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[11 Jul 2009|08:05pm] |
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Love is the most beautiful of dreams.
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| Friends Cleanup |
[10 Apr 2009|05:15pm] |
Did a bit of cleanup for friends who don't post in their LJ or have deleted their accounts, and dead communities, etc.
If I un-friended you by mistake and you'd like to be re-added, please comment here.
If I don't know you, and you'd like to be a friend, this is a good place to start.
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| Jet application status! |
[27 Jan 2009|06:30pm] |
I got an interview! I'm so excited! Yayayayayayayayayay!!!!!!
I'm not sure if I'll actually get accepted into the JET program, or if I would go if I were accepted, but it's still pretty cool that I got an interview!
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| Music addiction.... |
[12 Nov 2008|11:50pm] |
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mood |
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 contemplative |
] |
Normally I don't like drum and bass, but this track has been stuck in my head forever and ever and I've been listening to it a lot in the past few days.
Enjoy my song dump!
Concord Dawn - Broken Eyes
Too quick to criticize
The sun with broken eyes
The will to let it breathe
It's left a scar on me
When there's no need to stay
The day dream wilts away
This cold reality
Some things are meant to be...
Some things are meant to be...
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| I love my surveys....roar! |
[13 Oct 2008|07:09pm] |
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mood |
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 ditzy |
] |
If you're on my friends list, I want to know 35 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
No
02) What was your dream growing up?
To be happy and successful. Which is very relative, I know. I'm very happy right now, and I think I'm working on my way to be successful.
03) What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I was better with picking up languages.
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
Juice. Because it's tasty.
05) Favorite vegetable?
Tomato. Or potatoes. Hard choice.
06) What was the last book you read?
Learning to trust (It's for my classroom management class)
07) What zodiac sign are you?
Cancer
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
My ears are pierced and my navel used to be. I had 4 tattoo ideas that were recently crushed because I walked around and saw other people with them. Grrr. Those were the "original" ones too. Perhaps I will rethink it.
09) Worst Habit?
Being lazy and procrastinating.
10) What is your favorite sport?
Rhythmic gymnastics
11) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
It depends on my mood and towards what. Planning things I tend to go both ways. I'm optimistic that things will work out, but I plan pessimistically for what could go wrong, or something that I might need.
12) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Lick you all over....roar.
13) Tell me one weird fact about you.
I pick my nose.
14) Do you have any pets?
Not right now :(
15) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Scary. The idea of them is pretty creepy.
16) Where do you want to take a vacation?
I was going to say Japan, but I might be headed there for a year or two, so let's say Europe or Hawaii.
17) What's the last movie you saw?
Tropic Thunder
18) Pirates or ninjas?
Ninjas disguised as pirates.
19) What color eyes do you have?
Brown
20) Ever been to a Renaissance Faire? Were you in costume?
No :(
21) What are you going as for Halloween this year?
I really have no idea. I've been slacking hardcore.
22) Which would you go to first, art museum or science museum?
Art museum, unless the science museum was hands on.
23) Ever been arrested?
No.
24) Who wins in a fight, shark or tiger?
If it's in the water, the shark. If it's on land, the tiger.
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Pay off some debt, and go shopping.
26) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
Anywhere that randomness occurs.
27) Do you believe in ghosts?
When it's dark and I'm scared.
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Lay on the couch and watch tv. Or lay in bed and read a book.
29) Do you swear a lot?
When I'm not around kids, yes.
30) Biggest pet peeve?
Pretentious people. There's no reason for anyone to think they are better, or to treat other people differently because of how they perceive themselves in relation to others.
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Splendid.
32) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
Yes and Yes.
33) Favourite and least favourite food?
Favorite food...I would say sashimi, but I just got done reading a wiki article about parasites that can't be killed in seafood and can kill you *shudder* so I'm going with a good old fashioned rare steak.
Least favorite food...bittermelon. It's just too bitter.
34) Do you believe in God?
Yes. I believe there's someone overseeing us and that humanity is too planned and precise to be random.
35) What would you do if there was no 35?
Add it in. (which is what I did since this survey only had 34 questions...)
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| Friday Five....a la EST! |
[25 Sep 2008|11:21pm] |
1. Who is your favorite author?
That's really hard to say...I have a lot of authors that I really like across genres. Orson Scott Card has a pretty epic series. I like picking up a novel by Piers Anthony when I want some light hearted reading. I really like short stories and books that include a collection of authors and such...Hrm.
2. What is your favorite book/series? I don't know if I have a favorite book. Series would probably be Xanth, I liked the Dragon Riders of Pern when I was in high school. I recently finished the Twilight series...and I'm hoping to pick up Brisingr to finish up the Eragon series. Or whatever fancy name they gave that set.
3. Who is a book hero you most wish to be like?
Probably one of the pretties or specials in the Uglies trilogy.
4. Who is a book character that you envy?
Hmmm. I'm not sure. Characters in books are all tragic.
5. Which book do you wished you lived in?
Probably one of the Harry Potter books, but only if I could cast spells :)
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| Friday Five |
[19 Sep 2008|10:38pm] |
- What did you want to be when you were a kid? When I was a literal kid, I wanted to be what my parents told me I was going to be. A doctor, an engineer a lawyer, or the first female president of the United States. Now that I'm actually "all grown up" I realize that they would have been horrible jobs for me! For a while I fancied myself a computer programmer, but I didn't realize what the job really meant.
- What is your proudest accomplishment so far? I have a lot of things that I'm proud of. I'm very proud that I've persevered and I'm on the track to finishing my credential program and I'm looking into teaching in Japan for a few years, grad school, or taking a placement once I'm done. I feel very accomplished for my age and I'm really looking forward to what the future brings. It's kind of scary how uncertain things are, but that anticipatory excitement is pretty awesome, I have no idea where I'll be this time next year!
- What is your dream job? There are a lot of things I'd love to do. I'd love to go into non-profit work such as fund raising, throwing parties, etc. I'd like to be a children's TV personality and be able to sing happy songs and wear crazy things. I'd like a job that would give me the ability to travel.
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years? That's a good idea! I'm not sure. I still see myself living in California, so maybe living nearby, working as a teacher, with my masters degree.
- What does it take to make you happy? I like the company of others when I feel that their attention is genuinely focused on me. It's both a big thing and a little thing, but I really notice when someone ignores an IM on their computer or ignores a text message on their phone to finish out a conversation or thought with me. I guess just being thought of and being treated respectfully. I also have a random attention span, so random things that are funny will bring a smile to my face.
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| Any thoughts? |
[09 Sep 2008|09:26pm] |
I stumbled upon this quote recently and I remembered reading it a long time ago and forgetting about it. This time around, it lingered in the back of my mind for a while, and I wanted to see what your thoughts were.
"Maturity happens when you start living without hope. Hope is childish. You become mature when you don't project hope into the future. In fact, you are mature when you don't have any future; you just live in the moment -- because that is the only reality there is."
Is that really what it means to be mature? To be jaded?
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| KICK ASS!!! I won a contest! |
[05 Aug 2008|03:09pm] |
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mood |
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 happy |
] |
A few weeks ago I was browsing the Tokidoki blog to look for their entry about the styles of handbags they released back when they were designing their collaboration Tokidoki for Lesportsac. I found someone who was selling a few bags that I wanted on craigslist and I wanted to make sure that they were authentic. I thought of it as my birthday present...but then I ended up buying a lot of random stuff with that excuse. :)
Anyways, While I was looking at their blog, I saw a post for a contest they were having about your "fantasy Tokidoki merchandise". At the time I kind of stared at it and looked at the prizes and the entries that had already been submitted. Some of the items were over the top, like Tokidoki houses and cars, while some were very practical like a Tokidoki toothbrush or umbrella. There were already a few hundred entries and many of them were repetitive and I was about to close the page, but I thought, "Hey! Why the hell not..."
So the reasoning behind my entry was that I scanned everyone else's posts and no one had come up with my idea or anything remotely similar. I had just gone grocery shopping at Ranch 99 and there was an annoying kid with those squeaky shoes, and I could hear them for the 30-something-odd-minutes that I was there waiting for them to fry my fish for free. So while I was pondering whether or not my mother would beat me for bringing home a durian, I saw the little boy run by with his squeaky shoes with his mom running after him a few minutes later yelling at him to stay close. My first thought was that they should have put him on the little kids leash if they wanted to let him run around but keep him close by. From there my mind wandered to this little plush monkey backpack leash that I saw some poor Asian kid attached to at Starbucks or something. The poor kid was walking and pulling against the leash in his dad's hand trying to reach God knows what.
Yes. From there is the inspiration for my post:
“Okay, I’m totally serious when I say this, but I think a really rocking Tokidoki accessory would be one of those little kids backpack leashes. I think that the designers could come up with different characters to wrap around a plush body with the backpack straps and velcro or metal loop buckles to fit around a child’s body and incorporate the art into the handle. For example there could be a bastardino plush body and it would have the little plush spikes and the cute little tough puppy face, and the tail would be the “leash” and handle that the adult holds onto so the child won’t get lost. On the backpack part can be a zipper compartment to hold accessories, and a little pacifier clip, because those things are easy to lose. I think this is a win-win situation because both the adult and the child gets to enjoy the Tokidoki, and it’s for both of them. The item itself will be stylish and functional as well. If I were a baby I would be proud to be sporting such a hot accessory, and if I were the parent, I would totally spend some good money to make sure my child wouldn’t get lost wandering around and looked stylish at the same time. Hey, it’s a better idea than Tokidoki squeaky shoes for kids. I think I’d get clobbered for just mentioning that here. Annoying little things, hehe.”
Really I didn't expect to win. I read the requirements again and it was mentioned that the judges were looking for humorous entries, so the backpack leash was the first thing to pop in my head. It's pretty funny seeing a little kid on a leash, it's somewhat practical, and it's pretty novel. Guess that did the trick ;)
This is what Vicky from Chicki had to say about my entry:
“I discovered these items a couple of moths ago when I noticed a boy with a monkey backpack and his mum was holding the tale. It made me laugh so much. Tokidoki character backpacks would be so cool. My little boy adores all the characters especially Leche. I could definitely see these on the shop shelves, how cute.”
I won a handbag and a wallet from Vicky's website! What's cool is that they are limited edition prints that are only available in the UK. It's $200 bucks worth of stuff I don't have to buy! Yay!
Here are the pictures!
You can stare at the contest results here:
http://www.tokidoki-blog.com/2008/08/04/and-the-tokidoki-fantasy-contest-winners-are/
I'm so unbelievably happy! This was so unexpected and I never win anything, so this really brightened up my day and kept the happy momentum going. August is turning out to be kick ass!
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| Okay Lulu |
[04 Aug 2008|11:48pm] |
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Seriously! I'm updating in our group. Haha. I figured out how to post via web! I used to use the downloadable client and I can't find the one that I used to use. :(
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| Tokidoki... |
[01 Jun 2008|01:44pm] |
As i sift through the remnants of the past 5 years of my relationship, deciding whether to stick it in a box or into a garbage bag, I came across a little gem in the form of a clothing tag I had saved for the past 2 years. Yes, I'm a pack rat, and yes, moving is a bitch because of it. Anyways, I digress...anyone who knows me will know I LOVE Tokidoki! On many of the tags of clothing, or the boxes to his vinyl toys, is this little quote by Simone Legno (the designer) explaining the reasoning behind the name:
"Todkidoki means "sometimes" in Japanese. I chose a Japanese word because I love Japan. I love everything from the ultra modern happy face of Shibuya to the serious magic silence of Kyoto. I chose "sometimes", because everyone waits for moments that change one's destiny. By simple chance or meeting a new person, tokidoki is the hope, the hidden energy everyone has inside that gives us the strength to face a new day and dream something positive, that something magical will happen to us."
-Simone Legno
Now isn't that something? No wonder I love his stuff so much <3 Now back to packing for me...sigh.
-Disgruntled Grace.
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| Warning! Reflective teacher post! |
[13 May 2008|08:43pm] |
So today was technically the last day of the semester and the last day required for me to attend student teaching. I've opted to stop by once a week for their minimum day until their school year ends, just because I want that good closure of the academic year. I don't want to be the stranger that popped in during the middle of the school year, and then left before the end.
So far, I've had a very reflective semester, as both a teacher and a person. I really feel the daunting task ahead of me. The challenge of being a great teacher, one that changes lives. I see teachers who are just there. They seem to go through the motions, or they are so busy that they cut corners and do what they are supposed to, instead of really caring for the individual needs of their students. I think this is where students fall through the cracks and become stuck in their own stereotypes. A classroom teacher is much more than just a deliverer of knowledge, they are family in a way. The actions, attitudes, beliefs, and personalities of each child is in your hands to manipulate, and when their own teacher writes them off, it's such a personal blow. It's the same gut wrenching feeling as when your best friend moves away, when you are disappoint ed in yourself, or your parents tell you that they wish you were never born. And at this point I start rambling on about how we all have such a great effect on each other, but no one really cares about anyone but themselves, and I get angry because it's the truth - people simply just don't care.
I guess this tangent somehow leads towards my current reflective moments of teaching haiku to a class of third graders. How my student teaching has been working for me at the end of this semester is basically this script right here:
Master Teacher: "Good morning Ms. You. Today we're going to go over our anthologies, then do some poetry, we'll have some time for workshop, and then we'll work on math. Why don't you teach poetry today. Here's a book about poems, we just finished our name poems, so find something we haven't done yet."
Me: "Okay, I'll do haiku!"
Master Teacher: "That sounds great."
Me: "Okay..."
I actually thought the lesson went quite well, I gave a few examples of a haiku, talked about it's origins, how to write one, etc. We wrote one together as a class and brainstormed a list of possible haiku topics. Haiku's generally depict a scene in nature, but that's a hard concept for a group of English Language Learners to understand, so I let it slide so that as long as the poem was about something "natural" and went along with the 5-7-5 format, it would be acceptable.
So I walk around the class and help the students with their ideas and help them count syllables. A few students still don't quite "get it" so I steer them along the right path and move along. I stop by one of the "islands", which basically describes the isolated seating arrangement of a student that has a behavior problem. I take a look at this little boy's haiku, and I have one of those new teacher "uh-oh" moments. He had actually been working quietly throughout workshop and wasn't talking, shaking, fiddling, getting out of his chair, making weird noises, as he normally does throughout the day. That was a good sign. Unfortunately, his haiku consists of 3 sentences that are 8-12 syllables per line. I stare at it for a bit and then help him reword it to fit into the haiku format. It bothers me a bit that the topic of his haiku doesn't fit the "theme" of nature, however I have to roam off and attend to the other students who have their hands waving frantically in the air, and I let it go for now.
A while later, I go back to check on his completed poem since he says he's finished and he wants to write his final draft. I stare at his poem again and wave off the other hands in the air while I fight the "uh-oh" moment again. His haiku titled "Myself" reads:
I am nobody.
I live by myself alone.
I don't have a room.
Is he serious? This little kid sits around and jokes all day about stealing police cars, to doing the soulja boy. I'm about to tell him to rewrite it, but I take a moment to think of what I know about him. I recollect the serious expression on his face for every story of a child that makes no mention of a father. "Does that little girl have a father? Where is he?" He always talks about how he doesn't have a father and that his father didn't want him. Whenever a man is in the classroom, his attention is focused completely on whatever they are doing. This is the complete opposite of his normal class day when he's fidgeting or staring off into space. I remember how focused he was earlier when he was writing his haiku and how quietly he worked, even when his peers around him were talking. I forget what it's like being 8 and wanting a role model to look up to. As a single working mom who doesn't have a good grasp of English, her lack of presence in her son's life is apparent in more than just his behavior. But what else can she do? She needs to work to support her 3 sons, and that leaves no time for anything else in her life.
I study him a bit further and look into his sad brown eyes and I offer him a smile. "Good job, this is a great haiku. But do you really not have a room?" I ask.
"Yes...No" He smiles sheepishly as he self-corrects himself, and earns a round of laughter from his classmates.
"Do you know that you're not a nobody, and that you're a somebody? You're a brother, a son, and a friend." I tell him.
"I'm a nobody." He says to himself, the smile gone from his face. He crosses his arms and looks at his desk, and the rest of the class goes back to work on their own poems, since he's not being funny anymore.
"You're somebody ___." I tell him. "Even if you don't feel like it sometimes, you will always be somebody to someone."
He looks really confused at this point, most likely because I don't have the "right" words to say. I give him back his poem and a white sheet of paper and he starts on his art. When he's finished I take a look at the artwork and I feel sad for him. This little boy who can't sit straight in his chair for 5 minutes, sat down for 20 minutes and diligently copied, decorated, and colored his haiku. The scene depicted is very dismal. He's sleeping in the middle of the street with a house nearby with lights on. It's raining and there's lightning and thunder. A car drives by, splashing water on him. Nearby, his mom is standing in front of the house with her hands on her cheeks, exclaiming, "Oh my son!"
While the class is at recess, I think about it for a while and I sift through dozens of other haiku about tigers, sharks, leaves, and other various things found in nature. I think out of all the poems, this little boy truly depicted the feeling of a 'scene' and it was his own way of expressing himself.
I almost got trapped in the cookie-cutter mentality that I have been trying so hard to avoid. That there is only one right answer, one right way of doing something. It's this mentality that's ruining the education system in America. We sit around with the answers we want to see, and we think of all the different ways we can manipulate the children to express themselves in the way we want to see them. Where is the opportunity for expression? For creativity and imagination? Surely not in heavy blocks of English/Language arts and math that our students have to sit through each day.
I know that things can never be perfect, but I'm really glad that I had the ability to catch myself before the mistake was made, and had the opportunity to reflect upon it. I guess all anyone can do is continually try to do the best they can and learn from their experiences. I feel kind of sad.
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| Le sigh. |
[19 Apr 2008|03:28pm] |
List of stuff I need to do, that I haven't done yet.
Laundry. God damnit.
Wash the dishes
Vacuum
Parts 3 & 4 for case study
Pay fix it ticket
Figure out the TBD for the red light ticket
Hoard money
ELL powerpoint presentation
ELL lesson plan
English Homework
Do the readings
Finish coaching cycle papers and 2nd lesson plan
Go to yoga
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| Just a thought... |
[18 Apr 2008|11:34pm] |
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Sometimes I have a hard time knowing what kind of person I am.
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| Goals for the weekend |
[04 Apr 2008|09:11pm] |
Honestly it shouldn't be this hard, but for some reason I can't get my shit organized, so maybe if I write it down I'll be more likely to do it, but probably not.
Yay for long run on sentences.
Things to do by Monday:
Do the massive piles of laundry
Find the assignment sheets for homework that's due soon
Organize all the piles of paper
Clean out the kitchen
Do the dishes
Work on the ethnography
Rewrite my case study for English
Write up the ending for the case study
Print out worksheets for the coaching cycle
Prepare for Tuesday's lesson
Finish reading my literature study book
Return my books to the library
Work on the reading strategy lesson
Work on math unit for second language learners
Type up a timesheet
Work out summer schedule
-edit to add to the list-
Buy a big memory card
Get Alex to take Tuesday morning off work
Stop eating only dried bananas
Stop sucking at Dota (Yes stfu, that's a goal.)
Now to actually get stuff done...
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| Shennanigans in Berkeley.... |
[03 Apr 2008|11:17am] |
It was great seeing you last night Nicole! Thanks for humoring me and Jon Jon :)
I think that I've turned really boring since I'm at the point where I want to spend my free time laying around the apartment. I felt social and I also felt bad that I've been hiding in my little internet hole for the past few months so I've been trying to reconnect with people as time allows. I always enjoy hanging out with Nicole, she's a sweetie and super tolerant of my bogusness ;)
I felt so bad that I had avoided Jon Jon for so long, I just never had the energy to drive up North to go visit my friends. Once we saw each other it's like we had still been hanging out regularly, it was great! He mentioned that we shouldn't go out in public together and it's probably true since we're two weirdos that grow off each other. All night we're singing songs about being Jews and throwing retarded balls at each other. We went to Trader Joes on a freeze dried banana chip quest, and I was loudly lamenting their lack of banana chips and about how one of their employees thought I had fabricated the product. I think I made some crack like, "What does that guy think I'm on acid all the time and I am hallucinating banana chips?!" To which Jon Jon answers..."Wooaaah woaah oh oh...for the Jewish time.." (to the tune of for the longest time by billy joel) and everyone in the aisle is looking at us and then avoiding looking at us, and this man looking at candied walnuts is just simply staring at me. I think at this time Nicole had run away from us, since we're obnoxious weirdos. Next time we're getting the cashier to propose to you!
Anyways, I had no point to this entry...I have a lot of homework to do and it needs to be done within the next 30 minutes, and I'm doing my procrastinating thing. I'm going to have a very sad day in my near future when I look back on this journal and all of my entries are about procrastinating...the theme of my LIFE!
Today I am space casey ADHD Grace.
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| Procrastination... |
[20 Mar 2008|11:22am] |
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mood |
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 annoyed |
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music |
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Elliot Smith - XO (Waltz #3) |
] |
For the love of my sanity...why am I updating this damned thing instead of doing something productive?
This is not a rhetorical question!
I have a billion super big updates that will probably never make it here...I guess I need to finish my projects.
Spring break is coming up...I expect to see people! I'm going to find everyone and drag them out of their dark corners and make them run amok with me, damnit!
Okay. Back to work I go...
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| Friday Five |
[16 Feb 2008|02:36am] |
1. Do you ever wonder if the way you see things visually aren't how other people see them?
Yes, and I realize it's probably very true. We all attend to different parts of what we're looking at, and my vision isn't that great to begin with so I miss a lot of things that are very obvious to other people.
2. What kind of sounds are the most annoying?
I guess this is kind of stereotypical but I've been having to deal with it more often, and it's chalk squeaking on chalkboards. Also car alarms while you're in class, and annoying laughter.
3. When walking through a store, do you shop with your hands by touching/feeling the texture of things?
Yes, it drives Alex crazy because he doesn't want me to touch anything. I'll also touch things that I don't intend to buy and take the time to pick up the item and carefully examine it.
4. If you could only smell three scents for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Sugar cookie, Honeydew Melon, and something savory.
5. What sorts of things do you savor when eating them?
Sashimi, mMmMmMm...I guess any of my favorite foods that are well-prepared.
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| Oh my gawd...shoes! |
[04 Feb 2008|10:21pm] |
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mood |
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 hyper |
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music |
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Frank De Vol - Teddy bear's picnic |
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I've been browsing around online for some nice sensible "teacher" shoes, but I keep on looking at irregular choice...oh god I want them all.......................
I feel like that stupid youtube video with the tranny that goes, "OMG shoes!"
No LJ-cut because these shoes are sooo worth it! <3
Edit....I must do a stupid LJ cut because I can't stop looking at shoes :\
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