Actually going to *write* something now...

Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days. I've been both busy and not busy simultaneously, and every time I get on the computer at the end of the day with the intent of writing, it's either too late or I get kicked off the computer by Mom or I become distracted. The heat has also been sucking the energy right out of me. I'm not a heat person at all, and it's been around 100 degrees for the last while. Because I have to leave my room closed up due to the birds, it ends up SO HOT in here. ._.;

Let's see...most of the last few days have been uneventful, but I'll outline some random moments.

That jay I was supposedly getting? Well, Jacqui brought it over a couple days ago and--lo and behold--it turned out to be another blackbird! This was absolutely perfect, because it meant he could share a nest with the other blackbird, while the swallow (?) and goldfinch have their own nest. They're so cute--all the little guys I have are actually starting to look like their respective species instead of funny half-bald pincushions. XD;

Jacqui and I talked for a while about birds in general, I spotted my jays a couple of times (one of them was standing on the shed and even wanted me to feed him...silly), and...um, that was all of the early evening.

Mom was at work that night, so I was home alone. I was googling the name suffix "-tan" to figure out its origins (I had heard it in Densha Otoko, but wasn't entirely sure what it meant), and I ran across a page on an eleven-year-old girl who murdered her classmate, dubbed "Nevada-tan" by those on the internet. My morbidity shone through, and I ended up doing some research on her, just because criminal psychology fascinates me, especially in such a small child. But it also managed to creep me out a little, simply because I soon discovered she has a HUGE fanbase. People do pedophilic fanart of her, people cosplay as her, obsess on her... *Shudder* I sometimes wonder if these people realize exactly the grim reality that she killed someone. And her friend and classmate, too. I mean, I think it's really interesting and all from a psychological standpoint, but becoming a fan of a murderer? Sexually fantasizing about her, when she's eleven years old? That just seems to have crossed a boundry to me.

I was really starting to lose it a little that night. The phone had been ringing a lot that day, but it got to a point where I was hallucinating that the phone was ringing all the time... It was so weird. I was lying in bed, thinking the phone was ringing (so vividly on at least four occasions I got out of bed to peek out of my bedroom door to make sure it wasn't), and thinking about Nevada-tan and her fanbase and how strange the whole thing was. I don't know, I think my mind was distorted that night or something, because I didn't feel like I was entirely sane. Like...I felt almost like I was seeing Nevada-tan killing her victim and seeing glimpses into the minds of various people involved in it and...it was strange. I can't even describe it, so I won't try to. I have no idea why this particular case struck a chord in me--I watch tons of forensic shows and such, and they don't usually have this strange effect on me. It took me a while to fall asleep, though.

The day after that, I...er...fed the birds. Sat around. Read about more child murderers just because I was trying to figure out what triggers them. Ate sunflower seeds. I got a call about another jay, but the lady thought it was okay and said she couldn't get it to me 'til the next day.

At 6 PM, Mom gave me a ride to Sierra College for my assessment test, after we dropped the birds off at Joy's husband's work (Joy babysat them while I was at the test). We located the room where the test was taking place pretty easily, and I seated myself by some random girl. The English and Writing tests were *easy* (though I'm pretty sure the girl next to me was cheating off of me...blatantly ._.;). However, we were given a choice of math tests, so I decided to take the second-hardest one. At this point, I started really worrying because Makayla's dad was supposed to pick me up at 7:45 PM and Joy was supposed to drop the birds off at Dad's house at 8 PM, and when we started the math test it was 7:25 PM. Because I chose the hard test, I ended up getting out past eight. I ran around the campus for a while looking for Makayla's dad, but I eventually located him and he gave me a ride home. It was really nice of him to give me a ride. :)

I got home and luckily, Joy hadn't dropped off the little guys yet. I waited for about ten minutes and she came and dropped them off.

Yesterday...what did I do yesterday? Well, I sat on Dad's computer for quite a while. I was determined to get some drawing or writing done, but I ended up doing neither. I don't remember what I did, come to think of it. I went to Mom's at some point and...um...my memory fails me. ._.;

I do know Ryan and I went to the stables with Mom last night, though. There was this cute little goat following Ryan and I around, and I went around and petted all the horses, did a drawing of a horse, a border collie, and a cat on the whiteboard in the barn, looked at the stars, etc.

Before we went home, Mom insisted I try driving. There's an empty street where they're building houses across the street, so that's where I practiced. Uh...this was my first time driving anything bigger than a go-cart ever, so I sucked. I was terrible! I kept braking too abruptly, going too fast, not turning enough, and I couldn't turn around to save my life. XD;; Oh well--I guess I just need more practice...

When I finished that, I went home and took a shower and went to bed.

Today was mostly just a sit-around day, though there were a couple notable things.

For one, the Hilton at Anime Expo screwed up, so we might not have a reservation. It's making me very nervous, because now they're all sold out. We might get a room at the Marriot as backup, but it'll be a lot more expensive if we do and...there was a lot of flurrying about and freaking this morning. A lot.

I got a fledgling grosbeak today! He's really cute, but seems a bit stressed. Hopefully he'll perk up a little more tomorrow. He was quite happy to get some food down him. A lady and her two 4-5-year-old granddaughters dropped him off, and she was so nice I let them come in my room to see the babies. The lady said her daughter would be really interested in joining the organization, which would be so awesome. c.c;

The lady who was supposed to get the jay to me called a few times. Once when he collapsed, and once when he died. ;_; So, no jay now...

I did some AX-related searching today, and got ahold of all the schedules I need--both the gatherings and the actual schedule. I also talked to some people on the forums and such. I'm so excited! I hope we can get the Hilton to work out...

By the way, anyone who wants to come to AX--I have a spot in my car and hotel room open if anyone wants to come. It'll be about $120-140 for the hotel room/gas/everything for four nights, but you'll get a nice, peaceful, well-organized hotel room and my Mom will supply all food for the whole convention. I'm really hoping for another roommate, so...if anyone's up for it?

I worked a little on my costume tonight, too. I didn't do much, but I got the tail so it'll stand up and wag when I walk, and I also reinforced the tail so it definitely won't fall off. I considered fixing up the feet, but I think I'll do that tomorrow/another time. Earlier I talked on the phone to Zoe for a while, and...er...that's my day, in an out-of-order, sketchy way.

Oh, I guess I'm getting one more bird tomorrow morning, by the way. A lady called from a wedding (!) with a bird, but she couldn't find a ride out here for him (and she'd had a few drinks so she wasn't in fit condition to drive) so they're hopefully going to drop him off tomorrow. I just can't refuse these birds... If I get this one, I'll have eight. ^^; I figure it's good to have them in even numbers anyway, so no one's lonely. This guy can be the grosbeak's companion because the grosbreak is all alone at the moment.

Well, I need to go to bed... The birds'll wake me up early tomorrow as usual. ^^; Good night!

Actually going to *write* something now...

Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days. I've been both busy and not busy simultaneously, and every time I get on the computer at the end of the day with the intent of writing, it's either too late or I get kicked off the computer by Mom or I become distracted. The heat has also been sucking the energy right out of me. I'm not a heat person at all, and it's been around 100 degrees for the last while. Because I have to leave my room closed up due to the birds, it ends up SO HOT in here. ._.;

Let's see...most of the last few days have been uneventful, but I'll outline some random moments.

That jay I was supposedly getting? Well, Jacqui brought it over a couple days ago and--lo and behold--it turned out to be another blackbird! This was absolutely perfect, because it meant he could share a nest with the other blackbird, while the swallow (?) and goldfinch have their own nest. They're so cute--all the little guys I have are actually starting to look like their respective species instead of funny half-bald pincushions. XD;

Jacqui and I talked for a while about birds in general, I spotted my jays a couple of times (one of them was standing on the shed and even wanted me to feed him...silly), and...um, that was all of the early evening.

Mom was at work that night, so I was home alone. I was googling the name suffix "-tan" to figure out its origins (I had heard it in Densha Otoko, but wasn't entirely sure what it meant), and I ran across a page on an eleven-year-old girl who murdered her classmate, dubbed "Nevada-tan" by those on the internet. My morbidity shone through, and I ended up doing some research on her, just because criminal psychology fascinates me, especially in such a small child. But it also managed to creep me out a little, simply because I soon discovered she has a HUGE fanbase. People do pedophilic fanart of her, people cosplay as her, obsess on her... *Shudder* I sometimes wonder if these people realize exactly the grim reality that she killed someone. And her friend and classmate, too. I mean, I think it's really interesting and all from a psychological standpoint, but becoming a fan of a murderer? Sexually fantasizing about her, when she's eleven years old? That just seems to have crossed a boundry to me.

I was really starting to lose it a little that night. The phone had been ringing a lot that day, but it got to a point where I was hallucinating that the phone was ringing all the time... It was so weird. I was lying in bed, thinking the phone was ringing (so vividly on at least four occasions I got out of bed to peek out of my bedroom door to make sure it wasn't), and thinking about Nevada-tan and her fanbase and how strange the whole thing was. I don't know, I think my mind was distorted that night or something, because I didn't feel like I was entirely sane. Like...I felt almost like I was seeing Nevada-tan killing her victim and seeing glimpses into the minds of various people involved in it and...it was strange. I can't even describe it, so I won't try to. I have no idea why this particular case struck a chord in me--I watch tons of forensic shows and such, and they don't usually have this strange effect on me. It took me a while to fall asleep, though.

The day after that, I...er...fed the birds. Sat around. Read about more child murderers just because I was trying to figure out what triggers them. Ate sunflower seeds. I got a call about another jay, but the lady thought it was okay and said she couldn't get it to me 'til the next day.

At 6 PM, Mom gave me a ride to Sierra College for my assessment test, after we dropped the birds off at Joy's husband's work (Joy babysat them while I was at the test). We located the room where the test was taking place pretty easily, and I seated myself by some random girl. The English and Writing tests were *easy* (though I'm pretty sure the girl next to me was cheating off of me...blatantly ._.;). However, we were given a choice of math tests, so I decided to take the second-hardest one. At this point, I started really worrying because Makayla's dad was supposed to pick me up at 7:45 PM and Joy was supposed to drop the birds off at Dad's house at 8 PM, and when we started the math test it was 7:25 PM. Because I chose the hard test, I ended up getting out past eight. I ran around the campus for a while looking for Makayla's dad, but I eventually located him and he gave me a ride home. It was really nice of him to give me a ride. :)

I got home and luckily, Joy hadn't dropped off the little guys yet. I waited for about ten minutes and she came and dropped them off.

Yesterday...what did I do yesterday? Well, I sat on Dad's computer for quite a while. I was determined to get some drawing or writing done, but I ended up doing neither. I don't remember what I did, come to think of it. I went to Mom's at some point and...um...my memory fails me. ._.;

I do know Ryan and I went to the stables with Mom last night, though. There was this cute little goat following Ryan and I around, and I went around and petted all the horses, did a drawing of a horse, a border collie, and a cat on the whiteboard in the barn, looked at the stars, etc.

Before we went home, Mom insisted I try driving. There's an empty street where they're building houses across the street, so that's where I practiced. Uh...this was my first time driving anything bigger than a go-cart ever, so I sucked. I was terrible! I kept braking too abruptly, going too fast, not turning enough, and I couldn't turn around to save my life. XD;; Oh well--I guess I just need more practice...

When I finished that, I went home and took a shower and went to bed.

Today was mostly just a sit-around day, though there were a couple notable things.

For one, the Hilton at Anime Expo screwed up, so we might not have a reservation. It's making me very nervous, because now they're all sold out. We might get a room at the Marriot as backup, but it'll be a lot more expensive if we do and...there was a lot of flurrying about and freaking this morning. A lot.

I got a fledgling grosbeak today! He's really cute, but seems a bit stressed. Hopefully he'll perk up a little more tomorrow. He was quite happy to get some food down him. A lady and her two 4-5-year-old granddaughters dropped him off, and she was so nice I let them come in my room to see the babies. The lady said her daughter would be really interested in joining the organization, which would be so awesome. c.c;

The lady who was supposed to get the jay to me called a few times. Once when he collapsed, and once when he died. ;_; So, no jay now...

I did some AX-related searching today, and got ahold of all the schedules I need--both the gatherings and the actual schedule. I also talked to some people on the forums and such. I'm so excited! I hope we can get the Hilton to work out...

By the way, anyone who wants to come to AX--I have a spot in my car and hotel room open if anyone wants to come. It'll be about $120-140 for the hotel room/gas/everything for four nights, but you'll get a nice, peaceful, well-organized hotel room and my Mom will supply all food for the whole convention. I'm really hoping for another roommate, so...if anyone's up for it?

I worked a little on my costume tonight, too. I didn't do much, but I got the tail so it'll stand up and wag when I walk, and I also reinforced the tail so it definitely won't fall off. I considered fixing up the feet, but I think I'll do that tomorrow/another time. Earlier I talked on the phone to Zoe for a while, and...er...that's my day, in an out-of-order, sketchy way.

Oh, I guess I'm getting one more bird tomorrow morning, by the way. A lady called from a wedding (!) with a bird, but she couldn't find a ride out here for him (and she'd had a few drinks so she wasn't in fit condition to drive) so they're hopefully going to drop him off tomorrow. I just can't refuse these birds... If I get this one, I'll have eight. ^^; I figure it's good to have them in even numbers anyway, so no one's lonely. This guy can be the grosbeak's companion because the grosbreak is all alone at the moment.

Well, I need to go to bed... The birds'll wake me up early tomorrow as usual. ^^; Good night!