icons...

so i'm sitting here, debating whether or no to impose some sort of organization on my roughly 500 hetalia pics, and i realized something: there's no way i'll ever be able to post them all here. then again, there are some nsfw ones that i have no intention of posting here or anywhere. anyway...

i decided, after sorting out himaruya's actual art from the fan stuff, to post all the icons i have. because i have quite a few. so here goes!




one of them won't show up for some reason... the quotes on flags are from a meme a while ago of "101 things alfred is not allowed to do during meetings". the teen!canada with kumajirou is my lj icon.

christmas tiiiiiime is heeereeeee

well, christmas is actually over now, but whatever.

[brief unrelated thing i just remembered: i had this weird feeling that i've acquired a slight accent, probably southern, but my family didn't notice it. but when i mentioned it to yasha last night he totally did. weird.]

dude, the last two days of work last week were surprisingly fun in a hectic way. wednesday i counted the storage backstock and snacked on our holiday potluck food. syeda's samosas were very good, even though najib ate about half of them... cedric smoked a whole turkey and it was tasty, though cold. mom made chili and brought some of our christmas cookies. there were some vegan foods too - tim's cookies were really good, which somehow surprised me. not because he made them, but because i wouldn't think of vegan food tasting that good for some reason... idk...

christmas eve was busy but fun. there was still a lot of random food to be had: liz brought munchkins, there were some leftover cookies from the party the day before, syeda brought 2 dozen donuts, and then dan ordered 9 pizzas. yeah, plenty of food. jt ate 8 donuts plus he leftover chili and a couple slices of pizza. jay ate a ton of pizza too. dan hid one of the boxes of vegan pizza in the office for people who were actually vegan because it's so good non-vegans eat a lot. though fred had probably at least 4.

those are the only 2 days i didn't really feel any ill-effects of not taking a break.

went to bed ridiculously early christmas eve: around 10:15. it really hasn't felt like christmas at all. i think that might be because we've only implemented some of our traditional christmas things, not everything. so there was no mug rotation, hardly a table covering rotation, no hunting for a real tree to go with the fake one, no combined shopping trips, no listening to the same old christmas cds. i think we were kinda lazy this year regarding our traditions. we did our same decorating rituals, we set up the nativity [even though we're hardly religious about this anymore], dad finally got the moravian star to go together correctly.

matt was actually the last one up christmas morning. mom made multi-berry coffee cake and i had my yummy kiwi-pear tea. my presents: lucy-the-sewing-machine back in october, $50 cash-money, "jean therapy" book, "easy one dish meals" book, an old pair of jeans of dad's. not bad. matt: "where the wild parties at?" shirt, knit hat, $50 cash-money, 'modern warfare 2' for 360, probably something else i forget... dad: tbd jerry garcia tie, knit hat, chalk mug with pen, uhh.... [it was a couple days ago, i forget...] mom: yummy dessert cookbooks, giant map of us for mapping motorcycle trips, a bunch of eyeglass-keeper pins, chalk mug with pen, boombox with double headphone cord.

then we headed over to poppop's! it was a super informal dinner, as aunt anne had brought short sugar's barbecue. so i wore my free kitten shirt. the cousins were at the murphey's to give poppop a break from having to deal with ben and nancy, which was nice of anne. so us older people sat around talking and such. and waiting. and finally we call over and find out it'll still be a little while [there's a backup in the shower] so we decide to go ahead and eat. mmmmmmmmmmm

finally everyone gets there and it's hella loud... like whoa... we open presents. nothing really remarkable. kat really liked the stuff i made her and the hoodie mom made for her. poppop gave all the families pretty much the same thing: a wind chime his neighbor made out of old kitchen utensils and a rotary belgian waffle maker. i played some guitar hero and then kat coerced a slew of people into playing taboo. dad kicked ass cuz he's mister media. if i'm ever on a game show or in the cash cab, he's my lifeline, no question. it was pretty fun.

pawpaw and carole came on boxing day. we talked for a while, matt opened his presents cuz he and andy were hitting sales [and no doubt other things...]. he got a really nice knife, sand circles for a nice power tool. i'm not sure what specifically it was... dad got a few ties and a set of giant reusable zip ties. mom got a twisty note pad and something else... i got a twisty note pad and a giant mug. we ate cold ham [yummm] and pawpaw went to pick up carole from somewhere off 97. she got here and we opened the rest of the presents. mom got a rubber shoe door prop and a measure conversion magnet. dad got a wheely shop chair. i got a person pot coaster and a nice glass wall clock for the house.

then i ran off to have fun with yasha. i helped him fold his laundry. we went to dinner with his dad, alla, and his grandparents at don pablos. i ate my entire plate of enchiladas! i was so proud and so stuffed! then we left them and decided to hang out with harry. not really sure why... we picked him up and drove all the way down eastern ave from middle river to the city. then we parked in fells point and walked from there to harborplace and back. when we passed the wtc i had to take the time to try and name all the flags. i did pretty good. thank you, hetalia! and so we drove back home and such.

and yeah, that was pretty much my christmas. i recorded the doctor who special, as i was out with yasha at the time, and i watched it when i got home from work today.

HOLY GOD!!!!!!!!! I'M GONNA EXPLODE!!! RTD, YOU ARE FUCKING AMAZINGGG!!!

part 2 premieres next saturday. I CAN'T FUCKING WAITTTTT!!!

also, i have no idea wtf my internet is doing right now. seriously.

anyway, a pic!

drawn for me by jessica! yayyy!!

owwwww

first of all: gosh, is my life so sad that all i can do is blog about it even though i know no one reads this? apparently...

that, and i'm wasting time, making it look like i'm doing something when i'm really waiting for one parent or other to go away...

anyway!

i'm unhappy that the movie extravaganza we just managed to schedule had to be derailed. stupid work. stupid lack of cars. oh well. i'm still seeing 'boondock saints' tomorrow!!

oh shit, that reminds me, i need to check to make sure i wasn't lying and it really is still playing...

ok. yes, it is, but checking wall posts reveals confusion on my part. i hate feeling left out.

work is starting to give me physical pain. i was already/still hurting from yesterday, and going up and down a ladder for probably close to 4 hours today has not helped. my feet are aching, my back hurts, my legs hurt, and i think i'm going to take a bath instead of a shower so i can just sit in toasty water for a while. mmmmmmm.

but i organized the entirety of wellness top stock in about 2 hours, and started organizing the extreme amounts of back stock for inventory next week. so i feel mildly satisfied. and when we were pulling into the neighborhood after work i remembered i didn't take a break, so that was 8 straight hours. no wonder i hurt! i'm definitely taking a break tomorrow, especially since it's truck day and i'll be lifting and bending and generally murdering my back for those first 3 hours. joy...

but in slightly brighter news, i finally got me some [supposedly, hopefully] intense tea to wake me up: irish breakfast tea! according to the box, it's intense, especially when compared to english breakfast tea. english is, apparently, meant to be enjoyed over a period. irish is a kick in the pants with caffeine! which is just what i need when getting up at stupid o'clock.

i was gonna say something and then i forgot...

oh! i'm working on catching up on all the fics i missed due to this whole snow thing and finally getting set up for christmas. last night we set up the tree and dad pulled out the moravian star and the hand-painted nativity set. even though i'm not religious, it was still nice to see the two family traditions together. as in, the star is from the fisher side and the nativity set is from the burhenn side. the moravian star became the star above the nativity. and i had to make sure the wise men weren't there yet because it's not epiphany. and it's weird that i would be concerned about that, considering my general non-religion...

apparently i got a package from woot at other-house. which is weird cuz i just checked my woot account and i haven't ordered anything since the wild parties shirt, which came already. i can only assume someone ordered it for me, but i have no idea who...

ugh, i need to work on my christmas presents... the only person i'm done for is matt. i've got half-presents for mom and dad, and i've barely started kat's... and christmas is friday! i should just stop catching up on fics and watch some doctor who and kit that hat. i'm also making fred at work a hat, though that's not exactly a top priority right now...

anyway, a pic, somewhat snow-related:

adorable canada and russia is adorable.

hmm

There was a boy
A very strange
Enchanted boy
They say he wandered
Very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he

And then one day
One magic day
He passed my way
While we spoke
Of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love and
Be loved in return"

[Nature Boy David Bowie]

idk...

it came to me when i was drying off after my shower. something about, "she was all subtle curves and uncombed hair." and that song from "moulin rouge" popped into my head. no idea where on earth i might go with this...

it's kinda distressing that practically everything i write is just glorified mary-sues... because i'm apparently incapable of making up my own characters and have to base them off of myself and the people i know...

anyway... IT SNOWED!!! LIKE, AROUND 2 FEET!! the roads are shit though, which is gonna suck when i have to go to work tomorrow... at least i don't go in till 10. i'm planning on leaving by 9 at the latest to give myself plenty of time to get there. hopefully the highways won't be horrible like the all-day weather news kept showing.

relevant to the snow:

someone's secret santa gift on the usuk com.

bass groove

damn, i'm suddenly craving a bass. i wish i could just have the ability to play it implanted in my head so i won't have to go through the no doubt painful process of teaching myself. i'm hoping to get myself a pretty decent used bass by the end of break, and i'm already making it my new years resolution to learn 3 songs next year.

god, i hope i don't flake out on this... it really would be sweet to play an instrument again. then i can join jam sessions with the roomies and such. though i have to relearn how to read music, and learn for the first time the bass clef. it'll be hard, but hopefully awesome.

sean, heather's bro, let me mess around on his bass sunday. my pinky is really weak and doesn't really bend right or move independently from my ring finger, which kinda sucks. i have a bit of trouble stretching to reach all 4 of the first frets, though i think i've got the plucking part down. it's the fretting that's gonna get me, i know.

yesterday at mark's we played beatles rockband and for a set i got to play bass. i tried to play it like sean showed me, but it's hard to do on a plastic shape that's wayyyyy too short. i ended up 'plucking' the same though.

i need to pay more attention to the bass lines of songs.

i found this really helpful site, which i plan to read more indepth once i get my hands on a bass.

in other news, IT'S SUPPOSED TO SNOW THIS WEEKEND!!!

somewhat related:

uk + kilt + guitar = awesome

[unrelated: gosh, i want some ghillie brogues...]

dead

wooooooooork...

had to be there at 5 this morning. not really a problem, transport-wise, because dan scheduled mom and i for similar/the same time during the week.

today was a truck day. and wellness had a ginormous order: 21 boxes, plus another 9 from separate companies. i brought my ipod today and so spent 3 hours stocking and listening. i got through all but about 5 or 6 before ellie got there at 8 [so that's 15 or 16], and then we switched to those other boxes [the non-unfi ones]. i got to spend a stressful hour as the only person in wellness because there was a leadership meeting ellie had to go to and fred didn't get in till noon. thaaaat was hard, mainly because i had no idea what i was doing and couldn't do much to help customers and i felt bad about that. even though it's not really my fault.

when fred got in i slowed down and started fading, having been working since 5. but when ellie got in that morning she was glad i was there and could do all that stocking because of all the other stuff she had to do. but yeah.

i spent the car ride back trying not to fall asleep, doing that in-and-out thing. and i didn't nap, like i pretended to do yesterday, so that i can hopefully get to bed earlier tonight and get a bit more sleep. though mom pointed out that i really can't sleep in too much or everything will be that much harder on thursday when i have to get up at 3:30 again. so i'll be up at 9 tomorrow. joy...

i've been watching the first season of 'doctor who'. i've been looking and listening for references to bad wolf. so far i've counted 3: spray painted on the TARDIS in that first ep, mentioned in the news or something [i forget exactly...], and it was a new station in ep 7 [and featured a story about the face of boe being pregnant...]. i'm rally looking forward to season 3, not necessarily because i like martha [i think donna was my favorite companion, followed by mickey for some reason...], but because of 'blink' and i just remembered 'gridlock'. why do i remember the creepiest episode ever, and one of the saddest ones? seriously, 'blink' freaks me out every time - though i really like how it was done, focusing on random humans instead of the doctor and martha. also, "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey... stuff."

but what i'm really looking forward to is seeing the regeneration from 9th to 10th. because that fascinates me. like how i'm sad about dt leaving, but excited and interested in the regeneration and how ms is going portray the doctor. yeah.

gosh, i'm a nerd.

also: CHRISTMAS IS IN 9 DAYS AND I'M SOOOOO NOT READY!!! i have half presents for my family, and that's about it. i really need to hit up joanns and figure out what else to do for matt.

here, have an adorable arthur! by the amazing zulenha.

damn him and our connected brains!

moscovite114 7:51 pm
so tattoo
i told u i'd ask in a few days
so i am asking
lol
any luck?
juzaluvlettraway 7:51 pm
and i totally forgot
moscovite114 7:52 pm
.....
told ya u would
juzaluvlettraway 7:52 pm
i have ideas in my head
moscovite114 7:52 pm
lol
god i know u well
juzaluvlettraway 7:52 pm
curse youuuu
moscovite114 7:52 pm
hahaha

bad touch trio ftw

holy god, last night...

lame title is lame... here we see patrick, ces, and liz trying to play super smash bros while mostly drunk. oh god, it's fucking ridiculous.




you know liz has been drinking if she breaks out into "hot in here" on guitar. also" nicole can't walk straight, anna makes deviled eggs, and patrick can't find a towel.

non-suckage

today was pretty good, as far as grades go. i resold my bio book and $50 for it, which is just fine. i picked up my jewelry projects and sheal told me the box saved my ass from probation. well, not in those words... she said it saved my grade - i pulled a B!

beginning textiles 1: A
beginning jewelry: B
bio lecture: C [possibly a B, but most likely a C]
bio lab: A
english: B
seminar: ??

horrayy!!!

when i was walking home from all that, a woman stopped me to ask if i knew how to get to city hall. i told her i didn't know specifically where it was, but it was down broad street. and i remembered the obama madness last year, and how the mob made it all the way down to city hall. but yeah...

mainly, though, this is an excuse to share this pic i have that i suddenly remembered i have and it's just amazing:

EXTREME IRONING!!!

yeah, it's a real sport in england [hence he's doing it]. i have no idea...

end!

well, finals week is pretty much over for me now. i just have to stick around until dad can come get me on saturday.

my jewelry final ended up... okay... the construction went well, and i'm happy with how nice and clean it turned out, after i pretty much killed myself to get it done in 3 days. but then i went and painted it without really having an idea of what i was doing. and i'm unhappy with the paint. extremely so. the crit yielded the same thing, that the construction and ring itself was well made, but the paint kinda ruined it. and as soon as i get it back tomorrow i'm going to figure out how to at least remove the paint... i hope my grade won't suffer too much because of that, i really need a B...

as far as textiles went, i didn't finish my piece. i ended up being 3 layers short, but i don't really think that detracts too much from it overall. really, only i know it's unfinished. adrian was sick though, so we didn't have a crit - just set up our pieces in our room and left. i'm picking it up later today, along with paying the last of my supplies fees. i'm pretty confident with my grade there, as i spent wayyy too much time on that stupid thing. my hand is still aching from all that crocheting. i spent a fun-filled weekend of watching movies and crocheting. i got through the entire extended lotr trilogy [though, not quite all at once. i had to sleep some time], followed by catching up on 'house' and then 'emperor's new groove'. yeah, really random.

oh, maintenance! yeah this has been fun...

last week i finally emailed maintenance about a couple problems with the basement: mold and leaking. what prompted me to email them finally was during a super-heavy rain storm, i peeked into the storage room and saw water pouring in from the back corner next to the window. like, i was watching the water rushing in. really bad. they show up the next day, which i'm pretty sure is the fastest they've ever shown up. they made plans for how to go about fixing this.

the next day he shows up with a rented dehumidifier and comes back a little later to bolt and putty the deck to the house so water will stop seeping in through the wall. i figure that'll definitely cut down on the leaking, but i wasn't so sure it would stop completely. the next day he comes back with a high-powered fan and some mildew spray for the back wall. well, that's still in there [and it's kinda loud too...].

last night it rained some more, though not nearly as much as before. i looked in to see if the wall was still a problem, and i found a small hole in the back wall with water trickling in. well, now i know where the water's coming in from. i emailed them again last night, saying i would point it out to them when they came to take the fan back or whatever. so i'm waiting to see if they show up.

i attempted to cram for my bio final last night. it... sorta worked. then i came to the conclusion that i could not remember anything chemistry-related on such short notice and figured i had everything else down pretty good, so i proceeded to get distracted by the newest season of 'top gear'. nicole showed up at some point, and there was a small celebratory party upstairs - liz finally opened that bottle of wine that's been in the fridge almost since we moved in. i went to bed around 2, since i had to get up by 7 for my final, so i'm not sure how long they were up.

but when i came upstairs for my breakfast i found nicole sleeping on the sofa. not even pulled out, just curled awkwardly on it. i tried to be quiet as i was bumbling around. it's really dark at 7...

the final went pretty well, though there were a few questions that i had absolutely no clue about so just picked a random answer. but i think i knew enough to squeak by with a C, hopefully a low B, but we'll see. my current grade is just under a 74, so i hope this grade will be better than that 65 on the second exam so my grade will improve at least a little bit.

also, it's 1 and nicole is still asleep on the sofa.

not sure if i should put this here, but yasha has a creepy stalker who is threatening him through anonymous texts. that doesn't sound bad, but they are really creepy. i really hope nothing comes of them...

but in good news regarding my guy friends, mark is finally really super officially dating becca! and it's cute. so yay!

and i'm making plans to drag emily into hetalia - as soon as she gets back and is somewhat recovered from jetlag and such. i'm not that heartless, i wouldn't dump something as soul-sucking as hetalia on someone still working on school work. i'm surprised it hasn't affected my school work much. and they are actual plans, like, i'm planning out what to link her to first. i'm not bringing up the coms unless she's really interested in them, because god have i been completely sucked in.

i just remembered! i might be working wellness at MOMs because they're down to only 3 people there and they could really use the help. i know fred is going to talk to ellie about it. it'll certainly give me more hours, though it may hinder those nj plans somewhat. we'll make it work, i do want to do that trip. [haha....] i'm just nervous about wellness because it's so specialized and i know next to nothing about it. i'm not sure how much help i would be, but we'll see. i at least know where everything pretty much is and a few things i remember from that week back when i was first hired.

and now i think i'll end my rambling with a random pic from my growing collection of hetalia stuff.

yum otp! by the amazing iraya-sama. seriously, i stalk her.