...even more airport

Just a quick update before I get on the plane (again). I'll blog about serious stuff like anthropological psychology later, after I've had some time to think, and some sleep. I get something like five hours last night. I don't trust alarm clocks, and I was absolutely TERRIFIED of missing my flight. 

Anyhow, I'm wearing a marvelous Nerdfighter T-shirt that Brynne made me after I saw the shirts she made, and when I went through security here in Vancouver, one guy looked at my shirt, laughed and told me that an awesome person deserves an awesome day, and that he hoped I would have one. It definitely made my day, which, If I'm not mistaken will be all of 15 hours long. Or something like that. 

And, disappointingly enough, nothing has happened in my fourteen hours stuck in the Vancouver airport. Not one hint of excitement. I did, however, have a dream that I saw John Green in the Seattle airport. That would have been exciting, but... 

And I've decided that I'm actually going to try to have as many posts per month as there are days. Because hey, I enjoy blogging way more than I thought I would, and there's no reason not to. Plus, writing things down helps me sort out my thoughts and gives me a chance to write about stuff I wouldn't usually even think about. 

Also, I'll be going to a youth retreat from the first to the third of October. Yeah. Two days after I get home, I'll be leaving for Shanghai. I'm hoping that it will help me get settled in China, take my mind off my woes, and give my mother no reason to complain that I stay cooped up in the house way too much. Hopefully I can get over jet-lag enough to enjoy myself. 

And I just looked at my blog, and realized that I'm going to have to do something to attempt to organize all the links I have on the left. Meh. Will deal with that later. Procrastination is just another word for prioritizing, isn't it? And right now I should be focused on making sure I get on the right plane. It would be just like me to end up in Liechtenstein. 

more airport

So, here's the next installment of misery: Seattle/Tacoma International Airport. 

Had dinner. Am feeling much more human. there's something incredibly satisfying about vegetarian chili (yes! I'm on the West Coast, and they actually have VEGETARIAN FOOD!), a bagel, a bottle of water and a honey bran carrot muffin. Not to mention the fact that I actually enjoy eating when there's nothing else that I would rather be doing. Usually, I'm just way too busy to bother enjoying food, but when all I have to do is eat and people-watch... Let's just say that I've only recently realized that I don't have to be entertained by either books, the internet or other people, that my mind comes up with plenty of entertaining stuff, and both writing and people-watching inevitably lead to amusing observations on my part. 

Whoops, I'll write more about that later. Got to go catch a plane. 

Was going to write about gender differences in the Chinese culture vs. American culture, or something along those lines, but got distracted by the food. 

airport

I can tell that by the time I get to Shanghai, I'll be thoroughly sick of airports. Did I mention that I'm spending fourteen hours in Vancouver, BC, and that all of those hours will be spent in the great kingdom of grey speckled wall-ness. Ugh. And I don't think that I've mentioned the four hours in Seattle, nor the hour (so far) that I've spent in Pasco, waiting for whatever problem it is with the airplane I'm supposed to be in to get fixed. 

I think all that frustration is just the manifestation of the fact that I'm sad. I miss Brynne and Carew. When I get home, I won't have anyone to talk about writing with, I won't have anyone to debate philosophy, psychology and anthropology with, and what's (almost) worse is that there won't be anyone to tease me. 

Okay, fine, maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but skype really is just NOT THE SAME! *sigh*

Okay, this post is all sad and boring, but I promise that in reward for reading this one, I will tell you all about the Vancouver airport. I'm sure that there will be something interesting. 

And...I'm definitely a nerdfighter, because all the grey speckled walls make me want to VLOG. Hah. Like that's ever going to happen. 

awesomeness

Oh, wow. People are awesome ! Thinking people are even more so. Not to mention that politics are amusing. 

What was that about, you ask? THIS. Look at the entry for September 23rd. And I think I forgot to mention that John Green is awesome as well. 

My faith in the human race is restored. 

on writing and leaving

YAY! I think I may have finally figured out what I want to do with my Work In Progress. That would be why I stayed up until eleven last night making horrific clackety noises and rousing the household. 

Oh, Brynne and Carew's grandparents are here. It's great to see them, since I haven't in a little over a year. One of the things that I hate about living overseas is the fact that people are constantly leaving. 

Bleh. My brain isn't working quite the way it should. It seems to have glommed onto the idea that I'm leaving tomorrow and won't let go. It's quite sad, really. 

illin'

Cat. On my keyboard, was. Now he's just on my right arm, which is an improvement. It means that I can actually type. What is it about these animals that allows them to divine what to do to annoy and enchant human beings at the same time? Because they do. Annoy and enchant me, I mean. And exasperate me. Come to think of it, annoying and enchanting equals exasperating, and I've always maintained that exasperation is a form of affection. 

There's actually something soothing about having a cat plunked down on your arm. Or maybe I just like it because cat is warm! And since I (still) have chills, a hacking cough and a sore throat, warm is good. Not to mention the fact that I'll miss having cats around when I go back to China. 

Despite my almost-cold, I'm feeling rather energetic and in a get-out-and-do-something-because-no-illness-is-going-to-get-the-better-of-me mood. Maybe I'll go for a short walk in a little bit. Unfortunately, I will have to look like a dork on my walk, because I'm wearing a winter sweater and still am cold. For some reason, wearing a turtleneck sweater in the middle of September is just dorky. And I just saw two people walk by in short sleeves. Waah. 

Maybe if I get out of the house, my headache will go away? 

we tried to hold it back

So. I'm leaving on Thursday. In everything I do, I keep coming back to the startling realization that I'm only going to be with Brynne and Carew for TWO MORE DAYS. And I'm going to miss them horribly. I'm going to miss having them around pretty much all the time. And I'm going to miss seeing my friends in real life. Skype just isn't the same, not by any stretch of the imagination. 

Not that I'm griping or anything, I can't imagine having to live across the world from my friends and family and not have skype, it's just that recently I've realized how pale online communication is in comparison with face to face. Maybe it's the fact that online communication can only, at best, engage three of your senses. Or maybe it's just the distance. 

Speaking of Distance, HERE is a song that Brynne and I listen to when we miss each other, suitably enough called 'Distance'. Check out Reina Del Cid's other stuff too. She's really good. 

Have I mentioned that it's fall here? I have not. So I'm telling you now. It's fall in Pendleton, Oregon. I'm drinking in my share of cold, wind and blue skies, because supposedly it's still blazingly hot and humid in Ningbo. I'll find out for sure soon. 

photo-licious

Brynne's cousin, Kierra, is here for the weekend, and the three of us went to the park and took photos and generally made fools of ourselves. Here are some of our antics: 

on whatever popped into my head

The retreat was awesome! But I really don't have the energy to blog about it right now. We got home Sunday evening, and I was thoroughly exhausted. Yesterday, I was sick, and today I have no brain. Seriously. This morning, Gareth asked me what eighty-eight divided by five was, and I told him it was fifteen point six, when I knew it was SEVENTEEN point six. For some reason, my brain shut off just as I started talking, and everything I said came out all jumbled and wrong. I guess it's just one of those days. 

I finished 'Speaker of the Dead' by Orson Scott Card last night, and I thought it was amazing. In fact, I have to admit that I like it slightly better than both 'Ender's Game' and 'Ender's Shadow', even though I really don't know why. Maybe part of it is the fact that there's always been something about books that question whether or not all truths should be told or not that fascinates me. 

One of my random lists is about to make an appearance. Yup, here it is. 

Things that fascinate Layli: 

1. truth
2. good and evil
3. possibilities
4. paradoxes
5. reality
6. thought patterns
7. brainwashing/manipulation techniques
8. psycholinguistics
9. artificial intelligence
10. humour in different cultures

I guess I am plagued by the typical INFP fascination with good and evil. THIS is an interesting article, written by an INFP about our 'thing' for good vs. evil. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, go down to the 'Links' section and read 'About the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator'. 

Have a nice day! 

on friends, blogs, books, Baha'i retreats, pseudonyms, saints and (not) writing

As you certainly have noticed, there have been major changes made to my blog. It's really all Brynne's fault. She made me the banner. If you don't like the new template as well as the old, blame it on her. Or, better, go check out her blog. It's awesome, and you'll get a different view on what we're doing. Plus, she's doing a better job of posting all of our exciting doings around here. 

Anyhow, I've finished 'Sorcery and Cecelia' and 'The Grand Tour', both by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, and am now 128 pages into 'The Mislaid Magician'. After I finish that, I'm going to read 'Speaker for the Dead' by Orson Scott Card, and then the advance reader copy of 'Twilight of Avalon' by Anna Elliott, since Brynne and her mom both say it's very good. 

On to other things. Brynne, Carew, Gareth and I are leaving this afternoon to go to a Baha'i retreat. We'll get back on Sunday, and I'll be sure to write all about it sometime soon after. 

And finally, since Brynne Annaë made me drool, and since I thought of a wonderful plot twist for my WIP (of which I recently deleted about 20,000 words) which involves me having a pseudonym, Brynne and I used that as an excuse to look at names instead of write. Now I have two that I can't choose between, Zuleia Meital and Zenaida Meital. Right now, I'm leaning toward Zenaida, just because of this, but... I like the name Zuleia slightly better. And I do realise that they're both utterly unpronounceable. 

...

Hi there! 

I'm in the middle of 'Sorcery and Cecelia', which is, so far, very good. I'm also in the middle of writing a response to Abby's letter on The Letter Game blog, and making a macramé belt for myself. I'm probably going to finish my response to Abby, but I'm not going to finish any of the other things tonight. I hate going to bed with things left undone, but sometimes it's inevitable. Hopefully, tomorrow evening I can go to bed with everything done and out of my head. I guess it's my form of obsessive-compulsion. Everyone does something. 

on awesome

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was way too hyper and had too many other things to do. It's not that I don't love my blog, it's just that when there's something else to do, blogging sort of fades into the background. But I'm back. 

Oh, by the way, Brynne and I have started posting on The Letter Game. But I'm not going to ask anyone to go and read our posts. That would just be obnoxious. 

There was some drama surrounding my getting to Brynne and Carew's house, but apparently throwing money at problems really can help things. A lot. So now I'm here, and everyone's awesome is rubbing off on me. 

And now I'm going to go write Abby Kavanaugh a letter. Or at least start.