Well, not much is going on … at least at the moment. In the next three weeks I have three papers due, each about ten pages One’s a research paper on euthanasia, one requires a trip to the National Gallery in DC to analyze a painting, and the other includes an interview of someone with a job I want and how it relates to the labyrinth. Joy. But let’s not worry about that now, as I’ll be doing plenty of that on Monday …

Happy Halloween. Not going clubbing ’cause my stomach and back hurt and Brian’s tired. Blah … I guess celebrating will be kept to a minimum this year

Since the weather here was crappy last night, I missed the eclipse (for the second time in a row), but here’s what lucky Washington residents were able to see at 11:54 pm ET (courtesy AP Photo/Elaine Thompson):

I’m jealous.

On a side note, I upgraded to WordPress 1.2.1 (even though it’s been out a few weeks) and joined the WordPress Meetup group

For all you WordPressers out there, I highly recommend the Get Weather Plugin (as seen to your left) — not WeatherIcon, which seems to be the popular choice these days. First off, though Get Weather does include <li>’s in its code, they’re MUCH easier to get rid of, the code and output are more flexible (i.e., it works with just your zip code), there’s no cache or setting permissions to worry about, and the only necessary file is the plugin itself (images are optional). For me, it worked on the first try, and after that, I was sold

Okay, my new favorite band is Nightwish. They’re not on iTunes yet (probably ’cause they’re from Finland), but I managed to find a site with free MP3’s of “Nemo,” “Wish I Had an Angel,” and “She Is My Sin.” I love the video for “Wish I Had an Angel,” which you might be able to catch if you watch Headbanger’s Ball (Saturday nights on MTV2 from 10 - midnight). Also look for “Vermilion” by Slipknot.

My art history professor eeped today. It was funny, we were talking about a painting and the Windows screensaver comes on. He turns around and goes “eep!” in the exact same way that Brian would. I was like yay. I also got my midterm back — and didn’t fail! Though I was a point away from a D, I really don’t know how I managed to only get 28 points off the essays I knew nothing about, which were worth 120 points total (it was a 200-point test). And then he lost my salon essay and paper, but maybe they’ll turn up next class …

People were holding up “honk for homecoming” signs at the intersection by the bookstore. I wanted to set them all on fire ’cause trying to talk to my dad about transferring with horns going off in the background sucks. Speaking of which, he says I can do what I want in the end, but that I need to have more of a reason than “to be closer to my boyfriend” when people ask me why (which I do, but he thinks everyone will just assume that). Then he went on about how the whole family has put money into me being here ’cause they didn’t think I’d get in, and since I was successful at Foxcroft, I should do the same at JMU. And if I do leave, I can’t go back, and can’t go anywhere else. I feel like I have to prepare a speech and stand up on a podium to justify doing anything important since everyone asks me 1001 mind-numbing questions about who, what, when, where, why, and how. Yeah, I’m looking forward to Christmas Why doesn’t this happen to Ross?

I hear you breathe so far from me
I feel your touch so close and real
And I know my church is not of silver and gold
Its glory lies beyond judgment of souls
The commandments are of consolation and warmth …

LOL. I pledged “American Hero” — now a certain someone else has to do the same Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then read the following MSN article: Votergasm.org dangles sex, not chads.

From the October 2004 issue of Reader’s Digest (page 160), which I found really amusing:

Jon Blake Cusack wanted to give his name to his as yet unborn son. But according to The Holland (Michigan) Sentinel, he couldn’t bear to call him Junior. So the self-described “engineering geek” came up with an alternative, which his wife reluctantly agreed to. And a few weeks later, the world made room for Jon Blake Cusack 2.0.
–thisistrue.com

Also in that issue, on page 200, is an article about DDR (yay) … and how it’s good for overweight kids. Somehow I don’t think songs like “Fred Come To Bed” and “Oh Nick Please Not So Quick” by E-Rotic, among others with titles like “Ecstasy” and “So Many Men,” are suitable for them lol.

Aw now I wanna drive home and dance all night

Don’t know what to write, but I feel like blogging … slept in ’til 10 today, consequently missing my first two classes. Eh, I’m sure I didn’t miss much. Went to human rights, learned about China, tried vegetable sushi for lunch and discovered I still didn’t like it (probably ’cause it had avocado), got $10 in quarters for laundry, checked the mail for my credit card (still nothing), and then came back here. For the past three hours all I’ve done is work online and sleep. Sad? Yes … though later I need to go to UREC and get back on that track. Have nothing due tomorrow, so tonight I can finish off The Breeze and Reader’s Digest. And such is how I spend every night here … is that a sign?

Puffs tissues (the kind with added lotion) are way better than Kleenex.

My iTunes library is now complete and filled with 4118 ripped and downloaded songs, and as of last night, this site is finally XHTML compliant. I love how what I accomplish doesn’t matter in any way to the big scheme of things. Like I’m not doing any better in school, class registration starts in a couple weeks, my advisor sucks, and I’m hoping to steer clear of art and get four gen-ed classes to fill the spring. Did I mention I might have to sue PayPal if I don’t get my money back? Well, that’s what Brian thinks … and I’ve never ever contemplated suing anyone, much less how to do it, and I think if I did I’d go crazy. WTF, 20-year-olds just don’t sue people. Blah.

So I got an email from PayPal saying that the maximum amount of money from the seller’s account they could recover for me was 1.59 GBP ($2.90). WTF? I’m owed 175.00 GBP ($319.00) *sigh* Though they said they’d do their best to recover the remaining amount, it really sucks trying to live with $18 $8 in your bank account. And now it looks like I won’t be getting my money back:

PayPal does not consider this a satisfactory resolution of this complaint. We have taken action against this seller’s account until the complaint has been resolved.

Terminating the person’s account (or whatever they did) is not gonna help the fact that the seller has pretty much ignored all contact regarding the issue *sigh* What else am I supposed to do?