Rough · Draft

I'd act surprised, but why put in the effort?

I know I've been poor with updating lately, but I plan to have both this one-shot and the next chapter of Teeth out by Christmas. Please expect one of the two to come out within the next two weeks.

It's a soggy and cold week. I hope you're all staying dry.

Oh, and how was everyone's Thanksgiving?

PS: Time Capsule meme time. Got the idea from questofdreams. http://tsutomu.livejournal.com/674453.html?thread=32280981#t32280981 Make sure you all add your name!

Current Mood:

lonely

Jennifer, one of our next-door-neighbors, has been sick since early Sunday morning when she awoke with a thundering head ache and bad nausea that had no alcoholic-excuse to back it up. Jennifer equals me in paranoia, so she drove herself to the hospital immediately, afraid it was the swine flu. But the doctors informed her that it was a normal string of the flu, just a stomach virus that should pass over within the week. Still, Jennifer took no chances. And being as compassionate as she is paranoid, she kicked her roommate Aaron out the door to keep from getting her sick.

And right into ours.

Their parting had a very, "I'll never let go, Jack!" vibe to it, and both Jasper and I had to keep from rolling our eyes (seriously, we're right next door) and we welcomed Aaron into our home.

Oh my God, she's worse than Karin. But in a completely different, yet equally annoying, way.

For the past three days, Jasper and I have been manhandled into registering as bone marrow donors through her university, donated blood to the Red Cross, volunteered to work 40 hours at a local animal shelter come Spring, have been forced to 'catalog' our 'recipe cards' to allow for more healthy options, and... and... fuck, what the hell?

Jasper and I had this conversation before he left for work this morning:

Me: Jenn needs to get better. Now. I don't care if she has to fake it.

Jasper: Oh come on, it's only been two days. Man up.

Me: Did you see what was next to our razors?

Jasper:...yes.

Me: Tampons, Jazz, tampons. She has to go.

Jasper: Jenn sees the doctors Thursday, all right?

Me: Thursday!?

But really, I'm more than glad to let her stay over. Her personality can just be a little... over-bearing at times. She the type of friend I like more when seen infrequently, or for shorter amounts of time. She's refreshing in that she makes herself completely at home instead of hovering about awkwardly, and very obvious about what she wants, but there's only so much I can take. My annoyance might also be stemming from something else, though.

On Friday Jasper leaves for a five-day conference in--and this is insane--Maui. As in Maui, Hawaii. Lucky bastard. I'm actually rather glad, though. The last few weeks have been a bit hard for both of us, more so him than me. Jasper is very much a family-man, and as much as he says he gets my situation, I know that he doesn't. He just can't understand the bond I shared with my father, one that I'm glad is over and am unable to mourn the loss of. He thinks I'm repressing, and is insultingly worried about leaving me alone for the week. I know this because of the dozen or so invites I've gotten over the past week from friends asking me to come over for a visit, meaning Jasper's been making phone calls behind my back. Of course I can't possibly get mad at the idiot, because the only thing he's guilty of is trying to make me happy again. I hear people say that real couples know everything about each other, but I'd contest that in a second. Sharing everything leaves nothing for yourself. But I think this is something I'll need to tell him. Just not now; not when he's trying so hard.

So with Jasper's hovering, and Aaron being a walking PETA campaign, I haven't had much time to relax. I look forward to when I have a bit of quiet time.

Hope you're all enjoying your week, and good luck to all of those in the last stretch of NANO!

Current Mood:

okay

( Moving )

I can’t tell if this entry was angst-ridden or cheerful. I’m not sad, I’m not happy. Just… mellow. It’s nice to vent here, though. Hope you’re all in the middle of a good week.

Current Mood:

mellow

( “I )

Current Mood:

bored

Heading to a nightclub in Philly tonight with Jasper. Have a good Halloween, everyone!

There's no real point to this journal entry, just that I remembered two things simultaneously. The first is that no one guessed the design of my white ink tattoo correctly. On the inside of my left ankle is a small rose with the words 'Don't panic' written beneath it in script, a small petal laying beneath the legend.

The second is that I've failed to advertise this: http://thesasunaruawards.webs.com/ Voting starts in January, I think. You should all go check out the categories and get thinking/writing. I'm judging the Best Antagonist category. Should be interesting.

Pointless post was pointless. I'm going to go check on those two. They've been alone for a while. I'm hoping my father hasn't drowned him....

Have a good week! Teeth update tomorrow.

Current Mood:

cold

In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone for coming to my party. I'm still trying to get that stain off of the wall. If anyone knows its origins, I'd greatly appreciate it if you just didn't tell me.

kodak_85's Halloween party:

akalillyn dressed as a llama.
anavill dressed as the Governor of South Carolina.
arcanetheorem dressed as the Brady Bunch -- all of them.
blood_zephyr dressed as a death.
compagnie dressed as Sybil - except that Sybil didn't show but the other 25 personalities did, though it looked more like a Level 8 paladin.
darihanna dressed as a Hinckly-Fell, Inc. employee, though it looked more like Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster from Sleepy Hollow.
emeraldlies dressed as Claudia Schiffer.
fireflies_x dressed as Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster from Sleepy Hollow.
fruchiseka dressed as Elizabeth Regina on steroids and roller skates.
gonrie dressed as Moltar.
indira14 dressed as Michelle Trachtenberg.
izzyisozaki dressed as Sarah Michelle Gellar.
katsheswims dressed as blues legend Sleepy Pickles Hawkins.
kii dressed as Marie Antoinette going to her death.
lilangelz429 dressed as Julia Roberts.
marienott dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
mirrordarkling dressed as the Vicomte des Boules-Velues.
moonmoore dressed as Bono.
perpetuall dressed as Adam-the-first-man but the fig-leaf was far too big.
pointlessrant dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Tree of Calderdale, and it suited them all too well.
primafacet dressed as Mary Queen of Scots ... without her head. Most convincing.
princessembrace dressed as Harry S Truman.
queenskin dressed as a walking Guillotine.
questofdreams didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
rememberloginok dressed as a zombie.
rosalui dressed as Pavlova the ballerina -- dancing on point too.
rynankh dressed as Lady Godiva without the horse and far too little hair!.
savivara13 dressed as Ivan the Terrible of Russia.
silverwyrm dressed as Bob Dole - tarred and feathered.
sonnel_black dressed as a evil human resources department head honcho.
spiralfall dressed as Sigfried in need of testosterone.
starkmaddness dressed as Nosferatu the Supreme Vampire, though it looked more like a walking Guillotine.
starlit_neko dressed as a very fake witch-doctor complete with a collection of shrunken skulls.
tealeafling dressed as a catcher for the Cardinals.
thecolorofthyme dressed as Mde. Lachienne Foutue d'Enfer -- you don't wanna know.
theheartless69 dressed as a cup of coffee.
x_eimin_x dressed as a bottle of Desmalaqole.
yaoifan_sakura dressed as the love child of Regis Philbin and Monica Lewinsky.
yuirn_chan didn't dress up, spoilsport.
yuuko_uchiha dressed as Camilla Parker-Bowles when she becomes Queen.

Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
Created by sigma7: More info here.

(Taken from rynankh)

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Current Mood:

apathetic

So of course, when I heard of the movie Paranormal Activity that had people leaving the theater or sobbing on their way out, I had to see it. The fact that it got outstanding reviews solidified this belief. It takes a lot for a horror film to do well.

I brought it up with Jasper, and being the genius I didn't yet know he was, he declined. So I went with a few coworkers. Honestly, it was just a movie. The credits at the end were testimony to this. I went to see it at seven at night.

Holy... words cannot describe. I almost left the theater. I'm positive if this were filmed regularly, it would not have even a fraction of the impact, but that it was done like on a camcorder made it frightening beyond all belief. There was no background music. No "Jaws" theme-like music playing. Just dead silence, and this.... thing... it was crawling under the bed. While they were sleeping. There are many levels of wrong, and this movie shattered each and every one of them.

Sure a description of the movie is fine, but to show you just how freaked I was, this is how I was last night after seeing it. First of all, Jasper looked slightly alarmed at my face when he asked if I was ready for bed, but was generous enough to keep the teasing to a minimum ("So, on a ten point scale, how right was I?" "Just shut up and hug me,"). I cranked up the heat so as to eliminate the need for blankets, and made Jasper sleep on the couch behind me with the kitchen and hallway light on, Cartoon Network playing loudly, and three Benadryl in my system drugging me into a dreamless sleep. And you know what? I'm doing the same thing tonight. The electric company will be so pleased.

Fanfic-related news, I've just realized it's been a month since I updated. I'll have to get on that. Also, I posted a new poll over on my profile. Teeth has breached the 500-review mark, which is around a hundred times more than I ever expected it to get. So I thought a small one-shot was in order.

But seriously. That movie. Christ. Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSqxrh5kp8 See for yourself.

Current Mood:

scared

Taken from yuuko_uchiha

1. If you're on my friends list, I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine. And even if you aren't on my Friend's List, please feel free to fill it out as well!

2. Comment here with your answers and repost the questionnaire on your own journal. (please do copy paste the questions too)

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
26) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
29) Do you swear a lot?
30) Biggest pet peeve?
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
34) Do you believe in God?
35) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

When I answered it, I was reminded of my own tattoo. After a while I've become so accustomed to it that I seldom think of it anymore. Now it's reminded me that I need to make an appointment to get it touched up, and also aspired me to run a search on Google images. Those of you who have read my past few journal entries know that Google images and I have an on-the-rocks relationship. Now it's worse. Because on the first page is part of my damned tattoo.

Back before Lindsey Lohan had her asthma attack and the trend became the collar-popping fashion statement of tattooing, years before many people even heard of them, I got myself a white ink tattoo. It's located on the inside of my left ankle. When I searched the keywords "white ink tattoo", a part of my tattoo appeared on Google. Not my actual tattoo, but someone else got the same thing. Try and guess what it is, haha.

...wow, two journal entries in a weak. Good for me. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

EDIT: I'll be leaving in a few weeks to do a short practice photo shoot at a wildlife preserve, and since I've never done one, I've been looking through LJ for wild dog-based communities. I clicked on one that read coyote-furs. Silly me for thinking that the internet was sane. To each their own, I suppose, but... really? Really?

Current Mood:	embarrassed
Current Music:	Nightmare before Christmas

The first is the most important because someonedrewmefanart and I was so ridiculously excited it took me a full afternoon to put my joy into wards to convey to the artist. You should all go check it out and say nice things. http://princessembrace.livejournal.com/9963.html

Iloveitsomuch.

That's how I get when I'm excited. I forget to use the space bar. Isitannoyingyouyet?

The second thing, while far less interesting, is semi-important, I suppose. I mentioned around the beginning of the summer that Jasper and I had finally hunkered down on the decision to move.
We've been looking at a couple different places, a lot of them foreclosures. We're trying to keep our budget in the three-hundred range, and with just the two of us, it's not proving as difficult as I thought it would.

There are several amusing anecdotes I'll have to go into further later, but I'll tell you about this one. Whilst looking around, Jasper and I made a mutual, albeit an awkward, understanding that we'd keep details of our relationship as vague as possible. Not standing close enough to divulge the true nature of our relationship, but not far enough that we appeared to be hiding it. Not touching, at least not intentionally. Using voices a bit more stern with each other than the casual ones we usually use. This was especially true at one house. It was filled with more crosses than all the churches along the East coast combined. With that one, we dragged Karin along (we'd read about the owners of the house, a housewife and a pastor) to play the role as my girlfriend, and Jasper as the brother tagging along for the ride. It was a very nice house. We're putting some serious consideration into it.

Oh, and speaking of Karin, she visited this weekend with--haha, this is great, and soon you'll see why--her boyfriend, Rick. Rick is a mechanic. Rick loves football. Rick does not like vegetables if they aren't fried and slathered in ketchup. Rick loves him some Jack Daniels. Rick works out at the gym five times a week. Rick is a man. Hear him roar.

I'm laughing so hard just writing this, you have no idea. Because it's all true. But the fact that he over-compensates in nearly everything he does is pointing to the fact that he's either as straight as a rainbow or has a very small penis is not the really funny part. I'll get to that in a moment.

Karin had made plans with us earlier to come visit, and told us at the last minute that she was bringing along her boyfriend of two months, whom neither of us had heard of before. So we said, all right, bring the bloke down. How bad could it be?

It wasn't. Not at all. In fact, it was the most entertaining weekend of my entire existence.

Upon arrival, he stated his name in a voice loud enough to wake the Gods and gave us both handshakes that made even Jasper wince. And Jasper is strong. Jasper is manly. Jasper eats nails for breakfast. I'm still laughing, oh my God.

Now for the funny part.

Rick seemed to have two goals in mind for this weekend. The first was to get on Jasper's good side. He's the older brother, so if he wants to keep his balls, of course he wants to get on his good side. Understandable. The way he treated me, while semi-understandable, was ridiculous to the point of becoming hilarious. He cannot stand me. I'm the only man Karin's ever really had her eyes on--we were engaged for quite some time, dating for even longer--and the fact that we've long since split makes no difference to him. Either he completely disregards my completely gay nature as being a clever ruse to get into Karin's pants, or he thinks Karin may still have a soft spot for me. Either way, whenever I stood, he was there, towering over me. Whatever I ate, he ate twice as much of. If I burped by accident, he was doing it loud enough to shatter the windows. The video games we played on Sunday morning, he looked close to beating me over the head with the controller when I beat his Farmer Tanned jock ass. He spent a good part of the weekend trying to invest in me a spite-filled rivalry that would rival Tom and Jerry, or the Montagues and the Capulets, or God and Satan, or Sasuke and Naruto, what have you.

The irony is this. While trying his very hardest to get me to hate him, he provided me with so much entertainment that even disliking him became an impossible feat. However, treating me like crap did not go unnoticed by Jasper, who now, in layman's terms, hates his guts for it. Way to go, Rick.

They left late last night, Jasper still boiling mad, me still cracking up, Jasper being unamused by my giggling, and forcing me to help him fumigate our guest room.

...You know something weird, that I just now realized? We have a fully functional guest room, yet when one of us gets pissed off enough that we kick the other out of the bed, we always grab whatever covers we can get out hands on and sleep on the couch. Why? Is it some unwritten rule of couple-dome that we've been unconsciously following, that when one has fucked up one must sleep on the couch? To Hell with that. Next time I screw up, I'm heading to the guest room.

Also, I was too lazy to make a fresh pot of coffee so I'm drinking a cup I reheated in the microwave from this morning. It's not half bad.

That's it for now! I hope your Monday was somewhat bearable.

Current Mood:	amused
Current Music:	The new Muse album

First of all, an update for Teeth will be some time this week. I've posted a small part of it behind the cut below. This chapter is once again set in the past. That'll probably go on until next chapter. I have a question for those who read the story: did you read the last chapter or just skim it? Whenever I read a book, I know I hate reading flashbacks, and some reviewers say that they usually skip right over backstory. I'm just curious to know how many are actually reading this so I know whether to put a brief summary in the Author's Notes when it's over. Also, the snippet's longer than usual, around five pages. I feel bad for taking so long to update, haha.

Warnings: Not proofread, Sakura (a lot of people don't like her for some reason), and the thoughts aren't italicized.

( Cut from Chapter 12 of Teeth )

And now to go on to explain the title for this entry.

My two neighbors are starting college again this Tuesday, so Jasper and I decided to take them out for some sushi at the mall yesterday to mourn celebrate. It was pretty busy for a Labor Day weekend, considering the weather is so beautiful. Not Black Friday busy, but busy nonetheless.

After sushi, we decided our wallets were already on the verge of committing suicide, so why not finish the job and take them to the movies as well. We went to see Ponyo (a note on seeing that movie: Don't) because the girls wanted to see it, and since it was their day out we were forced to oblige. "If you let me eat the soup, I can make milk for the baby!" Jasper and I nearly died.

After that we just bummed around the mall for a bit. Got a drink and more food at Border's. More food. Here's a tally of what we all ate that day:

Myself: California Roll, Dragon Roll, Shrimp roll, fried rice, two egg rolls, hot chai tea, medium popcorn, half a thing of soft pretzels, large Sprite, an Asiago pretzel, Arizona Green Tea

Jasper: California Roll, Eel Roll, an order of beef teriyaki with white rice, warm sake, medium popcorn, half a thing of soft pretzels, large Cherry Coke, large chocolate chip cookie, blueberry muffin, chocolate banana Vivanno

Jenn: California Roll, Shrimp roll, an order of beef teriyaki with fried rice, three egg rolls, hot green tea and some of Jasper's sake on the sly, nachos, hot dog, large Sprite, large chocolate chip cookie, banana and strawberry Vivanno

Aaron: California Roll, Dragon Roll, an order of chicken teriyaki with fried rice, two egg rolls, hot green tea and some of Jasper's sake on the sly, small personal pizza, Large Coke, pizza pretzel, large chocolate chip cookie, Arizona Green Tea

We disgust ourselves. Jasper and I were paying for all of this, by the way. Don't ask what the ending bill was. I try not to think of it.

Anyway, at one point we walked into a Hallmark. I like to smell the Yankee candles don't judge me because since Jasper's allergic, I can't burn them at home. When I was done, I went to find Jasper and the girls who had wondered off while I was in sage-and-citrus bliss. They were in the TY and Webkinz area. Jasper was entertaining by doing a rather lewd puppet show with a TY shark and a Pink Dragon webkinz. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but when I get excited, I get... spontaneous, I suppose. Over-eager. The day was fun, I had adrenaline coursing, and as I often do at such times, I blurted out something stupid. Well, it might not have been so stupid if I hadn't said it so loudly. Jasper had just picked up a zebra to join in his questionably mature puppet show, and I shouted, really shouted, "Stop spanking the zebra, Jasper!"

Loudly.

The Hallmark was crowed. Crowded with Sisters, mothers with small children, elderly store employees, and two boy scouts (at least two that I could see). It was awkward. It was beyond awkward. It was even more awkward getting out of the store. Jasper slowly put away the stuffed toys, and we shuffled together out the door and tried out best to forget about it.

Later, on the car ride home, I forget why but we sunk into the long, awkward silence until Aaron said, in the quiet little voice she uses, "Stop spanking the zebra." Even I laughed.

So that's our new inside joke. Whenever we sink into an awkward pause, just say that, and instant ice breaker. I can't wait to find an excuse to use it in bed. The look on Jasper's face will be priceless.

So, Happy Labor Day everyone. Go out and enjoy the nice weather or something.

PS: I just found out what Tags were, and I want to put them on some of my previous journal entries. I know that when I edit the content of an entry it jumps forward to the beginning of a Friend's page. Will it do the same thing if I edit tags? I don't want to flood any Friend's Pages.

Current Mood:

amused

( Snippet of Teeth, chapter 10 )

Also, I can't decide if this is epic win or epic fail: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/27350111.html I'll leave that to all of you to decide.

Title: Indigo
Pairing: SasuNaru
Rating: PG13
Summary: A series of short stories told from Sasuke's P.O.V., events taking place before, during, or after those in 'Purple'. Delve into the mind of the lonely and insane.
Author's Notes: I have around five of these one-shots started. Unfortunately, I don't remember where half of them were headed, haha.

Edit: I suppose a link would help.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5074772/2/Indigo

So if someone would be kind enough to beta, I'd much appreciate it. It's barely ten pages, so not long at all. Please?

Also, I have a job interview. I ran into my old psychology professor from college yesterday at the camera shop, and we went out for a cup of coffee and a sandwich at the local deli on my break. He told me he'd quit teaching and had now cosigned for a practice housed not far from here. The company they signed for owns several practices around the city, and they've opened up a new department that compares their practices with others, studies how things are done differently, organizes clients, handles transfers, etc. The point is, he remembered me from his class and said that if I'd like, he could fix me up with an interview. It would be a 9-5 job four days a week, and just being able to handle those cases...

There are a few problems. First, I'd be unable to work in the shop, which I enjoy immensely. Secondly, I'd have to significantly lower the number of events I do. Thirdly, Jasper and I are still thinking about moving come Fall, and I'd have to quit. I don't really know what to do. I'm torn between my two interests. One's more exciting schedule-wise, the other's more stable. One's more fun, the other pays more... What do you all think?

Current Mood:

nervous

Oi.

Current Mood:

anxious