If cleanliness is next to godliness...

It's no secret that I'm a packrat. I have a hard time throwing things away, so my specialty has become the act of moving around things so that they fit better. There are few times where I find myself in a detached state, and those are the times that I try to drive myself to clean, asking myself, "Do I really need this?" and telling myself, "You won't really look at this in the future." The reality is that there are so many things that I'm keeping for sentimental value, to look back upon in the future... but why am I so concerned about preserving the present for the future, which is uncertain and "far away"?

Nevertheless, I tried to do some cleaning today, on my laptop, out of not liking having the documents folder so heavily cluttered. I didn't even try to clean the pictures folder yet. So far all I've accomplished has been the cleaning of one of my USB drives, upon which I have left all of my high school work upon. It's actually surprised me how full it is -- thus, the need for cleaning. It kind of stunk to have to keep deleting all the duplicates. It also seems I'm still not quite ready to let some things go (I mean, will I really go back and do that worksheet of practice problems?). It's so silly, but at least I did my best by organizing everything neatly into folders. ^^;;

I also washed my pair of sneakers. Shoelaces are the worst! I really want to buy some Jack Purcells soon (well, I should try to find if I like them in real life and not just how they look on the internet first, eh?).

I've got to tackle the photos and my room soon, 'cause it'll be back to the dorms in less than two weeks! It seems Frear will have less of an open feeling of storage space, so I think I'll have to learn to hold on to things less and live "minimalistically" (made up word?). That meaning, I'm going to eat, study, limit computer time, and sleep, sleep, sleep. Lack of proper eating and sleeping habits probably ruined me last year, so things have got to change!

Off to refuel! Laters.

See you driving 'round town...

As the summer slowly fades away, and fall begins to show itself with the increase frequency of cloudy skies and rain, it seems the amount of events being planned is increasing!

The other day I spent time at the shopping center with my grandmother as we looked at clothes (something she enjoys - boy does my grandmother love her dresses). We went into Down To Earth, which I highly enjoy if only for those self-dispensers of snacks, grains, granola, and other things. However, my grandmother did not do so well dealing with how cold it was, haha. I got some arborio rice that I will soon attempt to make some risotto-like soup with! Following directions from a recipe found online, of course, haha.

Mmm. Everything looked so delicious!

Yesterday I had the enjoyable pleasure of meeting up with Renee and Phoebe at the mall to grab lunch before heading over to Toma Karaoke. We headed into a few stores, and then bought our filling meals (shrimp cutlet curry, ramen, and a poke bowl), having fun observing things in the food court, particularly people, the elderly and the tourist children).

Such a neat thing to see as we walked over from the bus stop!

It was really hot and sunny by the time we headed over to karaoke. But in the wonder of the room with one broken light and the oh-so-familiar blue-and-white Christmas icicles, we enjoyed our time singing at the tops of our lungs and just overall creating a racket in our enjoyment. ^^

Heh. I sang "Never Gonna Give You Up". Yeah man. That's how we roll... or, uh, Rick Roll.

Excuse me for that just now. >_>

Today I finished the less difficult (in comparison to other things I've read this summer) novel "London Calling" by Edward Bloor, and well, it was interesting, but still saddening. I don't know why most of the books I've been reading have been having these bittersweet endings, eh.

A couple more weeks and it's back to the dorms! Better be seeing everyone before they head back to their respective colleges. =/

Why Even Try

Living a lie? (Why Even Try; Theophilus London)

Don't live a lie. Be yourself, act on impulses... but know where the true you will place you in accordance with the society that lives by lying appearance, and accept it.

Star papaya! Sweet and delicious.

Anyway, while my sisters went through their new day of registration for their first year of high school together, I absorbed myself in books borrowed from the library and the end of Start Trek Voyager, season 2. Don't ask me for commentary on it because I feel like the occurrences of each episode simply enter my mind and then promptly depart. Furthermore, I followed more links to photos of beautiful foods with recipes I optimistically deemed easy enough to try in the future! As a result, I also blended together milk, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies in an attempt to make a milkshake. I think I didn't use enough ice cream.

When my sisters arrived home, I began my bold attempt to make these Calzones. I think this has been the only instance I've mixed together things all on my own. I definitely made a mess (I mean, why did I think it was a good idea to attempt making dough from scratch? I do love the beauty of yeast, though), and by the time my mother arrived home, flour and sticky bits were all over the place. Risen dough is just fantastic to touch, haha. Attempting to slice mushrooms and bell peppers thinly did add to the fun (hey, I like cutting vegetables!)

I probably only think cooking is fun if I have a recipe to follow (like mixing chemicals together in the lab). Sooooo, I guess that means, in both aspects, that in time I will have to find fun in improvising, instead. Instructions that lead to a task being carried out perfectly are just so beautiful, though! Paired with a strong sense of order and control.

The result of today's adventures:

Filled, topped, and ready to bake!

One of Four baked and split into two!

Mmmm. We were all pretty full after the consumption of two and a half of the four total calzones made.

Suffice to say, I have achieved something today. ^^ Yay for the beginning of August.

P.S. This is a good example of why you should even try to be yourself; follow your impulse and perhaps you will reach many little happy moments!

Moments of Always Within Never

Eternity eludes us.

It's been ages since I've written; It's as if I've taken nearly half of 2011 off! I see no harm in attempting to begin posting regularly again, but I do see pending difficulty if I am to tell myself to spend more time with the computer shut off in order to avoid putting to much pressure on myself through the method of a "sforzando" type of studying (see here).

With the end of my brief affair with Summer Semester I earlier in this falsely-endless-three-month-extravanganza-summer, I can't say that I've been up to much more intellectual reading. I did read the Nacirema article to fulfill my prolonged curiosity after the end of Culture and Humanity (ANTH 152), but otherwise, I've been watching things and reading fiction.

Today I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which I really didn't expect to make me cry so much. I bought it as a gift for an individual a while back on a whim, without even reading it, thinking that it'd be quirky and entertaining, but oh boy, it definitely wasn't quirky and entertaining in the way I thought it would be. It was certainly more sedate and more thought provoking (yay for books that embody the authors' philosophies) than I had thought it would be. The best bits of the book, I think, are the Profound Thoughts by the girl Paloma Josse. My eyes still kind of ache from the deluge of emotion that accosted me in the end. Oh, furthermore, I sat with a dictionary while reading this book "just because", or rather, so I could actually learn some new words and read actively, to some extent.

I also read The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold earlier this month, which kind of just made me horrified but left me with a slight feeling of closure in the end. Also interesting. I don't know if I should pick up The Lovely Bones to read or not, though. I'm not so keen on these trends of death and tears.

Let's not forget our friend Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead. Such ideals of fortitude.

As of late, I've been enjoying Torchwood, some sort of Star Trek, and X-Men stuff (Particularly X-Men: First Class). Look at this accumulation of dorkiness. Too bad I haven't thrown in some anime into this mix.

Great things in this past week:

• Passing my road test on walk-in! Woot woot!
• 200 Pounds Beauty (romantic comedy watching with sisters)
• Sleepover at Kat's (delicious food, eating together like family, crazy random conversation, cute dogs [the only ones that have ever stolen my affection so much], intense battles, IMPROVISATION! [and using our brains], and playing on the Wii until nearly 5 in the morning)
• Surprise for the committee from Jump Start God
• Bubbies ice cream. Mm.

Back to the dorms and back to school in less than a month. Here we go.

P.S. Somebody buy me Source Code, new shoes (Converse!), SANDALS?! (kidding, totally unnecessary), a fancy camera, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, my Bioorganic Chemistry textbook, and some milk tea!