of burnt toast and lithium flowers

SEMI-FRIENDS ONLY
Although this journal was once 'Friends Only,' half of the things I shared for 'friends' were things I probably could share with most people. Things haven't changed much, but I think the term 'Friends Only' is really strong.

A majority of my personal entries will be kept friends-locked. However, other things, namely my domain updates, game 'reviews,' education-related rants, etc. will be available to everyone's eyes. If you are interested in reading more than just my fandom, education (read: why I hate 'x' class and 'y' experiments), and media posts, comment here. I'm not too picky about friending, but I probably will ignore your request if you really creep me out.

Can anyone say fad diet breakthrough? Thank you, oh great miracle known randomly searching crap on Google.

(And I laughed my ass off at the comment about Greek men. Oh, those crazy Greeks...)

You know when you have a super-fancy problem and spend thirty fucking minutes trying to get only one out of the four values you need (granted, the next three are a breeze to get once this said one is calculated), only to find out the damned value was already given in the problem itself?

Well, I do. I hate when that happens too. It makes me want to go out and bulldozer some squirrels.

Morals? Always read the whole problem before doing anything. And the derivative of the universe is still 42, but it's integral is a super-duper mystery. Yes, yes, yes, no, no, no?

That is all. Don't do drugs or suck on your toes, kids.

I have nothing constructive to say about today. Well, I ate Chinese takeout and organized some paperwork, but again, nothing too special.

Thus, I have a meme that I stole (well, it's not really stealing, but whatever) from icysnowdrop.

Name a fandom, and I'll tell you my —

One True Pairing Ship:
Canon Ship:
"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ship:
"You are one sick bastard" Ship:
"I dabble a little" Ship:
"It's like a car crash" Ship:
"Tickles my fancy but not sold just yet" Ship:
"Makes no canon sense but why the Hell not" Ship:
"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" Ship:

Here are the fandoms I'm sure I can give answers for: Slayers, Kanon, AIR, CLANNAD, Fate/stay night, Tsukihime, Futago Hime, Magic Knight Rayearth, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto (and the spin-offs, though I've forgotten quite a bit of Taiyou to Kaze), Fullmoon (w)o Sagashite. There's probably some other stuff too, but I can't recall right now.

EDIT: The cut got lost in the transitions, so I got rid of the blurb about the cut.

Dude, I am so exhausted right now. To make things worst, I gotta go run a few errands tomorrow morning.

You know, I hate shopping, especially for clothes (books and electronics are totally different). In fact, I delayed updating my wardrobe for almost five years now. In a nutshell, I currently have two pants, five shirts, and a bunch of unmatched socks. While it worked for that long, I've been having to do laundry more often than I'd like. And ma's been on my case too.

I can't say I'm completely set for now, but I got two pairs of decent pants that *gasp* have pockets and aren't tight. Honestly, you'd think finding comfortable pants with modesty-sized pockets would be easy. So anyhow, I'm going to purchase two or three more pairs of pants and then donate my current pairs. I think I'll be okay for shirts. As for socks, I'll just buy those fancy 6 (?) packs at a local convenience store. That's what I've done for years. Don't see why I'd have a change of heart either. So overall, I'll have enough clothes to go through the week. Oh heck, I could probably just wear some stuff again without washing. Yeeaaaah.

( Random ramblings of websites... Nothing too mindblowing. )

I need sleep. SSLEEEEEEPPPPPP.

I tried to get MSN Messenger to work, but it's not working. On top of that, the web version doesn't seem to be working either (I couldn't log in since morning). Hmmm... Looks like I'll have to use AIM for my IM needs.

I finally got my research proposal edited. I'll be sending it off to my sponsor tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can get started on the project at the start of the upcoming semester.

Speaking of writing, I've decided to engage in some 'creative' writing. I probably will leave most of them (save fanfics) on my hard drive. That way, when I get reallllyy old, I can reflect back on my lackluster, non-beta writing. Well, that, or my paan-eating beta reader leaves India a few weeks early and gives me all the paan and puran poli he can purchase. Dammit, I wish I could go visit India, but I'm going to have to wait until next year.

My mom refuses to let me cut the mangoes we bought, yet she won't leave her stupid cell phone to do it herself. BRAAH.

The summer semester has come to a full closure. It's been hectic dealing with everything at once, that's for sure. I doubt I'll be able to do the same sort of routine again (read: I'm going to PARTAY 24/7 next summer).

Ants have been somehow creeping in my kitchen, so my mom and I spent some time spreading crushed chilies all over the counters and their other 'hotspots.' Is this war? Yes, no, or maybe so? I'll leave you to guess.

I've been lazing around these days. Dammit, I need to do something new (besides stare at my unedited research proposal for Fall). Maybe working on sites or my untouched icon/fic claims might help? Or maybe an edited research proposal will help.

This Monday, I'm going to spend the entire day stalking asking profs for recommendation letters and/or consent to use them as references in the future. Note to self: life after undergrad school is kewl, but the applications are not. End of story.

And speaking of stalking, I spent about two good hours following the head of the Math department. He got rather irritated at first, but we then made a peace treaty of sorts when I brought up bagels (aka his favorite food). Hah.

This entry is so disconnected. I would like to make it all nice and pretty, but my research proposal and class essays have managed to make my brain feel like mashed potatoes. Not the faux cauliflower kind, mind you.

Today was so dull and boring. On one hand, a bunch of us danced the Hokey-Pokey (don't ask) in the Math help room. On the other hand, I did absolutely nothing constructive.

When I was waiting for my rice to get cooked, I decided to read some manga I've had on my HD for a while. How did it go? Well, let's give a mini-review!

( Goodness, my first actual manga mini-review... )

A good number of videos and screencaps of Soulcalibur IV are floating online. Looking at them makes me wish I had enough money for a PS3 or Xbox 360. And in somewhat related news, I'm starting to get slightly annoyed with Brawl's With Anyone online mode.

I never realized someone posted Comedy Circus clips on Youtube. And I even found two of my favorite skits! Namely, this and this, all in their pure raw forms.

In other news, I'm thinking about changing my userid. My current handle has managed to lose its charm. Problem is, I don't want to pay $15 to LJ. Meh, maybe my mild annoyance will go away with time or something.

This was your frequent dose of weirdness and run-on sentences, provided by the evil tooth fairy and galaxy hitchhikers.

I'm so tired... And I still have so many things to do. Yet I'm just watching Comedy Circus 2 on SET India. Bah, whatev.

I was in and out of my place all day. Right when I was going to spend quality time with my Wii, my mom barges in and turns off the console. She made me help her install Microsoft Office instead. Well, it was more like finding my copy of MO and putting in the serial code for her new laptop. Oh well, at least she made me carrot cake. Yes, she tried to make it as low in Calories, fat, sugar, and all that bad stuff, but it was still top-notch. My mom plans on using the whole grain flour Gold Medal makes next time.

On my way to work, I returned some items for my mom at Target. While browsing through the clearance videogame section, I found The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning for $9.99. Since I had a gift card handy, I got the game for $7. The game itself might not be phenomenal (or so I've heard - I haven't played it yet), but you can't beat that price. Or the nostalgia factor Spyro brings in general.

After work, I went to take Krish out for a walk. He managed to trot a full mile, though he was terrified when this one car honked and flash its headlights at us. I then carried him back home. Sure, he was happy, but my arms are now really sore.

I'm heading to bed. 'Night, folks.

Dear LJ,

I'm sick of getting homework help emails.

Sincerely,
One Very Bloated Individual

Oh yeah, and a funny (?) tidbit. While skipping through the classified ads, I found a bunch of people who wanted an Algebra tutor. Their pays range from $18 to $30 per hour. Yikes.

I ran into one of my neighbors while taking my dog out for a walk (yet again). He still thinks I deal with pig fetuses in my lab. Lalz, if only that were true. Then I could deal with the PETA fanatics who are only a few blocks away! Oh, fun!!

I missed three careless points on my Diff Eq test. Three easy, breezy points, all that were for my taking. Dammit, I feel so stupid.

On a related note, this one derivative is giving me an algebraic nightmare. It won't work. I know what the answer thanks to graphing technology, but I CAN'T GET THE ALGEBRA TO. LOOK. NICE! I get fractions with the term I want, terms I want to solve for raised to ridiculously high powers, and derivatives that I want to slaughter with a chainsaw bear or something. GRAAAHHH!!

I stopped by Gamestop yesterday. As always, the staffed cared more about helping the snotty kids instead of me, but I went there just to get Deoxys. The process took a painless two minutes, but the youngsters were so noisy!

I feel like reviving an old web novel project of mine, or at least start up a newer and not so expansive one. I'm not exactly free at the moment, but I've got more time right now than I will this upcoming academic year. I have no clue. Maybe I'll abandon the entire idea, since I only end up disappointed at my own works. Oh well.

BTW, here's that icon I promised to make you from that one meme, naoe_riki. Enjoy, I suppose?

Indian reality shows blow. The genre sucks to begin with, but Hindustan really does take it to another level. Another level of bullshit, that is.

I got called up for lab early this morning. Because I was careless with Mr. Bunsen Burner, I burned my right forearm over the flame when trying to get some glass pipettes. And guess what color the flame was. Yes, it was BLUE!!

Also, my supervisor decided to chat when I began sterilizing my glassware (to transfer some liquid medium to agar plates). So... what happened?

Ms. Hot Glass stung my fingers, which already had burns from my attempt to make breakfast. I already had a couple discolored burns. GRAAAH.

Conclusion? Bunsen Burner x Hot Glass is one hot couple. Literally. It might even be my new OTP.

I lost my Nintendo DS again. Not cool, man. Not cool.

(More later, I guess?)

If you already don't know, I really hate summer. It's been so hot these days that I can't even coherently think.

Yesterday, I went to the orthodontist. Well, I talked more with one of the dental assistants than with the doc himself, but whatev. Apparently, things are okay and on track, but let's just hope it stays that way. Quite frankly, I want to get out of these damned things, since no one can understand when I'm talking.

I took advantage of Amazon's sale/promotion of Super Smash Bros Brawl, on account it was $10 off and you get a $10 gift certificate too. I might write up a more detailed review, but I'm liking it so far. I finished about 62% of the adventure mode and played a few online matches. The online ended up working decently, though there was a lot of lag in the beginning. In fact, one match completely froze on me. While I ended up winning most of the time with Kirby, I lost all of my matches when playing as Zelda. Then again, Kirby's been my main since the series' N64 days, and his controls haven't changed remarkably. On the other hand, Zelda's another story.

More later, I've gotta motor to work (yeah, I still have a job).

Mr. Kewel posted up the homework assignment, so all is well? Um, it would be if he had moved the damned due date.

I called Aaj Tak's office, but no one answered. I then tried to contact Samay. Some lady answered my call and calmly listened to my 'viewer rage,' but they were not going to be airing responses for another couple of hours. So I'm going to pull off an all-nighter so I can give them my valuable feedback!

( Site stuff... again. )

Update (6/22 - 1:14 AM): Shit, no news channel is talking about the Arushi murder case. I could either stay up a few hours longer or go spam the news channels' inboxes so they'd have to respond in some way. BAH.

I passed my driving test!!

Big letters aside, my shiny driver's license will arrive in a matter of weeks. My mom said she'd be getting me a car pretty soon, since we barely manage to carpool with her Malibu. I'd love the new Tesla Roadster, but 1.) you have to reserve a model (and I believe their list is full), and 2.) it's out of our budget. The latter point might not be so substantial if you weigh the cost of gas and the price of the car + electricity required to charge the battery, but I'll wait until electric cars go mainstream (if they do, of course).

I recently gave Mario Kart 64 another spin. I managed to finish all of the cups (50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and Extra) in a week, considering I was doing a million other things at the same time. It's such a fun game, though it gets a tad boring to play against AI players. Too bad no one I know likes videogames (though some guys at my lab LOVE Cooking Mama). Ah well.

Also, I never thought a song about Windows Vista would be so addicting. Okay, okay, Sunidhi + Hinglish + Pop equals one big 'thumbs up' in my book, but it's just that good. The MP3 is on the (India?) Vista site - go download it.

My mom packed all of my old textbooks and manga in storage, so site plans might get a bit hindered by this. Bright side is I now have more space on my bookshelf.

Yeah, yeah, I'll stop spamming about sites and start using redotnet for that. But I'm, erh, in the mood.

...Dear God, that sounded so wrong.

( The summer offers lots of heat. )

And has anyone noticed how guestbooks on sites have been disappearing? Great, right when I decide to get a new one, the web design community goes the other direction. Oh well.

Today's a bank holiday, but I got a big nice survival experiment to work on. Luckily, my supervisor's being nice and said I only need to come in every other day. Sweet.

I hate talking about websites like I'm so rabid fan of the internet, but things haven't been really going so well. Bad news is that my site has been experiencing some really bad downtime. I've tried calling in and sending emails about it, but I haven't received any satisfying responses. Best I got was a miser sweet-talker on the phone.

At this rate, I'm probably going to change hosts. So far, HostGator seems the best with pretty good reviews on web host review sites and the cost (with a monthly plan, I'd be paying the same amount). I know some people like Dreamhost, but I prefer having a host that let's you talk with a *gasp* living person via phone.

Nonetheless, I took the time to make backups and manually download files from my Lina, Umi, and Kohaku fansites. Around the end of the current billing cycle, I'll take care of the rest of the directories. That way, if things go extremely wrong, I can always manually upload each and every one of my files on the new space I purchase. Nice, no?

*sigh* Three years. You needed to take so long to prove to be a pain, didn't you, hostie?

On an unrelated note, Jab We Met is really overrated. The plot's pretty good, but the pacing is horrible. And I don't really like the actors. Music is catchy, so there's a good aspect.

Work has been extremely slow these days. To add on top of it, my supervisor's been wiggling out of the lab to get mocha lattes at Starbucks. What does that mean? Since I don't bring test prep material with me in lab (let's say hypochloric acid destroyed my GRE practice exams), I decided to work on websites, namely Boiling Point, Sapphire Waters, and Pink Pearl (not to mention read about the latest murder cases in India).

( Progress )

In other news, my Minagi and Saber figures came in the mail. I managed to set up the Saber one when I had my dinner. Unlike GSC's awful trading figures, Revoltech Saber and her weapons did not break or give me a hard time. I still have yet to take Minagi out of her box. I'll post pictures and mini-reviews for them in the future.

I'll update about the day later, I swear. Or maybe not. Only flying elephants and Kirby know.

So I lied. Not that people don't every now and then.

Work went pretty slowly yesterday and today, so I found the time to do some site-related things.

Moonflower has a new look. Most of the pages I had offline have been uploaded too. My server's being an ass at the moment, so I didn't get the chance to upload the site-related files. Not like people throughly read them to begin with, but I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive anyhow.

One thing that is not a lie is that I will not complete the site until August. This summer is going to be hectic - no need to add more responsibilities. I might make some minor updates here and there, but nothing too magical will happen between now at then.

With how things are looking at the moment, Moonflower may perhaps be the my most information-heavy site to date. Eeeeeeee.

EDIT: The entire domain is down for some reason. Hmmm... Maybe it's just the general typical downtime? Hope so. Things are back up. You should be able to access the main domain and all sites under it.