thanks to a complete lack of productivity during this oh-so-fantastically mundane holiday, another post has arrived - brought to you by the letter H and such. without a doubt the most worthwhile thing I've done in the past week was consume copious amounts of chocolate (thanks in part to my stocking treats) and watch the fifth season of the simpsons on my laptop. also on the "to watch during christmas" list was Elf - a heartwarming tale of christmas spirit and all that crap. while it had quite a lot of potential to smother me with maudlin sentimentality, I found it quite worthwhile - I was plesantly surprised when the full duet with Zooey Deschanel of "Baby It's Cold Outside" showed up in the end credits (also on the soundtrack, apparently).
I've been meaning to get around to doing some reading - specifically the christopher moore book I recieved as a gift from my cousin - but I'm sure I'll get around to that after tommorow when I get my wisdom teeth extracted. I know I'm a baby, but I'm a little bit freaked out. I'm going to walk in and ask for a damn morphine drip or something. Has anyone been through the procedure and has any particular advice?
no segue here, that's about it. I'll give you all a condition report once I'm actually able to type. I leave you all with a fantastic version of "Winter Wonderland" by none other than mr. a-z which is sure to brighten up anyone's snow-filled (or snowless, for that matter) holiday.

it's fantastic.

Current Mood: complacent
Listening To: Jason Mraz - Winter Wonderland

Alrighty. I just paid for 6 more months of LJ goodness, and I'm long overdue for an update. I really need to start doing this more often... *shakes head*...at least now I can use all my icons again - thank god, I'm getting uberbored of my glasses picture from the summer.
I just got back to Traverse City for the holidays - I got in last night about 10pm. Things around home are normal and noisey per usual - and the bustle of the holidays is starting to overtake everyone. I'm still miffed about the length of my blurb in the christmast letter - the rest of the family got at least two paragraphs! Petty as it may be, I'm still proud of our family picture that was taken during Thanksgiving. Regardless of how already sick of my family I am, I have missed them and still love them all dearly.
For everyone that wondered, school is doing strangely well. So far I've got only two grades back for classes (two A-minueses), but I'm optimistic for the other two. As a follow up on my last post, I did get the job at Eastern's newspaper as an entertainment columnist, and have since written three columns: one interview piece and two holiday review pieces. Not anything I'm particularly proud of seeing as how it's mostly fluff, but I'm proud of myself nontheless. I'm anxious to get involved in a piece that's much more indepth than this kind of thing, and I'm sure that it'll all happen sooner or later.
Things with Mike have gotten rather complicated in the past two months, but thankfully we've done a great deal of work on our relationship and we're finally starting to be able to tackle our problems as a couple. I'm very proud of what Mike's accomplished in the past few months - he's actually starting to open up a bit more to me. We've been so much more open and honest with each other recently than ever before, and I feel that we'll be able to chug through this rough patch. I'm also sure that my absence for two weeks will aid in the growing of fondness! That's enough of the relationship stuff. I think.
Everything else is business as usual. I think I tend to abuse my buddies on here via my constant absence - I honestly don't mean to suddenly quit posting, I'm just bad at keeping this kind of thing up. You all know that I still comment and read everyone else's, so don't worry. I'm still around. I want to say I'm really busy, but school this past semester wasn't really that much of a challenge. Hopefully next semester will be a bit more fun and interesting. I've also been thinking about getting a job (aside from the $9.60 a story I get from the Eastern Echo) to keep me entertained and get some cash, but the consensus of my friends is that a job along with 18 credit hours is rather hellish (especially if daddy is helping out a bit). So I'm probably going to focus on school until the summer semester.
My classes next semester (starts January 5th) are rather major/minor focused. Aside from the Astronomy Lab and my Composition class, I'm taking three Telecomm/Film classes: Intro to Audio Production and Direction, Intro to Film Appreciation, and eVideo, along with two Religious Study pre-reqs: General Psych and Intro to Cultural Anthropology. I'm very excited - particularly about the eVideo course that takes place during March. It's an intensive course on electronic video and the internet, focusing on streaming protocols and methods. We even get to do a live broadcast of the commencement ceremony at the end of the semester! I'm geeked.
Questions? Anyone? I'm alive now.

Current Mood: refreshed
Listening To: U2 - Beautiful Day

i can now proudly say i've gotten off my ass and finally went to eastern michigan's financial aid office to get my scholarship money situation taken care of. for whatever reason the money i earned via michigan merit wasn't credited to my account properly, and i've been putting off the fixage since i moved down here. this makes me feel rather confident in the fact that i actually CAN get some basic college necessities accomplished. I hope this feeling can carry over into some other areas of my life and avoid some of the inevitable lethargy that comes along with college life. another little piece of happiness was discovered when i turned in an application to be a columnist for the eastern echo. will something come of it? hopefully. regardless if anything happens i'm still glad i gathered up the courage and effort to actually get involved in activities on campus and start actually doing something socially worthwhile.
speaking of worthwhile, i've also decided to get off my ass (albiet after a few rousing rounds of coaxing attemps by mister mike) and attend a school-sponsored excursion to fish lake with a bunch of astronomy geeks. while i'm having some reservations about going, i'm convincing myself that the outdoorsy and enviornmental exposuire would do me some good. i've actually been looking for a good excuse to spend an afternoon off campus and outside of the apartment with mike doing something rather funish, and this seems to be the perfect oppritunity to let go and have a good time. if the sky clears up (which the forecasts say won't happen, but i'm staying rather optimistic) then there will be tons of stargazing going on with the aid of some immensely awesome telescopes, which makes the trip all the more appealing. besides, if all else fails i'm banking on a euchre-fest. what else serves better as a social ice-breaker for geeks with no communication skills?
for the lack of a better conclusion, i feel as though my complicated pre-slumber facial exfoliation process is urging me to get off the computer and get some sleep. and....i'm off.

Current Mood: mellow
Listening To: Bach - BWV1080 Contrapunctus 4

remember the scholastic empowerment spiel of the last post? it's gone now. somewhere in the midst of preparing for writing an essay secret of mana was practically yelling "play me, chris! play me! since you're living on your own now you can play video games for as long as you want and not get reprimanded!" and i obeyed. regardless of how well i think i'm currently doing, i still have yet to learn the finer points of focusing on any given funless task for more than five seconds. hopefully it'll be honed as my classes become more and more demanding, seeing as how i actually WANT to graduate this time around.
my recent mood has made my music choice gravitate towards a more loungey and chill taste. while appropriate in the right enviornment, this kind of stuff doesn't usually tickle my pickle, but lately it seems to fit just right. it's been ranging from smooth acoustic and piano driven melodies to electronic downtempo. since music is my primary way of disclosing how i'm viewing life at any given moment, i've decided to post a suggested tracklist for anyone who's currently as introspective as i am at the moment. i'm going to try to do this more often, as i feel that music is such an integral part of communicating.

( lounge, downtempo, and chill )

now that the postage has come full circle, i should probably get off my computer before something enticing seems to grab my attention. i think i hear chrono trigger yelling for me as we speak. eek.

Current Mood: mellow
Listening To: Tiesto Feat Kirsty Hawkshaw - Just Be (540 Remix)

in the midst of this incredibly nutty craziness of my newfound college lifestyle, i find myself needing to post again. i feel a responsibility to give everyone (myself included) an update on what's been going on in and out of my head. i've found that organizing my thoughts has been more difficult as of late, but i'll give that up to the aformentioned nuttiness of my life at the time being. while i've had the urge to post in the past month, they would have inevitably been brief, and without a word in more than a month it'd seem disjointed and my flow would be instantly disrupted. we can't have that.
in the past month i've moved to ann arbor and started to attend college at eastern michigan university with a major in film studies. not much by collegiate standards, sure, but it's much more than i would have expected a year or so ago. my schedule is suprisingly full of interesting (if not simply educational) classes, seeing as how most freshman usually get slapped with a bunch of pre-requisites. also suprising is my current grade standing: though i have yet to see a grade report with a nifty letterhead (and probably won't until the end of the semester), i'm doing very well in all of my classes. we'll see how that pans out when i get hit with a couple exams next week. it's been only a month since classes have begun, but i feel very refreshed with everything and i'm glad to have a new scholastic beginning.
michael and i are now sharing an apartment. the convergence of lifestyles was relatively difficult (as expected by both parties), but we've done about as much communicating this past month as we have in an entire year of our relationship, which i view as a healthy improvement. my former jessica simpson-esque housewife skills have also gotten a makeover, thanks mostly in part to mike's constant pushing to get me to do work. again, most view it as sad, but i can succesfully wash dishes without squealing like a kindergarten girl because of the "icky water", as well as vacuuming the entire apartment without getting yelled at. it's the small things, i guess.
now that i've given everyone an update where my life is at, i can now officially start posting brainless crap five times a day. no memes though.
oh yeah, i met jason mraz last month too. jason freakin' mraz. mmhmm. that is all.

Current Mood: good
Listening To: Motorcycle - Imagination (Acoustic)

again, in the darkness of my computer room in the early...earlies of morning, i've decided to post on the recent going onings lately. i really want to do something journally bad-ass, such as coin a term not unlike elo_sf's trademarked "group innersanctum" or something. i'll have to settle with really long and annoying posts that flood people's friends pages.
i recently suprised the hell out of mikey by showing up at his backdoor (no puns!) at about 11:45pm sunday night. his mother and i planned an incredibly elaborate scheme to really fool him, but since i wrote down the wrong house number (i'm used to calling mike's line) we couldn't really talk to coordinate things. when the stroke of midnight hit we toasted to his 21st birthday, exchanged presents and ate some cake. it was a very satisfying suprise - he didn't suspect a single thing. when everyone was asleep, mike and i proceeded to take a late night swim. it was very beautiful outside and i've never felt more relaxed. the next day we had a fun filled dinner at the local chili's and rented big fish, which is now an instant favorite of both of ours. so even though i'm a day late (now two, i guess), wish alien88 a happy 21st birthday. really. he got kind of mad that i didn't post this when i was down there :P anywho, i left this morning at about 10:30, which i never intend on doing again. it wasn't horrible, but the drive home was simply too long and too tiring for me to properly deal. i can drive at night perfectly fine, but highway driving right after waking up without coffee is a bad thing :P i had my harry potter audio books to keep me entertained this time again though, so i wasn't completely bored.
the day topped off with work from 3 to 8, which seemed quite a bit longer due to the whole "i feel like sleeping mid-step" thing. work is becoming quite a bit more taxing, both mentally and physically. i find myself continually more tired as the weeks progress and my stress level has been maxing out daily, which doesn't exactly help the whole acne situation. physically, my knees have been giving me a lot of trouble recently as well. i insist that it's really not a big deal, but it's one of those things where it really does hurt a LOT, but i don't want to admit to anyone else because i have pride and stuff. oh yeah, quick sidebar, i'm a huge wimp. mmhmm.
not much else has been a-happenin' around. i'm getting very antsy about the whole moving situation. i'm at that point where i think i'm really ready, but when everyone looks the other way i wet myself out of a combination of sheer anticipation and nerves. i am ready to move on though - from everything here. not that traverse is a bad place, it's not...i'm just really ready to move on to bigger and better and smarter and larger and a lot less grammatically correct things. like taxes. i'm sure i'll hate them when they come, but for now it seems fun in a sick, twisted way. i think i'm going to traipse around our good friend the webternet for a few more minutes then get some sleep. i've thinking of punching my second wind in the gut.

Current Mood: relaxed
Listening To: The Postal Service - Nothing Better

before work today I had a bunch of fun romping and cavorting through livejournal. i neatened and updated my interests, and a new bio for my userinfo is soon to come. i've always wanted to write a nifty little intro to the chris, but never really got around to it. i officially added a journal title and subtitle, which was inspired by the random subject of my last post. it just kinda blathered out two nights ago, but it seems somewhat wannabe poetic. i like it! i cleaned up the friends list, though i think i inadvertently deleted a person or two i didn't mean to - let me know if this happened to you. or i might get angry. and you wouldn't like me when i'm angry.
on that note, i would like to address those who have recently been asking for permission to friend me. i'm definitely not one to refuse you the right (hah, first typoed with "write". teehee.) to keep updated with my shenanigans and word tom-foolery. if you enjoy my journal, friend me to your heart's content. i do like little comments of love though. those are okay. they're instant karma creators, i'm telling you!
at any rate, i joined up at easternmichigan today, seeing as how that's where my current collegiate loyalties lie. i can see the conversations with family members now..."so, are you a spartan or a wolverine?" "pssht. i'm an eagle. screw the spartans.". *waits for the barrage of state fans to attack* anywho, apparently quite a few fellow-livejournalers are taking my most anticipated class of the fall, "introduction to film appreciation". there are hardly any words for how little i can wait for school this fall, in particular this class. i've spoken to another student who has already taken it, and i'm getting higher and higher expectations as the weeks of my summer come to a close. i get to write papers on movies. i have done this many times before, particularly without getting a nice chunk of college credit for a major, though i expect that the ante will be upped a bit.
whilst surfing today, i came across an awfully interesting passive data collection system called mousemove. most of these, like seti@home (yeah, that alien one) or my personal favorite seventeen or bust actually accomplish something. but mousemove is pretty much about wasting time. it tracks the length of mouse movement, uploads information to the server regularly, and pits your particular length against other people who have also installed the daemon. it's not much, but it really made my day.
and lastly, a big fat happy birthday goes to madonnawhore. make sure you bombard her with lots of happy birthday love.

Current Mood: good
Listening To: They Might Be Giants - Experimental Film

yes, you all get another music inspired post. i'm currently listening to the "stripped" version of gavin degraw's album, chariot. i'm telling you, pure aural heaven. anywho, things are progressing rather slowly in the chris department. i'm just kind of waiting for college to get here. i only have about two more weeks of work, which is the light at the end of the tunnel. i find myself being more overloaded and stressed than even during school, which is a new thing for me. there are no words for how much i hope to not work in retail ever, ever again. i came home from a rather exhaustive day today - i don't know what in particular made it exhaustive, but i was incredibly drained nontheless. i trudged up the stairs to my bedroom with the intention of taking a quick nap, but we all know what happens after that...it ended up being a good four hours.
during those four hours, i had dreams so ardent and authentic that i could hardly sleep. multiple nightmares presented themselves symbolically as monsters and laser beams. i won't go into any particular detail, but it was just involved...it was a very restless four hours, yet i countined to sleep. it's hard to explain, but i think most of you get the general gist. first off, i hardly ever remember my dreams, so remembering a full four hours worth was intense. after i got up at about midnight, i attempted to walk to the bathroom and nearly fell over twice - it was that draining (after which, mike reminded me i had hardly anything to eat today, which might contribute to the "drained" feeling).
all these events have led up to me, at 3:20am, writing yet another post. i'm kind of hungry. i should retire sometime about now...the sickliness of the belly is starting to take it's toll, and my headache is starting to get worse. i will end on a positive foot however, for i officially have tickets to jason mraz's show @ michigan state on the 28th of august. needless to say, i'm wetting myself in mere anticipation. that is all.

Current Mood: complacent
Listening To: Gavin Degraw - Chariot (Live Acoustic Version)

while currently enraptured by the wonderous sounds of this album, i've decided to take a go at another lj post. the first track, "a perfect lie", has been reverbrating in my head for the past few hours. gabriel and dresden have, as they always have, turned this track into an amazing masterpiece, becoming countinually more haunting and eerie as the song progresses. like any good song, it leaves me wanting more, and it leaves me pondering. it gives me chills and sends goosebumps up and down my back. i want to make music and beautiful as this. i want to affect people as this song has affected me. music gets me in moods like other things rarely can, and very few that i know understand this phenomenon and can relate. i feel it, inside and out. its one of those songs that becomes a PART of you. i'm done. needed to get that little music mood out of my system.
i worked today, as i will from 3pm to 8pm until wednesday. target seems to like to play with my head using scheduling, as they have me working 8 hours one week, and 30 hours another. this past week i've had monday through friday completely off, so i travelled down to st. joseph to see michael. as i have been fufilling my duties inside and outside of the house, my parents didn't really have a problem with it. relieved, i threw some clothes, the latest harry potter audiobook (much to mike's dismay), and assorted treats in my car to make the drip downstate. things are suprisingly falling into place for the apartment we plan to move in to. my brain does a little celebratory cartwheel whenever i have the ability to check something off of the "what we really need" list we've been working on. it's almost complete. it's hard to digest where i'll be a month from now...in an apartment, with my boyfriend, ready to attend college. definitely not the place i thought i might be in if you would have asked me even three months ago. i've come a long way, baby.
i think that concludes tonight's micro-infofest. i would have loved to end on a catchy one-liner or something, as i tend to do in other posts, but simply ending it in a fatboy slim reference seemed somewhat irresponsible. as always, i'm going to commit to post more often...there are many more stories to tell and many more experiences to be shared, and i see this journal as becoming more and more of an understanding and sympathetic ear to these thoughts. in light of recent events i'm going to see situations a little differently, and do quite a lot more thinking before any rash decisions are made or actions are done. i'm determined that this time, i will in fact, not screw up. not again.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Listening To: Various - Nip/Tuck TV OST - Mixed By Gabriel & Dresden

so yes, i'm finally posting again. i'm going to bypass the "sorry about not posting" tomfoolery and get straight to the goods.
these past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. after the graduation festivities i decided to heed my parents constant yammering about "that job thing", so during a trip to target i impulsively applied with the nifty little employment kiosks they have located next to the customer service desk. fast forward four days - i'm an official employee of the target corporation. crazy, eh? the whole chris being employed thing? yeah, the same thought went through my mind during the entire process. their current use for me is putting me in the back room and letting me stock all day, which is incredibly appealing due to the whole "lack of people" concept. i get paid $6.75 an hour (that's about 23.90 zlotyches, for those of you who perfer polish currency) to put stuff on shelves. relatively alone. i think i finally got the nicer end of the stick handed to me by the world of retail. samantha, the girl that is currently training me is great...she graduated this year as well, and we connect on many levels. she tends to appreciate my quirkiness, which makes me feel very comfortable in her presence. she figured out i was gay about a week into the job, which reaffirms my constant fears that i'm more effeminate than i'd like to admit, but i'm slowly coming to terms with that. i yam who i yam, etc...
in other more exciting news, i am officially enrolled in eastern michigan university's fall 2004 semester. i went down this past monday with my father and michael to register for my classes and sign the lease for our apartment. yes, you all heard right, i am going to be living with the man i love so very much. ( mushiness warning ) on the slightly more gay side of things, it'll also be pretty exciting to have a place to decorate. i'm currently rooting for colors on the darker side of the spectrum. it's exciting, and it's thrilling, and also incredibly difficult to translate from "brain" to "english". i'll rip out the tracks underneath this current train of thought...sorry for the sidebar.
about college, however...my schedule is what most people would refer to as "awesome", "kickass", or perhaps "verbazen" if you're currently in the netherlands. i don't have any classes until noon with the exception of thursday...i don't have to go in until 3:00 then. my major stands as "telecommunications and film", and among my current class roster sits "intro to film appreciation", which i am so incredibly jazzed about. first of all, i get to take a freakin' class in which the main subject matter is film. that in itself is awesome. secondly, it's pretty much a criticism source from what i understand, which makes me twice as giddy.
in summation, things are currently great.

quick, unrelated note: i'm starting a religion in which the dieties are josh gabriel and dave dresden. who's with me?

Current Mood: satisfied
Listening To: Dido - Don't Leave Home (Gabriel & Dresden Mix)