Earthbound themed final fantasy? SIGN ME UP!

found on earthboundcentral.com which I am now addicted to (i dont do the whole 'forums' thing too well)


click for bigger, as per usual

FUCK YEAH STEAM + WINE. Its fucking lovely and after fiddling some network configs, working without a hitch. <3 No more booting into windows for me (famous last words... something'll come up. lol)

Starting to feel those winter-is-too-long-blues. I haven't been hanging out much. Just kinda blah. But this post is not blah. ONLY AWESOME IS ALLOWED IN THIS POST.

EVERYBODY POST SOMETHING AWESOME IN THE COMMENTS

So, I had to finally put Miss Veronica the Rat down. She really had degenerated in the two weeks I spent in Wisconsin. She lost a ton of weight and a lot of fur. Also, her equilibrium problem started getting worse like whoa. Oddly enough, she had a brief pick up in how active she was. But, it died down and I felt guilty letting her just wait for death to come.. I'd post a picture of her last days, but its kind of disrespectful, as she's in total bad shape.
Rest in peace, darling. I'll see you on the other side.

So, despite all that, a new baby rat had entered the community. Her name was Bella, but I changed it to Proxy and that is her name now. Proxy got passed on from this traveling couple to Elphie. Elphie's kinda neurotic and OCD and kept having panic attacks about the rat (and kept cleaning her cage out with straight bleach wipes D:) I intervened, since I'm a lonely mother without ratties to take care of. Well, after Elphie almost giving her to a bunch of other people (>.>) I got her! Yay!

Proxy was a feeder, but she's incredibly intelligent. I'm so used to my old lady rats that a young, hyper once is a pleasant change. I'm still teaching her not to gnaw on earrings, but really, she behaves quite well for being only a couple (2~3) months old.

PICSPAM!







And then I took a couple of pictures of the day I thought I was going to Wisconsin with Tyler and Carolyn. They left me behind and I was rather irked. But they took me out to dinner to make up for it, which I appreciate. At any rate, I had dolled myself up and took a couple of pictures.

( camwhore~ )

So, I never posted a total of what I got for x-mas. (totally blanked last entry. too excited about things i gave lol). I can say I got a pretty good haul.

-25$ from my grandma
-25$ Target gift card
-2GB flash drive
-DS Flash cart (R4DS-II) w/ 2 GB microSD card (THANKYOUVIKTORSERVBOTKUN)
-an awesome computer necklace from Dylan's mum (pic after the list)
-The World Ends With You
-underwears
-a book of Hafiz poetry
-a shitton of bath and bodyworks crap.
-way off base (OMG SPIN SPIN SPIN!)
-half-life 2 from tcgiant (I need to actually boot into windows at some point. I might be playing XI again, but, I haven't had the time to make a concrete decision)

Check how awesome this is!



So, I've been "playing" progress quest after seeing a few threads on /v/. I feel like I'm accomplishing so much with doing so little. Maybe I won't pick XI up again. This is sufficient, really :P


LOOK AT THAT HOT WINE ACTION!!! WOO~

speaking of Wine, I was playing with an old laptop (omnibook xe3) and put xubuntu on it. Runs the internet/flash just fine. Its nice. Too bad the backlight for the LCD doesn't work :\

On another note, work has been mad crazy, but I'll save that for another post.

So, I think I was putzing around at gnomelook.com, looking for a new theme, when I stumbled across this wallpaper



HO-LEE FUCKING-SHIT.

GIYGAS USES DEBIAN!



DO YOU SEE IT? OH GOD.

IT HURTS, NESS.

Let's see. Where did I leave off. I don't intentionally update, like, twice a month. It just happens that way. Then all my entries become tl;dr. Not that it really matters, I mostly update for me. But, whatever. I'd like to... update more. I just suck. Anyway! Onward!

Jane, who was probably one of my first friends at jpusa came to stay for a few weeks for Emily and Jeremy's wedding. We got to hang out a few times. We went out for coffee and went to try and find packs of raccoons, which are surprisingly common around the lake. We were successful and then sat the lake and smoked too many cigarettes. It was perfect, really. We caught up and stuff. I miss her already.

Dylan and I got into a really frustrating conversation at one point. It was just before I had to get up early for wedding work too, I was so angry and bitter. It was just... everything I said came out wrong. In retrospect, I understand it all... it was just.. obnoxious. It sucks when what you're trying to say gets covered up by the poor wording.

Emily and Jeremy's wedding made me cry like a bitch. Its not even like I know either of them all that well. I just cry at weddings, I guess. This whole breakup thing has turned me into more of a romantic. I don't think thats good or bad, it just is what it is. I just wanna meet someone wonderful and fabulous and such. In due time.

I played Soul Caliber 4. You think I'd be more excited about it since I was so into 3. But, I wasn't. It just isn't the same without Viktor and Tim and fagbattles™. Also, Talim, who has tiny A-cup tits, has wayyy too much jiggle. I hate male programmers sometimes.

Okay, for an entire week, I was sick. At first I thought it was allergies, but then I was still sick. So then I stopped taking my allergy meds, and then I got even WORSE. It turned out it was both, and I was miserable for the entire week. I finally got some medicine for some Zyrtek, which hasn't really gotten into my body yet. The first time I took it I hallucinated and felt like garbage, but my body's starting to get used to it. I'm thankful I only have bad allergies for a month, but it makes me so MISERABLE. I cant stop sneezing and/or blowing my nose. Its also super hot in my room because the fans kick up the pollen and makes it worse. I'm sorry Alana ;-;

I finally moved my room. I got it all painted and lovely. Perhaps I'll take crappy quality webcam pictures at some point. We still haven't gotten a loveseat. I have my eyes on the gray one in the 3rd floor living room. But I doubt Ami would let me take it. She hasn't even taken the time to really meet with me, and I've kind of needed her, because I've been dealing with all sorts of emotions regarding Dylan.

My grandma isn't doing the best. She shattered her shoulder on the rocking chair when she fell out of bed. I feel like the doctors aren't doing a lot, and that might be because of her already deteriorating health. So please, if you pray, please pray for my grandma. I'm so worried about her. I don't want her in pain and I need her.

I went with Kos, Sara, Tyler and his mom to chinatown and got some delicious bubble teas. I love red bean paste.

Then, the next day, I had some HUD grant training and I went to chinatown again with Sue. I love Sue a lot. She's like the mom I never really got and she's got a lot of good advice for me. I think ultimately we have a lot in common. I'm really grateful I got the job I did because I've met some of the most amazing people I probably never would have taken the time to get to know.

I ended up getting new glasses the other day. I had to choose from the poor people frames. They were all horrendously outdated and hideous. I cried. I'm sure they thought I was a spoiled brat. But I can't live without glasses. I'm just wearing my old glasses. They have no personality. They just... they aren't me at all! Sometimes I wear them if I'm playing video games or watching movies and I don't want scratches impeding my view.

Max and Melissa got engaged. I'm remarkably jealous. I used to dislike the idea of them together, but Melissa worked her ass off and got a lot healthier. Now they're great for each other. I'm really excited about it. I can only hope to get so lucky. Max is an amazing guy and he put up with a lot of shit and in the end, it was worth it. I can only hope Dylan could go through such a remarkable transformation that would be beneficial in the end.

My playlist just played the Mother2 drug store music, and directly afterward the Mother version. 10K+ songs on random. What are the odds!? :D

In politics-land, I don't like Biden, but I know its a good compliment to the campaign. I would have been happier with Richardson, but I'll let it slide. My dream would have been Kucinich, but lord knows that wouldn't have happened. He needs to focus on impeaching the shit out of bush anyway <3.

So, I got my hard drive in the mail a week ago. I spent all last weekend tweaking it all. My video card and everything else ran in ubuntu flawlessly. Mostly because I knew how to set it all up the first time anyway. Compiz is running and its sexy as hell. SCREENCAPS! (click the urls for full resolution action!)


http://i38.tinypic.com/sebt6g.png
The menu bars are transparent :>



http://i36.tinypic.com/2wg4y3c.png
When I drag an application it goes transparent too :D


http://i38.tinypic.com/2e5sk2d.png
Oh look. Gimmicks!


http://i37.tinypic.com/2zewdg2.png
Moar gimmicks. ITS RAINING :O


http://i33.tinypic.com/10nyic7.png
and my damn cube.

Sadly, I had to fight more with windows. I just couldn't find the right drivers for stuff. Mostly, I just wrestled with my webcam. Thank god I remembered the driver name. I bookmarked the page so the next time I have to reinstall windows, I'll know where to look.

After I got everything going, I started playing Final Fantasy 7 again. I started playing it a year ago, but stopped it. I've only beaten it once, and that was when I was 12. My room was still upstairs and all I did was listen to MxPx and play that damn game. Ive only been playing it for 5ish days and I've already clocked 20+ hours. Aeris died last night. I was indifferent, although I felt sadder than I did last time. Last time I could have cared less. At least this time I got all my good materia off the dumb bitch. Running off like that. Serves her right.

I went to the beach with Allyson last weekend too. The waves were insane and kept knocking my swimsuit top (that would be, my bra) off. lol. I couldn't care less, really. But, it was super fun. After we swam we ate cookies, read game informer, smoked cigarettes and sat in the sun. It was grand. After that, we grilled burgers and I closed the evening playing way too much Final Fantasy 7 again.

We got a huge donation of vegan sesame-miso soup. That shit sucked. It had absolutely no flavor, as per most vegan food. I should of just put some bacon up in there.

I confronted Ami a few nights ago because she planned this big grill out, had room in the car, and didn't even invite me. On top of the fact she blew me off a few days ago. It just hurt. Of course she said I never call, which is the hugest pile of bullshit I have EVER heard. We had a meeting the day after to clarify things. The meeting was like "sorry I didnt invite you. Do you feel like people don't like hanging out with you? Well here's why..." I'm sure it was purely logical from her stance, but it fucking hurt. I just sat there and took it. But Christ, what made her think that if I feel left out of a lot of things, this would be a good talk to have. Unfortunately, I'm not very good for standing up for myself. Ami said she'd try to start including me. That's nice. I'm sort of afraid of her now, and being afraid of your mentor is kinda weird.

At work, I got back all the jobs I lost over the summer. Mostly report writing and the mealsheet grant that we do. I don't mind, but that just means less time to ChaCha and/or read comics.

Ever since my pay got docked to 10 cents, I just don't have the heart to ChaCha. I'm sure I'll want/need money again soon, but until then, I just don't care. I've done, like, 10 questions in two weeks. I didn't think the pay cut would effect me, but it totally did.

Palin is a laughable choice for McCain. I never heard of her, but it didn't take long for me to find out the woman was batshit insane. Mostly for suing Alaska over the polar bears inhibiting her from drilling even MORE oil. The idea of a woman with nil experience and a hunger from oil a heart attack away from the presidency is TERRIFYING. But, with such a foolish choice, McCain is sure to lose. If he wins, I'll be convinced elections are rigged. (but Palin is nerdy looking/cute >.>) He's not going to get any women/feminists. Although, I've been feeling like the worst feminist ever. You think I'd support more female candidates, but I don't. I really don't like Hillary. Never did. Never will. Oh well. If I ran for president, I'd vote for me, and I'm a woman. Oh ate.

Pat came over and we made gooey butter cake with a bunch of girls and Tyler. One of the recipes was this:



...wat?

I've been talking to Dylan still. Nothing's really been resolved, and I'm confused but trying to put as little emotion into it as possible. I'd elaborate, but I don't reallyfeel liek it.

I'm going to milwaukee today for Greg's birthday. I'm stoked. I need to call Joe Devine. I need to get my shit together.And this entry has taken my long enough. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you if you only skimmed it.

Ubuntu, I owe you an apology.

Here I was thinking that things are so fucking difficult, but with the aide of my wonderful friends, I've figured you out.

And you are easy shit.

Although Gimp still sucks, I'll let that slide. I now have EVERYTHING in proper order. And I am very excited.

So, this makes me happy. Thats cool.

my mom really could use it.

Just thought you should know.

I just spent the last hour googling childish phrases such as "fuck linux" and "linux sucks" to try an alleviate my frustration with my new toy. But no techno-dork gizmo-gaming blog quite says what I wish it did. So, looks like I'm going to just have to say it myself in my own little "blog" (if you could call it that).

But, first, please, grant me the right to be childish.

FUCK YOU LINUX. FUCK FUCK FUCK YOU. YOU SUCK. UBUNTU ISN'T WANT YOU THINK IT IS. YOU'RE SO OUT OF REACH OF YOUR SUPPOSED AUDIENCE. THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY THIS SHIT IS EASY. I KNOW IT TAKES TIME TO 'LEARN WINDOWS' AS IT DOES LINUX, BUT GOD DAMN, YOU GUYS ARE OUT OF TOUCH. THIS IS HARD SHIT

Okay.Much better. Let's start from the top.

The past few months I've been toying with the idea of leaving good ole window$ XP for linux. I've been reading a whole lot on ubuntu and I was very excited about it. I got 7.10, gutsy gibbon (which is a marvellous name, really).

I mean, I know a few things about computers. Granted, I'm not an expert. I do a lot of standard tech support at work. I know a little bit of computer programming language (well, a lot of BASIC [thats gonna get me far lol], a little c++, minimal perl. But i've been learning and checking out some free computer science classes that are hosted on berkley's website. [Here's a whole shitload of free education.]). Have I stroked my cock enough? I'm not a complete dolt here. And ubuntu boasts being incredibly easy. Ubuntu boasts being easy enough for my parents to use. If someone's mom on DIGG could use ubuntu, I sure as hell can.

I started looking up alternatives for important programs I use. The only thing I was really concerned about ultimately was getting a music player that'll play mp3s, wmas, NSEs, and SPCs. If you don't recognise the latter, they are video game chiptunes. I would much rather hear video game music than anything else. Once I learned that xmms can do all that, I was signed. I was finally leaving my enslavement of pirated windose. Good bye microsoft, hello linux! I was excited. I had no intention on ever considering going back. I would figure linux out; come hell or high water.

It begins easy enough. A smooth install, and then a 2 hour update (as expected of installing a new [and also beta] OS). Then the wrestle begins.

First, I gotta get my wireless card to work. I read ALL over the ubuntu forums that this was a difficult task. I did everything they said, and it didn't work... Then suddenly, I restarted and it worked. I couldn't tell you how or WHAT i did to get that to happen, but I was overjoyed. I mean, just copypasta all this code shit into a terminal box and hopefully it'll all work out. It wasn't like anyone in the forums is telling me what 'sudo' or 'apt-get' actually mean. It's all just a magical spell to me. A magical spell that may or may not get my computer to work. But, I'm digressing, the spell worked this time.

Then, I downloaded my plugins for xmms. Turns out any fucking installation that uses the './configure' 'make' 'make install' combo just generates more errors than you or your mother could shake a stick at. Maybe that's just a feature of Gutsy. To make old ways of installing things frustrating and impossible and not tell you the new way of doing things. But who the fuck actually knows? But,I do love a challenge... I really do...

So, I can't get those damn plug-ins to work. I tried the forums, but no avail. I've tried the only logical way I thought this would all work. I restarted. Yes, I am a slave to my micro$oft ways, and I tried fucking restarting. Well, fuck that shit. It doesn't work like that here. I get magical code instead of magical fixes. And sometimes I'll get an install that's like "oh, just (moonlanguage moonlanguage moonlanguage) and then type this into the terminal..." I mean, for christsake, I'm back at the first line of moonlanguage, and there is no help in sight. It took me forever to make my way through the different directories with the 'cd' function. Well sudo apt-get cd ~/JUST MAKE MY FUCKING COMPUTER WORK, BITCHES. DAMN. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN EASY OS.

Sure, I like a challenge. But I like a REASONABLE challenge.

I decided to try and get some other wonderful things to work. First, I want to hook up my Creative Zen Micro and be able to put music on and off it. Easy enough, right? Especially for an OS thats so easy my mom could use... I'm really starting to lose faith here.

So, after getting jacked around to about 23 different websites, I hear I have to install something called gnomad2. /sigh. Installing things really is an issue for me. Because, again the './configure' 'make' 'make install' combo caused another catastophe. Of course theres about 50 other different ways you can try and do it...something about compiling shit from the source. But ... it just takes too long. I need another day. I need a fucking break.

While looking for something to break the monotony, I decided to photoshop my boyfriend's head onto Strong Bad's magazine for husky headed boys. He has an enormous head and I thought this would be comedic gold. Well, The first fallacy was that I just said "photoshop". Looks like I'm going to be using a little program called 'Gimp'. Let me tell you, internet, IVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED A MORE APPROPRIATE NAME. This program is so gimped and frustrating. Instead of getting a break, I wanted to throw my computer against a wall and post an angry blog about it in my LIVEJOURNAL.

It takes fucking DAYS to try and install things and make it work. I'm so pro-open source software, but I would KILL and actually buy (instead of pirate) software IF IT JUST INSTALLED ITSELF at this point. I'm at a loss. If you want a fast OS for just internet and nothing else, ubuntu will probably get you there. But heaven forbid you have a wireless card, webcam, mp3 player, digital camera, or usb compatible cellphone, you're kind of fucked. Unless you have a friend who's really well versed in linux, its just a fucking fight with no one to guide you. Sure google will help, but... I'm really stuck here.

Don't get me wrong. I'm probably going to stay on Ubuntu for at least another week and try to get things to work. I DID get my wireless card working (somehow),so perhaps its all in luck and saying 'shamalama ding dong' enough. And once I'm over the obstacle of installing shit, it'll be smooth sailing. I'm just worried I'm never going to be done installing shit.

It's kinda like this:


I'll be sure to keep you all posted on my struggle.

another angry anti-ubuntu blogging of interest: http://stonedeadparrot.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-ubuntu-sucks.html