score of 19

You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

If I'm addicted to something, it isn't the internet.
Heh.

the most ironic thing in all of Internet

..they have a site for Internet addicts. Like a serious site. That wants to help you get over your addiction. And offers you online quizzes to find out how addicted you are. Honestly. Most ironic thing. Ever.

My result: (50 points) You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

50 -79 points: You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life.

http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/iaindex.htm
(internet addiction test)

the most ironic thing in all of Internet

..they have a site for Internet addicts. Like a serious site. That wants to help you get over your addiction. And offers you online quizzes to find out how addicted you are. Honestly. Most iornic thing. Ever.

My result: (50 points) You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

50 -79 points: You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life.

http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/iaindex.htm
(internet addiction test)

this is shallow, but..

I saw the cutest/hottest guy today ;_; He looked like a cross between the guy who plays Cedric Diggory, and Orlando Bloom. Hair more like Cedric's, but tastefully messier. A bit of a goatee/beard, like the one Bloom has sometimes. Dressed very 'cool-nice' but with a rugged feel to it. Very cool aviation-looking brown goggles propped up on the head, making hair stick up. The goggles not pointless but I'm guessing for work because he also had some equipment and a welding mask slung over his shoulder.

..I'm sorry, does the description sound stalkerish? I didn't follow him around or anything! Actually I was in Hollywood with my parents this afternoon because there was an Armenian march. Yea, genocide and all and I'm ogling a guy. -_- And he was cutely clueless/lost too at first, 'cause he was trying to go somewhere and there was a crowd of hundred thousand (yup, 100,000) of people on the street blocking his way. But then he started listening to the speeches and got an even hotter serious (ugh, no pun) look on his face. Or he could have been squinting because of the sun, I'm not sure.

Anyway, it was weird because guys aren't supposed to look like that outside of movies. And I'll shut up now because the post is already too long considering it doesn't have a valid topic, and I feel all teenager-y talking about how 'hot' a guy is. But then this blog could use all the posts it gets.

p.s. Totally unrelated, but it really made me laugh. Look what Voldemort is up to these days!

April: Summer's arrival

[Because, despite of the 20 stations and the extra quiz, I managed to get done with bio early after all.

The style is a bit off as a result of some recent problems with writing, but my editor thought it was readable anyway. *nod* *grin*

Based on real people who were sprawled all over the grass. You'd think they died if it weren't for the blissful smiles on their faces. Countless sunburns these two days.]

Spring in southern California was not a subtle affair. There was none of the thin ‘veils of green’ shyly creeping their ways over hills and dales, no slow warming of the days as the skies gradually cast off cloaks of winter gray. Spring in southern California was a bit like one of its famed cities—say, San Diego or Los Angeles, where everything was happening and happening at once (or at least gave the impression that it was). Hurry. Rush! And overnight the new bright golds and greens covered the city with their translucent hue, replacing the faded brown-greens of yesteryear. Hurry! And in two more days the sun beamed down as if winter was a distant memory months away, and not the lingering presence of merely a week ago. Another day and all the spring flowers were in bloom. Another hour and millions of little feathered things added their voices to the tune of Spring as it dashed hither-dither in an ecstatic frenzy, leaving behind its dancing footprints fading into millions of shades of green….

Then in but a week was the first breath of summer, bringing with it its languid days of white-gold heat and azure skies that would last well past September. Almost instantaneously time slowed the frantic pace that it had set for Spring into the drowsy crawl reminiscent of a lazy feline on warm afternoons and brought with it—with its warmth and lulling sunshine—the entire school full of students to be left out on the grasses and on the beaches, sun-baked and sleepily content.

Gary wondered vaguely when Mike had trailed off from whistling into the indolent silence that now hovered over them, but it was only a passing thought in the back of his mind. The majority of his mental state was sluggish and as gloriously clear as the sky arching away above him. It was very soothing.

“We should do something,” said Nick weakly and with no detectable levels of motivation.

“Mmm,” commented Mike. Gary stared dazedly at the sky, feeling too lazy to respond.

“Should go and study,” mumbled Zach, failing to escape from the general lethargy from where he was sprawled on the grass, chin in hand. He sounded like Gary felt, and Gary felt like he would be incapable of movement until at least an hour after the sun had gone down, or until the world ended, whichever came first.

“You ‘n your stood—studyin’,” scoffed Nick. “That’s not…you know,” he appealed to Mike. “Like ‘health’….”

“ ‘Healthy’,” supplied Mike with a groan, rolling over so that he would be spread out face-down on the grass. He twitched, the lazily pushed at something at the grass under his head. “Ow. Stupid rock,” he muttered, but even that lacked its usual energy. “Hard.”

“Rocks tend to be that,” murmured Zach. Gary craned his neck and looked at him. He appeared to be staring off at something decidedly invisible that was located two feet in front of him.

“Feel sorry for the rocks. Roche pitoyable.” Nick rested his chin on his backpack and stared down at the ground, as if searching for rocks with which to share his empathy. “You have a pointy nose.”

“An’ pointy ears. We have our own mutant,” added Zach, yawning. He blinked. “Boy, we’ve been here for a while.”

Mike muttered something. It might be ‘shuddup’, but coming from against the grass, it was harder to decipher. Gary considered their conversation and decided that a ‘shuddup’ was probably called for.

“Not that long,” he answered in response, and squinted at Zach as his friend yawned again. “ An’ you should go in or somethin’, you’re getting sunburned.”

“We’re all getting sunburned,” pointed out Zach sleepily. “Most of the school’s getting sunburned. It’s a sunburning sort of day.” He paused. “That didn’t make sense.”

“The sun’s gone to your head, man,” Gary said wisely.

“Yeah but the rest of us get tan, you just get skin cancer,” said Mike, at the same time.

“That’s not fair,” protested Zach. “I get freckles.”

“You’ll get freckles an’ skin cancer,” amended Mike, very reasonably.

“Well I’m just going to have to die from skin cancer then,” decided Zach. He dropped his head onto the grass. “Because I’m not moving.”

“You really should go in, Zach, or do somethin’,” suggested Nick. “I’d help, but I don’t thin’ I can move. ‘Suis désolé.”

“Uhmph,” agreed Gary, trying, like Mike, to roll over but eventually deciding that lying just the way he was worked pretty well too.

“Gods, we’re pathetic,” said Mike with a laugh. Gary turned his head the other way to look at him. Mike was looking at them. Sort of. It was hard to tell because his own backpack was in the way.

“ ‘m not,” he disagreed, “We’re enjoyin’ ourselves.”

“Hmm,” said Nick, which might be a yes, a no, or an I’m-too-sun-baked-to-speak-a-full-sentence-right-now. In any case Gary considered it a case well argued and rolled his head back to stare up at the sky.

And felt dazzled by the miles of clear, sunlit air.

Summer had begun.

[The irony is, I just checked the forecast, and it might rain on Picnic Day. C'est la vie.

And now for more studying! ]

April: Apartments

[A general note: Troubleshooting printers, be it your own or belonging to someone else near you, is distinctly evil.

Also: Thank you, Lucy.]

When it became generally known that Zach's roommate would be gone for the weekend, the partially unlatched door to Zach's room meant that one could wander in at any time at all to visit, provided that one gave the door a tap of courtesy first.

Or at least, that was how Mike saw it.

"Hey Zach!" He called out, entering the door as he gave it a sharp rap. From beneath the desk came a distinct "thump" followed by a muffled "Oh God" and then, fainter still, "Ow."

"You okay?" Mike stared down at his friend. Or at least, the part of his friend that he could still see, stretched out against the threadbare carpet. "And why're you under the desk?"

"That's where my printer is," explained Zach matter-of-factly from the depth of his desk. It was not the most illuminating explanation and, in this case, it also involved a machine's neurotic screeching. Mike winced from the sound.

"Uh-huh. I see," he said, in a tone which indicated that he didn't see at all.

"My printer wouldn't print," clarified Zach. Something else thumped as he made an exasperated noise and scooted out from underneath the desk. "I found an error with the program, because there was a conflict in the ports. Fixed that, still wouldn't print, and found that the USB cable down there was loose. Fixed that and then found that the printer still wouldn't print because the ink cartridge's jammed." He finished the long explanation with a heartfelt sigh of aggravation, hair clinging to his skull in a way that suggested it had enough electrical discharge to temporarily power a small lamp.

"The world's conspiring against you," Mike said, trying to school his face into a proper expression. "First your computer, then your printer—"

Zach huffed and idly rubbed his nose. "Actually, right now it's just the ink cartridge, I think."

"You never know, they might all be in it together. An' you got ink on your nose, by the way."

Zach looked at him, then looked down at his ink-smudged hands. "Noted," he said, and disappeared under the desk again. There came a faint crack and a yelp that indicated a significant decrease in electron potential.

Mike cleared his throat. Several times. It helped. "So what're you doin' after you get your printer fixed?"

"Dunno," came the answer. Mike might be imagining it, but Zach's voice sounded oddly ominous, coming from underneath the desk. "Why? What do you have planned?"

"Me an' Nick an' Gary are thinking of going around and looking at apartments, since it's about that time when we started doing that." He glanced around the room. It was spare, even by a guy's standards—bed with gray-blue covers and a pillow, desk with books and computer against one side, and nothing except two maps (one of the city they were in and one of cellular metabolism) on the wall. By contrast, the other half of the room seemed like an explosion of personality—all reds and oranges and overlapping movie posters, CDs scattered all over the places and a lava lamp lying across the computer keyboard. Mike thought with some disgust of his own roommate and wondered who the hell was put in charge of pairing people up for their room assignments.

Carried along by his own thoughts, it took him a moment to realize that he'd be answered with only silence. That and some screeching protests from the printer.

"Apartments," prompted Mike, "You know, for next year?"

Silence.

"You have thought about it, right?"

"Yes," the answer was accompanied by the sound of a printer's lid being shut and the printer's frantic beeping. Zach reappeared. "I've actually been thinking about going vegan and joining the co-ops." He said gravely.

Mike stared at him. "You're kiddin me."

Zach raised an eyebrow.

"But they're crazy!"

"Considering the people I hang around each day," Zach gave him a pointed look, amused. "I'd think that I've developed a pretty good tolerance for insanity."

"But that's different! They're like, a different kind of crazy!"

"Yes, I think their style is actually healthier," coughed Zach.

Mike rolled his eyes, deciding that Zach's concept of what was healthy could do with a major resorting—later. "Are you comin' or not?"

"Mm," Zach clicked a few things on his laptop. The printer stopped beeping and made a whirling noise instead, soon followed by the sound of paper being printed. "Yes!" Zach grinned, looking rather smug. "And yes, yes I am. Coming, I mean."

Mike suppressed a smile at the sight of his friend's very evident self-satisfaction from winning a war against a printer. " 'Kay." He got up from where he'd seated himself on the chair. "And Zach?"

"Hm?"

"You've still got ink on your nose."

***

Gary whistled, a long, shrill sound over the noise of the traffic on the two way street. At a section of town that might be described as 'quaint,' but was more closely depicted by the word 'tired' with its faded, slight, worn-at-edges look, the contraption in front of them look determinedly out of place. The street was tree-lined and comparatively quiet, for all that it was located so close to campus. Here and there were a few people walking along and there was also the quiet hum of daily lives going on inside the houses on each side. Mostly though, the streets were quiet and empty.

"Hot damn," breathed Mike. "I wanna a motorbike like that."

Suppressing a smile, Nick exchanged a look with Zach. It was a brief and familiar gesture, born out of habit and time. "Right."

"We'll keep that in mind," agreed Zach as Mike went on staring at the contraption, wide-eyed. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. It didn't quite erase the smile. "Com'on, Mike," he added, surreptitiously trying to steer Mike away from the said motorcycle and failing spectacularly. He huffed and looked at Nick, even as a corner of his mouth started to curl up with amusement.

"Apartments," Nick reminded Mike, and attempted to haul him away. Mike was not small, nor was he inclined to move at the present, but Nick was bigger and broader in the shoulder and starting to get nervous about the contemplative expression on his friend's face. Generally that particular look meant that mayhem of the near-future was being contemplated, and this time the mayhem seemed to take the shape and form of a motorcycle. Nick was not really reassured by this, given that now was about the time when most first-years contemplated their modes of transportation for the following years. So while they might be about equal in terms of strength mass ratio, Nick was still bigger, and therefore had the upper hand in the current circumstance.

No longer able to ignore the fact that he was being dragged away against his will, Mike turned and gave Nick a sulky look.

"Aw, com'on," he said, and when Nick just looked at him, changed his expression into one that, to Nick, seemed to be composed of nothing but pleading eyes. Considering the fact that Mike's face included things other than just his eyes, it was something of an accomplishment. "Just a moment longer?"

Nick wavered. He felt himself waver, and couldn't decide whether he should be amused or horrified that he was so easily persuaded. It was very much unfair that his friends should be able to persuade him to do this and that and that he never seemed to manage enough to persuade anyone to do anything at all. Friends should be at the same stand point, influencing each other as much as they were influenced. Nick felt like he was receiving all the influence without actually managing to influence anyone or—he remembered with a twinge the issue with the internet connection the day before—anything in return.

He was hopeless, Nick decided, cas impossible.

"We're going to miss the bus." Zach jumped in, sensing Nick's weakness. Mike scowled at him.

Oh thanks, he mouthed. In response Zach cheekily flipped him a mock salute.

"It is pretty cool, though," said Gary, wistfully.

It was nice looking for a mode of transportation, admitted Nick, if you liked that sort of thing. The bike was dark and shiny and looked like it was capable of exceeding the speed limit—which went a long way to explain why Mike wanted it. Grinning almost in spite of himself, Nick reflected that at times, it was startlingly easy to predict Mike's behaviors. Such as the way his face lit up whenever he saw anything with aerodynamic potential. It had something to do with personal preferences.

"Bus. One block," Zach repeated, pointing, determination distilled in every line of his skinning, freckled arm, "Thattaway."

"You're no fun," grumbled Mike, but eventually managed to tear himself away from the bike and therefore preventing Nick from wondering whether or not he could fulfill his amount of weekly exercise by dragging his friends around.

"Wasn't in the job requirement the last time I checked" said Zach.

"It got updated."

"No one told me."

"Well I'm tellin' you now. So now you know."

A bus—no, Nick squinted—the bus they were suppose to take—passed them. There was no one else waiting at the stop, so it went along its merry way, with only an occasional screeching from its breaks.

"Oh bother," sighed Zach, sounding beleaguered. "Look, you guys—we missed the bus."

"Another one'll come, right?" Asked Nick nervously. In France, the modes of public transportation were always predictable—or at least always predictably unpredictable. From what he knew the buses from across the ocean also followed some sort of a schedule, he just never bothered to figure out what the schedule was.

"Yea, another one'll come, Zach's just bein' weird an' scheduled, that's all," grinned Gary.

"You can't 'be scheduled,'" muttered Zach. "That makes no sense."

"Whatev." Mike glanced down at his watch and brightened. Actually brightened. It was one of those things you always thought only belonged in books until you actually saw someone's face light up and realized that it was quite an accurate description, after all. "The bus's not gonna be around for at least another ten minutes so," he continued, rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Let's go an' look at the bike again!"

"Hm," said Nick.

"Ten minutes?" Gary checked his watch too, and grinned. "Sweet."

"Erk," said Zach. And Nick found it hard not to laugh at the dismayed expression on his face. He'd been worried, come this quarter, about what Mike would be like, after the wedding was over and school had resumed. All in all, it didn't seem as if there was a significant change, or at least, none that Mike was willing to show.

Until he was told then. Nick smiled at the sound of Gary's comments, Mike's excitement and Zach's attempts to convince the other two that motorcycle was a hazard to humanity. Until he was told, whenever that would be, he would wait and treasure times like these, fond memories as they no doubt would be.

Mike smacked him on the back of his head, an unfailingly effective way to get his attention--not to mention to derail his train of thought. "What're you grinnin' at?"

Oh yes, gentillet péjoratif, certainly.

Choose 12 characters..

Why did I spend time on this? Because I don't have classes on Wednesdays, there is no hw buildup yet and nobody was online!

p.s. I inserted the character names into some of the questions to make it easier for the reader, but now I realize that if someone else does it, they have to edit in those names. So oops. But anyway-


Choose twelve characters from your fandoms, then answer the questions. Do not look at the questions beforehand.
1. House
2. Harry
3. Crowley
4. Luna
5. Ginny
6. Snape
7. Nick (yes, our nick. Why not?)
8. Aziraphale
9. Sirius
10. Wilson
11. Bellatrix
12. Fred and George



01. Who would make a better college professor, 6 or 11? What subjects would they teach?
Sadly, I have to pick Snape, because as evil a teacher as he can be, Bellatrix might actually start blowing students up. Hmm, that would get her fired and result in canceled tests! I’m switching to Bella/

02. Do you think 4 (Harry) is hot? How hot?
Uhh, not really. I mean some people draw him pretty hot, but in the world of the books he doesn’t have much looks.

03. 12 (Fred and George) sends 8 (Zira) on a mission. What is it, and does it succeed?
Haha, probably sent poor Aziraphale to mess up Crowley’s laundry and make his suits pink with orange stripes. It would succeed because Aziraphale wanted to get back at Crowley for always getting him drunk.

04. What is or would be 9's favorite book?
“So You Want to Escape the Curtain of Doom”

05. Would it make more sense for 2 (Harry) to swear fealty to 6 (Snape), or the other way around?
Oh, man, after book 6, it's hard to say.

06. For some reason, 5 (Ginny) is looking for a roommate. Should s/he share a studio apartment with 9 (Sirius) or with 10 (Wilson)?
Well, Wilson does the dishes but I guess Sirius is a better choice because she actually knows him. Although Mrs. Weasley might be against this.

07. 2 (harry), 7 (nick) and 12 (fred and george) have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
Huh, funny they’re all young guys. It’d probably be a pizza or some fast food place. The HP boys discuss Quidditch and magic while Nick wonders if this is some joke Mike’s playing on him.

08. 3 challenges 10 to a duel. What happens?
Aww, poor Wilson. He doesn’t have much chance against a demon. Then again, he deals with House pretty well, so you never know.


09. If 1 (House) stole 8's(Zira's) most precious possession, how would he get it back?
Well, he’s an angel so that shouldn’t be too hard for him. But he'd try politely asking for it back only to receive snarky comments from House. Poor
Aziraphale. Btw, the said possession is probably either a book or a demon ;P

10. Suggest a title for a story in which 7 (nick) and 12 (fred and george) both attain what they most desire.
“Happiness and a Jokeshop or how Nick Went Crazy During Finals and Blew Up College with Fred and George’s Products”
(ok maybe kidding about the second part)

11. What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted 4 (Luna) and 1 (House) to work together?
Well, a crossover fic for starters. Otherwise the reader would suddenly find out that Luna is awesome at Healing Magic. House would pay her in radishes to take care of all the patients while he stays home and watches his soaps.

12. If 7 (nick) visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?
Haha, pretty well I’d guess. Unless I hug him too much and he freaks out.

13. If you could command 3 (Crowley) to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
x))) Hmmm. World domination plzkthnks.

14. Does anyone on your friends list write or draw 11 (bellatrix)?
Heh, helloo makani.

15. If 2 (Harry) had to choose sides between 4 (Luna) and 5 (ginny), which would it be?
Well, Ginny, duh. He’s ‘chosen’ her in two ways already- gf, plus they’re both in Gryffindor.

16. What might 10 (Wilson) shout while charging into battle?
“House, I am going to kill you!”

17. If you chose a song to represent 8, which song would you choose?
I dunno, something about angles?

18. 1 (House), 6 (Snape), and 12 (Fred and George) are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
What a funny image. Also, House was eating pancakes in the previous episode and he didn’t let Chase have one when he reached for it! So House has experience in such matters. And Snape probably wouldn't go so low as to fight over food.

19. What might be a good pick-up line for 2 (Harry) to use on 10 (Wilson)?
It wouldn’t work, anyway. Wilson is not into underage boys.

20. What would 5 (Ginny) most likely be arrested for?
Eh, something like using magic outside of school.

21. What is 6 (snape)'s secret?
HAHA. WOULDN’T WE ALL LIKE TO KNOW?

22. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Ooh boy, it’s Sirius vs. Bellatrix! He’s probably physicall stronger than her, so Sirius. Yay.

23 (missing)

24. 1 (House) and 9 (Sirius) reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's (Luna’s) sinister secret organization. 11 (Bellatrix) volunteers to help them, but it is later discovered that 11 (Bellatrix) is actually a spy for 4 (Luna). Meanwhile, 4 (Luna) has kidnapped 12 (Fred and George) in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5 (Ginny), they seek out 3 (Crowley), who gives them what they need to complete their quest.
What title would you give this fic? Name three people on your friends list who might read it. Name one person who should write it.

“Nonfunny Crack”. That fic doesn’t sound good or fun or any combination of both. Moving on.


25. If you had to walk home through a bad neighbourhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 or 8?
Well, hard not to pick Aziraphale with the whole “guardian angel” concept. But Nick would be nice too because we could freak out together ;P

spring schedule

what it is at the moment. maybe there won't be changes to come this time :P