Merry Christmas Eve

Ah, sorry, but this Christmas-y entry won't be very cheery. Actually, I'm just stopping in to say, things aren't going so well. Before I start whining, you should know that I have another entry in the works about some TKD events, so just be patient. I'll get it up soon.

I guess it's normal to feel this way around Christmas time for some people. I feel lonely, a little trapped, and... some other things that I don't know how to describe. I had hoped to have a pleasant vacation from school and a nice Christmas. Hmm... I'm not devastated about anything, it's just a lingering weirdness.

Could it just be change? Age, maybe? We you're young, Christmas is always too far away. I don't think it is so much the gifts, but more of being around family and being excited and happy. Now that everyone is older now... maybe, we feel like we can't be excited about anything because we're too old. I know that isn't really right, but I don't know how else to explain it.

Asher and Erika aren't coming home. I didn't think that would bother me too much, seeing as how when they're home, I get lost behind them, but I suppose that is probably most of the reason why I feel so lonely.

I'm stressed out over Shojo Explosion. Eugh... I don't want to go into that tonight. All I can say for now is, will someone join, please? Someone who, in all honesty, wants to?

I have a headache. So-in-so is driving me crazy. Ugh, animals.

I have to tell you though, I don't feel as bad as I usually do when I come home. The fact that this is a special holiday must just make me feel worse.

Where was I going with this again?

Lots of thoughts are just piling up right now, and I'm getting a little overwhelmed. Life just isn't exactly enjoyable right now. It seems I'm the only one who thinks so too. I don't know what I'm going to do. For now, I just want to sleep.

-Lisa

A Feeling

These past two days have been quite refreshing, especially after having such terrible weeks before that. You see, even though I should be going out of my mind over finals, since I have World Civ and Japanese on Monday, somehow I've kept my wits about me. I wonder if something it wrong. Maybe I'm not thinking about it as much as I should. It's 12:20 Sunday morning, and yet, I still have so much to get done before monday. Hmm... Why aren't I going crazy? How is this ever going to get done?

Which is why I have to keep this post fairly short. I still have several pages of Japanese homework to complete, several vocab to study as well as figuring out some work structures, and two essays to write for World Civ.

Okay, here is the problem with instant messangers... Whenever you're trying to do something, someone comes on that just won't stop talking to you. Now I can't remember what I was doing. Was I making a point here?

That's it. Next time, I'm closing this application when I'm blogging.

Alright, what I want to do is make a list of things I need to talk about later (again). I'll have three days to just sit around this week, so I might be able to do something productive. Okay, here goes, before I forget again...

1.Elaborate on previous post (family issues, communication etc)
2.My take on college
3.New church and friends
4.Ari time
5.TKD Updates
6.Plans for next semester
7.Shojo Explosion updates (New member!)
8.Boys!?
9.Morning Musume personal updates

Whew, it might take a while to cover all of that. Although I really want to talk about it now, I really don't have time. I do have to say something though before I lose the feeling...

Tae Kwon Do has been.... hard. A lot of things have happened over the past couple of months, and although I know I just couldn't stop bragging about how great it was (and still is!) a lot of things have changed since then. I'll have to tell you more about that later, but for now, just realize that I haven't been to classes for a very long time.

TKD testing was today, and I really wanted to see some people again and show support for the members, so I went and took Ari with me. I'll go into the details of the test later, but for now we'll skip to the end. After the testing, we were going to explore the building a bit, so we just shot out of there pretty quick. But I couldn't leave without seeing the Master first.

I've said it before, and I can't say it enough. I love that man.

Well, I have to make this short, but before we left, the Master gave me a long hug, something I don't usually like to accept. It wasn't just "Oh, hi", it was "I've missed you". About two weeks ago I wrote him a letter (which I will elaborate on later) about why I haven't been going to classes. He said he got my letter (something I was very happy about. For one, I wasn't sure if he had received it or read it, and two, usually people don't directly acknowledge my letters, especially this kind) and also tried to reassure me that I was a good martial artist and that I should come in whenever I get the chance. I was a little surprised because most people would say, "Don't worry about it. You don't have to come" but he seemed like he really wanted me there. He was trying to convince me to come back.

Wow.

At the end of the conversation we were getting ready to head out again, and he gave me another hug. This time it was one of those half hugs to say something like, "We're friends".

I don't know what's going to happen now. But I just wanted to get those feelings down before they left.

Thanks, Master. You encourage me so much. :]

That's all for now. Once things start calming down, I'll start throwing down mountains of memories again. I have a couple in mind already!

-Lisa

Something relatively short and whiney

No, I'm not just grumpy. It's not that my stomach hurts, or that I'm tired. Could it be possible that something is legitimately wrong?

I suppose not. That girl is just grumpy again. Guess we'll just ignore her until she gets over it.

Fine.

A lot of things are wrong right now. I have more than enough time to talk about it, but no ambition to. So this is all you get. Feel free to take days to guess at what's going on inside this head of mine.

Times Like These

Well, I think I might finally be back on track. Blog-wise, that is. So much had been happened ever since I began college that I haven't fully gotten the change to sit and focus on my thoughts rather than events. Although, there is a new event that I have to cover. But I will make sure to throw in the usual memory slot, a slew of photos, some interesting news I've stumbled upon, and some Morning Musume updates. Whew. Let's get this party started.

I'll start out with what's on my mind right now.

Taro.

I drink taro bubble tea all the time, and after making several trips to Han's, I couldn't help but notice a box of taro roots in the front with the other veggies. It made me wonder... What else can you make with taro? Is it delicious? So, that's what I'm doing. Looking up taro recipes. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

So far I've read that you CANNOT EAT A TARO ROOT RAW. It's deathinous. I mean, poisonous. So, don't do that. You should also wear gloves while working with them because the skin contains some kind of irritant. There's also two different kinds of taro. One comes from Asia and the other from India(is that right?). The difference is in shape. One is fat and round and the other is long.

It is also mentioned that you can use most potato recipes with taro. I wonder if it has the same sweetness as the tea.



Onward to the next point of business(is that even how you spell it?).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=447527&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true

This news article is pretty interesting. This cutie face cat just mosies onto a train a couple times a week to go to a fish and chips shop. He knows the bus schedule better than me. Well, I guess it's not that hard...but this is a cat.

I wonder why he does that. Did he used to ride the train with his owner? Then, he got left behind or something? Is it just habit, or does he really go to do something? To eat? Does he go to a person's house for food or shelter? Is he homeless, or do his people just let him roam like that?

So, I just now took a break from blogging to get some food. Just as I realized I was getting hungry, I also realized that dinner had just closed, the den wasn't open, I am out of milk for cereal, and quiznos is too far of a walk because they don't deliver.

But then...there's always that Diantemente whatever place just a few minutes away. It's probably about the same distance to the cafeteria from my room. I still didn't want to make the trip, but I was hungry. So, I got my coat and put my shoes on(subconciously. I was trying not to think about what I was doing so I couldn't convince myself not to go) and I was off.

As I started down the sidewalk, I noticed a figure coming in my direction. It was a girl my size, walking briskly. It's always awkward to met someone on a sidewalk. You try not to look at each other and carefully postition yourself on the side of the cement so you won't touch each other as you pass.

Well, we did that. But then, just as we passed, she said, "Hi." So, I quickly responded, "Hello." And we continued on our seperate ways.

Did I know her?

Anyway, I finally got there and got in line for pizzzzzzaaaa...

Well, it wasn't really a line. There was one guy kind of half standing in front of the counter, so I stood a good distance behind/away from him, but sort of still in view.

Then one of the sleezier looking guys from behind the counter just pointed at me. For a long time. I wasn't really paying much attention; in fact, I was staring at the candy. He was doing that drilling pointing. Not like, "Hey, look. A girl." It was more like, "YOUUUUU COMMMMMMEE HEREEEEEE."

After I ordered the guy left to do something elsewhere and then the less sleezy guy served me. I don't think it's really the guy that's sleezy, it's just the whole place and because he works there it's like the sleeziness has leaked on him for too long.

Anyway, this guy gave me my food and was like, "Heeeeere you go. I like your jacket. Have a nice night!!!!"

.......................................

He liked my jackeeeeeeeeeeet!

It's times like these that make me really happy. I love it when people are nice to me. It makes my entire day worth surviving.

~~~~~~~

I've recently come upon some brilliant cosplay and photography. You'll have to look to see for yourself. These are the people I admire most.

http://snowpeachdrop.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://behindinfinity.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://pandarosi.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://slumberdoll.deviantart.com/gallery/

~~~~~~~

(It is now Sunday, Novemeber 11th because I'm a slacker and can't finish a post in one day.)

I just got back from Han's and Price Chopper. That is the absolute WORST hill to walk up in the world. In fact, I might just ask mom to bring a level when she comes up this weekend just so I can see how steep it really is. I'm telling you... that hill could kill someone.

I picked up some very colorful tapioca pearls from Han's so I'm trying to look up a couple things about them. I want to know what other things they are used for besides bubble tea. I might try making taro bubble tea from scratch someday when I'm ambitious. Perhaps I could grab a taro root from Han's and try to whip something up.

On the wikipedia it says, "In Southeast Asia, a common way of preparation is either to cut it in slices, wedges or strips, fried, and served as a snack, similar to potato chips, wedges and french fries."

POTATO CHIPS?! Oh my! Who would have thought?

"Tapioca sinks freighter"

What's this?

Wow. According to this webpage (http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/tapioca.asp) there was a fire on a giant ship that was carrying tons of tapioca in its hold. They wet it down for days, but because of the heat and the water, it actually cooked all of the tapioca, resulting in a zillion tons of tapioca pudding, nearly busting the ship apart.

Now that's interesting. Haha.

Moving on...

I went with Ari to an event here called International Night. It was supposedly a mandatory event, but there wasn't anyone there taking names or anything. But it was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad we went. Originally, we weren't going to, but then Ari started bouncing around and telling me they had henna tattoos.

...................

What?

So it was settled that we had to go because I didn't know what henna tattoos were.
When we got there we were immediatly wowed. Anyway, it was the music that hit us. Drumming and dancing. It was so great.

Here's a short clip. I'd like to post the 4 minute clip, but I haven' gotten around to uploading it yet. If I get around to it I'll post it.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

The two people dancing are Francis and Kati. Francis is amazing. He's so polite and nice to everyone. He's really easy to talk to too. He's from Myanmar(Burma) and has been going to this school for two years now. He hasn't been about to contact his family or friends since the second week of school because the Myanmar government has shut down all communication with the outside world like internet and telephone service. I encourage you to check out this webpage and to search for others to learn about what has been going on there.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22515138-661,00.html

I just can't figure out why the government would do this to its own people. Eugh....
Francis actually had a petition that people were signing to send to the Burmese govenment to let them know that people in the United States know what's going on and that this isn't the secret they think it is. You see, the government reported about 100 deaths, not the thousands that really occured. The whole point of cutting them off from the rest of the world is so that other countries can't come in and stop this either. There was also a Wear Red for Burma Day here. I wan't out much that day, but I did wear a red t-shirt to supper that night, and when we saw Francis he said that a lot of people were. I was glad.

There were also some Turkish dancer there.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Ari, Adrienne, Jimm-ah and I all got some photos taken and we concoted some pretty fun poses. They're supposedly going to be in the yearbook, but I don't see how they could put in every photo that every person took there. I wish we could have just gotten the photos there, but we'll just have to wait and see. They were realy great though.

As for the henna tattoos, this is how mine came out.



Apparently it's just a stain from some plant juice. I like it. Ari was talking about ordering some online which I think would be fun. I would want one on my wrist :]

Sorry that I have to cut this short. I know I said I would get back on track, but I'm really quite exhausted and not feeling well, so I need to lay down for a while. My computer is also having some troubles and I need to help her out a bit.

Sorry!

-Lisa

Another Adventure and some Heroes Expo

Ahhh... I'm here at Roji's. It's so nice to be able to just sit here and write for a while. There's actually some construction going on in here right now. They're expanding! Tomomi said they should be done by the end of this week. It looks wonderful so far. I can't wait until I come back to see it finished off.

When I sat down Tomomi asked, "Taro?"

Haha, yes. Like always.

Well, let me get you caught up with some events here in Syracuse. Actually, what I'm going to tell you about first didn't take place in Syracuse, it was in New Jersey. That's right, I went down to visit Asher and Erika.

Erika drove aaaaaall the way here, right after work. She didn't arrive until 10:00. It was so exciting to get her phone call though. "Lisa, I'm in the parking lot now! Come get me!"

Because it was so late when she got here, she sayed the night in my room on the roll-out mattress. We stayed up for a while though and talked about anime and manga. That's one of the subjects I feel really comfortable talking to her about. Other subjects usually leave me .... bewildered.

So, we got up early the next morning and set off to Hopewell. The ride was very pleasent. We stopped at McDonalds and got some yogurt :] Now I crave yogurt with granola a lot. I also watched Hale Nochi Guu most of the trip. What a cute show...

Well, we got there, most likely much quicker than we should have. I brought all my laundry to do there too (at the time I was still afraid to do my own laundry in public). What did we do once we got there? I can't remember. I expect we probably took a bathroom break first. Then, not long after, we left to go meet Asher at the Bicycle Shop.

And we took Sid.

Erika insisted that he loved hanging out the window, which he did. In fact, he tried to jump out at one point. That was somewhat of an interesting trip.

Once we got there, she also insisted that he loved to chase the squirrels. Which he did, and failed at because his little legs don't go fast enough. What a silly dog. I wish I had a picture. This would be the perfect place for one.

We got to wander around the HUUUUGE campus for a while to get to the ...town? I don't really know what it was. How can you have a town in the middle of the school? Or, was it a school in the middle of the town? Well, anyway, it was really amazing. We walked down a long street and passed several cute little shops until we finally got to the bike shop. Asher was really cute there, showing people around, telling them important bike things....

Erika and I waited with Sid on the curb. :]

When Asher was finished, he introduced us to some of the people he worked with. They all seemed like good people to work with.

Theeeeen... we started checking out some shop places. Mostly food. Asher said he was really hungry. Erika said she would make pizza for supper, but since there was a pizza place nearby, we went there instead.

They pizza was really good. Erika got it all over her face.

I noticed while we were eating that Asher and Erika argue a lot. It's mostly over petty things too. That made me feel a little akward... I think Erika was annoyed because Asher didn't get napkins or something.

We continued on, and this is where it gets really interesting. There's a Morning Glory store in Prniceton! That's so amazing! I spent around $60 in there. I was in there for the longest time with Erika (Asher had to wait outside with the dog, which I think he was okay with).

Now, be prepared for photos...

I got this last minute at the counter. Best thing ever. Anybody need an extra life? I give these to Ari when she's feeling overwhelmed or down.

This photo you've already seen. This is a pencil. The most adorable pencil you oculd ever get. EVER. And it matches my blog. :]




And what is a Sushi rug without...



...the trash bin!











From Laputa! Isn't he great!?



This little purple guy is called an Ugly Doll and his name is Toodey. He's my friiiiieeeeend.....





After all that, we continued on to an ice cream place where I got some delicious orea ice cream something. It was way too much for me though. But I loved it anyway.

Hmm, I think that's it for the town. Oh yeah, there was that when we saw some guy in a truck parallel park between these two cars, but manage to hit the car in front of him. It wasn't even an accident. He was perfectly content with pulling up until their bumpers hit each other. Oh well, I guess.

So, I rode with Asher back and Erika took her litle doggie with her. I figured this might be one of the only times I could be alone with Asher that weekend.


Aren't you bored yet? I'm getting a little bored. Do people even read this? Oh well.


While in the car, Asher let me in on his secret desires. He said he really wanted to drive fast. On a motorcycle too. I don't like that idea.

That evening we watched James Bond and I did some math homework. I seem to remember Asher playing Guild Wars with me for a while and we had some delicious sloppy joes and cinnamon rolls. That was the last time I've played GW with him in a long time.

Then, on Sunday, I walked with them to church. I figured it would be a long walk, like from St. Mary's to Han's, but it was barely a block away. It was a little strange. There wasn't very much singing, there weren't man people, and the sermon(?) I think couldn't have been longer than 15 or 20 minutes. Then at the end everyone held hands in a big circle and said some things. I still can't quite figure out if I liked it or not. It was just very different than what I'm used to.

I don't think there was a lot happening after that. Somehow, when we finally got to doing laundry, Asher's pants were put in with my clothes, so I still have them in my room (and guess what, I can fit in them!). The rest of the day happened. Was that the Guild Wars day, or the James Bond one? I can't remember. Oh yeah, I played Okami most of the time too. Ahh, Okami...

Eventually, on Monday(labor day or something) when we stopped stalling, Erika and I got in her car and headed back. No without stopping at the Bubble Tea place first though. That place is actually what sparked my investigation in bubble tea in Syracuse. It was actually a bubble tea bar in a Japanese resturant. I got some Taro to go, and left quite happily.

It made me sad that it got hot in the car though...

I guess that's the end of the story. I don't think there's anything interesting to talk about regarding the trip back, and I don't remember what happened when we got there. All I know is I really want to go back. But it doesn't look like I'll be able to. It's a 20 hour trip for Erika to make... I looked up bus tickets, but it's really expensive. I also don't have any long weekend coming up either. I only have major holidays off from here on, which I'll be going home for. Hmmm... I don't know what to do.

--------------------

SYRACUSE HEROES EXPO 2007!!!

I WAS THERE!!!!!!


I'm quite thrilled to have attended my first Cosplay Convention. Well, it wasn't exacly a convention, but there were cosplayers there. That's what I really wanted to go for. It was just a plus that there was going to be a DDR tournament there.

After two weeks straight over being completely stressed out, I managed to figure out a bus route to get there. By car, it should have only taken around 30 minutes, but by bus it was about 2 hours. Eventually I was able to write up a complete schedule on how to get there, which Jim was quite impressed with.

1. Brunch - 11:15
2. Leave around 12:00 for the Han's bus
3. Board bus at 12:30
4. Arrive at downtown around 12:50
5. Board 116 N 7th - 1:00
6. Arrive at 1:30
7. Walk 1.6 miles to Electronic Parkway

Sure, the schedule was planned out really well(which I am quite proud of myself for), but that didn't mean things would work out as planned or that we would make the buses, or find them.

So, I met Jimm-ah at the cafeteria and we had some brunch. That was a little weird, actually...

Anyway, we headed down to the Han's stop and waited around for the bus for a long time. We ended up talking about anime and manga for a long time. We determined that I like anime with anything thought provoking (Evangelion, Haibane Renmei...), and also quite a bit of girly stuff (Stellvia of the Universe, Kodomo no Omacho, Kare Kano...). I really like a wide range though. Record of Loddoss War, Miyazaki films, Kenshin, Jinki Extend,... Mostly whatever. But we'll talk more about my preferences some other time.

As for Jimm-ah, he likes either really really crazy (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), or, you know, boy stuff. Stuff like...Samurai X. Something with lots of killing. Sometimes there's a plot. I'm sure he likes other things though. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, NGE...

So, the bus came, and get got transfers. Yes, I even remembered to make sure we got those. I remember Jim continuing to tell me something about this crazy manga, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but not being able to hear most of what he said. It wasn't just that the bus was loud, he just has one of those voices that's kind of hard to understand, combined with with deep mumbling.

We made it to downtown and stood around for a while. I could see some buses lining up on each street, but I was sure I knew which street the bus would be on, so I just waited. Meanwhile, some kid was trying to ask Jim about some coin machine in spanish. That's downtown for you. When it looked like there weren't any more buses coming, I thought it would be best if I asked one of the bus drivers where 116 would be coming in. It's a good thing I did too, because otherwise I would have just been standing there forever and missed the bus. I didn't have a backup plan either. Well, the bus guy said that it was probably already here, on the street I wasn't watching, and he said to hurry.

Eep!

We ran across the street and found the bus about to leave. We hopped on and were off! I was quite surprised actually. For some reason I didn't even expect the bus to exist.

Jim continued to talk while we were on the bus, and I only caught a few things he said. I started to get a little nervous at this point. I can't believe it took that long though. I was just concerned because I didn't recognize the area and wasn't quite sure then to pull the stop line.

I really got to panicing when I saw the street sign for 1st N Street. At that point I started second guessing myself, wondering if I read the sign right, or if we were really supposed to get off at that street. But I waited, trying to think logically while being talked at. We hadn't even gone past the Carousel stop, and it was way beyond that. Actually, when we got to the RTC, there was a banana there. A dude ..... dressed up in a banana costume.

Oh well, people have their hobbies I suppose.

Eventually I forgot what I was worried about and just drifted off into my mind. Oh? 7th North? THAT'S OUR STOP!!

I pulled the wire thing, but we were at a stop light so had to wait a bit until we got around to a bus stop sign. I figured since this was a good opportunity, I would ask the bus driver how to get to E. Parkway, since I didn't even really know which way to walk when we got off.

Good thing I was feeling so talkative that day. Rather than dropping us off where I pulled the wire, he stopped closer to the Parkway so it wouldn't be so long to walk. He told us how to get there too. I could actually see the hotel from where we got off, and the walk couldn't have nearly been a mile. It was about the same distance from my house to Dawn's (which is down the long driveway and up a small hill a ways).

We stolled on down and crossed the street and landed in the hotel parking lot. At this point, I suddenly got really excited. I had been so concerned about how to get there that I hadn't really thought about the actual event much. I kept saying, "We're here! We made it!" and Jim congratulated me again on my scheduling skills. We concluded that that was my super power.

We entered the convention center section and got our wristbands put on and our pre-ordered tickets. Yay!!!

It was somewhat of a shock at first. I wasn't overwhelmed, which is the thing that surprised me. There weren't as many people there as I expected. There was one big room with millions of comic books and some artists.



This is Dave Ross. A famous artist guy. Jim was really excited about meeting him; it was almost cute. The guy seemed pretty cool too. When we asked if we could take his picture he seemed quite pleased and asked how he should pose. "Should I look at the camera? Should I look at my paper and draw? Should I look at the camera, but still kind of be drawing?"

Hahaha...

Here's one of the other artists...



I can't fully remember his name. Pop Mahn? I think that's close anyway. I was impressed with him. At the time he was doing a superman sketch for someone. He was very polite and personable. :]

There was a DDR tounrament there which I was looking forward to being a part of, but when Jim asked the mini-Sasuke how to sign up, he rudely responded that it was already over. Oh well.

Jim played the Die of Doom. I thought about taking a photo, but I couldn't get my head together long enough to do so. It was really just a giant yellow die that you toss and get a silly little prize. Jim threw a 5 and got some tiny super hero action figures. Yay.

Now... onto the main event....


PHOTOS!

I was quite impressed with a good deal of the costumes there. The one I liked the most I didn't get around to photographing :[
Hopefully someone else will put a photo up somewhere.
This was the best part. I wish there was another convention around here.




This is me in my Haibane costume. Actually, this is the costume I made for Sam last year. Mine was Rakka, which I think suits me better, but at the time I didn't have the whole costume with me, and it wasn't completely finished either.

I actually had two or three people say, "HEY! I know what you're from! It's... eugh! What is it?!"

One girl even glomped me. I've never been glomped before! I was so thrilled!



Lulu from FFX. I was very glad to have gotten her photo. Her whole outfit looked great, as you can see. This was the only time I saw her that day too, so I'm glad I asked right away. :] Good job, Lu.



Sakura, from Naruto. She was so cute. I know a lot of people don't like Sakura, but I do. That poor girl has it rough, and to be quite frank, no one ever gives her a chance to show off what she can do. Anyway, this girl looked really good.



Ari said she was from Inuyasha...I think. She was really sweet, just like in the photo. She said she liked my costume and I think she was one of the people who knew what anime I was from.



As for the last of my photos, Itachi Uchiha! This guy was so cool. Unfortunatly, the picture doesn't really do him any justice. I wish he had shown his face in the photo too(although I suppose he was trying to give off the scary, intimidating aura).

Well, I got to see his face in person though, and I thought he was just really cool. It kind of made me want to give him a hug.

The next few photos weren't taken by me, but you should see them. Unfortunately, I can't upload them directly, so it'll be up to you if you want to click the link or not. These photos are by jade19721

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700330888/in/photostream/
This one is important because you can see Rikku from X-2 as a sorceress. Well, her back anyway. Her costumes was amazing, I just wish I'd photo-ed it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700330944/in/photostream/
This was the banana that we saw at the RTC. Then, there is the Die of Doom.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1699604513/in/photostream/
These two look great! I didn't see them either, but Jim and I spent a lot of time in the hall anyway because the room was a little crowded.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jade19721/1700555826/in/photostream/
Another photo of Sakura. So cute!

Lazuru-Machine just sent me this photo. She's the schoolgirl :]



At one point while we were there, we ran into Brandon, whom I passed the word along to. Somehow I could just tell he liked this kind of stuff. He was very grateful that I let him know and said he actually attended last year also. It was a little akward seeing him there though. I just find him a little hard to talk to. Hmm...

Well, I was hoping that he'd driven there so we could ride back with him. As it turned out, the cosplay contest was going to take place at 5:00, and in order to catch the bus, we would have to leave around 4:30. So, I asked, and he said he was planning on taking a taxi back, unless he could come with us. So we all ended up leaving at 4:30 and took the bus.

It was sad to have to leave. I saw Tifa from Advent Children as we were heading out. She was cooool. I would have stayed the entire time and just taken hundreds of photos, but I couldn't.

After we FINALLY got back, Jim bought a pizza at a little corner store place, and we ate in the basement. It was about that time that I was very much ready to be back in my cave, alone. It was just weird to have been around him alone all day. Euugh... I just can't handle personal stuff sometimes.

Well, it was a great day, and ever since I've been thinking about future events. I really wish there was another convention around here soon, but it looks like I'll just have to wait until next year's expo. I guess I'd better start thinking about my next costume!

YAY!

-Lisa

An Epic Adventure - Part Two

So! On with the Epic Adventure. You might have to fill in some gaps with your imagination, because it's been so long now that I've forgotten some details.

After we left Roji's, we pursued our next task; we had to find a way to get to Carousel. At the time we didn't really know anything about the bus runs (which we still don't really know, but we have a better idea at least). We stood around at the corner on Salina (the most disgusting part of Downtown because that's where all the buses meet, hence, all the people) and looked around until we found a bus schedule sign. It looked like there wouldn't be a bus coming for quite a while, so we just ....well..... stood there. Ari had to keep reminding me that I had to look like I owned Syracuse, otherwise I'd probably get ripped off or someone would pick my pockets or something.

There was actually a guy who approached Ari and asked, quite strangely, if he could have some change for the bus. He wasn't just your regular, absent-minded hard-worker. No, he wasn't any of these at all. He was... probably drugged up at the time. I can't quite remember exactly what happened, but somehow he ended up giving Ari some Candian coins, those of which I'm not even sure exist anymore. It was really strange. I don't quite know what to make of it.

Eventually we got on the bus and rode doooown to the mall. What did we do there? Wandered around, mostly. We managed to visit two out of three(?) chocolate shops where we bought some expensive sweets. Ari bought one of each of the little chocolate samples, and a 1/4 pound of silk chocolate, and a fancy chocolate bar. I got a mint choco bar (which melted, but was delicious anyway), and a crazy looking choco-pop with sprinkles. Yuuum.

We also visited Hot Topic, which is becoming a regular place for me. I never used to go near that store because I thought it was all gothic, vampire, gross stuff. Which a lot of it is. However, I have managed to find things I really like in there, like hello kitty products, and chococat things. I was quite pleased with the variety of Super Mario/Sanrio things.

I know it wasn't that day, but at some other time we went to Carousel, Asher called me when I was in Borders. He said they were going through Syracuse and thought they would stop by my dorm to see me. I told him we were at the mall, so he and Erika stopped there instead! I suddenly became very excited!! Actually, when my phone started ringing, I couldn't find it. I was looking all over in my bag. One of the Borders workers came over in my flustered state too(which I thought was quite rude, actually) asking the basic, "Can I help you?" It wasn't that he wanted to help me because I was getting confused, he just thought we were loitering. Eventually I discovered my phone was in my pocket though.

So, we ended up meeting in the arcade and I played a round of DDR with Erika. She had to convince Asher to hold her bag with Sid in it(so cute!).

I'm always slightly devastated when I see them and then they leave. It was especially hard that time because Ari seemed really mad. I was really annoyed with her at the time because she didn't really seem willing to communicate with my people. I thought she must have hated them, so I was ready to push her into moving traffic, especially what she said that her dog was cuter than Sid. I later found out though that she thought Asher was "hardcore".

Anyway, back to the adventure.

Alright, we hit Carousel. Next stop, Shoppingtown.

We got back on the bus to downtown, and from there managed to get dropped off at....the Han's stop? I really can't remember now. Why in the world did we take that bus? And why did we get off there? There seemed to be a hole in my memory now, so sorry I didn't get to this sooner.

SOMEHOW we got off a bus SOMEWHERE and then realized that we didn't know how to get to Shoppingtown. We started walking again. Why? .....It must have been heat stroke. We were beginning to panic a little because it was getting dark and standing at a bus stop that didn't have a schedule wasn't the best place to be. We should have been keeping track of how many cars went by and honked or whistled. It was disturbing, actually.

Ari's ankle started hurting once we started walking to what we thought might be the direction of Shoppingotown. So, we took a quick break.

And then the bus drove by....

After that minor devastation, we just kept going. And yes, we walked all the way there. What did we do there? I don't know. I don't think it mattered anyway. All the food there was closed, and we were really hungry though.

Again, there's a hole in my memory. But somehow, either by calling Adrienne for a ride, or taking another bus, we got back to school.

It was quite victorious. We felt like we could take on anything. We would never complain about the 6 minute walk from St. Mary's to Grewen ever again.

There is no moral to this story, although I feel like there should be. Oh well.


Next time: Some rants, desires, and a Third Adventure.

-Lisa

Quick Commercial Break

While the second part of the Epic journey is coming up(when I get a chance), I had to squeeze this post inbetween.

For the past few days I've been feeling quite ill and one of the biggest factor of this is dizziness. I left my Japanese class early in a panic, frightening most everyone in the class. Walter-sensei told me I looked "very very very pale."

Besides that episode, I've been getting dizzy on and off since and that also comes with a side of bad headaches. That night I didn't go to algebra or Tae Kwon Do either.

The leads me to the real story here. Tae Kwon Do. I love that place. With all the stress and fear that I wrap around it, I still love it. Everyone should be involved in a martial arts class.

I love it because the art is simply amazing and it is such an outstanding feeling to be able to do those things. I really try to push myself in there because I'm very serious about it. I want to get it right and master it. That's mostly why it's so stressful for me.

Secondly, I love it because the atmosphere. There is so much respect in that room. The formalities make me shiver with excitement on the inside. The idea of bowing to your superiors makes me smile everytime I think about it. Am I too old fashioned?
But honestly, I bow to Master every chance I get :]

So, getting to my point, something I don't do very often, I want to talk about the people there and about how caring they are.

I made myself go to TKD class tonight even thought I wasn't going to participate. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the intense training when I was feeling so unbalanced and naseous, however I also knew that missing two classes in a row would make it extrememly difficult to catch up. Testing is coming up in October, you know. So my solution was to at least watch.

Oh, and we got our uniforms tonight!! Yay!

When I arrived I asked Nick, the president, if it would be alright for me to just watch from the side. He said, "Of course! Health comes first." I thought it would probably be fine, but with all of the rules in that room, I wanted to make sure I wasn't showing any disrespect to anyone.

So, I changed into my uniform(next time I'll change before I get there. The girl's locker room is frightening) and then sat against the wall in our training room(which is really just the other side of the basketball court). When the Master called for attention her immediatley came to me when I didn't get up in line and asked if I was alright.

That alone gave me a twinge of bright joy. The Master is my hero :]

What's even better is he didn't just say, "Hey, are you alright? Oh, okay," He listened to my explaination and was proud of me for coming to watch. He smiled at me and said he was glad I was there.

Am I just a little girl?

After a long while everyone took a break and again the Master came to me and expressed his feelings of appreciation for me making the effort to come even just to watch. When he approached me he gave me a sort of sad face which I interpreted as him feeling bad that I was ill.

When groups started forming up again for some personal training one of the older blackbelt members also asked about my health. Not long after that another blackbelt, a younger one(20's), came up to me and also expressed kindness to me. His name is Brian and I watched him through most of the class because he really knows what he's doing and I could see him teaching his partner techniques as they trained together.

It was really cute actually because he crouched right down to my level on the floor to talk to me. He's extremely tall and skinny so I wonder if that made it all the cuter. He also said it was good of me to come to watch.

When the class had finally ended, Master came towards me because his things were near, so I bowed to him and thanked him. For some reason I think he gets a couple internal laughs when I bow to him. Maybe he thinks it's adorable for a little girl to be so sincere everytime?

At that point he proclaimed that we needed to have a group hug.

I want to brag about it. The Master hugged me!

I'm just silly aren't I...?

:]

I love that place.

-Lisa

An Epic Adventure

Oh my. College. That's where I am. This is going to be a long one folks.

Since I've already given you a taste of the beginning, I'm going to tell you more about my classes, friends, and environment. This could take a couple days to complete even.

Let's talk about classes first. My classes are all the first semester, boring, painful, useless classes. Like... math. And AVS. And World Civ. To say the least, I hate most of my classes. I hope I pass so I won't have to take them again.

Isn't that awful? I honestly don't know if I can pass these classes. Sure they're hard, and sure there's a lot of homework. But I've been in harder classes. The thing is that we only get about two tests throughout the course which makes up most of our overall grade. These are courses that I know nothing about too. Andrea was just up here helping me with my math and yet, I still can't do it. We managed to finish the homework, but I won't be able to do it later.

I'm taking an Elementary Japanese class though. It's very hard, but I love it. I'm surprised that I can actually do it. It's mostly my stubbornness though. I don't want to fall behind so I'm studying all the time. I can do this!

Walter-sensei is so funny! She's my favorite.

Math is a real pain. It always has been, but I figured it wouldn't be so bad here since I was only taking Intro to Algebra.

It turns out that I don't remember anything about .. what were they ... numbers. My professor is foreign so none of the students really understand what she's saying, and she also declared that we can't use calculators.

I really expect to fail. I don't want to have to take this course again, but I don't see how I'll ever be able to get by.

I was planning on getting a tutor, but with my new job as Lab Tech. I don't really have much time for that considering I also have other homework to do. So Ari has been helping me out. Hopefully I'll be able to remember something what it comes time for a test.

The other day Prof. Rine yelled at everyone for not doing the reading. This also happened to have been the assignment I wrote to her about because I didn't understand what she wanted(and apparently no one else did) but she never wrote back to me. In the end she made the decree that from now on there was going to be a quiz every friday. Lovely. I guess she never considered that this was the first time we'd ever done any class assignment like this and that people may have been confused, especially since we're freshmen. Maybe I'm just being annoyed.

I'm involved in a Tae Kwon Do class that meets every Tuesday and Thursday. Everytime I know I have class I panic a little. Everyone seems to catch on so fast that, again, I'm just trying hard not to fall behind. I love the group training. I enjoy being among a large group of people who are all doing the same thing, and I work hard at getting every movement right. When it comes to partner training with blocking or aiming, I get tense and discouraged. But now I do have a sense of why. You see, for every partner section I've been paired up with a newbie, like myself. We just flail around, hoping we don't look like fools. That's not very fun. But last class I was actually paired up with the Master (and I almost had heart failure) because we had an odd number and there wasn't anyone else my size.

That was amazing! He very graciously took it at my speed and helped me to correct my stance and movements. He's my hero.

The Master is really one of the coolest people I've ever met. I love how he gets to excited about this everyday. After every new move he shows us he gets this childlike smirk on his face and you can see the energy he's molding.

The class is a lot of fun, and yet, it scares me.

Time to introduce you to my friends.

I have two, possibly three. Andrea is the only friend I have with a strong bond here. Her nickname is Ari, which I have yet to call her to her face, but whenever I talk about her I've been mostly saying Ari.

She's a little crazy. She's an anime-freak and very anti-girly/makeup/preppy andything. I have yet to see her wear blue jeans or anything that doesn't have skulls on it though. Oh, and stripes and polka-dots make her sick.

We have a lot in common, and yet, we're very different. But, we're good friends. I'm glad she's around.

Then there's Jim. His real name is James. He's... straaange. I like to have them both around because then they somewhat balance each other. But, I'm getting used to it. He can drink three cups of juice and milk in less than fifteen seconds. Actually, next time we should time him. I can't help but wonder if he's vegan. Him and Ari keep yelling at me for eating so much candy and junk food. Haha. I can't quite figure him out.

Adrienne is mostly their friend, so it looks like we'll be spending some time together too. She lives on the same floor with me (the very hot fifth floor) and we're in World Civ together. I hate how all of my friends are always so smart. Am I really that stupid? Or am I attracted to geniuses? Or are geniuses attracted to me?m Anyway, she seems to be cool. In a sort of geeky sense. But we're all geeks. She has a caaaaar...

I wonder if I should put my RA down as a friend? Not yet. But I like her, and she likes me. Yesterday was her birthday and I left her presents. She's gorgeous and very nice. :] Emelin. Isn't that a cool name?

The Epic Journey

Saturday was a day where an epic journey was just waiting to happen. Ari and I took on that challange and rode on to victory!

We really just wanted to take the day and explore the town a little and get some necessary things done.

Our list of places to go was as follows...

Price Chopper
Walmart
Shoppingtown Mall
Roji Tea Lounge
Han's Oriental Grocery
Carousel Center

We knew that was a lot to do in one day, and we knew we'd be tired, but we never imagined it would be that bad.

Since we weren't sure about bus schedules either, we were mostly guessing all day. We were never quite sure where we were or where we were going.

The day started around 11:30 when Ari and I went to brunch. We ran into some friends of her's and ate with them. They seemed pretty normal... I suppose. The only one who really said much was the gay guy. That was a little awkward?

Then we headed out. That was around 12:00

Our first stop was Han's which we thought at the time was a long way from the campus. If you take the right road, it really isn't that bad of a walk.

Han's is AMAZING! It has been years since I was last in an asian grocer, so I was really excited. I got lots of caaaaandy. Ari and I discussed the fact that we're going to flunk out of college because of our boyfriend Han's.

This is White Rabbit Creamy Candy. It is very creamy and chewy. There is a wrapper around the candy, besides the outside wrapper, but this is edible. It doesn't have any taste and it like a very thin parchment. It's apparently made of sticky rice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_Creamy_Candy




A Red Bean Cake. There's really beans on the inside. This was quite an interesting one. At first I didn't like it because I don't really like beans anyway. But I think if I'd eaten the whole thing I might have grown to like it. I find the cake texture fascinating. The thing is that it's supposed to be refridgerated, but I don't have one. That's why most of it had to get tossed.



Ahh, Melon Candy. This was one of the first asian hard candies I'd ever had. I remember being at Asher's first apartment and Emily gave me one of these. Delicious. Precious. Yummy! This should definately be in one of the top five!




This seems to be some kind of Korean candy. It's a teeny biscut stick with a mushroom chocolate top. They even have faces! It's been so hot lately though that the faces melted off. The chocolate on these are the best I've ever had!



This is Strawberry Ramune. It's a fizzy drink that's in a fancy glass bottle with a cute fruity guy on the label. There's even indents on the top for your pointer finger and thumb to grip the bottle. The thing that's really amazing is the marble stopper. That's the glass ball that's sitting at the top of the bottle. The marble is the seal and to open it you have to press down on this cap-like plastic thing to pop the marble out of place. I now have a Melon flavored one and also a peach. Yes, I'm saving them. I like the sound it makes when you drink from it because the marble moves around. Clink!

Botan Rice Candy. I actually haven't tried this yet, but this is another candy with an edible rice wrapper. I wonder why candies have these wrappers? There's no taste and it melts right away. It is intriguing though. This package comes with a sticker!

Yan Yan is another sweet that I haven't had in years and was introduced to it by Erika. It's just like pocky, but the stick is bigger and you dip it in the frosting yourself. I personally like this one a lot. Strawberry is my favorite!




Konpeito! The sugar candy. I actually learned about this watching Stellvia of the Universe. For a while now I had been importing packages from WizzyWigs and the candies were much smaller. I like these because you can just pop one in your mouth and be sugarfied for a long time.



Petit Choco is apparently just a box with little pouches of various chocolate in them. I've only tried one so far and they were basically M&M's. The ones in the pink pouch I've actually had before, and they are outstanding. This one was pricey, but I had to try it at least once.

That's the end of the Han's trip, but that was just the beginning of the rest of the day. Fortunatly, Price Chopper was in view when we exited Han's. We also discovered that there is a bus stop place right outside of Han's. That made us happy because that means it will be easily accessible in the winter time when we can't walk there.

So, we made it to Price Chopper and got some water for our trip since it was probably 100 degrees out that day. Ari also stopped at the pharmacy to put in a perscription slip which we had to come back to pick up later.

Since it already occured to us that we didn't know where Washington street was, we thought it would be best to ask. So we did. We asked about three people who said they either had no idea what street that was or they weren't from around this area. Eventually some lady said it was the opposite direction we were going, left, up a monsterous hill, left, left, and left.

We exited the store and continued on our way, ignoring those crazy directions and hoping we would stumble upon the lounge soon. We were pooped. But we weren't going to give up so easily!

This next section of the trip was quite long. It was so hot and sticky out that the few times the sun snuck behind the clouds we felt mildly rejuvinated. Once in a while the sidewalk would mysteriously disappear, and more than once we were honked at or called at by some passerby in a vehicle.

Going down Erie was also discovered that there are quite a few Japanese/Chinese resturants. I think we spotted a sushi bar even. There was another asian food market place, but I can't remember where it was or what the name was either. I'll have to ask Ari again and see if we can make it down there sometime.

We stopped at Aldi's next for a breather. The sun was really kicking us hard out there and we still needed directions. Ari randomly asked s lady who was intently picking out fruit and only got a frightened stare. When she asked again the woman's husband came over and said, "No" very precisely. We think they might not have known English. We asked a cashier and got some other crazy directions, but at least these directions were the same way we were headed this time. Our next goal was to get to Townsend.

Another long walk and at least a half an hour later we took another break at an art store. I think it was called, "The Art Store." It was quite a nice place too. If I was more serious about art I would love to get some things in there. Sadly though, I'm just a hobbyist.

I saw a little boy in there who has the same Houghton t-shirt as I have. I won the shirt along with a few other people on an online quiz e-mail thing with the college. It's a small world?

I hope that my boyfriend is an artist.

The store was intriguing, and I think Ari does some painting, drawing, and possibly sculpting, so we spent some time breathing and snooping around. I would have liked to see the easles, but they were up a floor and I was just too tired to climb any stairs. Again, we checked for directions.

The lady was nice and pitied with us for having walked so far. She gave us straight forward directions and even offered us water. We were off again.

At some point in the trip we took a wrong turn. It must have been before the art store stop because after that we seemed to be going the right way. It was after the bench I think.

The bench. The one with the scotch in a paper bag. This one.



At this point we realized, like being hit by a tumbling rock, how far we had gone.

"That's the News Channel 10 place! That's the Carousel Center!"

Walking continued. Then finally.... we saw it.

Townsend! This meant we were actually going in the right direction!

So, after another long stretch we finally saw Washington St. (I should have taken a picture :() and we followed that road for a while until we reached Washington St. 100.

Which really wasn't 100 at all.



In the window on the left you can see that there's a banner for Roji Tea Lounge with a leaf shape made with what seems to be a long brush stroke.

By the time we got there it was 2:30, and then we realized that the lounge doesn't open until 3:00. But as we passed the window we saw a large group of people sitting at a table, so we went in.

The place was adorable. It's a lot smaller than what I thought it would be, but I like it better like that. It makes the room cozy. As you walk in there is a large table in the middle for large parties, a couch beyond that, two small tables that seat two each, and a Japanese table setting with a tatami mat where you even have to take your shoes off(there's a cute little sign with a picture of sandals crossed out).

We approached the woman behind the cash register(Tomomi, the owner) and asked if they were open but she said that the people in the room at the moment were from a private party and that they wouldn't open until 3.

So we waited. Right outside the window even. We just sat outside and rested for a while. By that time the sun had drown (as Ari would say it) and there was even a nice breeze. For the next half and hour we admired the architecture.

When it came closer to 3:00 we started counting the minutes, every once in a while asking if it was time to go in yet.

"2 more minutes."

Then when 3 came we realized we probably had to wait until they switched the sign from CLOSED to OPEN. Eventually though we got impatient and went in. The door doesn't directly go into the lounge so there is a room before you go in, which we hung out in for a bit for fear of making fools of ourselves again. There were some various business cards displayed on a table that we browsed through and there was also a large stand-up menu which we took a peek at.

We decided on trying Mochi for a snack and splitting the cost. Mochi... when I saw that I thought of the strawberry rice cakes I have, but they aren't the same thing, I assure you.

After Ari convinced me it was my turn to ask questions, we went in and inquired as to whether they had opened yet. They had and we were to choose any seat. Ah! The Japanese setting was perfect! We were quite excited.

The menus we were given were adorable. They were handcrafted and had images on each page. Tomomi was so sweet too. She couldn't walk on the tatami because she had shoes on, so she very gracefully sat on the side of the platform and kindly handed us our things.

Ari ordered Jasmine Bubble Tea and I ordered my favorite Taro Bubble Tea, and also the Mochi treats. Ari and I agreed that the trip was worth it.



When Tomomi brought us the mochi she asked us if we'd ever had it before. I was prepared to say yes, but then I saw the little green and white balls and was in a short state of shock.

We both tried the little mochi balls on the count of three, and were both quite surprised. The texture was... obsolete? They were smooth, like an egg, and when you bit down on it the ball was very cleanly cut, but then molded right back together. For some reason the taste instantly made me think of Smacks, the cereal. But I think that was the powdery stuff on the top more than the ball. I didn't like it at the time, but now I would like to try it again.

There was a girl who came in a bit later who actually asked us what we thought about the bubble tea because she was considering trying some herself. We left before she got it, so I wonder if she liked it.

As we were on our way out we asked about the Roji Tea t-shirt that was on display. Ari and I agreed that we would just simply have to get one. Unfortunatly, they only had mediums at the time, but they said they should be getting smalls in the winter.

That wraps up part one of the epic journey. Stick around for the second part of the day.

-Lisa

A Bright Future

Ah, I'm finally at an internet connection, and I don't really have the time to update anything. College life sure is draining. Or maybe I'm just a whimp. But I really feel like I don't have enough time to just sit around, which is what I would like to do a lot of.

For the first day or two ... or three .... I felt really sick. All of my stress went to my stomach. A lot has happened in the past week. Well, two weeks. Let's start with an entry I typed up August 21st.

----------------

Mom, call me at nana’s house

“Grandpa’s dead”

That’s what my mom spewed out after a shocking phone call upon our arrival. We had just returned from a shopping trip, one that I enjoyed very much as it was a time where I have my mom all to myself and we had a chance to do some exploring. We were both very tired as we got home.

Immediately we drove down to Nana’s house and parked among half a dozen other cars of family members. We entered a crowded kitchen. A silent kitchen.

I remember seeing my mom’s face as she blurted out “No!” on the phone. I very quickly thought, “It’s something about Grandpa” but as soon as it entered my mind it escaped. It’s strange how the body works though. Even though I had convinced myself in that second not to worry, I froze and waited for an answer.

I got it in the next second followed by trembling and numbness.

I didn’t really know what to do. As much as I wanted to cry, I couldn’t at that moment. The first thing that slipped out of my mouth was disbelief. “I don’t believe it.” I don’t know if I was denying it or in shock. It’s hard to tell. It took about 2 minutes and halfway down the road for my tear glands to respond. I guess they weren’t ready for this either.

We had all known that he wouldn’t be around for much longer. It’s like, the words “Death” were in our minds. Ever letter was crisp and vivid, but the reality of it was nonexistent. We thought we were ready. I did at least. But God doesn’t work on our calendar.

It almost hurts me that I can’t cry as I write this. Quite frankly, I don’t want to. My feelings are so mixed up that I don’t want to do anything. I guess this is still the after effects of it being so unreal. I just keep doing what I always do in these situations. I pray and then forget about it. I try to.

That’s cold, isn’t it? It’s the only way I can cope. To continue. I don’t want to be around crying people or pictures. For now, I just want to be alone and try to sort out some things.

“Lord, please take care of him.” That is the only thing I can pray.

While other people may have been praying for his recovery through his fight, I couldn’t. I knew that to survive death once would lead to a more tragic death the second time. Right now I don’t even know what I prayed for.

But you know… the whole time my family was together this afternoon, we all kept saying he’s better off. He’s in Heaven, and that is a beautiful thing. It’s something all Christians look forward to, and it’s something I wonder about. We know things for the scriptures, but what is it like to experience it? It’s like reading an advertisement for an amusement park. As exciting as they make it sound with the brochures, you can never fully experience the excitement until you’re there. It’s strange to think that someone so close is actually there now.

I’m still in the dark about things, and I don’t care to know the answers. All I know is that precious man is gone now and that is enough.

How we can become memories so quickly. This morning he made memories. This afternoon he became one.

I’m tired.

-Lisa

-----------------

I'd rather not expound on that for now.

So, college has been quite stressful, but then not too bad. My guts want me to write about all of my classes in painful detail, but for some reason I just can't seem to do it tonight. I want to write down everything, but maybe it's just too hard right now. I have a lot of homework that isn't getting done.

Here, how about some pictures.

This is what I had for breakfast on the first day here. I barely ate any of it though because I was so stressed out. Although, the food in the cafeteria is very good. I think I can live with it. Mmm... french toast.

Before:

After:

There's a reason why there is a before and after shot of my room. You see, before is when I had a roommate for a couple days, and after is after she left and I moved things around.

I couldn't figure out my roommate, and I still can't now that she's gone. When I first met her is was the second evening after freshmen moved in and she was sitting on her bed crying while her boyfriend tried to comfort her. I later found out that she was crying because of stress over the whole moving into a dorm idea. I could relate.

Actually, I related to everything. She was so miserable about the idea of living in a dorm, and at the time I was somewhere close to that category (although I managed to recover). After a couple long talks and what we will call "advise" she eventually decided it would be best for her to commute. I would too if I only lived 20 minutes away.

It was really just a big crisis for a couple days.

So, we were friends. I think mostly because of the long chats and the fact that neither of us had anyone else. We exchanged numbers but the only time we've talked was when she wanted me to bring her books down to her at the front of the building and when she was locked out of the room.

--

It's a little funny so I'm going to type up our phone conversation. Remember, I was in New Jersey at the time.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Lisa? This is Mary. Are you in the room?"

"No, I left for the weekend."

"Yeah, I know. See, my card isn't working for some reason. I don't know why, but I can't get in St. Mary's!"

"Hmm..."

"You know what, wait. -mummble- Okay, well, I was just wondering if you could let me in because my card isn't letting me in and I have no idea why."

"Well, I-"

"Okay, well, thanks. I'll see you in a little bit."

Did she not hear that I said I wasn't around? Well, when I came back Monday evening all of her things were gone (except the trash, a pen and pencil, and the air freshener) so must be she got in somehow. I wonder, why did she call me? Couldn't she have walked in when someone else was going through?

End.

-------

It's hard to figure out. I liked having her for a roommate because she was generally an easy person to talk to and was (for the most part) considerate. I liked how she kept to herself and wasn't running around the halls screaming or giggling everyone to death. She went to bed fairly early and complained about the people outside the room being too loud.

But then she was also just miserable and whined a lot. But that was just the circumstances too though. She also seemed to only need me when she needed me. It's too bad. I hope I'll see her around.

That's the end of the roommate saga. For now. Until then, I'm in a room by myself. Don't tell anyone. They might put someone else in here and I am quite enjoying the time by myself.

You know what? It's 11:30. I need to do some homework. There's plenty more to come, when I get the chance.

One thing though. Although I am coping, I really want to go home.

-Lisa