The List: Revisited.

I can't believe it's already been a whole year since I started this blog. And it's time to make New Years resolutions again! One of my very first entries was this list of 101 things I wanted to start changing/accomplishing, so I think it'd be good to go back, have a look at it, do a little revising, and continue with my progress.

An asterisk means I've ditched the old resolution entirely and written a new one. Commentary is in italics. Crossed-out ones have been completed!

101 Things, part 2:

1. Visit Armadale Castle in Scotland, the ancestral seat of my Scottish family.
2. See The Rasmus in concert.
3. Try absinthe, honest-to-God as-real-as-I-can-get absinthe, with a spoon and a sugar cube.
4. Finally delete my old MySpace (maybe start a new one, for networking purposes). No, no more MySpace. A blog is way better.
   
5. Buy more of my bras and panties in sets, so I'll match more often (nothing better than knowing that your unmentionables are coordinated, right ladies?).
6. *Don't be wasteful or buy things I don't need.
   
7. Grow another inch (5'5" sure was a surprise).
8. Sell more of my knits, and set up an actual website for myself to do so. Working on this one a bit, still... City Moth Knits is in existence, but not much more.
   
9. Get my hair cut in an actual style and keep it up (any ideas?).
10. ...and donate the cut part to Locks of Love.
11. Keep up with a written journal (because the internet isn't privy to everything, after all). This is going pretty well. I get behind sometimes, but at least I'm not losing journals like I used to.
    
12. Go on an epically underplanned road trip.
13. ...which reminds me, learn to drive and get my license (I know, I know, it's sad!).
14. *Work on the food blog more often with Tom.
    
15. Take more photographs and keep them better organised. And now I have a gorgeous new camera of my own to do this with!
    
16. Get my ears pierced. I'd like to stretch my lobes a little, but we'll see where that goes.
17. Play a harpsichord -- or at least just bang around on one.
18. Write more real letters and cards.
19. Learn about pairing food and wine.
20. ...and cook more fancy meals so that I may utilise such knowledge.
21. *Put spare cash into my savings more often. I missed my chance to go to Disneyworld free on my birthday, so I had to write a new one here. So sad. :C
    
22. Make cute little lunches in my bento box.
23. Buy a new bathing suit and wear it *without* my ubiquitous board shorts. Got the new suit, but no opportunities to wear it...
    
24. See Juliet's balcony in Verona.
25. Cleanse, tone, and moisturise my skin properly and regularly.
26. *Let my style evolve.
    
27. Visit New York City (I've never been, imagine that).
28. Buy the Red Curtain trilogy on DVD (Romeo + Juliet is my favourite).
29. Fill up a sketchbook.
30. Make Dean's List for the rest of my semesters. Two down, ONE to go!
    
31. Wander around a really beautiful library.
32. *Find a great pub to go to regularly, in whatever city I end up in after school.
    
33. Visit the Florida Keys.
34. Expand my family tree (in the charting it sense, not the adding to it sense).
35. Completely fill my iPod with music -- no movies, no pictures, solid tunes.
36. Touch a whale.
37. Participate in NaNoWriMo, and finish. Gave it a go last year, but didn't finish.
    
38. Shamelessly plug my endlessly talented friends.
39. Start a new blog for London.
40. Stop drinking soda entirely. I can't remember the last time I had a soda... I've kind of switched to coffee to get my caffeine fixes.
    
41. *Keep in touch with the friends I miss better.
    
42. Bake a cake with more than one layer and decorate it.
43. Make or buy a really excellent gift for someone special.
44. Discover my favourite mixed drink and learn how to make it perfectly.
45. Go to Italy and try to get around without speaking any English or resorting to mad gesturing.
46. Not take myself so damn seriously all the time.
47. Wear a little makeup more often. All these new eyeshadows I've started buying are getting well used!
    
48. *Exercise regularly and get back in shape.
    
49. Take up a new hobby.
50. Keep a daily planner and not let it get all ragged and scribbly.
51. Eat raspberries more often.
52. Discover 5 new favourite films. Not just "watch 5 new movies". Watch new movies and find 5 that are good enough to go in the favourites file.
53. Go on a double date.
54. Treat myself to a bunch of stargazer lilies.
55. Have an intellectual conversation about my favourite books.
56. Brush off the tiny inconveniences.
57. *Apply to be a graduate counselor for the international studies program in London -- and get the job, I hope!
    
58. *Make a penpal in another country. I did, and I should blog about it, haha.
    
59. Finish designing my tattoo.
60. ...and maybe have it actually put on.
61. Go to an organised steampunk meet-up.
62. Get a tarot card reading done.
63. Find and join a Parkour club.
64. Go to an Arsenal game and see them beat the snot out of Aston Villa. They did last week, 3 to zip, but I had to keep tabs on it via Tom's iPhone.
    
65. Use 'whilst' instead of 'while'.
66. Write down and save my original recipes so I don't forget them and never make them the same way again.
67. Go back to Williamsburg, Virginia.
68. Learn to grill a decent steak. Not trying for cry-over-its-deliciousness here, just actually edible for once.
69. Have an epic garage sale and buy myself a Wacom tablet with my earnings.
70. Keep up with my readings for class.
71. Take a multivitamin daily.
72. Attend a masked ball in a gorgeous costume.
73. Refine my cynicism. Not throw it away entirely -- it's one of my more useful traits -- just make it work for me, and not the other way around.
74. Find a job that I enjoy, preferably one that would allow me to travel.
75. Not skip class intentionally.
76. Plant a garden of my own.
77. Get a credit card.
78. Go to Burning Man.
79. Never rule out the unbelievably unlikely -- truth is stranger than fiction.
80. Let myself be more impulsive and spontaneous.
81. *Stand up for myself when I need to.
    
82. Write thank-you notes in a more timely fashion.
83. Create a polished resume.
    
84. Eat breakfast regularly.
85. Outline and write the story I've always wanted to.
86. Walk more. To the stores, around cities, my old neighbourhood, wherever and everywhere!
87. Stop procrastinating so damn much!
88. Get involved in a humanitarian project. Go somewhere and help someone or do something truly worthwhile (worthwhilst?).
89. Learn how to properly shoot a gun.
90. Be someone's designated driver.
91. Improve my flexibility and strength.
92. Read more and increase my vocabulary.
93. Avoid letting my phone run out of battery for days at a time. Failing at this one, still...
    
94. Write a really epic paper for my senior seminar project. It was pretty epic.
    
95. Drink tea more often, even daily.
96. Do not go into debt under anyone.
97. Avoid getting tan.
98. Start going camping again, and often!
99. Learn toasts in different languages.
100. Go on a transatlantic cruise like I've always wanted to.
101. Be fearless and self-sufficient, a steady voice and a lady spitfire -- and have no regrets along the way!

I also nixed the time requirement. Originally it was supposed to be a fixed list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, but I think I like changing them over the years and taking as long as I need.

So there! I have a direction to go in this year. If anyone else decides to make a big list, link me up, I'd love to read them. Happy New Year!

Interpreting my freakadoo dreams.

I usually have the weirdest dreams whenever I stay at my parents' house. I don't know what does it to me, but they always turn out the be the most messed-up, wackadoo creations that I mean to write down but never do (should start doing that again, hmm).

Couldn't find my dream symbols interpretation book on the shelf, so I turned to the internetz for answers. All of these were featured prominently in a handful of recent dreams. And no, I'm not going to summarise any of the plots. I thought it would be more interesting to throw the major themes out there and let you wonder how they possibly could have been involved. ;)

• Busy airport: "To dream of an airport with high traffic, you wish to be free, have ambitious goals or dreams, or elevated moral standings. This dream signals that you are ready for a new beginning. You have an idea that will take root and be successful. A new companionship or career move could be coming."

• Burglar: "To see a burglar in a dream or dream that you are a burglar is an indication that you are losing your stamina. It can also mean that worries and angst are making it difficult for you to deny others."

• Flying (with flappy arms, not wings): "To dream that you are flying generally suggests a feeling of being unencumbered where previously you may have been held down. To dream that you are flying with ease and enjoying the view indicates that you are dealing with circumstances well. You have elevated above some situation and you may have found a different point of view on things. Dreams of flying and managing your flight is indicative of your own sense of empowerment."

• Flamethrowers, pistols, and clubs: "A weapon, when held or simply seen, in a dream is an ominous symbol. There may be a person or event in your waking life from which you need protection. The threat may be physical or simply emotional. On a more basic level, a weapon may indicate repressed sexuality."

• Hamburger lunch: "To dream about a hamburger indicates that you have lost some measure of yourself, whether it's emotional, intellectual, spiritual, or physical and you can't feel complete without it. You may not be happy with a circumstance within your life or companionship. This dream also signifies your experiences and that you should take them, learn from them, and grow. There's more than the narrow view of the world and the future. Look for it."

• Skin: "To dream of your skin implies that you are trying to conceal some aspect of yourself from others. It represents the walls you erect to protect yourself from emotional harm. It may also mean that you concern yourself with trivial matters rather than try to search for something more important. The act of peeling skin in your dream symbolizes the shedding away of old, outdated customs, routines and situations. It may also represent the fact that you are eliminating and dumping unwanted exterior pretenses."

• Lobsters: "To see a lobster in your dream symbolizes power and dedication. In all you do, you always somehow come out victorious."

• Skin lobsters: the most physically terrifying and emotionally unsettling creatures my unconscious has come up with, to date. I'll just leave it at that. (I got the serious heebies just by writing this.)
  

Close encounters at SeaWorld.

A foreboding dark shape moves just under the surface of the water, searching for its prey...

The nervous swimmers panic. What was that?! A splash!!

DUH-DUN. DUH-DUN. DUH DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN...

OMGWTFBBQ BACK IN THE BOOOOOOAT!

We have evaded death itself! Death by suckery mouth flaps!

It sinks back into the depths, to surface again when unsuspecting humans come too close...

And the murky waters are still again...

And they let LITTLE KIDS into this park?! Think of the liabilities!

A quick recap. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things.

Tumblr.
I've started really stocking my Tumblr with pretty things, and I think I'd like to do a big picdrop once a week or so of my favourites. Would that be obnoxious? I'm also thinking of doing a weekly roundup of all the little things that caught my eye, but don't warrant a post of their own. Lots of bloggers do that, and I'm certainly not without material, haha.

Hot Topic has started carrying Lip Service's "steampunk" line.
In quotes because... well, there's no polite way to say it... it's fug and not good steampunk at all. Go on, have a look. I'll wait. It's just so LAME. Shapeless, colourless, and BORING!

Term papers and Twitter.
For my Horror Film term paper, I chose to write about female virginity and sexual empowerment in one of my favourite bad slasher flicks, Cherry Falls. Over the course of five days, I probably watched that sucker nearly that many times. One night, I absentmindedly Tweeted that I thought one of the actors in it was omg cute (Teehee! Sometimes I'm 13!). Next day, I turn my paper in, hop on the computer, check my Tweets... and said actor had Followed me. Not only Followed me, but acknowledged my Tweet with a "super flattered, thanks". I about DIED. DIED. But I played it cool, Tweeted about it (naturally), and he later came back to ask me about my paper. I hope I didn't embarrass him or anything, because he seems like a really cool, chill guy.

Christmas break.
I'm home for a couple of weeks until the next semester starts, which means a few things: 1. I can mooch my dad's nice camera as much as I like; 2. I will do a lot of shopping; 3. my cuddlemuffin is coming to visit for Christmas and New Years omgyaye!; and 4. ...I'm not sure if I actually had a fourth in mind. Huh.

Okay, so I should be back up to regular posts now. I missed you, blog! *cling*

Eavesdropping while working on my final papers adfkghadflghjs;dlj.

Girl in library, to friend: You might as well just put Band-aids on your nipples and go out!

My apologies for my lengthy absence from the blog-o-sphere. It's the end of the semester and my term papers have gotten rather demanding. I can't say when I'll be back to writing regular entries... soon I hope!