-TRACK-
Nice to see a clean slate here, Chris C:

Oh this?. A friend of mine made those a long time ago. XD sorry I'm not a good enough artist to do anything like that

Well my Chemistry 2 exam retake went really well, I know I did better than the first time since I actually didn't freak out when I saw Ka/Kb/Kp/Ksp problems! In fact I didn't have nearly as horrible of a headache and finished the exam maybe 45 minutes to an hour faster than I did the first time. Just gotta wait 2 weeks or so to find out if I've passed or failed, but either way I'm done with college.

I had to deal with some registrar mumbo jumbo about reapplying to graduate, basically they won't count my two transient classes (Physics 1 and Chemistry 2) until I paid them $25 to say I was graduating in the summer. Go figure.

So anyway, I feel like a tremendous weight has been taken off of my shoulders....and now another weight of equal gravitational pull is being put on with this job search XD!! I haven't heard a word from the 5 companies I sent applications to in West Virginia, so if I still don't hear anything by Friday I will send off applications to companies in Pennsylvania, Virginia, northern Alabama, and Tennessee.

And if that doesn't work, I've got seven more job postings to apply for. Aside from Louisiana and Florida, I am willing to go anywhere for a job.

I hope one of them responds soon. :c

We had a glass of wine tonight in honor of my Dad, it would have been his birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I really miss you...

I thought about something really interesting last night...you might be very, very close to your 'main' deer on TEF, but you're close to your dark characters too. In my case, there are parts of Iugulare, Anirapio, and Nekumbra that represent parts of me.

Nekumbra wants to be accepted, she wants to be normal, but she can't ever be since her mutation has physically altered her. She just wants to be a regular doe who has friends and does regular doe things.

Anirapio wants a place to belong. She is trapped on Earth and longs to return to her home, or even being accepted and welcomed on Earth. She is bound by Earth rules and cannot truly live her life the way she wants.

Iugulare wants to be loved and respected, the one thing actually physically in her grasp is Quad's love. But since he has no interest in her, it drives her crazy and she continues her conquest of Earth.

Much like Nekumbra, I've wanted to be normal, I've degraded myself and called myself names such as a monster and a waste of a life. I know exactly how she feels

And then with Anirapio, I also want a place to belong. I've felt trapped in this house for a few years now, and have longed to have my own house where I have control of what I do, where I have independence.

And finally, I can relate to Iugulare too, because I sometimes don't know if I'm loved or respected. There were times where things seemed at their worst, and I've felt utterly alone. But much like Iugulare, I won't give up so easily, and will continue to pursue what I want.

Good news, guys - the eye doctor said my eye looks like it's fully healed. We're going to keep the contact in for another week just to be sure, but this is great, let's hope that the abrasion will stay healed.

Current job applications sent, except for Anchorage, AK. I'm debating sending an application there.

Just a heads-up, I removed The Siege of the Forest since there was a complaint, and I guess I won't do anything else with Iugulare or her infection since it's been deemed inappropriate. Thank you for the interest in the story, but I can't write it knowing I'm doing something wrong.

im sorry to hear you've stoped the story. was there no way of rectifty the issue? May I say that I feel hounered that my character was involved and thoughly enjoyed reading the story. I hope to read more for you soon.

Can I bite their idiotic head off?
It it wasn't Michael and/or Auriea, you don't need to listen to a thing they told you to do, because there are no mods.

Would you guys like me to continue the story despite the complaint? I guess the better question is, are you okay with me continuing on a story that includes a few of my kinks? I never want to go too far with Iugulare but it looked like there was a lot of interest in what she does.

The story is saved to a word document, I put too much time into it already to just delete it.

Go for it!

Yes please quad. and if somone wants to complaint they need to justify there issuse, not just complain. Then a work around can be found. Don't let anyone squash your creativity or imagination.

Gogogogo do it!

I'm planning on running to our local flea market tomorrow morning and picking up a pair of Sai I wanted. Yes, I know...this means I'll have one of each of the Ninja Turtles' weapons. XD




Also my mom's boss found this really cool menorah. She said it came from India or Nepal, but after talking to her, she said it could have come from a resale shop, so it probably came from Israel.

Alright, I figured it out. It definitely is a Hanukkah menorah because there are twelve circles in the jug around one big circle, and each of the little circles has a little symbol inside of it. They represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The symbols on the inside spell out "Khanuke" in Hebrew.

The Jug is symbolic because of the jug of oil that miraculously kept the temple menorah lit for eight days when the oil should have lasted for only one.





I swear this thing is making me want to go get Hanukkah candles and light them in the middle of June XD!!

No new updates on my job search...kind of getting annoyed checking my e-mail daily and not getting any responses.

I think I'm going to concentrate on certain areas of the US I'm really interested in (or would have the most luck). Haven't had much luck around Pittsburgh so I'll see if I can find any more jobs in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, ect...also I think I will see if there are any more in Alaska.

I have also been considering driving down to the Coast Guard recruitment office, but I don't know if it's...intimidation or fear of rejection that is stopping me from stepping in the door. I'm afraid of being rejected just for being short or overweight, you know?

This wait is absolutely dreadful.

Religious or Spiritual?

It's one of those "you learn something new every day" kind of things...it started with a question on Facebook, "Are you religious?". I answered "yes", because I was born and raised Catholic, even went to both a Catholic elementary school and a Catholic high school.

But then I read comments of the post, and people were saying that "no, they're spiritual but not religious". And this got me thinking...what would I be considered?

I looked up a few articles that explained a bit about the differences between the two. To quote this article, "In the seeking of such meaning, religion and spirituality come together. Spirituality highlights qualities such as caring, kindness, compassion, tolerance, service and community, and, in its truest sense, so does religion. But where religion is defined by its tradition and teachings, spirituality is defined by what is real in our own experience, arising from an inner search within ourselves, the finding of our own truth."

Is it possible to be both religious and spiritual? I know that sounds incredibly stupid to ask but it almost seems like some definitions of the two are that they are mutually exclusive.

In any event, this is what I am - I was born and raised Catholic, and still go to mass (though not nearly as much as I used to due to my Mom's personal anger with God), but I study Buddhism and Zen teachings. I believe the Buddha existed, but do not worship him as a god. Instead, I see him as a teacher. In addition, I have begun exploring other religions not to condemn or forsake my own, but to learn from them with an open mind. I'd love to learn more about Hinduism since there are similarities to Buddhism. I know a little about Judaism and Islam but would be interested in learning more, maybe even trying to read the Torah and Quran. I am absolutely fascinated with Wiccans and Druids, and have come to find they are incredibly nice and humble people as I have met a few personally. I love learning about the Native Americans' views on God and spirit guides, and am always trying to learn from my totems.

What do you guys think? Does this make me 'spiritual', am I still 'religious' since I'm going to the same church I have been for 26 years? Or am I both?

Also if you happen to follow any of the religious/spiritual paths I mentioned above and have any good links, suggestions, or anything to help me learn more about them, I'd be honored to check out anything you have to offer. I know a good bit about Christianity since I was raised as a Catholic, but I'd love to learn more about Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Wicca, and Druidism.

Thanks guys, please feel free to discuss any of this below.

I think Dad might have had a hand in me getting this response from California...because Orange is 40 minutes away from Los Angelas, and Dad's favorite basketball team is the Los Angelas Lakers. Thanks, Dad, I won't let you down.

Don't forget that yesterday was a holiday for most folks. It's a good idea to keep searching either way, but maybe give them another call today too.

Edit: before I forget again, my teacher brought up blackbucks in class on Tuesday and I thought of you xD
Apparently we even have a few in town!

Haha, yeah, I live by a research area in Texas so we have all kinds of weird things over here
Good luck with your job hunting!

Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin...the last 16 states I haven't sent job applications to.

It sounds like you've been really busy! I hope that all of that hard work pays off for you sooner than later. That town sounds pretty nice, but Southern California tends to be expensive. :l I hope that isn't an issue, either.

As to your question on spirituality and religion... You strike me as more spiritual, but if you go to Church regularly, then most would label you as "religious". However, it could be all a point of view thing. You seem to combine both religion and spirituality quite harmoniously.... So, yes, I believe you can be both.

Currently I'm trying to live as a solitary practitioner of Wicca( teaching myself with little guidance, that is) so I don't know a lot. But I probably know enough to answer most of your questions. Feel free to ask me hear or hit me up on MSN. c:

After 5 years of service, my old laptop decided to die on me this morning. I wasn't able to get it to start, so Mom bought me a new one today. It was what I was going to do when I started making money, was get a new laptop, so I'm kind of glad I am able to move on.

There wasn't much I needed to transfer over from my old laptop, mostly just need to make a new copy of my resume honestly. I already have my antivirus, itunes, and a few other things downloaded.

GUYS!! I got a phonecall this morning! I'm going to get an interview with Republic Services in Winder, Georgia! It's between Atlanta and Athens.

What's great is, one, I'm very close to where my brother and sister-in-law live, but also I'll be very close to a family friend who has offered to let me stay at their house when I come up for my interviews. I'll have to do two interviews in total and they said they'll set me up for them in August!

I'll be doing very similar work to what I would be doing as a hydrogeologist, but I'd be working on a landfill doing gas monitoring. They said they'll train me how to use their equipment.

I'm absolutely thrilled right now! This couldn't be any more perfect!