KnitFringeJobFIGHT...and the evilness of homework

Hmm...not much going on this week, hence the lack of posts.

I'm seriously battling a bad case of startitis. I don't even know what I want to start - socks? Modifying a supercute retro halter top pattern? A new sweater? I just want to start something, but I also want to get Becki's blanket done. It's officially hit the "ugh, there are still six and a half more stripes and every other row increases eight stitches, so I have, like, ten thousand stitches per row right now, isn't it over YET?" stage. I'd also love to get the Card Trick scarf done, but I can't until I get my paws on one more skein of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran in colorway #11, which of course is discontinued AND I am currently completely broke and can't justify spending $20 to get one skein of yarn here (my birthday present to myself was the Copperfield ticket, so I can't use that as an excuse either). So that one actually has an excuse to be hibernating, even though I really really want to work on it. The blanket...well...once I get the massive amounts of homework on my desk done (including yet another term paper/presentation), I'm going to have a massive Fringe marathon and hopefully get it knocked out by the end of the month.

Btw, without giving anything away, can I just say that this week's episode ROCKED? So many questions, so many "no WAY"s, so many giggles - the whole Star Trek sequence (the first link is an interview with Leonard Nimoy and the second is the start of the amusing episode sequence - fast forward to about 2:55 for the actual scene to start, although the audio is a little off, sorry) had me ROLLING...I can't wait for the finale next week! So glad Fox was smart enough to pick it up for a second season, too! Yay!

What else? Oh, I have another interview tomorrow afternoon - at a car dealership, of all places. We'll see how THAT goes! (Hey, maybe they can fix that scrape on my passenger side that some idiot gave me in the parking lot!) I really want a job for my birthday. That would be nice. Or a rich, handsome prince. That would be cool, too.

I have a massive bruise on my bad elbow thanks to sparring Mr. M and Sir on Monday night, and getting partnered with Frank on Tuesday didn't help it. Frank has a hard head. Classes have been oddly easy this week - not that they haven't been working me, and I've been tired, but not dragging, which is cool. I got partnered with Mr. R for kickboxing yesterday, was able to go through all ten of my forms last night in tkd (apparently I need to work on tempo and slowing down my forms for testing, though), and eventually figured out at least the technique of the jahng bahng drills in instructor class, although apparently my style leaves something to be desired in that weapon right now ("it's not haganah, Katie, you're not trying to kill the guy with one shot....this is the 'arts' part of 'martial arts.'"). Kickboxing and haganah tonight, then the weekend break.

Now back to working on the homework for this evil, evil class. I think this course could be really interesting and superinformative and useful, and the prof is nice...but he doesn't TEACH us anything and it's gotten to the point where I'm so frustrated with trying to figure out what on earth is going on that I'm pretty much done with it. I've only been able to complete 1.5 homework assignments in the past week and a half, because I can't find the answers in the lecture notes, video lectures (which he gave us to watch at home and then makes us watch in class, too!) OR textbook. I have another 3.5 assignments that are supposed to be due on Saturday, plus the term paper/presentation that is due next Saturday. Mrph. We'll see. The good news is that registration starts next week for the summer term (oh yeah, it'll probably be August now before I can go to Basic), and that class is going to be taught by the general who taught ASCI 512, so that's cool.

Frustration

It's been almost seven months (27 weeks, to be precise) since I got a kick in the arse and started job hunting. Seven MONTHS. And I've been making calls, answering ads, searching job sites, and calling in favors from friends. There are times when I've applied to over 20 jobs in one day. Cover letters, resumés, phone calls....I have a good work ethic, an excellent education, and outstanding references. And what has all this netted me? Only a handful of interviews and ONE 2.5-week temporary job as a bookstore cashier.

My representative at the temp agency told me that I appear "too smart" on my resumé - employers don't want to hire someone they think is smarter or has more experience than they do. So I'm "overqualified" for the entry level positions that I have the experience for (stage management is basically clerical/admin work when you break it down) but I'm "underqualified" for any positions in the industry I'm studying in because I don't have any experience in them. Seriously, I'll scrub toilets right now if it will get me a paycheck and get me out of the house. I had things worked out so that I would be able to get through on my student loans until May, when I was supposed to ship out to Basic. When they pushed Basic back to July, back in March, I panicked a little, but SURELY I'd have SOMETHING by May that would make up for the extra three months. Then Basic was going to be in May again, which would be a relief. Now they don't know when, but "as soon as possible." Yeah, it's May 1. I have enough money to pay rent this month (sorta)...and that's it.

Only in my crazy world can you get an iPhone* and file for unemployment on the same day =P

*(iPhone story behind the cut) No money was spent on this. I know, if I'm complaining about money, the last thing I'd do is buy a fancy phone when the one I just got recently is perfectly servicable. Through a series of scratches/warranty issues, one of my good friends from college ended up with two for the price of one and sent me one of them as an early birthday present. I went to the local AT&T store to make sure that my current plan was compatible - not only was it already more than meeting the iPhone's requirements, but the guy found a $10 text package that wasn't needed (I guess that was included in one of my other packages and had never gotten removed) AND added a military discount (which I didn't even know they had) when he saw my ID. So...it's actually turned out to be cheaper to have the iPhone! And let me be the first to tell you - I am NOT a Mac/Apple fan and staunchly refuse to buy an iPod or Mac computer. But....the iPhone is pretty darn slick. With a few exceptions, it's SUPER easy to figure out and there is a LOT of stuff you can do with even an "old" phone like mine. (I have an "original" 2G instead of the latest 3G - the only difference is that it's slightly smaller - a definite plus in my book - slightly slower - the speed, or "lack" thereof, hasn't bothered me in the slightest, though - and mine doesn't have GPS locator, although it still sports an excellent map feature.) There have only been three things, well, four, that I can say I dislike about the phone. 1 - you can't send pics in text messages, you have to email them to people. An easy workaround, since your email is also RIGHT THERE, but still something that surprised me. 2 - there's no copy/paste function and you can't, for example, forward texts to other people. Out of my friends that I've talked to, though, I'm apparently the only one this bothers, but there *is* supposed to be an update to that this summer. We'll see if it works with my phone or not. 3 - my Bluetooth headset works just great with it as a phone, but not as a music player. Apparently the phone itself is not compliant with the technology that would make it possible to stream the music to the Bluetooth. So I now have a $150 headset that I can only use half the features on. Yay. (Apple does provide wired headphones, of course, but they aren't wireless, which is one of the reasons I really love my Bluetooth!) 4 - is not the phone's fault, but I am NOT a fan of iTunes, which you have to use to sync things back and forth from the computer to the phone. Unlike the phone, I found iTunes not particularly user-friendly AND it doesn't support .avi files, so any video that I want to transfer to the phone has to get converted first. Not a difficult process, but fairly lengthy and rather irritating. Other than those four things, though, I've been really enjoying it. The phone quality has been excellent, and it gets a really strong signal. The turning screen thing is pretty cool, too. There are tons and tons of fun and/or useful apps (a surprising number are free, too!) that let me check Facebook, check the Cubs score, do crossword puzzles, translate Spanish, check the forecast, find restaurants, watch YouTube videos, find music, play Bejeweled 2 (and it's like playing it on a computer, not the usual cellphone version), and tons of other stuff. Not to mention the standard phone/text/email/internet features (and the internet actually LOOKS and WORKS like the internet!) and it has a surprisingly decent camera. Now if it could only get me a job...I wonder if there's an app for that? =P

A Day in Long Beach (long and silly)

I'd been going back and forth all week about whether or not I wanted to make a trek down to Long Beach to see David Copperfield. I didn't get interested in magic because I dislike watching it performed. Plus, how often do you really get a chance to see one of the biggest names EVER in magic perform? So, I broke one of my rules, and used the credit card to buy the ticket as an early birthday present to myself.

However, John was most definitely against it, and that was a big deal for me. He gets compared to Copperfield a lot (they look eerily alike - John is cuter - and, after watching the show, they do have similar styles), so it's a bit of a sore spot for him. A long, rather hilarious text conversation ensued on the drive down (I got called a traitor, a Copperfield lover, and one of "those Chicago people!", and accused of plotting to run away to join Copperfield's show - all in good fun, though) and even as I sat in the theater waiting for the show to start. ("Just admit it, Katie, you feel like you're about to watch me for the first time live! lol!") Of course, it didn't stop there, either. I sent him a text as I was standing up from my seat after the show and hadn't even gotten to the theater door yet:

Thinking to myself, "Just sent the text, and 5...4...3..."
*RING*
"Hello, John Gabriel..."

I literally was not even out the door of the theater when he called, and we spent the next two hours on the phone discussing the show. And, yeah, it was good. I mean, it's David Copperfield - he didn't get to where he is now by being a terrible performer. He's so famous because he IS one of the best. Unfortunately, he doesn't let you forget that fact. The preshow video? A montage of all the awards he's won and titles he's been given. THEN a video about "Copperfield in pop culture" - various cartoons, tv shows, and movies his name has been mentioned in. THEN a video about how he always wanted to be able to travel at whim (I have YET to figure out how that tied into the show at all). No magic, not even any reference to magic. Just ten minutes (not counting the preshow looping montage) of literally nothing but "see how famous I am?!" It was very off-putting. I'm really anti-video intros anyway - John uses one for the smaller shows and I HATE it - so that was a big turn-off. My vote is always "screw the video and show me what you've got now!" (And yes, I've told John that, too. He doesn't use it for big shows, though, luckily.)

The magic itself - once we finally got around to it - was, of course, excellent. He did his signature appearance on the motorcycle, pushed his way through a steel panel, made a guy's tie dance and sing (such an old trick, but it IS pretty funny), a prediction, made a really pretty green old Lincoln car appear onstage (that would be the car I wanted), used a scorpion to figure out what card a lady picked from the audience (John is never ever allowed to use scorpions. EVER. Ick!), made a duck translocate ( the duck, "Webster", would also waddle across the stage to the tune of "Shake Your Tail Feathers" occasionally throughout the show), walked through a fan and appeared in the back of the audience (sans the dancing girl - video is in Spanish, but magic is pretty universal), did a dancing tissue paper/floating rose trick that I've seen before (same deal with Spanish as before), and, of course, made 13 people disappear on stage and reappear in the back of the house. The dialogue in most of the videos is exactly the same as it was last night, but I can live with that. After all, the dialogue in a play or musical doesn't change from production to production, and 90% of the audience has never heard it before. It's merely a way to keep everything going in order.

He seemed to have fun with the audience, although there was rarely ever any "reason" to do the tricks. It always had a kind of "and this is what's next" feel to it, no stories or history to anything except the car appearing and the prediction. I did like the overall style of the show - very urban. The crew (at least four guys and two girls) were probably my age or slightly younger, which I thought made him look older, personally. The audience clearly had fun, though, which is honestly the most important thing (it was nowhere near sold out, btw). Like I told John, I enjoyed the show and am really glad that I went. (Penn & Teller now remain the only modern illusionists that I would really love to see live but haven't.) It was fun. I would go again, too - if someone else paid. And the resulting phone call afterwards was worth antagonizing my favorite boss ;-)

Oh, and since I actually didn't get down to LB in time for the 5:30p show, I ended up with some time to kill before the 8:30p show. I decided to spend it here:
The historic ship (now turned hotel) the Queen Mary. (That's a Russian submarine there in front of it.) I've never really been around cruise ships before, so the sheer size of it was a bit overwhelming. I'm wondering what boggles the mind more - that 757s can actually fly or that these monstrosities can actually float. Seriously. (My maternal grandfather, an airline pilot, always said that planes don't really fly - it was all done with smoke and mirrors. Between him and my dad, I didn't have a prayer of not being interested in magic OR aerospace!)

It's also, of course, supposed to be severely haunted. I didn't go through any of the tours or anything, just kind of wandered around on the upper decks for an hour or so, but I can certainly see where people could get the impression of ghosts. For one thing, it's very open and empty, I'm assuming particularly in the off-season.


The deck wood is quite uneven and creates a little bit of a "fun house" effect. There is an air circulation system that creates a steady "whooshing" and "whirring" sound, not to mention all the creaking and groaning of a ship in harbor. Again, though, I only stayed on the upper decks. I saw a sign for their audio tour going downstairs to the isolation wards of the hospital and started down, but I think a combination of mild claustrophobia and a simple fear of getting lost (there was NO ONE around) in such an unfamiliar place made me want to leave after only a few steps down the hallway.

But I did get a shot for Mom:
So they aren't magical Disney pelicans, but they look pretty happy to me...

Oh My God

Oh my God, look around this place.
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone.
Flights of grace, and future falls.
In present pain
All fools say,
"Oh my God"

Oh my God, why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed.
There is no cure for our disease.
Turn a phrase, and rise again,
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend.
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief
and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools, sons and failures, thieves will always say
Lost and found, ailing wanderers, healers always say
Whores and angels, men with problems, leavers always say
Broken hearted, separated, orphans always say
War creators, racial haters, preachers always say
Distant fathers, fallen warriors, givers always say
Pilgrim saints, lonely widows, users always say
Fearful mothers, watchful doubters, saviours always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
These days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be,
maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we're better,
Scales were gone and faces lighter
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent
falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder
Sometimes when I lose my grip,
I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat
All the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense

Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God

-"Oh My God" by Jars of Clay, from their album Good Monsters (hit the play button over to the right - I didn't like any of the YouTube links, so this is just the song)

Musical Memories (Random)

Isn't it amazing how you can not hear a song for literally years, but as soon as that song is even just mentioned in passing, you can immediately recall ALL the lyrics to it? In this case, Newsboys' "Shine." Amazing what your memory keeps.

Okay, music is an essential part of my life. As a kid/teenager, if I was awake and in my room, there was music playing. (Probably to the more-than-occasional chagrin of my parents, I'm sure, although I'm pretty sure I come by it honestly via my dad.) Even now, the only time there isn't music playing in my apartment is when I'm watching television. And I'll listen to anything - there is literally everything from Beethoven to Eminem and musicals to metal (though, admittedly, not much) in my music folder. However, two of the main bands in my life while I was growing up - and I mean, these are the ones that I got completely teenage-fangirl about - were DC Talk and Newsboys. I had all of their albums - which of course, I played obsessively until my mom threatened to take away my boombox (I don't remember if I got DC Talk's debut or sophomore album first, but they were some of the first tapes that were *mine*. Similarly, I clearly recall their third album, Free At Last, was my very first CD!), went to all their concerts, and I still always keep a copy of both Jesus Freak and Take Me To Your Leader with me. A convoluted series of conversations and thought processes lately prompted me to see what they are up to nowadays. DC Talk mutually dissolved several years ago - shortly after their final album, although they apparently all continue to help each other out in their pretty successful solo careers and collaborate a lot. Interestingly, however, as of last month, one of the former members of DC Talk is the new lead singer for Newsboys. That's intriguing...

Aaaanyway...oh wait, before I get off that topic, I have to say that one of my still-favorite bands from that time, Jars of Clay, just released a new album this week. ("Flood" was a big initial hit for them when I was in about junior high, I guess.) Their stuff has definitely gotten more sophisticated with time, and I have to say that I REALLY liked If I Left The Zoo and Good Monsters, and Long Fall Back to Earth, the new album, seems to live up to that, although there's something to be said for the more raw acoustic guitar sound they used to have. Oh well.

Other than clearly having too much time to think on the freeway coming home, today was a good day. I went down to Fullerton and had a long catching-up lunch with Wendy, and we were very randomly joined by one of our favorite actors from last summer, who was walking by the restaurant. Small world! John apparently got caught up in a meeting in LA, so we didn't get to meet up. I still left some things for him at his office, which turned into a long, funny text conversation with him trying to guess what I'd left (he promised he'd call when he finally got a chance to pick the stuff up and see what it is). I actually considered going back to Disneyland and watching the fireworks, but I didn't really want to pay the parking fee again for just myself, so I instead spent the next four and a half hours in traffic. Meh.

Shine - make 'em wonder what ya got.
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside lookin' bored.
Shine - let it shine before all men.
Let 'em see good works and then
Let 'em glorify the Lord.
Shine...

Catching Up (LONG)

Thanks for the reminder, Amanda. I keep writing blog posts in my head and then forgetting to type them up or get distracted by something else.

So, let's see...

Date with Cute Guy - um...it was good. We met up in SLO after his rehearsal for drinks at a place I'd never been to but really liked. It's called Koberl at Blue. It's a bit pricey, but I really liked the atmosphere. It was nice to catch up with him on his trip to NYC and current shows. He wanted to get a little more physical than I was really in the mood for, though, so we ended up calling it a little early. (It's all good, no worries.) So, all in all, it was a really nice ego boost, but nothing particularly major or exciting.

On the ego boost note, did you know that if you go into a dojahng wearing a bit of makeup, a sundress and sandals, you'll get some really strange looks? Well, not strange, but it will definitely garner some comments. I went in to watch the aikido class on Friday, and, since I had absolutely no intention of joining the class (last week was really hard for some reason and I figured getting my wrists, elbows, and shoulders stretched out even further wouldn't help), and it was warm for once, I pulled out one of my comfy sundresses. Gil teaches aikido, so Ma'am was there watching as well (they finally hooked up, it's super cute), Mr. R takes the class, and Sir was teaching a private lesson off to the side. Ma'am and I get talking, Sir finishes his lesson, walks past to the desk, does a double take, and walks back to me to shake my hand and say hi. Between him, Gil and Mr. R, I had to explain several times why I was "so dolled up." Boys! (I'll refrain from pointing out the perfect example that clearly all the good guys are taken!)

I'd only meant to stay for aikido, but then two of the other parents (including two of the tweenyboppers' mom) and I got talking about the Guard and working at VAFB, so I ended up staying through Weapons class too. They're doing ssahng jeol bahngs this unit, and the more I watch those classes, the more I'm convinced that those are REALLY not the weapons for me. I'll learn them, of course, because I have to, and I'll do my best with them and maybe I'll even really like them. But for right now, they seem like an incredibly good way to smack myself in the head repeatedly. And I'm a little disappointed, because I really like working with the bahng mahng ees and jahng bahngs and I'll bet that once I start learning the ssahng jeol bahng form, I won't get to work with them again for a while. On the other hand, I was able to help Viv (yay, Viv's back!!!) with the regular first degree form tonight, so maybe the classes are doing some kind of good. Of course, if I don't know that form by now, *I'm* screwed, not to mention TOTALLY screwing up BOTH my board breaks tonight, so maybe not. (In all fairness, though, that was the first time I'd ever done the hand break - an upset hammerfist - on the brown board, which is a lot harder! The kick - a spin hook kick - was just...bad and I know I can do it better than that.)

Oh, and since there's a big old sign up about it now, I guess I can share the big dojahng news - we're moving!!!! The company that is totally revamping our local mall offered them a space up on the second floor. It's about the same size as the current space, but they are completely customizing it for us, which will give us slightly more mat space and moveable hanging bags! There is going to be less-to-no room for spectators (parents) during classes, which is a good thing, but for things like testings and tournaments, we'll use the open area in the mall out in front of the space. Talk about publicity! It's a MUCH better location for the school - all those people, and kids, walking by all the time (although they're also putting in a Dairy Queen near us, which could be problematic) - and for me, as the mall is literally like five blocks away from my apartment. We officially move June 1, just in time for Sir and Mrs. S's 10-year anniversary of being in business here. As you can tell, we're all pretty excited about it! (And yes, I realize that I have no idea if I'm going to BE here for it or not, but I'm still excited about it!)

So that's dojahng news....and boy news...let's see...oh! Disney! Saturday, the girls (Jen and Sara, as opposed to Dani and Amy, who are our dancers, but are also referred to as "the girls" when Jen and Sara are already around) and I met up at Disneyland and had a ball! (Jen has clearly not uploaded the pics yet, I plan to steal them when she does!) We had lunch and maybe a drink or two at the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney, and then decided to hit California Adventure, since I had never been to that side of the park. CA is smaller than Disneyland, I think, but the rides are cooler. We went on Soarin' Over California (Mom, you would LOVE that one!), Toy Story Shooting Gallery (or whatever it's called - I got my butt thoroughly kicked by both girls pointswise, although I had better accuracy!), a surprisingly good 'coaster called Screamin' California (or maybe California Screamin', not really sure. Anyway, you get a countdown and then literally take off at 70 mph from the horizontal start, which was awesome), and, of course, the Tower of Terror (which was not NEARLY as terrifying as it was the first time I went on it at Disney World. They've changed it, and I have to say I like it a lot better!). We didn't stay too late, because I didn't want to be driving late at night again, but it was very fun, and I have two more days' worth of parkhopper passes to use up before May 1, thanks to the military discount they're doing. We're plotting another day there, and trying to convince John that he really needs to come with us next time. (He was invited, but backed out.)

Still job hunting, still haven't heard back from the base interview, and am going back down to LA on Friday to have lunch with one of my friends from when we lived down there/previous summer interns. Have very tentative plans to meet up with John that afternoon, too - I have a CD he wants, and a toy for him. Unfortunately, I HAVE to come back Friday night, since I have ERAU class at the godawful hour of 0800 Saturday morning.

Anyway, between a new book series I'm reading (the Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin - very light vampire hunter series, but not bad), homework, black belt midterm on Wednesday, belt ceremony on Thursday, LA on Friday, and class on Saturday, I'm hoping this week will be better than the last...oh, and I have to say, I LOVE this weather!! 95 degrees, sunny, and breezy...it's heaven! And yes, I'm wearing sunscreen - I learned the hard way that doboks and sunburns do NOT work well together!

"Wow...you look...nice! I almost didn't recognize you...except for the bruises. I recognize the bruises." - Sir

Out Of Town

Yay Disney! Had fun with the girls, went to California Adventure for the first time, too tired to write a proper post about it. Maybe after some sleep (and they have time to get some pics up to link to...)

One Big Bruise

is what I feel like right now. I don't know why, but this week was really hard with class for some reason. It was kind of hard in general, actually. Sore muscles, crazy bruises, minor nausea, fatigue. Must've picked up a bug somewhere. Or just overworked myself physically. I haven't done anything more this week than last week, though. Less, in fact, although it feels like twice as much. It didn't really help that I came in late to kickboxing tonight and was therefore cold when I joined the workout, Gil did a darn good job trying to dislocate my ankle during knife sparring, and my bad elbow decided to pop during one of my favorite drills (I privately call it "shark attack"...one person is in the middle of the circle, and everyone else has tombstones. When you get hit with a tombstone, it's triple punches, triple knees, a piston takedown, and another set of triple punches. It gets...umm...aggressive) forcing me out until I could get it popped back. Mrph.

And, I found out what's going on with my uniform - apparently the blue uniforms came in. Only...they aren't our really pretty blue (the only good thing about that uniform). They're a "hideous shade of OR scrubs blue," according to Mrs. S. Sir told me during instructor class that they were so ugly he couldn't even bring himself to let me see them and definitely wouldn't let me wear one. So it doesn't sound like I'll get my new uniform in time for testing. Sigh. At least I know my instructors look out for me, I guess!

Going to take tomorrow off to deal with homework (and hopefully physically recover some), and then I'm going to Disneyland with the girls on Saturday! Yay!

I was right...

40 pushups tonight (which isn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, to be honest). Bruises on the top and side of my thigh from getting partnered with Gil for the first half of class. Worked butterfly kicks with two of my also-tkd classmates before class. (Ma'am and TKD Grandson helped us out a little.) I think I'm going to wear my full uniform for tkd tomorrow night - gotta get used to the weight again before the midterm next week. I can't wait to get a new uniform, but Mrs. S is apparently having some trouble with the order for some reason. (I guess they changed who they ordered from, which is why the material is different, but the blue leadership ones have to go somewhere else to get silkscreened or something. I dunno.)

I want it to freaking warm up already. This wind is COLD and it's April! Time for warm sunshine!

Distractions (Warning - Contains Some Adult Language)

Normally, Teddie looks like this:
After all, it's hard work trying to find those 23 hours in a day to sleep. However, get the yarn out, and he starts to look more like this:

It's REALLY useful when you're working on a bi-color illusion scarf and trying to keep two balls of yarn from tangling, let me tell you! (Which, btw, I still have not found another ball of the red. Apparently it's a discontinued color. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go with an online order and pay for shipping. Sigh.)

Since I can't finish the scarf, I've been working on the blanket. I finished the next stripe repeat and put it on some scrap yarn to measure it. The second I got it shaped out on the floor, I watched Teddie walk quite deliberately to the center of it and plop down, then glare at me:

So hard to find good help these days. Anyway, after two repeats (each repeat adds six inches outwards from the center), the blanket is 26"x26". That would be 6+6+2+6+6 (the 2 is the width of the center square). One more repeat (6+6+6+2+6+6+6, or, realizing it's a SQUARE and therefore the distance across the middle is exactly the same as the length of a side - that's a little trick I like to call "that math stuff.") should make it about 38"x38", which I think will be a good size.

Anyway, I'm working on that, job hunting (hopefully I will hear back from last week's interview soon, because I'm not sure I have a contact number), trying to do homework and failing (the videos he had us copy don't play w/o the cd as far as I can tell, and the urls for the software he wants us to use don't work), and getting mildly addicted to Penn & Teller's Bullshit tv show. The premise is "you can't bullshit a bullshitter" and the topics they've covered on the episodes I've seen so far have been a little surprising but really interesting (everything from cryptozoology to environmental issues to aliens to free speech to mediums to animal rights. Really!) It's definitely not for the conservative viewer ("You'll notice more obscenity than we usually use. That's not just because it's on Showtime and we want to get some attention. It's also a legal matter. If one calls people liars and quacks, one can be sued and lose a lot of one's money. But "mother f%^&$#s" and "a#%@#s" is pretty safe. If we said it was all scams, we could also be in trouble. But "bullshit", oddly, is safe." - Penn Jillette...there's also occasional nudity, although what I've seen has been pretty tasteful and just, well, the human body looking like human bodies do - an episode on breast enlargements was hysterical!) Of course, it's all done in the sarcastic style of Penn & Teller, and seems to be fairly well-researched, even if I don't always necessarily agree with their views (self-proclaimed atheists). There's even been a few times that I've thought "Wow, that was unexpectedly sensitive," such as "You can't heal a broken heart by pretending it's not broken" near the end of their first episode on mediums or, "the time to treat people right is when they're alive. A ham sandwich, a soda, a joke now mean more to your loved ones than a $10,000 coffin after they're dead. Which brings to mind one more thing - if you're still lucky enough to be able to do it, call your mother" after one about funeral homes (my mother would not appreciate a call right now, as it's about 3:00a there). There's even occasional magic tricks being done in the background. So it's been pretty interesting.

Two classes last night (instructor class seems to have been moved pretty much to Wednesdays now), and Sir taught us how to do butterfly kicks! Mine are pretty sloppy and weak right now, but I still feel just a little cooler now =) Just haganah tonight, and I have a feeling after a post-class good-natured rant last night, we'll be doing a lot of pushups. The way I used to do pushups, with my arms out to the sides, while technically correct, put a lot of strain on my elbows and is what made pushups hurt so much. Mr. R won't let me do them that way anymore (he hasn't for a while, actually, he just felt the need to remind me last night). He has me do them slightly differently, with my elbows much closer to my sides, which is actually MORE correct form-wise. The good part - they don't hurt my elbows. At all. The bad part - a TOTALLY different muscle group is getting worked, so it's very much about learning how to do pushups all over again and having to completely rebuild that muscle strength and endurance. It's very slow going and slightly frustrating - I was the last person to finish the pushup drill last night, and I'm the "scary strong" one in class - but I guess at least I know I'm doing them right and, more importantly, I'm doing them in a way that will allow me to continue doing them and not tear up my ligaments more, which will probably save my butt not only in class, but in Basic as well. Darn instructors, helping me out like that!

Happy Easter!

I don't have too much planned for today. I had a bit of chocolate for breakfast and listened to the church bells ring. Talked to some family and friends, and have a really random date with Cute Guy tonight up in SLO (which feels a little weird). Really, not a bad day's work.

Saw Les Miserables last night - it's fantastic, as should be expected. It's a very simplistic version - there is not a lot of set, and people expecting the famous turntable are going to be disappointed. But the opposite of that is that is it very character-focused and story-driven, as opposed to spectacle, which is nice. It's great in the Marian, and well worth the ticket price, but honestly, I think it will be absolutely phenomenal outdoors in Solvang.

On a side note, I'm really really really tempted to get tickets to see David Copperfield either in Long Beach at the end of this month or Bakersfield at the beginning of next month. Not that I'm a particularly big fan of Copperfield's (in fact, I turned down a chance to be a personal assistant for him four years ago - less than two weeks later, I was sm'ing for this illusionist named John Gabriel), but with the exception of going to the Magic Castle with John and Steve before I moved back to Santa Maria, I haven't seen anyone else's live magic act since I started working for John. John's the best, of course, but I'm really interested in seeing what it's like to watch someone else now that I know a lot more about what is going on. And no, for me, knowing the secret doesn't ruin the trick. It's all about the showmanship and style. Criss Angel and David Blaine ruin tricks for me, simply because I don't care for their style. Knowing what they are doing doesn't, and, since five illusionists can do the same trick five different ways, figuring out how *I* would do it is fun. Oh, and if you're a nerd like me or just want to kill some time, go to YouTube - yeah, I know, but this is worth it - and search "50 Greatest Magic Tricks" (or just click the above link). A list of 50 videos will come up (I haven't been able to find it as one video, sadly), and while I don't agree with all of their rankings, it's an awesome collection of both modern and classic illusions and magic routines. Well worth watching! (In fact, I might go watch it again!) My absolute favorites are Paul Daniels' chop cup routine (#8), Harry Blackstone's floating lightbulb (#13) and Penn & Teller's magic bullet (#11). The shuttle disappearance (#50) is probably pretty good, except for one MAJOR clue that anyone who knows anything about the shuttle fleet would pick up on and squirm about and I just couldn't get behind the trick because of that. Anyway, lots of famous and not so famous, contemporary and classic illusionists in there, and definitely something for everyone!

Also started my next class yesterday. ASCI 511 - Remote Sensing and Observation. It's not bad. A lot of the guys in 512 are in this one, too, and I'm not the only girl for once! There are actually three girls (counting me). One spent the entire class talking to the guy next to her, and the other seems nice enough but "can't do that math stuff." Um, honey, you're in a masters class in aeronautical science, and the formulas we're using aren't exactly high-level calculus. Sigh. The teacher is this little Chinese guy and he seems very sweet. We probably won't have a midterm or final, but will definitely have a term paper/presentation and LOTS of homework exercises. (Which I should probably start working on soon...)

Looking at maybe going down to LA again on either Tuesday or Friday to do that house manager interview. It hasn't been scheduled yet, but those would be the days I'd miss the least amount of martial arts. Midterming on April 22nd, and if I keep at this pace, I think I'll be testing for second dan in October. Not sure, though. And, of course, it depends on when I get pulled for Basic and Tech School. I really wanted to go to Disneyland with the magic crew this coming weekend, but no one has responded to my suggestion, so I don't think that's gonna happen =(

Going to go find some lunch that doesn't involve chocolate. Happy Easter!

Fingers crossed

My plans for the day had been to head out to VAFB around 1:00p to get fingerprinted for my security clearance, and then hit classes that night. Around 12:00n, as I was starting to get dressed and ready to head to the base, I got a phone call. The guy wanted to talk to me for a few minutes about a secretary position at the base. I explained that I was actually getting ready to come out to the base, so I couldn't talk for more than a few minutes at that time, but I would be happy to talk in person once I was out there. He agreed. Didn't get fingerprinted (some drop in communication lines, have to go back tomorrow), so I headed over to the other building. Turns out, it's the PR squadron for the base - they need a secretary. One of my millions of job applications has finally at least gotten that far! So I interviewed with the guy there. I think it went really well, and they said my ANG training wouldn't be much of a problem, but they aren't going to be making any decisions until next week and "who knows how quickly THAT will get through the pipes." So...not holding my breath, but still holding my breath. Also, not five minutes after I got home, the phone rings again - it's a theater company down in SoCal looking for a part-time house manager. They want to schedule an interview in a few days. So maybe things are starting to look up?

The job at the base would be nice...full time, good pay, and I thought Sir was gonna do a cartwheel when I told him tonight. (He promised to keep his fingers crossed for me all weekend - no more class until Monday because of the Easter weekend.) It's a M-F, 7:30a-4:30p job, so I can easily do Guard, ERAU and probably even most of John's stuff (who, btw, has not responded to my email, although he did wish me luck on the interview via text), at least until he takes off. If that doesn't work out, though, I'd totally be cool with doing the SoCal thing. Even though life would be absolutely perfect if I could take Sir and the entire school with me down there ;-)

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that SOMETHING works out for me!

Weekend Craziness

Weekend rant/confusion behind the cut. Really weird weekend in LA. The show went well, but working it was strange. I got singled out a lot for really minor stuff - John greeting me with a hug looks "unprofessional" but everyone else gets one (and I got one from everyone else). It was a warm night, and after the show we'd been packing and moving the crates, and loading them into John's truck, with NO ONE else around but our crew, so I'd gotten hot and unbuttoned my black shirt (I was wearing a very modest white tank top underneath), and the two guys had also made similar accommodations to the temperature (the girls didn't have as much physical labor as we did). *I* got told to button back up, because I looked "unprofessional". The guys didn't. (New Guy, overhearing this, cracked, "Yeah, quit looking so sexy!") We ate at a private table at the theater after the show - it was a fundraiser/charity thing and we got the same dinner as the guests, so it was pretty fancy. (Armenian food is...interesting. Good, but interesting.) We'd been having fun all evening with the fact that they'd given us everything the guests had gotten - including a bottle of wine for the table (a Beringer cabernet sauvignon, was okay). We finally decided to break into it after the main course, but with seven people at the table and one small bottle of wine, we decided to use the tiny after-dinner liquour glasses instead of the wine glasses to make sure that everyone could have some. I was cut off after one and half glasses, because "I had to drive and follow him back to the house." Everyone else, including him, got several refills. His mom, who had joined us at this point, told me I could have another glass "at home" (she also asked why she hadn't seen me around the house much lately - his parents are very charming), but we ended up getting back to the house much earlier than they did and I literally got sent to bed. Sunday was spent doing everything (breakfast, unloading/unpacking at the warehouse, and cleaning/prepping Osmosis to ship it) as quickly as possible (although we still had fun, as always), and as soon as we were done, he was like "Okay, time for you to go now! The drive will be great this time of day, I won't worry about you getting caught in traffic." It was 3:30p and I'm really lucky I didn't hit rush hour traffic, even on a Sunday =P Very much NOT how our usual days go, they usually linger quite a bit and make us joke about the "time warp" at the warehouse, although I did get more "you're really rather be living here, though, right?" comments and even a "well, now you have an excuse to come back soon!" when I pointed out that he'd (once again) welched on watching the rest of the rehearsal video. And I got a text once I got home thanking me for all my help this weekend and how he really appreciates it. Not sure what triggered this babysitting/burden attitude, and I don't particularly care for it or the way it singles me out. Even the girls were like "Um, is something going on? Is everything okay?" Hell if I know - I thought everything was fine. I mean, we did have fun this weekend - this is the group that is wanting to send us actually TO Armenia to do some shows for, like, orphanages and charities over there. So that was cool, although John's not too sure about actually doing that. (I guess there's still a lot of corruption and instability in the government there, and they were joking that they'd take John's passport away and keep him there to do magic shows forever. One of the girls commented, "That's not a problem. He'll just call Katie and she'll come bust him out with her martial arts and military friends. Oh wait. That won't work. Katie would already be there with him. Hmm...") Eduardo had fun teasing me about my old engagement ring, so that had to get briefly explained. (I wear it when I go apartment hunting, so people will think that even though it's just me moving in, at least someone will be checking on my welfare fairly regularly. I'd left it in my purse from last time I was down there, and decided it looked nice with the formal black of the evening - it IS a pretty ring, after all - so I wore it.) We had a lot of fun in our "private party" - we could hear all the music from the actual event, had our own "dancing" (okay, Eduardo acting silly) and had all this good food and wine and company. So that part was fun. So...who knows? Meh.

In other news, I'd REALLY wanted to have the illusion scarf finished for this weekend, and I was on pace to do just that. However, on Thursday, with one and a half symbols left to go, I ran out of the red and CANNOT find that color in ANY of the LYSs. I can find the bright red, but not the dark brick/burgundy red. I'll have to check around again this week. I've picked the baby blanket back up in place of the scarf. I have half a stripe repeat left to do, then I'll put it on a lifeline and see how big it it. I do really like the colors - they're very bold and cheerful.

Woke up crying twice last night from dreams that shouldn't even remotely be sad or even emotional. Very weird.

Still job hunting and have no idea how I'm going to pay for May at this point if I'm still here for it. I guess my sgt is putting a blanket request out for Basic slots in May to get us out ASAP, but she may or may not get anything available. Argh.

Was a bit naughty and found a leaked version of the new Wolverine movie online over the weekend. It was very awesome, and rather than being a spoiler, it really makes me want to see the full, finished theater version now! (I'm really in love with Gambit, actually. It's the accent. It has been since the animated series when we were kids.)

New class starts this weekend. Hope it's more exciting than the book so far. (Zzzz!) The homework isn't really explained very well on paper, either, so I'm hoping I can get some clarification on that.

Did eight martial arts classes last week and loved it. It felt SOOO good. Even running barefoot in the parking lot during kickboxing. Can't wait to get started again this week. They had another women's self-defense seminar this past weekend. I told Sir that I wanted to be there for it, but would be out of town. He teased me that I was always out of town and I just needed to stay home occasionally! Oh, and big dojahng news is coming, but it's not official yet.

Les Miserables opens at PCPA this weekend. It's phenomenal. Bring tissues. I'll be there Opening Night.

I suppose I should go eat some lunch now so I have some energy for classes tonight.

Stood up!

Well, not really. John, of course, had the decency to call me today and tell me that the theater tour tomorrow had gotten canceled and he didn't want me to drive all the way down just for the rehearsal with the girls and new guy tomorrow night. (It bothers him that I drive so much. Far more than it bothers me, which is weird.) Instead, I was informed that I WOULD be spending the night on Saturday after the show, and that way we could have breakfast, clean Osmosis and get it ready for shipping, play in the warehouse for a while, and maybe finish watching that rehearsal video together (I'll believe it when I see it) on Sunday. Not that he had anything planned or anything, though =P

The bad part is that I don't get to hang out with everyone tomorrow night =( (Which, frankly, is one of the reasons John wants me to just live down there.) The awesome thing is that it means I can go to all three classes tomorrow night. Kickboxing felt so good the other day, and my legs weren't sore at all from it today. In fact, actually, it was my upper back and upper arms that were sore and stiff for some reason. Mr. R thinks it had nothing to do with kickboxing - he said it was probably the boxing drills we did in tkd last night. Apparently he and Sir went to a boxing seminar over the weekend. I noticed them focusing on slightly different footwork during the drills than normal, but never dreamed it would make THAT much of a difference! We did similar drills tonight in FIGHT, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I really just want to play with the jahng bahngs again...

Reprieve?

So...apparently I am going to Basic in May (as originally planned), or possibly sooner (they just need to confirm that I took and passed my space flight physical, which should happen by the end of this week, and then I can ship out any time), now. Which, honestly, is a Good Thing, because I was really getting nervous about where rent/bill money for that month was going to come from. And, May/June in Texas is slightly more appealing than July/August/September, frankly. And, there's absolutely no point in moving for a month, only to have to pack up and put everything in storage (plus, it'd be hard on the cat, and we all know who is REALLY in charge here!). Sir is happy about this. John is not. Of course, I'll still need a place to live for the three months between the end of Basic and the beginning of tech school. And some means of paying for that. But now I have time to look at some options.

There might be another big show in LA in early July (hopefully not TOO early in July, I want to be back in time!), so that should help. John called today and asked if I could come down early on Wednesday (we have a rehearsal scheduled for that evening for the show on Saturday) and tour the potential theater with him. We'll see how it goes. I sent him an email explaining the whole not moving/going to Basic earlier thing, but he hasn't responded other than to ask me if I was still planning on doing any apartment hunting while I was down there on Wednesday.

The potential problem is that my current (sort of, we haven't met yet) ERAU class doesn't end until mid-May. Gonna have to figure that one out with the instructor. Might have to take an incomplete and retake the class - it's past the refund date. We'll see.

Oh, and the 148th and 216th are fighting over me. It's fun. Because of the show this weekend, I couldn't do the scheduled drill shifts, so I did mine this past week. It's a pain to get up to the 148th w/o the clearances and badges, and there's really nothing to do up there w/o those either, so I spent two days working with a lieutenant and a staff sergeant, putting together instructor training manuals for the 216th. The lieutenant started the "Can we keep her?? Pleeeeease?" thing with my recruiter, and the staff sergeant already has other projects he wants me specifically to help with. My recruiter listed for them all the reasons I had to go with the 148th (something about imminent, slow, and painful execution by the colonel up there topped the list) and proceeded to map out my career path for me:
TSgt: "She's going up to the 148th to get some experience, then she'll come down here and work JSpOC for a while, then she'll move over to the range unit when it stands up."
Me: "Yeah, because I have ANY say in this whatsoever."
TSgt: "Psh. Yeah, you think you're moving to LA, too. I want you to stay local."
Don't know why it matters to him, as long as I do my training and all the shifts I am able to (not just my required ones), but it's nice to know.

On the REALLY plus side, I have bruised and bloody knuckles from doing kickboxing and tkd tonight (first time I've made it to kickboxing in AGES, we'll see how well I walk tomorrow!), did NOT kill the tweenybopper who flinched every time I so much as moved in class tonight (although I might have threatened him a little. Sir slapped him upside the head, though, so I think the threat was okay), got in "trouble" with Mrs. S for goofing off with Sir during kickboxing (he started it), my forms felt REALLY good tonight (maybe I CAN do this stuff!), I got some music stuff figured out on the computer (more music for long drives), got my textbook and the first assignments for my 511 class (Remote Sensing and Observation - another term paper/presentation. Yay =P), AND I get to go down to LA and hang out with my crew TWICE this week!

More Lyrics For You To Ponder

"This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right, it's just like déja vu
Me standing here with you
So I'll be holding my breath, could this be the end?
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

You can't give up, (when you're looking for) a diamond in the rough (cause you never know)
When it shows up, (make sure you're holding on)
Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on
Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me, oh

Nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there"
-Nickelback, "Gotta Be Somebody"

NOTE: I'd minimize the screen and just listen to the song - the video images (lots of random destruction) have NOTHING to do with the lyrics!

New Toys

Sir had us start learning jahng bahng (bo staff) drills tonight in instructor class! Regular class was huge (there had to have been at least twenty people there!), but instructor class was just me, Ma'am, Mr. H, and J tonight. It was all about weapons. We started out with double bahng mahng ee drills, then dropped to single bahng mahng ee drills, then the jahng bahng drills. I REALLY like jahng bahngs! (Of course, three years in flag corps might have something to do with that.) Unfortunately, it's not a testing weapon option until third degree, but the drills are fun! There's nothing like a new weapon to make you feel clumsy as all hell, though, particularly when there's apparently a "proper" way to pick up the weapon if you drop it (rolling it onto your foot and kicking it up into your hand - Sir claims that it's really so that you can say "I didn't mean to drop it, it's on the ground so I can do this cool trick!"). Luckily, I only dropped it once.

Anyway, I like those. Unfortunately, I also got threatened informed that after this next midterm (which I also just found out last night that I was midterming again in less than three weeks!), I'm going to have to start learning the single ssahng jeol bahng (one set of nunchucks) form. Ssahng jeol bahngs not only do not interest me in the slightest as a weapon, but also seem like a really good way to repeatedly whack myself in the head. Sir assures me that the single ssahng jeol bahng form is much easier than the single bahng mahng ee form (which I don't think is difficult at all), but I'm not really looking forward to it. For my next midterm, I'll have to do my regular form, my single bahng mahng ee form, and sparring, then for the next two midterms after that will be with the ssahng jeol bahng form. Mrph. Oh,

Ma'am and I have matching bruises from class last night. I woke up today with a not-visible but very-well-felt bruise on my hip and couldn't figure out what it came from. It wasn't until Ma'am mentioned having the same thing that it dawned on us. We (each working with different partners) did a boxing drill where one pad ends up on the hip for a left hook. My partner last night has a really nasty left hook. Apparently Ma'am's partner (I don't know who she was working with) does, too!

Spent today on base with the 216th. I helped file some paperwork, made up some recruiting packets, had lunch with my recruiter and a couple of the guys at a really yummy Thai place in Lompoc (don't know the name, but the chicken fried rice is really good), and then helped a ssgt and lt start putting together some instructors' manuals. I think we'll finish that tomorrow. I almost prefer doing my drills NOT on the drill weekends - I actually feel like I'm DOING something, at least! The recruiter is going to talk to the sgt in charge of the 148th and see if maybe I can get into Basic a little earlier and do the split training option, which would be cool. Technically, there's nothing that would prevent me from going to Basic tomorrow if I had to - all my paperwork is in order - they're just really waiting until they know when my tech school would be so they can try to get them back to back. If I do the split option, that becomes moot, so maybe I can get to Basic earlier (like, BEFORE John schedules five billion shows). That would be nice. We'll see.

Anyway, back on base tomorrow, then haganah tomorrow night. More LA on Friday, although I might push that back to Monday because a place I really want to see isn't open on Friday and I'm not so sure about driving quite that much, but we'll see. The good thing about it is that it gives me something to do, which I am in DESPERATE need of!

Mrph

So, the place I looked at yesterday that I said sounded too good to be true....yeah, it was. It was not in a bad neighborhood - there were lots of really cute and well-cared-for places around it. The buildings themselves were not visibly run-down. It was, indeed, cat-friendly and short-term lease. It was also in total interior disrepair - the first apartment the lady tried to show me had a broken screen door (which elicited no apology, not even a comment about it - it's a broken DOOR!), but for some reason she didn't have the key to get into that one, so she took me to another unit. THAT one had a great layout - much bigger than I'd anticipated (almost as big as my current apartment) - and I would maybe at least have forced myself to continue my polite interest mode (this place had already given off a strong "white trash" - not to be snooty, but true - feel), if it had been in any kind of livable condition. Granted, I am NOT the world's most notorious neat-freak. I can live in my own mess quite comfortably. But this place? Well...as if the smudges on the walls and stains on the carpets (which looked like they hadn't been vaccuumed in, oh, ever) weren't enough, there were SPIDER WEBS in the corners. With SPIDERS! I'm sorry, but NO. Not Acceptable! I couldn't even bring myself to go into the bedroom or bathroom. I just (very calmly, I thought) turned to the lady, said "That answers all of my questions, thank you for your time," and got the hell outta Dodge. If there had been a "I'm sorry, we just haven't had time to clean this one since the last tenant moved out" kind of thing, I might have at least stayed five more minutes. But this place was clearly not a good place for a single girl with my standard of living. Maybe that makes me a snob, I don't know, and I don't care. The first rule of self-defense is to not put yourself in a position where you have to use it.

So, instead, I went over and harassed John at his office for awhile. We ran some errands (well, okay he ran errands and I got dragged along), he showed me what has been going on with some of the illusions in the downtime (Watertight getting cleaned, Black and White getting a new packing case, Osmosis getting sold - thank goodness!), and hung out with Eduardo and his family for a bit (he and his wife run their business out of the other side of the warehouse, and they had their two supercute little kids with them that day). It was fun, and would have gotten me out of dealing with traffic on the way home if there hadn't been what looked like a fairly major accident near the 5/10/60/101 interchange. Took forever and a day to actually get on the 101, but after that, it was fine. (Although yes, John, I am aware that it would be far more convenient for me to NOT have to drive three hours each way to go home.)

Looks like I'm going back down on Friday and maybe Saturday to look at some more places. On the other hand, I've gotten a couple more phone calls regarding potential jobs, which is encouraging. And I'm doing my next ANG drill tomorrow and Thursday since John's next show is the first weekend in April. No idea what I'll be doing - just supposed to report to Sgt. Bivins tomorrow at 0830 and he said he'll have things for me to do.

Class tonight - yay! - and hopefully more knitting! The illusion scarf is officially half done already and I can't wait to get it finished up!

Having cake and...

So, it looks like there's about a 98% chance that I'll be moving to LA at the end of this month. The job interviews on Tuesday both went very well, particularly the one in Santa Fe Springs, and I'm expecting to hear back from them early next week. The apartments I saw were kind of a bust - one place insisted on a twelve-month lease, which I can't guarantee, and the other not only was much higher than their ad had said, but was also farther south than I would have preferred. I'm going back down on Monday to check out at least one more apartment which sounds too perfect to actually work out - it's cheaper than what I'm paying here, short-term lease, cat-friendly, and exactly in the area I'd like to live - near SFS if I get that job, but still far enough south that if I get a job in the Anaheim area, it'd be convenient to that, too. (John's words when I told him where it was were "holy $%^@, Katie...if you live there AND get the job in SFS, that'd be SICK! Totally ideal! You'd be RIGHT HERE!") So, it's probably in a bad area or a run down building or for some other reason unacceptable. I'll find out on Monday, I guess.

The hardest thing was telling Sir that I wasn't going to be training full time there anymore. Honestly, the dojahng and the people there are the ONLY reason that I haven't packed up and moved south before this. They're my family here, and I don't want to leave them. (I had posted a whiny rant on Ravelry about it last night, but since deleted it.) I talked to Sir tonight, and asked him to help me try to find a good school down in that area. He agreed to help me...with finding a FIGHT school (or "suitable alternative", he suggested also looking into styles like muay thai). However, due to the...uniqueness...of our dojahng, finding a tkd school was going to be next to impossible, unless I a.) wanted to join an ATA school or b.) wanted to start completely over learning a new style of tkd. Neither option is particularly appealing to either Sir or I (there is a reason we're no longer an ATA school, remember), and since it's not like I can permanently stay out of the area - I do have this little military obligation to fulfill - he made a deal with me. He'll personally continue to oversee my tkd training any time I'm in town - whether for drills or ERAU class or tech school (once I can get offbase, of course) - either through private lessons or me stepping into a class when schedule allows. It's my responsibility to arrange those times with him and to continue working on my forms on my own so that I can demonstrate them when I'm there. I love my instructors! And I almost made it through the whole conversation w/o tearing up, but as I was bowing out the door, Sir added "We'll really miss seeing you here all the time, though." I made it out the door, but had to sit in the car for a couple minutes before I could drive. I still have next week, and it's not really goodbye, but it's still hard. I'm certain that I owe my sanity to that dojahng - it became my refuge when things got too stressful with work or when bad things happened. I'm sure I would have burned out even faster, and maybe not have realized it, without those hours of being forced to let go of whatever show was over my head at the time. I don't want to leave my family completely, and I really am grateful that Sir is going to allow me to keep them as much as possible.

Yes, I could stay here in SM if I REALLY wanted to, living off my student loans and going further into debt while I continue to look for work (and I'd like to point out that I've been job-hunting in this area since mid-October at this point and not had ANYTHING except those two weeks at the bookstore), make it inconvenient for myself to work on my favorite job, and generally being bored out of my mind having nothing to do. Or, I could move south, reduce my rent and gas, continue to take classes and make drill weekends, work on my baby and be able to hang out with my crew, and I've already had two strong interviews with more possibilities on the way. Moving away for just one reason is silly. Staying for just one reason is even sillier.

And now I'm gonna crash, since tonight seemed to have been tweenybopper night at FIGHT (me, Sir, and J - a relatively new guy - were the only "adults" there tonight) and my arm really hurts now. It was cool getting to help demonstrate, though, and knowing the defenses w/o having to think about them (two chokes and a knife tonight).

A very nice Saturday

Friday was kind of spent having a small pity party for myself. I mean, from anyone's perspective, my life should suck - I'm 27, single, no real prospects in that direction, unemployed, always worried about finances, and often alone due to the fact that most of my friends here work theater hours. But you know what? I've never thought of it that way. I'm a full-time student, I'm getting a fresh start, I've been working on a show I love, and I have an amazing support system. I'm really happier now than I was before. But, that said...having the single girl be the person to get the decorations and love/marriage quotes for not one, but TWO, upcoming bridal showers is a drag. Not to mention that yet another of my (online) friends is spawning (she, however, is NOT getting a baby blanket - I'll be lucky if I get Beck's finished at this rate, and she's clearly the priority!). So I kind of fell into a "poor me, no one loves me" funk for a bit.

Then I woke up this morning with my usual "screw that, I can do anything I want today!" attitude. I know a lot of people who can't seem to go anywhere without at least one other person. I am not one of those people. While there are clearly times where groups are preferable (going to Disneyland, for instance), I am perfectly capable of doing things like eating in restaurants, going to movies, and even traveling around the world by myself. So after pondering my options with my friend Matt (who initially suggested the Monterey Aquarium, which I still need to see), I packed up and went to the Santa Barbara Zoo!

The day initially started off like this:
(I swear, this is a picture and not a painting! It was taken from my steering wheel on the 154 near Lake Cachuma)

But by the time I got down closer to Santa Barbara, it looked more like this:

And I saw animals like these:











And PENGUINS! I mean, honestly, how could a day suck if you see penguins in it?
I even got really brave and went into the creepy-crawly house all by myself! The Madagascar hissing cockroaches almost made me leave, though. I can deal with lizards and snakes but I HATE bugs and spiders!

All in all, the SB Zoo is okay. It's not huge in any sense of the word - I was able to easily see all of the exhibits in about an hour and a half - and the price of admission isn't bad ($11 for an adult, plus $4 for parking). The layout is a little weird, and some of the older exhibits are a little sparse, but it'd be a fun place to take a group of kids for a few hours. There were several times I felt like I could reach out and touch the animals, even though I really couldn't. It was cool! Bring a snack, though; the concessions are outrageously priced.

After that, I headed back up to Santa Maria in a much better mood and even went shopping for the two ladies' shower (we're showering them both on the same day - this coming Monday), although I didn't find anything I liked for them. I did, however, find a super cute khaki dress that is going to be perfect for the TWO job interviews I have down south on Tuesday! One is in Anaheim for a temp job through one of the companies I've been working with and the other is in Santa Fe Springs for a company that deals with stage lighting rentals. If either of those go well, I'm moving ASAP. I'm also going to try to make time to see one of my former students and maybe another friend while I'm down there, too. It might end up being a busy day! (And yes, the Irish in me requires that even though the dress is khaki, the accessories will be green on March 17!)

Gonna head up to SLO tomorrow to try to get the ladies' gifts (reason that it's time to move #138: the malls and any other decent store here - and in SLO - are closed up tight by 7:15p on a Saturday night. Wth?), getting my ID, showering the ladies, and going to class on Monday, then back down to LA on Tuesday. Can't wait!

Funnies!

These have been circulating through the Internet and emails for years, but I just got them (again) and they still make me giggle. So now they've been forced upon you guys (possibly again), too!

UPS Airlines Operations and Maintenance

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Bored (Updated w/ Knitting)

1.) 100 Things About Me has been updated - things change in three years! Not a lot, though.

2.) I'm done with my first term as a graduate student! Yay! Grades for 604 are supposed to get posted next week, but I'm pretty sure I did at least okay on the paper/presentation and I think I only missed maybe nine points total on the final, so I'm not too worried. Dad and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that it's easier to focus as an "adult" taking classes - you're there because YOU want to be there for yourself, not because it's the next step in your life that you're expected to take.

3.) Small show coming up in Glendale on April 4th. It's not really a corporate deal, even though it's a private show - it's more like a promotional show, almost an audition. I guess these people are considering sending us to do a thing in Armenia for their company. It's super-tiny, and John admitted that he could easily do it all by himself, but he's calling the crew in anyway, mostly because it looks sleeker for him to be The Boss and have People supporting him. And, we get paid and get to hang out, so we're not complaining. I'm harassing him about going down next week - he's taking my baby (Watertight) completely apart and I want to be there! He doesn't know what his schedule is going to be yet, though, so I'm being as patient as I can be.

4.) I'm applying for lots of temp jobs, although there aren't many in this area, so I have actually started applying for stuff down in the LA area, including a temporary clerical position at Northrup - Grummond, a big aerospace company. We'll see.

5.) Apparently, posting perfectly innocent song lyrics results in five emails, two comments, and one phone call wanting to know what's going on or, more specifically, what his name is. Trust me, my love life is NOT that exciting! Yeah, there's a guy I like, no, I don't think he's into me at all, and even if he was, he's off-limits, so it's all good =)

6.) One reason studying has been so hard:

(and why cat hair gets all over my keyboards). He does this every time I get my books out!

7.) Now you see it:

Now you don't:

The first two suits are done, and I decided to block it on the needles to get a better idea of how it was going to measure up. It's a bit narrow - only 5" wide - but is already slightly over 24" long, so one foot per symbol will make for an 8' long scarf. That's acceptable. I already like the two color idea so much better than trying to use white as the background! (The symbols are much clearer irl than they are in the photos - when sitting at my desk looking over at it on the table, they are very clear.) I'm also changing the order to spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds (the original pattern has it as spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), because a.) I think alternating the colors looks better aesthetically and b.) because that's how I was always taught the suits were ranked anyway. But, at any rate, I like it so far.

Gotta run out to the base and try to get my ID today. Gonna stop in at the temp agencies, too! I'm So Bored without a job!

Songs in my head...

And he said, "Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.
It's a love story, baby, just say yes..."
-Love Story, Taylor Swift

There's a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend;
There's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend;
And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb.
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.

There's a fine, fine line between a fairy tale and a lie;
And there's a fine, fine line between "You're wonderful" and "Goodbye."
I guess if someone doesn't love you back it isn't such a crime,
But there's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of your time.

And I don't have the time to waste on you anymore.
I don't think that you even know what you're looking for.
For my own sanity, I've got to close the door
And walk away...
Oh...

There's a fine, fine line between together and not
And there's a fine, fine line between what you wanted and what you got.
You gotta go after the things you want while you're still in your prime...
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.
-"Fine, Fine Line," Avenue Q

Magic and Science

and finding a way to blend the two. It's looking like if I want to get all my ANG training done at once (8.5 weeks of Basic, 6 weeks of Space 100, 6 weeks of MILSTAR training, and 4 weeks of on-the-floor training, so about six months total), I'll start Basic in July (double UGH about going to Texas in the summer). However, I don't know when John's shows are going to be yet (we're hoping to get at least a general idea this week), and if I have to, I can split up Basic and Tech School. Plus, after about a month of tech school, I should be able to go off-base on weekends if we have shows then. (John's trying to always schedule shows on weekends where possible until we start making enough that we can do full-time positions.) Both sides seem willing to be flexible as much as they can be, so we'll see how the cards get dealt, I guess. I don't HAVE to go to Basic in July - I technically have up to a year to start Basic - but I'm also pretty useless to my unit until I go through training, so of course, they don't encourage that, and I don't particularly enjoy being useless. I know there are going to be sacrifices, of course, but I can't really plan anything for certain until we get the show dates.

The rest of drill weekend was alright. I had to drive down to Channel Islands (down by Oxnard/Ventura) yesterday for another physical. Couldn't eat anything for twelve hours prior to blood being drawn, get up at 5:00a, on the road by 6:00a to be there at 8:00a, and the first thing they do is draw SEVEN vials of blood. Yeah, I did NOT get up from that chair very quickly (and my arm is still sore!). The rest of the day went pretty smoothly (the food at VAFB is a LOT better), and I was back in SM by 4:00p. Fell asleep reading in bed around 9:00p (REALLY early for me!), got up at 5:30a, on the road at 6:30a, and reported to VAFB at 7:00a today. We didn't do a lot today - just checked up on some of the paperwork trails, got a mini-tour of the base (I'd already been pretty much everywhere we went, except actually onto Minuteman Beach, which is really pretty), and that was about it. I'm supposed to get my military ID this week - most people don't get IDs until they go to Basic, but since ANG members are technically active and expected to report to various bases BEFORE they go to Basic, we can get ours early (which is awesome, because it means I don't have to pay admission when we go to Disneyland in a few weeks!). Next month us two non-priors are supposed to join a student flight with the 216th for some PT and rank structure/etiquette training (I know the rank structure, probably not the etiquette, though), I think. We'll see.

Trying to study for my 604 final and failing miserably. I fell asleep on the couch for an hour or so this afternoon and woke up to a nightmare involving one of my former second years. Weird. I have a symbol and a half done on the Illusion Scarf and I like it so far, although I think it's going to be both shorter and narrower than originally intended. I might have to do three repeats instead of two. I'm going to finish this second symbol (the heart) and then block it on the needles to get a better idea of how it will size out. I still need to finish Beck's baby blanket, too - I might take it to knitting at Panera tomorrow, even though I REALLY need to go to kickboxing again. Baby S's birthday party was Friday night and it was the first time I'd seen Mrs. S in for, like, ever. Been on the road or working on academic stuff too much lately and need to get back off my butt!

Random Good Mood

A lovely night, a lovely night!
A finer night you know you'll never see!
You meet a prince, a charming prince
As charming as a prince will ever be.
The stars in the hazy heavens tremble above you
While he is whisp'ring "Darling, I love you."
You say goodbye, away you fly
But on your lips you'll keep a kiss
All your life you'll dream of this
Lovely, lovely night...
-Cinderella