My Jaded Existence

cries

2009-10-25T00:24:36Z

I made a to-do list for my homework because I wanted to make sure I didnt forget anything.... and now I feel completely overwhelmed. My "fight or flee" thing has kicked in and I want to flee. -- I know I need to just take it one thing at a time and prioritize... but I would much rather just go and watch TV.

So, Instead I decided this was a great time to not procrastinate on something else entirely... and I went and planned my schedule for next semester since registration starts next week.... totally on the bottom of the priority list, but its done. Now I just need to go see a councelor and make sure the classes I have selected fit the requirements and get it approved.

*sigh*

*stares at homework to-do list*

puppydifranco @ 2009-10-11T20:43:00

2009-10-12T01:44:55Z

homework...homework... and more homework... I dont have time for anything else these days.

le sigh.

2009-09-20T05:50:49Z

there are so many books that I want to read right now, and I just don't have the time... I have never been as busy with school work before as I am this semester... i guess that is just how it is going to be until I finish my degree because I am going to have multiple literature classes every semester until I graduate -- I have 10 more literature classes that I have to take to get my degree.

I just did the math... when this semester is over I will have 76 out of the 145 credit hours that I will need to graduate with the degree and certification so that I can teach... so if I continue taking classes 5 at a time (15 credit hours) like I am doing right now... it will take me 4.6 semesters ~ so therefore 5 more semesters to finish... which means finish up this school year, and then 2 full more years... so i will be done in Summer 2012.

Of course, if I can somehow squeeze enough money out of my student loans to afford a summer class or two, I could cut off one semester and be done in December of 2011, but I don't know if that will be financially possible... and of course, this is also working under the assumption that they will have the right classes offered at the right times so that I am able to take 5 classes at a time.... especially with the 3 semsters that will include my teaching blocks that require a significant amount of time spent in the class room observing/student teaching.

*sigh* -- I just keep telling myself, at least you are more than half way done... you are walking down the mountain now.

more blathering on about school...

2009-09-15T06:29:00Z

wish I had something else to talk about other than school, but not much else is going on these days.

school is still going well... currently have three papers I need to write, in a format I have never written in before, something called a "Close Reading"... is this some new thing? I had never even heard of a close reading before this semester, and now I have 3 of them for 3 different classes, and they are all due within the same 24 hour period... am kind of struggling with them because I keep wanting to focus on content and interpretation of the material, whereas apparently the point of a close reading paper is to write about the format and presentation of the material... I may have to take advantage of the writing lab that the university offers and go get help from a tutor... I've never had to seek out help on a paper before.

Out of curiosity, I just did a google search for "close reading" and something that I was reading sparked an idea (hehehe, I got hit by the paper-writing-equivelant of a plot bunny) and I got some work done on 1 of the three... the other two I still need to work on. I hope that my professors talk more about the papers in class, I can't be the only one that is having a hard time with these.

I think my most interesting class this semester is my Human Sexuality class... I find it more enjoyable than any of my other classes... although it, like the others, requires a lot of reading... speaking oh which, I should really get back to it now.

T.G.I. Labor Day

2009-09-07T17:27:13Z

So school is going really well... I have completely abandoned trying to take my car and park at the campus, even though I paid $50 for a parking pass for the campus parking lot, it is still impossible to find a spot anywhere... I circled the other day for 20 minutes in the campus parking lot, along with about 15 other cars, and in the end I ended up going to a pay lot and spending another $5... and as i was walking towards the campus, I couldn't help but notice how many other people in the pay lot had the same parking passes for the campus lot hanging from their mirrors.... apparently many of us wasted all that money and can never find a parking spot, and are now wasting more money everyday to pay again to park somewhere else.

So, I am now taking public transportation, the Metro Lightrail drops me off literally at the front door of the campus, and it picks up not far from my house at all. I get a student discount, so my fare is only half price. -- and with the money I will be saving on gas not driving to downtown and back 4 days a week, it will more than pay for the parking at the Lightrail lot. ($40 a month)

anywho, I have much homework that I need to be working on... a paper to write and a ton that I need to read... 4 lit classes at one time is tough.

jitters

2009-08-24T10:38:13Z

today is my first day at University of Houston Downtown. I am excited and kinda nervous. Wish me luck =)

school

2009-08-11T07:58:35Z

my degree finally arrived in the mail - it feels more official now. I am having it framed. My next semester starts in just two more weeks, I am very excited. I went ahead and bought my books. only spent $325 on books for 5 classes, was pleasently surprised... I have come to the conclusion after many semesters that if you spend less that $100 per class on books, you are doing very well and I only had one book this semester that hit the 100 mark.

I'm still here.... anyone else?

2009-08-04T19:03:33Z

It occured to me today that I haven't posted on here in awhile, so I checked and it's been almost a month.

So, the weight loss thing is going well... we missed going to the gym for a week because Ducky's sister has thyroid cancer and she had surgery last Monday, and then when she got out of the hospital Ducky went to stay with her for 5 days while she was recuperating. -- but we are going back to the gym tonight.

We haven't actually weighed in or anything, but I can tell that I have lost weight, I can feel it.

Just 3 more weeks until my next semester starts. I am uber-excited. New school, new degree progress, what's not to love.

My friend Alicia wanted to start playing world of warcraft again, and she begged me to come play with her, so I have re-activated my account and now Ducky is playing also. We are having fun with it. It's nice to be able to play casually, unlike the first two years where I was totally addicted... Although I do worry that Ducky is rapidly becoming addicted.... we are going to have to schedule nights where we dont play so that we can do other things.

I still haven't gone to see the new Harry Potter yet, and I really want to go see it - maybe this weekend.

puppydifranco @ 2009-07-03T01:29:00

2009-07-03T06:29:38Z

well, I finsihed the first Sookie Stackhouse book and started reading the second book... I got about 2 chapters in when I got introduced to the character that I was hoping was not in the second book... so, I have realized that I can not continue to read the book unless I want to spoil myself for Season 2 of True Blood... which I do not want to do.

So, I am taking a detour and I have decided that I am going to read Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy, which has been on my to-do list for a while... and then I will either divert back to the Sookie Stackhouse series... or I will go in an entirely different direction and start reading The Dresden Files series.

so many books, so many choices... and for the next month and a half... so much time.

I know when next semester starts I will have a ton to read, but for classes, not for personal enjoyment.

not much.

2009-07-02T01:32:32Z

I often forget about my LJ these days... I am on facebook so much it never even occurs to me to come over here and post.

So what's new? not much... just reading a lot and enjoying my summer off before I start full time school back up in the fall... actually more than full time.. that would be 12 hours... I am taking 15.

I got new sheets yesterday... yay new sheets... they are a white with a green and blue plaid design and they are a real soft Flannel. We got them at Sam's for like $35.... overall we spent over $200 for everything we got, so we are totally broke now for the next two weeks, but it was worth it.

anywho... I finished the twilight series and I am now reading the Sookie Stackhouse books.... so far so good.

puppydifranco @ 2009-06-24T23:03:00

2009-06-25T04:03:50Z

it was 104 degrees today.... I am sooo scared of what August is going to bring. I am already afraid to step outside in fear that I may burst into flames.

it's the little things that make me happy.

2009-06-23T19:31:15Z

another day at 99 degrees (plus ridiculous humidity)... it's too hot to even try to function... am glad I don't HAVE to leave the house for any reason today (Ducky works early shifts on Tuesday so my mom provides transportation as it is on her way to and from work) ... I will just stay happy in my room with my window unit A/C blasting and watch TV and read stuff on my kindle. =)

Kindle Time -- and book pimping for my friend =)

2009-06-22T19:41:34Z

My kindle arrived today... opened the box about half an hour ago and so far I LOVE it... it is charging now... I have already gone and bought my friend wl551's book "Half of Me", which if you are inclined to check out, you can purchase here --> Buy "Half of Me" at Freya's Bower and support my friend

I plugged it into my laptop, only to discover that when you plug it in via usb, it goes into USB mode, and you can't play with it... it says that when you eject it from the usb it will still charge and you can continue playing with it... but it didn't so much work... which probably has more to do with my laptop running Vista than it does with the kindle itself - I have noticed that Vista acts strangely with usb things that you eject but still have plugged in... I shall have to test this hypothesis with my regular comp running XP later.

I have already managed to take one of the ebooks I already had on my computer in .mobi format and transfer it over to the kindle via USB... came out prefectly fine... so while kindle is charging, I am going to work on converting the rest of my ebooks into .mobi format.

YAY!

school stuff mostly

2009-06-21T12:04:12Z

So, I love the new laptop... I am using it right now... I have been trying to use it as much as possible so that I can get use to the keyboard... it has pretty much become my primary computer... I haven't even turned my old computer on it days.

My kindle still hasn't arrived yet, despite amazon saying that the delivery estimate was on Friday, the 19th. I am watching for it every day.

I went to my transfer student orientation for University of Houston Downtown on Tuesday... I really think I am going to love my new campus... it is so much more impressive than my old school... it's kinda like going from a bicycle to a limosine. -- There is a Starbucks, a Smoothie King, a Chick Fil-A, and a Taco Bell all IN the building... the library is two entire floors of the main building (which is 10 floors high) -- there are 3 big student lounge areas with comfortable seating and tables everywhere -- the whole building has WiFi so I can use my laptop anywhere.

I went ahead and got signed up for next semester which starts on Aug. 25th. -- I will be taking 15 hours (5 classes) -- On the afternoons on Mon/Wed I will be taking Brit Lit I and Brit Lit II (yup, I am taking both at the same time) -- then on Tues/Thur evenings, I am taking Intro to Poetry, Intro to Fiction, and Human Sexuality (to fulfill social sciences requirement)... I am slightly concerned about the amount of material I am going to have to read for all these English classes, but I there really is no way around it... my schoolwork is going to be reading intensive.

On a postive note, my financial aid came through ina big way -- the amount of money I am getting for my pell grant will almost completely cover my tuition, so all I really have to pay for is my books -- so I can take the minimal amount of student loans possible and not bury myself in debt. YAY.

I am still hoping to get at least one of my textbooks in kindle format this semester.... who knows, maybe I will get lucky and find more that that.

anywho... today I am going to lunch with my mom and a bunch of her work friends and then we are all going to go see Cabaret... originally another work friend was going, but she got sick at the last minute so I inherited her spot.

New Toys!!!

2009-06-09T05:36:30Z

I know I haven't been posting much here lately... I do check my friendslist daily, but I guess I just haven't had anything worth posting about (other that the dog attack) as I have kinda come to the conclusion in my head that my LJ has become a place for more lengthy posts... while random every day crap or meaningless stuff (although often funny and enjoyable) that is shorter is getting put on facebook. I post every day there if not more often and I really enjoy the social interraction on that site. It reminds me how much I used to love LJ way back when people actually used to post regularly... lately I have seen my friendslist here sometimes go 2 or 3 days without any new posts... it makes me sad.

Anyway... I had a reason to post...

I came to the conclustion about a month ago that I need a laptop... for practical reasons as well as personal entertainment reasons. My new university is not nearly as close to my house as my community college was, so it is not practical for me to return home if I have a break between classes, even if it is a lengthy break (It will probably take me almost an hour to get there as I will be parking my car in a public lot and taking the lightrail.) So I decided that it would be necessary for me to get a laptop so that I could do schoolwork when I was away from home, and I will probably be using my laptop in class as well.. it seems that using laptops in class is becoming a norm. -- So, I knew I didn't have the money to pay for one outright, so I talked to my mom and she agreed to finance it for me so that I could make payments on it... So, using my new student discount at my new university, I went to the dell website and customized a nice laptop and bought it a couple of weeks ago. It is supposed to arrive at my house within the next 2 days. I am very excited.

I am also very happy now that I did do the customizing and made the laptop nicer than it really needed to be because it seems more and more to me lately that my desktop computer is becoming horribly outdated. After much anticipation, I finally got my copy of Sims3 (which I preordered back around Christmas time for its original release date) only to install it and learn that my computer can't run the game... My processer is too slow, I don't have enough memory, and my graphics card is to old. *suckage* -- So I was very happy the next day to get the email notification that my laptop has been shipped... in the meantime the Sims3 game is sitting on my desk taunting me.

So, as if this wasn't great enough... My father, my step-mother, and my grandparents all decided to give me some money as a graduation present... and lo and behold, I got enough to afford a Kindle DX. I was so excited I almost wet myself when I figurd out I had enough to buy it. AND of course, it has it's practical applications as well.. they are starting to release more and more textbooks in Kindle format these days, so hopefully I will be able to find some of my textbooks while at the university in Kindle format and save some money. -- My kindle should arrive on Monday the 15th.

I am SO excited about my new toys... So So excited. *explodes*

the neighbor's pitbull strikes again.

2009-06-07T04:56:11Z

Yet another installment in the ongoing drama.... Today the neighbor's pitbull decided to randomly attack and pull off one of the fence pickett's. All three of our dogs happened to be in the backyard at the time, and our boxer Chico ran over to defend his territory... The pitbull got a hold of Chico by the neck and woudn't let him go. My mom was on our side of the fence and the neighbor was on his side of the fence both trying to put the dogs apart. -- The neighbor finally got his dog to let go and we rushed Chico to the vet.

He had a very deep gash in the front of his neck about 2 inches long. Several stitches and a $300 vet bill later, and here we are again.

The is the 5th time that fucking dog has attacked one of our dogs... it has killed one of our dogs, bitten the tail off another... this is the second throat gashing, and another dog lost a toe.

I just don't understand wanting to keep a dog that is that fucking vicious... I am not anti-pitbull. We had a pitbull for a brief time... in fact the pitbull we had was one of the victims of our neighbor's dog.

For fucks sake, the neighbor's pitbull killed one of their other dogs before it ever attacked any of our dogs... what more has to happen before they do something about it. Our neigbor has a 2 year old daughter...what if that fucking dog attacks her? will that be enough for him to do something.

When my mom tried to talk to him, all he said was "it takes two dogs to fight." -- what complete and utter bullshit. His dog is the one doing all the fucking attacking, that has ALWAYS been the case. Chico wouldn't hurt a fly.

If I didn't fear retaliation, I would throw some poison meat over the fence in a heartbeat... but I know our neighbor all to well... we have known him all our lives... if we did anything, we would have slashed tires and broken windows, not to mention our dogs would end up dead as well.

We have called animal control before... but since their dog didn't actually enter our backyard, they won't do a fucking thing about it.

It is just a fucking shame to be afraid to let our dogs out in our own backyard.

ABC's new fall lineup.

2009-05-26T08:25:16Z

So, I went through and watched all the previews for the new fall shows on ABC... and I snagged a few that I like the most and posted them here along with my own comments and critiques... there are a lot more on the site if you want to go look at all of them yourself. I am LJ-cutting because I am a nice person.

"Cougar Town"

I love Courtney Cox and I am glad she is back on TV again... I really enjoyed "Dirt" and was sad when it got cancelled... another victim of the writer's strike. This new one looks interesting. The first minute or so of the preview I was pretty much cringing and expecting the imminent cancellation, but then when it got closer to the end and showed her actually trying to date, it got more interesting. I think if she ends up in a relationship with a younger guy, the show could be really interesting (although the premise does remind me of that failed Fern Drescher show from a few years back)… on the other hand if she is trying to hook up with someone new all the time, I can see the show getting really stupid really fast. I also find the show’s name very unfortunate… it just sounds like some cheesy reality show. I hope it goes well, but I am not holding my breath.

"Eastwick"

The movie “Witches of Eastwick” re-imagined as a series. I am crossing my fingers and hoping this one goes well as I am a fan of the original movie… it’s going to be really interesting to see how well this translates. I just hope it doesn’t suck… and in my opinion, the guy playing the Jack Nicholson role is just not attractive at all (not that I ever though Nicholson was attractive either – but he was at least well known).

"Flash Forward"

This is one of the series that I am looking forward to the most… It does seem to be one of a bunch of similar shows that are cropping up this year (assuming that the time loss is alien-oriented). I assume these show are popping up based on the success of Fringe (which I love). There is a lot they can do with this premise. Hopefully it will stick around.

"Modern Family"

This one looks good… but it also looks like the kind of show that get cancelled easily. I will cross my fingers and hope for the best.

“V”

This is another show I am very excited about… The cast looks amazing and if I didn’t know it was a series, I would have thought it was a movie trailer. This one apparently is going to be a mid-season show, so I don’t know if it’s going to be a mini-series, or a short season or what… but whatever it is going to be, I am excited about it.

“Scrubs – Interns”
They don’t have a trailer posted for this yet... but it is definitely going to be interesting having this show return for another season (another mid-season show) with the fact that almost the ENTIRE cast has moved on to other shows when the series ended. Apparently the show is now going to focus on the new group of interns that were supporting characters this past season… I don’t know how the show is going to do without the cast that people have loved for the past 8 years.

More about new shows on other networks over the next few days.

YAY Fall Previews.

2009-05-24T21:45:23Z

So all of the major television networks have now put up their fall schedules... except CBS, but honestly I don't watch anything on CBS anyway.

There are a few new shows that look really interesting... I think it's funny that they are bringing back Melrose Place... the thing I find most interesting is that the landlady for the new show is going to be Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) from the old show... and I could have sworn they killed her... I very distinctly remember her in a wedding dress in front of the church getting run over by a limo... I remember this distinctly because this is when I stopped watching the show (I liked the character and was pissed that they killed her off)... I might check out an episode and give it a chance... then again, I tried to give 90210 a chance and that only lasted about 7 minutes before I gave up.

I was going to post a whole bunch of different stuff about different shows... but I am rather tired. I think I will take a nap instead. Maybe I will come back and post more stuff about shows later.

American Idol finale

2009-05-21T06:11:15Z

I am so sorry for my friend wl551 because I know she is a huge Adam Lambert fan... but I am so glad that Kris won. Adam is going to have a huge career regardless of the outcome of the show... and I really enjoyed Kris's performances over the season, a few of them I actually even considered downloading. I look forward to him album coming out.. I will definitely buy it.

The show itself, I really enjoyed most of... I didn't really care for the KISS performance or the Queen song at the end... but that's just not the style of music that I like.

I enjoyed the Lil Rounds/Queen Latifah duet... although Lil didn't really song that good until the very end of the song when she started singing in her higher register. I have always loved Queen Latifah.

The best part of the whole night for me was the Cyndi Lauper/Allison duet... I love that song, loved their version, love both performers... just loved it.

I was cracking up when they gave the award to Tatiana (or however that is spelled) and did the whole scene with the secuirty people and everything... the funniest part for me was when they panned to the folks in the audience (like dumbass Ruben Studdard) who obviously didn't understand that it was staged. That was great!! I will admit, that bitch is crazy, but you have to admit, she does have an amazing voice... I was kinda sad to see her leave the show so early.

oh well, now that this is all over with... So You Think You Can Dance premiers tomorrow night... YAY!!!

AI

2009-05-14T18:46:12Z

so I kept up with what I said and I am not watching American Idol anymore. Ducky watched it while I was at school taking my last test. -- I have continued to watch Entertainment Weekly's "Idolatry" which is a video podcast type thing that I found on TiVo but it is also available on the ew.com website. -- Watching it makes me feel so much better because the people that host that show make the EXACT kind of comments that I make.. it makes me feel vendicated. -- They did this whole tribute this to Allison... I loved it.

I know Adam is probably going to win... I have come to terms with it. It's not that I think he is not talented, I know he is... I just don't like his style and it irritated me to no end that the judges never gave him any criticism at all, even when it was deserved... yet they could not give credit when credit was due to almost ANY of the other contestants. The whole panel is just SO biased ths season that is drives me nuts.

I have been debating watching the finale. just because in past years the final has always been a great show with all the guest stars and duets.. Allison will of course be on the finale.

Ducky hasn't watched last nights results show yet, so I don't know who went home... but I really hope it was Danny... Kris deserves to be there so much more than he does.

puppydifranco @ 2009-05-11T17:40:00

2009-05-11T22:40:13Z

I am so tired... I don't know why... I got enough sleep and I haven't really done anything today aside from fighting with the computer (I won). Maybe it's just dread about having to go take my last Spanish test tonight?

YAY

2009-05-09T01:22:57Z

For the past, I don't even know how many years, I have been utterly miserable for the majority of the year because my room is the front bedroom of the house, with direct sunlight on 3 sides -- and we pretty much have zero insulation... so when the temperature gets above 80 degrees (which is 90% of the year in Houston), my room turns into an oven... add to the problem the fact that my room is the room in the house that is farthest away from the A/C unit and gets TERRIBLE air pressure... I can crank the air down so that the rest of the house if freezing and it is still warm in my room, not to mention the lovely inpact that has on our bills.

So, today - after ANOTHER long discussion with my mother, we went to Lowe's and bought a small, very energy efficient window unit A/C for my room -- all in all spent about $125. My friend eskimosatan helped me install it, and now my room is nice and cool. I am SO happy! I am going to sleep so well tonight.

so done.

2009-05-07T14:42:06Z

that was some bullshit...I am so done with this fucking show. I aready told Ducky that i am not watching the rest of the season.

Simon Cowel is a fucking useless asshole douchebag fucktard

2009-05-06T04:06:25Z

Over the years of watching American Idol, I have generally agreed with Simon most of the time, yes I have felt that he is an asshole and sometimes words things just to be shocking like a less intersting imitation of Howard Stern, but I generally liked him... until tonight when he said some of the dumbest most fucktarded shit I ever have ever heard... it's wasn't constructive, it was just fucking rude, harsh, and totally uncalled for. I now officially hate the fucktard and am so glad that this is his last season on American Idol. He has already said that he is leaving the show.

I don't know why they are still even having Adam perform... instead of him singing, he should just come out and the judges should just take turns blowing him... It doesn't fucking matter that all he does is screech and scream inbetween whiny notes and that there wasn't one intelligible word in his performance tonight they still jacked off to him and told him he was perfect... but I'm used to that by this point and I just try to ignore it and move on.

but.... WHAT THE FUCK was that shit he said to Allison... he said something about that he would have picked the other song that she was considering and thought the song was by some other artist... so she said no, it is this artist and she picked the song she did because she didn't want to play it safe.. and he said something to the effect of 'now it just sounds like begging' -- WHAT THE FUCK !?!?! I so was so pissed off that I wanted to throw the remote at the fucking television... I couldn't even enjoy the rest of the show I was so pissed off... not that I probably would have anyway as classic rock is not really my kind of music.

And then at the end, when Allison and Adam did their duet and all the judges were complementing them BOTH.. and then they get to Simon and he says that ADAM probably just guaranteed ALLISON's safety... Wasn't he fucking there last week when Allison was SAFE and Adam was in the bottom fucking TWO!! She earns her own fucking spot in the finals and obviously your fucking golden boy is not as universally loved as you think you stupid fucking asshole doucebag.

I still want to beat the shit out of something... I wish I had a fucking punching bag.

crickets

2009-05-05T16:24:51Z

it seems like facebook has taken over the world... it seems like only 5 people ever post on here anymore. -- I am not going to leave or anything, I love my livejournal... even though it has become a ghost town in an old western movie. I am just waiting for the tumbleweed to roll by.