Below are the most recent 9 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
duikermeisie	8:08p	Adjustments, adjustments Being back stateside has had amusing consequences. Like, everything I've trained myself to do is wrong. I want to be in the left lane when I'm going slow, and also forget that I shouldn't actually get in the right side of the car when I'm driving. I use strange words like "petrol" and "kumara" and all those other things I promised myself I wouldn't do when I got back. I think to myself, wow, 20 degrees, that's nice and warm and forget that it's 20 Farenheit, which is most assuredly NOT warm, and I get confused when I see road signs in miles. It's nothing, however, compared to adventures in the grocery store. Grocery stores in the US are huge. Gargantuan. The only thing that comes close is Carrefour in the Emirates, which is less a grocery store and more an everything store. In the US? Well, suffice to say that the one HEB in Sharpstown is probably bigger than all of the grocery stores in New Plymouth combined. And the fun things. I've seen crystallized ginger and pineapple (thank you, Horace Slughorn) and even oranges. I have never before seen crystallized papaya and certainly have never seen crystallized cactus fruit. There were chicharrones bigger than my head (that's pork scratchings for all y'all on the other side of the pond). There were rows and rows and rows of all kinds and brands of food from every possible ethnic group and every possible palate. And the place was packed to the rafters. For me, coming from a smaller town and such, it was more than a little bit frightening. I'm also sure I made at least one mother hate me, when she caught her daughters staring at my hair with an expression halfway between incredulity and I-want-that. (11 Comments |Comment on this)
bunnygoth	1:12a	A Quick Update 1. My beloved laptop is dead. Dead deady dead. It's almost five years old, and I was contemplating buying a new one anyway to do my work faster, so I guess it's just as well. I'm using my parents' computer in the meantime, but I probably won't quite keep up on things like LJ. I've already ordered a new thin and light laptop - a 13" ASUS. I can't wait for it to arrive, and I'm praying I can get my valuable data off my old hard drive. (I'll be recruiting my whiz kid brother to help with that.) I would've preferred a slightly smaller computer, like my old Averatec, but apparently ultraportables are out of fashion. I considered a good Netbook, but my laptop is my workhorse - I wanted more power and gigs. 2. I won't be going to Arisia this year. I just don't have the money. And, frankly, it's not as much fun to attend without a close buddy. I don't get the same thrill and emotional support that I used to, so I feel no need to scrounge up money for the event. Maybe another year, if I have the cash. 3. I think I'll use my Xmas money to finally get a passport, or at least a passport card (depends on how much everything costs.) That way, I can finally return to Canada and do more genealogy research. I'm still dying to fill in that missing Jacobs lineage. 4. I don't do New Year's resolutions. I have a direction this year, and I'll try to follow it. That's enough. Current Music: NCIS (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
duikermeisie	2:33p	A Public Service Announcement The TORRID store at Barton Creek Mall is selling knickers with octopi on them. (There is at least one Torrid store in San Antonio. Existence or size range of octopi-knickers is unknown, but there is also an online shop.) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
mrpet	3:25a	WinterSolstice2010 Friday Night Party setlist I really love live spinning for 6 to 7 hour sets since I can really get in the groove and dig way deep into the collection :) This one started out with a smaller party with sake and a human sushi platter so I played a lot of Japanese tracks for them *yay* ( Click for the Friday night tracks... ) (Comment on this)
mrpet	2:59a	WinterSolstice2010 NYE Gala Party setlist I'm still down in NJ DJing a 4 day event. Here is the Thursday night tracks that I spun for the main playspace area. We had around 6000-7000 sqft and I brought down all of my stuff in a trailer so that I could really deck the place out. ( Click for the NYE party tracks... ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
tikvah	9:52p	Brief update I am alive and well. So much has happened in the past few months. Over the next few days, I hope to update this journal in more detail. Current Mood: content Current Music: Homeboy helping my dad over the phone with his computer (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 28th, 2009
bunnygoth	9:23p	Xmas My Xmas was exhausting but good. For the record: I gave to... My immediate and maternal family: a recreation of my Grandpa Anderson's WWII scrapbook, mostly pix of Iwo Jima and Saipan. He died last year and the scrapbook is falling apart, so I figured I'd give everyone a copy they could enjoy. It was a LOT of work, but people liked it. It brought good tears to my grandmother's eyes. My mom: a crank flashlight that never needs a new battery or light My dad: pop up lights for use showing antiques My brother: Stewie pajama pants My sister: thigh high socks and mary jane slippers Kathryn: a little photo album calendar, a Disney princess cell phone and a Very Hungry Caterpillar game My aunt Betty & uncle Jim: Belgian shell chocolates and a photo book I made last year of Meigs Point pictures Petey: goods related to llamas and Pauley Perrette ;) Kassy: some antique EAPG glass votives What I received: a Dirt Devil handheld vacuum (should be a great help cleaning up after the bunnies), gift cards to Target, Torrid, Red Robin (pete, I think I'll need some help using that one ;) and Labieniec's (local feed store where I buy my bunny supplies), chocolates, lotto tickets (won $1), a cozy hooded scarf, black lipstick, cozy striped socks, a black scarf, three bunny books: Making of Wallace & Gromit Curse of the Wererabbit, Happy Bunny Love Bites and Disapproving Bunnies!, two ancient history books (one on prehistory and one on Egyptian pyramids), a book of Maya Angelou poetry, a Futurama Leela figurine, a crocheted bat ornament, money, a mug with my family's faces on it...that's all I can remember. Oh, and the traditional bunny calendar. I'm quite pleased with how my gifts were received, as well as with the gifts I received from others. Xmas Eve I hung out with Pete and Kassy and then spent the evening at my brother's and his girlfriend's place. We had a very nice roast dinner and then I watched everyone else play Cranium. (I was just too tired to want to bother.) Xmas Day we opened presents in the morning and then had other family over for a turkey dinner. Lots of present opening, pie eating, and caroling. (I play the piano, my aunt Joanne plays the guitar, and the rest sing.) The day after Xmas we had another party with other family members, including some of my cousins from California. They brought baskets full of California agricultural goodies - wine, jellies, olives, candies, etc. I just finished off a can of Graber olives, which were utterly magnificent. I never knew olives could be so tasty!! I spent the 27th resting...so damned tired. And, as expected, the post-Xmas depression has begun to set in. Today was really a struggle, and I can't tell you the weird, heartbreaking dreams I've had. I've been adding photos to my mother's new digital picture frame, which takes awhile as I pick and choose. I let some of my meds expire over Xmas, but I picked up refills today, so they're all set. I have Transcending Boundaries stuff to do, have to get back in the swing of ebay stuff, and have a new year and a whole life ahead of me. I made many promises to myself for 2010. Living up to my own expectations is the hardest thing. But that's another entry. Current Music: Family Guy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
duikermeisie	9:44p	Surprises and realizations 1. I got paid for December. Was NOT expecting that, after fucking off and playing polo for a month. 2. It's only taken me 2 years to get that *Harold Saxon* rose to power after the deposition of a rival...just as Harald Saxon did. I fail the Matter of Britain. 3. It is impossible to find any of the Matter of France anywhere in this country. 4. Haircut haircut haircut! I expected it to make the shaggy mane look better. Did not expect it to make the various shades of blue, green, and purple on my head look so pretty. (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
duikermeisie	9:45p	Random thoughts for a summer's night It's Christmas, and I'm on a small island at the end of the world, sort of watching Resident Evil with my friend Mary's three children. I spoke to somebody I've never met IRL today, and was vaguely surprised to not hear a kiwi (or at least british) accent on the other end. The person on the phone was also vaguely surprised to not hear a strange accent, so I suppose we're equal. I desperately want to cuddle up at the feet of another friend, who occupies a strange niche in my life...I love him, love him to pieces, would never be more than platonic love and no way on this planet I ever want to see him as anything but that. But I want to give him a big hug, soak up his presence, and sleep with him, in the sense that we cuddle up in the same bed like puppies or little children, and know that everything is right with the world. I've missed him tremendously of late. Will have to get back in touch when I'm back in the US. We had lunch outside, being sunny and gorgeous, and a great big tui landed in one of the trees in the garden. Apparently, tui were favourite pets back in the day (as in, colonial days)...I can't see myself keeping one in Austin, but it would be fun. (4 Comments |Comment on this)