bleh. i hate javascript. it's annoying to code in. i tried making an algorithm to change my archive dates into "week 1, week 2, etc" but i got frustrated and just changed it to what i have right now. oh yeah, i also posted a new chapter to a safer haven. it's not that good, but it's relevant to the plot.

Raging Aardvark: errrrg i hate javascript!!!!!
Yangness: Kill it!
Yangness: Kick its ass!!! :-D
Raging Aardvark: goddamnit
Yangness: Go beat the crap out of something!
Yangness: Oh. Wait...you're non-violent.
Yangness: Practice civil disobedience! ;-)

and now they're gone. fran and arturo flew down to mexico city on christmas day to spend christmas dinner with arturo's parents. jen and tony left yesterday to their respective homes. i woke up this morning and found a card beside me, from jen. the note on there was made from letters from magazine cutouts.

just got back from hanging out with mike for a few hours. his mom has an amazing setup of miniature buildings, etc at their house. jen got me the isis dagger for chrismtas! she's the coolest cousin! waaaa! isis dagger! it's sooo kewl! it's got a gap in the middle, so the two sides are separated, like a tuning fork. and it's got all sorts of barbs. sure, it's not battle-worthy, but it's damn cool and has a really high intimidation factor. the hilt is carved to resemble the texture of snakeskin, and the pommel has a carving of isis's head, with snakes and other really cool stuff. it's soooo kewl! jen is too cool!

it felt good to get that out of my system....

Allie woke up 8AM
Graduation day.
Got into a car,
And crashed along the way.

When we arrived late to the wake,
Stole the urn while they
Looked away,
And drove to the beach
'Cause I knew you'd want it
That way.

And you were standing
On the hood of the car
Singing out loud
When the sun came up.

And I know I wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes
Felt like a lifetime

It felt like a lifetime

And you move like water
I could drown in you.
And I fell so deep once,
Till you pulled me through

You would tell me
"No one is allowed to be so proud
They never reach out
When they're giving up."

And I know I wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes
Felt like a lifetime

Are you sitting in the lights?
Or combing your hair again,
And talking in rhymes?
Are you sitting in the lights?

When I got home, heard the phone,
Your parents had arrived.
And your dad set his jaw
Your mom just smiled and sighed.

But they left soon
And I went to my room.
Played that disc that you'd given me,
And I shut my eyes
Swear I could hear the sea.

When we were standing
On the hood of your car
Singing out loud when the sun came up.

And I know I wasn't right,
But it felt so good.
And your mother didn't mind,
Like I thought she would.
And that REM song was playing
In my mind.
And three and a half minutes,
Three and a half minutes,

Felt like a lifetime.

— Better Than Ezra, A Lifetime

last few days have been interesting, to say the least. most of the time, i've been hanging out with jen. the slow internet connection ended up being due to a faulty router, and chris and tony took care of the problem. both times when grandma and grandpa had to be sent home at night, it's been jen and me to take them home.

funny, they always assume that wherever jen goes, i go, and vice versa. not that they're wrong, it's just funny how they assume it so readily. i guess the family reunion has been rather factioned this year. fran and arturo hang (obviously, since they're married). chris and tony seem to share a lot of things in common and get along very well. while jen and i hang out together a lot. it's strange. jen and i don't really understand the other guys much. it's like we speak just different enough dialects that communication breaks down. but jen, i understand jen.

i remember when we were driving back from grandma and grandpa's place on friday (and saturday), we looked up at the moon and found it enchanting. it was a cheshire cat smile, and so big! and so yellow! i wanted to take that moment and place it in a display case in my mind. but it'll likely end up in some file cabinet, like all the rest.

every night has been a new test of my capability to contain food. i'm caught up in a vicious cyle of ingestion and defecation. tonight was turkey dinner. and stuffing. and mapo tofo. and eggplant. and rice noodles with some kind of melon. and chinese broccoli. and cranberry sauce. they forced me to be party to this orgy of repleteness. i've been eating sooo much since i got back from college. i've already gained five pounds, i think.

i ended up falling asleep while talking to jen friday night. we talked about so many things, late into the night. well, when i say that we talked, i mean that i talked, as jen did mostly the listening, really. she said that she never expected for us to have a discussion like that this christmas. she expected just to chill and have fun. but i was glad to have talked her ear off.

the family visited my uncle's grave today. it was a bit nippish outdoors, but tolerable. dad cleaned off his grave right before the adults and grandma started arriving. as usual, dad made joking comments. as usual, grandma cried. as usual, my aunt tried to hold it back, with limited success. it was strange. the moment we all lined up by the grave, a calm settled over the area, so that the only sound about was the muffled drone of the highway. after a considerable pause, my aunt said a few words. we left.

jen got to meet my second family: teresa, kevin, and robert. jen and i hit the mall with kevin and robert. i bought kevin final fantasy tactics for my commercialism day gift to him, though he was pleading for FFX. tactics was what got me final fantasy again, and it was such an awesome game. there was no way i was gonna let kev get away with not playing tactics. i ended up not finding what i needed to get, and instead buying myself an angel sanctuary poster. it's going on my dorm wall as soon as i get back.

jen liked kevin. said he was cool. not what she expected from a kid like that. i say kid, but he's really growing up. it's funny. the first time i met kevin was when he was eleven, a tiny little thing. now he's taller than me, and in high school. he even drove my car today from his house to robert's! makes me feel very old.

i played anagrams with jen after dinner tonight. it started when we mentioned the movie sneakers, where the phrase "too many secrets", which was discovered via anagram, marked a major plot turn. so we started working on it. my personal favourites were "snot's creamy toe" and "tote my necro ass!"

i found baby pictures, and looked through them with jen. she was crooning and cooing the whole time. i've come to the conclusion that i was a cuter baby than my brother. and a lot happier.

i opened my present from teresa. i guess it was kinda obvious from the not-so-subtle phone call that she placed to me today, saying that her mom wanted to buy a guitar and asked what kind of accessories i recommended. i had fun playing with the slide, but i'm having trouble trying to work the strap. i'll have to ask rose when she comes back from taiwan.

i should have checked my instant messages. i came back very late at night to a few instant messages i wanted to answer, but the sender was already sleeping.

maybe i should go to sleep now, too. merry christmas, everyone.

anagrams, played by jen and me:

too many secrets
my socrates note
cato semen story
stem yeats croon
more stony caste
most carey stone
toy moat screens
snots creamy toe
corny meato sets
stoney e mcroast
sty moore stance
some toys trance
coy masters note
scoot teeny mars
yams, terns, etc.: oo!
marey ten scoots
transco soy meet
come testy rason
my tsetse racoon
may testes croon
tote my necro ass
me oreo syntacts
test coreys moan

Raging Aardvark: i have a stuffy muse
Nozomi81: I have a violent one
Nozomi81: she kicks the shit out of me on a regular basis
Nozomi81: as if it's not bad enough I'm gettin beat by a girl
Nozomi81: it's myself :-P