barefoot

So I'm sitting in this little indy coffee house in santa clara of all places. This place is so unassuming I have missed it for pretty much its entire existence. I think that is the magic of social networking and recommendation websites. This place has over 200 reviews on yelp and retains a nearly perfect rating. I like it... I just need to try the macchiato now....

*edit*
The macchiato was ridiculously good. You see my banner photo? That one was great, but the one I had today was better. No roasting taste at all. Just plain espresso heaven. I can't wait to finish all of that coffee I have at home so I can start buying small batches from them.

TV shows so far....

Heroes -- season 2 has pretty good start so far, would like to see more. Have been waiting on the Hiro storyline for a while, not disappointing at all.

Chuck -- Fairly outlandish, nerdy Johnny Mnemonic way. I'll keep watching it because I'm a bit of a nerd (*snicker*) You'll have to work where I work to get another dimension of the jokes. In case you were wondering, I did assign a few character names for some select co-workers already... especially the namesake of the show... (*snicker again*)

Journeyman -- Still not quite sure about it. I had to have discussions during every other scene to get what was happening straight. If you get the whole Back to the Future thing, you'll do just fine.

Reaper -- Very surprising. Little quirks here and there. That's what you can expect from a Kevin Smith project I suppose. So many little jokes. Catching a fugitive from hell with a dirt devil that needs to be recharged? Now that's a good time. Slight suspicion the purpose of the pack of dogs the fat guy (think Silent Bob with Jay's mouth) chased around with a leaf blower is to yell "RUN BITCHES!"

Dancing with the Stars -- Saw some of it, missing the last part of night 1, and the beginning of night 2. I think this will be a decent season. I think that's about as much as I can say about that.

That's all I have for now

zazzle

I found something pretty cool tonight and spent some time building it. I can throw my photos on Zazzle and make things out of it. I was going to build some sort of canvas print for myself at first... then I realize I can use this to do some publishing. Anything I sell on here I get a 10% commission. If it's linked from this site I get an extra 7%. So there. I'll update it with more stuff as I find cool photos and such.


buy unique gifts at Zazzle

no new speakers for me =p

I got a little excited last night when my speakers didn't work. I got even more excited just now when it didn't work again. Then I played around with the settings, took out a gigantic dust bunny from the case, figured out I had it on the right plug, tested it with another set of cheap speakers, and pretty much settled on the whole needing new speakers thing. Then I had to go fidget with it some more and now it works perfectly fine. Dammit...

season tickets

I've just decided I want to get Sharks season tickets. It'll be a while though, seeing upper reserves are $1500 for a seat. Since I'll want a pair, I'll have to save up $3k for it. I haven't decided how much I'll save for it each month. We'll see I guess.

pesto

I have this sudden urge to make fresh pesto. I realize it's a whole lot easier for me to make it now that I have that little food processor. That and my prof is eating some angel hair tossed with fresh pesto and cherry tomatoes during our break. Man it smells so damn good. Too bad I already made a gigantic crock of my really good turkey meatsauce last night already. Maybe next week. *drool*

this one

Can't afford it.... the size is perfect... I want!

maybe end of this month....

must.... resist....

So I did everything but the running part on my list today... so far. It's not even 3 yet. So.... yeah I was in Costco, they have a huge pack of My Mind's Eye paper. OMG.... It's a twin pack of Wild Asparagus, and Magnolia. I was staring at it for like... 5 min. I finally pulled myself away from it. *sigh* Must save up. Purple Onion finally put up their new stamps for Spring. Really really want to order some. But hey... I don't have that much in my funds right now. Maybe I'll wait another week or two.... or month. There are a couple of ther things I really want right now too.... flickr pro account, and the little charm from Sally Jean. That adds up to roughly 50 bucks. I can't afford to get those papers. I'm hoping the folks wants to go to Costco on Saturday... hahaha...

I feel so much lighter right now. I'm done with another round of midterms and papers for now. I can relax a bit. *phew* I'm thinking I want to do some layouts today. Maybe finally throw that St. Patty's layout together? I got this cool paper for it too.... Shamrocks and Beer pictures. Yup. I need to snip a piece of shamrock and press it. Going to make a sticker with it.... I'll throw that on later. Ahhh... the ideas are coming back. Must create.

what's your favorite position?

I think I actually have room for one of these...

i have this problem

See all the stuff I have on my shelf? I should use it. I end up spending hours upon hours shopping for more stuff. I should just use the stuff I have and create. I'm still missing the awesome rubber stamps from purple onion. I really want those. Maybe I'll order a couple next week. I'll allow myself 1 set and a few loose ones per month. I have a scrapbook fund. It's carved out of my spending. I have 10 bucks in it right now. I need a little more for shipping. lol. gggrrr... go back to making things dammit!

I actually found a couple of decent sites today, no thanks to AdSense. Prices are alright, but the sellection... omg.... lol. I put them up on my "craft - supplies" section.

I also put up how much I have in each of my funds right on top of my shopping list. Puts things into perspective ya know =p Well at the very least it keeps my mind rolling when I'm just chilling in school and tempted to order stuff.

Working at 11 tomorrow. Michaels opens at 8, with a 50% coupon. Dunno what to get... *ponders* There's a 30% coupon for Saturday morning. Mom and I are sooooo getting a bunch of yarn. I also need ink pads and maybe some loose paper.... notice... I'm going with Mom... yay! Plus I don't work till 2 in the afternoon. We'll have time... muahahahaha....

I figured out another thing. If I do all the links clicking on AdSense at school, each one of them registers as unique clicks. I get $0.10 per click. Hey if you're passing by, click a couple for me? I promise to put this money into my scrapbook and/or vacation fund... lol (I know who my audience is)

With Easter, a bbq, putting the new entertainment center together and consiquently rearranging the living room... I don't know when I'm going to have time to study for my 4 midterms and write 2 papers... by Tuesday morning....

I'm going to sleep....

girl's gotta eat

.... mmm... more like earning more money to get scrapbook supplies.... I put a few AdSense banners and such on my page. Tried to do it in a non-intrusive way. Figured I actually get a few different views per day anyway, might as well earn something in a passive way. Hey I got $0.16 today already! Doesn't hurt right? lol... The funny thing I found is that all of the Ads I have on there right now are about scrapbooking. What google does is to go through my blog, find the most common words on there, and try to match up what Ads would be applicable to the audience of the site. Since I put up the last 9 days worth of posts on here... it will be a reflection on what I'm hung up on in that time period. I guess this is sort of like a social experiment for me....

you would think....

You would expect by now that I would have a million pictures on here by now. But no. I went bowling last night, and had to charge my battery. I did get around to take some pictures, just to test it out. I liked being able to do manual focus. The auto focus sensor is pretty sensitive, as I have read. Not part of the reason why I bought it at the first place. I learned how to take action shots, that was pretty damn cool. I'll bring it to bowling next time I think, just to take some action sports shots. Another thing I really like about it is the ISO settings. With the stuff I shoot, I probably won't have to use the flash much. I usually can't take any clear pictures during the night indoors. I got some really clear pictures last night after I got home. Love it. So yeah. I need to figure out how to take videos with this thing. I don't really have to worry about file size, I got a couple of 4GB cards. Did I mention I love my Mom? haha.....

I need to start leaving bowling earlier. I never get enough sleep wednesday nights. No more Starbucks after bowling. Saves me some money too.

*Warning: Vent Ahead*

Peeves:
1) People who complaints about the same thing over and over, day in and day out. I'm not the only one who has expressed that. If you have so much to complaint about, why don't you do something about it? I never said it's going to be easy. You just need to make a bit of sacrifice to better the rest of your life. The longer you wait, the harder it is for you to be in position to make the change.
2) People who guilts others into doing things. You probably don't know you're doing it, but you are. We do it because we pity you. See peeve #1.
3) People who makes assumption about my life. I understand how much you need a significant other. It doesn't mean I want one too. And please, I do get a lot more action then you do. I just don't tell you about it so you won't bitch. Again, I don't want to hear it. If you need a significant other, see peeve #1.
4) People who don't listen. I tell you #1, you get angry at me. Have you noticed I have been ignoring you lately? More so the last few days, because every time you open your mouth it's 1, 2, and 3 all rolled up into one. Yeah. I'm fucking sick of it.
5) Don't ever start a conversation with... so my calls today are fucked up.... We know that's what you're going to do every time. It's a fucking downer. When we hang out, we're trying to have some fun. Come on.
6) Don't ever leave me a voice mail or IM saying.... I'm bored, lonely.... well ok... I guess you're busy with homework or something.... *all dejected*. If I'm doing homework, I'd pick up/reply. I don't want to talk to you when you're looking for me to cheer you up. Cause that's fucking impossible. I'm sick of it.
7) Don't go asking other people what's wrong with me. Do I look antisocial? If I want to talk to you about it, I would be talking to you.
8) Don't ever, EVER! Try to chat with me while I'm trying to put a sale together. 9 out of 10 times you end up talking to the customer and fuck the whole thing up.

These people are sucking the life out of me.

*End Vent*

the difference....

I did a little shopping today. Figured I should find out how much I am going to spend on the stuff I want. The regular price before tax is $1333.60. My price is $1009.31. Out of that, $307.56 is for camera stuff. And there it is, that's what I need to save up on reward certificate to get those things. The monitor and speakers can wait a little longer.

look what I found by my door when I came home today

vacation?

Ok I just did a little pricing, just for the hell of it. Flight is going to cost me about $500 if I find a good deal. Hotels I'm budgeting at an average $60 a night for like a week. I'm also thinking about stomping around D.C. taking photos of pretty much everything. I'm think I can pull it off at about $1500.

anticipation

So I hear I might be getting my camera by the end of the week. The call to Sony wasn't very useful. They didn't even have a tracking number for me. She sort of guessed I will have it on friday from FedEx at the earliest. *sigh* She sounded like me, except I know how to look for tracking numbers =P

I was very very bored in class tonight. It was one of those days where I want to just get up from my seat, scream, and get out of the building. Alas, I didn't do it. I just ended up shopping around for rubber stamps. In fact, I did a whole bunch of shopping today, but didn't buy anything.

After a bit of soul searching (yes, that is what I do when I'm trying to tune out the lecture), I've decided I need to implement yet another incarnation of my savings plan. Well actually what I had before was working pretty well, I just need to put in a spending limit/clause/something. I have spent way too much in the last few weeks, I need to get back on the frugal track. With that, I need to do a little bit of math.

-- I net about $600 per month from work. That's after deductions, taxes, stock purchase, 401K, charity and such, and that is how much I have to work with.

-- Priority goes to the essentials and recurring charges such as: Phone Bill ($90.84), Netflix ($19.47), Gym ($28), Gas (budgeted at $50... ouch), Grocery ($80... about $20 a week for lunch stuff), Dinner and Bowling (3 games at $7.50, dinner at $12.50.... $20x4 = $80). At the total of $348.31, and let's round that up to $350.

-- $600 - $350 = $250 is what I have left on what I earned. True my parent do give me some money at the beginning of the month, but I do prefer not to touch that at all. I do have an agenda as I will talk about later.

-- I typically do get a little bit more then $300 on each of my pay check. That extra amount will now go to my newly established vacation fund. Oh you KNOW what that's for =P

-- I actually went and set up 2 shadow accounts on Quicken. Both of these accounts has running totals in it, but the actual amount of money are respectively in my checking and savings accounts. The spending account gets $250 added to it at the beginning of every month. I can spend it as I will, or keep it in there to add to a bigger amount later. The vacation fund is a portion of my savings that is for just that... a vacation. The amount gets added from the excess from my bi-weekly paycheck, and my current system of keeping the change. My collection of change accumulates at the end of each night when I deposit any loose change or dollar bills into my dish. Everytime my bills reaches $10, it is added to my Vacation Fund. Loose change will get counted once my bottles gets full.

-- Ok... back to my $250 of spending money for the MONTH. I would love to put 20% of that into savings. So that leaves me $50 per week... not too realistic I know, but it's something I can shoot for. If I can accumlate $50 per month towards the spending account, I'm looking at an extra $400 for December. Of course I am not going to put every single transaction onto it. I will only put down things I deem nonessential. It pains me to say it, but I'm putting things such as scrapbook supplies, camera supplies, games, extra clothing, eating out and such down on this account. I'm trying to be strict on myself. These are things I don't really need (well some would argue I know...). What this really means is that I can't buy anything on impulse. I need to really think about how each purchase has an impact on my budget for the month. I will probably end up buying things towards the end of the month, after weeding out things that are just wasteful.

So there it is, my savings/spending plan.

I still have potentially another year of school to go. What I really want is to have enough money saved by then to live comfortably after I get out. Get a full time job, get a place of my own. I already have the majority of stuff I need to furnish my place. Everything in my storage unit is enough to furnish a small condo. And of course a fully stocked kitchen. I have so much stuff in there I really can't wait to use them again. It's almost sad to see all my stuff in boxes piled into a corner. I'm suddenly really looking forward to it. To feel that sense of independence. It looked pretty scary before, especially when it became a road I'd walk on my own. I'm really in no hurry to move out. I won't do it until I buy my own place, which I do plan to. Where you ask? I'll think about it when I cross that bridge.

guesstimate

I did a little bit of guesstimation this morning while I was allegedly going over the statistics exam this morning (96/100 btw). I went around ebay to look for some lenses. I will go ahead and get the fish eye lens there, since the exact same one my friend got is listed again. That's the best deal I've found so far. I still have like 27 days to get it. I'll probably order it once I get my hands on the camera itself.

Actually let me back up a bit. I haven't been writing much for the past week and a half because I've been on spring break. Lord knows I never get anything done when you give me time off. I was suppose to get around to do a whole bunch of homework and papers and stuff. Guess what, I did none of it. And as you may be able to tell from my previous posts from that week, I did get a lot of creative stuff done. Which is very cool. I did a bunch of just driving around, buying stuff I don't really need nor can afford, and slept a lot. I never knew how much I miss sleeping in until I woke up this morning. Stupid school.... they keep pushing the strike, which is another story. I'm not too proud that I got next to nothing done last week. Felt like I wasted most of it. Sucks I know, but hey, it's a break and I took it as one.

I did have to work my regularly scheduled shifts.... if there is such a thing. That and worked on PI, which was actually more fun then I thought it would be.

I reminded myself that I really love creating art of any form. I've been working on paper crafts now for a few weeks. Not too much to show for it, that's because I think about what I want to put down before I actually start. My mom was surprised at how artsy I actually am. Honestly I am too. I never really thought of myself as a creative person. Scientific is what I usually am. Maybe it's because I never really gave myself a chance to develop in those things. I do recognize that I am more interested in the arts and humanities fields a majority of times. I love going to museums and galleries, classic literature, history, and observations of nature. Sometimes I think I'm living in the wrong century... age even. So anyway. Because of all of that, I'm really excited about getting my camera. As soon as I was able, I ordered it last Wednesday, and it is on its way to me. The only thing that irks me is that I don't have a tracking number.

I thought about getting a film camera a few years back, because I can learn to develop photos at the craft center in the Union. I've always wanted to do black and white photos. I had a great time working on yearbooks when I was in junior high. Taking that camera all over campus taking candid shots of students was a rush. I didn't have the money back then, and the folks thought it was a silly idea. So I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. It was until my college years (and long that is) that I seriously started contemplating the hobby again. In the recent months, one excuse led to another, I finally went ahead and bought the camera. Now I have to decide on my accessories. My mom questioned my decision to get the camera a little while back. She didn't get why I would get something so big. True that I already have a point and shoot, but it doesn't give me the picture quality I want. I showed her some examples on flickr and that sort of changed her mind. Anyway... now I'm waiting. I might as well get the rest of the stuff in a couple of months when I have enough reward certificate to cover all the rest of the accessories. I think I guesstimated about $350 is about how much I'll need. I'll be at about $250 next month. I think the total, including pending points, I have about $235. argh... too much thinking...

PI was interesting. Friend of mine expressed that his worse nightmare came true. He was doing clean-and-bright at 1 in the morning... I was doing great until a fricking gaming headset with razor sharp packaging fell on my forehead. I put neosporin on it. I will be very pissed if I get a scar right above my right brow. It wasn't even a cut, it just scraped a patch of skin off. Friggin.... And I was just thinking that morning how I look a lot better now that I don't have any blemishes on my face. aaarrrghhh....

color me...

So I decided to "prep" a few cards today for the deck. Went and got some acrylic paint, set of brush, and a tray.



I'm not a good painter... but I love color. The set I got only came with red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. You can see how much I mixed that up.



I also had the great idea to paint on top a 12X12 cardstock. I am so saving it to use for a layout. Love it. Who knows... maybe I'll start painting my own papers. It would be interesting.

I can't wait until I get my camera. Espcially since Sony already charged it on my card. They said they'll charge it when they ship it.... so logically... it's on its way right? I think I'll hold off on buying any accessories for now. I'll wait like... a week after I get the camera. lol. I just need to learn how to use the basic functions first. Plus I'm still kind of broke. =P We'll see....

I did it!

I ordered the camera! It was a bit of an ordeal since the website really sucks. But I did it! I don't know when it's going to ship, but I hope soon..... Oh and I checked with the IRS, I should get my refund by friday... Good. I need it... lol.