Hong Mei Hua

December so far

2009-12-21T15:32:14Z

I seem to be having bad luck this month when it comes to my car. In this month alone, my car was hit twice. I'm very fortunate that no one got hurt and the damage to the car was minor both times. The dumb thing is that the 2 situations could have been avoided. In both accidents, my car was stopped. Yes, that's right. They hit a stationary car.

The first happened early this month as I was waiting at a red light. Next thing I know, I'm suddenly rear ended. We pull over to exchange information, and the lady looked embarrassed and apologized for not paying attention. Apparently she was looking for something in her car and just didn't notice.

The second happened just a couple days ago. I was waiting to turn left onto a street. amd there was a car about to turn left onto the street I was on. When she turned, she didn't do it wide enough and scraped the front driver's side of my car. I could totally see it coming. She was getting too close to me, so I honked, hoping she'd notice and adjust. But nope. She still hit me.

I'm really annoyed that I have to deal with reporting a claim again and getting my car fixed when I got it back fixed only 2 weeks ago. I'm currently waiting for them to accept liability, and I'm hoping the rest of this goes smoothly.

In other, and more happy, news, I've cheated a little! I've already opened 2 of my Christmas gifts. My boyfriend went out of town to see his family, so we opened our's early. My friend came over to exchange gifts, so we just opened them too. My boyfriend got me the 2nd Metalocalypse season and album, and my friend got me a colorful silicone whisk and smore flavored lip gloss.

They also got me more Rubik's cubes! This mirror cube is from my boyfriend. All of the sides are the same color and the pieces are different sizes.

My friend got me Rubik's pepper and salt mills! They look so much like real Rubik's cubes! Only the top turns though to grind the salt/pepper.

Though I'm done with Christmas shopping, I'm still busy before the holidays. I have so much cleaning to do! My apartment has become a mess, so I've been trying to clean every room. I don't think I've posted photos of my whole apartment yet, so maybe I'll do that when I'm done =)

Another new toy

2009-12-14T01:42:40Z

New layout over at Silent White!

I'm happy to say that almost all of my Christmas shopping is done XD I started ordering gifts in November, and now I'm just waiting for some of the last items to arrive in the mail. Most of my online ordering has been done on Amazon, with a few things from ThinkGeek and ShanaLogic as well.

Something else that came in recently is the DSLR I mentioned a previous post. Here it is! The Canon EOS 50D with a 28-135mm lens!

I spent today looking through its manual and trying it out on random things around the apartment.

Like... toys!

And turtles!

Then my boyfriend and I took a walk at a trail near our place that runs along a creek, and took more pics there!

I still feel like there's a lot more I can learn about this camera, and I want to use it more before deciding on what lens to buy next. Hopefully if I continue to experiment around with the settings, I'll get the hang of it soon =)

Electronics wishlist

2009-12-05T01:57:13Z

As Christmas is nearing, I've been thinking of what I want, and I've realized that there are some new electronics I want and some I want to replace.

Point and Shoot Camera
I like to replace my P&S every 3 or 4 years, and it was time for a new one. I decided to get the Canon Powershot SD940 (in blue) to replace my SD600. It came in today! I've played around with it a bit, and I don't actually like how the new function menu looks. But, I do love that there is a noticeable improvement in picture quality.

SD600 (old camera)

SD940 (new camera)

Both were taken in the macro setting with no flash. Other than resizing and the watermark, there has been no editing in Photoshop.

DSLR Camera
Even though I just got a new P&S, I've been wanting a DSLR for a long time. In the past I was too lazy to do the research, but now I think I know what I want! I have my eye on the Canon EOS 50D. I'm going to a camera store tomorrow to take a look at it. I'm so excited about getting this, and plan on getting 2 lens with it too =D Hopefully I'll order it this weekend!

Stand Mixer
Every time I bake, I wonder why I don't have a stand mixer yet. It would be so much more convenient. I'd really like a Kitchen Aid one, though I'm not sure which. I have a feeling my parents might be getting me one for Christmas. They haven't exactly been secretive about it and have been asking me what model and color I like XD;;

Scanner
I really like my current scanner because it's nice and small and has served me well for 7-8 years now. However, it's starting to make a faded line in the middle of scans, like this. If it wasn't doing that, I wouldn't be replacing it, but I guess it is old =/ I'm not in a hurry to replace it, so I probably won't buy a new one for another few months.

Serger
I'm also not in a hurry to get this one because I've been doing ok without it so far. It's a machine you use in sewing to make finished seams. It'd be nice to have one eventually though! I used to borrow my mom's, but it seems to falling apart. For now, just having a sewing machine is fine =)

Well, I guess I have a lot of expenses to look forward to later XD;; But! It'll be fun to have new things to play around with =D

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-19T07:11:40Z

...to my boyfriend! Like every year since we've been together, I made him a special cake related to a video game. Past years: Jigglypuff, Kirby, and Companion Cube.

What did I do this year? I made...

THE SANDVICH

No, I didn't misspell it. It is indeed a "sandvich", which is an item in Team Fortress 2. My boyfriend loves that game, and I also think the sandvich video is funny, so I decided on that this year :3

The bread pieces are made of yellow cake, and some of the left over cake was used to make the tomatoes. The lettuce, cheese, and meat is just rolled out fondant. All the cake pieces are also covered with fondant. I'm pretty happy with it! I think my fondant technique is getting better. I crumb coated and refrigerated the cakes for a day before covering this time. It made it so much easier. I'm not sure why I didn't do that on my past cakes!

Anyway, we're celebrating with friends at a BBQ place for dinner. Looking forward to it! I love Texas BBQ so much XD

Busy month

2009-11-02T02:04:21Z

Happy November! I hope everyone remembered to adjust their clocks for daylight savings =) October was a busy month for me, but I'm hoping November won't be. There were 3 "major" events that happened in October.

Company user conference
On the 22nd was my company's 2nd annual user conference. It's a 2 day conference where our users can come get training and ask questions about our product. It went well, though it was tiring. I'm used to just walking into work at 10AM, but I had to be at the conference by 7AM. I am so not a morning person!

Happy Anniversary
The 29th marked my boyfriend and I being together for 4 years! We decided to just stay in and cook dinner together. We made pasta with a spicy cheese sauce, and then had brownies and ice cream for dessert while watching a movie. Nothing special, just a relaxing night :3

Halloween
This is what really made my month busy. I had to finish both my costume and help my friend with her's. I went as Sakura from Street Fighter, and my friend was Ms. Pacman:

We stopped by a party then went downtown. 6th St. is lined with bars, and the street is closed off to cars at night so people can walk around. On Halloween, it's always packed with people walking around in costume. Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, it was insanely crowded. It was still fun though, especially to see some of the creative costumes people came up with XD

Anyway, for better pictures of my costume, see this entry on my cosplay blog :3

Month of costuming

2009-10-16T06:54:28Z

With Halloween coming up in a couple weeks, I've started to do more work on my Sakura (Street Fighter) costume. Here's my progress so far!

I finished the skirt, which actually took me 2 tries. On my first try, I finished the skirt completely, only to find that I didn't account for hip room, so the fit didn't look right. Instead of trying to fix it, I started over. The red Converse sneakers are also new shoes that came in just recently. What's left is: make the top, style the wig, make her fighting gloves. Hopefully, I'll be done in time!

I also finally put content onto the Costumes section of my Cosplay blog. My next project after Sakura's costume with be not one, not two, but THREE Code Geass costumes, which will be worn in June. I'm making a Suzaku costume for myself, Lelouch for Jess, and Lloyd for Jack. You can see the outfits on the bottom of this page. I... um... have a lot of work to do. Yeahhh.

Website productivity

2009-10-08T16:47:33Z

Sometimes I feel like I strive for practicality and cleanliness so much that I want to make something impractical, messy, and... well, on crack. (No, not me on crack, the layout.) Thus, I decided to change shattered-wingsNET's layout.

It's inspired by (and uses lyrics from) Franz Ferdinand's Ulysses. Though simple looking, it surprisingly took me a long time to make due to choosing lyrics and images, then scanning and editing the images, and finally coding and formatting everything to have the right placement.

In other site related news, I have yet another new site! Sort of! After seeing Gel start a Project 365, I've been wanting to try it too. So, I made a tumblr where I add the photos twice a week. The idea of this is to take a photo everyday, not necessarily of yourself, to document your life. I love taking photos, but I imagine it'd get tiring having to do it every day. We'll see how it goes XD;;

Recently, I got to see Metallica live in concert, so I'm really happy to be able to cross them off of my "bands I must see" list. There are a couple concerts left that might interest me, but my concert schedule for this year is pretty much done. Perhaps I will write a post later to recap the shows I've been to in 2009 :3

Cute new toys

2009-09-22T16:26:23Z

Something I've noticed that's become popular lately is Vocaloids. Vocaloid is a synthesizer program that comes with a voice blank that you can use to synthesize singing in Japanese. They also have a character vocal series, and my favorite has got to be Rin and Len. Not only do I think they're cute, but I tend to like songs sung by them over the other characters.

So... when I saw nendoroid versions of them, I. Could. Not. Resist. I bought them immediately. They came in just yesterday! Each comes with 3 facial expressions, 1 blank face, 2 extra legs, 1 extra arm, and 1 prop.

Eeee, aren't they adorable?! XD Here are a few songs done with Rin and Len's voices together:

Magnet | Cantarella | Meltdown | Adolescence | Romeo & Cinderella | Trick & Treat

They have several others, and you can also find different versions of these songs with different characters mixed together.

Labor Day weekend

2009-09-08T05:04:20Z

It's nice to have a 3-day weekend! I didn't have work today since it's Labor Day. It came at a good time since I went out of town for an Anime convention on Friday, so I got an extra day of rest when I got back on Sunday.

On Saturday, I went to AnimeFest with Jack and Jess. Since the last con, I've improved our Neku and Beat (The World Ends With You) costumes by remaking several parts, the most major being Neku's wig and shoes. So, we used those costumes again, and Jess went as Misa (Death Note). I took a lot of pictures at the con, and we got new Neku and Beat ones too, so click the thumbnails below to get to the galleries!

I didn't buy a lot of stuff this time, since the last con I went to was only a few months ago. I did buy this awesome CD folder though.

Anyway, that was a fun con! Thanks to Jess, we did another Neku and Beat photoshoot that she directed and took for us. I'll end this entry with a few of my favorites from it!

Goodies

2009-08-10T04:53:27Z

My parents and brother arrived in North Carolina today after 2 days of driving. My brother is moving there to study for a PhD in Pharmacy at UNC. We're less than 2 years apart in age, so we've always been close growing up. Though I'll miss having him around here, UNC was his top choice for graduate school. I'm happy for him that he got in and is able to go!

Anyway, I got a lot of nifty goodies lately, so I thought I'd share =) A couple weeks ago, my brother took a trip to Taiwan and Japan and bought these Engrish shirts. I love how they don't make sense XD Click the thumbnails for the full picture.

His roommate also had these Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel plushies for some reason. He bought them in Taiwan a while ago and was just going to trash them. Luckily, my mom saw them and saved them! They now have a home in my aparment ;)

An odd thing about them is that they all have McDonald's symbols on them. I wonder if they were Happy Meal toys?

And lastly, a couple entries ago, I mentioned we got a new turtle which we named Speedy. Well, we named her after Speedy in World of Warcraft. FigurePrints was selling limited edition figures of it, so I immediately asked my boyfriend to get it for me. (Really, more like threatened to do horrible things if he didn't.)

Other than that, nothing much has been happening in my life, mainly work. I've had to work some long hours last week due to a release coming up. I also know that the next few days will require me to stay late too. Oh well, that's just how it is sometimes!

Revisiting a hobby

2009-07-24T00:12:59Z

I'd say it's been years since I last was really into Anime/manga. For the past 5 or so years, I've kept up with a few yaoi series, but nothing else really. I was recently at a Barnes and Nobles and decided to just buy a couple manga while I was there. I ended up with Katekyo Hitman Reborn and D.Gray-Man, both of which I liked. That has sparked my interest in Anime/manga again! I already have 2 online orders of manga coming in.

In addition to that, it made me realize I haven't touched my Netflix account in a while, even though I'm still paying for it. I logged in to see I've had a DVD since December. Yeah, I've had the same DVD for over 7 months. So, I've turned in the DVD and upgraded my account to have unlimited streaming. This let's me stream Netflix to my TV through my Xbox 360.

This brings the question of, any recommendations? I tend to like shounen and shounen-ai/yaoi series.

Other than that, my co-workers have decided that next week we'll be doing a taco week, where every day we go to a different quality taco place for lunch. We've joked about it for a while, and now we're finally going to do it. So far we have TacoDeli, Torchy's, El Chilito, and Maria's Taco Xpress picked out. We just need a 5th!

Anyway, I'm excited for tomorrow. My friends and I are seeing Tool live in concert =) Should be a good show!

Photo meme

2009-06-12T03:23:20Z

Packing right now since I'm leaving for California tomorrow. I will be vacationing there for a few days ;)

But before I go, a meme! Stolen from Tammy!

Q&A: The Photographic Interview
1. Where are you from?
2. What does your fridge look like
3. Who is your favourite person?
4. What is your favourite food?
5. Part of your daily routine.
6. What colour are your eyes?
7. What relaxes you?
8. What does your letterbox look like?
9. What do you have planned in the next 12 months?
10. Where are you on a Sunday night?

1. Where are you from?

2. What does your fridge look like

3. Who is your favourite person?

4. What is your favourite food?

5. Part of your daily routine.

6. What colour are your eyes?

7. What relaxes you?

8. What does your letterbox look like?

9. What do you have planned in the next 12 months?

10. Where are you on a Sunday night?

Extra notes:
- #1, born there, though no longer live there.
- I post recipes on my fridge, using Pacman magnets.
- It is hard to feed turtles while taking a picture of them at the same time...
- I like food too much to have a definite favorite. I do enjoy quality tacos though.
- Most mailboxes here are not individual ones by your door, but in a big group nearby.
- #9, more cons to go to, more costumes to make!
- #10, not only on my computer, but that exact game.

A weekend in Dallas

2009-06-01T16:11:48Z

Well, I'm back in town now from my short trip to Dallas. Tina and I arrived at Jack's house Friday night with KFC and a 2lb donut. Fried chicken and a huge glazed donut, please tell me that is the best gift ever.

The next day, we went to A-kon. Tina wore my Dawn costume (Pokemon), and Jack and I debuted our The World Ends With You (TWEWY) costumes. I was Neku (orange hair); Jack was Beat (black beanie). I have to say, this Neku costume is my favorite so far. It was comfortable to wear, and it has huge pockets I could use. I also felt like we had more picture (and um... hug) requests than usual. Click the previews below for the image galleries! I wish I had taken better pictures at the con, but a lot of it was rushed since people were asking for my pictures too. For details about how I made the costumes, see my Cosplay Log.

Of course, I can't leave an Anime con without wasting my money in the dealer's room, bringing my Kirby count up to 6. One day... I will have them all!

Amusing notes from the con:
- Several times, we were asked, "Where's Rhyme?" or "Where's Joshua?" Oddly enough, no one ever asked for Shiki.

- We ran into a Rhyme and a Minamimoto!

- There was a TWEWY photoshoot on Friday that we couldn't make. 4 different people told us about it. They ended up having a photoshoot without a Neku. I might have been the only Neku at the con?

- Was talking with someone when Tenchi Muyo came up. She asked how old I was, thinking I was too young to know about that series. She was surprised to know I was 24, and showed the "I thought you were 16" face.

Before leaving Dallas on Sunday, we decided to go to the aquarium. I'm too lazy to go through those pictures and post them right now though. Perhaps another time!

Shoddy advertisement and completed work

2009-05-05T15:40:36Z

Yesterday morning, I noticed a van with a big company logo on it parked next to my car. I think nothing of it until I leave for work a little after and saw the van gone and a business card on my window. Looking around, no other car had it. My first thought was, did he leave contact info because he hit my car?! I inspect my car multiple times, not finding any dents. My car was also dirty, so I couldn't tell what was a scratch or just a dirty mark.

Confused, I shrug it off and get into my car to leave for work. That's when I take a closer look at the card and realize it's for a mobile car wash service. The guy was probably driving around my apartment's parking lot looking for dirty cars to place his business card on. Yeah, gee, thanks. He won't be getting any business from me =P

Anyway, it's funny how at work, I'm totally organized and always get my work done on time or early. Yet, in my personal life, I lack that. I realized recently that I have less than a month before A-kon and thus, have been working on my costume a lot lately. I'm pleased to say that I now have... NEKU SHORTS. [View reference]

I am still missing belt loops, but I'm waiting for the belt to come in first. I have been posting progress each step of the way on my Cosplay Log if you're curious as to how I made it! Next up, time to make the shirt!

Another new toy

2009-04-20T16:19:19Z

Well, I mentioned my new computer in my previous entry, so now I'll show it off! Except for the power supply, we bought everything from Newegg, and my boyfriend and I put it together ourselves.

Processor: Intel Quad Core at 2.66GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
Graphics: GeForce GTX 260 896MB
Memory: 6GB DDR3 RAM
Space: 1TB partitioned into 2 drives, each with its own OS for recovery

A couple notes on the stats. It hasn't been overclocked yet, so the 2.66GHz is the default. It will definitely be over 3GHz later. I'm just not sure how much over yet. Also, since I'm not willing to deal with Vista or 64bit XP, I'm on 32bit XP which only recognizes about 3GB as memory. If Windows 7 is good, I'll upgrade to that later.

Here is the inside of the case. (Labelled picture incase you're wondering what is what, and a picture of the parts before they were opened.)

I've also realized how bright my case is...

It really lights up the room. I suppose I don't have to stumble around in the dark anymore if I wake up in the middle of the night ;)

Weekend so far

2009-04-13T04:12:26Z

1. I played a lot of WoW (World of Warcraft). I finally started the game a couple days ago and created 2 characters: a night elf druid and a blood elf priest. No worries though! I don't think I'll become so addicted to WoW that I forget about my life outside of the game. I just tend to get into the game a lot when it's new to me ;)

2. My favorite Girl Scout cookie is probably the Caramel Delites/Samoas. So little of them come in a box though! They're gone almost instantly. My friend, Tina, and I decided to try to make them ourselves with a recipe that she found. They turned out pretty well!

It is a lot of work though and the caramel is a bit hard to spread. Our only complaint is that the cookie part was too buttery and sugary. It still tastes good, even if it's not exactly the same.

3. With Tina's help, I finally put up my Blik bamboo wall decals onto the big mirrors we have. I love them! I feel like buying more for my walls now.

I'm currently blogging on my new computer that my boyfriend and I built last week. Right now I'm waiting for one last part to come in. The heat sink I originally bought didn't fit in my case, so I had to get another one. Whenever that comes in, I'll post pictures and blog about its specs!

Lost art

2009-04-05T22:52:15Z

Though I have a lot of hobbies, it's mainly been narrowed down to 3 now. I'm always up for gaming, but I often lose motivation to work on my websites or cosplay. It's like a see saw between the two. When I'm working on a cosplay, I'm not working on my sites and vice versa. However, motivation to work on either one always comes back eventually. Art, in terms of drawing/painting, is something that hasn't come back to me in a long time.

I've realized the past 4 or 5 years, I've mainly been drawing because I've been asked to, not because I felt like it. I do it when my mom calls me up asking me to draw something for someone's birthday or some special holiday. I don't even sketch anymore because my mind comes up blank whenever I pick up a pencil. The last oil painting I did was this one in 2004. Well, I finally dusted off my painting supplies and have started on another painting. The inspiration came from a weird source: our cheap $15 shower curtain.

Lately I've been looking into wall decorations, and I haven't been able to find something I liked for the master bathroom. So, I decided to paint something for it myself. Here's my progress so far:

It's going to be a silhouette of a flower against a striped background. The top half is black. Below it will be a smaller gray portion. Below that will be an even smaller white portion. The straight line was achieved using painters tape. I'm currently waiting for the paint to dry before applying the next gray part.

Though a very simple piece, it feels good to be painting again. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that my paints will lay around collecting dust for years again afterwards.

Bag meme and others

2009-04-02T16:25:36Z

Tagged by Megori! What's in my bag?

Sometimes I stick my DS or a Rubik's Cube in there too. I carry around too much stuff! I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but just have at it if you want to do it =)

The other day, my boyfriend and I decided on the remaining parts to build my computer. Everything came to about $1,000 after shipping. This freaked my credit card company out, and they declined the charge thinking it was fraud. This freaked me out because my order didn't go through. I called them immediately and got it cleared though. Now the total costs stands at around $1,400 when I include the other parts I've already bought. It'll be worth every penny! Now to wait until they arrive...

I decided to start a cosplay blog: Cosplay Log. I want to log my progress in more detail but don't want to spam my LJ or blog with it. I've started on my costume for A-kon, which is Neku from The World Ends With You (TWEWY). This will be my first "cross" play! A conversation I had with my boyfriend:

boyfriend: *playing TWEWY*
me: Hey, I'm making a Neku costume.
boyfriend: Ok.
me: It's for me.
boyfriend: What?!
me: Bet you'll never look at Neku the same again.

He disapproves now XD;; Oh well! He'll just have to deal with a girlfriend that sometimes dresses as a boy =P

Random thoughts

2009-03-30T18:50:05Z

Our turtles no longer scatter away when we get close. They do, however, seem to look at us with suspicion.

I got tickets to Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. Sweeeeeet. Next up is to get Metallica tickets!

I went to Video Games Live on Saturday, which is a concert that plays orchestrial video game music. It's nice to be a female gamer. When I went to the restroom during intermission, the men's restroom had a long line. There was none for the women's. Har har har.

I fail at Ikea furniture. I got a cabinet for underneath my desk, and I made all of the drawers backwards. Whoops. (I had to re-do them.)

I'm finally on the last chapter or so of the Watchmen. I was told that my friends who read it, loved the movie, while ones that didn't, did not enjoy it so much. I'll probably watch the movie on Wednesday!

It's a good thing yaoi manga are plastic wrapped. When Eva sent manga to my work place, I was so tempted to read some Junjou Romantica. (Thanks a bunch for them though XD)

I discovered an awesome new snack thanks to a friend: Wasabi Tempura Seaweed snacks. It's like 3 good things all combined into one. Amazing. But, I ate them all =(

Due to the lack of a better conclusion: END.

Lately

2009-03-25T16:16:40Z

I am finally done moving! It's felt so busy lately. Both my boyfriend and I took a day off when movers came to move our furniture. I also worked from home a couple days to take care of stuff at the previous aparment and spent some of my lunch breaks shopping for miscellaneous things needed at the new place.

I'm looking into wall decorations now, like art and frames. I plan on buying wall decals from blik. We have 3 huge mirrors in our living room area, and I think it'd be cool to put these bamboo decals on them. I also like the idea of putting a Threadless decal above our bed.

Recently I decided to buy a Notebook cooler because my personal laptop seems to heat up badly after a while. While at Fry's, I just picked out the cheapest, decent looking one, and well, it ended up being great. I got this Antec one for $15. It fits my 14" laptop well and is amazingly quiet. Even its "high" setting is barely noticable.

Now for other computer talk! This is what I have for my soon-to-be computer so far.

The monitors are 22" and 20" (my boyfriend took the other 22"). I recently got a power supply that was on sale, and a friend was awesome and gave me an extra "gaming grade" mouse she had. Not pictured is the video card mentioned in my previous post because it ended up being defective and sent back. Whenever I get the replacement, I'll start ordering the remaining parts.

Anyway, after cleaning our new place a bit, I'll post pictures!

Meme

2009-03-23T16:18:33Z

Yes, starting off your work week by doing a meme instead of actual work is um... always nice! *slacker* XD;; Taken from Megori.

Do you like your name?
I'm ok with it. People keep misspelling it though. (It's with a 'C', not a 'K'!)

Have you ever wished to be your opposite sex?
Not really actually. I like being a female gamer and programmer. The periods and child birthing part kind of sucks though.

Do you like kids?
No... not really...

What’s your favorite word?
PWNZOR. Kidding kidding. I like (and use often) the word "dude" too.

Have you ever tYpED lYk dIs at some point in your life?
I actually might have used "dis" when I was younger... but I never typed in sticky caps. I never understood how that could be cool or even worth the effort...

What’s your dream career?
Working on a game, either as a game dev or a UI dev.

If you could be any other race, what would you be?
I like being Chinese. I guess another Asian race would be cool too?

What are you listening to right now?
Pandora. Drowning by Norther is currently on.

Grab any book by you, turn to page 69 and type out the last full sentence here:
The only book by me right now is a Perl book that is elevating my monitor. I don't feel like moving my monitor just to look at it XD;;

Do you like country music? Rap?
I hate country. I used to like rap, but not right now.

How would you like to die?
Painlessly, like in my sleep or something.

Do you like taking pictures (not necessarily of yourself)?
Yes, I love photography. I want a new camera so bad...

Ice cream or popsicles?
I love love love ice cream.

The last time you left your house? Where did you go?
About an hour ago, to work, where I am now.

Are you loving life?
Yeps.

Do you like the way you write?
For the most part I guess.

What’s your favorite animal?
Pandas! And hawks too.

Are you hungry right now?
No, was munching on chocolate just now.

Turn on your TV (unless it’s already on). What’s playing?
I'm not at home... No TV in my office.

What’s your favorite Pokemon?
Mew!

What was the last thing you watched on YouTube?
I can't remember. Oh wait, my boyfriend was watching a Family Guy clip this morning on it.

Are you cool with bugs?
It depends. I freak out at bugs that sting =(

Do you like Halloween?
Yes. It gives me another reason to use my costumes.

What do you want for your birthday/Christmas?
My birthday just passed, and I got stuff I wanted already XD

Have you ever fasted?
Nopes. I don't think I could do it either...

What’s going on tomorrow?
Nothing exciting. Working from home, so that some dude can come and pick up my rental washer/dryers from my previous place.

Are you doing well in school?
I'm not in school anymore, but I did graduate with honors.

Do you have online friends?
Yeps.

What’s your favorite board game?
I don't really like board games... I can't even think of a board game that I would consider my favorite, lol.

How much money’s in your wallet?
$51 in cash.

When was the last time you laughed really hard?
Last night! Dinner at the conveyor belt sushi place was fun.

Do you believe there’s such thing as a non-racist person?
No. I think everyone is racist in some way.

What do you do for fun at home?
Game game game!

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side!

Do you like your voice?
I don't really like my voice when I do public speaking, but otherwise, I guess it's ok.

Can you imitate something/someone well?
You know those Anime characters with high, cute voices? Yeahhhhh...

What’s your favorite amusement park?
Probably Six Flags in San Antonio. The rides there are pretty fun.

What’s something you do at home that you don’t do in public?
Go around... pantless, lol.

What’s something you regret doing as a child?
Not crying at her funeral.

Have you ever met a gay person?
I have gay friends, so yes.

Where do you think wind comes from?
Magic. Whoosh!

What color are your fingernails?
Natural. I don't paint them.

Do you like animal crackers?
Love them! I haven't had them in a while though.

Can you do a split?
No. I am... very NOT flexible...

Have you ever done anything stupid at a drive-thru?
No. I don't even go through drive-thrus that often.

What’s something you’re proud of?
I graduated with a major I loved. I'm doing work that I enjoy.

Do you think you’d be a cool teacher?
I think so. I used to tutor groups of 30-50 students, and they seemed to like me!

Do you know what the number 69 represents?
*cough* Yes... I do...

If you could be any animal in the world, what would you like to be?
Some sort of bird of prey.

Are you the jealous type?
Not really. Only when it makes sense to be jealous.

What fingers do you use to type?
All!

Is there something you need to have/to do to be able to sleep?
Not really. I just... fall asleep, even though it usually takes me about an hour.

Were you happy when you woke up today?
Yeps. The rest of our furniture is getting moved in today! Exciting!

Do you still speak to any of your classmates from elementary school?
Not really. The only one I can remember is Elaine, back when I was in NY.

In winter, would you rather wear jackets or hoodies?
Jackets, though I also like hoodies.

Do you wish you were somewhere else right now?
Yes, not at work please.

Have you ever kissed someone that smokes?
No. I don't find smoking attractive.

Have you ever dated/or had a crush on a guy named John?
Possibly? I don't remember?

Do you enjoy late night phone conversations?
Yeah, they're fun.

Do you like to cuddle?
<3

Have you ever found yourself worrying about commitment?
I have in the past. I guess I had nothing to worry about though.

Is there anybody you’re really disappointed in right now?
Yes, though I will not list names.

Is someone on your mind right now?
I guess so. There are a few people I feel like talking to right now.

When’s the next time you’ll see your closest friend?
Possibly tonight? She left her sunglasses at my place, heh.

Would you go in public looking like you do right now?
I am in public, so yes. I'm just wearing jeans and a Heartris shirt.

Is it easy to make you smile?
Yes, super easy.

Are you starting to realize anything?
I should be doing work.

One thing you’re looking forward to?
Being done with moving!

If you could have something right now, what would it be?
French fries. Don't ask. I just really want some fried food... always.

Does anyone call you babe?
Past boyfriends have. Current one doesn't. Though, I do call him that.

Do you have any bruises?
Always! There's currently a big one on my leg from hitting the couch.

Which is better sunrise or sunset?
I love the look of sunsets. I don't really care for sunrises, nor am I ever awake for them.

Are you dating the person you text most?
No. I text Tina the most. My boyfriend doesn't really like texts XD;;

What were you doing at 12 o’clock last night?
Watching TV.

Have you ever gotten butterflies from someone?
Yeah, whenever it's an important meeting.

Is there anything stressing you out currently?
No, not really.

Do you remember what you were like a year ago?
About the same as I am now?

Who are you missing the most right now?
I'm not sure... There are a few people I haven't seen in a while that I'd like to though.

Who was the first person you talked to today?
Boyfriend.

Have you ever kissed someone in a vehicle?
Yeah.

Have you ever kissed anyone whose name started with a D or C?
Nopes, unless nicknames count. Then, I guess I've kissed someone known as Donger.

When someone says “we need to talk”, what do you think is going to happen?
Either really good news or really bad news.

Does anything on your body hurt right now?
No, but my nose wishes it would stop leaking.

Do you wear glasses?
At home when I take out my contacts.

Are you going anywhere for the next summer?
Not sure yet actually.

Do you have plans today?
After work, go to Target and grocery store. Get more stuff for the new place!

Happy Birthday

2009-03-13T16:49:02Z

...to me! Thanks to those who have already sent me birthday wishes and/or gifts =D When I mentioned last month about how one of my previous birthdays fell on a Friday the 13th, I didn't realize it would happen again this year XD;; Anyway, I turned 24 today. No, this isn't going to be one of those "OMG I'M OLD" entries, because well, I'm not, and I find those pretty silly. There's plenty of time to worry about being old later, and being in your 20s is far from it.

I actually have no plans for today though. I made plans around my birthday but not actually on it. My weekend is booked with lunch and dinner plans, and I celebrated my birthday last night with friends at our favorite sushi restaurant. It was like a joint birthday celebration since 2 of my friends also have birthdays around this time. Maybe I'll just make my boyfriend cook me a steak dinner tonight ;)

Time for some computer talk! For months, I've been wanting to build a computer since I currently only have laptops. I decided to wait until my boyfriend and I moved into our new place. However, we've been buying some parts as we see them on sale. I already bought 2 of these 22" monitors, and this video card is coming in soon. Now I'm looking at cases, with my eye on these 2 right now.

In terms of looks, I like the green one a lot. I just find it so sleek, and I like that color. But for functionality, the silver one is better. Its USB and music ports are accessible without opening the front case, it has a bigger fan, and its corners won't cut you when working on it (apparently a problem with the green one). I'm still looking around, so I guess I'll decide later. I can't wait until I have all the parts to put together!

Moving and such

2009-03-09T17:59:21Z

Well, things have been busy lately. We're about to do a release at work, and I also have to deal with the new apartment. On Friday, we signed the lease and got our keys! I moved over all of my sewing stuff, which felt like a lot, but sadly, there's still so much left to go. No matter how little stuff it looks like you have, it always end up being much more.

On Saturday, the boyfriend and I went furniture shopping at Ikea. Even though we have too much stuff, we still managed to be missing a few things. We got a shoe rack to set at the top of the stairs:

It's kind of odd. Even though our entrance is on the first floor, our apartment is actually on the second. The moment you step inside, you are greeted by a staircase. We also got 2 identical tables to use as computer desks:

And a bookshelf which, sadly, only has nerdy computer books (and a few Chinese ones) right now.

The apartment is still pretty empty as we slowly move things over. We have a few weeks to do it though, so luckily, it's not a big hurry.

To add to that expense, I also just bought tickets for Video Games Live for me and 5 friends. It's a concert where an orchestra plays video game music. I went to it last year and thought it was pretty fun, so I decided to go again =)

Oh, and I did watch Resident Evil Degeneration over the weekend. It's alright. Not great, but I enjoyed it. Review and screenshots coming soon!

A failure in eye sight

2009-02-27T20:23:27Z

I'm usually an observant person, but I apparently suck at watching out for where I'm going. Today as I was walking out of my office, I smacked my elbow hard against the doorframe. I met my co-workers who were waiting for me for lunch in pain and holding my elbow. I'm just waiting for the large bruise to show up. I've also run into other things several times, like my coffee table. Not to mention, I get a number of "mystery" bruises without realizing that I had hit myself there.

Another story of fail was in one of my previous apartments. The kitchen countertops were granite with sharp corners. Passing by to do laundry, I scraped my side against the corner, actually cutting my skin. I didn't learn though. On the way back, I scraped my other side. I ended up with 3 cuts on my sides because I did it again a third time the very same day.

The worst one was actually not my fault though! Trying to be romantic, my boyfriend was carrying me into the bedroom. He got too close to the door and scraped my arm across the doorframe, peeling off a large chunk of skin. Romance fail!

Another move

2009-02-17T05:59:45Z

Well, we decided to finally do it. My boyfriend and I are moving in together, and we spent Valentine's Day looking at apartments. After looking at 4 apartments, one really stood out to us, and that's the one we went with.

It's a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment at 1130 sq ft. We really like how the apartment is laid out and the view is wonderful. The complex is located on top of a hill, so our balcony looks down on a wooded area. Here are a few pics!

Now to figure out where to put everything. We've both been living on our own (or with roommates) since the start of college, accumulating furniture and household things as we go. When we put our stuff together, we suddenly double and in some cases triple what we have (2 couches, 3 TVs, 2 beds, etc). It makes me glad we decided on a 2 bedroom instead of 1. The second room will mainly be used as my sewing room, but a bed will be there incase we have guests staying.

Moving is a hassle, but I'm used to it. The past 6 years, I've moved every year due to constant roommate changes. I've had as many as 3 roomates, and I've also lived by myself. It's sort of exciting really! Changing your surroundings once in a while and re-arranging your place can be fun ;)