There is a tiny, unwelcome intruder in my bedroom. A creepy, twitchy salamander that has crawled in here and refuses to leave. I spotted it Sunday evening and it has managed to evade all attempts to capture it. I wouldn’t mind so much if it weren’t that my mom is absolutely terrified of lizards and lizard-like creatures. It crept onto my bed last night, so I ended up moving to the couch. It was not a restful sleep. I want this little guy out!

I found a link to Puricute on Kao-ani and had to play with it

Here’s Didymus the Cat done up Japanese sticker booth style…

Cute Purikura Online cute and dangerous

My second experiment with Illustrator, the first was the flower on the header.

Cupcake Dreams by ~gricel on deviantART

In the last month, I’ve run into several people that I knew when I was in high school and this has prompted me to think about who I am and how I’ve changed since then. So here’s a reflection of me in the last (almost) 10 years.

When I was 15:

I got my first computer! Yipee! (and free interwebs for a year, now that was a deal)

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.

My greatest concern was having enough save to buy whatever cd/movie/accessory I wanted.

I was very into science and wanted to be a forensic pathologist when I grew up.

I was just getting very into David Bowie and Sarah Brightman.

I was becoming very interested in the Victorian era and period films.

Now that I am almost 25:

I am no longer a computer novice. And I spend more time on the interwebs than watching tv, hence why I got rid of my tv with the Dtv switch.

My hypothyroidism is under control, but I just found out that I have the knees of a much older woman… or a grandma. Apparently, it’s genetic.

My greatest concern is my lack of funds and all that arises from that.

I have an MA in English and am working on an MLS in Library & Info Science. That’s about the only science in sight right now.

I still love Bowie and Sarah Brightman, though my musical horizons have expanded considerably (thanks to the web).

I have read too many Victorian novels and watch far too many period films.

It’s been a hectic week, the weather has been terrible, we’ve had some family difficulties, and I’m a bit behind on my assignments, but I got an A on my chronology and all is well. At least I have one less worry to think about.

And some days you just can’t get a break…

Was a bit of a mess yesterday after a group work fiasco - misunderstandings abound when one relies on email to coordinate with strangers. Today, I received a lovely bill for my ER visit… I owe $2545 for my mystery knee sprain. I really do have to ask myself, was the CT scan necessary? Would an xray have sufficed? Oh well, radiologist I am not.

Then I received a nice slew of emails from the County about all those positions I applied for… it looks like they closed all of them because of the budget (since the listings weren’t due to close until August).

So what’s the lesson to be learned from all this? I really have to stop checking my gmail in the morning. It only ruins the rest of my day when I get bad news so soon after waking up. Let the bad news come after I’ve had a few peaceful hours.

So I have a part time-part time job (since I am on “holiday” from my other part time-part time job), a lot of bills, and a busted up knee. I need some chocolate.

I am slowly mastering the pimp-cane shuffle walk… much better sounding than the geriatric cane hunchback walk. This is ridiculous.

I’ve gone and sprained my knee. I have no idea how this happened, was just relaxing with the bf when suddenly I can’t stand. Look down and find a quickly swelling mass where my knee used to be. No idea how I managed to drive home with so little motion as my knee was stiff with the swelling. Thought it might go down on it’s own, but as it seemed to just get worse, decided to visit the ER. That was a waste of six hours of my life among the dregs of human society (as represented by the troubled woman in the curtained area next to mine). Just got home and am typing this up on the mini in full reclined, icebagged pose. Andd here I thought I was going to get some extra hours in at work this week there goes that plan. May as well make the most of it and start research for the class bloggity.

Second Life is pretty big in the education sector and they keep hyping it up among librarians. I never saw the appeal in the program, but I decided to give it a try for a communications assignment that I have to complete.

I hate it. I have no patience when it comes to flying or my avatar’s crab-crawl walk. I find that the educational uses all seem good on paper, but I wouldn’t want to have to use this thing to take a class.

However, a lot of the people in the class that I’m taking think that we “millenials” are only capable of learning online. We’re “always” on the interwebs, we must want to learn using these mediums.

My question is: Do any of you currently use Second Life? Or have  you used it in the past? Would you use this for an extended period of time to learn, or is it just a glorified chat room?

Opinions, comments, rants are much appreciated.

One of the more interesting (unusual?) aspects of living in the city that shall remain nameless are the fruit vendors that you encounter on street corners and parading down busy streets during the rush hour gridlock. It’s not actually a Miami-wide phenomenon; I have actually had friends from other parts of Miami drive by and wonder at the sight of a fruit/flower/churro/peanut vendor walking past their car. It’s a different form of local industry–not quite a farmer’s market, but close enough. Usually, you find lemons and oranges from $1-5 a bag, maybe some avocadoes. But come summertime, it’s watermelon season! And these are usually the best watermelons, sold off the back of some pickup on the side of the road. Unlike the dry, whitish, over-priced melons at the local grocery chain, these tend to be fresh and juicy, and probably from the local farms in the Redlands.

Yay! for local produce and delicious red melony goodness