Once again, I am left with no choice but to combine a whole bunch of stuff into one post. Because I seem to be too lazy to write up stuff as it happens these days.

So firstly, the fanfic comp is now over and finished rather smoothly. In the end we only had three ties, and none were for first place. Not bad at all. Everyone also seemed really pleased with how quickly the results were posted, so yay there as well. I was also pretty pleased with the results- a lot of my favorites won without me even having to vote for them. ^_^

Putting the hosting duties to the side, I myself was also on the ballot and was surprised to find myself watching the votes come in for me. 'Twas for the same story in two different categories- I got second place for Best Short Work and first for Best Villain.

That's... surprisingly good. The stories I was up against in both categories were like, really, really good. I went and reread mine to compare. I honestly can't see how they placed as high as they did. I mean, I don't think I sucked, but in comparison I find several fics to have been more deserving.

Seesaw was written on the spur of the moment, in the attempt to just write something and have it up in time for a goodfic flood. I like it, but I don't think it's anything special.

Not that I'm ungrateful! Because it's seriously nice to see people thought highly enough of it to vote for it. It just baffles me, I guess.

Nevertheless, yay! I wrote barely nothing and I still get recognized. I has not been forgotten. :3

Next matter of business- I watched Bolt online a couple of hours ago. OMG- I liked that movie a lot more than I thought I would. It had it's moments of total cuteness, but it also had some really developed characters. I loved all three of the animals (Bolt is the dog, obviously, and then there's Mittens the cat and Rhino the hamster). They just had so much personality. Oh, and the pigeons. Freaking hilarious. The Nemo jab was awesome. XD Really- it was totally great to watch. I may even buy it.

And because I can't talk about movies without at least one quote...

Bolt: There's a guard.
Rhino: I'll snap his neck.

And finally for something a little more serious.

Long rambling entry once again. Probably made no sense, but at least it's an entry.

I awoke bright and freaking early to reread the driver's manual. Was exhausted, but I made it to the DMV. They were a little busy, thus they had two people helping everyone who came in. One was the lady from before, and the other was the one who actually helped me.

Though I actually had no choice in the matter, I was very pleased to end up with the non-bitchy one. I presented my birth certificate and proof of residence and stated I needed to get a new permit. Upon asking when the old one had expired, I told her the first of this current month.

She was rather surprised by this and informd me that I shouldn't have to take the test again until a year after my permit expires. I told her that the other lady had told me otherwise and the newer lady made a quick phone call to find out what was up.

Turns out the first lady was just an idiot. Didn't have to take the test again, and after a quick little picture I had my new permit. Yayness. ^_^

Afterwards I went to driver's ed. Learned some very brief stuff and then came home to get my stuff ready to go to mom's house.

...Only stuff came up preventing my stepdad from coming to get me. (headdesk) I'm still bummed. However, he's picking me up early tomorrow. And I got to RP tonight over at TT to pass the time and the stuff.

Also watched the animated Wolverine vs. Hulk movie that came out a month or two ago. Am still fangasming over the Wolverine trailer and subsequently went on a Deadpool kick. Upon seeing clips with him from it, I had to watch.

...I was disappointed. ;_; Lionsgate did awesomely with their Avenger movies, but everything else is really starting to blow. This one was only an hour long and was basically all random fight scenes in which blood was everywhere and Deathstrike appeared to have an orgasm upon stabbing Wolverine (Pi: ...WTF? O_o). People also lose their arms a lot. The Professor in the begiining has his cut off, and then Wolverine cuts off one of Deathstrike's robotic ones. He also proceeds to later slice off one of Deadpool's not so cybernetic arms... though that was actually kinda funny (Deadpool: (*trying to put the pieces back together* There we go... No, that's not right. ...What the hell? Oh, now it's upside down... *adjusts* There she is! Sweet.). Anyways, later Deathstrike gets both cybernetic ones ripped off. It just happened a lot.

I know the thing was based off a very early comic (featuring Wolverine's first appearance if I remember correctly, as a matter of fact), but it was just really lacking. No development at all, and it literally ends with Hulk and Wolverine starting up another fight.

Deadpool was awesome though. I'd rewatch just for him.

...

Deathstrike: (moves The Professor's body with her foot)
Sabertooth: The last thing The Professor said before he gutted him was for us to kill Wolverine'!
Deadpool: Really. Huh. (to Omega Red) You buy that? Yeah, you know, I would think the last thing he would've said was "AHHHH! Sabertooth!" (makes death noises)

So today was eventful for me. That might not be saying much as usually my days are pretty routine: work, computer, sleep, repeat when I work, and relax, meetings, computer, sleep when I don't. XD

Today though was different. Firstly I awoke to being super stuffed up. My nose is killing me, and the way my mouth feels is indicating that laryngitis is in the works. Likely indicates Spring is also coming.

Anyways, I got ready and deaprted my house with the intentions of catching a bus and going to see Watchmen before anyone could spoil it for me. Sad thing is, there's one movie theatre in this town and it only shows two movies at a time. And during the weekdays, each movie only has one showtime. So basically, there's no 'Oh, we'll catch the next showing'.

Said showing was at 6:45 PM. Tuesday night meetings start at 7:30 PM, and I have plans to start RP'ing Bishop over at TT around 7 PM my time tomorrow. I decided to skip out on the meeting, as I've yet to miss the Tuesday one for two months, and it'd be nice to relax and all. I was very nervous about doing so though, because I didn't want anyone from the congregation to see me skipping it... especially for an R rated movie. I don't have much of a spine, I'm afraid. In fact, I'd been debating with myself the whole week over whether I should go or not.

But I did in the end. Like I said, I was going to catch the bus. I looked up the times and everything only to find the bus stops it's runs at six. Wouldn't have been so bad, but due to the routes, it would've meant I'd have to catch the bus at 5:20 and kinda be left with nothing much to do until the movie started at 6:45.

So instead I decided to walk! Er...after I couldn't find the busstop, anyways. ^_^; Nevertheless, it was a lot more fun. I needed to see how long it would take for me to get to that side of town anyways. Turns out there's a shortcut (albeit a creepy one) that got me there in thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes after all the stops I made, anyways. On my way I stopped at the bank and caught them before closing. With plenty of time I headed in the direction of the theatre, going through town to do it. Even when I lived here when was a kid, I never knew much about these places. It's all a bunch of little hole in the wall kinda stores, and they tend not to stay for long. So imagine my surprise when I found a bookstore! I'd been to this place before a while back at another location and had been under the impression it had closed. As it turns out, they'd just moved to their current location at that time!

I was very pleased about this. It's a cute little place. The lady there has a giant dog named Gus, and he was just the sweetest thing. I bought four books there before continuing on my way.

This is where I found the shortcut. See, the town is kinda cut in half by a railroad (I've seen more trains here than anywhere else). By one of the parks next to it, I found a tunnel that goes under it and takes you to the other side. Is kinda longer crossing the tracks, because the railroad is up higher, you see. The tunnel is actually on ground level.

Anyways- 'twas a cool little tunnel. Has an awesome echo effect. Nevertheless, I can see a lot of bad things happening there if you're caught at the wrong time.

After the tunnel, I was on the other side of town. Still had quite a bit of time left, alas, so I ended up killing it by eating at McDonald's. That's been my comfort food since I was a kid- also got the bad taste of impending laryngitis out of my mouth. When I was finished, it was time for the movie.

Firstly- the trailers all have me really hyped right now. Star Trek looks excellent (and apparently has had a name change) and OMFG. I am still having fangasms over the X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer. Holy shit, I can barely articulate my excitement. If you've yet to see it, take a look:

ZOMG, guys. I keep rewatching it. I'm already intrigued with the plot for one. Secondly? The characters. Holy. Freaking. Crap.

A few I was expecting, as I have some recollection of Wolverine's origin story from the 90's cartoon. There's Sabertooth (and here he can actually articulate things). We also have Agent Zero and Silver Fox, both of which I'm really excited to see.

But then. Then we have more! Kestrel! Emma Frost! Deadpool! And GAMBIT. Do you know how freaking long I've been waiting to see Gambit in the movies (seriously, why wasn't he in any of the X-Men ones?)? Forever. This is epic, man! I can't contain my joy. :D So excited!

Anyways, on to Watchmen.

Eh... today be my day off. I'm too lazy to do much today, and sore to boot.

I did buy The Dark Knight, though *_*. There is great advantage to working until one in the morning, especially on days new movies are being released on DVD. :D

I watched it again while wrapping up the presents I got for the little boy on the tag I picked off of the Giving Tree. What a totally weird experience. Awesomeness from a dark and violent movie mixed with the careful planning of increasing a child's joy with a warm coat and shoes and the fluffiness of a new blanket and stuffed puppy. O_o

Heheh... hope he likes them. I hid each present inside of a present. That was my attempt to make up for the horrid wrapping job. >.< He's a kid though- he probably won't care too much about that.

Besides that, I've spent most of my days reading as much One Piece fanfiction as possible. I finally found a good many more (dreamy sigh), but alas... I think I may have reached the end. Nooooez! ;_;

So I continue to look for more. Hopefully I'll find some.

And holy crap. Best quiz ever. (DIES)

Thus far, I have to say... living on my own has been one of the best experiences of my life. I mean, I got home yesterday from seeing a movie and was sitting down at my laptop when I realized that I haven't been this happy in a long time. Even throwing the foot pain in there, I am, for the most part... happy. :D It's a strange feeling!

I barely did anything yesterday. My alarm clock didn't go off, so I ended up waking two hours later than I planned. I had about an hour tojust get awake before my grandma came over so we could get some things done.

First thing on the list was picking up my debit card. For some reason, putting that card into my wallet seemed bigger than getting my permit. Probably because I haven't done much with said permit ^_^;. Either way, it felt like a real adult step or something. Was really cool.

And holy crap- it's so neat looking! Like, all pretty and everything. And it has my name on it. O.O Duuuuuude... That shouldn't be as awesome as it is! XD

After I got that, my grandma went to her own bank to get a withdrawl for groceries later. Then she took me to this new subdivision that isn't quite done yet (and thus a bit more empty) and I got to practice driving for a while. It's been a while since I was behind the wheel, and I've only done that twice. Nevertheless, things seemed to come a little easier now. I remembered to use my turn signal 99% of the time- the one time I didn't when I was trying to figure out how to Yield and and do it at the same time. >.>

That was the harder part, I think. I couldn't quite remember what to do at a Yield. Hopefully next time will be better. Another thing to work on is a problem my stepdad pointed out during my first lesson last year- I overcompensate when I turn the wheel sometimes, so when I go to straighten out the vehicle afterwards, I end up having a harder time at it then I should. (scratches head) Maybe I'm turning too slow? Because when I do it, I try to turn the wheel just the right amount, but I always feel like I'm going to hit the curb or something when I do so I end up turning it a little more. Hmm... (considers)

Other than that though, I think I did fairly well. Stayed on the right side of the road most of the time as well, the only time I didn't being during some of those oddball turns of mine. But since no one was really in the street, I didn't have to worry about hitting anyone.

When we were done there, I went to grandma's and lounged for a bit. That's another thing that's been great about me being on my own- my relationship with my family members is actually seeming to improve! I haven't had stressing conversations with any of them, for the most part, since I've moved in here. And with my grandparents, I actually seem to be getting along with them well! I like this a lot. Maybe someday I can do the same with my dad? He'll be harder, I know, but it's not impossible.

Anyways- before going to grandma's, we'd driven by the little theatre in town and I'd seen that Eagle Eye was playing. I've been wanting to see that for awhile, but thought I wouldn't go as it's not much fun seeing a movie by yourself. And it's not like it's my grandparents' kind of movie.

That was when I remembered though- the only person I've really been able to keep a friendship going with that lived so far away? Yeah, we're in the same town now. :D So I called her up and asked if she'd like to go with me, and she ended up bringing her sisters, cousin, and two people I don't know. XD It was cool though! Her family is really nice, and I like hanging out with them when I can. Heck, they're usually less busy than I am! And her older sister has offered to help teach me how to drive as well, which is really neat.

The movie was really great, by the way. I give it a little Pi Stamp of Approval! It was definitely my kind of movie- action with a nice side of thriller.

One of my favorite lines is the thing about the timers. XD I won't quote it because it has the potential to spoil, but it was awesome.

My friend took me home after the movie was done, and I came into the bedroom. I already stated my little realization above, but yeah. It's great to finally have things going for me. Though I miss talking to peoples online and stuff. ;_; It's like no one's on anymore, even if I know it's only me who isn't on anymore! XD

Seriously though- I miss. Though I don't miss some of the crazy net drama that goes on, and I hope there hasn't been any of that. I'm kinda keeping an eye on one that could be starting up, but hopefully it won't fully develop.

Though all things considered, with the way this fandom runs it probably will. >.<

We had a lengthy garage sale today in which I made a whole quarter. Wahoo.

After putting everything away around three, I took a nap. Around six, I was awoken by my mother saying she and my aunt were going to see The Mummy movie and if I wanted to go I needed to be in the car in thirty seconds.

It wasn't until I was actually in the car that  was told I had to pay my own way in. >.< Gee, thanks Mom.

Anyways, as for the movie, I thought it was okay. I liked the first two better, myself. For one, the replacement actress they got was a serious bore. She seemed nothing like the old actress, and she was actually just an annoyance to me throughout the movie. The rest of the cast was good, and I liked the plot for the most part. Though it kinda lost it's steam for me heading towards the end. I expected more out of the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) in that final fight there considering what he'd done in the rest of the movie.

My favorite part would probably be when they were trying to keep the Emperor away from the tower. When the Yeti showed up? That was way cool. :)

Had I known what the movie was going to be like, I would've rented it when it came out on DVD. I would have much rather have seen Batman again. Or something else there.

Anyways, I got home a little while ago. Where is everyone today? Nothing happened at SS, nothing at TT. I came on LJ to find only two new entries on my flist. The only good thing at FF.net was written by

whiteadelphi

Just got back from seeing The Dark Knight. Wow. At the beginning (sans first five minutes which I saw on Youtube >.>), I wasn't entirely impressed. But it got good really fast. Complete fave for me, and I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

It was all good. I'm definitely looking forward to more Batman.

... Now why do I feel like writing Cork? XD

Awesome! All of my dragons have grown up. :3 The gold one, whom I've named Orphrey, is another boy. But I can still breed him with Supernal. :)

Heh... gotta hurry with this one!

Grandma's been irritating, but I've pulled through. I made an appointment today- and she wouldn't leave! Gah! Almost ruined the sale for me! But I did make that sale! A french chef knife, a paring knife, a table knife, and a trimmer for free! Yay!

After that, my friend and I went to see Wall-E. My God! It was so cute! Thank you so much for recommending it, Tori! I'd have never gone to see it otherwise!

Now, my friend and I are staying the night in my grandma's guest house. We're gonna watch Avatar on my computer. :D So I probably won't be online tonight- this is the longest I've seen her since we went to see TMNT together last March!

Give my dragons some loving please! The paper one only has three days! ;_;

Wahahaha- yay for me! I finally finished one of my RP Auditions (the villain one)! 

It took like... three hours just to write. How pathetic, huh? >.<

But I'm done! :D I'm so happy! I sent it off to the main TT RPers. And now I pace, because I'm scared to death to find out what they think of it.

In other news, today my mother told me to just pick a date and we'll finally have my graduation party. Yes, I graduated back in September. But my stepdad refused to have a party until the Spring. Lame, huh? We have less money now. 

I'm trying to come up with a good date. I have a huge family, and I want most of them to be able to come. Some live a bit aways, so I doubt they'd be able to come, but I'd like to have a far enoguh date that if they can make it, they'll be able to do so.

I also need to get in contact with my dad. He works on Saturdays, which is when I'd like to have mine, and despite our relationship lately, I'd like for him to be able to come.

Actually, I need to talk to him anyways. It's been... months. Same with my siblings, too. I miss them so much. ;_; 

I talked to my grandma the other day. She told me that my little brother said that he cries sometimes when he thinks of me. I can imagine him saying that so easily... It breaks my heart.

(deep breath) I'll try to call tomorrow.

Also, today I went to see Iron Man. :D It wasn't that bad. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I don't think it's the best movie of the year. I have high hopes for Indiana Jones and The Dark Knight. (rubs hands together).

While I was at the theatre, I asked about a job. Even if it's way out of my walking distance, I figured I may as well try. Was shut down, of course- they're not hiring. But I tried.

Okay. Time for another meme!

I actually found this with three people all at once (half_elven, silent_myriad, and engelina_c). So I don't know how well I can answer some of the questions. But I'll do my best!

IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, if you're more of a lurker, or if we already know everything about each other.

BE HONEST! Answer the questions in your own journal. 

And now I'm off to bed. Night!