Life

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Words

Published November 1, 2012 by Malia

Since NaNoWriMo has started, it seems appropriate that I be thinking about words.  It’s interesting how sometimes people can say or write something that they don’t really mean anything by, and it ends up really hurting the person it’s said about.  I’m guilty of this, not unlike most people.  I’ve been working through some things that have been said to me over the years, things that I’m not proud to admit have done a lot to shape how I think about life and about myself.  There’s a good lesson in it, but I’m not 100% ready to share anything more particular.  I guess, I just want to remind everyone to choose your words wisely.

Back to writing!

(Also, the entries this month will likely be pretty short ones, since I’m trying to crank out over 1600 words a day, on top of any homework and blogging.)

The Empire and the Mouse

Published October 30, 2012 by Malia

So, as I’m sure many of you know, Disney bought Lucasfilm.  Disney now owns the rights to Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  They also now own ILM & Skywalker Sound.  In the announcement, they stated that Star Wars Episode VII will be released in 2015 (and VII & IX in the years that follow), and there will be more feature films and tv projects in the future.

I have mixed feelings about this.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Star Wars universe ends up looking like in the hands of new people.  Lucas has spent decades trying to perfect his vision of the universe.  Maybe someone else can make it exist the way he wants.

Probably my biggest feeling of uneasiness about this whole thing is the thought that there might be a reboot of both Star Wars & Indiana Jones.  They can redo Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars and it wouldn’t really bother me, but I don’t want to see someone else playing Han Solo or Indiana Jones (Jr. or Sr.).

Overall, it will be interesting to see what becomes of Lucasfilm.

Now, I’m not ignoring what’s going on with the giant storm on the East Coast.  It’s devastating.  The images I’ve been seeing are heartbreaking.  I’m thankful that those I know who have been in the middle of this storm seem to be okay.  My heart goes out to the families who’ve lost members and homes.

Random Saturday Musings

Published October 28, 2012 by Malia

-I love when I watch a movie that I haven’t watched in years and see that it’s still just as awesome as I remember it being.

-Sometimes it really kills me how divided I feel.  I love & miss my family and friends at home, but if I weren’t here I’d feel the same about the people here.

-I feel confused about the iPad mini.  How is this any different than an iPod touch?  Much as I love my computer and iPod, it disturbs me that now marketing strategies seem to be, “Look, it’s a size we’ve kinda sorta, but not really offered before!  Aren’t we amazing?  Isn’t it great you’ll be willing to pay a couple of car &/or mortgage payments to own this?”

-I’m starting to think it’s a good thing for me not to watch Husker games.  They win when I don’t watch.  Because, of course, the world revolves around me.

-I miss my furry babies.  I know I’m going to get home for Thanksgiving and Howie will completely and totally ignore me until it’s time for me to leave, and I don’t care.  I miss his fuzzy orange face!  I miss my Gracie, too.  I miss watching her try to flirt with Sam & Dean whenever Supernatural is on.

-Aunty Ellen, if you’re reading this, Happy Birthday!  I’ll call you later today (cause I’m pretty sure 4 a.m. wouldn’t be a good time to call).  I’m so blessed to have you for an aunt, and I admire you so much.  I hope you know how much you mean to me, and how truly amazing I think you are!  I love you so much!

-I’m so thankful that my family doesn’t badger me about “When are you going to get married,” or “When are you going to have kids.”  It’s hard enough when no one shows any romantic interest, and knowing there’s a 98% chance of no babies in my future.  I’m just so unbelievably thankful this isn’t a standard I’m held up to.  Instead, I’m allowed to chase my dreams, no matter how silly and foolish other people might find them.Dear Family, you are so amazing and I’d be such a bigger mess without you.

-I’m going to be 28 in 27 days.  How insane is that?  I don’t feel like I’m going to be 28.  I feel like 15 or 16.  The only times I feel old is when I’m around kids who are amazed by the fact that I remember seeing certain films (Land Before Time, Beauty & The Beast, & The Lion King to name a few) the first time they were in the theater.

-Is it weird to say that just seeing my severely beat up copy of Fellowship of the Ring is comforting to me?  I can’t explain it.  I have no idea how many times I’ve read LOTR , I lost count years ago.  Actually, I never kept count.  I just would read the series, and as soon as I finished Return of the King I’d cycle right back into Fellowship.  

-It really bothers me when I see commercials for kid computers and the kids are learning to read and write on the tablet.  I think what truly worries/frustrates/irritates me, is that usually you don’t see the parent until the end of the commercial and inevitably they’re either peeking around a corner or passing through the room where the child is.  Computers shouldn’t be teaching the children!  Parents need to be whipping out the good, old McGuffey Reader and teaching the child.  Reading is not a computer game.  There’s a huge difference between teaching the kid how to recognize and pronounce a word, and teaching a child to do those things and love the words.  Computers don’t love.  They’re a machine.  Words are so important.  Books are important.  I feel like whole generations of children are being denied the pleasure of being friends with words, and that saddens me so much.  Computers are great, and fun, but there are some things that they shouldn’t solely be relied on to do.

Those were the days, my friends…

Published October 25, 2012 by Malia

I was born in the mid-80’s, but I don’t remember much about them beyond:

magnum-mania.com

and

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/section/learning/general/onthisday/big/0128_big.gif

and

wikimedia.org

and

tumblr.com/tagged/avoid-the-noid

True story, I honestly believed the Noid was real.  When my grandparents would come visit my grandma would tell me to call to order pizza, and apparently I would use my toy telephone and “call” Domino’s.  According to my mom, the conversation would go, “Hello?  Noid?  Bring pizza!”  While I made my “call” someone else would actually call Domino’s.  Thus, the belief in the Noid was firmly cemented in my brain, until we moved to small town Illinois when I was four, and there was no Domino’s; just a Dairy Dipper.

and

The time I could have gotten crushed by a refrigerator.  Fortunately, it just wasn’t my time yet.

However, while I may not have been super aware of pop-culture, or really any culture, in the 80’s, I do remember the 90’s.  Here’s just a few things I remember…

 

First boy band I was aware of:

wikimedia.org

I don’t remember actually hearing any of their music, but I do remember going over to my friend Krissy’s house, and she had their poster, album, and I’m thinking she had their dolls.  (Keep in mind, this happened 20 years ago, so I could totally be misremembering the dolls).

 

Nylon Windsuits:

http://lillypwannabe.blogspot.com

I had a couple different ones of these.  They were great, and pretty comfortable.

 

SURGE:

wikimedia.org

I really miss Surge.  It was a great soda!  About the only time I ever got to have it was at camp.  I don’t remember it making me super-hyper, but then again caffeine usually works opposite the way it’s supposed to on me.

 

The Best Computer Game:

http://files.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/185040_S/The-Oregon-Trail.jpg

Okay, in light of the games available now, this probably doesn’t look that fun, but back in elementary school playing this on the Apple 2 was so much fun!  This was before the internet was widely available.

 

Pogs

wikimedia.org

 

Great PBS kid’s shows:

tvtropes.org

logos.wikia.com

wikimedia.org

 

This:

amazon.com

When I was 9 and trying to die from pneumonia (I wish I was making that up, I actually almost died), I remember one night my dad was watching me, and he willingly played this game with me.  My dad rocks!

 

The Best Playground Equipment

shutterstock.com

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At some point, while I was growing up, these were just some of the pieces of playground equipment that were deemed dangerous and removed from playgrounds.

 

Great Comic Strips:

wikimedia.org

amazon.com

Both of these strips came to an end in the mid-90’s.  They were both great strips.

 

The show that still gives me the creeps:

wikimedia.org

 

There’s plenty of other things I remember, but I’ll end this post with this:

amazon.com

As already mentioned, my dad’s pretty awesome.  This Beanie, Prickles the Hedgehog, got released a few days before Valentine’s Day.  To surprise me, my dad stood in line for hours to get this Beanie, and then he and mom gave it to me for Vanetine’s.  Probably the best Valentine’s gift I’ve ever received.

 

Dear Blog,

Published October 25, 2012 by Malia

I’ve been neglecting you.  I’m sorry.  I’ve been so wrapped up in my thoughts and emotions and general madness that is my life, I’ve not spent any time working on you.  This isn’t really fair to you.

The truth is, I think I’ve been hiding from you.  I didn’t want you to see how much I’ve been struggling or how sad I’ve felt.  I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.  It’s silly, though.  You know, as well as I do, that life’s not fair, and sometimes it seems easier to just hide.

So, I’m back.  Good, bad, or downright ugly, daily posts are coming back.  How else will you know what’s going on with me, my weight, and the things I’m so easily entertained by?

Until tomorrow…or later today…whichever comes first…

-Malia

Random Saturday Musings

Published October 20, 2012 by Malia

-Saw The Blair Witch Project for the first time tonight.  Gotta say, A. they had no clue what direction south is, and B. I hated the fact that I disliked the characters so much I didn’t care if something bad happened to them.  Interesting film, though.  I remember when it first came out, and everyone thought it was actual footage of a real tragedy.  And, now, I feel old.

-I really enjoy making fun things on my loom.  It’s very therapeutic.

-I’ve really been struggling, emotionally, with this whole chronic disease diagnosis.  I feel like as soon as I start wrapping my head around it and accepting it, I immediately head back to being angry or sad.  The other night, I was laying in bed, and all I could think of is how much it must suck for those people who get diagnosed with something really severe, like cancer.  I can’t even begin to imagine what hell their emotions play on them.  In some ways, I feel that I’m supposed to be learning empathy through this.  I tend to be really guarded, and even when I feel bad for someone and what their going through (especially with disease) I hold back from being there for them.  I hope I’m not driving people crazy with my constant writing on here about this whole diabetes thing.  I know I’ve been using my entries to process the emotional turmoil I’m going through.  Honestly, it’s scary.  It’s really scary.  I had no idea what people really go through.  My heart truly goes out to people who have it way worse.  I feel like I barely qualify to be saying, “I’ve got a chronic disease.”

–Mothman Prophecies has got to be one of my all time favorite movies.  It’s so freaky, and it’s almost all mental.  It doesn’t rely on gore, it relies mostly on the unseen.  Is there really anything scarier than what our own imaginations come up with?

Sleep

Published October 17, 2012 by Malia

If you’re anything like me, sleep is a beautiful, much appreciated aspect of life.  I don’t know why, but lately I’m having an incredibly difficult time getting to sleep.  Even if I lay down  with the intention of sleeping, I find myself wide awake, staring at the ceiling.  This goes on for quite a while.  A year ago I struggled to get sleep, but that was due to a really nightmarish living situation.  This year, there’s no excuse.  On top of this, I’ve found that some afternoons I can’t help but nap.  I’m not someone who takes naps.  I drove my kindergarten teacher crazy because I wouldn’t sleep.  I wish I could send my current desires to nap back in time to when it would’ve been really useful.

Random Saturday Musings

Published October 13, 2012 by Malia

-This morning at about 3 a.m., I saw the Aurora Borealis for the first time!  It’s been of my goals to see it, and it was simply amazing!  It’s the most hauntingly beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  It really did dance across the sky.  At one point I was laying on the ground looking up, and the Aurora looked like ocean waves.  I can’t wait to see them again!  I want to go hunt them the way that people hunt twisters.  I’m so thankful for Katy & Michele being willing to take me out to see them!

-Went to the homecoming football game today.  We stayed for the first half.  It wasn’t great.  I was excited to see the marching band, and boy was I disappointed.  I was expecting a really great half-time show, and instead, what we got was a concert band performance.  The band played three songs, each song directed by a former professor from the music department.  The songs progressively got older.  Started with Elvis, then Sinatra, and ended with a hymn.  Seriously.  A hymn.  I love hymns, I really do.  I think they’re beautiful, but a half-time performance of a football game is not where I want to hear one.  It wasn’t even a peppy hymn, it was Abide With Me, which is pretty slow and reminiscent of funerals. On top of which, they didn’t march.  At all.  The former band geek inside of me wept.  All in all, big disappointment.

-Was introduced to the show Pitbulls and Parolees today.  I don’t go in for reality t.v., but this show is fantastic!  It warms my heart to see someone willing to be such an advocate for the breed.

-I’m really excited that my clothes are starting to feel like they’re fitting better.

-I’m really nervous about having to start monitoring my blood sugar.  I’m not good at inflicting pain on myself, so the whole sticking my finger thing terrifies me.  I’m completely capable of doing this on other people.  I’ve tested my mom’s levels before, and I had to do it during phlebotomist training.  I don’t mind sticking other people, I’m just freaked about doing it to myself.

Duh Duh…Duh Duh…Duh Duh Duh Duh DuhDuhDuhDuhDuhDuh AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Published October 11, 2012 by Malia

Tonight I experienced sharks, sharks, and more sharks.  The good, the bad, and the ugly of the world of sharks.

I was hanging out at a friend’s apartment, and we were going to watch a movie.  I asked if we could watch Jaws.  I’d never actually seen Jaws all the way through.  Sure, I’d catch parts when it’s on t.v., but my past viewing has been completely out of order.  Since my friend, Katy,  loves all things shark, she was more than willing to sit through Jaws.

Jaws is a pretty great film, especially when you consider when it was made.  Sure, it was kinda unrealistic, and sure, the Bruce (that’s the shark) that you see in close-up is way bigger than the full body shots of the shark they portray as Bruce.  It’s the epic struggle, though, that makes it worthwhile.  Plus, there’s some pretty cool cinematography.  Although, in retrospect, I’m not sure my first full viewing would’ve been nearly as fun had I been by myself.  It’s definitely a film you need to watch with other like-minded people.

About halfway through the film Katy suggested we watch Shark Night next.  Shark Night is the very touching story about a group of college students who decide to spend the weekend at the lake.  Nothing could possibly go bad, right?  Right.  Oh wait, things do get a little less charming when the sharks in the lake start nomming on the gang.  This ain’t Beach Blanket Bingo, that’s for sure.  “But wait,” you’re probably saying, “how can there be sharks?  Didn’t you say they’re at a lake?”  Why, yes, I did!  Not to worry, there’s a perfectly logical explanation given, about halfway through the film.  I think this film was the product of someone thinking, “Jaws was really successful, and Deliverance was really disturbing; why not combine them into one film?”  Don’t believe me?  There was this moment where Katharine McPhee’s character is giving the creepy Deliverance guy an eyeful, and I actually said, “And now we’re showing Deliverance our boobs.”  Seriously, if you don’t know what people mean when they call something a “B movie,” watch this and you’ll understand.

After Shark Night we watched one of the Shark Week episodes, Air Jaws.  This was actually pretty cool, and educational.  Did you know that Great Whites will actually clear the water doing this leap breach thing?  It’s ridiculous.  I admit I was rooting for the seals and penguins to get away.  I know a shark’s gotta eat, but it’s awful watching animals that cute get killed.  The vet tech in me wanted to save the injured animals.

All in all, a successful evening, and now I know why I’m single and childless.  People in relationships do not watch Jaws and when seeing a dog and a child at the beach, and the ominous familiar music starts to play, say, “Eat the bratty kid!  Not the dog!”

Weight Loss Monday~Week 6

Published October 8, 2012 by Malia

Tonight I have no pictures and no update.  I’ll have both next week, but this week I’m still processing this whole diabetes thing.  Granted, I’ll probably still be processing in a week, and even several weeks after that.

I’ve started keeping a food journal.  I’ve found it’s easier to do if I take the journal with me when I go eat, and write down before I eat.  I’m also working to eat veggies and drink more water.  I really, really don’t like vegetables.  Seriously, I like spinach and green beans (which I’m not sure are a veggie, because they’re a bean and I’m thinking they’re mostly sugar, but I could be wrong).  I like some veggies if they’re cooked in soup or on pizza.  However, the list is really, super small.  Turns out, if you’re diabetic, veggies are kinda important.  Also, I’ve never liked drinking water.  Lucky me, that’s another thing that’s important for me to consume now.

I’m not complaining, I’m just processing.