happy anniversary!

Well it's official.  I've been with Zack for five years today.

It hasn't always been easy.  It hasn't been perfect.  If it were easy and perfect, it wouldn't be real.  It would be a fairy tale.  And life is so much more interesting than any fairy tale I've read.

Here are some photos in honor of our love.  

I believe this was 2006.

2007 (Dragon*Con)

2008

New Year's 2009

2009 (snow adventures in Nagano)

2009

2010 (Bali)

We were supposed to leave for Hiroshima today, but we didn't.  We sat around and relaxed.  We watched Battlestar Galactica and ate grocery store sushi.  And I finally submitted another short story!

I can't wait to see where life takes us.  I reckon that 2011 will be the year that we get married.  The year that we become Zackily or Emachary or Zackem or some other strange hybrid creature.

I hope your Christmas was filled with lots of love and deliciousness.  And that you weren't as devastatingly hungover on the day after Christmas as I was.

Here's to a new year and new adventures.  And new blog posts.  I swear.

sometimes

I wish I was cooler.  It seems like everyone is either born with a coolness gene or without one.  I think I was just born with the awkwardness gene.  I hate you, genetics.

you can`t take the sky from me

The world is truly unjust. 

I try not to watch TV too often--I`d rather read or at least watch a documentary or look up conspiracy theories online--so I usually find out about good shows long after they were popular.  And when I say "good shows," I mean good shows.  Not CSI or American Idol.  Shows that make you care about the characters. Shows that give you that feeling you get at the end of a really good book.  You`re glad you experienced it, but you`re sad that it`s over.

I discovered one of those shows a week or so ago.  And it`s already over.

Firefly aired on Fox in 2002 to mixed reviews and not-so-great ratings.  Only 11 episodes made it on air before the show was cancelled.  Fans got so upset that they rallied together to get another season.  Eventually, all 14 episodes of the show were released on DVD but the show wasn`t picked up by any networks.  The fans` efforts led to a movie being made, called Serenity. 

Serenity, created to try and conclude the short-lived series, bombed at the theaters.  The fate of Firefly was pretty much sealed when the movie didn`t do well.

I don`t even like science fiction, but I loved this show.  I think if it had a better time slot when it was first aired, it could have gone on to be the next Star Trek, except better because there are no aliens or pointy ears or any of that weird shit that makes most people hate sci fi.

I had to write this post because my heart is a little broken.  Zack and I have been engulfed in this show for the last week and a half or so.  I really wanted to know more about the characters and the world they existed in.  But there is no more. 

It would be like if J.R.R Tolkien wasn`t able to finish writing The Lord of the Rings or something.  Heartbreaking.  It`s probably unhealthy to feel this way about a TV show, but I know that it will eventually pass.  Or I`ll go insane and try to make the inside of my house look like a spaceship and pretend I`m going on smuggling missions.

It seems that all the shows I truly love face an untimely death--except for Friends, of course, and that maybe should have died a little sooner than it did.  My So-Called Life.  Freaks and Geeks.  Undeclared.  Arrested Development.  They get cancelled for being different, snuffed out because they don`t give people the cheap, dumbed-down thrills that Law and Order and Jersey Shore give.

What a cruel world we live in.

I hate you, FOX.

we in the new york times, y`all

I just found an article that talks about what I just blogged about: We in the New York Times, y`all! 
Snow in Georgia just doesn`t seem right...y`all keep safe now.  Don`t go driving in the snow if you don`t know what the hell you`re doing.

winter wonderings

It is winter.  I know because I`ve woken up to a light dusting of snow on the ground the last two days. 

I also know because the path I have to take to work everyday is treacherous now. There is a place that goes downhill that will be perpetually covered in ice.  I slid down it on my ass the first snowy morning. Today I recognized that it was in fact ice and not just a puddle, so I dragged myself along the railing on the side of the road.    

It`s the time of year when it becomes obvious that I have never lived in a cold climate before now.  Not only do I slip comically (and dangeorusly) on ice patches, but I also don`t know how to dress properly.  My outfits are a hodge podge of whatever warm things my sisters decided to give me before I left the U.S.  Schoolgirls walk around with nothing more than a tiny plaid skirt and knee socks, and I`ve already busted out my white waterproof coat and gloves.  I also have several scarves that don`t match anything.  Sometimes I wear black and brown and stripes and plaid all at the same time.  It seems that a legitimately cold winter is all it takes for me to start putting function over fashion.  I`m worried that my fashion sense will be completely screwed up by the time I make it back to sunny Georgia.  (Although rumor has it that it`s actually snowing there too.  Wtf, climate change?)

I think I`m going to take up jumproping (or is it jumping rope?).  Since the ground is suddenly laced with  booby traps, I can`t go running at night.  I twisted my ankle the last time I tried to do that anyways.  And since the sun sets at about 4:30 in the afternoon, it`s dark by the time I get home.  But, according to the Internet, jumping rope for 15 minutes is the same as running for 30 minutes.  I`m going in search of a jumprope this weekend.  I`m not really good at jumping rope, because it requires coordination, but I hope to get good at it.  I refuse to lose my regular-exercise body.  I`m no Greek statue but I look a lot better than I did this time last year.

It`s weird to be done with the GRE.  I find myself feeling guilty for not drilling vocabulary in my free time.  I have to remind myself that it`s over, and that I never have to think about the Pythagorean theorem again.  It really wasn`t so bad.  I followed the advice of my friend Kiki and did a few practice tests and I think that helped.  My math score was pretty awful, but it was standard for a person in my field.  My verbal score was above average, which shocked the hell out of me.  I`m still waiting to hear about the crappy writing part (analyze an argument and present your perspective on an issue).  I`m definitely a better writer than I was when I took the Graduation Test in high school and the Regents` Test in college, but I think it takes me longer to develop an idea than it used to.  I could whip out an all-right essay in no time when I took the Regents` Test, but now, I really like to think things through and do it right.  So I`m not sure what my score on those sections will be.

I had a fantastic time in Tokyo during the dreaded GRE weekend.  I got there early on Saturday and wandered around Shinjuku and visited the Meiji shrine.  There was even a Japanese wedding going on in the shrine!  I slept in a nice hostel out in a weird area where there were no restaurants.  It was in a huge youth complex that was very easy to get lost in.  I had to eat dinner from a convenience store. The next morning, I had to sprint to catch the subway to get to the test on time.  But I made it.  And before I knew it, I was on a bus home, with snow-capped Mt. Fuji in the distance.  I felt more at peace than I had in a long time.

We`re planning a trip for our Christmas break.  Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji Castle, and maybe Osaka.  Nagoya for New Year`s.  And we get to do it all with our buddy Andy, who lives about 4 hours away. He was our good friend in college and it`s a shame we don`t get to see him more often. 

This will be the first Christmas that Zack and I have gotten to spend with each other.  I`m sad that I don`t get to see my family, but it`ll be nice to be with him for once.  I`m also hoping that it will be a white Christmas.  I`ve only had one white Christmas in my whole life so far.

I`ve been writing and plan on submitting a short story to some journals in the next couple of days (after I get a little more feedback from my online writers` workshop). 

It`s been strange and difficult at times, but I must say that this has been the best year of my life so far.  And it`s looking like next year can only get better.

the beast has been slain

It's finished. The two-headed GRE beast has been slain. It was a formidable foe, but I was prepared for its tricks. The snarling Verbal head went down without bloodshed. The Quantitative head was also defeated, but just barely.


To combat this beast, I had to journey to Tokyo and lodge there. The city was full of monsters and ancient wonders.

a monster in Shinjuku

a karaoke demon

Meiji Shrine

the wonders of nature in the middle of the metropolis

The journey was long and hard. I journeyed alone with nary a plan to guide me.  I traveled many miles, through mountains and strange lands, to get there. I had to forage for food and navigate underground tunnels. I had to figure out how to read maps. I followed the mysterious runes and colors to find that which I sought.

On the morning of my battle, I had to escape the labyrinthine National Olympics Memorial Youth Center complex which housed my lodgings. But I found the legendary resting place of the beast in time, and battle commenced.

I also discovered a magical clothing shop by the name of "GAP." In this store, they call pants for halflings "leggings," but I saw through their trickery, and equipped myself with the supposed "leggings," which I knew to be proper-fitting pants.

Truly I will miss the magical land of Tokyo when my travels take me to another far away land. 

I will not miss training for this battle.

But alas, my training is never really done.  For when one monster is defeated, another, more terrible one will come up in its place.  My next foe will be more cunning and elusive than any I have encountered thus far.  The beast is called the MFA Gremlin.

Tonight, I will rest in the knowledge that for now, one more monster has been slain.  The other is still far away.  His flames cannot touch me yet.  When he comes, I will be ready.