Or something like that.

Hi, welcome to cahalith. This is the journal of Capella, the Cahalith. It covers many subjects: sometimes it is a personal journal about events in my life, sometimes it is a place for creative work, sometimes it is a place for essays or other kinds of posts. In short, many different kinds of posts will be found here, and it's up to you which of these you want to read.

I'm creating several friends groups. You can request to be added to them, however requesting to be added is not a guarantee that you will make it in; final decision is always mine. That in mind, here they are:

Friends: General posts I don't want all the Internet to see.
Creative: For my writings or other creative work.
Griping: Usually involves lots of complaining on my part. If you don't mind hearing that, you can be in on this one.

So far that's it: I'll update this post if that changes at any point!

Since I know some people have been wondering where I've been these last few weeks.

-Wedding in NJ
-Disney for a week
-Second wedding reception
-Back in NJ

As many of you know, my laptop is dead, and my desktop isn't being shipped back to NJ until I find a place to live, so I do NOT have a computer of my own, which is why I couldn't get on at Disney or anywhere else. This also means I'm not likely to be around regularly until sometime in September maybe.

Just so my friendlist knows...

Going back to my old matched set of IM names. AIM/Yahoo is sixthbrightest, MSN is sixthbrightest AT gmail, email is same as MSN. I haven't decided whether I should leave LJ as-is, make a new free one, or buy a rename token (except I'm poor).

This is because I has my domain name back and content may actually go up at some point.

Most kids get in trouble for lying. I got in trouble for refusing to go along with their lie.

-Leaving for Shands in Gainesville at 12 for a 2 appt and barely making it thanks to 2 train delays and a main road being shut to one lane each way thanks to roadwork on one side and an accident on the other
-Having the student doctor assigned to your mom forget she was a patient scheduled for today
-Having to wait 1 hour for another doctor
-Waiting the hour and a half for the impressions
-Having mom having an allergic reaction to adhesive, which is why it took 90 minutes instead of like 50
-Being unable to eat anything but cereal in the damn cafeteria
-Being hit on by a guy who doesn't understand the concept that I might not be interested; I only asked him to pass me the cereal cup because he was the person putting them out from the box, not because I was interested in him!
-Not leaving till 5:30
-Having a train slow the trip home, too

Oh, and did I mention this was Shands? Y'know, the place I've spent too much time in thanks to mom needing to go there for everything...especially brain surgery...so naturally I already don't like it there? And then my day continued to suck from the above.

Endoscopy next week to check me for gluten-induced problems. Lack of wheat is that last thing I need; I have enough issues avoiding milk dammit.

Did you know soy sauce has wheat in it? Yeah.

My laptop's out of power. Either it's the power cord- 3rd one in 13 months?) or it's officially dead. I have come to the conclusion that either way, it's not worth fixing, because sinking $70 for a charger or however much to repair the power port is a lot when I could just switch to an Intel machine and have better specs and it has been 4 years... *sigh*

All my stuff was backed up onto the Windows. I just feel like, for a month or more without a laptop (and without OS X), I'm gonna go nuts. There goes my ability to take my work anywhere. And my Adium. And actually having my music in a library in iTunes and not just in folders. And... waaaah.

Now I have to decide between $1200 for a MacBook, or about $1200 for an iMac plus mini-netbook...

I beat the Factions campaign of Guild Wars today! :)

At least, on my Assassin I did. I still have 2 more Canthan characters, and 6 more non-Canthan ones. But since I'm not so ambitious as to have every character beat every campaign, I'll settle for just seeing the end of one.

Okay! I have determined that I WILL work on writing while I am home, and I am counting on you guys to keep me honest. I'm going to set up opt-in filters; please read, consider the stories, and comment with which ones you would like to be on.

Avriga: This is my sci-fi universe Avriga, which features everything you'd expect: interstellar politics, giant spaceships, little spaceships, space battles, and more. Draws from Honor Harrington, Star Trek, and original Battlestar Galactica for influence.

What I need help with: A lot of backstory. Right now, to give a teaser, I'm stressing about the structure of the Imperial military. For example, should the ship pilots also have responsibility for firing weapons (like in TOS Star Trek), or should there be a separate pilot and tactical (TNG and later Star Trek)? I want to get a solid firm grasp of the setting so that I can draw on it.

I'll also have a story (or two) that I'll be working on in this universe, so never fear, there will actually be writing! I'm just warning you about the backstory dump because this fic has it the worst.


Twilight: Set in a universe where Earth has a population of mages, vampires, werewolves, and the like that we have no idea about. Kind of like the World of Darkness, for my RPG-playing folk, or like Harry Potter.

What I need help with: Some backstory, but not NEARLY as much as Avriga. Mostly just telling me if anything looks funky with my magic system, or if I've overestimated how well the supernatural can hide from the mundane. This filter will probably have lots of fic and little backstory, if it makes you feel better.


So, anyone who wants in, comment away!

Did the work clothes shopping today. Got 3 shirts, 1 pair of pants. Also have other new clothing from before I didn't yet blog about that is also attractive. I dyed my hair cinnaberry too. Check it out!

Clothes 'n' hair.

Is it bad that I just keep putting hair on my hand, holding it before my face, and admiring it?

I have a job! At Le Gourmet Chef, a culinary store. I like the place and the management seems wonderful, so I'm excited. I start next Wednesday.

Unfortuantely, this means I need to buy new work clothing. :(

I got an eye exam today and I have a glasses prescription. It'll be $129 for _2_ pairs of glasses and lenses. :) I'm excited.

My compy is fixed! I have been GWing lots.

I has Tiger! It's WONDERFUL. Spotlight in particular is the Best Thing Evar.

Of course, I'm still 1 OS X release behind...but 10.4 is required for everything now, so at least I'm not shut out of all new upgrades.

Still can't find a job. It's been a week now. Everywhere is either not hiring, "accepting applications but your chances aren't good", or take them, smile, say they'll call, and don't.


I REALLY wish my gaming computer was working. Stupid fucking UPS. If I'm going to be stuck in PC without a job, I want to be able to play games, and I can't right now. Not to mention, if any parts of the computer are actually broken, I need to know so that I can repair them or decide to replace it, but since I can't fix it myself, I have no clue if it's just that they're not in right or if something is truly wrong.


I'm so bored.


On the bright side, my vegan biscuits came out well, and I'm considering either lemon cake, no-bake macaroons, or oatmeal preserve bars next.

I'm working on a story with a partly-cybernetic main character who falls in with a group of other characters who are involved deeply with the paranormal world of magic, werewolves, vampires, and more. Levels of technology often beyond what we have in our world comfortably coexist with the paranormal. What genre would you say it is?

(Also, anyone interested in betaing?)

So today I acquired the Joy of Vegan Baking cookbook thanks to a present of $50 from my grandfather. It has all sorts of awesome recipes- so many of them that I can't decide which one to make tomorrow! I mean, I could make chocolate chip scones, apple pecan muffins, lemon bars, oatmeal-cherry-preserve bars, coconut mousse, fruit cobblers, apple strudels, and more. With all of those options, how can you pick just one thing?

But tomorrow I shall make something, and then I shall post about it if it works. I will even share recipes I really like if someone wants.

Back in Florida. Went around job applying today- got an interview with Dunkin Donuts and they said they would call me back tomorrow morning so I'm hopeful about that. Also went food shopping. Saw Amanda randomly at the vegan place and called Sothis who I will hopefully have spend the night soon.

Got my computer, however, the box had a split in the corner when I got it :( The computer APPEARS to turn on but when I connect it to an old CRT the CRT is idle and does not show anything :( When I tried to shut down the computer the power button blinks green then off then green, as if it was in standby. I'm hoping the CRT is just broken and the desktop is okay, but I need to borrow a monitor to test that. If it isn't okay, then I don't have a desktop, and that would suck a LOT.

The story: My News Reporting and Writing professor really liked my article on a jeans-fitting workshop that I did for his class. He asked me to rewrite it in a friendly style and to send it back to him, because he and his wife edit a weekly online lifestyle magazine that frequently sources pieces to NJMonthly and News12NJ. Anyways, today my article finally got published, marking my debut in the professional journalism world!

Here's the article! :) Note the byline at the bottom!

http://www.njmyway.com/content/view/415/81/

Bonnie got me addicted to this song, so I thought I would share the wealth. It's by Terra Naomi, who I've never heard before, but the piano and the singing are amazing, and the lyrics are heartbreaking and gorgeous.

Song

you're the closest thing I know to love so
let me in
the moon is glowing white
and time's a-wasting
and don't you want to know
what happens when
we start at the start
before it becomes that thing
that broke my heart in two
we've been here before
that place where we dwell until
we find we both want something more

so let's pretend that for a moment
we have never loved before
touch my skin
and I will kiss your lips and
we can both ignore
that feeling of wait,
what happens in time
I know this is cool for now
but I just might change my mind
and leave
you there in the dust
I know that you loved me a lot
but it was never quite discussed


I especially like the lines "what happens when/we start at the start" and "that place where we dwell until/we find we both want something more" and "so let's pretend that for a moment/we have never loved before". They seem fic-like to me.

-A presentation with clips from Pulp Fiction (Monday)
-A presentation about Crash
-A presentation about the Rocky Horror Picture Show
-A presentation about the evil of magazines like Seventeen and Cosmo
-A presentation about Disney films' indoctrination of gender/class attitudes (Including images of women dressed up in sexy Disney princess costumes. o.O)

This was a strange assortment of presentations to see after each other. The costume images were also disturbing.

I'm noticing that I'm posting more now that I'm sick.

Odo and I were looking at a Death Star groom's cake that wound up on Digg. Now, I'd never heard of a groom's cake before, but it sounded awesome. So Odo and I started talking about awesome geeky cakes, except it started sounding a little...wrong.

12:03:33 AM koorika36: a linking book!
12:03:37 AM koorika36: or Kerath's Arch. the cake.
12:03:39 AM odoofdni: So fucking sweet!
12:03:42 AM koorika36: the CARROT cake 'cause it's brown.
12:03:49 AM odoofdni: KA would be...wow, hard.
12:03:53 AM koorika36: yes. a vegan Kerath's Arch carrot cake.
12:03:59 AM koorika36: (lying down, not standing up )
12:04:06 AM odoofdni: Oh, that's less fun.
12:04:08 AM koorika36: ...that sounded like...wrong
12:04:09 AM koorika36: hahahaha
12:04:18 AM koorika36: lying down works for a quick one though
12:04:19 AM koorika36: quick cake
12:04:20 AM koorika36: not...
12:04:22 AM koorika36: ...oh hell.
12:04:25 AM odoofdni: >.>
12:04:27 AM koorika36: I CAN'T TALK RIGHT.
12:04:29 AM koorika36: *blogs this*

I hate this time. It's not fair. I couldn't sleep till after 3AM last night, and now I had to leave work early. I shouldn't have had to, I should have been able to take it- I took Aleve!- but by noon I was pretty much just clinging to the counter whenever I wasn't ringing stuff up. At least my managers were awesome and okay with me going, but I feel like I shoulda been able to make it.

I'm going to try to make up for it during exam weeks, both because I feel bad and because I could use the money. I want to be hired back next year, and I've already been out sick- what, 3 times? maybe 4 but I think it's 3- this year. I LOVE my job, and I've been told that I'm always really friendly and do a good job, so I feel like if I show I'm willing to make up for being out, it'd be good.

Maybe I'm overthinking all this and they don't really care as much as I'm scared they do. I mean, it's college. I bet people call out when they aren't even sick all the time. It probably isn't a deal for them and I'm just flailing.