…that is all.

So, official word from the doctor this morning?  Bronchitis.  I have antibiotics now, though, so hopefully some of this will have cleared up before I go back to work on Tuesday.

I’ve blabbed to the housemates about this far too much already, but I’m still angry that it hits me during my time off.  Just… argh.

To top this all off, I’m again reminded why reading comments on certain pages (YouTube, 1up.com, and the like), is a bad idea.  E3 just gave them all a new reason to rear their ugly heads, and unfortunately I glanced down and witnessed the recent spate of vitriol.  My current conclusion is that most present day gamers, at least the vocal ones, will just never be satisfied.

Gamer: I want Nintendo to make more games that aren’t the same old Mario/Zelda game all over again!
Nintendo: *creates all kinds of nifty Wii simulation games that are, hey, actually kinda cool!*
Gamer: But where’s my Mario/Zelda game?! *whiiiiiiiiiines*

Seriously, that’s what it seems like.  And everyone’s moaning the fact that Nintendo isn’t making their franchise games anymore, and that they’ve “forgotten” the “hardcore gamer.”  There was a discussion in which Nintendo actually mentioned their various teams working on the franchises, but they’re trying to work in what they’ve learned developing these more accessible games into the format of their franchise games, and immediately the boys started griping about how their beloved franchise games are going to be turned into other games.

Wait, isn’t that what you “critics” have been asking for this whole time?  And honestly, Nintendo put out an awesome game with Metroid Prime 3 (not so great in some of the storytelling, what with the abundance of other characters and being told where to go and what to do constantly), but I feel as though, for the most part, it got brushed to the side.  Which had to have been a real downer for Nintendo, because it’s obvious that they tried to focus a lot of energy on it.  So what do you expect them to do?  …but make stuff that they know works?

In any case, I give Nintendo a short time before they start leaking stuff for major first party games again that aren’t Mii-related.  They worked very hard on that franchise stuff for several years now, trying to prove to everyone that their little console was worth the criticism, and they made it.  So give them at least a few months, and we’ll see what’s happening once they get more vocal about the next Pikmin.

But I won’t even touch the Square Enix rantings I’ve seen.

In a sense, I’m kinda happy because hey, a good-looking, cute Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon game is out for the Wii right now, and Final Fantasy IV is being released soon for the DS and the trailers made it look and sound good enough that I think I even forgive the English voice acting.  (Actually, the English VAs, while not spot-on, sound pretty good, just going by the short trailers…)  And let’s not forget Chrono Trigger!  Both of the remakes sound as though they were made with a lot of love, so I’m actually okay with them.  So while I was bouncing around the possibility of having to get another console in the future, I’ve realized with some happiness that said console will likely be a DS.  That’s right, not an Xbox, not a Playstation 3, but a DS Lite.

Not only is it cheaper, but it’s got plenty of games out (good ones amidst all of the Pet Palz 5000 games) and let’s not forget, complete backwards compatabillity.  Shazam.  I’m just slightly embarrassed I don’t have one already.

I was telling Sher toward the end of this week that I felt as thought I had been subject to a lot of negativity, not necessarily directed at me, but it was just one of those weeks - where no one was happy, everyone was griping about stuff, and nothing seemed to be going exactly as planned, which made even happier things somewhat disappointing.  Add on top of that the fact that two of the other Mewses came down with some nasty sinus bug, and all that was positive was that the remaining two of us had yet to be infected.  To go with understatement, it was something of a downer.

Well, last night I was waking up at odd hours and dealing with uncomfortable amounts of phlegm in my respiratory system, not to mention odd dreams of which I can’t remember but were nonetheless unsettling, and I woke up this morning with a fever.  Well, crap.  So I’m on Advil Cold and Sinus, plan on taking Nyquil at night, and am hoping desperately for this all to go away, because there are three major things happening this week.

On Monday, we launch a new service at the library, of which I’m supposed to be the little cog in the great gearworks of my particular post to keep it going.  On Tuesday, I have a meeting with my gradschool advisor.  Wednesday I’m planning on actually registering for classes and getting in the paperwork for tuition benefits.

Thursday and Friday I’m taking off, but this will not be as nice if I spend the long weekend stuck in bed.  Blargh.  I’m supposed to be trying to write like a little mad thing during that time!

And guess who received notification of jury summons?  Of course, on a day when I will hopefully be taking class!  :D  …the mind boggles.

So anyway.  Ouch.  I think karma came back and bit me hard.

Right!  Try to keep a positive outlook on things or else bad juju will come back to bite you, even if it wasn’t necessarily yours.

…from yesterday, anyway, I moved up to Pittsburgh from GA.  In that time, I have managed:

1) To get a permanent position at a library, after keeping myself afloat with a temp position doing administrivia type work I never thought I would ever find myself doing.

2) Submitted Blue’s Alice for publication, been rejected, and submitted it again to a wonderful editor, who has since returned it to me and given me some instruction on how to proceed.

3) Get accepted into the MLIS program up here.

4) Figured out my financial aid and education benefits so as to afford same MLIS program education…

Next week from today, I have a meeting with my advisor to briefly discuss my upcoming coursework and discover more about the process of registering, at which time I can really go about finishing up securing my education benefits.  It shouldn’t be difficult.

I am currently planning to graduate from the MLIS program at the end of Summer ‘10, if everything goes well, at which point, I am likely to go jobhunting for a library position that will actually feed and clothe me and keep me above the poverty line.  And pay back higher level educational debt.  Obviously, that’s one of my big goals, but that’s not the only thing ahead of me, I think.

1) Rewrite Blue’s Alice.  Any other stories would be nice, written or rewritten or what have you, but I definitely want to get to work on that.

2) Write like mad.  I’m thankfully doing a DPS type activity again, thanks to renewed contact with that Tall Elf Person.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep this up, and that’ll mean a poem-a-week, guaranteed.  Now, it’s the other writing to take care of, but that ties in more closely with Big Goal #1.

3)  Publish.  Or rather, get published again.  More than once in this lifetime would be great, thanks.

There’s also another more personal goal in there, but we’ll see how that one goes.  I… I kinda laugh at myself for having it, but whatever.  You need some of those crazy-but-important goals to help keep yourself going, too…

About this time last year is when I officially moved from GA to PA.  Oddly enough, the year before that was the first time I flew up from GA to PA, to visit the House of Mews.  For some reason, these days always seemed to revolve around one certain day in particular… this one!

Which is pretty cool, because the day automatically gets coolness points by the mere fact that it is… Rissicat’s birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RISSICAT!

May your day be full of lovely things, enjoy your time away from work today, and just have fun!  Also, tell Reno that yes, those flowers were real, darn it.  If he’s not careful, he’ll get weird mail in his Gyroid.

Skydrops - To catch a drop of the sky in your hand, taste the sweetness of clouds on your tongue, feel the fullness of life and swallow it whole; to became enveloped and weightless and sated all at once, to float upwards and allow oneself to drift.

I’ve had this off and on type of idea that I told myself I would only allow once I’d gotten more settled, and that I would work on much more during the summer.  Of course, it’s practically July, and I’ve hardly gotten a single thing done, even now that I have Coda.  So I sat down today and fiddled with a few of my old HTML pages.  Dreamweaver spoiled me.

I don’t plan on working full scale on fanfiction anymore.  I decided that a long time ago and I’m sticking with that.

However, I don’t think I should hide some of what I consider to be good work anymore, and honestly, I could use the occasional pat on the back from someone who appreciates the good work just as much as anyone.  So.

I’ve gotta sit down and iron out some new graphics.  I can’t draw very well but I’m not going to go nab someone else’s work and use it as my own unless I get permission to use it freely.  To that end, when I head back over to the apartment, it’ll be time to pull out the paper and see how well I can sketch out some ideas.  I’ve also got to sit down and work on little things, but for the most part, I’m planning on keeping the site scarce in terms of graphics.  I really don’t have a reason to get silly and go beyond what’s necessary.

I’m going to attach my real name to the stuff that I present there.  I should stop being afraid of certain things so much.  Still have to devise how to copy protect some of it, though.  Hmm.

What I’m looking at posting thus far: Shards of Glass (FFVII), Country Roads (FFVII), and Cycles (LoZ).  Not a whole lot, but it’s stuff I keep coming back to myself, and I can’t see the harm in that.  I might want to work on the rewrite of Cycles before posting any of it, though.  Maybe some of my other shorter fics, too, that I wrote for Utena or some such.

Somehow, amidst all of this, I’ve gotta keep working on my original stuff, too.  I’m not going to let Blue’s Alice languish.  I’m going to keep working on it.  This is going to happen.  I’m also going to see if I can’t get back into writing at least one poem a week.

I can’t help it.  If I feel like I’m running out of time, then what choice do I have but to take what I want, before the opportunity slips by completely?

Also, I saw WALL-E and Iron Man both this weekend.  Both good movies, though WALL-E beats out Iron Man.  Talking about the movies isn’t the point of this post, though, so I’ll save that for later.

Have you hugged your Changeling today?

Because today is a very important day for hugging Changelings!  Hugging Changelings can lead to better luck and love in life, as well as wonderful adventures across the world to find exciting new places and friends.  Hugging a Changeling can even help inspire one’s artistic endeavors, and renew a better sense of purpose and self-made goals for a person.  Best yet, hugging a Changeling can make her smile, which can brighten even the most cloudy of days.

If you haven’t hugged a Changeling today, go do it right now!  Go!  You have two links now to do so, so go to it.  <3

Chaaaaaaaaangeling, I hope you have a lovely birthday today.

So it’s late but stuff has happened and I’m not quite mentally tired enough to go to bed right now.  So there’s this, instead.  Expect some stuff about the Cat Genie, the Wii Fit, my purse and an unintentional interdimensional cubbyhole, and possibly some grumbling about work, though that last might be reduced to a simple growl of frustration.  Definitely cutting it for length, and apologies in advance for said length.

First off, though, I will say that there’s nothing quite like starting a post with a lovely warm thing in your lap.  I must admit, there are some definite advantages to blogging on my chaise rather than directly at my desk.  Hee.

So, the Cat Genie.  There had been some instances that were frustrating me - I felt I was having to clean up more messes than really necessary, considering that I had paid quite a bit of money to acquire something so I would avoid having to clean up said messes, and although I knew one doesn’t get something for nothing, I was getting frustrated when there was one mess a week.  Actually, though, this particular batch of messes?  Solved entirely by removing the Cat Genie Dome, a completely optional accessory.  Cali apparently enjoys open air.  Considering some of the stink bombs she’s laid, I don’t particularly blame her.

Now, just removing the Cat Genie Dome didn’t remove all the problems.  I still haven’t found a satisfactory bath mat that works for both me and Cali - but I would really like to find one, as it helps to gather any granules when she steps out, as well as absorbs anything left on her wet toes.  Also, this is the first season Cali has really shed quite so much the entire time I’ve had her, and although I’d been combing her with a Love Glove, I apparently wasn’t doing it enough.  Cali didn’t have hairballs all that often, but she apparently would take care of any fur ingested during her shedding by, well, digesting it.  Which meant it wound up in the Cat Genie, and eventually, after the Cat Genie had processed (ie, liquified) enough of these clumps, it caused something of a clog in the pipes.

So imagine my surprise when I step back in the middle of the Cat Genie’s cleaning cycle to flush the toilet clean and discover there’s dirty water in the Cat Genie’s bowl.  A LOT of dirty water in the Cat Genie’s bowl.  Luckily, clogging is included in the troubleshooting instructions that came along with the Cat Genie, and while my first attempt at running through the instructions didn’t work, the second time, when I summoned a Sheraton to help me (she helped me put it together, after all!), it worked just fine.  The Cat Genie not only flushed itself once the clog was removed, but started another cleaning cycle to finish up.  As Sher pointed out, it’s also really nice that the instructions did just as they said they would.  Yay.  Now, if only I can find an acceptable bath mat…

It’s now my second week with the Wii Fit, according to my little calendar kept by the game.  While I agree with critics that, no, it won’t benefit you the same way that going to the gym will… that’s actually one of its strengths.  It’s not intimidating, consists of a single purchasing cost rather than a monthly payment plan, contains a variety of activities, and it’s honest with you without being mean about it.  It’s very convenient - I just put down my yoga mat, put the balance board on top, clear some space, and start it up and then put it all away again when I’m done.  I don’t like gyms for a number of reasons, so when I’m not feeling up to the gym, or we get snowed in or something, I’ll be able to use this as a reasonable workout device instead.  It won’t help me to pump iron, but it definitely gives me something of a workout - I’m always sweating by the time I’m done, even if not as much as I could be.  I’ve not been entirely consistent but I’ve tried at thirty minutes of exercise (got derailed by tonight’s Cat Genie episode) to maintain my weight and get in some good stretching and aerobic exercises - I want to increase it to forty-five minutes, soon, unless I do get myself over to the gym and start doing more strenuous exercises soon.  If I manage to do that, then I won’t mind doing shorter exercises on the Wii Fit - then it will just be a nice supplement, with the added bonus of allowing me to keep track of it all very easily.

Kaitou raised a good point when I spoke to her, and it’s one I agree with.  While Wii Fit comes with a variety of exercises, it would be nice if you could program a routine.  The way the Wii Fit normally works, you choose an exercise, complete it, then go back to the menu and choose the next.  Granted, with some, such as the strength exercises, you can choose how many reps you perform, but otherwise there’s not much you can do to put together a consistent string of exercises.  Having such an option would be nice.

I also have to admit, I would like it if they manage to put together a game full of yoga.  That would be awesome.

Anyway, we’ll have to see how that continues.  I will admit, it’s nice that the weight and BMI aren’t the end-all-be-all of the game - it really emphasizes your posture and balance.  I know that might sound a little weird, but it is also nice to see - and I am more aware of how I’m standing when I’m at work.  Huh.

As for my purse, well…  A while back, I panicked one morning because I couldn’t find my work keys.  It wound up that they were in my purse, after all, but had gotten caught in a hole in the interior lining of the purse.  Once I untangled them and got settled up at my desk, I checked and found the hole - but it didn’t seem like such a big deal, so I told myself I could wait and buy a new purse in good time.  And I have tried - I’ve looked on occasion at some of the nearby stores to find one that suited my desires.  Of course, I didn’t find anything.  But my purse was okay again and so I thought I wouldn’t worry about it so much, as nothing had gotten lost inside it for awhile.

The other day, my purse swallowed my iPod Shuffle (one of the first generation, a lovely glorified memory stick, used, bought from coworker who had upgraded to one of the new Nanos).  I only found it because, after some more mild panic (because I consider the iPod Shuffle practically a gift), I decided to empty the whole pocket, which meant grabbing the headphones and pulling them out.  Headphones, it wound up, were still attached to the iPod - it’s just that so much of it had been swallowed up, I couldn’t see them, and the way the headphones were coiled it was impossible to see that they had actually been connected to anything.

My actual USB flash drive is quite a bit smaller than my iPod Shuffle, so.  I went on the market for a new purse again.  I finally found one that I think will suit my needs - I wanted to go to an organizer of sorts, something small enough I could just toss into my sling pack or my laptop bag so I wasn’t hauling around all kinds of bulk when I start gradschool, but something large enough that it could carry more than a wallet.  This is more challenging that it should be, and for awhile I was considering doing away with the purse idea entirely and going with a wallet, but there’s a few problems with that: I don’t wear just pants to work, but skirts, and for both articles of clothing in general there’s no guarantee of pockets, so no easy way for me to cart around wallet or other necessities.  And let me tell you, nothing would possibly be classier than me attempting to take my Diva Cup to work in a back pants pocket.  Talk about a flattering silhouette.

I found some organizers that might have fit the bill, but they just weren’t doing it for me, in terms of design - and those that were, were too large for me to think of just tossing into one of my other bags.  So, I found one, and we’ll see how well it works when it actually gets here.  It looks like it will fit the bill of providing the functionality of both wallet and purse well.

This next part will be cryptic to pretty much everyone, but I don’t really feel like expounding on it again at the moment, so:

But yes, sir, where I come from, saying “sir” or “ma’am” is a matter of being polite.  And it’s a far cry better than what I could be calling you, because at least I’m still acknowledging you as human, you bigoted bastard.

…mrr.

…but there’s probably far worse things to want to do in this world than just dance. <3

(Also, it’s worth watching this at YouTube and cliking on the high def option.)

Epic WIN: Wii Fit Get!

Epic FAIL: Actually ranting and breaking down immediately afterward while AT WORK.

Current plans: Get into a little regimen each day on the Wii Fit to augment the walks I already take during the day at lunch.  (Honestly I can’t wait to try the yoga.)  Also, figure out when to take off three days of vacation for myself, so I can maybe finally do the relaxing that is very obviously necessary for me now.  Right before gradschool starts, or ASAP?