So, I'm done!

I'm finally finally done! No more evil professors! No more slaving away to homework! No more getting four hours of sleep a night for a week and a half! I'm done! I passed! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! ^_^

And I actually passed with decent grades! I'm totally surprised. I didn't even think I would survive a fall semester with five classes, must less do pretty good.

Anyways...

Tomorrow night is the New Year's ball. Yay! But I need to learn to braid my hair pretty before then, so I am going to try this afternoon. And toight we are going to Tammy & Adam's for a board game night. So that will be fun, I haven't seen Tammy in forever! And she is pregnant again, I need to find out when she is due...so I can knit her baby a blanket, or something, I guess.

I need to catch up on all of the things that I have been wanting to do but have been so overworked by classes that I haven't had time to do. Plus, I want to continue working with Maya and improving my skills with that, and eventually completely redo my senior seminar animation project. But right now I am just still so tired from the last week of classes, then Christmas, etc, and since Syd is working again I have been getting up early and doing more stuff around the apartment and stuff that I am just totally incapable of getting anything done at all. :P

Like right now I should be seaming my sweater...instead of posting this. Heck, I don't even know why I post stuff. O_O Not like anybody reads this, because I don't post regularly and I don't put pictures up and I don't even have anything interesting to say! So I guess this is mostly just a journaly thing for me. It's good for keeping to-do lists though. =)

Okay I'm going to seam my sweater now. And then figure out what else to do with my day.

I want to buy stuff now that Syd has a job but realistically I shouldn't, because we both need new dance shoes and we would like to take Shotokan Karate lessons (Syd used to, and misses it, and I think it would be fun and a good way to get in shape, seriously) and we want to go places (skiing at Mad River Mountain, the zoo, around? :P) and stuff and yarn is kind of sadly expensive. So basically I need to finish the projects that I have now (well, Anna's doll didn't cost very much but I am so close to being done I should finish it now, but Syd's sweater did cost a bunch and I should work on it, I just need to get the yarn divided up onto bobbins and am procrastinating that part :P) before buying yarn for any other projects, there are just six projects that I am really wanting to try (long opera gloves, fingerless gloves, lace stole for Mom, lace "ballet" dress for me, pirate socks, lace top for me, and maybe "Quidditch"/rugby socks for me..okay, so that is seven. :P Whatever!).

Okay, I'm going to start seaming now. See if I can get that off my list, at least!

Random to-do-ness (w/Syd):
1) scrapbook
2) airbrush
3) other art
4) go places =)

Random to-do-ness (by self):
1) design sketchbook
2) cross-stitch designs
3) string art (earrings? Stuff?)
4) little Mermaid doll
5) seam sweater
6) Syd's sweater (bobbins, first)
7) Maya!
8) call Tammy
9) Wii Games?
10) beading
11) that darn pearl necklace
12) put away Christmas presents
13) dust 1/2 the house done
14) sleep!
15) clean computer files
16) go through favorites
17) back up computer on harddrive
18) Hobbit Comics
19) embroider hand towels, place mats, etc
20) knit (see knit list)
21) make apartment pretty
22) bake/cook
23) needlepoint(s)
24) cross-stitch 1/2
25) poi
26) braid hair
27) organize recipes that I actually use in Word, add pictures, etc, and also make sure I have recipe cards written or printed for each one!
28) scan and organize all beading and knitting and lampworking patterns to pdf format and organize!!
29) 101/1001 list! >.<
30) Write
31) Figure out what to start boxing up...
32)

I will add more if I feel like it later.

I can't believe I'm done!

I'm done I'm done I'm done! But it doesn't feel like I'm done yet. :( It will, though...maybe once I catch up on sleep?

So it's almost time for New Years resolutions. I don't know whether to make any or none. O_O

So....

1) finish writing my 101/1001 list!
2) learn to knit socks this year
3) knit at least two: sweaters, lace shawls, scarves (presents), and gloves...
4) continue to keep sketchbook/inspiration/pattern idea "journal"
5) actually MAKE some of the things from my sketchbook
6) make our apartment prettier
7) clean once a week
8) cook at least one new meal a month, and reduce eating fastfood to after dance and Saturday's with Mom, except on "special" occasions...
9) lose at least 10 pounds..
10)...continue ballroom dancing (learn viennese waltz! and latin club dancing!)
11) continue learning poi, and actually make an entire poi routine =)
12) start some other kind of exercise (bellydance/hooping/karate/swimmming/whatever)
13) enjoy my time off for a bit, and then FIND A JOB!
14) continue working with Maya and other 3-D graphics programs, and create lot of models, worlds, and shorts to put into a demo reel!
15) write video game with Syd!
16) for a while(aka while not working) try to make one new Hobbit Comic every week

...that's all I've got for the moment. Hm. I can think of lots more though. Which is the problem. The more stuff I want to do, the less is going to get done.

Now, I am going to go work on finishing Anna's little mermaid doll. And watch something on Netflix.

Why Gears of War is the best shooter game on the market!

The Gears of War saga has something that is unlike most first-or-third-person shooter games. In addition to the best field tactics - the ability to take cover, provide covering fire, use fallen enemies as shields, etc - the game is truly unique. Despite the four main characters (Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird) being incredibly macho males, and there not being a female COG solider in sight (or even a female in sight - no, Anya's "voice" does not count, nor does her one brief appearance in both games, and unfortunately Maria doesn't count either), Gears does not treat the war that they are fighting as being purely "fun" or "challenging". While there are those light-hearted moments ("let's go kill some bugs"), there is also a prevailing sense of desperation. They aren't fighting for kicks (although you might be). They are fighting for their very survival (and sometimes, for revenge). Essentially, what the Gears of War universe has that most other shooter games are lacking, is humanity. COG soldiers - men that you, through Marcus or Dom, fight with - die (both Carmines, Tai, etc). Men, COG soldiers and civilians, are captured, enslaved, and tortured. Entire cities are sunk. And Marcus and Dom themselves both suffer personal losses - in the original Gears, Marcus' entire family has been killed and he has be wrongly kept in prison for years for 'treason'; in Gears 2, Dom is searching for his wife, Maria, and when he finall finds her, she has been tortured to the point that she doesn't even recognize her, and so he kills her (although there is a sliiiight story line loophole with Maria supposedly being released from the hospital a 'few days ago' and becoming THAT emancipated THAT quickly...I mean, seriously? :P She looked like a holocaust survivor!).

For me, this is what makes Gears of War stand out from other first-or-third-person shooters. In Halo, there is little emotional connection to the game. Master Chief is, essentially, pretty much detached from the battle, and the light-colored world does not lend any gravity to the fight. (This is not to say that I did not enjoy Halo - I did, but preferred the online play rather than the 'story' play).

All that said, all the game is really lacking, in my opinion, is a female soldier playable character. I mean, I would think if the human race was as desperate as the game depicts that the military would have no problem conscripting girls. What gives, Epic?

Still, the Gears of War saga is easily the best first/third-person shooter game there is, and definitely one of, if not THE, best games available for XBox 360. I am eagerly awaiting the third title (and the movie).

Almost there?

So this is the list of started-but-unfinished projects that need finishing after I am done studying:
1) That darn pearl necklace
2) Butterfly Needlepoint
3) Anna's Ariel
4) Mermaid Earrings
5) Florida Earrings
6) Birthday Happiness Earrings
7) Syd's Sweater
8) Jingle Bell Earrings (repaint)
8) Um?

And a list of things that I have not yet started but am planning to start:
1) French beaded snitch
2) French beaded lavender bunch
3) French beaded pinecone
4) Tatted necklace
5) Fire corset
6) Matching fire beaded cuffs and necklace
7) Disney Shorts Cross-stitch
8) Little Mermaid / Disney Princess wall art (cross-stitch/needlepoint/drawing)
9) AIRBRUSHED STUFF!
10) Christmas Cards
11) Hobbit Comics (Christmas present)
12) Knit Fish & Elephant (for Nate & Leah, Christmas Presents)
13) Fish Had for Syd
14) Presents for Irene, Maria, Tammy...
15) I'm sure there is more stuff I can't think of now...

I love you my fishy! <3
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