Since I’ve never “done it” with anyone before (and I doubt the internet wants to know about my experiences with related stuff like that), it’d probably be me talking to myself on random things. I wouldn’t talk to myself for 15 minutes straight, so for the rest of the time I’d be stuffing my face with more yummy food. I’d rather shove a mouthwatering steak in my mouth anyways than a you-know-what.

What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
Pretty much like what I do every time I’m indoors: go on the internet and stare out the window on occasion.

Are you a window person or an aisle person? Why?
I’m a window person because I like staring out the window and looking down (not in a bad way) at the world. That, and there’s increased security at airports since 9/11 so I can’t bring any electronic devices. Boredom and sleep, here I fly.

Manic Monday Meme

Winterbells
- This is the first game that I’ve stumbled upon, and it’s really cute. Great graphics, really simple, and easy to get a high score. I’d say that there’s basically nothing else besides that, and once you fall and miss a bell you’re pretty much screwed.
Rating: 4/5

Puzzlefarter
- Surprisingly this game doesn’t involve too many puzzles. All you do is move around a little fish that can fly around by farting. The farting noise can get annoying, and I’ve only gotten through 20 out of the 50 levels. It can be tricky mastering the art of “farting flying”, but it’s strangely addicting. Be sure to watch out for all the obstacles though.
Rating: 3.5/5

Mad Virus
- At first I went “WTF?” at this game because I couldn’t get it. I eventually got it through random clicking, and I’d say it’s a simpler version of a strategy game. You have to be decisive and think quickly to decide which color tile to “infect” next.
Rating: 4/5

Pacxon
- This is the game that I’m currently addicted to. I always hated the original PacMan because ghosts would corner me everywhere in the mazes, but in this game you have more space to move around in. That, and you don’t have to “munch” out on the entire board…just cover most of it. This pwns the original PacMan game anyday.
Rating: 4.5/5

Of course I use Stumble for things other than games, but right now the games are winning my interests over the internet.

Questions:
1. Do you use Stumbleupon? (if so, add me!)
2. What are some pretty interesting things on the internet that you have “stumbled” upon? (Doesn’t matter whether you used the website or not when you found this interesting thing)

Wall-E: Very cute movie. Fatties in hover chairs = future of America.
Hancock: Shows that even the heaviest of hearts can soften up.
Cinderella (korean horror film): Made me go WTF. Horror story meets plastic surgery. Ouch. (Yes I made WTF count as one word. Click to see the movie.)

===

On another note, I haven’t done much on the designing end. I think I may have overloaded myself since I just offered to make a layout for my friend, not to mention still finish a summer graphics contest and as well as my other summer resolutions. To me, work > boredom. So I think I can handle a little challenge.

By the way, here are the avatars for Dani and Shen Shen, who were pretty much the only people that gave me ideas for both cactus girl (see last entry) and my upcoming texting fanlisting. The cactus girl shall now be called Nelli. Please save these things to your own server. =]

I also put up the base as an avatar for anyone to use on forums and whatnot. Enjoy.

I do admit that I was inspired by the cactus girl on Toki Doki. Is this considered art theft, or not? I don’t want to be randomly screwing around with the law and whatnot.

If Kamikraze’s cactus girl doesn’t violate copyright laws, she will be back on another one of my designs. =]

PS: Whoever gives me a good name for her will get a personalized and free 100×100 avatar with her in it. Yes, you can give me more than one name idea. No rules besides that.

PPS: I’m also giving away a cactus girl avatar to someone (different person, so that there’s more than one winner) who can come up with the best site name for my upcoming texting fanlisting. Same stuff applies from above.

1. I got approved for the TFL-endorsed fanlisting of texting!
2. Even though I love crab, I still can’t open it =/
3. Who buys $33 (US dollars) worth of crap at a gift shop, where nothing costs over 3 bucks?
4. I installed Wordpress on a test directory…and I’m going with Ashley’s idea of simply editing themes instead. =]
5. I have two new affies: Dani and Mira
6. Old people at a nursing home aren’t as weird/cranky as I expected.

And that’s pretty much it. I’m uber excited for number 1 though! It’s my first fanlisting ever. xD

Other “things I need to plan…and soon” (not in any order):

• My “sweet sixteen” (I actually want a party…but not as lavish as those on MTV)
• College I’ll be attending/major/minor
• Future career(s)
• How to revamp Kamikraze other than converting to Wordpress
• Possible jobs (after I turn 16)
• So much more…

Blah! I guess if I had one fear that’ll make me pee my pants, I guess it would be dealing with all these things by the end of 2008. Well, not really, but still. The future always makes one excited, yet nervous. You want good things to happen, but they don’t come at an easy price.

By the way, I was thinking of something with “design”. Not particularly computer graphics (though that would be kick ass), but I’ve even opened my eyes to advertising design or perhaps multimedia/animation for movies and video games. A special effects artist wouldn’t be so bad either. I just fear that I’m not going to make enough money to put decent food on the table for myself/future family because of me wanting to create stuff. Web designers FTW, but math and I don’t get along so well.

My mom/other relatives want me to be a nurse/pharmacy technician/other health person, but I don’t have a passion for that. Big money,sure. Happiness for the rest of my life? Maybe not.

*sigh* I wish I had a time machine to get at least a glimpse of where I’ll be at…

I looked on National Osteoporosis Foundation (first result on Google…Wikipedia is overrated**), and found out some interesting yet scary facts on their “fast facts page” on this disease.

• In 2005, osteoporosis-related fractures were responsible for an estimated $19 billion in costs.
• People cannot feel their bones getting weaker. They may not know that they have osteoporosis until they break a bone. A person with osteoporosis can fracture a bone from a minor fall, or in serious cases, from a simple action such as a sneeze or even spontaneously.
• The number of fractures due to osteoporosis is expected to rise to more than 3 million by 2025.
• At six months after a hip fracture, only 15 percent of hip fracture patients can walk across a room unaided.

Like every other disease out there, there is no exact cure for it. However, getting your daily calcium intake, getting strength/muscle training exercise, and avoiding smoking/alcohol drinking excessively can help reduce the risks by a lot. Even though older women (ones in menopause) are at a higher risk than most people, it does happen at any age/race/gender.

It’s already bad enough that she, as well as the rest of my family members 30+, have to deal with other diseases/conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and much more, but to add Osteoporosis to the list is just…shocking. No wonder everyone in that age range can get so gosh darn cranky all the time. Makes me want to exercise my way out of their fate.

**Oh, and if you’re wondering why I didn’t use a Wikipedia version of Osteoporosis, I wanted to find something simpler and easier to read so I can print it out and show it to my grandma. I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded long paragraphs that make one want to go TL;DR, but this is for the sake of my printer, which is running low on ink/paper. (That, and anyone can change the content of any entry on Wikipedia)

Do you think God has a sense of humor?
- As much as I would love to believe it, I don’t think so. As a Catholic growing up, I always believe that whatever he does is serious. Granting miracles, such as my mom finding a kidney donor after 4 years in pain, isn’t exactly a joke. I’m well aware that horrible things such as gas prices and whatnot do exist, but there is a reason for all of these things. We just have yet to experience and listen to the explanation. God gives happiness to people if they want it, and humor is a part of that. So I guess he gives humor, but doesn’t exactly have it himself since humor can involve offending people.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Have you ever experienced it?
- Hell no. I believe that when you first see someone and get all those butterflies in your stomach, it’s infatuation. Either that, or lust. A lot of people these days, whether they say they don’t or not, judge someone by their looks. We don’t look at a person and go, “Oh, they must be a nice person to talk to!”. No. As a human instinct, the nicest/most beautiful looking people are believed to have a matching personality. One can only hope that the assumption is true. As for me experiencing it, probably not. While I do believe that love can be experienced at any age, I just feel like that as a teenager I haven’t gotten the whole meaning of “love” yet.

Manic Monday

[Something interesting needs to happen in my life sometime right now…]

Anyways, I was looking at random blogs as always when I came across this list of 101 things to do before you die. I did not realize until I kept reading on that it was actually a website to promote life coverage for an Australian insurance company. It’s certainly the most eye-catching business website I’ve ever seen.

I’ve taken a look at this list and found some things that I have never heard of and would like to try myself, from spending a night in a haunted house (#25) to giving an emo a big, sloppy kiss (#95).

So…here’s a list of numbers that I’ve already accomplished in 15 years of life: 9, 12, 16, 19, 33, 37, 40, 59, 63, 67, 70 (though this is common seeing how my birthday is a national holiday), 74, 82 (didn’t keep it though), 89, 100.

Here’s a list that I would actually attempt before I kick the bucket: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 38, 41, 42, 46, 50, 51, 56, 61, 64, 72, 79, 81, 84, 93, 95, 99, 101

Bold: Am most definitely going to do it!

I know some of these aren’t exactly “family friendly”, but who says I have to be a certain age to accomplish the above?

So…question to you: What would you do/already have done on this list?

Psst: on a slightly less note, I added an art page in the navigation, showing of my artistic skillz (or lack thereof)

I’ve already accomplished one of my goals this summer: getting a permit. Now for my other main goals:

1. Conquering Wordpress and customizing it to my liking
2. Losing 15 pounds (6.8 kg)
3. Finishing all 50 community service hours for NHS
4. Updating more of the “visitors” section
5. Learning Moonlight Sonata on piano

It’s amazing how much time is freed up when you don’t have homework and take-home projects to do, as well as after school rehearsals and shows for choir or any other performing…thing. You pretty much have 3 months (90 days, 2160 hours, etc.) of nothing. Hooray!

To all those still in school, hate to be blunt but sucks for you and good luck on final exams and such. And to all those out of school (whether graduated or for the summer), enjoy the summer! =D

Additionally, I’m also creating an anime music rotation website. I wanted to join this one from back in the day at the domain onigiri.nu, but since that site is long gone, I’m going to make my own. Honestly, it’s only good for site promotion, but then again there are plenty of not-that-useful sites out there *cough*fanlistings*cough*…it should be done by the end of this week.

And finally, I got my learner’s permit! The test wasn’t too hard, and now I can drive. Watch out, because Merinn’s going to be on the road soon! And no, I will not end up in accidents or on the FBI’s most wanted list. I’m not that stupid.

Edit: A plug to a contest I’m in. Join if you want!

Note to self: wear a belt

Yeah…I’m the one on the left. I was actually laughing when I watched this. I’m not insanely good or anything, but I do admit I could make it look like i’m just walking. We’re on the same level; my friend’s screen just had faster arrow settings.

Hooray for Disneyland In the Groove machines!

Song: Destiny
Artist: unknown

For those internet addicted users, what is your worst habit from online to real life? Mine would have to be saying those abbreviations like OMG (oh my god), WTF (what the fuck), LOL (laugh out loud), etc. Sadly, I do say those things, but I know when to say them. Of course at outrageous moments I say “omg”, frustrating moments “wtf”, and funny moments “lol”. A few months ago at a football game I heard someone say our team “pwned” the other team.

Apparently, it’s not a geek thing anymore. I hear it and see it all the time in real life. I wonder how much time it takes on the internet for a person to get sucked into saying/hearing those things. Yes, it is an addiction.

Things not included

- Stuff that is shared between you and other family members.
- Non-personal stuff, like dishes, cleaning supplies, etc.
- Books.
- Tools.
- Collections count as one item.

I know it would be crazy to do something like this when most people have a lot of things they can’t get rid of, but it helps declutter and most of these items can be donated to generous causes, or you could make a quick buck. Whichever.

My Items

1. Laptop
2. Cellphone
3. iPod nano
4. iPod speaker
5. Keys
6. Camera
7. One notebook
8-18. Shirt
19-22. Jeans
23-25. Shoes
26. PS2 game system
27. TV (for said game system)
28. Brush
29. Toothbrush
30. Eyeliner
31. Bobby pins
32. Lip gloss (it’s poppin’)
33. Colored pencils
34. Pencil
35. Pen
36. Colored sharpies
37. Pearl earrings
38. Personalized Tiffany’s bracelet
39. Scanner
40. Rosary
41-45. Shorts/capris
46. Sheet music
47. Flip flops
48. PS2 game collection
49. Flash drive
50. Choir picture
51-61. Lingerie items =P

Well as you can see…I’ve already filled over half with everything I know I’m keeping. Concluding from this list, you can deduce that I’m a pack rat and/or a tech junkie, due to the majority of my list being electronics. I try to give away as much as I can, but it can be hard sometimes. I don’t really think that I’ll be able to reduce everything I have to 100 things, but I’m thinking about it whenever I move out of the house for college or later in life.

I always hear my sister say things like, “Don’t start conversations with him too much because it makes you sound desperate to get w/ him” or something like that. I don’t see the big deal.

When I saw him in church after a religious ceremony, he completely ignored me to talk to some other girls. He explained the situation to me later, and it turns out that since I am an ex I am automatically “disliked” by his immediate/some distant family.

He didn’t want to be seen with me because his mom would start calling me out and feared all this drama was going to storm up. WTF MATE?! What pisses me off is not the fact that I was ignored, but just being an ex is what caused the situation to happen.

He says that he still wants to be friends, but with his mom acting like a bitch and me having a similar experience like this happen to me years ago, it might not happen again.

If anyone can answer the question above and give me helpful comments on if it is possible to continue a friendship or not (and related things to this topic), it would be most appreciated.

Anyways, I have a new layout up and everything. I like the header image, and unlike last time I actually changed up the CSS a little bit (other than color). It’s not the best, but at least I made a change.

Now, back to my life (refer to the last post to understand this): a small window of opportunity opened when there were 3 spots for another, smaller show choir (Serenade) opened up. Since it was a stepping stone to VI, I decided to go for it. I didn’t want to originally, but I’d figure it would increase my chances of getting into VI for next year. I still have that song that I was going to use for tryouts, but I’m deciding to change it since it’s a bit high for my range.

If anyone’s that’s reading this is/has been a choir singer, can anyone give me some good song recommendations for an alto-ranged voice? Yes I have used Google and other search engines, but it’s difficult to find an instrumental version/sheet music for these songs for free. Not to mention, I have no clue how to choose a good song. Help!

Around a week or so ago, there were tryouts held for two days to get into this one elite show choir, Vocal Infinity (VI). “What the heck is a show choir?”, you may be asking. Well it’s a type of choir that not only sings songs, but dances/does another type of visual performance to put on a show. (haha, get it?) Anyways, I’ve always loved and admired the performances of this choir for quite sometime and I’d figure, “Why not give it a shot?” I grabbed a contract signing up, but there were a whole lot of terms I had to agree with.

In a nutshell, these terms were to basically show up for nearly all rehearsals (which are at least once/twice a week; 1-2 or more hours each) and pay for all uniform/trip/misc. fees ($250+ USD). I’m thinking, “How was I going to keep up all of that w/ honors classes?” Not to mention, all of it’s current singers were really talented. I felt like I was overwhelmed by all of these circumstances, so I didn’t bother. I had a song and everything, but I felt as if it didn’t matter how hard I tried; doubt got to me.

Now, a week later, all this regret has come back to bite me in the ass. Hard. A lot of my closest friends have made it in, and most of our skills were pretty equal, even though some exceed others in different aspects. The tryouts consisted of the following: rhythm-clapping, sight singing, singing along to a song in near perfect pitch (probably the hardest thing in my opinion), and dance along to some choreographed thing. To anyone who’s ever been in a choir (past elementary and maybe middle school), it shouldn’t seem that complicated.

Ugh. I barely found out all the results yesterday, and now I can’t go to sleep knowing some potentially great opportunity has passed me by. It’s my fault. I keep asking myself one word: “Why?”

My parents would have been okay with it, providing I prove to them that I really wanted it. The same friends that made it were also encouraging me, along with all the seniors. Heck, the seniors were giving me advice on EVERYTHING! Oh well. I guess I’ll have to live with this now until next year. I only have one more year to try out again since I’ll be a junior, and I will be really pissed at myself for not trying again. It’s also heard to make it on the first attempt (unless you’re a guy), so that will be a challenge.

Random snippet of advice: Even if things may seem overwhelming to you, whatever you do, do not fill your thoughts with doubt. That, and nervousness will only screw up your chances of getting what you want (if it is a performing-based wish, like mine). Don’t let opportunities pass you buy. If there’s something you want, it could be yours. However, you have to prove that you want it badly. Many times, the proof may not be easy, and you have to work. OMG WORK! Whatever shall I do, Merinn?! Just keep trying.

I would conclude this blog with an inspirational quote, but I can’t find any good ones at the moment. So, I’ll leave you with my snippet of advice. I may be 15, but that doesn’t mean I can’t reach out to the people. =]

It’s a really good idea actually. I can subconsciously study for my SATs and help out people starving in third world countries. For every word you guess correctly, you donate 20 grains of rice. And it doesn’t have the same words either. For every 60 (or so) grains, you increase a vocab level which makes it harder and more challenging. This results in studying for more complex words. If you get a word wrong, it just repeats it a few times later to make sure you get the meaning right. Of course there’s the cheating w/ dictionary.com and whatnot, but then again it’s not “studying” if you do that.

I managed to get my needed 2000 grains for my extra credit, plus a few more making my grand total 2680 grains. Plus, my best vocab level is 29. Wow, this thing is addicting.

Speaking of food, does anyone know how long spaghetti lasts once you cook it? My mom made some either Saturday or Sunday, and I ate a bowl today (Wednesday). Is it still good, or have I just eaten something spoiled and will probably suffer stomach problems?

Contrary to the typical Asian stereotypes, I suck at math/science. Well, I passed Biology last year with flying colors, but I’m close to failing in geometry/chemistry this year.

I’ve been in choir for 5+ years. I have the + sign because unlike before, I actually like that class and will continue taking it until college. Fun trips that you get to miss school for = total fun. I think I have this tidbit somewhere on my random facts page, but oh well.

My first kiss was on Halloween. 2006 to be exact. No, I didn’t have to take off a mask or smear my makeup. My (back-then) boyfriend and I went in tacky costumes: me as goofy, him as a bodyguard/tattoo artist. Don’t ask why that is. =P

I tend to write a lot in certain subjects I like. If you take a look at my writings or articles in the visitors section, you’ll notice that those articles are quite lengthy. So is this blog entry. =]

I’ve had the same laptop since 7^th grade. At first it worked fine, but now I just use it as a desktop since I can’t re-adjust it without having to reposition the charger 384032840324803284 times. The cause of this is my charger, not the laptop itself.

I have about 43 awards from various events/accomplishments. Most of these are obtaining from good grades in elementary/middle school, but I have some others like the occasional vocal ensemble award and religious education certificate.

I have enough notebook paper to burn down my house. Or at least that’s what my grandma says. Also, most of these papers have some sort of writing, be it a journal entry or random scribbles in class.

I can’t snap, whistle, or roll my R’s. Lame, I know.

I completely lost count of the facts. Well, I counted and I’m at 9. My life and whatever wasn’t so eventful that I could think up of 10 facts in 10 seconds. Here’s the second half to it: I focus on something a lot when I like doing what I’m doing, so I guess that could apply to this fact.

I find a girl easier to draw than a boy. Even though I have troubles with the hand/feet, and boobs (haha, laugh all you want) I find it way easier to draw girls. If I ever draw to convey an emotion or random thought in the form of a person, it’s usually a girl. The only guy drawing I have that I thought was really good was this one of my ex.

Alright. I’m done. Time to tag some people, and it shall be…you. Of course, there’s always the “you don’t have to if you don’t want to” option.

Sorry to all my Despair/Exentrique/other commenters!

Edit: I would get Wordpress, but it’s so hard to customize in my opinion. I don’t really want to use a free theme because I like showing people my own designs. I have made a layout before, but it needed so much tweaking to fit in with everything it isn’t funny. I shall do it eventually when it isn’t frustrating me and making me pull my hair out.

So if you want to know why I haven’t converted to the almighty wordpress, that’s why. Besides; you don’t really need to have thatspecific CMS in order to have a successful website/blog. *is not implying anything about this own website*