Band

So my friend Leslie wants to create a band. I say: why not? I've wanted to for the longest time. Of course, my instrument of choice is obviously the synthesizer. Think how cool I'd be jammin' out on that. Yeah, that's what I thought--pretty darn. I know just the perfect songs to transpose, too! Behold, the glory of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles 4: Turtles in Time (though if I recall correctly, there wasn't even ever a TNMT 3... > o> )!!! Released on the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, for those of you poor, sad people who didn't know that) in some year, this game became an instant classic in mine and Courtney's life! Although we never actually owned an SNES, one of our best friends and co-conspirator Colby Hall (although he actually goes by J.C. now, I always grew up knowing him as Colby) owned one and we played this game often. This and his Power Rangers game. Boy, were we cool. Still are, but, y'know. I strongly recommend the game and I can most certainly hook you up with an emulated version--don't hesitate to ask! So without further ado, a playlist for your enjoyment!

(Press the B button to play!)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Dem Good Ol' Vets

Is it just me or are my titles getting more and more uncreative? Ah well, I s'pose. Well yesterday was Veteran's Day and I was glad I could honor those great veterans that helped make everything a little better. My mom's dad was in World War II for a time, fighting mostly in the Pacific. We have an old video where Ryan interviews him about his life experiences and he talks about the war and fighting in the Pacific. Now I don't remember all of what he said, but I do remember him saying that he'd been close to death at least once. Something about getting a grenade thrown down at him as he stood in a manhole but then he threw it back up just in time. I might've messed that up, but scary nonetheless, no? Just imagine if that were you. At one point, his regiment got into a nasty battle in which he was shot in the leg. I think the shot shattered the bone to where there wasn't much doctors there could do for him so he was sent back to the States. Eventually later he found out that shortly after he left, his entire unit was killed. Crazy, huh? Good thing he left or else I might not be here!

Anyway, Courtney and I took Dallin and Adam to Mesa's Veteran's Day Parade. It was fun, even though the parade dragged on a little much. It was long mostly because there were too many big gaps between the different "exhibits" (I dunno, what do you call them?). Saw most of the bands. Poor Westwood; it was so teeny! And of course Mountain View's was the biggest. Well we ended up leaving the parade a little early because it kinda seemed like the boys were getting a little bored so we hiked all the way back to the parking garage. I almost felt like a mom this whole time, lulz. We stopped by Sonic afterward to get a quick treat and it was hilarious--Adam made a little cough and next thing we know his head is lolling to the side. He was out, man. But I had already ordered a little "Vanilla Cup" for Courtney to feed to him (she was sitting in the back between the boys). We got the ice cream and it took a few tries before Courtney got him to slightly open his eyes when she said "ice cream." She started spooning it into his mouth but it was like was a zombie or something; his head was bobbing around and his eyes couldn't decide what to do while his mouth instinctively swallowed down the ice cream. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. He'd fall back asleep for a minute but Courtney would prod him again and his head would pop back up. Eventually, however, he finally woke up. Brought 'em back home where Adam played and Dallin watched Power Rangers before Marily finally called wondering where we were (Courtney was supposed to call her earlier!). I hope they still had fun with their aunts though, even if the parade was a little unexciting.

Being that it was Veteran's Day and we remember wars, I just have to say that I love war history. I love war movies. I dunno what it is. I'm thinking perhaps Ryan somewhat instilled this in me. I just find it all so fascinating. I love learning about what happened and what technology they had and how many casualties there were and what tactics were used and where the battle took place, etc., etc. But I think more specifically I have a slight bit more passion for World War II stuff. I think I just have a love for that era. I dunno; I'm weird. Unfortunately, there were too many good war features on different channels on TV that I couldn't watch one whole one; I kept skipping back in forth. But I would love to learn much more because really I know very little. I'm hoping that once I graduate I can have a bit more time for some personal research just because I want to know. I also have a sudden urge to watch war movies. Just last night I was looking up top 50 war movies on IMDb and I want to see them all! Well, most. But I'm sure there are tons more great ones out there that aren't on the list so if you have a favorite, please let me know! I'm cool with any war period but like I said, I tend to gravitate more towards WWII stuff. And here's where I say which war movies I love: Saints and Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, Kelly's Heroes, and The Great Escape. Actually I think I've been pleased with all war-time movies I've seen but those ones just jumped out at me and I highly recommend them all. Kelly's Heroes and The Great Escape have slightly lighter tones and are fun, while Saints and Soldiers and Saving Private Ryan are dramatic and moving. I am overjoyed that in my sudden mood for war movies, two great-looking ones are coming out! The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Valkyrie. Now I don't know too much about The Boy in the Striped Pajamas quite yet but I do know that I definitely want to see it. Problem is, though, is that it's currently only on limited release. I don't know if they were planning to widen the release in a few weeks but I'm not sure I want to wait to take that risk. The next day it is showing is Friday, November 21st at the Harkins Camelview 5. Well I'm actually looking on movietickets.com right now and it says that a showing is on Nov. 21st but it shows that there is one on Thursday, November 20th. Hmm...Either way, I really want to try to get to it. Anyone interested in going with me? Valkyrie is the other one I really want to go see and I'd love it even more if someone would go with me! It's about Colonel von Schtauffenburg (I've probably mispelt it; bear with me) who helped orchestrate an internal plot to assassinate Hitler. It's being described as more of a thriller but I'm really excited for it anyway. It opens December 12 (DUDE, I should totally take Ryan! His birthday!!!) and stars Tom Cruise, lawl. It's just hard for me to take him seriously now. Oh you Scientologists. Ha. Random tidbit: according to Danny, the website 4chan (which I may explain later, don't worry) has supposedly declared war on Scientology. Oh ho ho, how those guys crack me up. But YES, let me know if you'd like to go with me to see it sometime. Well I oughta go to bed now, but before I do, take a look at a trailer for Valkyrie!


(P.S. Here's a birthday shout-out to Lachelle! Happy Birthday! Love you, sis!)

What A Day

I voted today! Hurrah! Pretty cool that the year I turn 18 is an election year, eh? My first time voting was Courtney's too. Ch'yeah, I felt pretty cool wearing my sticker around campus today. Although I am pretty tired; my system doesn't do well after waking up at 4:30. x_X

Today in seminary, our study skill was "modernizing" where we would modernize scripture stories (dur). Anyway, I came up with this one in two seconds--see if you can guess the story! xD

An evil was growing in the world and its influence subtly affecting everyone. This evil had a plan to take over the world, but its secret somehow leaked. One man knew of this secret and decided he had to tell the world to save it. The man kept no facts hidden and pleaded with everyone to see the danger, trying to persuade them that he knew how to prevent it, but no one seemed to want to listen. The people finally tired of the man and his ridiculous claims and deemed him insane. He was shipped off, never to be seen or heard from again, almost as if he died. Yet there was one individual who took the man's words into account and felt like the man had been telling the truth. This converted man left all the other unbelievers but began to spread the word and warn people. More and more started to see sense in his words and eventually people were able to protect themselves from the evil's murky plot.

Gold star for whoever guesses correctly!

Some updates:

• Bummer about Obama. Sucks that I have to become an adult under him. A little worried, to say the least. Hopefully, however, he'll only last for 4 years after people realize what a mistake they made. Honestly, why can't more people get some brains?
• Prop. 102 passed! Hallelujah! I read a big long argument about gay marriage rights on Facebook though and it's very irritating. I'm trying not to be mean or overbearing so I'm refraining as best I can but I just feel so angry! Some people are just jerks, y'know?!
  

Oh Where Oh Where Has The Little Girl Gone?

So I realized that I haven't written in my blog for a while and it's pretty lame. I need to. I like to. Who knew talking to yourself could be so therapeutic. But I haven't seemed to have the time. Soonish, hopefully.

That's all.

Screenname Woes

So lately I've been thinking I really need a good screenname (for games). I came to this realization when I played Team Fortress 2 at Danny and Lachelle's and when I went to our cousin Halo party last night. I need something that sounds cool, slightly intimidating, yet still somehow captures a bit of me. So I need help from ya'll! And so I'm adding a poll with possible ones I've thought of but am not too sure about. So please vote? Or make suggestions! But it can't tie back to me too much. Maybe even something that kinda implies that I'm a girl, that way the guys will know a girl just kicked their trash? I dunno. xD Thank ye loves!

Stacey's Guide to the Internet, Part One: Emoticons

Yay, a new layout! Isn't it cute? Last night I found tons of cute layouts so expect me to be changing things around frequently. I also got a new skin for my music player instead of the Pretendo one. On this one you can look at my whole playlist by clicking on the little arrowed tab. Do it. ;D You too can get an awesome music player like mine! Just go to myflashfetish.com and sign up and start compiling. They have all kinds of cool skins and effects and it's easy to add your own songs (as long as you have them stored on a site; I use fileden.com). So much better and cooler than the Project Playlist player. c: Oh, and go ahead and let me know when you start getting tired of my sort of instrumental playlist. I have TONS of other songs I'm always anxious to share!

Well yes, here I am again late at night. I seem to have suddenly caught blogging fever. In this post, I plan to start discussing things of the internet. I've kinda had this idea for a while and only now am I putting stuff down. Why am I doing this? Because I find myself on the internet quite a lot, browsing and surfing across a variety of sites and you know what I've come to find? Some areas of the internet are simply entertaining! And so I'd like to share all my internet knowledge with you as best as I can. In this issue, I will discuss emoticons. In my discoveries, emoticons come in various shapes and sizes, a heckuva lot more than your average :) :( faces. Compared to all the possibilities on the internet, those are just boring. Why are emoticons so much fun to use, you ask? Because on the internet, all it is is text. Text text text. Now unless something is laden with blatant tone, it's practically impossible to tell what the emotions are. Hence the term emoticons (durr). I've already shared my knowledge with Heather McRae and she's making good progress and I've seen her use a few that I've taught her. Emotions just add that extra spice to online conversations. Sometimes emoticons alone suffice in some replies. So anyway, here are some of the basic components to make your own emoticons and emoticons that I use frequently.

basic components
: a colon. Your basic, dotty eyes.
= an equal sign. This can also be used for a long pair of eyes.
D a capital "d." Used as big grins or perhaps a laughing smile.
) ] a close parenthesis (sp?) or a close bracket. Used as simple smiles.
( [ an open parenthesis or an open bracket. Used as sad frowns.
P a capital "p." Issa tongue.
; a semicolon. Used for winky eyes.
x X a lowercase or capital "x." These can be used as squinty eyes. Can go with many things.
/ | \ slashes and a line. These can be used as mouths.
< > open and close arrow. These, believe it or not, can also be used as mouths. :< :>

Well there you go. Basic basic stuff. Now you can combine different ones for different effects, or find other characters on your keyboard to use instead. Mix and match. Be creative.

my emoticons (and others observed on the internet)
xD This is a laughing face. A good substitute instead of saying "haha" all the time (it gets a little monotonous, don't you think?) The "x" are eyes squinted close and the "D" is obviously the open, laughing mouth. You can also use a capital "X" if you so choose, but I like to use the lowercase. That's just me though. Also, if something is particularly funny, add multiple "D"s, like this: xDDD I know obviously it's not realistic but somehow it shows that you're even more humoured (whoo, "ou" spelling! xD). Look! I just used it! You can also add it after something if you're feeling goofy, such as: "I just ate a skittle bag. xDD" Like that. You get the hang of it? This is one of my most used emoticons because I guess I'm just easily amused. Often times I may reply simply with this, just to show that I'm laughing.
:'D Here is another laughing face. Normal eyes, but there's an itty tear right there. It must've been awfully funny if you're crying. That's what you use it for. Once again, you can add multiple "D"s on the end.
xP Gross. Ick. Blegh. That's what this is. Squinty eyes and a tongue.
c: This is the smiley I always use. I like it because it's a cute, little smile. Obviously to accomadate the direction of the "c," the eyes are placed on the other side.
:c A simple flip of a colon and we have a cute little sad face. A tear can also be added if you wish :'c
n_n This, my friends, originates from anime. Even if you don't watch a lot of anime, I'm sure you can tell that no normal person makes this face. For some reason, anime characters have a tendency to close their eyes a lot, even while they're talking. Seriously--who does that? Who knows, but it's an anime thing. The "n"s are the closed eyes, arched up. The _ is the mouth. It may not have curved ends to better represent a smile, but the overall face still exhibits cheeriness. This face can also be made like this ^_^ . Whatever floats your boat. OR you can use a period for the mouth instead n.n ^.^
D: This face could exude distress or unhappiness. The "D" is used as an open mouth. Again, multiple "D"s can be added. You'll find that with just about any face that uses a capital "d," you can add multiples. The more there are generally shows the level of the emotion. A little tear can also be added D': Whenever I see this face, it sometimes makes me think that someone is saying "Hey..." in that one tone--the kind where you feign sadness but smile the next second--if someone else is gently teasing them or something. But of course, it depends on the context.
Dx Almost as if you're in pain. Another distressed face.
;D A winky grin. Pretty obvious, right?
D; People may also sometimes use this as a little crying face.
; 3; Here's one you prolly would've never thought of before. This is a crying face and is the one I usually use. The semicolons are eyes and tears and the 3 is a little puckered, pouty lip. See? The space in between the first semicolon and the 3 just...spaces them out a bit...I don't really have a better explanation than that. It just looks better than ;3; is all.
; A; Another crying face. Somethimes I'll use this one too. The semicolons are the eyes and tears again but the "A" is an open mouth and is used much like this ( D: ) "D" face, except horizontal instead of vertical.
;_; A more simple crying face. Semicolons are the eyes and tears.
T-T Another crying face. The "T"s are eyes and tears. The top part of the "T" is a closed eye and the long leg is like a river of tears. The - is the mouth. An underscore can also be used as a mouth, or a period T_T T.T Whichever you prefer. You can also add multiple "T"s (make sure they're even on both sides) for even more crying. TT_TT
o 3o Here we have another interesting face. I use this sometimes too. The "o"s are wide eyes and the 3 is used again as puckered lips. I always picture someone going "Ooooh" when I see this face. It could also perhaps be used as a posed innocent face--the one where you're trying to get something.
o_o A surprised, shocked face, more on the frightened side. This is the kind of face you'd make if someone told you you were just going to babysit 15 nieces/nephews/grandchildren/monkeys/all of the above...BY YOURSELF. You can also use different shaped circles like so o_O O_O 0_o 0_0 Zeroes and "o"s is all. Also, if you'd like, you can make the mouth longer which acts much like adding multiple "D"s does. o_______o OH NOEZ. You can also just use a period for the mouth o.o
o_< You've got a twitch in yer eye! Any size of circle can work and you can also substitute a period for the mouth.
._. A sort of intimidated, frightened face. Tiny eyes!
:0 A surprised, shocked face, more on the er, less-frightened side. You can use any type of circle you want. I usually use a zero, but sometimes I'll do a lowercase "o." The eyes can also be placed on the other side if you would like.
:3 Another expression taken from anime. The colon is the eyes, obviously. The 3 is a little curled-up mouth. Just think of a cat or something. Dunno why, but lots of anime characters do this sometimes. It's just cute.
>> Shifty eyes. When something is weird or you simply want to look away. It can go in the other direction too. Well, if you want them to truly be shifty eyes, you would include both directions >> <<> o> This kind of face is perhaps saying, "Oh my." You can also add an underscore or a period for a mouth >_> >.>
¬_¬ Kinda like, "Uh huh..."
>< Squinty eyes. The arrows function a lot like "x"s, only horizontally instead of vertically. You can also add a mouth, either out of an underscore or a period >_< >.<
-_- An exasperated, annoyed sort of face. It could perhaps say "Leave me out of this," "Don't touch me," or even "I wish you were dead."
=_= Sorta like the one above, but with a little bit more boredness.
x_x Burnt...or dead. Lulz, naw, but it is kind of a knocked out face.
u_u Closed eyes. This face could mean lotsa different things, but I s'pose it all depends on how and where you use it.
:B Buck teeth! Just a silly face. I've seen people sort of mock other people with this face, kinda like saying, "Well you're a tard." That doesn't mean it's always mocking though.
B] A "cool" face. The "B" here acts like shades. You can use any mouth but I just used the bracket 'cause I didn't want to use the parenthesis.
8D A sort of surprised, happy face. That's what I've gathered at least. The 8 is a pair of eyes, wide open. The "D" is a grin. Kinda like, "WOW, no way!"
:| A blank face. Sometimes it may not show up, but that's usually for certain message boards that use BBC (no, not British Broadcasting Channel).
:\ A screwy face. The other slash can be used as well.
:9 Here, the 9 represents a mouth and tongue, except the tongue (the loop) is sticking up. Generally used as a thinking gesture.
:s Here's another screwy face. I've never used it but I've seen it done before. The "s" is the mouth. You can also use a capital "s."
:T Another thoughtful kind of face. The "T" is the mouth. Just imagine someone kind of pushing their mouth to the side. You know what I mean.
$_$ CA-CHING!
:? No, this doesn't really approximate to an actual face. Some people use this as if saying, "HUH?"
:U A silly sort of face. It's shouting, see? Pretty goofy. Almost like saying, "OI!"
n_~ Ah, almost forgot this one. Never used it before, but I've seen it done. The ~ thingy is an eye. It's winking! It probably works best like this though ^_~
@_@ A confused or overwhelmed face. Or perhaps you just got out of the Tea Cups and are about to hurl. -shrug- The "at" sign acts as swirly eyes.
*-* "Oh, my, starry-eyed surprise~" JAYKAY, some of you probably don't know that song. But anyway, that's what this is. This could also be used as a sort of overwhelmed, surprised face. An underscore can also be used for the mouth
=^.^= Here's a litte...face thing. You can either use it as blushing or a kitty face if you want.
<3 "Something something less than three, meet me here in IRC~" Yay geek stuff! Anyway, this little emoticon is steadily growing more popular all across the web and not just on message boards anymore, so I wouldn't be surprised if you've already seen it. Issa heart! You use it when you want to show you like something. Additional 3's may also be added if you'd like to show you really like something.


additional applications (and some reminders)
SEMICOLON
THE SWEATDROP Another thing taken from anime. The sweatdrop is practically a symbol of anime. Sweatdrops usually pop up when a character is embarrassed. If you so please, you can use the sweatdrop in some of your emoticons. The sweatdrop is best translated into text with a semicolon though I've seen zeroes and apostrophes used before too (actually now that I think about it, an apostrophe is probably best, but I like semicolon best). Now you don't always have to use a sweatdrop to show blatant embarrassment; I usually use it to show unsurety, which of course could lead to embarrassment...but anyway, here are some ways I use it
n_n; This is kind of a nervous smile. ( ^_^0 ) ( ^_^' )
>>; Perfect way of explaining this? "Ummmmmmmm......'kay...?" ( >>0 ) ( >>' )
-_-; This face pretty much says, "Ugh, you've got to be kidding me." ( -_-0 ) ( -_-' )
THE...THINGY Y'know, I've never quite figured this one out. It could be read in two differnet ways or perhaps my interpretations are completely wrong. Anyway, this is usually used with grinny, "D" faces.
xD;
:'D;
Interpretation One: the semicolon is used sort of as a chin/double chin sort of thing as a way of extending the grin if something is pretty dang funny.
Inerpretation Two: the semicolon is used as a sort of sweatdrop thing, again expressing unsurety or something.
Interpretation Three-I-Just-Thought-Of: the semicolon is perhaps spittle issuing from the mouth?

APOSTROPHE
THE TEAR Pretty simple. Feel free to add an apostrophe for a tear. Can go with just about any face, even squinty ones.
DROOL Fun! I myself haven't really ever seen anyone add drool before, but I do it occasionally for fun. Like this
:o' 'D:

ARROWS
EYEBROWS Really the only eyebrows you'll probably ever use are angry eyebrows. Of course, the arrow doesn't always make an angry face--sometimes malicious, mischievious ones too. Feel free to use eyes with it or you could simply use the eyebrows themselves.
>:U I'm shouting angrily at jooo~!
D< WAR!
>D MUAHAHAHAHA!!
>:[ That wasn't very nice.
>3 Feeling very impish.
Etc., etc.!

SLASHES
BLUSHING In this application of slashes, really all they're good for is making a blushing face. Slashes only work for horizontal faces however but can be applied to just about any one, like this u////u n///n

MULTIPLES!
D'S Just a reminder; don't forget to add multiple "D"s to "D" faces if you want!
LINES For faces that use underscores or dashes for mouths (no eyes!). -____- T______T etc.
SEMICOLONS For all semicolon applications. You probably don't want to go anymore than three semicolons. xD;; n_n;; -_-;; etc.


extra things!
<(^_^<) <(^_^)> (>^_^)> Dancing Kirby!
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") A bunny!
d(^_^)b Thumbs up!


And I think that about wraps up Part One! Whew! Took longer than I thought. And because of that, you must all start using some of these! >D C'mon, it's fun! Don't be afraid! And try making up different combinations of your own. Also keep in mind that different fonts will affect the faces; sometimes not all of them come out quite how you want. But spread the word! Go ahead and refer back to me if you want, heehee. xD But really, please?
Anywho, I'm tired.

Peace out.

I Punched a Girl and I Liked It

Just a quickie post here because I felt like it. I actually should be in bed right now but I've been browsing through different blogs and reading other random stuff. Well anyway, kudos to anyone who gets the title reference. Regardless, I'll tell you anyway. Ever heard of the song "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Parry? Well the song has become pretty popular lately and frankly annoying, like most popular, overhyped songs do. Well I hate the song; the lyrics at least. I mean, no one wants to hear about your encounter with a girl, right? It's just rather gross. And wrong. Well anyway, as much as I hate the lyrics, I have to admit that the tune itself is rather catchy. Courtney even agrees with me! The music is pretty good but if only they had chosen different lyrics! And so Courtney and I came up with this alternative. We don't have much but it's a start.

I punched a girl and I liked it,
Red stuff on my fist ain't chapstick.

Aaaand that's all we have. But isn't it rad? We totally want to make a different version of the song (somehow) and make a music video. It could make for a pretty epic music video--a giant catfiight, lulz. It could be like a clean/radio edit! I guess our only option would be to find a karaoke version of the song and sing over it, haha. Anyone here a good pop singer? Or if you have any contributions to our alternative lyrics please don't hesitate to speak up! Anywho, it just popped into my head these late hours and it made me laugh so I decided to say something about it.

Also, I've been listening to Gipsy Kings almost all day. Lachelle has a big collection on her compy (may be all their songs, I dunno) but it's great. Gimme gimme, I need, I need! Those latin beats are just so soothing and relaxing. Or rather the guitars. Some of the songs are purely instrumental but most have singing in Spanish. Funny thing is, the guys are French! Anyway, I've found some new favorites. Unfortunately, some of the songs somehow got mislabeled so I'm not sure whether the title is its actualy title or a mistake. Dunno what happened there. Well if none of you have listened to Gipsy Kings before, I highly recommend them. Something different. (Lulz, "And now for something completely different.")

Ew. Shelby's getting snot all over my pants.

Good night.

The Many Adventures at Danny and Lachelle's

Well here I am again by popular demand (or rather Kristin-demand) without much to say. But I s'pose I could expound on my many adventures that occurred while Courtney and I housesat for Danny and Lachelle. Well...frankly nothing too exciting. But it was rather relaxing without having Mom there to nag on me and throw more chores in my face. I could actually play a video game without tensing up as I wait for my mom to discover me! And play video games I did. Thanks to all that free time, I was able to quickly progress further into Final Fantasy XII. I'm nearing the end! Yay! And I remember when I first got it a few months back (October, I think) I didn't think I'd ever be able to finish it. Boy, walkthroughs sure make games look a lot longer. I think I've logged in about 96 or so hours on Final Fantasy XII so far, but mind you a lot of those hours were spent on pause with the TV off while I was off doing something else. But actually for quite a while I did hang out in the Ozmone Plains and level up like mad. I think I'm a little overleveled right now, but it was kinda nice because I was able to breeze through other areas that would've been tough. I love the game though. It's just amazing. Definitely a step in a different direction from the other Final Fantasy games. For one, the battle system. In past Final Fantasies, you have your typical random battle system, with a few tweaks for each game of course, but same principle. In Final Fantasy XII, however, the random battles are gone and instead you have the Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system where you see all the enemies on the field, allowing you to pretty much pick-and-choose which ones you want to fight. There are a limited number of enemies on a field at once, but after a while some will respawn or if you move at least two areas away and then go back, all the enemies will be there again. You have three party members out at a time and they all run around the battlefield instead of having the main character run around like you see in many other traditional RPGs. Go here to see how some of the gameplay works, if you're interested.

Another thing very different about Final Fantasy XII is its storyline. It steps away from your average save-the-princess-and-then-the-world plot, adopting something more mature and realistic; instead, the plot of Final Fantasy XII deals a lot with politics and deception and all that good stuff. Here's a somewhat interesting thing I've noticed. Final Fantasy XII takes place in a world called Ivalice, but its not the first time Ivalice has appeared in a Square-Enix game. The first time we see Ivalice is in the game Final Fantasy Tactics (a favorite of mine) back in 1997. Again, the plot in that game is very different and mature from others as well, dealing with a psycho, corrupt church and corrupt governments. In another game taking place in Ivalice, Vagrant Story (haven't played it, but have heard about it), the story again is mature and I believe deals with more corrupt nobles and such. There are five games that all take place in Ivalice, forming the Ivalice Alliance: Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Vagrant Story, and Final Fantasy XII. Ivalice certainly seems to be a more realistic world than any of the others Square-Enix has created.

Also, there is no one main protagonist in Final Fantasy XII. Although Vaan is the character you start with and although the story heavily involves Ashe more than any of the others, most of the characters are equally well-represented and I enjoy them all.

First you've got Vaan, the 17-year-old orphan boy from Rabanastre who wants to be a sky pirate.









Penelo, a 16-year-old orphan as well and Vaan's best friend and babysitter








Basch, the 36-year-old ex-captain in the Order of Knights of Dalmasca who was deemed a traitor for supposed murder of the King Raminas of Dalmasca.










Balthier, the clever, charming, and sauve 22-year-old sky pirate.












Fran, Balthier's trusty Viera (rabbit-like race) sidekick who is a master of weapons. Her age is unknown.












And then Ashe, the 19-year-old princess of Dalmasca who is believed to be dead but strives to free her kingdom from Archadian rule and resume her throne. Yes, Ashe is a princess, but she's certainly not your typical timid princess who throws White Magic (aiding magic) from the safety of the sidelines like you see in many other RPGs. Ashe is so refreshingly human that it's awesome. She wants to regain her throne but along the way, she begins to question her intentions as to whether they are for the good of her people or for the good of herself. She is plagued, like many other humans, by the temptation of power. She's strong-willed, strong-minded, and can also come off as a bit snooty. As I said, I like all the characters, but I just had to point that out about Ashe because she breaks the mold of other typical Final Fantasy heroines.

Well I s'pose I've rambled enough about Final Fantasy XII for now. Aside from playing Final Fantasy XII, I also played a good deal of Guitar Hero 3 on Lachelle's computer with Courtney. It was only maybe my fourth or fifth time playing Guitar Hero 3 but I already advanced to Hard difficulty! I was rather proud of myself and now I admit it would be fun to get the game. I also played some of Team Fortress 2, which Danny so kindly downloaded for us to play. Courtney actually ended up playing it more than I did! It's good ol' bloody, shooting fun! Talk about wholesome! It has a fun, unique, comic-like art style, too. We were even able to play with Ryan online two or three times. Courtney and I decided that we also need to get Team Fortress 2, but first we have to get a danged computer that can actually handle it!

I also did a lot of knitting on some beanies I've been working on for a Personal Progress Value Experience and to send off to China ('cause Lachelle got too lazy, haha!) I mostly watched the anime series Samurai Champloo as I knit because Danny had it on their XBox. I've seen a few clips of some episodes before on Adult Swim and stuff, but I watched all 26 episodes there and I immensely enjoyed it. It's not your average anime and has a more mature feel to it than most, though it still does pack some good laughs. But of course it's good because it's directed by the guy who directed Cowboy Bebop! I believe his name is Shinchiro Watanabe. He needs to direct more animes because I really like his stuff. But now I'm kinda sad that Samurai Champloo is over because now I'm having a hard time finding a good series to watch that has that feel that Samurai Champloo does. But in fact, I'm listening to some of the Samurai Champloo soundtrack right now because it's got some groovy hip-hop beats. I think the music also separates Samurai Champloo from many other series. It's set in the mid 1800s I believe, but here you have all this instrumental hip-hop! It's a really cool effect, actually. The songs are pretty cool but tend to loop over and be a little repetitive on their own, but obviously they still work perfectly in Samurai Champloo. After watching all of Samurai Champloo, I've determined I need to set up my own little XBox streaming system like Danny and Lachelle have so I can download anime series and watch them on the TV.

One of the nights, Courtney and I watched the Cowboy Bebop movie which was pretty good too. Lessee, what else did we watch...? Ah, Corpse Bride is a great movie from Tim Burton. I hope Tim Burton makes more movies with that kind of animation in the future (also like Nightmare Before Christmas) because it's just so unique! And then we watched the first X-Men movie because neither of us had seen it before (even though we've seen the second and third, haha). I think then the next movie we watched was Spider-Man 3. Or rather, I watched it as Courtney was playing Team Fortress 2. It was during the day and I was just kinda waiting for Danny and Lachelle to get back but of course I found out that they got stuck in Yuma. Anyway, the movie was pretty corny at some parts. I definitely don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first two. Well when I finished with that, I still had a lot of time to kill because we already had everything cleaned up. And then I started to watch a movie I've been wanting to see for the longest time: Saving Private Ryan. Sure, there was a lot of blood but it didn't bother me so much. It is realistic, afterall. War certainly isn't pretty. Yeah there were some severed limbs, organs spilling out, guys getting sniped through the head, and a guy getting his eye shot out, but like I said, it didn't phase me. I don't get nightmares from seeing movies and I certainly don't have a delicate stomach. I've found that I don't throw up easily like other people do, or like you see people in movies do. I can see someone throw up and not retch myself, and in fact, I've even cleaned up a friend's brother's throw up because she didn't want to throw up (yep Kristin, that was you!) I've only known myself to throw up when I'm sick. Haha, I know it's probably weird to talk about throw up, but that's just something I've noticed about myself. Anywho, back to the movie, I'm glad I finally got to see it. I love history and I think wars are fascinating to learn about. I love watching war movies. Oh~! And their bed. Ahhh, the bed. I'm in love with Lachelle's bed. You sink in about half a foot, not even kidding. It's so soft and heavenly! I was definitely sad to say goodbye. I think one of these days when I housesit for them again, I'm going to have to steal in and lug it back to my room.

Sorry Kristin, none of this is probably stuff you're interested in reading, 'cause I know you're not really in to video games, hehe. But oh well. I had something to say so I got it out. Well I guess I should finish up now. I'm really supposed to be working on my online stuffs right now. Well yeah, my mom will be here any minute and she'll want to see progress. Au revoir!

Oh They Say When You Ramble In June...

You lose your mind? -shrug-

Well I figger it's 'bout time to make another post. It's been about a month since my last one, eek. But summer is goin' pretty good so far, I s'pose. The first two weeks out of school I had the cleaning bug and it felt so good to get things organized but I'm almost pretty sure it's Courtney's fault that I've gone back to being a lazy butt. Y'see, I would try to get her up and cleaning too, but she apparently didn't get infected. She cleaned a little bit, sure, but verrrryyy slooooooowwwwlllllyyyyyy. She's been out of school longer than I have but my room looks better than hers! But then of course the usual cycle kicked in and her room is a mess again. It's like she didn't do anything to it at all! Well eventually I caught the lazy bug and now I sit around and move slowly. Although I haven't played the PS2 too much so far (the first time I played just for myself since school got out was on Saturday, for like what, 6 hours? Eh heh heh heh heh...) but I have been busy playing my DS, since it's portable and all. And then a couple of days I sat in my room and listened to music while I colored and drew, and then I've also been doing some reading. So far this summer I've finished reading Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, all by Scott Westerfeld (very good!), Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want by Obert Skye, The Host by Stephenie Meyer (loved it!), and then I'll even include Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer because it was a few days before school finished. The next book I plan to read is a spin-off to the Uglies series, called Extras. And then after that, who knows? I have so many books on my plate to read. It's almost a shame that there are so many good books in the world. Almost. I compiled a ginormous list of books to read back in 9th grade when I was an aid in the library. I would shelve books and a lot of them sounded really interesting so then I'd go back to my binder and write it down and now I've got them all typed up into a big list. And it just keeps growing. I'm not sure where I'm going to find time to read them all, but hopefully I will. Hopefully my senior year will slow down a bit for some pleasure reading. But speaking of reading, Lachelle and I wanted to start up a sister book club with Shauna, Courtney, and Marily. She's supposed to set up a blog for us, but I'll have to ask her how the progress is...

Well I just finished ironing a bunch of skirts not too long ago, while watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Haven't seen it in a while, but I love that movie. Dorcus is definitely the prettiest bride (and the tallest, haha) and I think Benjamin and Frank are my favorite brothers. Such a great movie. But now my back hurts from standing up to iron. What is wrong with me?! First I think I'm developing carpal tunnel, and then my back starts hurting more frequently. I'm getting old fast. My parents left for California today too, for another convention. They keep going to all these stock conventions, but are they really paying off? From what I've witnessed so far, not really. They'll probably fade out of it soon enough anyway. That's what they always do. They get into a little thing that they think can earn a few extra bucks and the next thing you know it's dead and they're moving on to something else. I guess I'll never understand. Anywho, I also finally just finished watching the Mononoke anime series. No, not Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Not related in any way. But in any case, it's a pretty whacked out show of 12 episodes. Each episode deals with a different "mononoke," or monster/demon. A lot of it is kinda freaky (actually, really freaky), but I still find it very interesting and intriguing. The art style is very different from normal animes as well, and adopts more of a traditional painting look. It's pretty cool actually. The series is actually a spin-off from an arc (Wikipedia can explain it better than I can) of another anime series called Ayakashi: Japanese Horror Stories. I've only seen maybe two or three episodes of that. But anyway, hence the freakiness of Mononoke. It's very surreal. But I rather enjoyed it. So if you can handle weird things of Japanese caliber and some horror, then I highly recommend it. Well I think I've about rambled enough. How 'bout I go do something semi-useful now...

Epic Phail

I'm so bad at keeping up with things and updating. I mean seriously, January? I thought I would be rambling a lot more, but apparently not. But I guess school is a worthy scapegoat. Ain't it always? Well thank goodness it's ending in three days. My only final that I'm truly worried about is Pre-Calc. I don't understand it hardly at all. Especially all the trig crap. And verifications! Ugh. ULBRIGHT!!! -shakes fist angrily in the air- I wish I could be better at math, but I guess when you hate something in the first place, you won't put in enough effort to do good. That's what happened to me, sadly. I thought I could do okay back in the first two weeks of school, but then I suddenly caught the lethal disease that is Senioritis (and I'm not even a Senior yet!). Yeah, things crashed and burned from there on. I've pretty much stopped caring about math. It's not like I'm going to major in it or anything anyway...But I really need to good on my final because my semester grade is hanging on by a thread before it slips down to something I definitely do not want. Which, knowing my luck and intelligence, it will anyway.

Hahaha, Courtney and I just watched a bit of a clip from a "J-drama" (aka Japanese drama) called Hana Yori Dango, or Boys Over Flowers. Courtney and I have read most of the manga but watched pretty much all of the 52 part anime series, but now apparently they have a live action drama. It was so silly. Then again, the manga and anime themselves were pretty silly, entirely unrealistic, but we still love them. Anyway yeah, the tiny clip of the J-drama that we watched was really funny. Domyouji, the main love interest of the main character Makino, started beating up this little punk but it totally had all the fake punch sound effects! It was hilarious because it sounded so cheesy and you could completely tell it was so fake. One or two of them were even off, lulz. Then Courtney and I were convinced that we definitely need to watch the whole J-drama, if we could locate it somewhere on the internet, so we could laugh at the cheesiness of it all. Ah, the Japanese are so dramatic. But then I got to thinking, J-dramas are probably pretty much just like American soap operas. Also, I believe the Hana Yori Dango J-drama is squished down into 9 or so episodes, so it will definitely be interesting to find out how they do it, haha. Ah, but yes, shoujo mangas (shoujo, pronounced show-jo, meaning "girl") are all pretty unrealistic with their love stories and stuff. But they're still fun to read. Sadly enough though, the last time Courtney and I read any mangas was two years ago when I was a 9th grader at Stapley. The library had a great collection of mangas that was growing rapidly because so many kids had requested them. But of course Mountain View library is too cool for them. >P

Well I supposed I should wrap up this post now. I really should start studying math or something since my final starts tomorrow. -sob- I also have my Physics final tomorrow, but I'm really not all the worried. One, because it's a District test, which means it'll be easy as pie, and two, because there are only 52 or so questions and I feel fairly comfortable with most of our material. And it'll have more conceptual questions. So yeah. Well maybe this summer I'll be able to write more, for anyone who reads this.
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Three Cheers for Conformity!

Well lookey here. I've got myself a blog. LULZ. Why? I don't really know. Maybe it's because I just want to write a buncha random crap for people to read and then laugh at me for it because I'm such a nerdo (heehee, Ewok Adventures ftw!) Just maybe.

Or perhaps it's because I like writing to myself and thinking I'm clever (heh, wow). Yeah, I think that's it. I just like to ramble about a lot of things that I couldn't tell to any normal person because then they'd think I'm weird. I'm sure there's already enough people who think that. For example, right now I'm listening to a totally awesome symphony. With an organ. That's right. It's by Camille Saint-Saens, a fabulous French composer from the 19th century. He was also the best organist of his time. Now wasn't that a bunch of random junk you thought you'd never now? That's what I like to do. What can I say--it's fun. So yes, I've finally jumped onto yet another bandwagon; first Facebook, now this...what next?! MySpace?! Blegh. EW.

Well maybe sometime in the future I'll have to cook up my own design for my blog, adding that to my other list of projects I want to undertake like getting a tablet for the compy and trying to become a better artist, learning how to code webpages, and learning how to make a layout in Photoshop. AI-AI-AI-AI-AI!!! Lawl, I crack myself up (that's a quote from Teen Girl Squad).

Well, I should go eat some real dinner. And then I gotta figure out how to put some music on here...anywho, I hope my first post was weird enough for you.
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