Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Quickie

Relax. I'll have a new Cult of the Month up tomorrow, and an actual post shortly after that. But right now, I've got an essay to revise.

Current Mood: Thoughtful

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Onomatopeia: The act of naming something by the sound associated with it. For example: Hiss, boom, or crack.

Friday, May 19, 2006

The Internets Ate My Baby

This blog entry is brought to you by Internet Explorer and Charter Cable, both of which have been farting so much lately it's hard to check one's email without that internet going down. Much frustration has been spent on this.

On the upside, there has been quite a bit going on here on my end. Take last night, for example: I tested for my blue belt. (It was a make-up test since I wasn't there on Saturday.) Results? Passed! The board-breaking went pretty smoothly; the jump spin side kick went a lot easier than I expected it to. (Snapped on the first try.) So yes, now I have to transfer up to the intermediates' class on Mondays and Wednesdays, instead of going Tuesday/Thursday. Should be a nice change of pace; now I can watch "House" in peace.

Next up on my to-do list is fill out an application for employment (yes, EMPLOYMENT) at the animal shelter. Since a couple of people quite, they're needing people to do pretty much the same thing I do for free. So now I'm going to try to get paid for it; let's see if they'll hire a fifteen-year-old who hasn't quite finished her first year of high school.

Speaking of school, I took three of my finals thus far. I got a 97% on my science one, but the English and geography ones haven't been graded. Algebra will be done on Tuesday, and Spanish would be done in less than two weeks at the rate I'm currently going. So yes, good stuff all around.

Tomorrow will be mostly filled, since Lindsey is graduating from pharmacy school. Should be interesting, and the last of the graduations for a while. So now we'll have our very own drug pusher!!! (Just kidding. Maybe.)

Current Mood: Satisfied

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Wener Heisenburg (yeah, you know, the nuclear physics guy) is either a hero or not as smart as is desirable. He told the Nazis that they didn't have enough uranium for an atomic bomb, overestimating how much they would need by a pretty substantial margin.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Tired

Stupid finals week. Too much homework, especially when doing 2-3 lessons of Spanish in order to catch up... On the upside, I should be done with most of my subjects by the end of Friday. Who knows how long Spanish is going to last; the doubling up is helping me out somewhat, but it still seems like I'll be in school forever.

Nervous about testing tomorrow/Thursday... I actually don't know if I'm testing for blue belt tomorrow or Thursday, but I'm ready either way. Can't wait.

The shelter's been really hectic for a few weeks. There's been a massive outbreak of parvovirus, and another of pneumonia. Both of our back rooms are filled with sick puppies, and it's possible we'll have some more dying from one thing or the other. Some are doing okay, but others... I stopped into the parvo room, and a bunch of them look like they're just waiting for the end. It's so, so sad. It'd make the nastiest old Scrooge's heart break...

On a better note, one of our dogs had a leg amputated and she's doing really well. Dixie's at a fostor home, and she's wearing a little white t-shirt to hide her stitches. She's got to be feeling so much better, now that she doesn't have to drag around a useless foreleg. I'm not sure what caused it to swell up and be generally nasty, but it'd something she had since before hurricane Katrina back in New Orleans. (Yes, she's one of our Katrina dogs.) She's such a sweetie; I hope she gets adopted soon.

Got done watching the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale while doing me homework. All I have to say is, WHY DID DENNY HAVE TO GO AND FREAKIN' DIE?!?! HE WAS MY FAVORITE!!!! (You can tell I'm mad because I'm abusing the exclamation points!) Pfft, the guy had another series to do. I guess he had to get bumped off of one of them in order to retain his sanity. (Sanity? Who needs it? I've never had it and I function fine! */retard*)

Right. I'm dead. The tanning lotion's dry so I can go to bed. Enjoy, y'all!

Current Mood: Brain Fried

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The 1981 wedding of the Crown Prince of Dubai cost $44 million dollars (and you think yours was expensive), had 20,000 guests, and was held in a stadium built just for the occasion.

Friday, May 12, 2006

*dons helmet*

Yup, that's right folks, tomorrow is when one of two scenarios will happen:
1) Pigs will fly
2) Jesus will come back

Why, you ask? Oh, yes. Phil's getting his Master of Divinity. (He's already instructed one of my friends to call him "Devine Master.") Translation? He's graduating from seminary. At last! I kind of thought he'd be in school until Jesus came back. Kind of dumb, I know, but when he's one of those carrying on that proud tradition of 10 years or more of college... (But don't forget, I'll be one of those proud traditon-followers; veterinary medicine takes a while.)

So the plan tomorrow is to wake up at 5AM, leave by 6, and be back some time around mid-afternoon. I'm bringing the iPod and I'm curling up in the back seat and I'm going to sleep. Getting me up early on a Saturday is just cruel. (But Dad's making coffee, so... maybe it isn't so bad.) We're all proud of Phil, and are all kind of stunned that he's finally done.

But the fun doesn't stop there! The week after that, my sister-in-law, Lindsey, will be graduating from pharmacy school, so more graduation hoods are in my future.

Speaking of graduating and getting promoted and all that jazz, there's still more: Next week? I'm testing for blue belt. Intermediate class, here I come! Another essay, here I come! School finals? Here I come! Okay, okay, I'll stop now. I've still got homework (oopsie).

Current Mood: Excited

Random Useless Fact of the Day: The current goldfish swallowing record is 300 in one sitting, set in 1974. And yes, I do mean live goldfish. You know, the little wriggly orange things that you can't seem to keep alive for more than three days? Imagine swallowing 300. Ick.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Just hop up on the couch, Mr. Cruise-- Scientology

It's that time of the month again, kiddies! Hope you brought your eye protection! Strap in, and please keep your hands and feet inside the blog at all times, because it's time for the Cult of the Month!

Scientology

Founder: L. Ron Hubbard, via the book Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought
First Founded: 1950
Some Basic Beliefs: That man is immortal and a spiritual being, that his capabilities are limitless though they may not be realized (this means I can go leap off a cliff if I only realized that I could fly by taping cardboard to my arms!), can achieve everlasting happiness by reaching a higher awareness (of what, I have no idea). That whatever is true is only what one has observed to be true (Black=white, I tell you!). There is none of this accepting stuff on faith or on a belief system. That absolutely any sort of chemical additive in ANYTHING (yes, including medicine) is a barrier to our well being (So... they would rather us all die of influenza? Mmkay.), and that sweating in a sauna cleanses the system. Anybody that can see the actual source of his problems isn't just a MAN, he's a freakin' higher being, no longer just a "man"! (One, two, three... *steely-eyedglance* *problems vanish* WHEE, I'm a demigoddess! Bow, puny mortals!)

Right. This is just too weird. *takes a breath* Right, to the next paragraph! I'm having a great time with this!

Scientology gives a person the ability to handle POWER (and yes, POWER. ALL IN CAPS.) without abusing it or being scared of it. (As opposed to man being a fallen being and not being physically able to handle any kind of true power without screwing it up somehow. Pfft.) A soul is a thetan, using whacked-out Greek. Having an Operating Thetan means that one exists without physical means and that one is fully onesself (bzuh???).

Aims? Oh, there are aims, all right- impossible ones. A war-free world in which crime and insanity don't exist, and only the honest ones have any rights. (Good luck. I repeat: MAN IS A FALLEN BEING.)

Evaluation: Hoooo, boy. I'm drowning in the humanism-- it's like man pretty much is God, God doesn't exist, and that man can actually make himself perfect without any outside help. Puh-leaze. How many times have we tried this and failed? Merely being influenced by thinking men doesn't help; they're imperfect like the rest of us.

I'm also seeing some suspicion of outsiders in here, a lot more so than I've seen in the Christian Church. Apparantly you'll never be betrayed so long as you are a member of Scientology. According to their web site, the "sun never sets on Scientology", which, in my opinion, attempts to pacify people into thinking that everything will be all right, that there is no impending judgement, and that it's no one's fault that they don't succeed, because it's man's current inability to realize his potential that causes everyone's problems. As a Christian using the Christian point of view, this is simply wrong. Man is limited. Man is imperfect. Man is responsible for his own actions. Man was, is, and will pretty much always be man. Period. End of story.

Okay, I'm done here. Feel free to critique my critiquing; I'm always eager to figure something else out.

Disclamer: Now, tell me you didn't read my little explanation using the First Amendment that I did in my last entry... Please be aware that I am not trying to rip up any particular person (except maybe Tom Cruise, but pretty much everyone makes fun of the odd little man), merely giving out my opinions on various religions. Don't sue; I'm not worth much.