(cool)

( ... )

People keep telling me I need to update this thing more often, so I made a New Year's resolution to update more often. No, I really didn't. I made a resolution to lie less. Okay, that's not true, either. I'm a very honest person. I also hate New Year's resolutions. Aren't you confused now?

I don't want to be one of those people who only updates to complain, though, so hey, life's okay right now. I am ready to kill our upstairs neighbors, however. I called our landlord again last night and left him a message. Next time it'll be the cops. We're most likely go to move again once this lease is up, and it's mostly because of these douchebags and their demon spawn. Oh, yeah, I said I wasn't going to complain! Anyway. My foot seems to be completely healed. I must have broken through my weight-loss plateau cause people here are starting to notice. I have been buying clothes with abandon lately and I really need to stop. (This is very uncharacteristic behavior for me.) But these jeans magically endow me with a butt and how could I say no to that?

Work still kind of sucks but today I get to take home a router. (I finally managed to network that hard drive, with Ross's help. Turns out I was missing something really small and stupid that I really thought I'd tried unsuccessfully. Isn't that always the case, though?) The cheapo switch I brought from home works a lot better for this purpose than the shiny expensive router I told work to buy so we're just doing a straight-up swap. I have no idea what it says about Ross and me that we have spare switches just lying around the apartment. I have a pretty good idea what it says, actually.

We just RSVPed to Ross's cousin's bar mitzvah. (I know, but we have to go.) It's in March. Can somebody define "festive attire" for me? They can't mean for the morning ceremony, right? Just the party that night? Do I need to cover my arms in the temple or something? They are sort of High Holy Days Jews so I'm thinking not. Plus it might be scandalous for a bunch of NYC socialite moms to cover up their scrawny arms. The only time I have ever been in a synagogue was for a funeral so I am sort of looking forward to seeing what other insane things another religion does in the name of fictional characters. That and partying with a bunch of thirteen-year-olds is bound to be more or less the go-to event of the year, right?

I was charged with writing a happier take on this, so here it is. :) It's, uh, mostly angsty. But happy in the end, I swear!

A couple of notes: I very rarely write my favorite characters from their POV. It terrifies me. So we'll see how it goes. Also, I wondered why Ecthelion doesn't ever speak to me in this desperate a voice, even when I PTSD him to shit, like I did here. Then I realized it's because the version I RP always has clear-cut goals/purpose and/or romantic love (even if he doesn't recognize it as such). Here he cannot exist so unchanged.

Title: Hastaina
Pairing: Ecthelion/Glorfindel implied
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2349
Summary: Alqualondë in the Fourth Age of Arda; Ecthelion wonders what it's good for

( he returns home at the end of the day and coaxes splinters out of his fingers with a lot of picking and a little blood )

Title: Hope Springs Eternal
Characters: Ecthelion, Voláriel (OFC), Erelón (OMC); Voláriel's POV
Rating: PG
Category: Annnngst
Word Count: 2470
Summary: Alqualondë, (long before/)during(/long after) the Flight; Ecthelion is a mama's boy :P

( hurt cannot survive so long in a haven )

( way TL;DR )

I am going to Atlanta for Chelsey and Dragon*Con over Labor Day weekend. Everybody say it with me: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

But seriously, does anybody remember the last time I actually went somewhere on vacation? Because I really, really don't. Vegas, baby maybe? Oh god please let it not have been Vegas that was like five years ago.

Some cbgb cello for y'all.

Ben Sollee - Learning to Bend
[05] It's Not Impossible
[08] Panning for Gold
[09] A Change Is Gonna Come (cover)

( -_- / @_@ / :[ / :] )

First of all, ♥. Life is shit but other than that I'm making myself think positive thoughts. Take care.

I'm a little terrified that it's already May. I don't know where the time goes and I'm still writing "08" when I date things, half the time. We're in danger of forgetting to go to the theater next week simply because it can't possibly be May yet. The last week or two of the month are bound to be pretty busy, too. ( See why? )

The landlord was pushing for us to sign a two-year lease but he ultimately caved and gave us the rent we offered, for one year (I'm telling you, they're desperate right now). One year vs. two is a gamble for us, as we'll likely be facing at least slightly higher rent next year, but we decided that the risk of hating our neighborhood/building/apartment outweighs the risk of the economic situation improving. (Also, the fact that the landlord is the one pushing for a multiyear lease tells us that he's not particularly optimistic about the economy.) We sign the lease after work today. It may be only slightly bigger than a crocodile but it'll be home for at least a year. And we'll have a second bedroom for you guys so you have absolutely no excuse not to stay for months at a time now.

[Edit] The Walk Score of my new address is 100/100. :>

I just realized I forgot to backup the rest of my entries on censurer @ GJ. And now they're gone for good. R.I.P. Cam Stark. Favorite RP character ever? Maybe. ;_;

I thought I was depressed enough to write a really detailed, whiny entry about nothing, but as it turns out, I'm too depressed to bother.

'Tis a truth universally acknowledged that one who does not easily make friends will ultimately discover that the best examples of these are distantly scattered across country, continent, and occasionally ocean.

Worst. Day. Ever.

I contemplated quitting on the spot, but I can't afford to. (Who can?) I actually cannot handle another day like the one I had today, though. I think I'll mention that to my immediate supervisor on Monday.

Am up way past my bedtime because I randomly came across a whole lot of cool genealogy on my dad's side. I don't think he even knows half this stuff. This is apparently my great-aunt Avenel, aged 21 in a photo taken for a Royal Hawaiian Hotel postcard in 1947. It's weird to see, in color, history you've never even touched upon, you know?

Also, it seems my first cousin Nathan Jimenez (whom I have never met) has two kids named Nohea Kupakahoaleawaiopeleikaiopunaipuokakauawaiwaihoolona and Xavier Kupakahoaleawaiopeleikaiopunahenilukeikenaaku. I just...yeah. His middle name is Kupakahoaleawaiopeleikaiopuna so maybe he thought his kids should suffer, too?

Vienna was awesome. Cozy venue, really intimate. We sat in the front row, in pretty much the best seats, and she played solo, no setlist. She played a few new songs but mostly just wrote down requests at the very beginning. I called for Lullabye for a Stormy Night but I didn't think she heard me. Then when she came out for the encore she said "I'm glad you guys clapped because I forgot to play this song and this person shouted it out way back at the beginning when I was actually writing them down." So the encore was Lullabye just for me. X)

Also, for some reason I was afraid I wouldn't like any of her new stuff (I don't know why; I loved the last album) but I really liked the songs she did play. So now I'm looking forward to the new CD after being off her for a while. She lives in Brooklyn now, too, apparently, which might explain this show so close to our 'hood. Annnnd that is the last time I will ever say "'hood", I promise.

Random things I've been meaning to mention in a post but haven't:

- I went to the opera for the first time a few weeks ago (w/the boy and the mom) and liked it, though it's not something I'd want to do all the time. Always forget that Miss Saigon is an adaptation of Madama Butterfly for some reason.
- Yay Obama or whatever; I'll support you for real when I see some real change. /politician!hate
- Henry Kissinger looks like a Muppet. But I can't figure out which one and it's been bugging me. No, really. Maybe he's just generically muppetish though.

Mustn't forget that we have tickets for Ani DiFranco on Saturday. Our calendar's been kind of empty recently so forgetting's a legitimate fear, I suppose. Ani and Vienna Teng on 2 December are the only things on tap, I think.

God, work has been so soul-sucking these past few weeks. It seriously kills my motivation for everything. Just writing this entry took a herculean effort and I've begun and scrapped it at least a half-dozen times. Yesterday morning my F sat between stations for 20 minutes. (This on top of my 1+ hour commute.) Then it became a G so I had to get off and wait for another F. I almost cried. I've been promised days off around Christmas but who knows whether that will actually materialize, given that I still have no backup here. And the boy is currently on a project he dislikes, managing incompetent programmers, so we've both kind of been slugs lately.

I sent my mom an e-mail this morning wishing her a happy birthday and she seemed pleased so maybe that means I don't have to talk on the phone? I'm horrible, I know. She's 54 today. It's definitely getting to where I'd prefer it if my parents stopped having birthdays.

I can't stop listening to this song. I'm trying to like the whole album but am not having much success. This is the only track I really like. "Knights of Cydonia" is a bitch to play on Guitar Hero.

[Edit] The EVP called me "that poker-faced Michelle" in a meeting today. Heh. It's so true, too.

[Edit 2] I found my first grey hair a couple weeks ago. :/

I don't want to post, but I feel like I should? Or something? So instead I'm posting music.

From the oh, record labels...you and your shenanigans files:
Before (J McL) | After (Beyoncé)

Also, Ben Folds' latest album is growing on me a bit. A bit. It's not nearly as good as most of his other stuff. But whenever I start thinking People can really Piano, I listen to Mr. Folds and regain a little Perspective. And then cry some more because I can't even Piano as well as People. These are my favorite tracks:
Dr. Yang (nngh ♥)
You Don't Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor)
Free Coffee

I have three meetings today. I had two meetings yesterday, two meetings on Wednesday, a meeting on Tuesday, and a meeting on Monday. Did I say I liked this job?

You guys wonder why I never post, yet all I have to say is "I'm falling way behind on TV again." Also, hopefully we'll get to see Vienna Teng again in December because she's playing a venue that's like two stops from our apartment. I think she's coming out with a new album soon?

I stay up way too late anymore—I rarely get to bed before midnight. As a result, I drink coffee (ew) every morning and have stopped taking the stairs up to my office. How nice that I am developing these habits in my old age.

I TiVoed Jon McLaughlin on The Bonnie Hunt Show (STFU) and watched it yesterday and he sounded terrible. (He sounds off-key in pretty much every video I've ever seen him in, which is weird because he was pitch-perfect in person. Like, I expected him to be terrible live and he was actually really good.) He was excruciatingly pretty though. I meant to try to get icons out of it (I said STFU) but I forgot. (Ross also came home in the middle and was like "I knew I should have deleted that.") I also caved and bought Indiana because I felt bad about listening to it ten thousand times and not paying.

Dropping pretend Ecthelions and breaking them is funny. Dropping real ones is not.

( observe. )

He actually still works fine (seriously) but the boy went and bought me a new one without my permission probably because "I don't really need it..." is my #1 all-time excuse for not buying things. I feel like I should call this one Ecthelion II but that dude was tone-deaf, for all I know.

First of all, I'd like to thank Eru my mama my publicist cheesygoons for writing her splendid (and entertaining) NYC recap so I don't have to. I think we all know I have issues when it comes to clicking the "post to..." button.

Why did I eat an entire bag of jalapeño chips last night? Why?

I have an appointment to see a gynecologist today. The fun, it won't quit.

I really need some new icons.

Lastly, I would like to say that Sufjan Stevens' "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL" comprises some of the prettiest 129 seconds I've ever heard. Obviously I'm a sucker for piano but I'm also always impressed to hear flute used well in popular music because I tend to hate flute. (I know, I know.) That whole album is fantastic, actually. I would recommend it. I have it, if anyone wants it. It's on my iPhone right now, a perfectly quality alternative. All I have to do is touch the album name and it'll start playing. It's really easy. Honest, it's easy. Just move from the O's to the I's and touch it NO NOT INDIANA. ILLINOIS. you know what never mind.