Float Away

faymosamos @ 2009-06-14T15:17:00

2009-06-14T22:19:28Z

Very very excited! I've been working on a bunch of new songs, and I was finally able to borrow a mic from a friend..... maybe I'll finally be able to get a decent recording done!!

The cons of trying to be healthy

2008-02-11T17:55:26Z

So this past month or so, I've been making passive attempts at becoming more healthy. Such as going to sleep earlier, eating less greasy foods, thinking about exercising...

Last night I decided that I would use a more aggressive approach. I figured I would start with little things and gradually build it up. Like exercising in little increments - a few minutes here and there. And eating breakfast.

So, I stretched before going to bed, and woke up quite refreshed at 6:30 this morning. Got ready for work, and had a banana for breakfast around 7:15.

It is now past 9:30 almost 2.5 hours since breakfast, and I am STARVING!!!!

There's a Subway and a Starbucks right next door, but there's no way to get any food because I'm the only person at work, and I can't leave the place unattended.

Maybe I'll start gnawing on my arm...

faymosamos @ 2007-11-28T20:24:00

2007-11-29T04:29:04Z

School, work, and just life in general is draining me so much that I haven't been able to do much but dream about sleeping for weeks on end. Worry about the holiday season at work is taking up most of my brain space, and the rest is occupied by school/life.

So it's strange... I'm suddenly struck by how much I miss writing.

Tarantula cookies! :D

2007-10-27T17:23:50Z

In the spirit of Halloween, here are pictures of the Tarantula Cookies I made a week and a half ago... aren't they adorable?

Spiders all over the table! ... there would have been more tarantulas, but my mom and cousin snagged a few.

Close-up

A blurry pic of the tarantula I've nicknamed "Joey"... after my brother. I think I ate that one. ^_^

Uh-Oh...

2007-10-23T16:33:21Z

Gah!!!

*runs around like headless chicken*

I have a midterm and a paper due middle of this week... Wednesday and Thursday... *gulp*... TOMORROW! and I can't focus!!

I keep thinking that I have time... I'll study later. BUT I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!

What is wrong with me?

Also, I keep reading the same lines over and over again, but nothing I'm reading registers in my brain. Part of me is panicking, but the other part of me doesn't care and keeps thinking... "Sleeeeeep... need sleep..."

I need to shake myself out of this. I can sleep this weekend.

*hits head repeatedly against wall*

... am I burning out already?

Twitch

2007-10-11T16:13:13Z

I am so exhausted. Mentally, physically, and emotionally.

For the past week and a half my left eye has been twitching nonstop. At first, I thought to myself "Cool... I'm twitching!" because I'm weird like that.

But now it's just getting ridiculously annoying.

I think the mountain-loads of reading I'm doing for classes and lack of sleep has something to do with my spasming eye... just a little. ^_^

I am officially addicted to caffeine. If I don't have my daily dose of caffeine, I get a splitting headache. Definitely not a good sign.

I've been trying to cut back by not drinking any in the morn, but then I get sleepy and can't study/work, so I rush out and chug two shots of coffee, which makes me wired, so I study/work frantically for a few hours before I start to crash, but then it's time for classes, so I rush out to get some more shots of coffee, and... it's a vicious cycle.

Boxes have taken over my room!

I was in the middle of trying to make the switch from summer clothes to autumn/winter clothes when I got really sleepy. So I took a nap.

I haven't had time to sort through anything since.

I think I'll leave the boxes out for a while... make a fashion statement for my room. I think it looks nice having boxes stacked in the middle of my room.

It's like having my very own personal Leaning Tower of Pisa. :P

Over-worked and over-stressed

2007-10-04T04:35:22Z

Classes are kicking my ass... and it's only the middle of the second week of the school year!

>.<

I've been studying my ass off, and I'm still behind on all my readings. Which means I've been running on low sleep, low energy, and tons of caffeine. Not to mention work.

On the bright side, I'm enjoying all my classes. ^_^

To congratulate myself for finishing a paper, I decided to veg out a little tonight. Meaning I ate a crap load of candy along with half a large pizza, lots of yummy chocolate chip cookies, and even more junk food. All on my own.

I think I'm going to puke.

this weekend is going to be "catch-up" reading... that is... if I make it to the weekend without my brain exploding.

Fall Term begins

2007-09-25T01:29:09Z

Finished first day of classes!

Mon and Wed:
Fantasy & the Canon (also on Fri)
The Short Story
Critical Approach to Literature

Tue and Thur:
The Bible as Literature
Desktop Publishing

Which means I only have one class on Fridays!! No more early morning classes every single day of the week... this term my earliest class start at 12:45 pm. No am classes! Yay me! :D

Hmm... hopefully I won't drop any of these classes later in the term. I want to graduate, damn't!

*hurries off to start on readings*

Hair Woes

2007-09-05T23:52:04Z

OI!

I just got a haircut a couple of days ago.

At first, after they cut it, washed it, and styled it, I thought "It looks pretty cool. I like it - I look more mature... more my age."

My cousin took one look at my hair and said "You look japanese."

"I've always looked like that... do you like it?"

"You look younger."

*headdesk*

And now, when I look at it, it resembles one thing: a mullet.

A MULLET!!!

>.<

And I really liked my hair before I cut it. It was long - down to the middle of my back - straight, and it didn't look like a mullet

The thing is, I don't think my new haircut would be too bad... if only I knew how to style it. I just don't know what to do with it because I don't know how to use hair products.

It's a very japanesey hair cut. It is now shoulder length with a lot of volume/layers on the top part, then it tapers down so that there's barely any hair at my shoulders.... hence the mullet.

*sigh*

I'm going to give it a few more days, and if I can't figure out a way to make it look less... what's the word... mullety, then I'm going to go to a hair salon and ask them to chop off the bottom part. :P

No mullet for Ames, no sirree!

^_^

There's nothing like being sick

2007-08-18T09:04:10Z

Am very sick.... again.

I've been very sick for the past two and a half weeks (with the flu/cold), but nothing was that serious until this morning. I woke up, and the lymph nodes on the side of my neck right under my jaw were swollen visibly... along with a fever that started the night before.

It royally sucks that I'm in such a condition, but at the same time, I really appreciate it (as strange as it sounds) because I can tell how much my entire family (both immediate and extended, nearby and across the Pacific Ocean) love me. They've done all they could to help me, and I feel so lucky to be a part of such a wonderful clan.

Now if only I can get well right away...

A wonderful surprise

2007-07-29T00:00:28Z

I finally have the last Harry Potter book!!!

I wasn't going to buy the book until the end of summer when all my classes have finished, and I actually have time to read, but my plans were ruined by my family.

My brother called me Friday afternoon to confirm that I haven't gotten the book yet - he was getting it for me and would be bringing it back home with him when he came back for the weekend.

Then Friday night, my parents told me that they had a surprise for me. My response was: Is it edible? They just laughed and told me that the surprise would make me smile. ^_^ It turned out that they had gotten me Deathly Hallows!!

Alas... I want to read it... it's tempting me. And I've been carrying the book around with me everywhere, but I don't have TIME to read!!! At least not anything non-school related.

Somehow, I've read three chapters so far... during my lunch break at work. And I so desperately want to finish the rest. But I've got a huge pile of reading and writing to do.

And there the Harry Potter book sits... beckoning me to procrastinate and be irresponsible.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

^_^

(silly me)

Glorious Day!!!

2007-07-26T18:14:38Z

... and then there was wireless internet at home...

Whee!! Look at how fast the internet goes! No more slow dial up for Ames!! ^_^

Just another day at work...

2007-06-30T20:20:29Z

Work is generally a fun atmosphere for me. The type of fun I had while doing homework when I was very young. (I know... strange, eh?)

An elderly gentleman walked into the store today, looking a bit out of sorts. I greeted him brightly, and he glared at me. After perusing the store a bit, he asked me if we sold two-cent stamps.

"Of course!" I replied, opening the drawer we store the stamps in. "How many do you need? A book of two-cent stamps has twenty stamps."

"I don't need that many stamps." He growled at me.

"Ok... How many would you like?" I smiled at him, and waited patiently for his answer.

"Give me two dollars worth of two-cent stamps."

"Oh." I paused and looked at the stamps I was holding in my hand. "Each book is only fifty cents."

"I don't need an entire book of stamps, damn't!! I only need ten stamps!" His face started getting very red.

"Well-" I started to try to explain to him that two dollars worth of stamps would equal four books of stamps.

"Forget it." He stormed out of the store, muttering about how inept I was.

o.O

I'm so lucky I get to work with grumpy people.

^_^

2007-06-19T01:27:22Z

Because I was bored...

You Are An Orange Girl

You live in the fast lane. You love action, risk, and competition.
You're spontaneous, enthusiastic, and persuasive.
But you're also easily bored - and love to rebel against structures.
You resent rules ... as well as people's attempts to control you!

What Color Girl Are You?

Your Beauty Element is Air

You're quirky, fresh, and fashionable in a surprising way.
You have a beauty that's all your own, and it changes as quickly as the wind!

What's Your Beauty Element?

Your True Birth Month Is January

Loyal
Social
Logical
Easily jealous
Loves children
Rather reserved
Highly attentive
Likes to criticize
Needs close friends
Ambitious and serious
Smart, neat and organized
Hardworking and productive
Loves to teach and be taught
Quiet unless excited or tensed
Sensitive and has deep thoughts
Knows how to make others happy
Searches for the greatest romance
Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds
Romantic but has difficulties expressing love
Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses

What's Your True Birth Month?

You Are 31% Misanthropic

You're a little misanthropic - but who isn't? Your reactions to other people are pretty normal.
You enjoy being friendly with people you encounter, but if you're having a rough day, watch out!

How Misanthropic Are You?

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are.
While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need.
Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational.
You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Edit: Adding more cuz I'm that bored

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack,
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back"

Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos.
But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

You Are Low Maintenance

Otherwise known as "too good to be true"
You're one laid back chica - and men love that!
Just remember that no good guy likes a doormat.
So if you find your self going along to get along...
Stop yourself and put up a little bit of a fight.

Are You A High Maintenance Woman?

Your Hair Should Be Red

Passionate, fiery, and sassy.
You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

You Follow Your Heart

You're romantic, sentimental, and emotional.
You tend to fall in (and out of) love very quickly.
Some may call you fickle, but you can't help where your emotions take you.
You've definitely broken a few hearts, but you're not a heartbreaker by nature.
Your intentions are always good, even if they change with the wind

Do You Follow Your Head or Your Heart?

You Are Heineken

You appreciate a good beer, but you're not a snob about it.
You like your beer mild and easy to drink, so you can concentrate on being drunk.
Overall, you're a friendly drunk who's likely to buy a whole round for your friends... many times.
Sometimes you can be a bit boring when you drink. You may be prone to go on about topics no one cares about.

What's Your Beer Personality?

You Are A Fun Friend

You're the one who keeps your group laughing
And you've always got an idea for something fun to do
The party's not complete without you
And you wouldn't miss it for the world

What Kind of Friend Are You?

You are 67% Gemini

How Gemini Are You?

Your Love Song Is

You and Me by Lifehouse

"Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you"

For you, love is very intense and a little difficult to express.

What Love Song Are You?

You Have a Phlegmatic Temperament

Mild mannered and laid back, you take life at a slow pace.
You are very consistent - both in emotions and actions.
You tend to absorb set backs easily. You are cool and collected.

It is difficult to offend you. You can remain composed and unemotional.
You are a great friend and lover. You don't demand much of others.
While you are quiet, you have a subtle wit that your friends know well.

At your worst, you are lazy and unwilling to work at anything.
You often get stuck in a rut, without aspirations or dreams.
You can get too dependent on others, setting yourself up for abandonment.

What Temperment Are You?

.... and I think I should stop....

Missing piano

2007-04-13T04:37:50Z

I woke up the other day, feeling empty and desolate. As if by waking up, I had lost something extremely dear to me. I couldn't shake the feeling of loss the entire day. Eventually, I remembered what I had been dreaming about right before I woke up.

In my dream, I had been playing the piano. I was reading the notes, looking at the keyboard, and just playing. Music that I haven't been able to create in so long was pouring out of my fingers, and there was no pain. It was beautiful.

Just thinking about it is making me start to cry.

Late February (or was it in March?) I played the piano for only five minutes. Nothing hard. Nothing strenuous. I was just going over the keys so that I could just listen and bask in producing sound for just a little while.

It was so bittersweet.

I started to cry while I was playing because I missed it so much. And because I could feel how stiff my fingers had become.

And for the rest of the day afterwards, and half of the next day, my arms were in so much pain. Sharp stabbing pain that didn't subside even after taking painkillers.

I miss playing so much.

I think deep down, I have this fear that my family is going to stop loving me at any minutes because I can no longer play. In my family, each person has a "reputation" that sometimes seems to transcend their personality - a trait/hobby that is the pride of the family.

For me, part of it (most of it, actually) was being a talented pianist.

But right now, it seems as if that part of me is gone forever. And, so it goes without saying that there seems to be no reason for my family to be "proud" of me anymore.

*sigh* It's not even really that, because I know that it's just a load of crap.

I think I'm just being overly emotional because I miss music so much.

I miss everything to do with piano. The way I could spend forever altering the whole meaning of a piece by emphasizing a nuance in certain phrases. Listening to how I could mold the emotion of a phrase or piece however I wanted. Playing with notes and creating my own world.

I was so extremely blessed to have been able to play the piano for so long. I don't want to sound condescending, but I feel bad for those who haven't had a chance to play, or who have no interest in playing. The have no idea what they're missing out on.

Truly, life without music is so much harder.

The good and the bad

2007-03-09T05:04:35Z

Bad/sad news:

1. My car... is dead.... *sob*
2. Writing is extremely difficult for me... I can't seem to focus my thoughts.
3. Got stood up by my brother and cousin last weekend. :(
4. Hayfever is making my eyes all itchy and puffy.
5. Am getting lazy and eating craploads of unhealthy food.

Good/happy news:

1. Am looking at new cars! ^_^
2. Spring is here! (kinda...)
3. Ken is in town tonight, and I'm going to hang out with him!
4. Am picking up Joey in Corvallis tomorrow!!!
5. Am waking up early (consistently) and working a lot.

Life news:

1. Am seriously considering chopping off all my hair... or at least go to a hair salon and get it cut.
2. Have fallen in love with chocolate. Never really liked it in the past, but now I do! ^_^

:X

2007-02-27T04:56:31Z

F^%&ING SH*T!!!!

I just slammed my knee into the side of a desk.

The pain.... the pain....

Life...

2007-02-24T21:40:28Z

Maybe it's the rain, or maybe it's because there's depressing music on in the background, but I feel so... left behind. And useless.

It's like I'm standing in the middle of the road, and I don't know where to go. Walking forward doesn't change anything. I'm still exactly where I last was.

Everyone has real problems and difficult decisions to make, and me? I'm just floating along. I almost envy them the stress they're going through. Because the stress represents the fact that they're really living. They're living out their lives the way they want to, the way they see fit.

Last week, I came up with goals/expectations that I've started working on, but it still seems so meaningless.

It seems like everything I reach for is unattainable. Everything I'm striving for is trivial.

Geesh... why does the radio keep playing such sad songs?

Operation: Pretty Nails

2007-02-09T21:22:04Z

In an effort to become more feminine (Operation: Girly Girl), I decided the first step was to stop the horrible (and disgusting) habit of biting my nails. I succeeded for one entire month. And only one month.

So, I have now taken drastic measures. I have gotten.......... fake nails.

yes, it's true. i have fake nails.

Plus side:
1. I don't bite my nails anymore
2. I can now participate in the annoying act of drumming my fingers on a table and hear a satisfying "clickety-click"
3. Don't mess with me. This kitty's got claws! :P

Down side:
1. Am in constant fear of one of the nails dropping off
2. Sometimes feels as if my fingers can't breathe
3. Am wondering if original nails will be yellow once fake nails have been taken off

Things I've learned:
1. Putting on fake nails is harder than it looks
2. I am dismal at applying nail polish
3. My fingers look nicer with unbitten nails

Edit:

(3:30 pm)
Things I've learned #4 - Working at UPS (aka packaging boxes) is not conducive to keeping fake nails glued to real nails.

(20 minutes later...)
Things I've learned #5 - Krazy glue does wonders! ^_^

Three months and counting...

2007-02-07T02:11:06Z

It's been over three months.

Three months since what, you ask?

Three months since I've touched the piano. The very end of October, to be exact.

Ok... that's not completely true. I lied.

I played a 2-3 minute song on a keyboard for fellowship sometime in November or December (which ended up with my arms in agony for the rest of the night). And I puttered around the piano for about an hour two weeks ago.

Man, oh man... I miss playing just for the sake of playing. Heh... It feels like it's been years since I've truly felt that way about piano.

But I've realized something. I need music. I know it sounds cliche and trite, but it's true. In the past, I was always listening to music through practicing. When I practiced, I had to listen carefully to what I played and tweak at it endlessly. But now, with not being able to practice, I find myself reaching for my ipod or turning on my stereo more and more frequently.

I never understood why my brother was always listening to music in the car. I was forever asking him to either turn down the music, or to turn it off. But now that I'm no longer listening to music through practicing all the time, I'm always searching for opportunities to listen.

I think I need the distraction music holds for me. It keeps my mind calmer, and it offers a serene blanket that keeps my thoughts in a semblance of order. I just never realized how much I needed it before, because music was always there in the form of piano.

God, I feel like such an overdramatic emo teenager saying all of that. But that's ok. I'm convinced that deep down, there's an emo little teenager hiding in us all. ^_^

No time to post, but...

2006-12-22T00:51:36Z

I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a loving, caring, and supportive family.

Work Drama

2006-11-21T02:17:23Z

ZOMG!!!

I'm about to pass out from relief. Work is ultra stressful. A package almost wasn't sent out because of a mistake I made.

There was a lady who came in today with a bunch of presents to send. They had to arrive on Friday, and we went through this long process of figuring out the cheapest price (which ended up being very pricey anyways because the box was big), and I had to package her presents so that they wouldn't be crushed.

She pays for postage, and I put lots of Priority Mail stickers on the box so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a UPS box, and an hour before our store closes, I realize that I had forgotten to ask her to fill out an address sticky so that the post office would know where to send the box.

I rummage through the garbage, and I find something she had filled out earlier. I fill out the right form, and send out the package.

Before the packae was shipped, I called the lady numerous times, and finally left a message. Finally, one of the family members finally called me back to confirm, that yes, there was a little boy in the family who's birthday was on Friday.

I sent it to the right place!

*dies from relief*

I was so lucky.

Lesson learned: Pay attention to address forms!!!

faymosamos @ 2006-11-16T13:23:00

2006-11-16T21:23:50Z

Crud.

I am so behind on my NaNoWriMo story. There has just been so much stuff going on in my mind that I haven't been able to do anything with it. Not to mention that all these little side plots keep on popping into my head to the point where I'm not really sure what is going on in my story. *head desk*

But I have decided on a title! Yay me! ^_^

I couldn't sleep this morning, so I spent two hours trying to work on it. Do you know what I love about writing? How I can write about 3,000 words - and only 200 words are usable.

Oh!

I tried to write something down by hand last night in bed right before I fell asleep. My mom opened my door and instead of saying, "You should go to sleep soon," she said "You should write more." :D

I couldn't stop laughing. ^_^

So yup. I'm pretty much screwed for Nano.

:)

Is it time yet? ^_^

2006-10-27T20:05:12Z

I'm soooo excited!! Only a few days left till November! :D

I've started to flesh out some of my characters and expand on my plot a little. I don't know exactly what the overall main plot is, but I'm already seeing some of the interactions between a few characters. ^_^

I really hope I'll be able to finish the 50,000 word count by the end of the month.

Go NaNo'ers!! :D

To NaNoWriMo or not?

2006-10-24T22:13:58Z

Soooo.... I'm debating whether or not to join NaNoWriMo this year. I know last year, I said I was going to do it this year, but now I'm not so sure.

By my calculation, that means I have to write at least 1,666 words every day. Can I do that?

I don't even know what my plot would be. Don't get me wrong... I have ideas floating around, but... I just don't know.

You guys have any opinions or suggestions??

Edit: In a moment of craziness, I've signed up for NaNoWriMo. 0.o