Lots of stuff! TL;DR, so consider yourselves warned.

[pacificpikachu]

I have so many things to write about tonight... Bulleted!

* NaNoWriMo is over! Yes, I did win, so yay! I feel bad, though, because my feelings on my novel are rather neutral and I am somewhat sick of working on it. I'll probably read it over in a week or so to see if it's even worth continuing, but at the moment... I just never got as engaged in it as I was hoping to. I must admit I'm a little happy NaNo is over this year... I have so much going on and so little motivation that it'll be nice to have that extra time. As well as the fact that I can now concentrate on writing whatever else I feel like writing. I wish I had been more enthusiastic about NaNo this year, but...oh well, at least I did it. I certainly don't regret doing it; I just regret that I was less enthusiastic this year about the experience in general.

* I've been rewatching Mysterious Ways. I seriously forgot how much I love this series. ;___; ♥ THE CHARACTERS. I LOVE THEM. Totally still have a crush on Declan, L-LOL. I just finished The Ties That Bind, which is the eighth episode (out of forty-four) and...gah, I love that episode. Amazing. For those who don't know, which is most of you, that episode of Mysterious Ways is where I got my 528 obsession! Yep, where it all began and the 528 thing is still continuing eight years later (having been spread to nearly every one of my RL friends).

I do recommend it to anyone who's up for checking it out. It's about a goofy, enthusiastic Anthropology professor named Declan Dunn who investigates so-called miraculous phenomena with the help of Peggy, a skeptical psychiatrist, and Miranda, a quirky, brilliant Physicist. The characters are all kinds of lovable and the series is moving and very well-written. Some episodes are better than others and the series occasionally gets a bit too sentimental, but almost all of the episodes are amazing and there are always great twists at the end of each episode. ♥ Several of the episodes in particular are downright incredible or heartwrenching or just plain uplifting. If you think you might like it, finding torrents is now not too difficult (YESSSS! Only took six years) and I would love to have other people to fangirl it with. Here's the wiki in case you want to read more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Ways_(TV_series)

* Other than the glee of Mysterious Ways, I've been feeling kind of...discontent lately. Not a lot, but enough that I think it's time for a nice, long deconstruction of feelings! (That's what LiveJournal is for, right?) I don't know what it is, but I still feel really...stuck in a rut, for lack of a better way to put it. I'm almost starting to wonder if I really am depressed or something, because I feel like with a few exceptions like being fangirlish about things, I just can't seem to keep up a whole lot of motivation or even enthusiasm. I can only seem to sleep between 3 AM and 1 PM, and if I try to get less sleep than that or try to move to a different schedule I fail and feel exhausted all day. Even when I do get enough sleep, I just feel kind of...blah the vast majority of the time. I just sit on the computer and refresh pages and read entries that I sometimes can't even find the energy to comment on.

I think it doesn't help that I feel like I keep getting minorly disappointed by things, and then I start feeling a bit isolated and unappreciated as a result. Several of my close RL friends who I used to spend a lot of time with moved down to San Francisco months ago and I think I miss them more than I realize. Everyone who is here is busy or I just never initiate contact for reasons unknown to even myself. I'm looking forward to having classes with KK next semester because I think that'll help the loneliness, and I'll have more time to hang out with people over break, but for now it seems like I'm alone more than I like to be. Which is saying a lot, because I'm an introvert and I can go quite a bit without people and still be perfectly content.

I've made plans with people (friends, other NaNo writers, and so on) a bunch of times only to have the plans canceled most of the time, and even my parents keep telling me we'll go places or do things and then backing out of them. I don't want to sound like an attention whore because I don't think I am most of the time, but even online I feel like I make an effort to talk to people and be a good friend and in a lot of cases I just get ignored in return. This is NOT true in all cases by any means--many of you comment a lot, we have great exchanges, and I feel like we have a great mutual friendship, and I hope you realize that means a lot to me--but I still feel like, in my life, I often put out more effort than other people and receive less back than they do.

Not just in friendships, but in other things, too. For a silly, insignificant example (and I do realize how petty this is, yes), on Deviantart I have not even 2000 pageviews. I do not mean this in an egotistical way because I'm actually pretty insecure about my art and often feel frustrated by my artistic shortcomings, but I do believe I am better than a lot of the artists there. And yet, consistently, I see people who are pretty unskilled, sometimes downright awful, with 20,000 page views, or 40,000, or 150,000... And I don't get it. I'll see crummy half-assed drawings of Umbreon with 500-1000 favorites, and I'll spend hours drawing what I'm pretty sure is a great Umbreon drawing and get, oh, 6-7 favorites perhaps.

It seems to be like that in a lot of areas of my life, I think. Not all of them, certainly, and overall I am content with and thankful for what I have, but it's still hard when I feel like I put so much time and effort into things and get little to no feedback or attention, when other people put way less effort or time into the same things and get spades of attention. I don't get it. I just want to be acknowledged, too.

I don't even know what to do. I want my energy back. I want to spend time with real people on at least a somewhat more regular basis. I want to be reminded, without having to ask for it or prompting it, that people care about me and that I am good at things I do. I know people do care about me--lots of people--but I can't help but feel isolated anyway. I want to go out and accomplish things and get my license (I'm getting quite good at driving now) and get a job, but my motivation to do so is rather short-lived if it comes up at all. I want to go to classes and do my homework without feeling like it's torture because I'd rather be sleeping or doing nothing at all on the computer for hours and hours.

Anyway, I don't know what's up. Might rant more in the next few days, we'll see. Also feeling rather discontent about humanity in general after seeing another fur farm video that will haunt me forever.

Happier entry coming soon! I have some most excellent purikura pictures to share. XD

In the meantime, I think I will ponder what my shipping preferences are in Mysterious Ways. Hmmmm.

I need to get back on watching the Fall anime as well! There is so, so, so much I need to see and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be confusing trying to juggle downloading and watching all of it!

Comments

[grimmerlove.livejournal.com]

This is the most OT comment ever, but Ginkooo. I love him. ;~;

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I know, Ginko is awesome! ♥

[grimmerlove.livejournal.com]

We're watching Mushishi in SPAMM and he's so adorable.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I love Mushishi so much. :D It's one of my favorite series! Actually, once this semester gets out I think I'll be doing a nice rewatch of the series. There's almost nothing better than sitting on the couch all snug in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate or tea when it's raining outside watching Mushishi. (Specific, huh? XD)

I need a teal deer icon

[wao.livejournal.com]

What you seem to have sounds a bit like what I have, I think. I dunno. I too read lots of entries I'd like to comment on but just can't bring myself to... Somewhere in my brain I think it's too much trouble to think clearly and write something that doesn't sound totally stupid or insincere, and it's not like I have anything interesting to say (well I'm trying to make an effort here at least) ...Well even with this comment I can't make myself concentrate enough to write it properly. Oh well.

I have the same problem of not having talked to anyone "in real life" apart from my mum... The whole year I talked to practically nobody in school as most people in my class don't even understand English properly anyway, and by August most of my friends had moved overseas or started uni (even before that many of them had part-time jobs). So I haven't talked to them in ages, heck for a good few months I haven't been able to have a real nice, good conversation. But then it's partly a vicious cycle as well, since I don't make any attempt to break out of things and keep in occasional contact with friends via, say, Skype or go get a job or you know.. help myself.
Doesn't help that when I'm not involved in anything I don't feel compelled to do nuts, but then I have a feeling even if I got thrown into anything I probably just won't care about it anymore. :/

Whatever it is though, I'm dead sure you'll get your energy back. I'd bet on it. I don't know why or anything, and it's not even a kind of encouragement (who knows if it's something bad that triggers a return of energy and motivation?) but... I doubt you'll let it go away. I think you'd have to forget a lot about who you are and what you believe, and you'd have to - to be blunt - stop thinking a lot to really lose energy for a long, long period of time. ...meh, I"m just assuming way too much for my own good. I suppose I don't care in the long run or I'd have deleted all that. Anyway, I think it'd be nice to go meet up with friends and just talk to them about anything you care about - serious live articulation and active thought can trigger a return of energy sometimes. It has worked for me before, anyway.

Go paint a deer teal then and use it as an icon! XD

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think it is similar, though I think mine is more insidious, or underlying, perhaps. I'm pretty happy most of the time, but then it just hits me at certain times and I feel unhappy with how things are going and my lack of energy. And that sounds a lot like how I feel in regards to the comments, too. I'll try to be thoughtful and say meaningful things, but a lot of times my thoughts are too vague or jumbled so I don't write anything at all, or I write something and think it just sounds, like you said, stupid or insincere.

You know, I think the lack of interaction with other people might be a piece of both of our problems. It sounds kind of weird, but I think it's harder to have a strong sense of self or purpose when you don't talk to many people; human beings exist in relation to one another, and when you remove that relational aspect I think it's easier to become lost in your own mind so much that things get sort of...distorted? If that makes sense. The language barrier must be troublesome to deal with, and I certainly understand being alone due to friends moving away. It is hard to break the cycle for me, too. I find I avoid making contact with people for no apparent reason, and then when I do end up spending time with friends I feel a bit better and more upbeat.

And thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. I do think my energy will return, eventually--it's just a matter of waiting until then and trying to keep at least a little motivated.

Like I've said before, you're a great friend and an interesting person, even if you think otherwise. Don't lose hope. I'm looking forward to most likely seeing you in January! That should be a lot of fun. Hahaha, finally we can be TEAL DEER in real life!

[tonko.livejournal.com]

::acknowledges you:: :) I haven't commented much in a while because I was having mild disgruntlement about my own NaNo FAIL. Not a good excuse!

I suffered from pretty epic NaNo fail this year, due to time mismanagement from WoW, however, now that it's over, I almost think that's okay, because I remember being sick of my story last year, and this time I'm not, so I still think about it and I do believe I'm far more likely to work on it further. Silver lining? >.>

but it's still hard when I feel like I put so much time and effort into things and get little to no feedback or attention, when other people put way less effort or time into the same things and get spades of attention. I don't get it. I just want to be acknowledged, too.

That's not an irrational feeling at all, it's natural. Annoying (Because wouldn't we all like to be perfectly fulfilled by our own estimation of our work!) but natural. Don't feel bad if you growl a bit at people with crappy art. I have the same reaction to crappy fanfic!

And potential driving test in the future, hey? Good luck, when that comes around. :D I'm scared shitless of driving, so kudos to you.

I want to go to classes and do my homework without feeling like it's torture because I'd rather be sleeping or doing nothing at all on the computer for hours and hours.

I can't help you there. I always hated homework, except for the one time I randomly skipped a class for a course I didn't like, that turned out to be the midterm day. I lied to the prof about having been sick, and she let me do a big essay to replace my mark. I worked on THAT lemme tell you.

I need to get back on watching the Fall anime as well! There is so, so, so much I need to see and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be confusing trying to juggle downloading and watching all of it!

Methinks you have energy for stuff you like, that takes no effort, and no energy for work you NEED to do, which does [take effort], judging by your sudden enthusiasm, lol. I am exactly the same. Work = suck, fun/fandom = yay!

ETA: Wow, that sentence was kinda incoherent first time round. Apparently it's too early over here for me to be commenting. o_O

(By the way, I've dropped pkmncollectors from my flist, because I seriously need to resist temptation for a while--tis the season to buy stuff for OTHER people, you know? That said if you spot something super rare you think I might be interested in, ping me or something? ::still weak at heart::)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I know you do, and thank you so much for being a good friend! :) I've always enjoyed commenting back and forth with you about writing, Pokémon, and everything else!

It's too bad NaNo didn't go for you this year, but it is good (and encouraging) that you still think about it and want to write it. I hope you're able to get more done when you get a chance and WoW isn't beckoning at you in a tempting manner. XD

And yep, it sounds like you hit the nail on the head. I can do things and be enthusiastic--but only if they don't take much effort. The second something becomes an obligation or requires a lot of effort, I want nothing to do with it. This is normal I suppose, but it's odd for me because normally, while I don't enjoy doing my work, I still do it without it being that big of a deal. Now I have to absolutely force myself if I do it at all. :/ Maybe I'm just burned out or something.

I'll let you know if anything pops up on pkmncollectors! I would do that if I was smart, but I'm not. XD Plus I love that community too much to be without it for even a short time. Anything in particular you want me to look out for?

[tonko.livejournal.com]

You do sound like you're always going ten miles a second, and staying up to all kinds of hours, so I would not be at all surprised if your energy was kinda low! Or intermittent, I guess, may be more accurate. Maybe you should try giving yourself a carrot on a stick, and dangle some fun things that you will enjoy in front of yourself while you slog through homework and stuff.

And I'll can it with the advice now, 'cause that's overstepping (hard not to though, you know? One would like one's friends to enjoy life, so one is compelled to meddle annoyingly). But don't forget to eat all your veggies, they're good for you! And hug something cuddly and alive at least once a day, it's therapeutic! And make sure you get enough natural light, or you'll get Seasonal Affective Disorder! And--::stuffs sock in own mouth::

::dislodges sock::

For the collecting... well, any big group zukan auctions, I think I'd wanna know about. I'm still trying to get 'em all for that set, and there are plenty I still need (big ones like Dragonite, little ones like Stantler). Oh and if you still browse on ye olde YJ auctions... Wailord is certainly one I'm out for!

Oh, and this is really belated, but Snorlax plushie arrived last week, and he's lovely and squashable <3

[ensuing.livejournal.com]

First, congrats on completeing NaNoWriMo!!

I'm sorry to hear your plans keep being grounded. I know how that can be really saddening and annoying. When it happens to me, I always feel like I'm doing something wrong or maybe my friends hate me or something, but I don't think that's case (most of the time). I wish we lived closer together then we could totally chill and do cool things. =(

And for DA, HOLY CRAP, I KNOW, RIGHT? I can spend forever on something, post it, and get a couple comments and favs, but then something that looks half as good (and I think my art generally looks pretty bad) will get ten times that! I think maybe people like us don't whore ourselves out as much as others? I'm not sure. Or we don't cause drama which gets people on our pages. Whatever it is, I HATE IT. My art might not be great, but damn do I like my ego fed.

Good luck on regaining your energy. Hopefully you're just in a temporary slump and will bounce back soon. I'm sorry I'm not very good at giving advice or encouragement, but I'm always here for you. Just know that you'll never be alone!

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

Yes, it can be really disappointing when people drop plans all the time... I'll get a little paranoid about that, too, though mostly I know that's not true. I wish we lived closer, too! I think we would make great hang-out buddies and have so much to talk about. :D

I DON'T GET DA! I think you're right about people attention whoring themselves and causing drama to get pageviews, but it's still baffling to me. I mean, why do these mediocre or downright crummy things get so many favorites? I found one girl with completely awesome art, she had been a member longer than me, and she had only around 1000 pageviews...and meanwhile, I seriously find people who post their godawful MS Paint doodles and have 40,000 views and all these comments. O__o; It seems to be the same thing with fanfiction as well, which makes it doubly confusing.

Thank you so much for the encouragement, and for being a good friend to me in the time we've known each other! I feel like you have a really positive energy and a lot of enthusiasm. :) I'm always here for you as well if you ever need to talk or anything. ♥

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

♥

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

♥ to you, too! Thank you for being a good friend through all these years, Chelsea.

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

Congrats on completing NaNo. :) Isn't the purpose writing it and not the quality? You can always go back and edit it. I know there are very few people who actually make the word count so you should feel proud.

And I think your art is all really nice. You definitely have a good knack for drawing animals. And although I am not a Pokemon fan I think all your art for that series is really nice as well. Did you ever create an original fantasy creature? For some reason reason I think you would be really good at that.

edit: And I understand about the friend thing. Most of my friends live in the city but I can't afford to at the moment. And while I do see them, they get together a lot without me for random things because they do live so close. And while I like being alone a lot because I am also an introvert, I do feel left out at times and I wish I could live closer to them all.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, the purpose is definitely quantity over quality, though with this story the reason I would feel it's beyond salvation is that it takes a good 38,000 words before anything happens. I mean, the things before that are all important, but the pacing of the novel is just... Weird. I will go back and read it, though, and hopefully it'll be better than I expect it to be. :) I think that tends to be the case a lot of the time--I'm hard on myself when writing it, and once I read it over I find it's not as bad as I thought.

Thank you again! (This is going to be a commonly used phrase in this comment, I can tell.) I would like to create an original fantasy creature, but so far I haven't. Perhaps one of these days when I'm feeling more inventive!

It can be difficult living far from your friends... I'm definitely an introvert and fine with spending the vast majority of my time alone, but being alone is good only to a certain point, I think. I hope you're able to live closer to them soon, or at least see them more. ♥ And thank you for all of your thoughtful and kind comments. I've always felt like you're really easy to talk to and very understanding and sweet. :)

[bjango.livejournal.com]

I CARE WAIFU! D'''''''''''''''':
Hang in there! I know exactly how you feel, and I feel exactly the same way too when I lose contact with the outside world and rot away in my room. I get crazy depressed and feel like life's a big, fat waste of time. Just keep remembering that this isn't a permanent state, and you'll get through it BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE MY ONE AND ONLY SPOUSE! REALLY! I know it's hard, but keep at your studies, transfer to Davis, and once you get on out into the world you'll feel a lot better, I'm sure of it. ;p <(The Morita smiley compels you to be happy)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, WAIFU! ♥ I'M SO GLAD I MARRIED YOU. XD

Yes, I think being alone in my room all the time is definitely a big factor. That, coupled with my bizarre sleep schedule causes a lot of disconnect from the rest of the world which is generally not a good thing. :(

And I agree--I think I'll be happier once I get doing more things and seeing people again. I MISS YOU! COME VISIT SOMETIME SOON!

[mei-san.livejournal.com]

First of all, congrats on your novel!!! Come on, writing 50K words is a huge accomplishment. I don't think I have written anything that long. It really makes me wonder who professional writers do it.....of course you get excited at first about your ideas, but sticking to that schedule with expected word counts each day is a lot of work @__@; You know come to think of it NaNoWriMo is a good idea because people cannot really procrastinate.

You know, sometimes I feel the same about my life too. I have the same sleeping pattern as you do, so often times I would skip class/plans because I cannot get up early enough. The only difference is that I sleep 12+ hours once I sleep....I don't even know why I sleep so much. Maybe I'm just depressed and in denial about it. Maybe it's just pure laziness, lack of motivation in life. My schoolwork suffers due to my nocturnal sleeping cycle. I've tried many times to revert my sleeping schedule to normal, but kinda failing. I suppose it's all a matter of self-discipline.

Doing sports have worked for me in the past. It keeps me active and happy (if only for while). The only downside is that I'm not very athletic and it's depressing to see other people are so much better than me. But working hard and striving to improve myself....that's the feeling I miss the most (and I suppose I should apply that to my schoolwork more) -- perseverance I should say. That's one reason that I greatly respect athletes...darn what was my point again? Doing sports gave me the most energy in my life....not sure what works for you. Sorry for babbling here -___-;

Yeah, DA is kinda retarded in that regard, but I think a big thing about art is promoting it. Maybe those people just happens to have people commenting more and know more people?? DA is kinda like a community in that respect. Either way, I think your art is great! I think promoting/pimping (lol) them is important too...like post them on a pokemon community if you're drawing a pokemon or whatnot. I'm pretty sure you'd get lots of constructive comments that way (at least that's what a lot of fans/doujin artists do....)

And yes, friends are wonderful. It bites to have plans canceled. Often times I try to be understanding. I understand that people my age are prone to flakiness and procrastination. But holiday season is coming and I'm sure people would not have any excuses to not hang out haha. And I wish you the best :)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! It is a big accomplishment, though it feels smaller because it's broken up into manageable pieces. The lack of ability to procrastinate is one of the reasons I like it--it forces me to actually write on a daily basis no matter what my energy level or thoughts on what I'm writing are, haha. It's hard work, though, and it's sometimes difficult to predict what sort of story it'll turn out being (and this one, though I originally thought it was going to be fast-paced and light, was super slow).

I sleep that much a lot of the time as well. I think our sleeping patterns are probably to blame at least partially for these weird moods and motivation problems. Or maybe we both are depressed, I don't know. But maybe, once class is out for the semester, I will make a big effort to change my schedule and hope I have the self-discipline to follow through with it. If you want to try it at the same time, maybe we could help keep each other on schedule!

Ah, I should definitely get more exercise, but I don't like sports. I think it's a matter of me finding a way to get exercise that I enjoy. I know I like birdwatching and I could walk around doing that, but I tend to get bored because I've seen most of the birds in our area and it's like I have to be mentally stimulated when I'm exercising otherwise I get really bored. I definitely do think that would make a difference, too, if I could find a way to feel more excited about it. I'll have to do some thinking on it. :)

Thank you, and that is a good point about DA! Perhaps if I get a little more aggressive in my promotion of my art I'd get more views. I guess I'm just kind of meek about it, though, and I don't want to seem obnoxious about it. ^^; I do post my art occasionally on LJ communities, but I think a lot of those aren't very active, or again they just don't get many comments. Ahaha, maybe if I start drawing more sickeningly cute things people will pay more attention. XD

Canceled plans are no good. :/ It doesn't bother me that much, but when a bunch of them happen in a row it gets frustrating. I do think things will get better once school gets out, though--I know I have a few anime marathons and whatnot planned. :)

Thanks for all your sweet comments! You're a great person and someone I think I get along with really well. We should try to meet IRL sometime, seeing as you've a fellow Californian.

[mei-san.livejournal.com]

Yup yup!! I would love to meet you IRL too. Maybe sometimes next year. I'll be stranded in Socal the whole winter break, and before that is finals, so can't really make time right now. :/

Sure we can work on chaning our schedules together when the semester is over! Can't really do it right now -___- during exams time I get virtually no sleep. T__T And I'll be home so I'm pretty sure my dad would inflict physical pain if I don't wake up before noon...haha he usually pulls my ears when I ignore his calls. Come to think of it, that hurts~~~~

And the sad truth about being an artist is that one has to draw to please the viewers at some point....yeah I kinda understand why BL doujins/fics for say, a mainstream anime/manga get so much attention (in LJ at least). But you have a good point, it depends greatly on whether the fandom is currently active or not.

[hitchi.livejournal.com]

Congrats on NaNo! =DD

I'm not sure if any of this will be helpful, especially since I struggle with some of this myself, but...

Really, our generation is so flaky, and it's truly becoming a very bad pandemic. I don't get why people think it's okay to cancel at the last minute just because they don't "feel like it," it being whatever the plans were. Regardless, try not to let it get to you too badly because you are the better, more reliable person for keeping your word about your plans. People should recognize it that think better of you for it, even if they don't always seem to appreciate it. The key is not letting them take advantage of you for that good quality, so don't be afraid to be assertive. ("If you have other things you'd rather do, that's fine, but just tell me now so that I can make other plans.") It is really frustrating when people always cancel, but it also helps you determine who your good friends are.

Changing your sleep schedule is a very gradual thing, and it will probably take at least a couple weeks before you stop feeling tired during the day even if you get plenty of sleep. I think the best remedy you can try is being active in the morning (or when you first wake up), and then you might feel less inclined to laze around later, or at least not feel as bad about doing it.

Don't worry about dA; it, like almost all sites on which it is even possible to get tens or hundreds of thousands of views, is filled with n00bs and scrubs. I (and I'm sure your other friends here) acknowledge that you undoubtedly ARE a much better artist than the majority of dA'ers, but the lack of n00b recognition doesn't change how awesome you are! They just don't know what they're missing.

Ultimately, though, if you do think you even might be depressed, it doesn't hurt to get screened. Then, at the least, you could get some professional advice (better than ours! ^^) , if not some other alleviation. Also, have you considered transferring to a school at which you could live in the dorms? I know it's a very big change, but living in close proximity to many other people of the same age and more like-minded (generally more liberal, smarter, and nerdier), can really, really help. I mean, you know what my journal used to be like and what it's like now; sure, I still get depressed now and then (I cried and wanted to bury myself a couple nights ago), but overall I'm a much happier person. That might just be the change you need. There's plenty of time to be all anti-social on the computer and stuff, too, so even though it's a big change, you still have your refuges. I don't know if it's viable fo ryou or not, but something to consider.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I agree about our generation being flaky, but in most causes with my friends, the change in plans is kind of beyond their control. Things such as parents springing plans on them, work calling them in, having to study for a big exam... Things like that. It's almost more irritating that way, because then it's not as though there's anything I can do to change it. .__.

I like the idea of being active after I wake up! I think I'll start trying to implement that. :)

Thank you! I'm glad you think so. LOL, yeah, that's definitely the truth about DA. Same goes for FanFiction.Net--where the absolute worst things get a thousand reviews and the good stuff gets maybe two. It is a bit irritating, though, because I'll spend hours on something and then post it, hoping for a slightly larger response, and then when I don't get that sort of response by a long shot it's a little disappointing. I have been joining a few DA clubs recently to post my art to, so perhaps that'll boost the response a little. :)

You know, I wonder sometimes if I might be depressed, but I do think it's more a matter of lifestyle than anything else. I mean, I have a bizarre sleep schedule, spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer, hardly see my friends at all, don't get much exercise...it's no wonder I get a bit gloomy sometimes.

Hmmm, I don't know about the dorm option. I don't like the idea of not being able to choose a roommate, not being able to have animals there (I can't live without pets!), and I'm almost sure my grades would plummet because I have awful time management skills when there are fun things to be doing instead of studying. XD Perhaps I'll get an apartment with a roommate or something when I go to Davis (next fall, probably), though.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts, and for being a good friend through all these years! ♥