Refraction

Did I mention today was the first day of mocks? Let’s just say they’re a little harder than I had expected. >.>; French had a lot of idiomatic expressions I didn’t know, and I’m still unsure on a decent French definition of “inconditionnel.” And us poor HLs had four texts to deal with! Four! T_T Actually, it wasn’t all that bad. I could make educated guesses when necessary. English was your typical “oh, let’s talk about literary devices” dealy. Not bad. I had plenty of time but refused to proofread it. I hate proofreading my own things.

Tomorrow is history… AAAHH! HISTORY!! AHHH!!
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Stress levels shooting through the roof? Check.
Massive procrastination? Check.
PANIC button? Check.

AAAHH! MOCKS!! AHH! I will be away for the next week >.>; Studying. Cramming. And then writing some stuff at the last minute.

AAAHHH!

This is my list of things to consider.

1) Homework should be my #1 priority. Right? Nooo. I don’t start my homework until Sunday afternoon, preferring to spend my weekend a) learning about PHP b) installing b2 c) getting my COS fansite KINDA online d) playing HM:FoMT e) learning about mySQL f) installing Apache on my machine g) downloading COS’ latest single h) trying to write scripts using PHP and mySQL

2) Physics stinks.

3) English would be more fun if we were allowed to let our creative juices run wild.

4) Why do Harvest Sprites like Flour?

5) I need to start reading about Trotsky, Stalin, et al. >.O

I knew this day would come sooner or later… Fateback has started adding banner/text-links on the webpages they host. Not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily; only that it screws up half of my designs, rendering text unreadable in some cases and naviagation inaccessible in others. I wouldn’t object to a text link, but this one’s really ugly… although I’ve played around a bit with CSS to get around it somewhat.

No, no, I knew it had to happen eventually; I’ve been with Fateback for a heck of a long time, that’s all, and they had always cautioned that they were going to add text links one day… I just thought it wouldn’t be for a very, very long time. I mean, my first site hosted with them went all the way back to… probably late 2001 or some such time. Over two years. I just thought they’d never actually get around to it. I suppose that as ad-free free hosting gets scarce, they have to advertise their services.

And it’s a wakeup call, too. I’ve been looking for a decent free host for a fansite I’ve been planning to make. The ONLY thing I cannot stand are obtrusive ads. Banners, pop-ups, pop-unders…. I don’t like them. And that’s the reason why good free hosting’s been so hard to find. Free hosts, after all, have to support themselves somehow; there aren’t many out there who’d take an ever-growing hit to their pocketbook to continue offering the same level of service that they have been. I think I’m expecting too much.

When it comes to free hosting, I’m a picky hostee: I like no ads and FTP. Those are my requirements. I can live without a CGI-BIN. I can live without PHP. I can live without mySQL. I can tolerate browser uploading for certain sites only–fanlistings, for example, which don’t really require much uploading time after the initial layout. (Fansites, however, suck up a lot more space…) I can stand unobstrusive ads. Ones the user can close, like on Geocities.

This wasn’t such a problem when I first started out: there were plenty of ad-less hosts to choose from, and even if you couldn’t get onto one, there were ways around Tripod and Geocities ads, basically giving you ad-less hosting.

*shrugs* The death of free, reliable, ad-less hosting has come, it seems. When I can’t even rely on Fateback anymore…

What I need is my own webspace. I mean… I look at Jess, who got her own last year, and Emiko, who just set hers up recently… I can’t stand the fact that I’ll be sitting here sucking up Reina’s space for a long time to come. Paid hosting’s gotten a lot cheaper, too, and it’s not like I need 1 GB of space or anything >.O I won’t lie: I’ve been looking into this for a long time, ever since I got hosted by three different people–now it’s four. (Reina, Skylark, Andie-san, and Yika). And I am extremely grateful to all of these ladies for being so genial and generous.

I can’t explain the next point, but having your own webspace is liberating in a way. It’s your own space, and you don’t have to follow anyone’s rules but your own and your hosting company’s. I’m not saying that I feel repressed in any way by any of my hostesses; they’ve always been very tolerant of me and my sporadic updating ways, and they’ve always been there to help me when I’ve asked. No, these “standards” I’m talking about are something I’ve just made up in my head. They’re expectations I’ve placed upon myself.

*sigh*

New layout. So tell me, where in time IS Carmen Sandiego?

I hate physics. That is all.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
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So I’m on the HMV Japan site, looking at the entry for Natural Beauty by CORE OF SOUL. Anyone who’s done any shopping on Amazon is familiar with the “other customers who bought this also liked:” in an effort to get more business.

I scroll down, expecting to see a bunch of Japanese artists I’ve never heard of. Of the six listed:

– Kokia \TORIPPU TORIPPU\ — Kokia’s okay. Not one of my favourites, but she’s okay.
– Maki Yano – \Takaramono\ — I *love* Maki Yano.
– Maki Yano – \Shiawase na yoru (some other kanji I can’t read)\ — Ditto.
– Chihiro Onitsuka – \This Armor\ — Also one of my favourite artists 🙂 I love her voice.
– Lyrico – \Tender Lights\ — Lyrico ROCKS.
– RURUTINA – \R\ — Never heard of this one. T_T

See? Five unique artists. Four of which I know. Three of which are on my “faourites” list.

Speaking of which, COS is coming out with a new single in a little over a week. I can’t wait :D!

*sigh* My p-m.net e-mail has been down for DAYS >.O! So, Jess, in answer to your question: I have no idea whether I got it or not, unfortunately. Wai. o_o Cependant, j’ai reA~��u ta petite carte 😀 C’est vraiment super !

On the other hand I am slowly increasing my collection of Core of Soul songs >>; Speaking of which, is it legal if I take one or two samples from the band’s official site to put on a fansite? I mean, the band is offering these samples (and they are samples–I think they’re about :45 in length) on their own site… hrm… it’s like free advertising >.>;

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is quite honestly the best game ever invented 😀 I love that game. With the cheesy names like “Justin Case” and “Lynn Gweeny” and “V.I.L.E” (Villiains’ International League of Evil), and this educational–but fun!–aspect to it… yes, I have to say it’s one of the best educational games out there. They just don’t make games like they used to. *sigh*

so show me your sunrise
— Core of Soul, “Photosynthesis”

I never want to talk to the bookkeeper again. ._. She’s just a tad grumpy. And not very nice. < <; Full Moon wo Sagashite is my new obsession. It’s just so cute 😀 And Mitsuki wants to be a singer, which is just so cute. And I shan’t be able to say anything more until I actually see it. Although it does have lovely art. But the eyes are so big it’s… um… scary. I like “Eternal Snow” the best out of all the songs, I think. Although that’s only the Route:L version. The normal ending theme’s too slow. >>; But the Piano Swing Mix is really nice. Lullabyish, maybe?

Did I mention I picked up Memorial Address on Saturday? It’s actually not that bad; I actually like “Because of You” quite a bit. The other tracks… well… “Angel’s Song” is okay… “Forgiveness” is a pretty good ballad… the “bonus tracks” (“tee hee hee”) are quite good choices, actually… “Greatful Days” is an okay dance track. Very poppish. I like “Ourselves.” Reminds me a little of “Evolution.” “Memorial Address” is a minimalist piano ballad. Although her vibrato-like stylings get on my nerves. It’s not a great finish to the album though. Although, I’d like to note that although variety is the spice of life, jumping around in random music genres on an album isn’t a great idea. Even if it’s only a mini-album.

I mean, look at Easy Listening, another mini-album: It seems cohesive. Cohesive, people! Starting off with “Inori,” which has a weird kind of almost-trance-but-that’s-probably-the-wrong-word kind quality, it switches to a nice mid-tempo in “Blind Summer Fish.” “Doreddo 39” is along the same lines, but borrows a tad from “Inori” with the unconventional instrumentation. After all that is a slow song, “Afternoon Repose,” which, like its title, takes its time. “Bitter Sweet” is just odd and an experiment for Maaya, I’m sure. Kinda R&B-ish. Not the best track she’s produced, certainly… “Another Grey Day in the Big Blue World” has a very melancholy sound. It gives us time to recover from “Bitter Sweet.” Of course, the album ends with “Birds,” which is her best song of all time. *_* Of all time! I love the way it ends… It gives this beautiful FINISH to the album that “Memorial Address” just doesn’t have.

Or maybe I just like the pop-rock stylings of “Birds” better than the piano ballad of “Memorial Address.”

Nation-wide exposure in how many days…? I don’t want to be on TV. I’m not very fond of being on TV. I make myself look bad on TV. A^?A^?;; Worse than I already am, I guess.

I really need to stop finding IB related tests. It’s depressing how people are SO IMMERSED in IB they are willing to make quizzes based on it -_-;;
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Alright, so today in TOK we “figured out who we really are.”

*cough*

Basically we did the Riso-Hudson Type Indicator test. I am both type 4 and 6. >>;

Being the naturally curious Cat that I am, I go online to find out more about myself. *cough*

Here are selected statements about my supposed personality and my responses. Or affirmations. Or rebuttals.

See? That’s a 6 trait. Can’t make up my own mind.

**Warning:** This is going to be a long, introspective entry. I should be studying for math (that’s the procrastinator kicking in! And the 4, who wants to work through feelings first D:) Most likely if you don’t know me well, you won’t be interested in my self-absorption. (And cue the feelings of shame for being self-absorbed and displaying it publicly!)
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