That's one of my rules.

"Follow up."

Sounds a lot like "follow through," words which will frustrate me until I am no longer young (due entirely to Dad's undeterred backseat bowling).  But this one's more useful, trust me.

In other words, I papered the skies with internship applications a week or two or three ago.  Today, I finally got up the nerve to follow up.  My parents are made for each other: Dad's mantra is "follow through," and Mom's is "follow up."  Our recent phone conversations have all followed this exchange, plus or minus a few pleasantries:

M: Gale! How are you?
G: Good, just animating. How about you?
M: I'd be better if you'd FOLLOW UP.

Anyway, I looked up numbers and spoke to people. (Horrors!)  I am optimistic, but saddened by the prospect of not being at my cushy job as often.  It is nice to have spare money to throw at the apartment!

Also, I am turning twenty-one in sixteen days.  Can't say I expected to be here ten years ago!
 

The first is hilarious.  The second is adorable and uplifting in a "shouldn't this be bringing me down?!" kind of way.

I ... I can't stop watching either of them. 

It's official - I'll be living in New York for at least a year more.  P (the charming SO) and I signed the lease today.  The apartment is ours starting May 1st!  Since I don't have to leave my dorm until May 13th, that gives me some time to pack and shuffle the unnecessaries over.  Less stress, yay! 

As for the place - it's an adorable, spacious three-bedroom in Astoria, Queens (the third bedroom is for guests, worky stuff, and anything else we can think of.  Still way cheaper than NYU housing).  It's actually not too far from where P's living now.  Also, there is a playground across the street and the landlords demand that we partake in their delicious baked goods!  Well, if you insist...

Meanwhile, looking/applying for summer internships and jobs.  My current job will last until the end of the semester, and that is only because boss-dude is finding tasks to prolong our employment.  We're too efficient?!

And in other other news, Yanni is touring.

YANNI IS TOURING!

Weird things that have happened in the last two days:

1. As I was jogging across the street, a punk in leather approached from the other corner.   He stopped me hurriedly.  "Excuse me - wait - are you done with that cup?!"  I gave it to him and he ran off.

..I wonder what he did with it?

2. I tried to open the fridge and the handle snapped off.  There was sticky brown goo where it used to be.
(The upside: maintenance came promptly after I sent in a report. The downside: he took a look at it and said he'd be back in a day or two.  ...Edit: he came back! The fridge is fixed!)


3.  Halfway done with my glass of water, I realized there was something unusual at the bottom. On closer inspection, it was a big floating chunk of something that looked suspiciously like mold. I went back to the source - the Brita filter - and there were many tiny clusters floating within.

D:

Two weeks ago:

Me: Should I e-mail the animation professor? I don't know if he's expecting me to present anything on the first day of class.
P: Well, wouldn't he tell you if that was the case?
Me: Yeah, yeah, you're right.  Okay.

Today:

Dear G,

Welcome to Advanced Animation Production.  If you have them ready, please be prepared to present your storyboards in class tomorrow.
Also, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

...

excuse me while I flail.

Oh, man, I've barely been on the Internet at all.  It's weird and kind of invigorating.  So, happy holidays!  I am at home in VA, hanging out with friends and family.  :3  Working weekdays, and it's great to be back.  Sunrises are pretty swell. 

It is so cool having a watch again.  It's like it was never gone.  I am no longer fruitlessly checking my bare arm every few minutes. Hurray!

In other news, Christmas cookies.  DELICIOUS

I just got this e-mail:

Dear students,

My cat is stuck inside my chimney. I need to stay home for the animal rescue people to come in today. I regret to inform you that I will not be in the classroom today BUT the class is not cancelled. You all are to come in today and practice together with your group for the exam tomorrow. Have a good practice and see you tomorrow!

And then an e-mail from one of my groupmates saying, "man, I need more sleep, let's meet up later."  So: no class until two!  Normally, I'd be thrilled - but then I think of her cat.  Poor dear, don't you know Santa isn't due for another two weeks?

(really, though, I'm worried)

ERNIE IS AN ORANGE
BERT IS A BANANA

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

(thanks, Wikipedia)

Hey!  I'm alive!  It's been a while.  Lately I've been reluctant to post here, for reasons that usually would result in many many many LJ posts.  However!  That was in July.  It is now the last day of November (ack).  I think it is high time to come back. 

Let's see, life update.

I have never spent a lot of webspace writing about my romantic life, and don't plan to start.  Do know, however, that I have one!  It is fairly charming!  Lately, though, would have to redefine that romance as being between me and my homework.  I have been spending a good, solid amount of time sitting down and animating.  Currently in Intermediate Animation Production: one semester, one minute-long animated short.  Will it be done by next week?  Not likely!  But I hear that is normal! 

Had to temporarily give up on breakdance, as well as a regular sleep schedule, goofing off, and possibly my sanity.  I was going to breakdance classes!  They were pretty cool!  I would like to return.  Floorwork, freezes in particular, has been giving me hell, though.  Gotta work up that muscle.  *pinches bicep*  Although apparently it is technically not about the muscle, it is about balance, something which I only have on wheels and ice skates.  Either way, they've been giving me trouble.  Practice!  Practice! 

Thanksgiving was awesome, and full of delicious food (now delicious leftovers!), even if the break was very short.  Met up with kid sis in NJ, drove back to VA Wednesday morning, hung out with some cool people (including family members!  Lots of family!), and was back on a train to NY yesterday.  Am now back.  Am taking bets on when kid sis, who is crashing here, will wake up.  I said 12:30, and have clearly lost.  When she wakes up, we shall frolic in the city.  I mean, do homework.  Hear that, Dad?  We'll be doing homework.

Oh!  Also, have new job.  It is pretty fantastic.  I label blueprints, scan them, and occasionally file things (have recovered from the summer's filing-injury-trauma, though I have a cute new scar to show for it).  Do need to look for internships.  Am, honestly, nervous.  Will do best!  Will also eventually return to writing out proper sentences.

Am going to miss roommate very much.  She is leaving soon on a whirlwind trip to Florence, to study abroad, eat amazing gelato (she had better be eating amazing gelato, or she will be hearing from me), and... and... who knows what else!  But it'll be fantastic.  There are holes in the wall between our kitchen and living room that almost make a face.  When she is gone, I will be giving them a moustache, so while I will be sad, I will still have the moustachioed wall to keep me company.

In other news, I think you should go and see High School Musical 3 while it's still in theaters.  Yes, you.  Screw that Twilight business.

So here's something interesting that happened the other day:

I was jogging along the Brooklyn Bridge, when I saw a man on his bike pass by.  His hands were off the handlebars as he pedaled along.  Hands-free!  Look, Ma, no hands!

And why wasn't he using his hands?

He was texting. 

WHAT

Return of my computer! 

Quick summary, from two weeks ago to now:

1. Computer crashed.
2. Tried to fix it, failed (thanks anyway, Igor!).
3. Cleaned up hard drive (yay Frank!) after copying what I could (My Documents: inaccessible D:).
4. Reinstalled Windows.
5. Downloaded significant drivers (thanks, roomie <3) and installed them. 
6. Regained working Internet!

Am now in the process of reinstalling things, downloading IMPORTANT WINDOWS UPDATES (after ten minutes: "unable to install updates, haha~!"), and trying to make my speakers work.  ;_; 

Oh, well, progress! 

Okay, so a girl friended me on Facebook - a classmate from my NIST days! To tell the truth, I don't really remember her, but I definitely plan to check my yearbooks when I get back home. 

Anyway, after that I thought to look up my best friend from back then.  I've done it before, but never any luck - and not this time, either.  It doesn't help that I only remember her first name.  Then I did something different - I tried Googling, because it's a relatively rare first name.  And guess what?  I found a student page!  It turns out that at some point, she started going by a nickname.  Armed with new knowledge, I looked her up on Facebook - and there she was!  And she's friends with the girl who friended me today! 

But now I'm not quite sure what to do.  I mean, what if I come off as random and creepy?  What if she doesn't remember me, the way I don't remember this other girl? 

In any case - whatever I do, I'm still pretty happy.  It's really cool to be able to find an old friend after all this time and to know she's doing well.  Sometimes it's hard to imagine growing up in my parents' day.

All right, time to be productive...!

Edgeworth and Gumshoe ... in their own game?

And ... and pictures! 

Actually, if it's real, I'm not sure how to feel about this.  On the one hand, the return of awesome characters that I know and love, and on the other hand .... the return of awesome characters that I know and love.  I hope it's innovative and fun, and that Capcom isn't just beating this series into the ground. 

I mean, I guess I'll know they are if they come out with LUKE ATMEY: ACE DETECTIVE. 

X JAPAN IN NEW YORK
X JAPAN IN NEW YORK
X JAPAN IN NEW YOOOOORK

Aaah!  How cool would it be to see Yoshiki perform..?!  (And, uh, the rest of the band.  Yes.) 

In other news, as always, homework will soon eat me alive.  Got tons of stuff to do, especially since I plan to go to

ROBOTICS IN NEW YORK
ROBOTICS IN NEW YORK
ROBOTICS IN NEW YOOOOOORK

If you're in the area and free at any point during the weekend, you should check it out!  It's free!  It's interesting!  My old team (116), adorable little sister (PFFT), and super-cool-chaperone mother (happy birthday, Mom!) are going to be there, so you can cheer them on!   :D

(PS: a certain awesome someone showed this to me and I think it's the coolest thing ever.)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-19/4kids-confirms-yu-gi-oh-5d-american-fall-premiere

Because what could possibly be better than Yu-Gi-Oh! sans Yugi and the gang?

Yu-Gi-Oh! sans Yugi and the gang ... ON WHEELS!

Sigh...

(In other news, I finished Trials and Tribulations.  Godot, my heart goes out to you. )

Spring break!

SPRING BREEEEAK!  :D

Heading over to the Chinatown bus in an hour or so, should be home tonight.  Looking forward to it like whoa.  Yay for having an extra week to do homework in!

If I could move the world for you, um, I wouldn't do it.  Because that would screw over a lot of people.

But I would make you happy in a heartbeat.  You deserve better than tears.  Aaaand I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. 

On a lighter note, my D&VW professor said something reeeeally deep the other day (the "this is like a graphic novel" one, you remember him), and I'm going to share it (not exactly word-for-word, sadly, but this is my memory we're talking about) with you because it has been engraved on my very soul:

"After all, the only thing more vast, more expansive, than the past ... is the future."

Take that and chew on it!

Didn't make Rising Stars of Manga this time, either. 

Oh well!  Time to roll up my sleeves and start the next one!

Three weeks in, and everything seems to be going well so far.  I think I managed to strike a good balance between work, classes, and free time (read: homework time) this semester.  What's been going on? 








PS: I'm playing Justice For All now!   I kind of miss Chief Gant.  D:  HO HO HO HO HO.

Overnight, my old-and-trusty Armitron watch decided that today is not a Friday.  Neither is it the 25th.  Today is Thursday, January 4th, and nothing I do will change its mind.  So, Dad, you won't be a year older for another few weeks!  And I am going back to bed!  Happy winter break, guys~!