Title: Silver and Gold
Chapter 11: Friendship
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The first intervillage chuunin exam is being held. For six year old Kakashi, it's an opportunity for him to prove himself. For the future Yondaime, it's a chance to prevent a war.
A/N: It's all the Naruto anime's fault for finally animating Kakashi gaiden.

Would anyone be willing to beta a new chapter of my Silver and Gold (Naruto) fic? It's about 3000 words, and I'd like it back in a day or two, if possible. Any takers?

(I know I meant to write a new chapter of Uric if I was going to write any sort of fic, but finding out that they were finally animating Kakashi gaiden inspired me. Whoops.)

I dreamt this morning that I was living in a world with a big family where disasters of the weird kind were common place. So when giant, alien monsters landed in NYC, our family just gathered everyone up in a cherry red muscle car (that could fly when it was over the highways) and got out of Dodge so to speak. Only, I kept having to go back into the city to pick up other people or fight monsters in the subway. It was very annoying.

I had a really cool dream the other night which crossed over Mushi-shi and... the Pendragon series, so I was travelling from different worlds helping people. It was very relaxing.

I finally finished the anime of Mushi-shi today. It was consistently good all the way through. Each episode is a unique, melancholy story where you may or may not get a happy ending. The background art was always gorgeous, but sometimes the people themselves seem a little drab or interchangeable. That's really my only complaint though. I find it interesting that the viewers know more about Ginko than Ginko does himself.

My hakama arrived today. It fits very well and the stains on it are so tiny, it took me a minute to even find them. I'll be happy to wear it when next I need my shinsengumi cosplay. And my Balsa cosplay costume is finished. It should be awesome once I figure out how to make the spear or find someone to make it for me. Trouble is that I need someone with a wood lathe and none of my friends who do building stuff seem to have one.

Reply to this meme by typing "Words, please" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them on your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

The words I got from havenward were: Notebook, Japan, martial arts, travel, archaeology

Notebook: For over a decade now, havenward and I have decorated and exchanged cheap notebooks which we fill with our thoughts then pass/send on to the other person. When we lived close together, the notebooks had less written in them but were exchanged more regularly. Nowadays, we tend to send them back and forth every several months. The cover of the books is a collage of our current interests, cut out from magazines or even printed out for the more obscure ones. There's no real rules as to style, but the cover has had the same gorgeous picture of Methos from Highlander for several years. I think we're on our fourth notebook now.

Japan: Although I have a few pet peeves (and not so 'pet' peeves) about the place, I generally really like Japan. Living there were some of the most carefree years of my life even with my full time job and my boss' occasional attempts to screw me over (I know this because I had less stress headaches while I was there then at any other time in my life). It's just a really relaxing place to live. You can always find something beautiful tucked in amongst the ugly industrialization, and going to a hot springs after a long day is one of my favourite activities in the world. If it weren't for the severe language loss you suffer, I'd have found a way to live there permanently.

Martial arts: Most kids growing up, especially those who grow up reading adventure novels and watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, want to try martial arts at some point or another. I was just crazy and stubborn enough to request learning actual defensive fighting (as opposed to tournament/show fighting which is what most arts practice these days), and lucky enough that Jack had his bujinkan class at my local YMCA. I had just turned 14, I think, and we practised in the racket ball court (or outside, or in the basement). They only allowed me in the adult class because I claimed and proved to be mature enough for it. I remember those first years as a blur of aching muscles, bruises and frustration, and sometimes it was really hard to work up the fortitude to go to class twice a week. I was also really shy when I was younger so a public class like that where Jack might call on you any time to demonstrate something in front of the class was terrifying. But, it's also really rewarding to know I can protect myself and others no matter what the situation. It's fun too, once you learn enough not to be agonizing over getting every little thing right. I can't say it's for everyone, but I rarely skip classes these days because training is totally worth it.

Travel: I have the wanderlust. It hits me anywhere from two to four months after staying in one place. It can be placated by weekend trips, but requires at least one major trip (preferably two) a year to keep it satisfied. After all the bad travel luck I've had over the years and the near phobia of bed bugs, you'd think I would tone it down, but actually it's gotten worse. I used to be limited to the trips my parents would give me for my birthday, but now that I'm independent, I can travel any time I can get a car/plane/bus tickets and money. The wanderlust knows this and goads me onward.

Hi. My name is Ariana, and I'm addicted to travel. It has been two and a half months since my last vacation, and I seem to have started planning how much money I need to visit South America, or maybe Africa. Help!

Archaeology: I didn't want to be an archaeologist when I was little because I'd watched Indiana Jones and I kept having to not look during the skull/dead body scenes. I figured you couldn't be a proper archaeologist if you couldn't handle skulls. Then I got older and discovered that a) I wasn't afraid of the skulls in Indiana Jones any more and b) you didn't have to work with skulls or bones to be an archaeologist (though I kinda wanted to *L*). And so my career path was chosen before I was ten. I seem to have chosen well since it's been fifteen years and I'm still fascinated.

++++++

In other news, Bujinkan tonight was basics with J. and J. (not to be confused with J. ... just kidding *grin*) because Jack wasn't there, though it was more advanced basics than usual and not labour intensive which is good since the hall where we practice was hot even though it's cool outside. My partner was this guy who always uses the excuse that I'm flexible and really short (he's really tall) to explain not being able to do techniques, which is partially true and partially a cop out, and since I hear it every time I train with him, it's getting kinda old. I wasn't training at my best this evening since the techniques were easy and could be flubbed with minimal effort. Oh well.

Afterwards (after ice cream) I stopped by a local liquor shop, figuring rightly that they'd have a good selection since the surrounding area is affluent. I was very pleased to find a variety of Belgian beer at a reasonable price and picked up a cherry flavoured one, plus a bottle of British cider (there was only one type to chose from, alas). (oh, and some bitters). Dad and I polished off the Belgian beer in one quick go once I got home. It was delicious.

I just finished watching the last three eps of Baccano! and after all those gruesome tortures and deaths ( Spoilers ) A good, weird show with lots of gruesome deaths and a truly interesting method of story telling.

Dad and I finished season 3 of Bones last night. I feel the writer's strike did them a disservice since the resolution felt rushed, and it required a bit more build up (and explanation to feel more real). We immediately started season 4 and I was amused they actually filmed the first two eps in London (how ironic when they use blue screen to show they're in D.C.).

Anime wise, I'm currently watching eps of Mushi-shi and Kuroshitsuji whenever I remember to. In live action drama, besides Bones, I'm trying to finish Being Human and rewatch various eps of Star Trek Next Gen and SG-1.

I keep meaning to read the million and one novels I have on my bookshelves, but I seem to be more in a watching mood since I haven't read much besides manga in the past week. I am slowly working my way through the first Pendragon book, but find the pov style very annoying. I'm looking forward to finishing it and starting in on Seirei no Moribito, and then William Shatner's Star Trek Academy: Collision Course (which promises to be utterly amusing since it seems to be Shatner's fanfic response to the new movie by writing his own version of Kirk and Spock meeting while at the Academy *L*).

I managed to win some nice (if used) hakama on ebay for $27 (well, $5 actually, the rest was shipping). They're not the cheap, kendo training ones either, but are made of silk and being sent from Kyoto. Since ones like that usually go for $60-70, I'm very pleased with them. And now I'll have a pair of hakama to wear with my Shinsengumi costume. We occasionally wear them for Bujinkan training so they'll be useful there as well. (What will really amuse me is if I win another bid for a pair of hakama - I bid a dollar on it for fun, and so far I'm still winning. If I did win them, it'd cost me $8 for another pair *L*)

Bujinkan on weds started off with lots of kicking practice, which was a pain since I'm out of said practice. At least my form is decent. We then practised the sword attack we needed to know for that day's class. (The interesting thing about doing all these bare handed defences to sword attacks is that you have to study the sword attacks first which means we're training in traditional sword combos which isn't something we often focus on in Bujinkan.) In this case, it was a horizontal slash when drawing your sword (Rurouni Kenshin fans may think of battoujutsu), then an attack from over the head (joudan). The defender was supposed to leap back (front foot moves first), then step in and prevent the joudan attack from coming down by blocking with the wrist against their forearms (using the wrist means you can adjust it for the person fighing back). This position was largely held while you did things like kick or boshiken (this is a fist made with the thumb on top and the thumb is jabbed into your opponent in case I haven't explained it before. Hurts a lot, especially if you're good enough to repeatedly hit the right place... I hit poor C. exactly where Jack had hit him when he demonstrated it.). Later, we switched to not getting killed by a bayonet, by stepping under blows to the head or taking the space between the person and their gun. That was a lot of fun since by then we'd switched partners again (sometimes we switch it up that way) and I ended up with C. who is always fun to train with. (Amusingly, J. and C. were about to train together and since their the highest ranking there, Jack told them to break it up. I headed over and Jack warned the guy who headed over to train with J. that he didn't want to train with me because I'm too dangerous *L*)

Meanwhile, I may have spent too much money buying some doujinshi off of ebay. I found a seller who has really good taste in artists and themes who had things like the latest Honey Canon (my favourite doujinshi artist/circle ever) so I spent much more than I intended (though actually it was a fairly good price for something like that short of finding them in a store in Japan (and the good ones are hard to find cause they sell out so fast or you have to go to a specific convention to get them)). I really do miss wandering into Mandarake and browsing their doujinshi section of doom. 'Cause I'm not willing to pay the $25+ for a Supernatural doujin at ebay, but I'd so buy one for 320 yen or 180 yen.

Lifeguard wise, I've been told to expect the pool to be installed and ready (possibly) by the 13th of July which leaves me with a week to get a bunch of things done that I've been procrastinating. We shall see...

Dad and I had some fun yesterday and went to our local buffalo farm (I love saying that) to buy buffalo steak, hamburgers and hot dogs. (The hot dogs actually come in packs of eight. It's so weird!) Then, since we were so close, we decided to go to our closest Cracker Barrel which was only twenty minutes away from the farm (but 45 min from our house). First, we stopped at the most amazing Shoprite we've ever visited. It was in the middle of nowhere but had some of the best food selection we've ever seen - like, they had five different kinds of duck sauce! We wandered around in awe before hitting Cracker Barrel for a nice meal, then eating strawberry shortcake for dessert at home. Today, I made the hotdogs for lunch, and will be braising the buffalo steak for dinner with an apple crumble for dessert. It should be delish. Other than that, we really don't have anything else planned for the holiday.

Been working on various writing projects, jumping between one or another. This works except I have far too many word documents open at once.

Bujinkan last night was fun (excepting the fact that it's now hot enough to seriously dehydrate yourself from water lost to sweat during training so you're thirsty and sweaty and so is everyone else). My training partner wasn't exactly new, but he was, perhaps, rusty and partially new, so I spent a lot of time explaining various things. He appreciated this at first, then got frustrated, and started doubting my every word. Then Jack would stop the class to point out the exact same thing I was trying to tell my partner, and he'd sheepishly agree that I had a point. It could have been annoying, but I found it more amusing. We were doing various things to do when someone attacked you with a sword, mostly first using one hand to create an illusion of you being cut-able, or moving to the side. The hand kept the sword from swinging around and cutting you, plus meant you could control the hand, or grab the sword handle or a bunch of other things. Your right arm was always in the person's space and both hands had to be working together to widen the space between your opponent and his sword. It was a difficult concept in some variations, and surprisingly easy in others. One variation was using your right elbow on the person's chest to widen the space, and my training partner was pushing his elbow into my breasts and it was all I could do not to laugh at him cause while it does hurt to be hit there with a small enough weapon (epee points from when I did fencing hurt... a lot), the sheer size of my breasts combined with my sports bra pushing them together meant I barely felt it. I politely didn't laugh and pointed out that he'd have to aim higher since I had too much padding for the elbow to be effective. This explains why I have a bruise a few inches below my collar bone, but oh well. It was sword vs barehanded all class, though occasionally Jack would show us how the 'technique' wouldn't change much if you were up against a bayonet instead. I was told to keep up the good work at the end of class.

I watched the Virtuality pilot with my Dad tonight and it was bloody awful. Not only did it have the boringness of most hardcore scifi, but it also had the boringness of the most boring reality tv show. The actors and characters were bland. The virtual reality was poorly used, and the plot was so slow Dad and I had time to have full conversations in between plot points while people moaned to the camera *rolls eyes* Probably the worst bit though was the portrayal of women. Out of the four women on the ship one was a 'slut' who cheated on her husband with the commander, and was the one pushing for sex, one was a confrontational bitch on permanent pms, one was in a healthy relationship with a man and all she longed for was to be pregnant (gag me), and the most cringe worthy was the final woman who was raped as a plot point! Gah. After that, Dad and I started fast forwarding, watched the last couple of minutes, then switched to the third season Bones christmas ep because we needed to erase the horror of that show.

What I don't get is why everyone is like how what's his name, Ronald Moore is rewriting scifi. His ideas are so bland and normal for science fiction I went into the show assuming there had to be brilliant characterizations to make up for what sounded like your normal scifi premise (and an old fashioned one at that). Has no one ever read science fiction? The only show I've seen push scifi in new and interesting ways in the past decade was Farscape (B5, while brilliantly executed, relied on a lot of scifi cliches).

I'm so thankful Virtuality did really poorly in ratings and is not being produced any more, cause all these reviews by people before the show aired saying how wonderful it is are horrifying.

Bujinkan on Monday was nice. We mostly trained on the idea of someone trying to grab you, you grab said hand while stepping back and try the uregyaku wrist throw, and then things went from there. I trained with C. who is always a good training partner, and was happy to earn a few bruises and get back into the swing of things. Afterwards, C., M. and I went out for our usual ice cream and caught ourselves up (which was needed since I haven't been to training in three weeks due to the lifeguarding classes). At Bujinkan tonight, I trained with an enthusiastic green belt who actually took direction really well, and learnt from his mistakes. It was a rewarding teaching experience on my part. The technique was a block of a punch (first normal, then high, then in close with an elbow) with the idea being to just be in the space where the punch wanted to go. Then some sort of shuto or hit. I liked the three fold hit of straightened fingers, a boshiken, then a fist. Then you took the person's balance and threw them one way or another. Our weapon was sword. First we practised flowing from four different sword poses while walking (very traditional if performed correctly), then sword attacks that always involved finding the 'straight path' that would take you safely through your opponent and sword, and not stopping. I did well with the first one, but it's still a difficult concept to assimilate, and I know I wouldn't remember it in a real fight. On the plus side, my new red oak bokken is really well made and didn't even dent or break when encountering another bokken (my last one shattered... but it was a very cheap one... this new one is also cheap but I was assured quality and it does seem to be better made).

My brother and I watched one of the weirdest, but entertaining animes I've seen in awhile. It's called Magical Witch Punie-chan (Dai Mahou Touge) and it reminded me a bit of excel saga only the main character is highly competent and evil and scary. This wouldn't be so weird but she's also a magical girl who transforms to the phrase "Kill them all." The first episode alone involved her conjuring up her helpful magical vegetable friends, then ordering them to commit suicide so she could make curry! Needless to say, Kirk and I loved how dark and humorous the whole series was, and since it's only eight 15min eps long, we finished it in one go and were quite satisfied.

You know, someone could have addicted me to Gintama a lot sooner by a) not showing me the first two eps of the anime and b) telling me the Shinsengumi were major characters. I was uncertain about it at first, reading the manga, but the obscure bakumatsu references and hilarious characterizations of the Shinsengumi have won me over (strong female characters are also appreciated). Now to see if it develops an actual plot...

Dad and I saw Up yesterday and it was excellent, which is basically what you expect from a Pixar movie. I liked that it was very multicultural and featured some non-typical characters. It even made me cry. Good stuff.

Writing wise, for some reason I've started writing a short scifi story which is good in terms of "if I finish it I can sell it easier" (mags are always looking for scifi because they get too much fantasy it seems), but bad in a "write your book, dammit Ariana!" sort of way. I need to research some agents in Britain and send my evil overlord queries to them (this is based on the idea that Randall, my main character, could be Blackadder's bastard cousin). Only real thing I've accomplished is sending 'The Mountain and the Sea' off to another mag. since I've lost all confidence in all my other short stories. *sigh*

Why did no one ever link me to the Starfleet Academy before? Their course list is hilarious, and I think those scholarships might be real.

I got my hair cut at Sweeney Todd Hair today. Unfortunately, no one tried to cut my throat or offered me a meat pie;) On the plus side, my hair is several inches shorter in prep for summer (still long enough to pull into a braid or pony tail since it was past my back before), and looks very good since the remnants of my bright red hair (now faded to a natural reddish blonde) are still at the bottom to add a bit of extra colour.

I took Dad out to lunch today since it's his birthday, then we did a trip to Ikea today to get more of the stuff we'd planned on. I ended up getting an extra small bookcase which I've already put together. It will mostly hold my plushies... Am now having fun reorganizing my room so there will be space for the big bookcase which I'll put together tomorrow.

And I "easily" passed my lifeguard exam according to the instructor, so I am now officially a certified lifeguard. Yay!

I took the lifeguard exam today and it was miserable due to the weather. It was cloudy with a light wind, and as the day wore on (we started at 4pm and finished swimming at 6:30) it got cooler and cooler so it was down in the 60s by the time we practised back boarding a person with head injuries (which froze whoever the victim was because they had to be out of the water and still for so long - I lost feeling in my hands and toes). Still, it's all over with now. The written exam was fine except for the first aid section which was kinda evil, but I'm fairly certain I passed. And now I'm starving so later.

I'd say it's been a busy weekend, but it really hasn't. Kirk and I had a good time, wandering from one event to the next, or spending hours in the mangalibrary. Some highlights were: watching YuGiOh Abridged with a lot of people late on Friday, attending a lecture entitled Nightmares 101 given by someone cosplaying Llyod, the brilliant Utena cosplay skit during the masquerade, finding a cheap Sebastian figurine, and cheap dvds of Kino's journey, being handed Code Geass doujinshi fresh from Japan by rinzei, reading the Parasyte manga for the first time, getting some awesome Yondaime art commissions drawn, and attending some surprisingly interesting panels on translation and dubbing and voice acting.

On Saturday, I was a Shinsengumi.

And I felt very lonely until I ran into this person. We spotted each other, shouted, "Shinsengumi!" and high fived, which was the traditional shinsengumi greeting dontchaknow;)

I really need to get some hakama.

Sunday, I took an extra forty-five minutes and several pages of instructions and wore my yukata for the first time. I didn't have an obi board so I made one out of cardboard, which worked surprisingly well. Not that I tied the obi to Japanese standards, but it was okay for a first try.


These were a few of my favourite costumes seen this weekend. I have a special love for the Rorschach.

I was very very pleased this afternoon when I called up my work and not only did they assure me that I had no need to come into work on Monday, but that I also (contrary to what they'd told me) had Friday off. Considering Friday is the first day of the Animenext con (which is about ten miles from my house), I was happy enough to shout with joy since now I can attend all three days. Woot! I don't think I'll be cosplaying on Friday beyond wearing my Yondaime shirt, but I'll be Okita Souji of the Shinsengumi on Saturday, and probably wear my yukata on Sunday (assuming I can figure out how to tie my obi by then).

I picked up my little brother after lifeguarding class today (which was all safety videos since it was raining and cold), so we're all ready to go in the morning. (Edited to add: I was very amused today in that I was chatting with the two high school students in the lifeguard class today and I asked what year they were in, and the guy asked me what year of high school *I* was in. I laughed and pointed out that I was 25 years old with two Masters under my belt. How sad is it that actual high school students think I'm their age?)

Cold is still hanging in there, but is subsiding slowly. Wisdom tooth (or lack thereof) barely hurts and I should know because I kinda forgot my painkillers when I left for lifeguarding and went several hours without them. It stings and is a bit sore, but I wouldn't have even bothered going back on the painkillers except it does hurt when I lower my head or open my mouth really wide. Expect I won't need the painkillers soon though. I'm really pleased how quickly it's healing considering it was pulled late on Tuesday.

ps. Anyone want to meet up at the con?

Lifeguard training went surprisingly well. Our twelve laps were multiplied to fifteen due to a smaller pool, but the shorter intervals served me well and I wasn't even that tired after them. We spent the next hour or so practising various rescues and procedures and my wisdom tooth didn't bother me at all (though I had taken an advil on top of my usual tylenol as a precaution). Afterwards, we switched to CPR training which was slightly boring until you had to practice it. We're basically doing a repeat of today tomorrow, which is good even if I'm rather tired this evening from the whole thing. (Have been given tomorrow off from work so will at least be rested.) Cold does seem to be a bit better today too. *fingers crossed*

Submitted my application to Rutgers today. Feeling annoyed by how many places demand copies of your transcripts (even my work wants one!) since it's so hard to get one out of the University of Leeds. I think I'm going to go back and just submit a request for ten of them to both my universities and get it over with (for at least a year or two). Tried to contact Boston University but everyone seems to be on leave. Bah.

I made a delicious meal of stir fried rice out of the left over rice from my stir fry on Sunday. I've never made stir fried rice successfully before but this was great with spring and normal onions plus portabella mushrooms. I was ravenous after lifeguarding class so I devoured more than my fair share. Desert was an impromptu smoothie of mango, strawberry, banana, yogurt, milk and a bit of sugar. It was delicious (though the mango was swallowed by the other flavours).

I don't really know what possessed me to let the dentist pull a wisdom tooth while I was still recovering from my cold, but hey, at least it saves me the trouble of paying for a second set of antibiotics. It was growing into my cheek and probably causing this weird shooting sensation whenever I stomped my feet, so it seemed a good idea to remove it. The dentist said it was a very easy extraction and it certainly felt easy though I mostly consoled myself with what I'd have had to go through for dental care in earlier centuries... Anyway, it doesn't really hurt, though it does bleed a lot. I took a couple Tylenol this evening and took half of a Tylenol with codeine for sleep even though I'm not sure if I'll need it.

I had half a day of work today and it was probably a good thing since I came home, attempted to contact Rutgers East Asian language department for the third time, took a shower, then dozed in my bed for a few hours (I couldn't get completely to sleep since I'd wake up to sniffle so my nose didn't get plugged up and force me to breathe through my mouth). I don't like napping the afternoon, but I was so tired and I'm still tired now so I doubt it made much difference. The cold was getting better, but seems to have plateaued since I didn't feel any better today than I did Monday. I wish my ears would stop hurting and the gobs of phlegm seemed worse today though the cough was better, but there's still five more days for the antibiotics to work, so here's hoping.

Tomorrow, I have the day off. So I will attempt to contact Boston University's arch. grad. advisor, and rest up until my lifeguarding class in the afternoon which will last for who knows how long. Hopefully the cold and wisdom tooth (or, you know, the exhaustion) won't cause problems with the swimming... Dear god, I am a masochist, aren't I?

Much to my annoyance, the water in my ears from Monday's lifeguarding lesson developed into an ear infection by the end of the week, and on Thursday I also woke up with a sore throat, tons of mucus sliding down my throat, nausea from the mucus, and a general malaise. I still had to go to work, and spent most of the day trying not to throw up on the toddler's whose diapers I was changing. By evening, the cold got worse, with a mild fever, severe ear pain etc etc. I switched to an all pasta diet to calm the nausea for the next several days (today is the first day since then I've eaten anything different) and called in sick to work. This was a good call since I was hacking up huge gobs of phlegm all Friday, trying not to be sick or fall over. The doctor took one look in my ears and throat and prescribed antibiotics immediately (after discussing my opinions on Clive Cussler, and the Japanese economy vs the American economy... methinks my doctor doesn't get a lot of intelligent conversation at home). Which I took, then sat through 2 1/2 hours of lifeguarding instructional videos (trying not to throw up and only using up about half a box of tissues). I got lucky since it was pouring and no one had to swim.

Saturday, Dad and I had planned for a week or two to visit Ikea and get some furniture for our rooms since I was in desperate need of bookshelves and storage space. I was still feeling pretty awful but figured as long as he drove and I only helped load the car, it would be bearable. And surprisingly, it was. We toured around a bit (I, like many, have always wanted to live in Ikea... not to mention this was the first Ikea I'd ever been to in the US), then had a ridiculously cheap pasta lunch in their cafeteria (with a view of Newark airport that somehow made the airport look good (rather impressive for that place)), and finally made our purchases. Or rather, bought two of mine since a) Dad's choices weren't there in the colour he wanted and b) we could only fit two things in the car at a time. The rest of the day was spent assembling the shelves (not the smartest of moves on my part since I was getting a pounding headache whenever I lowered my head), then filling them. I was very pleased with how many books and dvds I fit in my skinny bookshelf, so much so that I might not even be able to fill the larger bookshelf I still need to get (this isn't really true of course since I could always grab some of the hundreds of books at my mum's house and transfer them to dad's). I then collapsed and slept a good 8 hours.

Today, I was supposed to have a massive 6 hour lifeguard lesson which I wasn't looking forward to considering I still couldn't breath through my nose, was coughing up phlegm regularly and was just not at my best. And then the Lord intervened and I was called an hour before the lesson and told it was cancelled due to not being able to use the pool. Hallelujah. I still had to go out and do a run to my mum's house, get gas, return a library book, buy more decongestant (and a few other things), and attempt to buy a Star Trek glass from Burger King (alas, I have missed the promotion), but those were all minor errands done in one roundabout trip, so I got to spend most of my day clutching a box of tissues, coughing up my lungs, playing computer games and reading fic.

Here's hoping I'm feeling better tomorrow cause I have work and then possibly a lifeguard lesson. Joy.

This weekend, I did a lot of thinking and planning. I also sort of fell in love with Boston Uni's archaeology Phd program. It looks so shiny. *stares* I think it's important that I head up there and visit them, in addition to all the other things I need to do.

In order to do the earlier thinking on Saturday, I took my camera, hat and bug spray and drove over our nearby mountain to get to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge where I walked along the board walks and saw lots of swamp, turtles, frogs, birds, and a raptor. I also got cornered by one of the volunteers who led me around showing me more turtles and an amateur photographer who showed me a snake he found. It was relaxing, and just what I needed.

Afterwards, I had to spend two bloody hours searching for a swimsuit that fit me. It really annoys me that I'm a 12-14 in bathing suits, but my boobs require like, an 18, and they never seem to make swimsuits that way. Is it any wonder that I've reverted to wearing my one bikini that fits all the time? Much to my surprise though, I think I've found a suit that works, though it needs a swimming test to be sure.

When I'm upset, I organize things, so it comes as no surprise that I cleaned up a corner of my room over the weekend (discovering clothing from when I was in middle school, which still fits, but geez). I've decided I really need some new bookshelves and a set of cubby holes for the rest of my clothing (which is currently stacked on a chair in the corner) which means Dad and I will be doing an Ikea run next weekend. It'll be nice to have a place for my books, dvds et al.

Meanwhile, I really do have a million other things to do. So g'nite.

Scary things to remember in life: there are 253 (sorted) Naruto/Harry Potter crossovers on ff.net.

I went to the dentist again today, and spent a lot of time talking to him about my teeth since he freaked me out last time with all this talk of cavities with little explanation. Turns out, he was including the wisdom teeth in that craziness which pretty obviously have caries and was panicking me needlessly for what are only a few cavities on the back molars. I also need my upper right wisdom tooth pulled since it's growing into my cheek. I'm sure that will be fun. The cavity filled today was easier than the last one, but it hurts more now that the numbness has worn off. I ended up eating a soft pork bun from a local Chinese market for lunch and picked up some really cheap shitake mushrooms and bean sprouts for an oyster sauce stir fry (with cabbage and noodles) that tasted delicious. I used to eat shitake mushrooms all the time in Japan because they were cheaper and easier than buying meat, so it was nice to be able to throw them into a dish again. I have enough shitake left over to make another dish over the weekend, though I'm not sure what that dish will be.

Meanwhile, in order to fulfil my first aid and CPR requirements for my new job, the director asked me to learn those as part of a lifeguarding course. I like this idea well enough since it means I'd get to spend my summer mornings by the pool. But I suspect the training will take over my life for the next week or two. Job is going well. They need a lot of documents from me for everything so I've been searching through all my old records for various pieces of paper proving various things.

Bujinkan last night was fun. I got to train with J. for the first time in ages. He's Jack's uke, and very high level, which I enjoy because he actually corrects me and insists on perfection. You don't really get that from training with someone below your level (and then you get the people who think they're high level who aren't...). We once again worked with weapons from the beginning using a short sword, and for a few minutes, a gun, then hand to hand, then back to the short sword. It was all about being stabbed, or punched from behind, and reacting with a movement that sort of either curves your shoulder away from the punch, or moves your body and creates space for the short sword to be in (very hard to do), then blocking with the elbow as you turn and taking the space, then perhaps blocking a kick or a punch. One thing Jack was very happy with was once you twisted around you caught the sword wrist in your own hand, then brace your arm against their forearm, you can walk under it or around or even throw them without them being able to fight back. If you don't brace the arm, they can respond. It's sort of like putting the pressure on the arm bar, and then moving into the position for said arm bar. Interesting.

I need to start working seriously on my book again and taking notes on stuff for my phd application research (I ended up ordering the books since trips into NYC for obscure books are no longer feasible), but it's probably not going to happen for another week since I have the lifeguarding thing, several dentist appointments, a fingerprinting appointment and bujinkan to consider. Gah. Life is getting too busy.