OCD+ADD=OMG

Dad said that around the back of their house they had the same problem. Well, the garbage had begun to pile up, and when Dad went to burn what he could, he found a bunch of maggots in the garbage can.... XP OMG, so nasty. So, evidently, the flies were just gathering around their back yard where the garbage cans were, and since my house is (technically) in their backyard, they just decided to come on over. Spraying the pesticide on the walls and outside my house has not helped. So, this past weekend (while I was feeling crapy with my leg hurting and all anyway) I decided to keep the spray handy......I ended up pretty much declaring war on the flies. I put the pesticide squirt nozzle on the direct spray, so that it shoots out a single line of liquid as opposed to a poof cloud spray. Every time I saw one, I ended up cornering it and just sprayed till I'd knocked the sucker into a puddle of pesticide. I'm very happy to report that my house is virtually fly free. There's an odd one here or there in rooms I don't go in that often, but over-all N2 has no flies in it right now :)

The only down-side is that I can only spray pesticide for so long without hacking my lungs out. Too much of it in one room makes my throat and nose itch like crazy >..< So, I try to limit the amount I spray... When the house was over-run with them, I was terribly miserable. Now, it's not so bad since I only see one odd fly now and then. But now, I'm not so relaxed about it. Used to, if I saw a fly, I'd just let it be. But after this entire ordeal, one fly means I'm off to fetch the pesticide -..- The annoying little buggers aren't even smart enough to leave me alone, and an annoying pest is about as bad as one that bites or stings.

Oh, and Mom and Dad are away now. Dad got called out early Monday... well, to be precise, he called his company asking when they wanted him, and they said "a day earlier than usual". He'll be towing the rig this hitch, so he may be out for anywhere between 14 to 37 days @..@ And since he had to leave Monday at noon, and he didn't get any sleep before hand, and since Mom's older sister (Aunt Audrey) has been having serious heart trouble in the way of multiple heart attacks, Mom decided to accompany him and drive back up after Aunt Audrey's surgery. So, I'm left to hold down the fort while they're gone. All I really have to do is burn my own trash, collect their mail, watch out for Aunt Carolyn's mail and cut the grass at some point.... fun.

Oh, yesterday was my day with Alicia. She pretty much comes over every Tuesday now. We were checking to see places we could visit in Branson... of course it was a great excuse just to go to Branson and map the place out for me. Alicia wanted to go to Staples too, and I've actually never been to a Staples. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I had an appointment with the chiropractor yesterday at 3, so Alicia came over early, but accompanied me to the chiropractor (with a small assortment of the first volumes of my manga collection). I told the doctor about how I injured my knee Friday, and she checked it and said my ankle and knee were out of alignment because of it. So she adjusted it too and told me to ice it as well as my lower back (20 minutes on the ice pack and 2 hours off). After that, we went straight to Branson.

On the way there, Alicia got really hungry....and I started getting hungry too. We had planned on stopping at Applebee's to get a to-go menu (turns out they didn't even have any at the time -..-), so we just decided to have lunch there. They still had that 2 meals for $20 deal, so we went ahead and did that. Then we went to Staples, and I found some of those Soney Earbuds that Takara had showed me at the Lock-In. They fit really easily into the ear, and unlike the original earbuds I had, they don't hurt. Oh, and they were only $9.99, soooo I got them :) We also went to K-Mart, but that was because Alicia said that her mom needed some loafers and ... she wanted to buy them for her... I dunno. Whatever.

Uhhh, then we went to the theater to check and see if they had the times that Transformers 2 would be playing for this Saturday... they only replied that the Imax had it... which really didn't help us much. I told Alicia that I knew the Imax's web site said they wouldn't be playing Transformers 2 after the 9th, so I'd call this little cinema on the 10th and ask if they were having it then. Over-all, we'll have to see, otherwise our trip to Branson will be ...underwhelming at best. After that we were a bit bummed so we went to Best Buy, and I found Tall Tale on DVD. I was so excited, because I loved this movie when I was young, and it didn't seem like it'd ever come out on DVD. And there it was... for $6.99! So... of course, I got it =..=' And Best Buy was right next to Books-A-Million ... so, no surprise where we went next. I ended up buying this enormous book on Mythology called Mythology: Myths, Legends, & Fantasies. It's massive and I probably paid entirely too much for it... and I love it :3 Of course, this thing is so comprehensive, I may never need another book or reference on mythology EVER. In the back, there's an index for referencing individual things, but there's also a section that breaks down each section and says "For Further Reading" and tells you many books that you can get if you want to focus solely on one thing. It's huge o..o

After that, Alicia and I came home... although it took her a while to adjust to manga reading, she did manage to finish the first volume of Furuba in the car on the way home while I rocked out. I've also managed to get her hooked on the Corrs and Nightwish... mwahaha :D But anyway! Then when we got home, and after we unpacked we finished watching Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki-san is so awesome. I think Alicia agrees :) I was actually surprised to learn that the english voice-actor that spoke for Moro... is Gillian Anderson, aka Scully o..o How many cool points can you earn? :D Anyway! After that, she went home and I showered and went to bed.

I really have been loafing about today...but I'm really tired and just content to so. I mean, I know I probably should've cut grass.... but, I can always do it later. Annnd now, I gotta go and get ready... gotta leave for church around 6:45 and my hair is riotous :3 I like getting ready early so that I can relax and not rush before I leave. So! I'm off. I'll type later, Sunshines :)

You Love Being Single

In general, you're very happy being single. You like doing your own thing, and you're happy not to have to compromise. You're not opposed to being attached, but you're not going to settle. Someone else should your enhance your life, and you're happy to wait for that person.

Do You Hate to Be Single?

 

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P.S. Oh yeah! Today in 2002 I introduced Chibi and Reiko to one another :D So... happy anniversary, 'Mouto-chans!
 

So I went outside and I had been swinging for about 20 minutes... and then the right rope came unfrazzled, snapped, whatever, and I was dumped backwards into the dirt. My back hurt most, but it wasn't a "I've pulled a muscle" hurt but more of a stinging/burning hurt. Mom washed off my back because there were a lot of scratches and a bit of blood to go with them. The only thing we grow freely here in Arkansas would be rocks :) So... my landing wasn't exactly on the softest material. Anyway. I woke up really sore on the 19th. Luckily, I had didn't have enough time to tense up before I hit the dirt so the shock was absorbed all over as opposed to just hurting one area. Unfortunately.... I was hurt all over -..- My ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and wrists, not to mention the back of my head. Everything just hurt.

... and then I went to Mom's. We hung around for a while watching TV. Then I got out her empty picture frame set, and we started going through pictures. Since there were only a few at her house, we decided to come over to mine and go through the enormous box of pictures we have here. We came up with an idea for a whole row of picture frames along this one wall, so we just gathered a ton of pictures she'd love to see framed.

Then, Mom left ... I don't remember why, but there was something she wanted to do. So, I hung about at my place, just watching movies and such. At some point I realized, I didn't have my cell phone. I knew that I had it whenever I went over to Mom's because I got a call from Jim saying that Reiko was out of surgery and doing well and all that... but after that, I couldn't remember having it at all. So, I assumed that I'd left it at Mom's house somewhere in the chair I'd been sitting in. So, I went over there and looked for it... but it wasn't there. So I came back here and looked for it... and it wasn't here either. So I went back over to Mom's and really went through every room I had been in. I upturned furniture, went through clutter, everything! But it wasn't there. I got Mom's cell phone and called mine, but I heard nothing. I came back here with Mom's cell and called while I looked, still nothing....

.....I have no idea where my cell is, and it's not ringing ;_; I thought that I had it turned up... but even when I call with Mom's phone, I don't hear it ringing. I'm hoping that when the battery starts to die, it'll make that noise and I'll hear it =..= I really don't know what else to do. The need to make cell phone finders for situations like this. I'm such a freak about keeping my cell phone really close and making sure the volume is turned up. It's driving me nuts that I can't find it at all!

So yeah...not much of a happy character at this point. I wish I could work up some optimism, but s'bloody hell week... so I just don't care =..= I've resolved not to post to Twitter until I've managed to resolve this cell phone situation... more so because I'm hoping for good news with a "FINALLY FOUND MY PHONE :D" post or something... but also because... I dunno. Going to Twitter will just remind me that I don't have my phone -..-

Other than all of this, I really have no news. Life sucks a bit and I'm being sulky because I can. :-| That's all for now. Later, Sunshines.

You Are A Train

You are a true romantic. You have big dreams about how life should be. You take life at a slow and steady pace. You try to appreciate every moment you have. You are a very visual person. You are always on the lookout for beauty and inspiration. You are able to relax and let go more than most people.

What Type of Transportation Are You?

 

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....

...quoi?

Honestly, Steve. What’s wrong with just me, Steve? You don’t think maybe if I’d find ‘Mr. Right’ (who probably wouldn’t be quite right), you don’t think he’d think maybe I would be enough for him? Am I not enough in myself, Steve? What’s wrong with just me, Steve? Hey, Steve, while you’re off finding some girl to connect to, why don’t you try not being a jerk, K? >..>

The nerve of some people >..<

....anyway. After a nice Sunday School concerning the last supper, I went upstairs to the sound booth. Alicia did not show, and I assume that means she was in too much pain with her knee to make it. I hope she feels better soon....but, I had asked the pastor if we could lower the sound board, because the desk that it’s on is up on pillars. Today was my first day sitting in an actual chair as opposed to a stool, working on the sound board. And aside from one of the chorus guys programming the wrong song into the worship...everything went ok. The pastor spoke of the commandment, Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness/ A.K.A. don’t lie. He went a little further than that though. He said that it means more than just telling falsehoods, but also to be honest in every area of our lives....Good advice to live by...too bad there’s so many sensitive people in this world who say they want your honest opinion of something and then get offended.

There was a spaghetti lunch after church which was a fund raiser for our youth group. The whole church pretty much turned out to support them and give them money (plus, you gotta eat, right). I sat between Mrs. Carolyn (not to be confused with either of my Aunt Carolyns >..> too many Carolyns!) and the pastor. I leaned over to her and said, “You know what they say, keep your friends close and..” and the past slide closer to me and then forked my buttered bread ^..^ He called up to the servers and asked if they’d bring him a piece of bread and then gave that piece to me, but he accidentally dropped his XD!!! Twas funny.

Unfortunately, the noise and the bright lights got to me, I think. My stomach started pitching and rolling and just being uneasy and now I feel like I might be coming down with a migraine =..= I’ve taken some medicine and I’m gonna lay down in my nice, dark room...so if you don’t hear from me till tomorrow and I start asking what I’ve been doing, don’t be worried :)

Later, Sunshines.

Oh yeah! I forgot! Sunday Quiz-Spam is back!!! Enjoy!

The True You Feels Unappreciated

You want your girlfriend or boyfriend to do more for you. With respect to money, you spend as little as possible. You think good luck doesn't exist - reality is built on practicalities. The hidden side of your personality tends to be satisfied to care for things with a minimal amount of effort. You are tend to think about others' feelings a lot, perhaps because you are so eager to be liked. When it comes to finding a romantic partner, you base your search on information from your friends.

Who's The True You?

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You Would Win Best Supporting Actor / Actress

You are a quirky, fascinating person. You understand the world well. There's no one quite like you. Your uniqueness leaves a strong impression on people. You are bold and willing to take risks. People may love or hate you, but at least they'll notice you. You are just different enough to make a great character actor. You can make a smaller part come alive.

What Would You Win an Oscar For?

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You Crave an Exhilarating Life

Your dream is to live a life of inspiration, ideas, and wisdom. There's so much to do in the world, and it's important that you accomplish something great. You desire success, but not necessarily material success. Success could be helping others find the right path. More than anything else, you want to reach your goals... no matter how high they may be.

The Sunset Test

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You Are Tea

You are mellow and reflective. You don't allow yourself to feel in a rush and frenzied. You're likely to appreciated the ideas or connections that come up over a warm cup of tea. While you do enjoy the energy of a caffeine boost, you love that it allows you to take a break. You're not in a rush to do anything. You're content with your life, and in no rush to change it.

Are You Coffee or Tea?

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You Are LOL

The internet is always cracking you up. You could waste the day away finding things to laugh at. You're usually the first one to find a new funny video, picture, or website. You're always up for wasting time online, even if (especially if) you're at work. You also tend to spend a lot of time chatting, especially with people who make you laugh out loud.

What Internet Slang Are You?

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You Communicate Clearly

You're the type of person who thinks before you talk. You speak in an ordered, insightful, and concise way. You speak authoritatively and with conviction. If you take the time to say something, you stand behind it. You only say what you need to. You believe that your words are strongest when they're not diluted. When you have a lot to say, you map out your words ahead of time. You prefer to speak in bullet points.

What Kind of Communicator Are You?

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You Are Caramel deLites / Samosas

You are blessed with a brilliant, dynamic mind. It's sometimes hard to figure out what your focus should be. You're the type of person who does almost everything well. You are very competent but also unfocused. You're not an easy person to pin down. You are vibrantly complex. You have many facets to your personality, and they're often in competition with one another.

What Girl Scout Cookie Are You?

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You Were an Inspired Kid

When you were a kid, you tended to see things from a unique, inventive perspective. In class, you were either asking lots of questions or getting lost in a daydream. You excelled at brainstorming. People were always amazed with what you came up with. You didn't do as well with structured activities. Giving you freedom was the only way to make you shine.

What Kind of Kid Were You?

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You Are Warm

You are as patient, as outgoing, and as nice as you can be. You understand people well, and you mostly enjoy being around them. You are a naturally warm person, but you do have times when you're feeling a bit distant. But even when you're feeling distant, you try to be empathetic. You always go the extra mile.

How Warm Are You?

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Your Energy Level is Moderate

For you, life is all about balance. You keep active, but you rest a lot too. You have enough vigor to get everything done... with a little left over for some fun. You find that you have plenty of energy, as long as you give yourself time to recharge. But if you don't take care of yourself, you notice that your energy levels really plummet.

What's Your Energy Level?

---

No Devil’s Pot of Tea, Mulan @..@

So, Reiko got up here safe and sound (though there’s always some question about just how sound she is). She and her mom and dad all stopped in a resort town called Fairfield Bay, which is about an hour and a half southeast of here. Scamp and her peoplez actually went to my Aunt Lane’s house. I know the power went out and at some point, their generator went out too, but evidently it’s back up and running. I’m sure since it’s farther north, the power will be resorted soon.

I had a bit of a way-side adventure yesterday. Reiko had told me that she and her dad were heading down Wednesday morning, and that if I wanted to, I could go with them. She figured we might not be able to get back into Houma, but her house in Hammond (Robert) would be reachable. We could bunk there till we could come down. So, I packed up most of my stuff (forgetting a lot =..=) and headed over to meet them. We all went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on the essentials we’d need (potted meat, water, gas cans, and for me and Reiko granola bars and pop tarts). Well, after checkout, I get a call from my mom (who was really upset that I we were leaving so soon), and she said that the mayor said not to even bother coming back till Friday; and, that power would not be restored for up to 2 to 3 weeks! So, that was very discouraging, but her opinion was what clenched it. She said she didn’t want me going down there when it was still a disaster zone, that it was her birthday and she wanted me here where it was safe. So...I sold Reiko and her dad my gas cans and potted meat, and came home. Reiko was a bit upset about this (not as upset as she was about my driving though >..>) but she got over it and I came back here.

…And now Mom and I both have some freaky sinus infection that we’re fighting =..= Reiko called sometime…the other day…and said that they had decided not to leave. That she was feeling sick with a sinus infection too, and they’d gotten the bulletin about not being able to go back till at least Friday. So, now they’re planning on leaving tomorrow morning.

I called Blue Bird (my boss), and asked her if they’d evacuated or if they were alright. She said that they’d made it to Baton Rogue, but the hurricane hit just as badly there. I told her my mom wasn’t allowing me to leave till it was safe, and she said, “Oh no. No don’t leave at all. They’re not letting anyone back in and there’s no power.” So, she has my private e-mail, and she’s going to e-mail me updates, but other than that, I’m not really worried about work. I also called Cole, and she said that her family was heading back today (I think her hubby manages one of the power plants). She said to call her Saturday before I even thought about coming so that she could give me updates first. I also called my energy provider asking if they had an estimate for when my area would have power. They told me to call back Friday. So…here I am. Can’t go home and no idea when I’m gonna be heading that way anyway.

I don’t have a TV or anything in my room here, so the only thing I can really do is read. I brought Breaking Dawn and The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Both of them are great books, and I’ve enjoyed reading them over and over…and over..and over again. Unfortunately, I’ve dang-near memorized them and…well, after 50 times, it becomes a little old. I did buy the 3rd season of Supernatural today. I got it at Wal-Mart, because I figured “Why not?”. Of course, no private TV to watch it on..so. Yeah. I’m stuck admiring the pretty pictures on the cover (and man, are they pretty ^..^). And, I did a recent search, and Bones season 3, is available for Preorder. Of course, it won’t be coming out till November 18, but still. It’s something to look forward to.

This…whatever. Sickness or whatever you want to call it, is seriously fooling with me. I’m so tired and disoriented and…just miserable. I just want to be in my own home. I love Mom, and Aunt Carolyn is alright, I just like being on my own too much. I like having my space and my stuff and my routine. Here...if I don’t feel like watching HGTV for a 24 hour period or switching over to the Hallmark channel, I really have nothing to do. So yeah….No way to entertain myself away from the fact that I’m miserable. If I wasn’t feeling bad, then none of this would really bother me so much. But I am..so. Yeah.

I guess I’m just gonna go ahead and sign off now. There’s really nothing more to update on (that my frazzled mind can recall). I’ll talk to ya’ll later, Sunshines.

What Your Name Says About You

Your name says that you are mostly: Dynamic but aggressive Your name also says you are: Fiery but unbalanced Ambitious but stubborn Inspiring but melodramatic

What Does Your Name Say About You?

 

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OK, so I woke up…don’t know when exactly, but I got out to the mower around 10 in the morning. Yeah, hottest part of the day, yada yada. I wasn’t waking up early on my day off, and it’s effin’ hot all the time around here anyway. So, I got on the mower around 10. I was both surprised, and yet not, to find the spare gas can was empty. So I only had whatever gas was in the mower to work with. I managed to get all of my parents yard mowed, my front yard and part of my side yard mowed…and then the thing shut off on me. I had noticed the drop in temperature and increase in moisture – both of which usually mean rain. So I’d been saying to myself, “I don’t care if it does rain…I’ll mow until I’m out of gas.” So, when the gas ran out, I sat there all of 2 seconds, contemplating going for gas. The second I hopped off and my foot hit the ground, it was like the bottom of the bucket fell out. I got drenched just walking to my house, and I wasn’t even that far away! So, I looked upward and yelled, “Fine! I can take a hint!” and then went inside to shower. I wasn’t surprised to find both my knees and shoulders were sun burnt. I was surprised to find that other than being slightly over-heated, I wasn’t that bothered by it. Mostly because I was so dang sore. Our mower is the type that has two handles on either side, and you have to push the handles to go forward…something is wrong with the right handle, and it’s overly tight, not going as easily forward or backward as usual. My whole right side was so sore from fighting with it…I had to take two alieve to get to sleep along with my regular pills.

But anyway...I ate some lunch after my shower (which felt fantastic. Isn’t it amazing how blissful a shower feels after you’ve sweet for 2+ hours. Yes. 2+. I got on that mower around 10 and when I walked in the house it was 12:30 =..=). I answered a few calls I'd gotten (from Mom and Reiko). Then I turned my computer on and dialed the DSL line for AT&T. Ended up talking with a lovely lady named Gail over in Asia (I know. I asked where she was. “You’re actually calling Asia, Ma’am.” O..O Awesome!). After a few minutes, she realized that I was not registered with AT&T ...even though I’d had the internet for…what? 5 or six months now? Yeah. Not registered. So evidently, they’d set me up with a temporary name and password, and it’d run out. An hour and a half later, I was back online, and I’d earned the biggest migraine I’d had in a while. I don't think it was from the computer and the fight with it alone; probably a combination of frustrations with the mower, the heat outside, the cool climate inside and the frustrations with the computer just combined for one big whopper (and this wasn't Burger King. I did not have it my way =..=). I took pills and dragged myself up to bed. I am so sore today. It’s not even funny. My sunburn isn’t bothering me though. Luckily, Mom had left behind her huge straw hat, and my face is just fine.

Oh, I got a call from Reiko. I had decided to go to Mecha Con this year…which…surprised me really. But, I figured why the hell not? My days in LA are numbered now, so might as well take advantage of the local cons. With Dad’s shifts being all messed up, Mom decided that she won’t be able to come down during the convention. So, I went ahead and invited Reiko, because she needs as much distraction as she can get…plus she loves conventions. And, going alone wouldn’t suck, but it’ll be a lot more fun with her. 


Well...I say I 'invited' her...but, really when she called I said, "Take August 1-3 off." 
and she was like, "Why?" 
and I was like, "Because you're going to be in Lafayette." 
and she was like, "...why?" 
and I was like, "Because you're going to Mecha Con with me." 
and she was like, "...Awesome! An anime convention? Hells yeah!" 


So, I’d told her to schedule off for the 1-3 of August. She called this morning, and what I think will happen is that she’ll come to spend the night Thursday night (July 31st), and then we’ll just leave Friday morning. I couldn’t get her registered early, so I’m hoping to arrive around 11:30 for the walk-in registration. Google says it takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the con, I’m adding in 30 minutes for traffic…we’ll probably leave around 8:45ish. At least, that’s the plan. I just hope it works without a hitch.

….headache hangover is not good. Blah. I think next week, I'll plan to do maybe one or two things, but not a bunch of stuff. It's supposed to be a day off after all. Oh well. Back to work! Later, Sunshines.

discover your dog breed @ quiz meme

 

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So, my day. I woke up late, because I always do on a Saturday. But, when I was so awake that I couldn’t go back to sleep, I got up. Then I fixed a big breakfast for myself. I made two eggs over easy, two pieces of toast with butter and apple jelly, and some strops of bacon along with coffee. I ate breakfast slowly, debating over what I should do since, I didn’t really have anything set for the day. I called my Mom on the cell to see what was up with my Dad, since she’d left Thursday afternoon for Lafayette hoping to pick him up sometime Friday. She hadn’t slept well, because she expected him to call at any time. She said if I was bored, I could go to town and look around at stuff.

So, I decided that was probably the best idea, since it would kill quite a bit of time. And I needed to get gas in my car (I always run it to about a quarter of a quarter of a tank ^..~). I made a list of all the things that I get constantly, then I decided to add groceries to the list like dish washing detergent and 409 and such, then I thought I should add food to it too (so you can see it became a huge list). And I had this idea that I’d go to town and price stuff and see how much my grocery bills might be. Then I had this great idea to go to Pet Smart (where Reiko works) and price pet stuff!..The list is still here on the desk because I gave up after Pet Smart =..=’

So, forgetting the whole list, I headed out of PetSmart and over to Target. I looked at different furniture just because that’s something I enjoy. I also looked at their selection of glasses, because I had seen some that I really liked on Amazon, but I wanted to look around and make sure if there wasn’t anything else I liked better that would be cheaper. I didn’t find anything I liked, and I knew that I needed to at least get one new pair of shoes, so I looked at their shoes. Didn’t find anything that I liked, even though I took 30 minutes looking to make sure. I really don’t like shopping around with tons of people there though...I should shop on weekdays...but I consoled myself by browsing the movies. I got The Count of Monte Cristo and The Holiday and for just $10 too. That was great. I also go the first and second season of The Girls Next Door...one of my few guilty pleasures.

I then went to Wal-Mart and spent another 45 minutes looking at shoes...with no luck. By now, the only good thing was score more DVDs and I had sore feet and I was really tired of town. So, I trekked it over to Sam’s where I got some gas and then headed home. I was really getting hungry by now too, so it was just time to go home. Although, I was a little upset that I didn’t just get all the Star Wars movies…but I knew I’d go over my budget if I did. So. Sad panda. But…eventually.

Anyway, I started watching the first season of the Girls and started in on the second when Mom and Dad finally got home! So, I took a break to eat with them and give Dad a hug and all and we watched the DVD that Aunt Batty gave us with the pictures from their Colorado trip. But we didn’t watch much because Dad was so tired and all. And now it’s bed time...wich is just after shower time ^..^ I so cannot wait till the next season of Red Vs. Blue comes out.

Well, I guess that’s all for today. I tried to be a normal girl today and shop for shoes (that rawk) but I couldn’t pull it off…I think I’ll enjoy the DVDs more ^..^ Goodnight, Sunshines.

You Are a Log Ride

You prefer to live a fairly calm, relaxed life... with a few surprises thrown in. You don't tend to get yourself worked up easily. You can roll with what life throws at you. In relationships, you are steady and solid. You maintain a pretty broad perspective on what's going on. That's not to say you can't get swept away. You're emotions run as deep as anyone else's. Your life seems like it has been remarkably easy so far. But that's due to how you manage it. You never stretch yourself too thinly, and you think out your decisions carefully. Taking the time to enjoy each day is important to you, and you don't let your emotions rule you. You stay the course and do what's right... knowing it will all work out in the end. At your best, you are tolerant and understanding of other people's quirks. You take "go with the flow" to the extreme. Even if you don't like where you're going. At your worst, you repress your feelings and end up being a little tightly wound. You definitely have some explosive emotions that occasionally come to the surface!

What Carnival Ride Are You?

 

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Wow. What a long and tiresome trip. Though, I must say, it was quite enjoyable towards the end. After the first four hours, I got so bloody exhausted the giggles set in. I was still dreadfully tired, but Mom and I took turns driving. I drove from 10 to 12, and Mom said she couldn’t sleep and would rather drive. So, I tried to sleep and failed miserably. I ended up staying awake to talk to Mom and keep her awake. I ended up driving again from 3:30 to 6 ...or 7...considering that we did loose an hour when we crossed the time zone.

We picked up Jen (my Twin-san) and headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Then we made her drive the rest of the way. My God...such an excruciating task. Driving 4 hours, insanely giddy from not sleeping at all in the past 24 hours, getting more and more car sick but the miles just keep stretching on. We finally got here around 11:30 and while our room was empty, it wasn’t clean. So we waited 45 minutes till it was ready. Gotta say...this hotel has been a tad on the weird side. Forget the fact that there’s some major construction going on in the lobby, but when Mom went to check in and get the key, she mentioned to the front desk man that we had Jacuzzi and he offered to “help us test it out”...um…*fake laugh* no.

When we finally got to our room, which is on the 3rd floor, and hanging right over the pool, we unpacked a bit. Then we headed to Wal-Mart to buy things we’d need (disposable coffee cups, paper plates, cups, food stuffs, etc).I also managed to get some post cards to send to everyone back home.

So now, we’re just relaxing...occasionally watching Retrace & snacking. That’ll be all for tonight...I hope.

6-23-2007, Saturday 11:43 pm

Wow. You know, we haven’t been half as busy as we could’ve been, and yet I still haven’t written much of anything. First off I have to say…this hotel is just weird. Not only are their cracks in the balcony above us (causing rain to trickle down onto our balcony from those cracks, but Jen says she only walks around barefoot in the hotel room and her feet are black. And that’s not even mentioning what happened late Thursday night. We were getting ready for bed, and Mom had decided to let us have the king size bed and she’d take the sofa sleeper. Well first off, we couldn’t get the sleeper out of the sofa =..= So, we call for help down to the front desk and a nice chinese man comes up, takes a look around and says “I know this room. Hole in couch.” There is a hole in the back of our couch, and a tiny pointy metal thing sticks out of it! He asked for a towel, and put the towel over the whole and told us not to movie it….O..O Que? Later we found out that the toaster and blow dryer didn’t work either. Then my cousin Faren comes over, and he’s a builder, and he says this place looks like it’s about to fall apart...great. Oh well. On to the good (no great!) parts of the convention.

Friday was easy-going. I think I woke up around 8, but I didn’t actually get up till 9. Our first panel was at 11, so we didn’t need to hurry. We went to FanFic 101 with Kathy Pagge. There might’ve been 12 people there. It was a great panel and I recorded it with Zeis, learning to use my fanny pack as a base for the camera.

There are 30 minute breaks between the panels. So we went to the room for food. Then we attended a “Grimorum Making” panel. It was actually some artists/art students showing us how to make books. They’re usually used as sketch books, but you can use them as “convention books” or anything else. It was a lot of fun because everyone’s so relaxed and fun.

There was a long break between then and the “Opening Ceremonies” which was fun, if slightly excruciating. They usually have a projection screen, but this time they only had a big screen TV…of course that meant if you were sitting anywhere behind the 3rd row, you were unable to see said TV. So we all stacked our chairs on the sides of the room and sat on the floor. Jen and I kept having our legs fall asleep, even though we were on the front row. They showed us the original preview for Gargoyles given to the press when Disney decided to go ahead with the show, and they had the volume up really really loud to mimic the effect it had on the reporters. There was a lot of crashing and roaring, and when the lights came on and Greg Wiseman started out with “So...” I said “What?!”. My ears were still ringing slightly @..@ But he went on to tell us that all of the reporters had kids and Disney was releasing this ‘kids show’ that looked and sounded very scary. So the obvious question was, ‘What type of kid show is this.’ …the obvious reply was ‘It’s better than Barney ^..^ Very cool.

We were also shown the preview for Bad Guys and an Atlantis/Gargoyles crossover...and we were assured that the comic book would be a continuation of the Gargoyles series, with Pendragon, Timedancer and Bad Guys to follow. That will be something to look forward to. I’ve already bought the 4 issues of the Gargoyles comic that are out, so I can’t want to see everything else. There was so much discussed at the Opening Ceremonies, but I only taped the first part of it, because I knew a lot of it was ‘off limits’. Jen got up and just left because her legs were killing her. I followed not too long after because they didn’t last too much longer.

Now today was much the same...till evening. We attending “From Fan to Pro with Karine Charlebois. That was interesting but really better for artists. After that was “World Building” with Daroneasa, which was very fun. We all talked with her about building the worlds in our story from the ground up; everything from society to religion to families. It was great. But it only lasted till 3, so we headed back to our room. Mom and my cousins (who’d come down from their place to go sight seeing with Mom) wanted to go to the Aquarium, but they decided to wait till later because it doesn’t close till 11.

So, Jen called her boyfriend and told him about what we’d been up to. She eventually got around to telling him that I’d purchased some swords from a place called China Bazaar, and he told her that was what he wanted as a souvenir. So we headed back (and I bought a couple other things). Then we got back and went to the Aquarium. Well, we went to Gatlinburg and ate first. Then we went to the Aquarium. Twas fun, but my legs and feet were killing me. I bought Jen and me some sea turtle souvenirs.

We went back through Gatlinburg, and she got us these things from Kilwin’s...they’re rice crispie treats on a stick, dunked first in caramel then in chocolate and laced with darker chocolate. ...her Mom calls them sex-on-a-stick. We also stopped at a little shop called Lavis Jewelry that had these really cool fairies. I bought a mage-looking fairy with a crescent moon staff, and Jen bought a hanging fairy holding a hatching dragon, it’s just like the one I got for Reiko last Christmas. She said that she has a lot of dragon figures, and it wouldn’t make sense to just buy a fairy. There were some lovely dragons that both of us loved, but the smallest was $50 and the price kept going up from there O..O

6-24-2007, Sunday

Wow. What a busy day. Evidently the Radio play was pretty awesome last night (or maybe it was the blue mug..yeah, definitely the blue mug ^..^). Our first pane of Costume Tip Trading with Jennifer Anderson …turned into Costume Tip Trading with Lynati. I don’t know where the head of the panel was, but she couldn’t make it so Lynati (who’s a veteran of Gargoyles everything) took over and answered questions and included everyone. It was great…but I’m not into the costume thing. I thought Jen would enjoy it though, since she likes to cosplay a lot.

Next we went to Gargoyles Physiology & Culture, and that was headed by Greg Weisman, Lynati and Jade Griffin. That was only getting good towards the end, and then we had to leave because we were dying of hunger. But I did manage to tape all of what we did see. So that was good. I’m not so crazy about evolution, so the whole first part about their actual biology and how they may’ve evolved wasn’t thrilling. But to see Greg Weisman light up while discussing Gargoyles culture was great. It’s funny too, because he’s not an expert in biology and such so he’d ask Lynati and Jade Griffin questions like “Would that be possible?” or “This is how I see it, tell me if I’m right in my layman’s terms.” It was really great.

We had wanted to go to the Bad Guys panel that was going to be a showcase for the upcoming Bad Guys comic, but we ended up being late, and then decided we’d rather not disturb them and walk in right in the middle. That was a bit of a bummer, but hey, we had to get food @..@

The Banquet was fun. We had one of the girls who joined the “Order of the Phoenix Gate” sitting at our table. Turns out, Thom Adcox had decided to get a tattoo after one of his panels. Well the people in the panel were like “What’re you doing now Thom?” and he said “I’m going to get a tattoo.” So they all went and got the same tattoo of the phoenix gate. The girls got it on the small of their backs and the guys got it on their bicep except for Thom who got it on his ankle. It was pretty sweet. I have to say, that’d be one awesome tattoo to get, and I don’t even like tattoos that much. *shrugs*. After seeing that, Jen was itching to go out and get a tattoo. I think she must’ve thought about it the whole time we were at the table ^..^ I don’t even know the names of the people at my table, but they were all cool. There was one girl that actually had a tattoo of wings coming out from her shoulder blades. That was uber leet as well. The only thing that was annoying was that there was one girl (whom I shall not name) who kept barraging the guests with questions, mostly about Puck and all running together. At one point I leaned over and said “Maybe one of us should ask what Puck’s favorite color is before she gets the chance to ask another 3 questions.” It was annoying, but funny at the same time.

We headed to the room again for the break between things, and a storm cropped up. It wasn’t mush, just a bit of rain with high winds and thunder and lightning. Of course, this hotel is so shoddy that the door started shaking. Jen was on the phone with her boyfriend, and she was laying on one side of our king size bed while I was on the other side writing post cards. The wind kicked up, and suddenly she’s launched herself into my lap O..O Twas amusing. Then she says to her boyfriend that “It’s like a hurricane outside!” and I’m like “Turst me, hon. This is not hurricane worthy ^..^” That made it even funnier.

The Masquerade was fun, but shorter than I thought it’d be. We did get there early, just to make sure we’d have good seats. Of course, Jen’s camera died 3 seconds into the whole thing =..= Oh, and of course, we were sitting in front of a lot of uber leet people, and I was too paralyzed to introduce myself. I just figured I’d be bothering them. I mean, they came to have fun at the gathering, not be pestered by some fangirl . So, I held my tongue and place and just watched the Masquerade. I tell you what, they had a lot of really nice dresses on the contestants (that I’d never have the courage to wear), but the Gargoyle that won for best in show was just awesomeness on a stick. And they had a lady that was a “Belly Dancing Fae” and let me tell you, she could really belly dance well for a lady her age. I hope I have that much control over my body in 20 years =..= She was awesomeness. It really made me want to get those belly-dancing pants that I’d see in the dealers room too. But alas, my Jen had inquired about them and the lady had only brought one. Anyway, after the awards were given out, we left. We’re not good dancers (or minglers evidently >..<).

Oh yeah, speaking of the Dealers room, we had so much fun there (and I spent a lot of money there). I bought 2 chain-mail bracelets from Vox, a ‘sea horse’ painting from kth-dragon, and a fairy painting for Jen. It’s really great to buy from artists directly, because they’re always so happy that you’re buying from them. We spend a lot of time there just talking and hanging out. There was a beautiful replica of the Phoenix gate that was a necklace, and I really wanted it, but it was up for auction, and we weren’t staying that long, and I didn’t have the money for it anyway. The artist alley was pretty cool too. I recognized a lot of stuff from artists I've admired for such a long time. It's a little sad that this is our last day too. On one hand I really wish I could stay, but I know it's not at all practical. Ah well. Such is life I suppose.

6-25-2007, Monday

Probably the most miserable day, but only because I get so car sick and we were traveling all damn day. We decided to leave that morning, if only because we had spent so much money and we just really needed to get home. So, we left around 10 that morning, after loading the car down with all our crap + all the crap we bought ^..^ We headed to Gatlinburg as a favor for a friend. Lori had given me money to buy her some wine. It’s her favorite and it’s only sold in that area. So we go and find it…and they don’t have it. It wouldn’t be ready for two more weeks. Le sigh. It would’ve been a total loss except that we saw a pet store right next door, and the owner had her pets in the store with her. I love those types of shops. I got myself a Doxxie shirt, and I think Jen got herself a English Bulldog shirt, pen and bookmark...she and I are such dorks. We’re not even dog owners yet! But anyway.

We drove for hours till we finally got to Atlanta. Jen drove the whole way (thank God). And we ended up leaving Atlanta right in the middle of rush hour traffic. We were not happy campers. It took us about an hour to 45 minutes to get out of Atlanta. Just down-town Atlanta, not the whole city, mind you. I think we left around 3:30 or 4ish, and Mom drove for a while, but she wasn’t feeling great. I was borderline panic-attacking, so I just laid back and tried to relax. We pulled off around 5 to go to the bathroom and get some nachos and cheese (gotta have the basics), and I took over driving. I drove from 5 to 11 that night, and we were about 60 miles away from New Orleans when we pulled over to get gas. Mom took over after that, and I just stayed up to keep her company and talk. We got home around 12:30ish a.m. I think I showered, and then went to sleep. We woke up…I think at 12 p.m. We were unpacked and happy…even if the day was very short. I guess it made up for the day before that was so damn loooong.

That has been my gathering experience. I enjoyed it if only because I got to spend a lot of time with Jen. Spending tons of money on cool swag was fun too ^..~

Ok…so, this week’s therealljidol post is, and I quote: “omg y do u tipe so funy???? lol netsp34k n lj: A Cross-Cultural Study of Internet-based Linguistics and Their Implications On This Social Networking Website” ….I must admit, my brain tends to shut down when confronted with poor grammar and netspeak =.= Which, I must also add, is very odd since I always use slang and abbreviations. I feel that if I type the same way that I talk, it will convey more of myself in my message. So I’m not afraid to type out ‘gonna’ instead of ‘going to’ if it’s really more what I’d actually say. Not to mention I am all for time saving acronyms such as OMG, LOL etc. What does annoy me is when I’m talking to you in an instant message and after I’ve said typed in three different messages, and you’ve replied back with ‘lol!’ each time. At that point, I just stop wanting to say anything to you, because really it’s all fillers between your lol’s. The first part of the sentence bothers me if only because things are spelled wrong and all in lower case. Netspeak or Leetspeak (n3tsp34k & l33tsp34k r3$p3c+iv3ly) drive me right past the border of borderline and off the cliffs of insanity. Not a good thing.

Let me just break this down and try to be as simple as possible. I originally thought that the only reason people would type ‘y’ for ‘why’ and ‘u’ for ‘you’ (etc. etc.) was because they were lazy or they didn’t know how to type properly. Either way it was slightly aggravating but tolerable. At the very least, I can understand that without too much of a fuss. Netspeak drives me mad because it takes forever to type and even longer to decipher.

I’ve always believed that if you’re smart, you take the time to convey your thoughts articulately. There’s someone that I’ve known for a few short years, and I respect him because he is intellectual and thorough. He thinks before he talks and checks his sources before he makes statements. That’s smart. But then, he sent me an e-mail, and I was shocked to read, “I hope u get 2 feeling better, we'll b praying 4 u!!!”... ohmigawd, waterfalls?(1). I was thinking to myself that this person is genuine and articulate, but if I didn’t know him in person, I’d wouldn’t think that because he isn’t presenting himself that way. Does it affect my opinion of him now? No. But I think it will cause him to be lost in translation for others who have more rigid standards.

Bottom Line: People have problems getting their true intentions across when they’re standing in a room talking to you, and that emotion is taken away when it comes to things like print. You can’t make it difficult for someone to understand you and then be upset when they don’t want to take the time to listen to what you have to say. I feel that without good grammar and good presentation, you can never be sure if someone will take you seriously enough or if they will receive your message. Being a writer, I constantly comb over all of my words, hoping that each one is just the right one to convey what it is I’m trying to express. I stress over grammar, presentation and format because in truth, I sometimes feel as though I’ve no idea if I’m presenting what I want to present accurately. In the end, all I can do is the maximum to present my words to you and hope you choose to overlook whatever errors I may make (because believe me, I always will).

I use shortcuts, and I make mistakes. I use slang because I feel that it takes what would be bland writing and spices it up with a bit of myself. S’not like it’s too hard to understand, and it does give me a bit of individuality. And just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you have to go and loose yourself in text. I also try to insert little tricks that help convey moods...Heck, sometimes, use things like “/sarcasm” to make sure you know I’m being sarcastic; or, I’ll use little faces like this: ^.^ to let you know I’m happy (or >.> suspicious / ¬.¬ annoyed / =.= tired / -.- embarrassed / ^.~ winking at you). We all use little tricks to make sure that we’re understood. But I always try to work to make sure that behind the typos and tricks, the message is heard…I feel that I shouldn’t have to expect anything less from anyone else. And netspeak and botched spelling doesn’t make whoever chooses to use it dumb or lazy or aggravating, but it does decrease the chase I’ll choose to give you my time.

That’s my story...and I’m stickin’ with it ^___^ Thanks for y’time and consideration, and ya’ll have a lovely day now ^.~

(1) Waterfalls – Refers to a private joke between friends. When reading an entry with ‘wtf’ in it, a friend commented that whenever she saw that she thought of ‘waterfalls’ because they were so pretty and it had the wtf in the word. So we agreed that instead of saying ‘wtf’ when we’re confused and want to ask that question we ask one another ‘waterfalls?’

Ok, so after watching FD1 & 2 and I have to say…I don’t think I’ve laughed this much watching the Sci Fi channel since they showed Jeepers Creepers 2. Did anyone else see Jeepers Creepers 2? That was hysterical!! Oh! At the end of FD2, when they all think it’s over and they’re bar-b-queing with those farmer folks that they took the car from. And the farm kid says that he nearly got killed by the news van and then goes over to the grill, and the two people look over expectantly and then the grill explodes! Right as the woman started screaming, I heard Ruby says “Death’s back, bitches.” It was so freakn’ funny! Though the likenesses between the people in the first movie and second movie are scary. Eugene and Carter are alike in that they’re non-believers that wanna go out on their own terms and make a big show about killing themselves even though they don’t get the chance to. Kim’s like Alex because of the premonitions I suppose. Clair’s herself, but that police officer dude reminds me of her in the fact that he’s supporting Kim. Oh, and the stoner dude reminds me of Hitchcock...the business chick reminds me of that preppy girl that got run over by the buss, and the mom and her kid kinda remind me of the Teacher and Todd from the first movie. Clair finally died though... Funny no? You know, I don’t find horror movies in general to be funny, it’s just teen-horror movies if you know what I mean. The more teens involved the funnier it is for some odd reason. I guess it’s because they’re so stupid...I mean, not the movies but the teens in them. I remember watching The Ring and that wasn’t stupid or funny. Jeepers Creepers the first movie, was very creepy, which is what they wanted I imagine. But it wasn’t funny, it was freaky-creepy. So, does anyone have any other teen-horror movies that are stupid funny that I can add to this list’o’mine. Maybe the subject shouldn’t be teen horror movies, but rather things that are taken seriously that are completely laughable.

Oh, and as a bonus, I got to see Village of the Damned which is the movie version of The Midwich Cuckoos. I’d become interested in the book when I learned about the Stepford Cuckoos from X-Men. I was debating on whether or not to watch it, and I even left the room for a second to go and get something, then I came back in and all the people just dropped and I thought “Hmm...this reminds me of The Midwich Cuckoos book…” then I saw the sign that said “Midwich 7” and was like “Dude!!!” So of course, I had to watch it. After that I was like “Um, is that Kristi Alley? God she’s hot...” and then “OMG! That’s Mark Hamil!! I am so not worthy...” and lastly “It’s Christopher Reeves…*sniffles*” Although, I gotta say, I don’t know if in the book the alien kids were actually kids. On the cover of the book I saw, it looked like young adults to me...but the movie was creepier if only because creepy kids like that are so much scarier than anything else science fiction can throw at me O_O Little David was awfully cute though...

Also, Sci Fi has been running the Arby’s commercial where there are 3 construction workers sitting on break, and two foxy ladies walk by and they say nothing, then they start cat-calling at a balding guy in a suit because he has an Arby’s bag and I’ve laughed myself into a headache at least 3 times from it. Then again, they’ve been running the Eregon (which I can’t wait to see) commercial, The Lost Room commercial and the ED commercial…I’m getting sick of the last two in that list =.= Though that Staples commercial with the gift panel is funny when you see different ones. Oh! And that World of Warcraft commercial! Where this guy is actually sitting at his cubical at work playing WoW, and some guy walks up and says “How are you doing? Are you gonna have that report done for us by this afternoon?” and the WoW dude says “No. In fact, I’m gonna have to ask you to just come back another time. I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes.” And the narrator says “Somewhere you’d rather be?” that was so cool! I don’t know how many times I wished I could play WoW at work =___=

Guilty Pleasure. Ok, I have a confession to make. I’ve discovered my very first guilty pleasure. The truth is that I really don’t feel guilty about most of the things that I enjoy doing. Even if most/some people don’t consider them right, fun or cool. I argue that if it doesn’t take insane domination over my life and gives me pleasure, it’s just fine. But I have discovered one thing that I think is very not right and in fact it makes me feel a bit guilty that it gives me pleasure……I love...watching The Girls Next Door on E!. Do not ask me why, but I find their inane prattling hilarious. In fact, if I see that there running it on E!, I’ll sit and watch it...even if it’s reruns. I find myself very ashamed that I enjoy watching these girls considering that they’re the exact opposite of everything I consider important. But Alas, it’s true. I enjoy watching the blond bimbos.

AMOS. Even without the internet, AMOS is still behaving terribly. It takes 2 minutes to pull start things that used to take nanoseconds. I think Scamp mentioned something about Memory and I’m beginning to wonder if maybe that might be it….I’ve got hundreds of World of Warcraft pictures too, that could be it. I wish I could figure out how to get WoW to convert the images to jpeg files. Then I wouldn’t have to convert them, I’d just burn them to CD when they get to be too much. But it can’t be just that. I had at least 300 pics of Shenna alone on my PC when I played EverQuest, and I had about 80 characters...I’ve only got 5 warcraft characters. So it can’t be just the WoW pics. I just can’t figure out what to do and that frustrates me so =_____=

Oh! My Mom made the most wonderful mistake anyone can make! She was grocery shopping while I was at work and bought me another bag of coffee, only she bought coffee beans! I was so excited because with my bullet blender and all, I can effectively grind coffee beans into powder! I’ve always wanted to grind my own coffee beans. I’d only heard that it makes the coffee so much better. And boy did it ever. I am so glad she made that mistake, and I hope that we can make it more often.

I’m boared...I wanna play Katamari...and talk with Scamp...and hang out with my ‘Mouto-chans...Grr.

 

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Your Gluttony Quotient: 33%

You have a pretty good relationship with food - you enjoy it, but you don't go overboard. You've struck the perfect balance between gluttony and self control.

How Much Gluttony Do You Have?

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You went trick or treating as Shiara.
RegShoe gave you TheGoldenSnitch.
Velma gave you ARedGumdrop.
Destruction gave you TheGoldenSnitch.
Hector gave you AYellowGumdrop.
You had a dilly of a time until Hera sent you into another dimension.

What's Your Trick-or-Treat Haul?
Shiver My Timber--A Pirate RPG

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The Question Your stats: Autonomy: 33% Image: 33% Ideology: 26% Perspective: 40%

Name: The Question Alter Ego: Charles Victor Szasz Abilities: Highly intelligent, brilliant detective, excellent martial arts skills. Lone Wolf. Introverted. Practical. Broad-Minded. Ellusive and mysterious, The Question seems to have all the answers. As one of the more philosophical heroes, The Question fights corruption and injustice within the system. Question acts like a surgeon, carefully cutting out the diseased criminals within governments and law enforcement, in the hopes that society will heal itself.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Autonomy You scored higher than 99% on Image You scored higher than 99% on Ideology You scored higher than 99% on Perspective

Link: The DC Comic Book Superhero Test written by Phil_Ken_Seben on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

 

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