Refreshing for a journal update

The article I co-wrote for the SCAs this past summer is available online!

The Commune Era of Olompali: Challenging our Assumptions of the Hippie Lifestyle

(It's an online PDF file, just fyi)

My first paper, I'm very excited and hopefully it will get some responses :D

Okay so wow, finally posting!

Let's see...since the last time I updated:

I found a new full time job which sounded awesome until I found out it was selling vacuums on commission door to door. So not my thing. I stuck it out for a week because I don't like to give up easily but realized that if a job is on the verge of giving me panic attacks than I should get out.

I auditioned for Six Flags Fright Fest again, the last time I did it was in 2002. Thought my audition was 'eh' even though they were impressed by THE REALLY AWESOME THINGS that I can do to my voice when I'm screaming. Said they'd call me in for call backs a week later if I got in. Didn't hear a thing so I figured they didn't need me.

So I planned to go to a wedding that I wouldn't have been able to make if I had been in Fright Fest! It's in San Diego and The Boy's best friend is getting married. He's in HER wedding party (like that movie!) I'm busing down there (12 HOURS!!) because it's cheaper than flying but I don't care because I LOVE going to weddings :D So my adventure starts early Friday morning!

Ahaha, so here's where it gets crazy (as though it hasn't already!) the day AFTER I book my bus tickets, I check my work schedule and GUESS WHO IS IN FRIGHT FEST AFTER ALL??? Thing is, NO ONE called to tell me I was in it, which apparently happened to some other people too. So I'm torn between YAY! they liked me after all and OH CRAP I HAVE NON REFUNDABLE TICKETS ON THE DAYS I'M SCHEDULED. Man, I may dislike working at a theme park some days but when they rush to work out my schedule with me, how can I hate them?

So now I'm going to San Diego AND getting to be in Fright Fest. Score.

Only thing left to do is find a second job because I figure that having two minimum wage jobs is like having ONE that pays $16 an hour!

Time for another no-post-for-FOREVER-finally-posting post. Yeah.


+ The Music Man is going great! Just finished our second weekend of shows with two more to go! I'd recommend going here, here, and here for pictures (!!!) and a review :D

+ Got my laptop back FINALLY, I missed it so much! It's a bit slower now but hopefully I get to do something to fix that. I'm also beta testing Windows 7, the new one coming out soon after Vista. Generally I like it, it's pretty and all but so far my sims games are not working the way I want them to which is ;_;

- Which led to me having to re-install them today and trying everything I can to get previously backed-up files to show up which worked the last time I had to do it and NOW IT DOESN'T. Hopefully taking a break from it will help...

+ Working at Six Flags is, in general, good. It has been hot here lately and they don't have much shade for us, which I really wished they would do something about and have mentioned before, but we'll see. It keeps me sane knowing that I don't plan to be there forever, or at least not as long as I was in retail. Also, working animal exhibits at a theme park is MUCH better than in foods or something. However...

- To: Visitors of the park, Just because an animal is not moving does NOT mean it is dead or fake. I know common sense is severely lacking in a lot of you people, but we would not have a dead animal on display and do you REALLY think that we would spend all that that effort on new expensive exhibits just to put fake animals in them? Also, WE treat our animals fine, thanks for asking, YOU do not. WE do not spit at alligators to make them move, YOU do, WE do not pull on the tails of stingrays, YOU do, and WE do not bang on the glass windows of the marine animals, YOU do. Also, not every shark you see is a great white, not every stingray is a manta ray and not every penguin comes from Antarctica. But I just explained all of it and you would know this too if you had been listening. No love, me.

+ To end this on a non-ranty ending...

I HAVE SEEN THE TRAILER FOR AVATAR AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT, AANG LOOKS BADASS

ALSO HARRY POTTER MOVIE IS GETTING CLOSER TIME TO START LOOKING FOR EARLY RESERVE TICKETS AT IMAX FTW

SO IS THE RELEASE OF THE NEW NIGHTRUNNER BOOK (!!!!)

So at the urging (sort of) of brinabean, here is my long ass update finally! Er, in parts so I don't forget anything I hope.

Moving day!
I have officially moved out of my college town almost a year after graduating and WHAT a relief it is to not have to spend all my money on rent anymore, urg. I am now living with my Nana because I didn't want to move back with parents (even though my sisters are awesome and I wouldn't mind living with them again!)

I was kinda sad though, driving away with a u-haul trailer and my car's trunk full of junk because all I could think about was that my college days are officially over now. Time to be a RL functioning adult! Except for the not having to pay rent part, that part is my favorite.

Musicals!
WICKED IS AMAZING AND I'M PLANNING TO SEE IT AGAIN! Just, gah, the whole thing...I don't even know where to begin! The lights, the music, the costumes OMG I'M IN LOVE WITH THE COSTUMES. I was looking forward to Defying Gravity all night AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. Seriously, I think there were tears in my eyes.

Just finished reading the book finally and even though I usually pick books over other forms of canon the musical is MADE OF AWESOME I CANNOT DESCRIBE.

Also saw Avenue Q and its hilarity on stage is far greater than on Youtube, natch. Currently listening to soundtrack for the hundredth time!

Books! Books! Books!
Still reading Lynn Flewelling's Tamir series of books, loving those just as much as the Nightrunner series! Can't wait for September and new book! Also, the author has an LJ at otterdance and a recent post of hers said: "Back to work on ideas for the next two Nightrunner books." which makes me glee so bad :D So yeah, brinabean more to look forward to!

Library book sale tomorrow. I AM SO THERE.

FTW
Actually got money from the government this time instead of the other way around so that's nice :D Will be using it to update my contacts prescription because I'm sick of wearing my glasses again.

You mean there's such a thing as a fun job?
And I has one! Working at the Six Flags park (again!) in town as an explorer guide where we are, apparently, rock stars of the park...or something. Either way, I get to hang out with the animals and talk on a mic all day. It is tiring but so much fun and everyone is awesome.

I'm especially looking forward to Fright Fest where we get to be ZOMBIES.

Still a retail slave working at Kohl's but the cool job totally makes up for it :D

That moving pictures box
Watching (and actually keeping up with!) Survivor and The Amazing Race this season, it's been a while since I've watched them.

Completely Lost on Lost and forgot all about Heroes (been too busy reading fanfic and books, wasting time online, and working) must catch up soon!

This is a belated tl;dr warning!
Too late?

Sooo... things have been crazy busy for me lately considering I've been splitting my time between RoPo and Vallejo...

Which reminds me, I'm curious. I paid $4.51 for gas this morning, what is every one else paying these days?

In other news...

Rehearsal for The Music Man has been SO MUCH FUN lately, it's good to be back in a musical. It's one of those things that I just can't get enough of. I missed being on stage. We've been doing choreography mostly it seems like but that's the best part! I get to do lifts and dance with a partner and be in an (almost) band again!

When I do find free time I've found myself playing The Sims 2 again. I, probably like many other people before me, have been re-creating the Black family tree - sims style. It's addicting but I've been taking a break from it lately so I could watch...

Ghost Hunters! My mom and my sister brinabean got me into it and I've been watching the first season on surfthechannel.com usually into the early hours of the morning which makes for the creepy.

Speaking of creepy, I was very proud of myself the other day for actually managing to kill a spider ON MY OWN. This is a big deal for me considering how terrified I am of spiders but, really, the alternative was worse. If I had left it alive it could have fallen from the ceiling AND LANDED ON MY BED AND I WOULD HAVE HAD A SPIDER IN MY BED. Not cool. IT WAS ME OR IT IN A KNOCK DOWN DRAG OUT FIGHT TO THE DEATH... well, that and it was 2 in the morning and no one else was awake to kill it for me :/

Changing the subject, because I can't talk about spiders for very long without getting all weirded out... Work was crazy today.

Some highlights:
-The apprehension of two shoplifters which is more excitement that I think Petaluma knew what to do with. I was all 'pfft' this happened all the time at the Vallejo store, lol. Still, one chick made a scene and bolted for the door only the get caught by the three officers outside. Apparently she was flipping out so much that she had an audience of customers O.o
-Someone returning clothing that they swore they hadn't worn but it was obvious that they really had, in a gross way (I won't elaborate) x.x

The best thing about busy days at work is that they go by faster!

Oh yeah, and I can't wait for the road trip to Vancouver this summer!

And I'm still waiting for more info about fieldschool.

Two more things...

A HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO foozled_up who deserves good wishes and hugs and so much more! ♥♥♥

And Happy Birthday to aqil_philosoph as well, can't wait to party it up in the city!

Ghost Hunters should be finished loading by now...

This is my post of happy relief!

I was SO sure I had gotten a C in my linguistics class (linguistics and I just don't get along) and I managed a B! *does happy dance* I think that might have been due to my final presentation which, IMHO, rocked.

Also, something not so cool. HUGE storm last night. Apparently it knocked out the power for a bit because I woke up this morning to a blinking alarm clock and the realization that I was late for work because of it. No love for that storm :( Our flag also got decapitated from our house O.o

Think I may have caught a cold bug of some kind, AND they had me doing manual labor at work all day (which basically translates to clouds of dust. EVERYWHERE.) But it was okay I guess because I got to organize things. This makes me exceedingly happy.

Man, I don't think I've done a post like this in a while.

In SHOPPING NEWS...

I was being bad yesterday and bought two party dresses. In order to get rid of my guilt, I have to remind myself that they were insanely marked down AND oh, SO PRETTY. And sparkly. And I'm weak when it comes to clothes. *nods*

Anyway, time for dinner!