Eternal Sonata ~Encore~

Well, it’s been almost two weeks, and not a lot has happened, but I figure I’ll update anyway. We went to Chris’ new place (Chi-Fu Chris, not FINA or Vancouver Chris) for a gathering thing, which was pretty fun, though it involved some battle wounds and violent card games. I like his place. We should go there more often.

I’ve recently started playing Eternal Sonata again. God damn I forgot how pretty that game is, and how much I like Chopin’s music. <3 I’m going to need to cut back soon, though, since I want to try to get some of the work I need finished for after reading break done THIS week, so I can enjoy my trip to Edmonton more.

On that note, the confirmed dates are the 17th – 21st. $460 later, I’ve bought the plane tickets and we’ll be heading out there for good times. Galaxy Land and the Waterpark and the arcade and whatever else we can think of await! Soooooo excited.

Kel and I have both started working out more regularly again (i.e. pretty much daily, as opposed to every week and a half or so like we slipped to) and it’s pretty nice. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it, in spite of how much work it is, and I can already see minor improvements overall, which is encouraging. Depending on the exercise and the muscles, I can use anywhere from 15 lbs to 45 lbs, which is more than I could before. (Before, it was more like 10 lbs to 30 lbs.) Biggest issue (or, weakest muscle, in other words) is my triceps, because I’ve had twiggy arms for a long time as it is, and that muscle especially got rare use. So it leads to rather annoying problems like not being able to do more push-ups because my arms can’t do any more, even though my chest could probably still do almost double what I’ve already done. Oh well, something to work on. It’ll even out in time.

And my mommy surprised me with new shoes today, so I don’t have to spend the money myself. :3

Hm… oh, and Alex finally got on Accutane, after having to try a whole bunch of other stuff he didn’t want to bother with. Not that that matters to any of you, but I’m pretty happy for him. His acne has been as bad as mine was, and I went on the same medicine and it worked very well for my. Now I rarely have more than one or MAYBE two pimples, if that, unless I’m really stressed and so on. It’s gonna be good once his treatment is finished.

And that’s all she wrote. I’m off to bed now, probably gonna be playing a nocturne over and over in my head. Wheeee.

Broken Nails

So. Over the past 4 months of school, I’ve read a lot of holocaust literature. Specifically:

  • Survival in Auschwitz
  • Briar Rose
  • Maus I
  • Maus II
  • The Sunflower
  • Death Dealer
  • And Peace Never Came
  • Lost
  • Losing the Dead

I know it’s awful of me to feel this way, but after this many books (easily over 1000 pages total), I’m really getting sick of Jewish people. I know it was a horrific event and a lot of people suffered and have stories to tell, but because of this overload of Holocaust literature in a short amount of time, I just want to stop hearing about it. <.<

Edmonton is about 99% sure to go. Just need to make certain we both get the time off. Basic plans are already set, and plane tickets got even cheaper, so that’s a bonus. We should be staying with my Auntie Sheri (the one who yodels at hobos when she’s drunk), and we’ll take the car my Oma has at my Auntie Boo’s(1) house. We’ll go to the waterslides and the amusement part at WEM, and probably do some shopping there, just because it’s WEM, and also hit Reds and who knows what else. Probably also visit Calvin for a day or so, just because we can, and maybe go out with a couple other friends I have there.

On a related note, I thought Amber wouldn’t be able to come because she’s in school. Turns out, though, she got her credits early so she can graduate early, and is done come this Thursday. However, she is still not coming. Why? Because Kelvin doesn’t want her to. She isn’t even aware of the plans because Kel knows the kind of fuss she’ll put up, and I think he’s probably not telling her until after Valentine’s day, two days before we leave, so the tickets will be bought and it’ll be too late. That in and of itself is going to go badly, since she already doesn’t trust me alone with him when it’s just at one of our houses, let alone in different city. But he also gets to try to explain that she can’t come specifically because he doesn’t want her to. I’m pretty sure there’s absolutely no way that’s going to go well. And I’m also pretty sure it’s going to somehow be at least partially my fault in her mind, which will lead to some awkward lunch breaks at work. But we’ll see.

I’m planning to buy M.A.G. on Tuesday with my Futureshop gift cards, because it looks pretty fucking awesome. I’m not normally a huge FPS person, but this is 256 people online at one time in each game, no computers. So you’re constantly going to be fighting other people and trying to outsmart them, which will make for an actual challenge. I have yet to come across a video game AI that I can’t outsmart most of the time, but actual people can be really crafty. Gonna be some good times. Of course, this means I’m going to need to read my ass off and get ahead so I can spare time to play at all, especially since projects are going to be coming up as well soon. But I think I can do it, so we’ll see. If not, then I’ll always be able to just put it down and come back later. I’m excited to play with a bunch of the guys from work, though.

I’m on a bit of a Hana Pestle stint right now. Not sure why. But goddamn, does my hand search for your hand in a dark room.

WTF BRAIN.

Okay, so, I’ve had a series of weird-ass dreams lately when I sleep/nap, and I figure I should write them down.

1. This one was during a nap. I was running away from something, then stumbled into a massive antique furniture/human store. People were buying other humans to put their minds into so they could escape something they weren’t fond of in their current lives. There was also a lot of other stuff that didn’t make sense, but it ended with a fat chick with pink hair choosing to die so the rest of the people in the store could live. They braided her hair into a mass of ropes and then burned her alive.

2. Again, during a nap. I woke up from a coma in a dark room with a few spotlights in different areas and super-saturated colours, and I apparently knew it was my room. I left and heard a noise down one end of the hall, so I looked, and I saw Zombie David Bowie riding a rainbow and coming fast with poisonous androgynous fish (obviously, the Adaro had some inspiration here). I had no weapon, so I was like shit, and started running as fast as I could down the other end of the hall. I jumped out of the window and down about three stories, and landed all Assassin’s Creed style and kept running, while ZDB had to go around and find the door because his rainbow couldn’t fit out the window. I ran down the street to the Machine Gun Store (yes, there was a store specifically for machine guns) and grabbed a few guns. All the streets were empty because ZDB had already killed the rest of the city, and I was the only one left because I had been unconscious and therefore undetectable to him. I started climbing to the tops of buildings and tried to spot ZDB so I could shoot him before he got me, and eventually I found him at the zoo, getting more Androgynous Fish to throw. So I climbed the fence and went into the liger cage and got Hercules (he’s a pretty famous liger, for those who don’t know) and used him like a steed to chase down ZDB. We ended up charging towards each other, him throwing fish and me shooting, until Hercules leaped towards him, and I jumped off his back and flipped over ZDB and onto his rainbow behind him, and snapped his neck.

3. I was at a metro, trying to lasso an insane trans-dimensional shape-shifter so I could kill him as a matter of  honour for my people, but NO ONE COULD SEE HIM BUT ME. Also, I have no idea who “my people” were, I just knew it was for them.

4. I went to a world called NightmareBearAbortionLand (I specifically remember thinking it was too epic and awesome for spaces, hence why it’s written like that), where I was the king and reigned over a land made of tongues and people farmed animal-plants for food. Like, beef growing on vines inside pods that keep them fresh, or a fish-bush. I lived in a fortified Battle-Cathedral and wore clothes made out of poor people.

    So yeah. I think my brain is a little bit fucked up.

    On a different note, things miiiight be looking up on a different front. Might work out this time. -excited- But, we’ll see. Not gonna get my hopes up just yet, haha.

    Went to see The Book of Eli tonight with Kel and Dawn. It was pretty good. I’m so impressed by blind people reading braille, because I can’t even tell the dots apart when my fingers run over them. I suppose it comes with practice, but still.

    Looks like the trip to Edmonton is going to be a go. Kel and I will probably stay at my Aunt Sheri’s house for 4 or 5 days, and I’ll use my Oma’s car there to drive around, and since I’ll have a vehicle there, we’re gonna fly. It’ll only cost around $270 to go there and back, plus a tank of gas for the car and money for whatever we do, so it’ll be under $450, most likely. Which is pretty good. So I’m excited as hell for this. :D

    Ummmm and finally, I’m an idiot. No, I will not explain that. No, you, it’s not what you think. If it was, there’s no way I’d have let you know about it. It’s a long story, suffice to say I didn’t want to talk about it before, and I knew how to keep it so I didn’t have to.

    Oh, and I have a random pain near my kidney. Hates it. Okay night.

    So, I’ve reached some strange state of contentedness, for reasons that I don’t think need to be shared. Mostly because it would just seem ridiculous to most people. There’s the occasional waver, but all-in-all the past 24 hours or so have been pretty much fine. Not sure what exactly caused all of that, but it seems like it may be over just as suddenly as it started. How odd.

    I apologize for my little essay last night. I know most of you probably couldn’t be arsed to read it, and it doesn’t really apply to most of you, anyway. At best, a lot of you were probably like Robbie and read about half, and just skimmed the rest, haha. Might be better, anyway; you all don’t need to know any more about how I think and feel than absolutely necessary.

    I’m suddenly all full of plans, and will be hanging out with Josh tomorrow for a few hours. It’s been months since I’ve last seen him, so that’ll be fun. After that, I’m heading off to Kelvin’s once again and we’re going to do some more gaming and the like, because we’re both obsessed, and then not sure after that. Then on Friday, the group and I are going to see Daybreakers, and then on SATURDAY we plus Kelvin are going to see The Book of Eli, and at least Kel, Danny, and I are gonna go out to dinner at Asian Food. I assume Amber will also be coming, but she hasn’t been mentioned one way or the other, so I’m not sure.

    Speaking of plans, I’ve done a lot of thinking lately. I have a weird sense I have an idea of how a couple of things are going to end up working out in the end, and it’s kind of strange. Maybe I’m just having some sort of quasi-premonition day. But, it was… nice. So that also helped to improve my mood. So now I have some plans to help that along, too. A life should have secret plans.

    Anyway, that’s all for tonight. I’m going to head to sleep, though so Robbie doesn’t think I’m listening to him, I’m doing this at a time that gets me enough sleep, and I double checked, and I was right. 6 hours falls within normal range for required sleep for the brain to fully recharge, and I can prove it for you, if you’d like. :P Though, I always function fine and I sleep less than you do normally, anyway. My body just needs less.

    You people who need more had better not get lost in the woods with me in the dead of winter. I WILL kill and eat most of you if I need to. Survival of the fittest. =D

    Cyborg memories!?

    That title makes no sense to anyone but me, and I love it. Oh, really inside jokes.

    Anyway, I’ve suddenly been feeling significantly less emo and whiny and such, which I must admit is a nice change of pace. We’ll see if this lasts (bahaha not bloody likely), and if it does, splendid. And if not… well. Tough? Anyway, I present a very basic model of how I deal with things. The further down and left you go, the rarer the necessity of the step becomes. Top right is where life is good. Or life is bad and I just say fuck it and make it good.

    And there you have it. I might still have a potentially (see: almost guaranteed) awkward conversation ahead of me, but I’ll have to take that as it comes. I kinda owe and explanation, I suppose. Curse you, flying girl.

    On an unrelated note, Kel and I want to do something to get away from Kelowna and people for a while in February when I have the reading break, just for a few days. We WERE wanting to go to Vancouver for a few days, but then the Winter Olympics gave a pre-emptive FUCK YOU and there’s nowhere to stay for under $350 a night, assuming you find a place at all. And I’m not staying with friends. Chris doesn’t have his own place, nor the room at the place he’s staying, and I’m not close enough friends with Craig, and even if I was, while I like him and all, I refuse to ever stay at his place again. It scared me to my very soul. So now we need other ideas. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We’re aiming for around 4 days or so, so whatever we do needs to entertain us for at least that long. And we’re not going to go to Edmonton or something, because that would be pretty much two entire days gone just to travel there and back, so reasonably close would be nice. GO, INTERNET, GO!

    I can almost guarantee Amber is going to have a problem with it, because she has a problem with he and I being alone ever, because I’m just SO DESPERATE TO FUCK HIM OMG. Though really, if I wanted to do that, I’d have done it a long time ago. I know he’s a horndog, and he likes to drink. It wouldn’t be much of a challenge. She needs to realize he’s not her dog. But to his credit, he’s been getting better at not simply taking her crap when she gets like that, so good on him. And he seemed really excited for us to go do something together, since we never really have other than just hanging out at one another’s houses, so bonus points there. Really, I am, too. While I love everyone else here, Kel and Danny are my only real close guy friends here (obviously there’s also Robbie, Alex, and Connor, but I can’t exactly call any of them up and ask them to come over), and it might be kinda nice to not be around the Boobéd Ones for a little bit. Of course I love Shay and Dawn and Sarika, but I just don’t talk to them about the same things the same way as I would to Kel or Danny. Especially Kel, actually. Danny and I aren’t quite alike enough for it to be exactly the same, though I still talk to him about things I wouldn’t with any of the girls, and I quite enjoy his company. As for Nick and Tyler, I consider them friends, but more in the sense of they’re part of the group of friends. I go do things with the entire group that includes them, and vice versa, but I doubt I’ll ever be calling Nick or Tyler to come hang out individually. I’m friends with them through association, and I’ve never really had extended one-on-one conversations with either of them. I’m not sure if that’s odd or not.

    I guess on further thought, Kelvin and Robbie would probably be my dictionary-definition best friends. Obviously things are more complex with Robbie because of past relationships and distance and the whole different dynamic that brings into things (and acknowledged or not, it is and probably always will be there; we can act the same as Kel and I do, but the fact that he and I were a couple and Kel and I weren’t always gives things a different feeling or texture), but all things considered, it’s about the same. Though I never really consider any one or two people my “best friends” and instead refer to all the close friends, including Dawn, Shay, Danny, Alex, and Connor, etc. as such, but I figure while I’m on this train of thought, I’ll run with it. I know it’s pretty similar with the others, too. I know Dawn refers to us as her “best friends”, but at the same time, Shay is probably the “Best Friend”. Just the one or two people you share pretty much everything with without shame. Again, there are exceptions, but nothing in life is written in stone. Except things that are literally written in stone, since I know SOME smartass out there is going to think that.

    Now I’m wondering what kinds of things Robbie and Kel might know about me that other people don’t. Nothing jumps readily to mind (except, again, for the obvious differences involving Robbie and past couplehood). Except, I suppose, that they have heard of feelings and things that I don’t even put into here. I wonder why it is I can even write some things in here that, if I were face-to-face with Dawn for example, I probably wouldn’t say or even hint to out loud, even though I know she reads this. What is it with me and feelings in general? Sometimes, I kind of get out of my skin and stand a few feet away, look at myself objectively, and wonder why it is that sometimes it’s like I’m almost offended that I have them. I know that’s kind of a strange way to put it, but that’s the best way I can think of it. I know it’s perfectly normal for people to feel sad and depressed sometimes, and yet, when it happens to me, if I can’t just suck it up and move on with it I end up reacting like someone shoved a vile miasma of pure unpleasantness down my throat. I treat it like it’s some unnatural, foreign thing that I’m desperate to get out of me and yet half the time I’m too bewildered to figure out just how to do it.

    I honestly think it’s because I take a sort of pride in my general stability. Obviously it’s not 100% foolproof, but by and large, I can take whatever is thrown at me and just deal with it and keep on going like nothing happened. Hell, after I caught Mitch cheating on me 5 or so years ago, I dumped him on the spot (after the customary drama), felt bad for about a day, then just kinda moved on and didn’t look back, and didn’t really care. He continued to fuck around in my life on sporadic occasions after that, which did make me quite displeased with his existence in general, but that’s unrelated to his cheating. Granted, after that it also took me almost four years before I’d actually open up enough to try it again, with Robbie then, and I guess that’s part of why when that ended it hit me so hard and sent the rollercoaster of up and down on it’s trip, since I just had no clue how to deal with myself. Though I’m still sometimes mystified with how I had managed to fall in love with him, who I’ve never even met in person, and yet after 9 months with Mitch, I didn’t have that. Of course that played a contributing role to everything, too, but that’s not a story for right now. However, that was also about the time Kel and I became really close friends, since soon before Robbie and I got together, he had broken up with Natalie and I had chosen to stick with him rather than her. He and Amber paired up around the same time Robbie and I did, and so we talked about that stuff a lot, which I think kinda brought us closer together. So of course, once things ended with Robbie the first time, he was the one who kinda heard the brunt of what I had to say about the whole matter. Same with the other times. And in the same way, I hear about all the ups and downs in his relationship with Amber and how he feels about things. And if anything, he’s even more closed off about his feelings than I am to most people, if that gives anyone any sort of reference to what I’m talking about.

    Talking about that, I did just think of one thing I’ve never shared with either Kel or Robbie, though I probably should have told Robbie about it when it happened. Though now it’s a moot point and would really just seem like I’m dwelling on it, which I actually did for a little while because… well. That’s not important anymore. It was a long time ago, when he and I were together, so now it would just be a guilt trip, whether or not that was my intention. It’s just become one of those things that doesn’t affect you anymore, but you never really forget. I’m sure everyone has something of that nature that they keep to themselves, so that should give you a frame of reference.

    I should really wrap this up now. I had been planning to go to sleep about an hour and a half ago, and I was just going to do a quick blog post saying I’m feeling a bit better, and then I mentioned Kel’s and my plans, and then that just somehow turned into this introverted adventure in self-understanding and the resulting show of a small part of my inner workings and thoughts in certain situations. Congratulations, just what you wanted. More knowledge about me.

    And provided all of this, you probably still can’t figure out how to try to help if a depression strikes again, because I can’t really put into words exactly how I react and process things. Treating me and my mind like a normal person’s just never works. Not to sound like I’m tooting my own horn or that I’m claiming I’m a beautiful and unique snowflake, but I’m not the same as a normal person. I’m not some complete abstraction that thinks and acts totally unlike other people, because of course I have some similar motivations and procedures for acting and thinking, but for whatever reason, I’m pretty well aware that I don’t function quite the same in my head as most people, and so things that work for them often won’t for me, and vice versa. It’s always interesting to see what people try to do, though. And sometimes I wonder if I’m as easily read as some people I know. It’s gotten to the point with one person, who shall remain unnamed, that I can figure out what [s]he has recently done, the thought process that stemmed from that, and what [s]he is now trying to do and is probably thinking, based off something as simple as punctuation. (And since you’ll probably know it’s you, yes, I did know you read my blog and what you were trying to do, as well as a general idea of what you were thinking, based off that little change. It might seem like a big jump to you, but you’d be very, very surprised at the little details I’ve noticed over time that make that kind of thing possible for me to do now. ;) )

    This is getting out of hand. I feel a bit better for a while, then I get worse again, and it keeps happening over and over throughout the day. And now, even hanging out with Kelvin and playing games and working on his computer with him isn’t keeping my mind off of it. I kinda miss having total control over my emotions. I’ve had a couple times where I’ve gotten so frustrated with myself that I feel like the slightest thing could have me in tears or else make me snap at people.

    I said something stupid to Robbie, so now I also feel like a pretty big dick about that, and I wouldn’t blame him for being mad at me. It was one of those things where as soon as I hit enter, I knew it was a bad thing to say. Though I do know exactly why that popped into my head, not that that helped anything, anyway.

    I already know what to do to make myself feel just a little better, but I’m not sure if I want to. It might just cause more problems than it’s worth to feel better sooner. I think I will eventually either way, but who knows. This cycle is really starting to get to me each time it loops again, and I feel worse every time, too. This is what, the fourth time now? Maybe fifth? I don’t remember. Point is, I’m getting a little too familiar with it.

    I’ll probably have to sleep on it, I guess. I’ll see if I can decide tomorrow.

    散っていた、降っていた、でも今に落ち続ける。

    Penguin

    Reading this made me a little sad because that would be awful to live with.

    [11:50 PM]

    So much for feeling better. I was for a while, now it came back full force. What the hell is with this shit. I thought it was long gone, and now I’m frustrated to top it off. I think I’ll turn in early and hope that I feel better in the morning.

    -stabs emotions in the face-

    G.H.O.S.T.

    Well, I took some new pictures last night. If I do say so myself, I’m a pretty good photographer. Aside from the obvious change in colours on the brighter ones, and the fiddling of the levels in them, there was no photoshop used. The dark ones are untouched, straight off the camera. Just good lighting and angles and 60-something photos to find 10 I like. The best one out of them looks kinda unlike me, haha. It’s what I’d look like if I was a better-looking version of me. :P Pretty amazing what one can do with some bright lights and cover-up. (Yes. Cover-up. I have bags under my eyes no matter what, it’s genetic, shut up.)

    There’s a couple of them. The rest are on Facebook, if anyone cares to look. I have no idea what’s with the tip of my tongue in the one of them, it’s usually at a rounded point, not the weird… flat end it has. So don’t ask. I have no idea. I think I moved my tongue during the exposure or something.

    Well, I think I pinpointed the source of my recent depression the other day, which has oddly enough both helped and made it worse. Helped in that it seems to be less frequent and, when it does happen, takes less time to get under control. Made it worse in that now that I know exactly what it is, when I DO feel it, I end up thinking specifically of it, which makes me feel worse than I did before. But, like I said, it’s gotten easier to reign in and to keep under control, so I can at least keep it from coming out most of the time. So I’ll just assume it’s a least a bit of a good thing. Chances are, it’ll go away of its own accord, just like always. We’ll see how long that takes. Hopefully not very, because I’m getting quick sick of it, and this isn’t the first time, either. I want it to just fuck off. D<

    Anyway, in other news, I went and spent some of my giftcards today, so I got some new clothes, and I’m going tomorrow to a different store to get some more. Also, I ordered a new shirt and it’s on its way in the mail. I’ll need to take new pictures sometime. I’m about due for updated ones, anyway. But I think they look nice, so that’s good.

    Also, today was the first day of classes. It was pretty uneventful, though my last class was canceled because the professor apparently has the flu, so that was kinda a bonus. Tomorrow is my short day, too, so that’s nice. The classes this semester should be easier, too, although I have more reading to do. But I’ll be able to manage it fine.

    Hours are being cut back at work again, since it’s January and after Christmas, when they ALWAYS go over budget. But I doubt I’ll be affected too much because they pretty much always need me to go into H.E. on the weekends, and I have seniority over most of the part-time people, so I should get hours before they do. I think the only exceptions are Steve and a couple of cashiers.

    I think that’s about all I have for tonight. Might need to have a talk tomorrow. I’m not sure. I guess I’ll find out.