not enough for me to know the basic concepts, that I have to look out for tricks and sneaky concepts. It frustrates me. And the verbal! I know what the majority of those words mean, but they totally mess with you and pick definition number 4 for an anology. How is that fair? How does this test how well i'll do in grad school? Bah. I am determined to pass and kick ass, but i reserve my right to remain grumpy as i study.
And I am very pleased about the internship resolution. I am doing the counseling program with the san fernando valley counseling center that offers a certificate in counseling, starting tuesday. And in March, I will begin the internship with the san fernando valley trauma center, where i will be a Rape Crisis Advocate. I'll work with rape victims and go with them to the police station while they make their reports. I'm very excited about this, and I cant wait till March.
I felt all good about the grad school attempt, until I realized i'm lacking any research experience. So i talked to my brother about it, and he suggested just latching on to profs at csun and begging them to be a part of their projects.
On monday, I will go begging!

I have three volunteer/internships to decide between. I am incredibly happy and lucky that I have these opportunities. But i cant do all. Well, i could, but i couldnt do work as well and i have bills. So i have to choose. But i dont know which one. I thought i had it all figured out, but then the third came, and that threw me for a loop.
The first, at the san fernando valley counseling center is the one i find the least interesting, because its straight counseling, just dealing with people with emotional issues. My main interest has always been in victims of sexual abuse, specifically victims of human trafficking and sexual slavery. BUT..this program offers a certificate in counseling, certifying that i'll have had over 3 months of training plus hands on experience which will look really good on my app. PLUS, some of the schools in london require that I have a counseling certificate, or i'll have to take extra classes if i dont have the certificate, which i cannot afford.
The second program, The San Fernando Valley TRAUMA counseling center (it is different. really!) has a great position as a Rape Crisis Advocate, where you deal with rape victims. They also offer certification, but its not as broad or as thorough as the counseling certificate. But the work is definitely more interesting to me.
The third, Children of the Night, an organization in van nuys that deals with former prostitutes, all under 18. This is EXACTLY what i want to do. But its a volunteer position, not an internship, and they only require a few days a month. And no certification. GAh, i dont know. I have till....tomorrow to decide.
I really really want to apply to grad school RIGHT NOW. But realistically, i wont have a solid application and good options for recomendations until next year, after ive put in some time at an internship and made some connections with people. Its been too long to ask my professors at UCSB for a rec, and my current jobs arent relevant to my field, so those recs wont help. And honestly, i got a rec from paul for a job, and it was dissapointingly generic. One of my old jobs was relevant, and im still in close contact with some of my supervisors, but thats only one rec. I need three. And again, realistically speaking, I wont be in any shape financially for about a year. I'm doing so well on bills, but my debt is still pretty large. Ive been trying to sock away money for grad school, but at this point, even the fees to apply are daunting. (I am stupidly applying to all schools in the UK, so i have to pay in pounds, which means their 60 pound fee is 120$...per school! Just to apply!)
I know that im on the right track, but it feels so agonizingly slow sometimes. Especially being back at bn. I hate it there so much. The people and the job and the managers. I need something concrete to get me through it, a solid date of when i can leave. Of when I cant start my career and finally do something worthwhile and not just work to live.

I read Eclipse by stephenie meyer in Singapore. It took me six hours.
Eclipse came out a while ago, and ive actually owned it for about six months. But I didnt want to read it until i had hours and hours to just devote to it, because i really really adore twilight and new moon and I didnt want to read snatches of it during lunch breaks or in the middle of the night.
I LOVED Eclipse. Every single word and every single scene. LOVED IT. I cannot wait for Midnight Sun and Breaking Dawn.
Its exciting to be a part of a series again, to wait impatiently for the new book to come out and to discuss each book fifty different times online and with friends. Luckily, i was referred to the twilight series by about three different friends, so i dont have to worry about recruiting people. And of course, all the awesome fan art and fan fic that comes from a popular series.
I was huge into harry potter and I think deathly hallows is a great book, but after the goblet of fire, the books lost me. I read them and went to the parties, but only mechanically. There wasnt any actual excitement. In my opinion, Half blood prince and order of the phoenix werent that great.
So its truly awesome to read a series where each book just gets better and better. I love stephenie meyer.
I need to go out and buy twilight in hard cover, cuz the paperback just looks so sad next to the awesome hardcovers of new moon and eclipse.

heh, so for new years eve, i did nothing. Cuz i fell soundly asleep. The only reason I woke up is because mark called me to say happy new years. Im fairly positive I wasnt coherent at all.
But now i am awake, listening to all the lovely people in canyon country, california cheering and shouting and celebrating.
Its nice.

So far ive been having a grrrreat new years eve day. I went into the barnes and saw some friends. Made new years eve plans. Got to have lunch and catch up a bit with sabiha. yay! Had a very confusing meeting with david. Im honestly not sure how things ended and I am loathe to go back and ask what happened. sigh, but i will, cuz i have to. At one point, he asked me if i still worked there. I realize that I left, and that he is still slightly bitter about that fact by the pointed comments he makes about my 'career' at party america. But enough already. BN is a job, and i never made any pretense about the fact that it was a stop gap. A super long one, but still, only a stop. I give this as a reason every time i turn down a lead position. im flattered, but its not fair for him to get bitter because i dont want more responsibility there.
And i'm insanely glad I left. if i hadnt, i wouldve been stuck in the same rut. Leaving allowed me to figure out what I want and how to go after it. I'm super excited about the new year. An internship at a counseling center. School, to raise my gpa. Two jobs (okay, not so much excited about that. But i'm excited about paying my bills. My account is almost at 4 digits. I can pay everything. On time!! And i have a savings account!) And hopefully, sometime this year i'll get an acceptance into a grad program at a UK university.
The Resolutions: 1)the vegetarian thing. 2)And getting a life. I havent hammered out the details yet, but personally, im in a rut. No, its more like a vast underground cavern, where its all dark and echoey. And no cute boys ever wander. So my new years resolutions is to stop being so comfortable. To stop hiding behind jess and mario and the same familiar friends and go out and do new things and meet new people and be new things. Cuz i do want to meet "the one" but first, i want to meet a lot of someones. And just have fun in general. So i need to let go of what i think things should be and just go. Like, i got invited to a party next week. My first reaction: no way. i dont know anyone there, blah blah. But i think im just gonna go, and see what happens. And i'm embracing the online thing too. I used to be pretty strict about only talking to people i already know. But im branching out! talking to everyone and anyone. yay humanity!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope its good for all of you!

it is december 30th, 2007.
Im not going to post on bangladesh right away, or if I do, its not going to be a big long post. I'm still feeling everything. I'll probably post in drabbles as things occur to me because I'm incredibly jet lagged and sick right now. Whenever I go someplace, im never jet lagged when i get there, but i'm always hideously jet lagged when I get back. I don't know if this happens to everyone, but everytime i go to sleep, I wake up and don't know where I am. its terrifying and it sucks. And it always takes at least a minute before i realize, hey, i'm in my room. Bah..but it should be over soon.
Things ive decided: i'm becoming vegetarian. Stuff happened over there thats making me increasingly rethink the whole carnivore thing. i didnt want to rush into it, so i spent the last couple weeks thinking about it, but now i'm decided. Ive eaten A LOT of meat over the last week and I feel good about my decision. i start today. I am a vegetarian. Luckily, i live in california where it is incredibly easy. I'm going to swing by whole foods today and pick up some food.
Erin asked for letters for her christmas present. As in, she wants me to start sending her letters as communication instead of emails. I started on the plane. My hand started cramping. I didnt realize how little I actually write by hand. It feels so slow. But i get why she wants it. She likes tangible things, all filled with meaning. Bah...it is more work on my part, cuz i have to be all thoughtful and stuff.
I saw Lars and the real girl last night. its such a great movie. I highly recommend it.
Off to make another grilled cheese. I have a feeling im going to be eating a whole lotta cheese until i get used to eating veggies as a main meal.