Survival Horror Video Game Movie Day!

I was finally able to get some sleep last night thanks to Tylenol PM!  Yay!

Just wanted to give a quick update :)  Now back to the main topic of my post...

So after work today I went to see a movie with my little sister and her friend.  I noticed that the new Resident Evil movie was playing, and remembered that Silent Hill: Revelation would be coming out soon.  And that made me think:

 
SURVIVAL HORROR VIDEO GAME MOVIE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where I'd go see BOTH of the movies on the same day!  Whoot!  Double feature!

Then I saw the release date for Silent Hill: Revelation.  And it came to my attention that it was highly unlikely that Resident Evil would still be playing by the time Silent Hill got released.

T_T  That makes me so sad!  My awesome *says following in deep, dramatic voice* SURVIVAL HORROR VIDEO GAME MOVIE DAY was going to be totally awesome!

I mean, I guess I kind of understand that since they're competing franchises, it would probably be bad for business if they were both in theaters at the same time.  Still, I thought this would have been soooo cool, especially since I have a job and stuff now.  It would have been just me, at the theater, watching R-rated movies by myself all day while eating tons of candy :)  AWE-SOME!

Agreed, going to the movies with someone else can be more fun and less lonely.  But going to the movies by yourself has other cool perks.  For instance, if I'm bored or just need to move around for a while, I can leave without having someone get pissed off at me.  Which is nice.  You've got to admit it, going to a movie with someone can be fun, but you can't beat the feeling of freedom when you go by yourself :)

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Insomnia, Jitters, and Other Side Effects

Hello, world, I feel absolutely terrible right now because I've only gotten 4 hours of sleep for the past two nights!  Yippee!

Actually I don't feel very "yippee" at all right now.  In reality I feel super irritable.  This is mainly from the lack of sleep, I think.

So basically what happened is that the doctor prescribed me something else for focus because I was experiencing pretty severe side effects from the first medication.  The second medication (what I'm on right now) apparently isn't working so well, either.

At first when I took it it was like a SUPER MIRACLE DRUG.  Suddenly I could easily do things that are typically difficult or impossible, such as:
1. Understand complicated books without having to backtrack constantly and reread previous paragraphs!
2. Remember people's names on the first introduction, AND correlate those names with faces!
3. Be ready to go to work BEFORE it was actually time to go!
4. STOP ZONING OUT!
5. Effortlessly pay attention when people are talking to me for more than 10 seconds!
6. After pausing to do something, I could actually remember the reason I had walked into the room in the first place!
7. Remember detailed instructions!

It's hard to describe the exact feeling I got, but I guess simply put I felt more aware of what was happening?  It was kind of like...I SUDDENLY WOKE UP AND BECAME A SUPERHERO!!!!!!!  Yeah, I'm going to call it a SPIDERMAN MOMENT!  You know how Spiderman passes out from a spider bite, and when he wakes up he can shoot webs out of his hands?  It was totally like that!  Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Unfortunately, it didn't really last that long (the medicine, I mean).  It's supposed to last about 12 hours, but it really only lasted about 5-6 for me.  That is, the good effects did.  After that I was hit by a ton of lousy side effects, which mainly consisted of me feeling like I had too much caffeine and not being able to sleep.

Day 1: Developed SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES that lasted for 5-6 hours, during which period I could do things I never thought possible!   Effects wore off, leaving me feeling a bit jittery but nothing serious.  Comparable to having a small cup of black tea (please note that my body reacts very strongly to caffeine.  I typically abstain from it for that reason).  Feeling increased by bedtime, so despite being dead tired was unable to fall asleep until after 3AM.  That was with taking 2 aspirin (aspirin work like a very mild sleep med for me).

Day 2: Barely slept at all because I kept waking up.  Got around 4-5 hours of sleep.  Took medicine earlier (9AM) because I thought that might have been why it kept me up.  Again, developed superpowers for about 5 hours and sorted through 5+ years worth of paper in record time :)  Jitters later on in the day were considerably worse than Day 1.  Despite taking the medicine 2 1/2 hours earlier than before and taking aspirin before bedtime, couldn't fall asleep until around 3:30AM!

Day 3 (today): Got 4 hours of sleep or less.  Felt like crap upon waking.  Not only that, but I still was feeling jittery, despite the fact I had taken the medicine almost 24 freaking hours earlier!  Finally dragged myself out of bed to eat and take medicine at 9AM.  Yeah, you'd think at this point I'd stop taking the medicine and call the doctor to complain, but I googled the medicine and found that insomnia wasn't uncommon.  Not only that, but I wasn't sure if the doctor would take me seriously if I complained after only 2 days.  Figured if it didn't get better today, I would call the doc tomorrow.  So I take the medicine, wait for it to kick in, and...it didn't.  That's right, nothing good happened at all.  The only thing it did was make me feel more jittery (is that even possible?)  At work I got headaches and super dizzy, but I'm not sure if that was from the medicine or from sleep deprivation.  My heart also started beating off rhythm a bit.  I'm assuming that part was definitely from the medicine.


So in a nutshell, I feel like crap right now.  I would even go so far as to say, between feeling like this and having to work while feeling like this, today has got to have been one of the worst days of my life.  I feel like I'm running purely on espresso right now.  God, it's like junior year all over again, when I lived off of caffeine, skipped meals regularly, typically got about 6 hours or less of sleep a night, and would go for countless days without taking showers.  *Pause*  Okay, granted, it's not that bad.  But it's certainly close.  It feels like all the medicine I took for the past three days has stacked up.  Blah...

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I'm Most Like a...Badger?

Even I have to admit this picture is cool.
All the other pictures made badgers look like
prickly porcupine pandas -_-"

So I'm filling out college apps again and got one of those weird questions...this one was, "If you were an animal, what would you be?"

I totally wanted to put down saber-toothed tiger right then.  Because they're awesome.  And I'm also awesome.

But except for that one similarity, I can think of few real similarities between me and a prehistoric wild cat.

So I Google "what animal best fits my personality" and found this Dr. Phil test that is supposedly uncannily accurate.  You can find it here: http://animalinyou.com/test.php 

I take this super short quiz, only to find out that I'm most like...a badger?  *Pause* Seriously?  I was hoping for something cool and exciting, like a tiger or an eagle, but instead a get a badger.  Come on, that just sounds lame!  I can't put that on a college app!

Badgers are closely related to weasel personalities and share the same range as their cousins the skunks. What distinguishes them from their relatives is their extraordinary physical and emotional strength and tenacious approach to life's challenges. Good looking, small to medium sized individuals, they walk and talk as if they own the world and their powerfully built bodies and dominating personalities back down for no one, not even the much larger personality of the lion. They will confidently enter the territory of others -- woe betide anyone who blocks their path.

Like most carnivores, badgers stay in shape with regular physical activity and are well dressed and precisely groomed. They enjoy all sports and their competitive natures drive them to the edges of their abilities. Because of their small size, they sometimes feel the need to assert themselves to gain the respect accorded the larger carnivores. However, the badger's tendency to bite off more than it can chew often results in an overestimation of its capabilities. With the heart of a tiger, tenacity is both their greatest asset and biggest downfall.

Badger personalities seldom find time for the finer pleasures of life. Art and literature are considered distracting to the pursuit of resources, and their reading habits are usually confined to light fiction or popular action novels.

Badgers are almost always successful in business but often find themselves over their head. Towering ambitions cause them to make sweeping plans without considering the finer details of the exercise. With such an abundance of self-confidence, badgers sometimes rush headlong into overwhelming situations and are forced to burrow their way out. Even so, they never go down without a fight.

The badger is highly regarded as a leader, especially by the smaller animal personalities, but their physical stature can limit political ambitions. This doesn't deter them from running races they are destined to lose, however. Like their cousin the weasel, badgers are opportunists and sometimes team up in business with the more thoughtful animal personalities to help offset their impetuous nature. As a salesperson, they have few equals. Jobs requiring a high degree of proactive selling are ideally suited for the badger's get-up-and-go personality. As managers they are somewhat overbearing, but nonetheless fair and rational. They don't exhibit much of an ego and with their head down, rooting for opportunities, badgers always generate a great deal of respect from their peers.

Careers and Hobbies: Engineer, Soldier, Reporter, Police, Basketball, Gambling, Golfing, Hunting, Fishing, Debating 

Famous Badgers: Matt Dillon, Joe Pesci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert DeNiro, Oliver North 

I can't believe I got such a lame result.  This makes me sound like a crazy overconfident impulsive person who must depend on others for success.  Yeah, I have high ambitions, but I totally think about details!  I don't need to depend on "more thoughtful animal personalities"...also, that's insulting, because it insinuates that I am not thoughtful when in reality I analyze everything.

And what's with mentioning my "small stature?"  I put down "average sized" on the quiz so that I could avoid getting anything small!  And for the record, 5' 2" isn't THAT small, because I know plenty of people who are shorter than me!  You know, this is probably why I didn't get tiger.  THIS QUIZ IS BIASED TOWARDS TALL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

As for famous people, the only one I really know on this list is Napoleon, who totally fits the bill for "crazy overconfident impulsive person."  Also, he failed, because his overconfidence and impulsiveness led to his ultimate demise.  Obviously this is not encouraging.

Of course, this could be worse.  In the corner of my results page, it said, "You might also be a warthog or a rooster."  Seriously, a warthog?  That's considerably worse than a badger.  Thankfully I looked at the personality and warthog doesn't fit me at all; yes, I may be arrogant and self-serving, but I certainly don't act like that in public.  I have an image to upkeep.

Bah, this quiz totally irritated me >:(  I wanted something cool and exciting but nooooo...I get badger....

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The Emmys and My AWESOME NEW JOB!!!!!!

Well, today was the first day (I guess officially?) of my AWESOME NEW JOB!!!!  That's right, everyone, I finally got one!

Of course, it's not like I ever had any doubt that I would eventually get a job.  I mean, like I said, I'm totally awesome and obviously the perfect employee.  (<--There's no way I'd admit any doubt in self-confidence whatsoever, even if it was true.)

Due to privacy reasons, I'm not going to say exactly where I am currently working.  I will say that I'm working at a fairly low-key retail store.

Today was my first day of work (technically) because it was my first day actually on the floor instead of in the back sitting for 6+ hours doing simulation training on the computer -_-"  Have I ever discussed my extreme dislike for sitting still doing repetitive, tedious activities for hours on end?  For the record IT SUCKS.  I can think of few things worse...except taking the SAT.  Seriously, that was a living hell.  Forget the whole fire, flames, burning-for-all-eternity thing; I would take that instead of SAT any day.  How is anyone supposed to keep intense concentration for that long?  I'm lucky if I can focus on something for 20 minutes.  In high school every 20 min. I'd switch which subjects I was studying.  Seriously, how long is the SAT?  Like, 5 hours?  Whatever, it definitely takes longer than the ACT.  I'm telling you, LIVING HELL.  And it's so ridiculous that you have to stay in your seat even if you finish early.  Seriously?  So not only must you have SUPERHUMAN FOCUS but after you finish being superhuman, you're not even allowed to move around to refresh yourself.

...shoot.  Sorry, this is what I mean by lack of focus.  I'm constantly getting distracted.  Normally I'd erase the previous paragraph, but I feel it points out some valid points about the SAT.

My feet are killing me right now.  I'm waiting for my new shoes to come in...however, because my shoes have to be a certain color, I had to wear my shoes back from writing club when I was 13.  I used to call them my "au la CHARM" shoes.  I thought it sounded French, which was obviously super sexy and cool when I was 13.  (I used to think all French guys were like Simone in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.  *Says following in French accent* "No gem can compare to your beauty."  LOL, it was my whole motivation for taking French freshman year.)  Anyway, since they're almost a decade old, they have no padding whatsoever and it's like walking on cement, but of course this didn't occur to me until I started working my 7 hour shift today -_-"  I ended up taking plastic bags from the cashier stand and shoving them into my shoes.  It didn't help much.  I need to get some Dr. Scholl's until my Crocs get delivered next week.

Despite being in pain all day, it was considerably better than sitting down the entire day.  Now I'm basically just standing there doing nothing the entire day, which is actually kind of boring...I was actually let off early because the store was deserted.  But hey, at least I'm allowed to move around a bit, which makes me SUPER HAPPY and improves my mood by 10! :D

I can't stand staying still for long periods of time.  It drives me crazy.  However, I refuse to let this be seen as a disadvantage; if someone asked me about it, I would brag about my ability to work out and study simultaneously, lol.

By the way...EMMYS!  I was just about to wrap up this post and forgot to even mention Emmys, which is in the title so it's not like I can just leave it out -_-" So, who watched last night?  I watched THE ENTIRE THING and was SUPER DISAPPOINTED.  No one I was rooting for won.  (T_T Nooooo...why you no win Emmy again, Peter Dinklage?)
 
Fun things seem tons more fun when you've actually accomplished something that day.  I have a terrible time relaxing and having fun because I'm a workaholic.  I've found that I will enjoy the same fun activity 10 times more after I'm done working.  Maybe because I feel like I earned it?

I have EARNED visual novel time! ^^

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You Know You Were a Bad Girlfriend When...

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LARP: My First Experience with Roleplaying

At least there weren't any costumes while I was doing it

I was doing a Google search just now and found a roleplaying forum in the results.  Brings back memories, haha...

I remember my first role playing game.  It was not a positive experience.  Please know that I have absolutely nothing against people who are into LARP.  That being said, my experience with it is definitely in my list of top 10 embarrassing moments.

When I was 13, I belonged to a club.  It was actually where I met Ex-BF and his cousin.  I don't think Ex-BF and I were going out yet, and either way he definitely wasn't my Ex-BF at the time.  So for clarification purposes, in this post Ex-BF shall be referred to as K and his cousin shall be referred to as H (btw, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with any profile names that may or may not be on Facebook >_>).

So anyway, the club that night was taking place at a member's house.  We'd ended early for the night so we were just hanging out before going home.  K and H, who were super hyper on caffeine, were shooed outside by the adult members.  Oddly enough I had had no caffeine whatsoever, and if memory serves I was doing my best to sit quietly...despite this I was also shooed outside about 5 minutes after K and H.

I go out on the porch and see K and H randomly running around the yard acting like crazy people, which at the time I attributed to too much coffee.  The conversation that followed was similar to this:

Me: Hi.  What are you guys doing?

K: We're roleplaying.

Me: What's that?

K and H stop what they're doing to look at me incredulously.

H: You don't know what roleplaying is?

Me: No.  How do you play?

H: Well, I'm ______ and *pointing to K* he's ______ and we're looking for the dragon ______!

Me: ...What?

K and H sit by me on the porch and proceed to tell me all about the elaborate fantasy world they're pretending to be in.

K: So that's what roleplaying is.

K and H look at me waiting for a response.

Me *long pause*: ........so basically, it's like make believe?  Like what little kids do?

They glare at me, apparently offended.

K: No, it's roleplaying.

H: It's really fun!  Want to play with us?

Me: Uh...no, that's okay.

K and H go on monologues about how great roleplaying is and beg me to join in the fun.



So at this point I have two options.  I could (a) join them as the next door neighbors, who are having a party, stare at me and question my sanity, or (b) tell H and K that I refuse to make a fool of myself by participating in this so-called "roleplaying", because apparently they won't take a simple no for an answer.

Guess which one I chose?

Me: Okay, I guess I'll play.

K: Great!  So you need to come up with a name.

Me: What's wrong with Katie?

H: You can't use your real name.  That's not how roleplaying works.

K and H help me come up with a name.

H: Since this is your first time, we'll help you out.

K: Yeah!



And that was how I got dragged into running around the yard pretending I'm walking along some rocky terrain on some medieval fantasy quest.  Oh yes, I tried my best to stay quiet in order to avoid the peculiar looks I was getting from the next door neighbors, but K and H insisted on my participation; whenever I stayed quiet too long, they would ask me a question like, "Do you think we'll find the dragon soon?"  Or they'd give me tips on how to roleplay better -_-"

I knew they meant well, but it's difficult to appreciate that when an 8-year-old is staring at you and saying, "Mommy, what are those people doing?"   And then his mom starts to stare at us.

Eventually I just couldn't take it anymore.

Me: I'm bored.  I think I'm going to sit on the porch.

K: You can't quit!

H: We're so close to finding the dragon!  Just a bit longer!

K: Aren't you having fun?

Me:  *What I was thinking* No, this is ridiculous.  Can't you see that those people are staring at us?

Me: *What I actually said* Yes, I'm having fun.  I'm just kind of bored.

Note: I have a big thing about the "image" I keep up.  I could either keep up my image of being sane for complete strangers, or I could keep up my image of not being rude for my friends.  I chose the latter.

H: That's okay!  When we find the dragon it's going to get a lot more interesting!



About a minute later, we come across a cliff with a log to cross (which was actually just a stick lying on the ground).  We must be very, very careful while crossing, as it's instant KO if we "fall" off the log.

I see my chance and take it.  I do an exaggerated fall off the stick, trying to make it look as natural as possible.

Me: Oops, I fell off.  Looks like I'm out of the game.

H: No!  You can't die!

K: Yeah, we're having fun!  We'll undo it so that you didn't die.



So I ended up tripping and falling off the stick for about 4 MORE TIMES until even they were questioning whether I was doing it on purpose.  And I'm doing this all while dealing with the peculiar looks from the neighbors.  I don't think I was ever so happy to have my mom drive by to pick me up.

"So what were you guys doing out there?" my mom asks as I get into the car.

"Oh, just hanging out," I say casually.  Hey, I've just dealt with enough embarrassment for a lifetime; there's NO WAY I'm telling my mom about the bizarre "roleplaying" incident my friends managed to drag me into!

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The Honest Person's Lie

Today I'm blogging about this totally random phrase I've come up with!  I call it "the honest person's lie."

So basically what it is is that you lie without technically lying.  That sounds confusing, but chances are we've all done it one time or another during our lives.  To clarify the definition: when someone asks you a question, instead of actually answering it you just state the obvious while acting/sounding totally appalled.  The person assumes that you are telling them yes or no, but in reality you didn't answer anything at all.
Let's look at some examples, shall we?

             Johnny’s mom: Johnny, did you take your little sister’s favorite doll?

           

Johnny *looking appalled*: That would be mean!

Person 1: How did you get 100% on that test?  It was really hard!  *Looking at Person 2 suspiciously* Did you cheat?

Person 2 *looking appalled*: Cheating is wrong!

Me: Is something going on between you and your cousin?

Ex-BF *sounding appalled*: She’s my cousin!

See how it works?  I used to pull this all the time when I was younger.  You’re more or less lying, but you’re also being honest by stating something completely obvious.  So you didn’t technically lie.  It’s like this brilliant loophole in honesty, lol.

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Death to Computer Programming

Back when I was a sophomore in high school, I thought it’d be really cool to do something in programming.

Then I found out that computer programmers really didn’t live a glamorous life, and in actuality worked outrageous hours and had to sit for 12 hours straight typing tedious code.  Talk about bursting my bubble.

Anyway, I’m talking about this because the other day I realized just how much I would hate doing anything in programming.

I finally decided to install and try out Kanon, one of the visual novels I recently downloaded.  So I install the game, add the voice files, and install the English patch.  About 10 minutes into the game an error message comes up saying “REALLIVE.exe has stopped working.”

Obviously I’m rather irritated that my game has stopped working, but seriously, how hard could it be to solve the problem?  I’m computer savvy; I figure I should be able to get the game up and running in no time!

 

After around 4 FREAKING HOURS I finally figured out that officially installing the English patch was somehow screwing up the .dll file, or something weird like that.  So I just ended up copying all the English patch files and putting them in the game folder.  The English patch was supposed to officially configure these files, so since I didn’t install the English patch a few of the menu options are in Japanese.  Still, beats not being able to play the game at all.

It’s times like this that I feel incredibly lucky.  Yeah, I may spend the majority of the day being bored and pitying myself, but hey, it’s 500 million times better than being a computer programmer, lol.

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