It was a good Christmas. Easy, fun, no relatives coming to visit. And I got lots of socks. :D

People seemed to like the gifts I got them, which makes me happy. My Mom got a little choked up when she opened the book I got her -- a biography of George Washington from 1861. He's her hero. It's battered and has waterstains but hey, it's 150 years old, that can be excused. The drawings in it are also individually hand painted, which is neat. It took me several auctions to finally win it, so that was a highlight for me.

aphonetic had never seen Howl's Moving Castle, so we watched that. And of course there was the dinner, which is really just a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner, and I finally got to share it with one of my friends instead of just talking about what a good cook my Mom is.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and wake up in time to take aphonetic to the Creamery for breakfast before taking her to the airport (unless she would prefer another In N' Out burger, because I know she wants that too). It's Courtney's birthday, so we're going to Color Me Mine and then with the parents to see The Princess and the Frog (woo fourth time).

I hope you all had a good time.

Current Mood: peaceful

My sister and I took aphonetic into the city to be a tourist. I also realized that even though I grew up here, I never bothered to take pictures. And I do love my city. So I brought my camera with me. Hardly a good representation of the city, it's mostly stuff we found fun, but still, it's a start. The Golden Gate, Fisherman's Wharf, animals (because it's me), geek antics (with help from beanclam), cable cars and damn big Christmas trees.



( Christmastime in the city. )

That aside, Merry Christmas, or whatever it is you may be celebrating today. And if you're not celebrating anything, I hope it's a good day anyway. I mean, my family just uses this as an excuse to give presents, hang out, eat food and look at pretty things. Hence why it has always been my favorite time of year.

I love you guys, even if I fail at showing it.

Tags: photopost
Current Mood: calm

So I learned tonight that my brother's brother, Gustav, is the drummer of a fairly well-known Swedish heavy metal band called Bullet. At least, I am told it is well known in Europe. I have no idea. I knew he was in a band, but had no idea it was so successful.

Have aphonetic here for Christmas. Tomorrow will be showing her around San Francisco. Anyone in the area is welcome to catch up with us at any time -- we're just going to be hitting the major touristy stuff; cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf, the bridge, Ghiradelli Square, etc.

Current Mood: indescribable

There's an article in the paper here about my trainer, Nancy, being kicked out of Stanford Barn, where she's taught for 38 years. They're replacing her with an Olympian. It's a sweet article and a good tribute to her, I think.

Inspired By Adversity: Nancy Hey teaches much more than riding.

Nancy has taught me since I was ten years old. As a result she's been a pretty huge influence in my life. I grew up at the barn. In my later teens, I spent most days of the week there, especially after I owned Valentine. It was her that put me with Valentine, who then herself through her problems and insecurity had a really big impact on my development as a person. I often had a very difficult time with the other girls there, and definitely went through some of the worst stages of my personality there as well, but Nancy was always supportive of me, and told me she trusted me. Nobody used to say that to me, but she always did.

I remember being surprised when I brought friends to meet her and they were thrown off by her. She's legally blind, so she tends to seem like she's looking through you rather than directly at you, but I'm so used to it it never occurred to me that it was strange. I don't know how to feel about her being made to leave. Obviously I'm sad, because that was partly my home and it was definitely hers, but it's so expensive now and it hasn't been the same since the other trainers were kicked out and replaced with people who only taught Stanford students. Everyone's following her to her new barn, and I know that means I'm putting the Stanford Barn behind me entirely as well.

...I find it perhaps I bit odd that I still consider her my teacher, regardless of the fact that I haven't taken regular lessons from her since I lived here, before I went to college. But I'm fairly certain that no matter what other trainers I've had and will have in the future, she'll still be the one I go to if I have the opportunity.

Tags: riding
Current Mood: nostalgic

I have been sitting on this plane for about three hours because we were supposed to take off at 2:45 but San Francisco wasn't letting any planes land, so we didn't take off until 5:30.

But now I'm flying and have nothing to do, so I'll do that meme that maiden_rising did.

( I have a hard time picking 'bests' and 'worsts'. )

Tags: meme
Current Location: up in the air on Virgin America
Current Mood: sick

Talked about this in halcyonjazz's Princess and the Frog Spam Post (which I may just have seen for the third time), but I wanted to mention it here too because it's awesome.

For those who haven't heard, one of Disney's upcoming hand-drawn film projects is The Snow Queen. Yes, as in the Danish fairytale.

( Concept art goes here. )

Oh, and guess what? Alan Menken's doing the music. ♥

Tags: disney
Current Mood: dorky

now for the doujin post i said was up next but wasn't because IMPORTANT BRITISH THINGS CAME UP. *_________*

last week i got the smj package and that was when i didn't have a doorknob for my room, lol awkward with everyone home. but anyway pre-package get. MY DOORKNOB WOULDN'T WORK and i was stuck for like an hr in my room waiting for my ma to get home and savvvve me, i was t-thirsty. she ended up taking the knob off but that wasn't the problem it was the bolt so we had to try to open the door anyway cause you can't get to the bolt w/out the door OPEN but she did it and got that sucker out. then a few days ago i got a shiny new doorknob~ so all's well that ends well. and the cats can stop coming in and out as they please. but boy i was freaking out. :(


NOW. THE DOUJIN. everything is in randddddooom order i usually try to keep all identical pairing + circle in the same pic but i kept opening/taking pics as i went and it got all mixed, which could have been avoided if i remembered what i bought to begin with "oh! so-and-so book needs to be here!" etc. /LOSERRRR
usual i talk most about some and then shaft the others.

( I'MMM NOT YOUR BABE. )

also guuuuuh some people's gifts are pictured lol too excited.
i am hungry and going to bed. g'night.

Tags: anime:hetalia, anime:umineko no naku koro ni, fandom:doujinshi, food, fuji is a crazy mofo, hetalia:ship those countries, incest is best, lj:picture post, manga:kimi ni todoke, my otp is better than yours, oh my god yes, rl:shopping
Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: Alejandro - Lady GaGa

I've seen so many hamsters die that I tend to surprise myself when I continue to get upset every time. And I wanted to find Amigo dead today, because he should have died days ago, and has just been clinging to life and it was horrible and I wanted it to stop so he wouldn't be suffering anymore. I would have had him euthanized, except I didn't actually expect him to hang on so long. Normally when hamsters hit that stage, they go very quickly. He was a determined little guy, though.



But he had passed by the time I got home from work, so I took him outside and buried him in the dark and the rain while crying like a proper crazy pet owner.

katmaxwell decided this merited an early exchange of Christmas gifts, so now I have a stuffed unicorn, Elphaba, and King Julian to help ease my sorrows.

Tags: hamsterspam, omgwife
Current Mood: melancholy

Have a a Formspring now? I was curious. Feel free to ask something, if you would like.

katmaxwell: At the white elephant gift exchange I got a muumuu!
llamrei: A... oh.
katmaxwell: What?
llamrei: I thought you meant, like... Mumu.
katmaxwell: Yes. I kidnapped him from Venezuela. He's downstairs in the closet.
llamrei: [fist pump]

Current Mood: morose