Lazy Friday and Speech Topics

I woke up for like 5 minutes when my parents left the house this morning, then went back to sleep for at least another hour. I took my time showering and getting dressed. Then I ate breakfast at 10:30 and watched the last episode of Maid Sama (SO MUCH CUTENESS) on Hulu. I'm still kinda sick and I can feel sinus ickiness constantly draining down my throat. Gross.

Also, I've been challenged to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Yam from the KEEYSS channel, so I'll be posting my video of that on Tuesday. Joy. Not looking forward to dousing myself in ice cold water, but I suppose donating money to a charity is worth it. I don't have any money to donate at the moment (POOR COLLEGE KID, HELLO!), but as soon as I get paid, I'll donate.

My internet is being excruciatingly slow today. Ick.

I have to give a speech this semester for speech class, and I have to submit my topic by Sunday night. I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO PICK AS MY TOPIC!!!!! I could talk about how theatre techniques apply to everyday life. Or how the education system in America is failing the students. Or the importance of reading. Or how to make a bento box. Or the importance of accepting others. I D K.

If you have an idea, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP comment below with what you think would be an interesting topic for me to talk about. I really need this.

Now, off to go brainstorm and do chores and homework. See ya on monday!

-EW

Homework, Sickness, and Hello Kitty

I'm not sure if the nyquil stuff that I took last night has completely worn off yet. I'm super tired. I need some coffee or something. Sadly, that's not happening. I did not want to get out of bed this morning, but I did anyway. I feel like if I stay still too long, I might fall asleep again. Hopefully I can wake up before Theatre class. And hopefully I can pay attention in Biology class. I wish my nose would just be normal again and that I had energy. I did take daytime medicine before I left the house though, so that should start working soon.

I don't even know what to talk about this morning.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning for absolutely no reason, then went back to sleep and had a horrible dream. Like, one of those that when you remember it, you wish it had been one that you just forgot instead. I dreamed that my grandma died. I hate when I dream about death. I probably dream about it so often because I'm scared of it.

I wrote half of my political opinions essay for Government yesterday, and I need to write the other half today. I just finished taking notes on the first two chapters of reading in my Speech class, so now I have to post to discussions and choose my speech topic. I have no clue what I want to talk about. Maybe something related to books or Theatre. It seems like I know a lot about those. Like, "How we use theatre in everyday life" or something. Dang, this was the wrong time to get sick. I should be better by Tuesday though. I think I need to look up "Trifles" and read it again before Theatre class today. Not sure if we're going to be talking about it yet, but it would probably be good to look over it just in case. The book should be shipped by Tuesday though. My government textbook is a rental, but its on my kindle. So I have to  bring my kindle to school. Weird.

Enough talk about school, lets talk about something interesting.

Its all over the news this morning that Sanario or whatever announced that Hello Kitty isn't actually a cat. Weird. Everything calls this a "shocking" announcement. I'm not really that shocked by it, honestly. I mean, the character is always shown doing human stuff and acting like a human, so why not? And does it really matter?

The longer I sit here, the more tempted I am to get up and hunt down some coffee. In fact, there is a little coffee shop type thing upstairs above the library, but I'm not sure if its open yet, much less if anything they have is decent. Plus, all the money I have is supposed to go toward my Biology textbook and online access. BLECH.

I'm starving.

Oh, yeah, don't forget to check my instagram today (at lunch time) for my 2nd bento box. Its not as cute as the first one, but its just as yummy. At least it should be. I wish my stomach would stop growling. I probably should have eaten breakfast. I need to remember to do that next week.

I need to go do stuff, and I feel like I'm being really boring, so bye.

UPDATE: SO, just as I was posting this, a guy from my theatre class came up and sat beside me in the library. Turns out none of his friends were here yet. His name is Jose and he's hilarious and enthusiastic. We talked about blogs and youtube (he wants to start his own youtube channel, but doesn't have the ability at the moment) and exercise and friends and high school. He's pretty cool. I've officially made a friend, and I didn't have to do anything. YAY!


-EW

Allergies or something...

Yesterday was great after I calmed down. My nervousness lasted through Theatre class, but when I walked out, I felt really calm. I think its because the professor was super nice and made everyone feel welcome, plus we did a bit of calming/theatre exercises after he finished his first day shpeil. speil. spill. I DONT EVEN KNOW.

I think I'll probably make a few friends in there, and the class should be good fun also. There are two plays each semester. They're not required, but I really want to do at least one! I can't make the first one because the last day of auditions is tomorrow at 7 pm, and I'll have no way to get up there. Plus, practice is from 7 to 10 monday through friday, and I won't be able to make it. I may be able to do the second one for the semester though. I still have to attend all the performances so I can write reviews though.

Lunch was amazing. Wanna see what it looked like? Check my latest video on the KEEYSS channel or my instagram, silly! But, seriously, it was delicious and really filling. I think I almost packed too much food. And it was way healthier than if I had packed a sandwich or something. I think that for my lunch tomorrow I'm going to pack a bagel with imitation crab salad (kinda like chicken salad or tuna salad, but with imitation crab) and some veggies and fruit.

Biology class was mildly boring. A lot of the people in there seem really annoying and don't want to learn. Like, there was a whole ten minute period in the middle of class where they were talking nonstop and wouldn't let the professor get on with his lecture. I sat in the back row in the corner near the window and was silent the entire time. I paid attention and took notes (better notes than most people, probably) and doodled when other people were chatting. He said we shouldn't take notes on the slideshow, but on what he was saying, but there wasn't much that he said that was different from the slideshow. He is supposed to email the slideshow to us when he's done with it. I took notes on the slideshow because taking notes helps me get the material into my brain. Not to mention, I won't have to take notes on it later.

Today, I woke up feeling icky. My throat feels swollen, my eyes hurt, I have zero energy and a bit of a headache. I've been sneezing a lot both yesterday and today. I can barely breathe. I'm pretty sure that its seasonal allergies of some sort or maybe a cold. Which sucks, because I have crap to do today. Homework and fixing lunches and washing clothes and dishes and cleaning and crap. I feel horrible. I did manage to hunt down some dayquil type stuff, so hopefully that will help. I thought I was really exhausted yesterday because of school, but it looks like it was the beginnings of whatever this is.

Other than that, I have managed to create a post-it note system for keeping track of what I need to do in my classes. I have a binder that I have all of my syllabuses and my unbound (grrrr) speech textbook in. Its one that has a clear slip cover all the way around. Basically, I have a post it for each class with the stuff I have to do on it, and I can keep track of what I need to do. I write a to do list and put it on top so that I can mark it off as I go through it. Its working so far, so we'll see how long it lasts.

Well, I'm off to do stuff. Click clack bang bang we're in the murda bizness.

-EW

So Scared...

So, I've made it to school. Sarah and I rocked out to many songs on the way here, including "College Kids" by Relient K, which seemed totally fitting. I went to the bookstore and bought the two books that I couldn't get anywhere else. One was written by the professor, so I HAD to get it here, but the other was one that I needed before the end of the week because I'm supposed to read a chapter and do work for speech class. $180-something for two books. I still have like 3 more that I have to buy. GRRR. SO EXPENSIVE. After I managed to find the student center and buy my books without freaking out, I have made my way to the library, where I will spend 3 FREAKING hours doing whatever I want/need to do each day until I decide to drive myself.

Andrew texted me this morning at like 6:45, which was really unusual, since he tends to sleep late, but really sweet. He's since fallen back asleep a couple times, I'm pretty sure, because there are huge gaps of time between texts, but whatever. <3 p="">
There are a ton of people (though not as many as my vivid imagination had assumed) but a lot of them are freshman, and you can tell, because they're in a group of like 10 and they're talking amongst themselves, trying to figure out where they have to go and they're stopping to look at every other map. I only STOPPED to look at a map once, but I have looked at like 3 while passing. I don't feel as inexperienced anymore, but I'm still nervous about the rest of the day.

At 11:00, I have Theatre (WHOO!), so I'll leave the library probably 5 or 10 minutes before then. I'm super scared but also super excited. I'm afraid that it will be less acting and more learning, which sucks, but I'll manage. Hopefully I can make some friends. Theatre people are naturally open and accepting of new people, right? Plus, its the first REAL theatre class that the college allows. We'll all be in the same boat.

At 12:20, I'll meet Sarah in the cafe thing above the library and we'll have lunch. I packed a pretty decent bento box for my first try. Its got tiny tomatoes, wheat thins, chocolate goldfish, cucumber slices, a little bit of salami (because I refused to pack ham because I hate ham), four pieces of cheese cut into star shapes, and fresh strawberries and pineapple. I'll instagram a picture, because it looks super cute. Of course, I'm not sure how it looks now since my mom made me turn the box sideways to put it in my backpack.

Speaking of backpacks, I took stuff out this morning, and its still really heavy. My lunch, a drink, my hoodie, laptop and charger, pencil box, one notebook, one binder, headphones, and a few miscellaneous things. It HURT to carry it while I stood in line at the bookstore. I need to re-think what I need and don't need. I suppose I'll know better after the day is over. I don't understand how people like my brother carry everything (books, folders, binders, pens/pencils, etc) in their backpack. I was always the kid who carried 1 to 3 books in her arms and any folders and stuff in her bag and that thing was still heavy. I'm not sure which is going to give out first: me or my backpack. We shall see in the coming days, I suppose.

I should probably post my first thing for today to Jamberry and get started on college work already. Its funny, some of the people around me (well, most of them) are working on actual work while I'm sitting here blogging because its fun. I'm sure that all of this typing looks like I'm being super productive, but I'm not. In fact, I'm kinda prolonging it because its a kind of stress reliever. The nervous energy that I have tends to escape through really fast typing. I don't understand why typing fast was so hard in the computer class I took in high school. I guess it was the fact that I was typing and reading at the same time, while all of this just flows from my brain. Oh well. It didn't really matter. And even then I was almost the fastest person in the class.

So, yes. I'm going to stop blogging and start being productive. What fun. I really don't want to.

*silent, exaggerated sobbing*

-EW

And Thus, School Starts!

Today is the first day of school for my family. Well, it technically is for me too, but I just have online stuff to do today. I need to print syllabuses and organize stuff in my binder and write down assignments and all that jazz. I still haven't bought/rented any textbooks, but I plan to do that either today or tomorrow. Blech.

I have to get up around 6:00 tomorrow morning, which sucks. Well, carpooling to school with Sarah should be fun, because being around Sarah is always fun, but I don't want to get up early. I'm too used to sleeping in. This morning, I woke up at about 6:45, when my mom was yelling at my brothers for various reasons. I tried my best to ignore it and rolled over and went back to sleep when they left. Then I woke up again at 7:30 when my alarm went off. I stayed in bed until 8:00. Tomorrow, the real stuff begins. I will have to get ready while my family is getting ready, which I haven't done in like a year or more. I just know that no one is really happy when we have to get up early, as illustrated by what I observed this morning from the comforts of my bed.

I also have to film a vlog for the KEEYSS youtube channel today. I have no clue what its going to be over. I'm still posting on Tuesdays, but I prefer to film, edit, and upload the day before. I just wait until Tuesday to make the videos public. Its just more convenient that way. I'm having one of those acne attack things where my face looks horrible, so I get to wear makeup to cover it up and hope that it doesn't make it worse (which it totally will).

My mom and I went grocery shopping yesterday, so there is actually a decent amount of food in the house. Not that there will be for long. We've determined that my brother (the middle child) is the one that makes it so difficult to keep food in the house (no offense if you're reading this, James, although I doubt you are). Everyone else is okay with eating what we have for lunch and dinner. Enciladas, chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, rice, beans, vegetables. HE is freaking picky. He won't eat any of those things, even though he likes all of the things that go in them (like the cheese and meat and tortillas that go into enchiladas). No, he has to eat sandwiches and cereal and pizza and hamburgers and meat. I swear, when we have a meal that includes meat and some kind of vegetable or side, he eats nothing but meat, and an excess of it too, leaving the other 4 of us to eat a little bit of meat and a lot of veggies. Not to mention, he's a glutton, who loves food and eats it really fast and eats a whole lot more than he should. He eats enough for 2 people most of the time, and he snacks in between meals. GAH. His existence is annoying. Sorry for the rant.

Its funny, I had a completely different idea for a blog post this morning while I was in the shower, but it seems that I will have to post that at a later time. Maybe tomorrow? Idk. I've got to go work on college stuff, plus find something to eat for breakfast.

-EW

Asian Obsession

No, I'm not obsessed with Asian people (though I suppose they are a part of it, technically), I'm obsessed with the culture. Or course, due to the fact that I have never been to Asia, my view of the culture may be a bit skewed. I've probably talked a bit about this before. I love KPOP music and Oriental food and anime. But my obsession seems to have increased in intensity over the summer. Perhaps its the amount of anime I've watched, but I'm not really sure.

Lets first touch on the anime that I've watched over the summer...

Black Butler: Book of Circus
Maid Sama
Kamisama Kiss
Soul Eater

I feel like I've probably watched more, but Netflix and Hulu aren't that great at keeping a running list of what I"ve watched. The third season of Black Butler technically isn't all out yet, so I watch an episode or two when I get a chance. Maid Sama is one that I'm about 3/4 through, and I love it. Kamisama Kiss was super cute, but for some reason I can't remember the plot at the moment (as you might have noticed, I'm loving the shoujo genre right now). And I'm maybe 7 episodes into Soul Eater. I've started watching some that have subtitles, which is new, but I'm getting used to it. I still prefer dubbed ones though.

I haven't talked about this much before, but like any other teenage girl, I have problems with acne. Its super annoying and I hate going out in public when it gets bad. But, I do manage to cover the red ugliness with makeup most of the time (or at least dull its appearance) with makeup. I don't have a huge love of makeup, particularly since it doesn't help my acne much and because its a pain to put on, but I do love trying new products. In fact, I bought two new mascaras this summer to try and I love both of them (I might discuss them at a later date). For this reason, and because its hard to get american makeup that matches my pale, oily skin, I have decided to start trying out various asian makeup products.

I'm not rich at the moment, and I still have quite a bit of unused regular makeup, so I'm not buying any yet, but I have a plan to buy some throughout the year. I figure that doing well on a test, doing well with Jamberry, and holidays are probably good excuses to reward myself with a new makeup product to try. I've been watching a lot of videos by Michelle Phan and Grav3yardGirl on youtube, plus spending quite a bit of time on pinterest and window shopping on Amazon. My wishlist for makeup is full of stuff that I can't wait to try. If you use any of the products on this list or want to try them yourself, I'd love to hear about it in the comments (she writes as she remembers that a total of like 3 people have ever commented). Here's the link to my wishlist: http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3PPIU8L9QUNER

I mentioned earlier my love of asian food. We're talking sushi (though I'm kinda wary of raw meat), chicken, egg rolls, pork, rice, fried rice, wonton soup, crab puffs, GAH I'M SO HUNGRY! Anyway, I love it. As I talked about yesterday, I bought a bento box off of amazon and I'm super excited to use it. I have pinned a ton of bento box recipes on pinterest on the food board (http://www.pinterest.com/lizardbreathwa). There's no guarantee that I'll actually use any of them, but I've at least got some idea. Right now, however, we have pretty much no food in the fridge and probably won't until later in the week when Mom and I go grocery shopping.

According to my research, a bento box is supposed to be set up like this, as far as food portions go:

This works out perfectly with my bento box, because I have the same size/shape sections (okay, a bit bigger, but same proportions). I've figured out my fruits (pineapple one day, and melon or apple slices another day) for this week. I think we have some carrots and celery, which I can use for the veggies. For the protein, I'm not really sure. We don't have much, but maybe I can do lunch meats or something like that. For carbs, I hate plain rice, but maybe I can manage to find a good recipe for fried rice or something like that. Or maybe I could do ramen noodles cooked like fried rice. Although that probably wouldn't be so great at room temp/cold. I really don't want to just do bread like my brother would, because I hate eating just bread. Maybe tortillas? I know this is just a guideline, but it would be a great way to eat healthy. Anyone else have any ideas for my bento boxes? Pack bento boxes or lunches for yourself on a regular basis? Have any tips? Let me know ASAP! And watch my instagram for pictures of my (most likely horrible) bento boxes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because what else is instagram for besides pictures of food and hipster things? http://instagram.com/lizardbreathwalker

In other news, Andrew has started doing Ren Faire stuff again, so I have no one but my family and Sarah to talk to on the weekends. Joy. Its not that I don't like talking to them, its just that its a different kind of conversation. Maybe I also have an Andrew obsession... Nevermind, that sounds creepy and wrong on so many levels.

I'm super hungry, but its not dinner time. Dang. Oh well. See you all Monday! Or maybe tomorrow if I get too bored. BTW, do you dig the increase in links and pictures? Because I totally do.

-EW

College Related Anxiety

It kinda reminds me of the Phineas and Ferb episode (the wizard of oz one) that includes a song about a "Tree Related Wish". But this is a lot more real and scary and has been depriving me of sleep for the last week, and its getting worse.

I start back to college on Monday. Whoo. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that this will be my first time taking on-campus classes. My friend, Sarah, and I arranged our schedules so that we have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we can carpool (I still haven't got my license, but I'm almost there). I'm taking Government and Speech online, then Theatre (THANK GOD) and Biology (with the lab, its going to be about 4 freaking hours with that professor *dying screech*) in person.

All of this thinking about college has kinda freaked me out. Which also means that I am trying to be over prepared and that I can type really fast. So I figured a blog post was probably the best way to get this anxiousness out. Plus, I might be able to help some of the people who are in the same or similar situations. 

One of the huge things that I have been thinking about is WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I BRING ON THE FIRST DAY??? I mean, this isn't like kindergarten. There is no supply list. No mommy to walk you to class and introduce you to your teacher. At least I had Sarah to show me around the campus a couple days ago (I only have to worry about 3 buildings that are close together. WHOO!). I've been doing some research, and this is what I've learned. We'll see on Tuesday what good this does me...

1. Bring a backpack or large-ish bag.

Makes sense to me. I mean, you have to be able to carry all of the crap you bring, right? I contemplated bringing just a purse at first, but now I've decided on this backpack that I bought from Spencer's on my birthday. Its not super girly, but I think its cool, and it meets my needs. And I have yet to find a real use for the speakers, even after having it for a month, but its a cool tech-y thing regardless, and shows that I have an interest in music. Get it here: http://www.spencersonline.com/product/tr-pnk-bl-graffiti-audio-bckp/



2. Bring notebooks/paper and folders and pens and stuff.

I have yet to get all of this stuff together yet. I need a binder with dividers, since thats how I like to organize papers for all of my classes. I do, however, have some spiral notebooks, which I will assign to classes as needed. I like cute ones, so I have some (salvaged from my collection of many) that just have a cute design on the front (ONE HAS HELLO KITTY ON IT!!!) and others that were plain and I customized with duct tape. The only downside to the ones I have is that they're not college ruled :( . I need to get some pens and pencils and highlighters, but for now, I'll just scavenge some from around the house.

3. Bring a lunch/lunch money/etc.

 I'm not going to a big college, so there aren't really meal plans, and I don't have a ton of money to spend on food, so this year I'm going to bring my lunch most of the time. Inspired by the bento boxes that I've seen on the anime I watch and my love of Asian things in general, I bought a kind of American version of a bento box. Its got three little containers and one big one, plus a freezer pack (really important since Texas is so hot), and it all snaps together. If I could manage it, I would totally get a Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service bento box though. And I might do that anyway in the future. Look for bento box meal pictures on my instagram in the near future, btw. I got this one from Amazon: http://smile.amazon.com/Cool-Gear-Ez-freeze%C2%AE-Collapsible-Assorted/dp/B00BSZJGII/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1408747459&sr=1-3&keywords=bento+box

4. Bring your electronics.

I'm not talking about your Ipod, though that might be on your list. But I'm taking my laptop so that before classes (my first class isn't until 11:00, but Sarah has to be there way earlier) I can blog and work on stuff for my online classes. I'm looking forward to sitting in the library with my laptop and being ignored by pretty much everyone else as I work on stuff. At least, I hope that's how it will go. Unless I buy ebooks instead of physical textbooks (not sure at the moment, but they are sometimes cheaper), I'll be leaving my kindle at home, at least for the first day. My cell phone is a necessary thing, since Andrew, Sarah, and my mom are people I am constantly texting (I won't be texting during class though if I can help it). Plus, I use it for most of my Jamberry stuff. I'll probably bring my headphones too, but I probably won't use them.

5. Bring a copy of your schedule.

You'd think this would be a no-brainer, but it seems like something I'd totally forget. I don't have a printed version of my schedule, but I took a picture of it with my phone. I'm also going to write it in my planner (YET ANOTHER IMPORTANT ITEM) and in some of my notebooks. I only have to know when two classes are, but I'm probably going to be so full of anxiety that I'll forget every 5 minutes.

The other important thing that I have been worried about is WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I WEAR AND NOT LOOK LIKE A TOTAL FRESHMAN?????

*Mentally channels child from The Magic School Bus* According to my research you are supposed to look cute and feel comfortable, but don't overdo it. Its just college. You don't have to look professional. But dress well enough to make a good first impression.

Based on this, I have decided very little. I do know that I'll wear my favorite pair of non-skinny jeans (some really cute dark ones from Rue 21). And because I won't be walking much, I'm free to choose whatever shoes I want, so I'm probably going to rock these American Flag flats that I got from Payless (http://www.payless.com/womens-dream-slip-on/71097.html). I also have an American flag infinity scarf that I got when we went to Canton this summer. I'll probably wear a cute top that I got during one of my many thrift shopping trips this summer, and bring along a the really cute, lightweight grey zip-up hoodie that I got on sale at Maurice's. And, of course, I'll be rocking Jamberry Nails (I sell them, so that's kinda a given!). I bought these "Raspberry Sparkle" ones when I first started selling, and I've been saving them. By the way, they're part of the Going. Going, Gone sale, and are only available for order through the end of August. Get them here: http://elizaw95.jamberrynails.net

So, yes. I'm pretty well prepared because of all of this freaking out. Here's to a good year, and even better grades! If you want more college advice, try watching this video of mine that I posted to the KEEYSS channel this week:



Also, here are some articles that I found helpful:
http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2013/08/01/a-freshmans-guide-to-the-first-day-of-college/

http://www.communitycollegesuccess.com/2013/08/firstdayofcollege.html
http://www.hercampus.com/high-school/preparing-college/11-things-not-do-your-first-week-campus

PS: Writing this article was really fun and calming. I should do this when I get stressed and scared.