Paint the town red.

by Chloe
21st Birthday Countdown: 4 days!

My best friend is apparently in town because she wanted to see if I wanted to celebrate this weekend and that I have recovered from illness... I've been feeling better but it always feels terrible in the mornings, so I can never tell. I want to celebrate. She says, in her own words, that she wants to get me "shitfaced", haha. But I'm not interested in alcohol, so what is there to do for your 21st birthday besides heading to bars? Maybe I should get a tattoo. Hahaha.

Actually, I've been thinking about getting a tattoo since last summer, I just don't know what to get it of. There's a couple of really cool tattoos that I've seen, like plum blossoms. But one I saw recently that I thought was really cool were of three birds flying and their wings stretched out (just the idea, not so much the color, size, or location shown):


Cool, neh? Or maybe some or one of those feathers that are along the side of my page?

Also. DeviantART is holding a contest for deviants to create advertisements for Ponyo coming out on DVD, and I've submitted two entries. Here and here.

Tea, please.

by Gabriele Chiapparini
I noticed today as I was driving home in silence that I haven't sang to myself in about a week, whereas I usually do so every day. I am sick, after all, but I wonder if that's the only reason.

Although, I don't have that much to look forward to anymore. School's coming up, but there lies mixed feelings. There aren't any more chapters for the Harry Potter fanfiction I've been reading for a year. I probably won't see Granma again.

What I need is a couple of exciting weeks of travel to Europe and various places in the U.S. that I've never been to. I want to see some Broadway plays in New York, I want to see museums and famous landmarks all over the world, and I want to capture the best moments via photograph.

I think I'll have about a year of breaking from school, between graduating from college in the fall and heading off to some medical school the following fall? I haven't planned anything at all.

Way to stay sane.

by Alberto
I'm super flabbergasted right now; I just picked up my Canon Rebel Xsi! Can't wait 'til spring when the flowers take over the world so I can capture them. I've been trigger happy and taking pictures of really stupid things, but hey, I got a couple of good ones. Here's one... click to see a larger version.


My throat is sore, I'm sneezing and coughing, my nose is runny, and these are only recent events. I hurt my back at work the other day and so went to the hospital. It wasn't really as serious as that, I'm better now (three days later), I just wanted to have something done about my daily shoulder and back pain that I get from working for more than a couple of hours on end. And there's good news! There will be a physical therapist coming by to watch me work and give me advice about how I could change how I do work or perhaps change my working environment to me. Ergonomics, you know.

What's another catastrophe.

by Felicia
I think not having Granma around at work ever since he's been laid off has helped me finally let go of him. Still I reminisce, yes, but I'm not yearning for his presence, and thank goodness I don't feel alone anymore. I'm not bothering to email him a questioning goodbye, either. I'm half hoping that he never comes back, otherwise I'll just be forced to remember every time he'd come into my range of vision just how happy I could be.

My 21st birthday is coming up soon, on the 27th. I feel ridiculous in thinking of myself as an adult, like I'm being pushed into a crowded room I don't want to be in. In my opinion, it's never going to happen for real. I'll always just be a kid doing adult things. I mean, who ever grows up, really? Even my grandparents think of themselves as kids still. And how bizarre does that sound.

These days are meshing together so much that I can't really tell them apart, they all seem so similar. I need to do something different. Ah, this is why I end up aching to go back to school, even though when I'm in school I'd be angsting over the days when I wouldn't have to think about a single thing. The grass is always greener on the other side.

All over the place.

by Felicia
When I was little I realized just how annoying kids could be and became severely adamant that I would never ever have children of my own during the course of my lifetime. Then in my adolescence, I came to the conclusion that, yes, children are still terribly chaotic little things, but I may change my mind down the road.

Yet this past year, I've been thinking about family in general and how vital these relationships are to parents sometimes. Maybe I will need a kid some day, not just want one. Who knows. I had a dream the other night that I was pregnant, even. I'm pretty sure I had another during the summer or whenever, and I wasn't flipping out over the idea during either one. So. I don't know. It depends on how the kids turn out, I guess.

Haha, yeah, no unconditional love from me, chidlins! You've got to earn your keep.

Jay kay, wink wink.

Five more minutes.

by Laina
I was just taking a nap this afternoon of the first day of the new year and I had a dream where my skin was shedding some old layers to reveal new, fresh skin underneath. I've had a lot of dreams like that, actually. It seems like that sort of dream would mean that I've probably dealt with some issue in my life and am moving on. Which is a great start for the new year, no?

I'll be returning home tomorrow night, only to have to wake up at 4:20 in the morning for work. At least I get eight hours of time and a half pay.

The Naruto Shippuden Manga wasn't updated this week due to the holidays, and now I'm itching really bad now that I'll have to wait until next week to see what happens! I'm on the edge of my fargin' seat, here.