Gawddammit, not again.

I think I just hawked up a piece of my brain. Even I was appalled by it.

Gawddammit I don't want to get sick again.

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PAWS.

PAWS. Damn if I remember what it stands for, I just know I loved that program. Remember? The typing program? The silly orange cat, a as at ask asp asks...I could hammer away on a clackity IIe for hours. I don't remember playing it that often (how could a kid from San Diego resist Carmen Sandiego?), but I remember being pretty good at it.

Next memory: growing up, I had a clunky plastic typewriter. It was blue. I rarely used it, but it was neat. I don't remember actually doing it, but I have this strange feeling that I wanted to take it apart. I'm sure I did. It was all caps. I didn't realize that wasn't normal until I used a typewriter in the library job. The library typewriter was electric, and that combined with both cases just blew my mind. It scared me at first, after years of doing everything on a computer. Clackity clackity. I grew to love it, even though I never mastered how to center a title.

All this comes up because one lazy morning, G asks me if I know how to touch type, or whatever newfangled word he used for it. All I remember (terminology-wise) is something about home keys, and always being shit at reaching the period with the proper finger. (I remember the cat would get angry if I didn't press the key in time, so I would just use a different finger.) I was a little incredulous, a little offended (to me, people that hunt and peck are inferior) but then again, he's never seen me do much more than check my mail. Always the same position--left hand holding up head, right hand picking out the letters in my addresses. I guess he's never seen me write email. ::shrug::

Funny, the things we still don't know about each other.

(And to salve my pride just a little, I checked a few typing tests online. About 60 WPM, averaged over three tests. That makes me feel better.)

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Definitely me.

I remember on the morning of high school graduation, it was absolutely essential that I put nail polish on. I'm sure it was something unnecessary, like clear. After the whole thing was over, after we rushed from our seats to stand with best friends to sing the alma mater one more time, I went to Olive Garden with my family. The guy who I had kind of dated (but had long since gotten over me) was there with his family as well. I don't remember how I felt, if it was embarassment or rage or irritation. I remember his mom was nice though. She liked me.

I am one of those lucky people that loves my high school friends fiercely. But high school life itself wasn't the high point of my life. I'm grateful for that, too.

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I don't care.

I'm a sucker for silly personality tests.

Televangelist
You are 14% Rational, 85% Extroverted
28% Brutal, and 57% Arrogant.

As the Lord as my witness, I swear upon the good book that you are indeed the TELEVANGELIST! Characterized by extreme arrogance, self-assurance, and extroversion, you would make a very charismatic leader (or a very despotic one). On top of that, you are also more intuitive than rational, predisposing you to a more spiritual or emotional outlook on life. Thus, you are thoroughly irrational. You also tend to be rather gentle and considerate of others' feelings. Clearly, you would make the perfect televangelist. You could easily fleece people of their money and their dignity like so many sheep. Emotional, extroverted, arrogant, and gentle, you annoy the hell out of people who have to listen to the feel-good, intuitive shit spewing from your mouth. Not only that, but people may look down on you as a self-centered asshat. So while you are gentle and genuinely care about others, it is quite clear that you still care about yourself MORE. Why is your personality flawed? Because you are too damned extroverted, emotional, and arrogant. So preach your irrational message, brotha-man! I assure you, no one will be listening. Except for a few bums. But they just want you to feed them crackers and wine.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more INTUITIVE than rational.

2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.

3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.

4. You are more ARROGANT than humble.

Compatibility:
Your exact opposite is the Spiteful Loner.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hippie, the Starving Artist, and the Robot.

Let's Enjoy the Personality Defects Test Game.

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If it's not one thing...

So the internet addiction has been (temporarily?) replaced by a book addiction. (Rather, I have revived my book addiction--I used to read books as though anticipating crisp $20s tucked between each page.) I just finished Wicked, which I've been meaning to read since a coworker coveted it like the holy grail. (A college library coworker, who waited for it to be returned to the library for weeks.) Last week I blew through The Cider House Rules, and it gave me a monster of a headache. Good stuff, but I read A Prayer for Owen Meany first and for some reason expected the stories to flow similarly. Oh well. Doesn't hold a candle to Margaret Atwood novels, that's for sure.

My elementary students were impressed that I was reading a book in English (duh kids, come on now). I'm pretty sure they still think I'm Japanese, albeit a retarded one.

After I finished Wicked, I remembered that it was made into a musical, and I don't like the clips I heard on amazon. The cast looked impressive, but the voices lacked the depth I found in the book. Poorly chosen clips, I suppose. Oh well.

And also, because I haven't quite figured out what I think of it, I also skimmed through the amazon.com reviews for the book, to see how I would react. This one was my favorite by far:

[1 star of 5]
Wickedly evil book, kelleypen (from UT) February 14, 2006
This book intrigues me--I really like the whole twisting the Wizard into an evil despot and Elphaba into an Animal rights activist. There were certainly parts that were well worth reading. But the plot is disjointed and has too much just hanging there. I HATED the whole Philosophy Club part. I'd never read bestiality before, nor did I intend to, and there it was. How did it further the plot? Why was it even in there? How did Elphaba know to tell Glinda not to go in there? And what was it about the whole Ama funeral followed by the men's trip to the Philosophy Club that made Elphaba decide that she needed to go there and then to see the Wizard? And why did the result of that interview convince her to leave school? I just didn't get it. The connections weren't there for me. I feel guilty for having read the whole of it. I don't want my copy of the book any more, but I'm ashamed to give it to any one I care about.

Oh dear. So yes, there's a mention of sex here and there, and some kid is tied to a tiger while in a drug-induced haze (oops, now you'll never read it), and he's never the same again, but really. No graphic descriptions, no talk of body parts. (I'd like give her Vernon God Little and see if she can get past page 70.) But then again, who expects sex in a reworking of a classic fairy tale? I didn't.

Wait, I found one more review!

[1 star of 5] Zzzz...., February 8, 2006

Reviewer:

Dee "Dee" (NJ) - See all my reviews

This book, is a book I head so much about and that it was so good you have to read it. Plus, I live 35 minutes away from the city, so everybody around here is telling me that the play is fantastic. WELL, I think the book sucked, and there is no way I'm going to go to see that play. The book drags on and on and on, and every time it starts to get interesting, it comes to an abrupt halt, and you zoom past like 5 years of Elphaba's life, to something leaving you confused. This book, is not a big deal at all. It reminded me of those books teachers would require students to read in high school, its boring, and dumb. I felt like beating myself with this book, it was so stupid.

Oh the seething indignity of it all! I really hope this is a review by a world-weary high school student, rather than a college student griping about high school required reading. I'm not even going to consider that a real live adult wrote this review.

Overall, I thought Wicked was a nice diversion, but not intriguing enough to really devote myself to the story. Touching characters, interesting story. Although, considering I read it in...well, maybe a day and a half, perhaps I'm not giving it enough credit. Meh. The Time Traveler's Wife is next. And yes, I totally snagged it because the yeti reviewed it. I would've gotten Anansi Boys, because it looked promising, and I remember seeing L lug it around, but it wasn't on amazon.jp in soft cover yet. Guess I'll have to borrow it.

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On Beans

I really like baked beans. Well, to be totally honest, I really like baked beans from a can, with the shrivelled bit of bacon suspended somewhere in the middle and a few extra tablespoons of brown sugar to make it even better. Left alone, a perfectly acceptable dinner would be hot dogs (sliced, no bun) and baked beans. Vegetables if I remembered them. British beans (whatever it is they give you at breakfast for...your toast?) come in at a pretty decent second. No, third, because I can't abandon my refried beans.

That being said, I'm going to miss natto. I remember getting it in LA for that sushi competition, so I'm not concerned that I'll never see it again, but I'm going to miss the variety here. I've found my favorite (large beans, non-offensive odor--really!), and I know it'll be one of the many things I'll crave when I go home.

Yesterday I had dinner (nabe) at a vegan's house. Said Vegan is pretty awesome because he invites me (through G) quite often, even though we never reciprocate and host anything ourselves. And it made me even more aware that I don't need to have meat at dinner. I was sated, and the closest thing I ate to meat was probably a potato. Or a mushroom. No point to that, I just wanted to remind myself that food doesn't always mean meat.

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