Okay, a real update! I'm making one.

School has been going fine, which is partly because I'm only taking 12 units, so my workload is generally manageable. Sometimes the reading gets heavy, but there are also some times when it's pretty light, so it's been good so far. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune when my papers are due, but that's kind of the norm, so.

I've been trying to get involved in other stuff that will help boost my resumé (that doesn't... actually exist yet, OOPS). First off is that study abroad internship I mentioned. In fact, I have to leave to go do my "office hour" in 25 minutes or so. That part is just chilling in the office one hour a week and answering questions for anyone who walks in. I also have to do other stuff, such as giving presentations, participating in a photo contest, etc. It's pretty chill, though, so that's nice.

Secondly, I turned in an application to my college newspaper to work as a copy editor next quarter. I'm really hoping I get that since the hours aren't too bad and it actually pays. *__* In fact, I should email them and make sure my app made it into the right hands.

Lastly, I'm an editor for a literary magazine that my major is putting out. At this point all it involves is reading over the submissions every week (poems, stories, etc.) and grading them. It's actually kind of fun, though that might be because I'm used to doing this sort of thing due to reading damned apps, ffff.

Speaking of which, I've read almost all of those, so now I'm going to attempt to power-play through Days so I can read those four apps. I'm not sure how well this plan will work, but it's worth a shot, right?

Oh, right, and I had my birthday! On the actual day I had a lot of class, but still made it out for some Italian food and was surprised when some of my friends who I went to Japan with were there as well. It was really sweet of them to come. Then I returned to the apartment and ate delicious German chocolate cake. The following Sunday my parents, my brother, and my brother's boyfriend came up and we went out to lunch with some of my friends, so that was nice. Oh, and Erin was up here all last weekend and we had a great time. We went to a lemon festival, saw Zombieland (which we both loved), played Arkham Asylum, and watched Heroes together on Monday night before she left.

My haul:
- $200, half from my mom and half from my dad
- Hat, scarf, and Halloween candy from my mom
- Two years of paid LJ time and 1 year of extra userpics from my brother
- Friendship bracelet from one of my friends who I went to Japan with
- Half of the price for the Heroes doujinshi I bought was paid for by Erin, plus she came up to see me

I think that's it. I'm probably going to use some of the money I got to pay for y-con, since yes, I'm finally going! Only for a day (Saturday, AKA Halloween), but I'll also be chilling in San Francisco for the weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. But yeah. ANYONE GOING TO Y-CON? Zalia, I know you are, at least! We should meet up. Erin's going too. ♥

As was mentioned last entry, I did go to the beach! It was great and made me wonder why I don't do it more often. I think we might go again next Sunday, and I'm going to try and go while I'm in Santa Barbara as well. But yes, I went with my mom and my brother. My brother and I swam out pretty far and just treaded water and floated and gawked at the fire cloud in the distance. (California, why must you always burn? D:) I also laid around on the sand and read a bit and slept. All in all, very relaxing! I love the ocean.

I was reading Catch-22. I actually read it once when in middle school, but I barely remember it. I doubt I understood much of it at the time, but I do recall liking it despite that. And it seems good so far! I want to keep on chipping away at it while I can (by which I mean while I'm not in school and don't have 53729473 other books to read), but I suspect that other things will distract me.

Such as Dissidia, which I bought today using my Best Buy gift cards! I haven't played much yet at all (seriously, I'm not even done with the Prologue), but it seems nifty thus far. Actually, the thing that got me the most excited was having the other characters from the different games giving the tutorials. I grinned like nothing else when Steiner and Vivi started explaining stuff to me. Though... all I have to say? Zell better show up at some point or there will be hell to pay. Oh, and some FFVI characters too. I'm already noticing the bias for the higher-numbered games and I do not approve. (Well, I at least want some FFIV and FFVI in there, dammit! The others aren't quite as important since... let's face it, most of the characters in I-III and V are pretty flat. EXCEPT FOR FARIS.)

Anyway, I know a few other people on my flist have the game already, so if you want to do battle sometime... well, we should! After I've actually gotten through more of the game and gotten a feel for which character I like the most and stuff, that is.

In other news, I watched Tropic Thunder yesterday! It was pretty amusing, and it reminded me of how I pretty much love Robert Downey Jr. in every role he does. It also reminded me that I need to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang already. Oh, and that scene between him and Tobey Maguire never gets old.

What else? Oh, lacidiana starts school tomorrow, which probably means I'll be around more often... until my own school starts up, at least. Which is... September 24th, I believe?

I think that's about all for now. Oh, and I love this icon. So. Much.

Man, I really frickin' suck at updating my journal. It's not like I don't go to the "Post Entry" box a lot; it's just that I always change the "Post to" box to say damned_lounge.

That's mainly what I've been doing with the rest of my summer, actually. Mod stuff, mod stuff, mod stuff. That and hanging out with my friends. I've been really wanting to get to some video gaming (Pokemon and Crisis Core are my games at the moment), but there's always something else to do that gets in the way. (I have about $50 in Best Buy gift money that I'm itching to spend...)

Oh, I also wrote a ton of drabbles (most of which will be nonsensical if you aren't at damned, though there are a few Castiel ones that are general SPN). I haven't written that much in fic-style in a while, and it was actually kind of nice even though I got prompted like crazy. I'm proud of myself for getting it all done, though.

I saw District 9! Twice. I enjoyed it a lot and it was interesting for me personally since my parents are both from South Africa. I thought it did a good job of hitting the social message while being an engaging movie in its own right. Would definitely suggest checking it out! Unless you dislike the documentary-style camera. I thought it worked well for the movie, but I know some people take serious issue with that.

In more real life adult news, I sent out an application to internship at the study abroad office at my college. I'm really hoping I get it, since even if it isn't paid, it would still give me something to put on a resume. Cross your fingers!

Oh, and I think I'm finally going to the beach tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that!

One of my friends who is on the same program as me here in Japan is obsessed with Harry Potter, and so we ended up seeing the movie today. We even put on tattoos beforehand like lametards. I ended up with the Slytherin snake on the back of my left hand.

Anyway, I thought the movie was really damn entertaining. My memory of the book isn't that great, though, and so I was able to enjoy it without nitpicking too much, although some things still stood out to me. Still, I know that it would be impossible to include everything in a movie, and overall it seemed like a good adaptation.

( Further thoughts. )

P.S. I want a Harry Potter scarf. And I really want to reread the book now. TOO BAD IT'S IN AMERICA. :(

So murasaki_kaze was nice enough to invite me along to go see Star Trek with her and a bunch of her friends. It was my first time seeing a movie in Japan, so that was cool, and the fact that there was no stadium seating didn't matter since... people in Japan are short, okay. 8D

Anyway, the movie was fantastic and you all weren't lying when you raved about it! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and this is coming from someone who is woefully ignorant about Star Trek for the most part. Seriously, I know so little about the original series that it's sad, though I've watched a good amount of TNG episodes. I just know I missed out on tons of references because of that, but oh well.

But yeah, the acting was good, the interaction was good, the action parts were good, and there were just so many well-done scenes. I was enjoying it the whole time and didn't want it to end, though at the same time it didn't drag on. It also helped that I honestly liked all of the characters, so no matter what was going on or who was doing stuff, I was happy.

Zachary Quinto was awesome and I'm so happy that he got such a big break. I look forward to seeing more of him down the line, since I really do think he's a talented actor. Seriously, after the first scene or so my brain stopped going SYLARSYLARSYLAR because he was doing such a good job.

( More vaguely spoilery stuff under the cut. )

Bottom line: A++, will watch again. Also, if anyone has any fic recs...

Aww, I love this song. I really want to watch this movie now, it's been years.

God, I'm itching to do an icon overhaul. THIS WEEKEND. Oh, and if anyone could spam me with some Guy icons (I have some saved, but NOT ENOUGH), please do so! Otherwise I'll just go searching through posts at talesoftheabyss.

Has anyone else been getting LJ comment spam? And here I thought I'd seen everything. I should go through and delete them, but I'm afraid I'm too lazy for that.

Anyway, today I must talk about ( Supernatural 405, 'Monster Movie.' And then I kind of just ramble on about Supernatural in general. )

Oh, and I finally got around to watching Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog last night. It was really cute! I'm kind of tempted to blow some iTunes money on the soundtrack just because I need to use that stuff up already. I got a $25 gift certificate for my birthday last year and I still have $15 of it left, what the heck. OH, but people should comment spam me with the Dr. Horrible icons they have uploaded. I know there are tons out there and now I can actually appreciate them, so yes.

I guess that's it for now! Peace out, guys.

So, I pretty much just got back from my trip home for the three day weekend, and man, traveling like that can really tire a person out. Since I was taking the train, it required walking from my dorm to the bus stop (with my backpack and duffle bag), taking the bus downtown, taking the shuttle to get across downtown to the train station, and then taking the train for about three hours until I arrived in Union Station in downtown LA. I started playing The World Ends With You on the train, but I'm still only at the beginning -- just met Beat and Rhyme. Anyway, Erin and I somehow had miraculous timing so she got there right as I arrived, and then we went and got some food. I had a burrito from Tito's Tacos which was wonderful, and after hanging out for a bit we went and got that yogurt stuff from Pinkberry. Mmm, strawberries and bananas for toppings is the best.

We just hung at her house for the night so that we could be ready to go get everything together on Saturday for the surprise party we were throwing for Andrew. This involved a lot of driving around picking people up, but there was a cake made from scratch and I got to decorate a room, so that was fun and kind of nostalgic. Also, party poppers with very shiny confetti. So we had pizza and ate cake and then caught a showing of Iron Man.

...So yeah, I kind of have a crush now. That movie was outlandish and fantastic. RDJ proved himself to be way hotter than I expected, even in the suit. Anyway, this resulted in me searching the internet for random Iron Man/Tony Stark stuff. Most of it I found at scans_daily, so yeah, disclaimer: I didn't scan any of it, cap any of it, or draw any of it. But I figured I'd share!

( Includes naked Tony, Tony-in-a-dress, Robert Downey Jr. and Tobey Maguire being gay, and other random funny panels. )

After the movie, we went back to my house where I tried to get some posts in and do homework, and then on Sunday I got to chill with my brother and watch some Sweeney Todd. My mom also came back from her trip to South Africa that day, so I was glad I got to see her and get the candy my grandma sent back for me. 8D Then we went back to Erin's to meet up with everyone again, finish off the cake, and watch Hook. Then back to my house because I had to be at the train station this morning to make the trip back again. The train ride was very nice, though. It goes right by the beach and I got to see all the people set up for their Memorial Day barbeques and such. A lot of them turned to watch and wave at the train.

Tonight brings yet another burrito and possible Supernatural watching, plus continuing on my Iron Man kick. (It's a damn good thing I only have six icons because I would be so tempted to upload one of Tony Stark otherwise.)

My midterm has been taken! Yes, I only had one, but I've had lots of Japanese projects and I had a six-page paper due... last week? Something like that. (I have three finals, at least?) Anyway, I took the whole time for it, which is very rare for me, but I wrote a lot for each question. (It was all short answer.) Anyway, I feel pretty good about it, so I look forward to seeing my grade.

Anyway, as is probably obvious by now, I've been really busy with school. I've had to go and watch some movies on Monday nights for my Narratives of War class. The first was Apocalypse Now, and the second was No Man's Land. I had seen bits of Apocalypse Now before, but only the beginning and the end. Good movie, and the visuals in it are amazing -- not to mention the intense ending. It was also cool since I actually read Heart of Darkness in 12th grade, so I could make the connections. No Man's Land is about the war in the Balkans (Bosnia, Serbia, etc.) that took place in the '90's. It's a foreign film, and it was also really good. It did a good job of showing different aspects of the war while also focusing on individual people, I think. Anyway, we're also going to be watching West Beirut and Jarhead, the latter of which I've seen before.

Other than that, it's been normal schoolwork and studying and so on. I think I should have some more free time in the next few weeks, since midterms are done and I don't have papers for a bit. Oh, actually! Another thing that's been keeping me busy is my study abroad application. That's due this coming Wednesday, so I'll be glad to have that out of the way since it's been quite the process. (Still a little freaked out at the idea of possibly going to study in Japan for four months, but it's also really exciting -- and I know others who have done it, so I can do it, too! Right? Right!)

Anyway, I hope this "dry spell" in my schoolwork willl give me some time to actually play some games, since all I've been doing lately is Brawling. Last weekend I went downtown for a bit with my suitemates and I ended up buying The World Ends With You and Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. Yes, I finally got PW3. :| TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH. Anyway, I used the Gamestop gift cards that I've had since Christmas to get those, so I only actually spent six dollars. I want more DS games, like Animal Crossing (yes, shut up, it's fun, if totally pointless), and Phantom Hourglass, and Apollo Justice (once I've beaten the third game, anyway). It's weird... At the moment I want DS games a lot more than Wii games. I guess there's more stuff out for it, though. I still kind of want the NiGHTS game for the Wii, but I'm not sure if it turned out to be any good? Granted, I'd probably enjoy it anyway just due to nostalgia. I heard that Mario Kart for the Wii didn't get very good reviews, so I'm not so sure about that one. Not to mention I'm attached to my Double Dash!! Oh, and that new Wii channel is pretty cool! Sure, it's just advertising, but I want to be advertised to! The fact that you can use it to download DS demos onto your DS is also the coolest thing ever.

Man, did I abuse italics in this entry or what? Anyway, Supernatural tonight! I am excited. Only two episodes left, oh man.