my moral standing is lying down

It was quite a weekend. Judy stayed over on Friday night in order to bake cookies on Saturday morning. Then Ben came over and baked a cake, and the cake was not a lie. Though it almost was, until John showed up to save the day with chocolate frosting!

So yeah, it was mainly Rockband and Brawl, with a side of Portal for me. <3! Lots of talking and hopping around, dashing in front of the big TV to a chorus of "you screwed me up!"

Thanks SO much to everyone who showed up at the party! And most especially, thanks to everyone who came from far away, and who braved the bus without knowing where they were going, and who brought their game systems and games, and TVs, and air mattresses, and food, and liquor! Speaking of which, Morgan and Joe -- you left your liquor at my place! I'm not sure when or how to get it back to you, since it's so much, but just let me know -- we'll figure something out!

I'm sure that Judy will have some pics up sometime this week.

Was that you, Chris, who put back together my Carbon Dioxide monitor after I knocked it off the wall and couldn't figure out how to put the battery cover back on? (Update: Was told by Chris that it was Cube Chris.) Hahaha. Thanks, btw. =D

And thanks to Will, without whom I may have forgotten to buy the Izzard tickets! (*gasp!*) Though I'm slightly disappointed because the seats are all the way in the back and on the side. =( But tickets were almost all sold out, so... Anyway, for those of you who haven't paid me for those tickets yet, I'd appreciate it as soon as possible. My bank account thanks you. =D

Friday night weirdness ensued when half the power in the house went out (oddly enough, all the power was out except for the TV outlet, so Rock Band was still able to be played... in the dark, except for the one lamp that's plugged in next to the TV), and was mirrored outside where you could see that half the block had power and half didn't. I took advantage of this opportunity to scare Maryann, which never gets old =D It's really too bad she wasn't at Anna's place on Sunday when the winds of hell blew the balcony door open abruptly as I know she would have been across the apartment in 1 second flat, possibly even clinging to the ceiling. And then when the TV turned off by itself -- ahh, what missed opportunities!

Saturday, Maryann and I went over to Judy's. Not surprisingly, we headed out a little later than we intended, but Judy got super-wasted the night before, so it worked out alright. I finished that damn Little Sister dress some time around 1am, I think! It was kind of fun to put on a dress that so obviously looks like a 5 year old should be wearing it. ^^; It was white at the time, but Judy soaked the dresses in coffee for a dirty look, though she wants to add "blood splatters" & etc., so we still have finishing touches to add. Maryann is helping us out by making a Big Daddy plushie, which I have named Mr. Bubbles, which is only fitting. He's coming along nicely. =D

We didn't get to sleep til around 3am, and woke up the next day a little before 10am to get to the New Year Parade in Chinatown, which was quite fun. Ate some decent food and actually got a decent view of the parade. I took lots of pictures, of which I may post one or two later. Maryann bought 2 "poppers" and we exploded them, which was exciting. And Judy bought a box of snaps, which I was extremely happy about as I miss sitting out on my old fire escape and throwing them down at people. Ah, nostalgia~. ALSO! I GOT MY WATCH BATTERY CHANGED, FINALLY! YAYE~!

Met up with Anna after the parade and went to her place to discuss Cosclips business. Which was probably 75% hanging out and 25% discussing business, but still, we discussed what we had to. Jim was cool and drove us all to our respective houses, for which I was extremely relieved because if I'd had to go home by train/bus from Manhattan at midnight when we got to Judy's, or at 1:30am, when we finally called it a night, it would have taken me at least 2 hours to get to Queens, plus a cab ride from the subway station to get home -- in the bitter, bitter cold, and with 3 bags, 2 large umbrellas, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Instead, it took twenty minutes, so I got home at 2am, and it was a nice toasty car ride on the extremely deserted highway. =D

Though, of course, that means I didn't get to sleep til 3am because Maryann was still up when I got home. Hahaha.

Even so, I was so full of energy -- I had a really fun time all day yesterday, and I probably could have stayed up for another hour or two, but I was well aware it was Sunday night and I had to be in decent shape for today. Good thing, too, because I've been insanely busy since around 11:30 or so. I was very sleepy during those first two hours of not having much to do. And I'm feeling a bit tired again now that it's almost quittin' time, but I have Japanese class soon...

First of all, this weather is freaking crazy.

So there was Rock Band on Friday night until the wee hours of Saturday morning. It was loads of fun. Drums are HARD. But only if you insist on playing the base pedal yourself. LOL, if you have someone else playing the base pedal while you do the drums part, it isn't so bad. ^^; Also, I really prefer the RB guitar over the GH guitar. I like the fret buttons a lot more. I think. I did the usual drive-everyone-home thing, which I don't mind. However, I think I made my cold worse by not having enough rest. I think I went to sleep at around 5:30am. =/

Saturday and Sunday I stayed home re-watching season 3 of House with Maryann. I intended to go to Anna's photoshoot on Sunday, but I was really not feeling well enough to go anywhere. I don't think I stepped foot out of the house almost all weekend. ( more about House season 3 )

Angelica oh-so-kindly gifted me with two books I was dying to read; one of which I read over Sunday and Monday (when I stayed home from work and basically slept and read all day). Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher. Book 4 in the Codex Alera series. Finally, the big secret revealed! To whom, you ask. Well, I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who happens to be reading the series. It was very enjoyable, though maybe not quite as good as the third book in some respects. I enjoyed the plot developments. I think my only disappointment was that there was just not enough of Tavi (the protagonist) in this book. Which is odd, because there was quite a bit from his POV, but I was really left feeling the lack. What we did get of him was very, very good. But it wasn't enough to be satisfying. On the upside, the parts that are other characters' POVs where much more interesting than they have been previously. I may have to just wait a while and then re-read it. I do enjoy where the series is going, and I also love all the secondary and tertiary characters, which continues to prove that Butcher is only getting better.

The other book I read once I was done with Captain's Fury was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. ( more about Ender's Game )

Still reading: Watchmen. Also, Ender's Game has gotten me into a sci-fi mood, so I'm re-reading David Weber's Honor Harrington series (book #1: On Basilisk Station). My original copy is seriously falling apart from how much I've re-read this book. I bought another copy last year, but I think I may have lent it to Will... I wonder if he still has it. Hmm.

Oh! Jim Butcher's next Dresden Files book, Small Favor will be out in April. Can't wait!! =D