Feeling :  bouncy  Listening :  Girls Who Play Guitars - Maximo Park  Reading :  Just a Girl

How do I justify spending $75 on this necklace?

This is an ultra-hip avant-garde locket that has been crafted using an antiqued silver plated locket onto which was mounted an oxidized silver finding. A silver finish skull and crossbones finding was mounted on the face of the locket. It’s a fabulous look. Inside, the locket has been left empty for your own special treasures. The chain is silver plated tubular & ball linked chain that measured approximately 18 inches This is a great piece for the men as well as the ladies.

It’s soo beautiful. *weeps*

I found it on Watch-Cufflinks.com.

Damn me for being a broke college student!!

Woe is me.

I wonder if I should ask for it for my birthday? It’s coming up in almost a month.

It would be the crowning glory on my Goth Loli costume for Halloween, that much is sure.

Feeling :  hopeful  Listening :  Arctic Monkeys: Fluorescent Adolescent  Reading :  Something new, dunno yet

Ack, drama drama drama.

I’m still just a tiny bit unsettled from everything from the past week, but I’ve been making my peace with it slowly. Still have financial drama on the back burner, not mine this time, but it directly affects me.

Someday I know things will be good for me, or - in the very least - manageable. It’s the struggle that wears me down. It’s this uphill battle that I’m constantly fighting within and around and out of myself. I dunno if that makes sense. Lethargy takes over sometimes, or apathy, and the battle keeps raging on. I really dislike people who don’t have an ounce of drama in their lives. Things come easy to them. They know exactly what they’re doing with their lives, and it’s just easy.

I know that as a Catholic, I’m supposed to trust that everything that has happened and will happen in my life is just a part of His plan for me. I’m still waiting for that bolt of lightning to hit me though. The one that will light a fire for a passion that will sustain me for as long as possible. I would really like to know what I am meant to do with this life.

As such, when I get antsy from drama, I tend to want to buy things to distract myself. Sometimes I buy things for me, sometimes I buy things for other people. I guess it’s a bit weird to be admitting this. Not so much to you, but to me. As I’ve always said, writing is therapy for me. So when I go back and read entries even a day or two later, I go, “Did I really write that? Wow.”

I haven’t had a retail therapy session in awhile though. I’ve been shopping to survive, not surviving to shop lately. I deserve to splurge, even if I complain about how poor I am. Whatever I do, it’s because I can. People are so quick to judge other people, but it’s like, “why make my business your business? Move along now, please, nothing to see here.”

I bought something for my new niece the other day. I can’t say what (since they might read this), but I hope it arrives in time for my sister-in-law’s baby shower. I also bought a cloisonne money clip on eBay. I also got the Indiana Jones series on DVD. They’re on sale for $10 apiece at Target until Saturday. Then at Wal-Mart, I snagged “A Knights’ Tale,” “Dracula” (with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder), and “Fools Rush In” for $5 apiece a couple of weeks ago.

I’m going to go to the library tomorrow alone. My youngest niece is in trouble for getting bad grades again. She knows that our weekly trips to the library is a privilege, not a right.

Growing up, getting good grades and helping out Mom and Dad were our responsibilities. If we didn’t bring home good grades, we didn’t get treats, such as a new toy, or things like that. Mine was a camera. I’ve been interested in photography ever since I was young. So you know what I did? I worked my ass off to keep my grades up, and what do you know? For Christmas, I got a camera!

So we’ve passed that ethic on to my nieces as well. All I want for my girls is to get good grades. If you don’t get good grades, you don’t get a treat. Period.

I told her that I was taking all of her books back to the library, whether she was finished with them or not. I’m very upset with her in that sense. I sometimes wonder how hard she really tries in school, because her grades don’t reflect her supposed “effort” at all.

*le sigh* I hate being mean though. But I hope this teaches her to work harder.

?: “What did you get for good grades growing up?”

Feeling :  mellow  Listening :  Make It Wit Chu - Queens of the Stone Age  Reading :  Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne

It’s been quite the uneventful life lately.

I chalk it up to the fact that it’s summer.

Lazy days.

Hot days where you don’t wanna do anything unless you HAVE to.

I can’t wait until it’s the middle of summer, so I can sing the hook from “When the Day Met the Night” and actually have it apply to the time.

Father’s Day was decent. I had an early day at work, so I got home in time to take a shower and go to church with my family. Then we went to Applebee’s for dinner. I had the Shrimp and Parmesan Sirloin, which is what I always order when we’re there. I finished my Oreo Shake, and then my niece’s. Gah, so good!

My mom’s in town this week, and unfortunately, she’s in bad shape. Her lower back gave her some issues within the past week. She cringes every time she sits down. She’s been to 2 different doctors to try and diagnose the problem. The quick care clinic said it might be her kidneys, but her doctor here said that it’s a lumbar problem.

He prescribed some muscle relaxant and the other script he won’t fill until the drugstore speaks to her doctor. My mom doesn’t really exercise, and she takes a lot of medications for things: her heart, etc. I’m not even sure what, but it scares me to see her so medicated. Plus we had that irregular heartbeat scare not too long ago.

Seeing my mom in pain like that hurts me, because there’s nothing I can do other than be there for her and talk to her. And it sucks because she lives in California. But that’s the American economy for you. My mom makes more money in Cali than she ever would here. *le sigh*

I finished “Mouse Tales” by David Koenig from my summer reading list last week. If you want to know about the dark side of paradise (i.e. Disneyland, which is paradise as far as I’m concerned), read it. I think there’s an updated version out now, but I liked what I read from the original.

Mind you, I felt it was kinda grating after awhile. Like, really, how many accidents do we need to read about? I still have incredible fangirl love for Disneyland even after reading this book though. You would think that reading “behind the scenes” books would discourage people, but I think it’s more of a preventative book. The accidents and things that happened could have been prevented, if people were paying attention.

Koenig makes that point too. People get so caught up in the fact that they’re at Disneyland that they don’t pay attention to whether they’re coming or going half the time. Things that they did so many times before successfully, and the ONE TIME they don’t pay attention (employee or guest), BOOM! Big accident, or death.

Or the fact that Disneyland had terrorists before terrorists became a buzzword. No joke. Read the book.

The book was quite substantial in between reading about the bad stuff. Like Club 66, and how that works and things. He also had chapters on what it’s like to work for the company, and the indoctrination you go through. Which is true for any corporation. You have an image to uphold at all times, and if you don’t like it, they’ll find someone who will.

I’ve also read some more recent accounts about what it’s like to work for Disneyland. It makes me appreciate my job. The last time I went (January ‘07), I couldn’t help but notice the dour looks on the employees’ faces. It definitely made me think. I give them props though. Having to sit through 8+ hours of super hyper kids, rowdy teenagers, entitled parents. And they have to sit there and take it! Ugh, all for a paycheck.

Anyways, I would recommend it for a fun read. Nothing more. I took it off my wish list on Amazon, rofl.

I went to the library today again because I felt like it, haha. Of course, in the hubbub of running errands, we couldn’t return 2 of the DVDs we borrowed because we left the discs at home! I definitely had egg on my face because of that. So I got “Serenity,” “Carmen Jones,” “Addams Family,” “Addams Family Values,” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” instead. As we were leaving, I noticed that the used bookstore Twice Sold Tales was open (and it’s never open when we go), so I went there and got quite a few books.

“The Babysitter” by R.L. Stine
“Midnight in the Dollhouse” by Marjorie Filley Stover
“Tess of the D’Ubervilles” by Thomas Hardy
“Before You Know Kindness” by Chris Bohjalian
“Holy Blood, Holy Grail” by Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln
“The Heart of a Woman” by Maya Angelou
“The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant

You know how much I spent? $5.75!! GAH. It was awesome.

Anyways, I hope your summer is going well. Oh, and before I forget, check out Art by Terrauh. She is one of my best friends, and she’s an incredibly talented artist. I designed it for her, since building websites confuses her.

I also host it at American Princess, and I think you should check out the new layout there too.

?: “Anything exciting to look forward to?”