per aspera ad astra

I mean, granted, to many of us, I’m sure the first and last terms of my title are often synonymous, but still.

Just a note: This is not a general rant on Christians. Just commentary.

Most children around here are raised in a typical middle-class church. A good deal of the students at my high school attended a private Catholic school [not to say that they are all Catholic--it is just a prestigious school that people want to send their kids to] and are at least self-described Christians.

When you call yourself something or align yourself with its cause or message, I mean, at least be familiar with it.

There are countless examples where I find myself correcting people on the basis of their dogma and canon, but meh. It gets to the point where, last night, my friend Holley calls me with her boyfriend on the line. Holley explains that he has a question about a certain biblical verse and that I might be familiar with it. Dunno why the question came up, but y’know.

“So, Jenn,” this kid starts, “y’know where it says something in there about um…well…having sex with a woman while she’s on her period? Which one is that and what’s the wording?”
“Stephen…why do you need to know that?”
“Someone mentioned it in a speech earlier.”
“Don’t you have a computer?”
“Well, of course.”
“Then look it up.”
“I don’t know what book its in!”
“…Leviticus.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t you just tell me?”
“Because you’re a Christian, right? Catholic, more specifically?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Why aren’t you familiar with your scripture?!”
“…I dunno.”
“Why are you having Holley call me, a, for all intents and purposes, heretic, to explain this to you. Meh. Anyway. it’s Leviticus 20:18, I’m confident, and in layman’s terms it says that should you engage in amorous acts while the lady is ‘afflicted,’ them both of you ought to be cut off from society.”
“… … …oh, wow. That’s harsh.”

I shook my head, again, and ended the call.
Damn kids…

I foresee this being a multi-post topic, so…yeah. If not, oh well.

Recently, in my favorite course ever [English], we were assigned another super-duper writing bit. This time? Persuasive essay/speech/what have you. I still haven’t officially mine, and I probably won’t until I actually have to present. ;x

On the first day of presentations, some kid goes up and says, in short, “I don’t like cigarette smoke so smoking in public places should be banned,” and gave some questionable statistics regarding mortality rates thanks to cigarettes/second-hand smoke. He didn’t really provide an argument as to why it ought to be banned aside from those two things. We were permitted to comment or question the presenter, either to learn more or to prompt them to improve their presentation. So I did.
I’m not a smoker, and I personally find cigs icky. I do not, however, think that smoking should be banned in public areas [including places outside]. I mean, here in Virginia, it is up to the establishment as to whether or not they will provide a smoking section for their customers. Many, now, do not, which pisses off or even alienates some customers. The student added, “Oh and 5.2 billion annually is spent on tobacco advertisements. Something that KILLS people. That should go to, like, free the whales or…save them or…something.”
What? Shut up, imbecile. :x Instead of that, however I did make this point: “Advertising things that can kill people? Many medications can be fatal in some patients. Cars can be deadly. Cell phones are pretty bad too [that'll probably be what my speech is about, actually] … you realize how many crashes they cause? [& I know for a fact that this student makes calls while driving. Not only is that über-dangerous is it very very illegal in VA for minors to use cells while driving]. Cigarette companies shouldn’t be barred from advertising anymore than they are. Think about how much revenue, through taxes, the governments rakes in off the sale of cigarettes. If, for example, cigarettes were totally banned and no longer for sale, the economy would suffer even more than it does.”
Kid just stood there with a blank look on his face. I was disgusted. :/

Jones then accused me of attacking the kid, when I wasn’t. I wasn’t putting his idea down or calling him a moron–although I wanted to, to be honest–just trying to prompt the kid to step his speech up. She [Jones] goes, “These are persuasive, not debate-prompting.”
“I’m not debating. I’m just not persuaded…at all. You said we can urge the presenter to try to persuade us as to why their view is the, ‘right,’ way to look at things, right?”
Grr.

In my idle time, I was searching for a new navel ring or two on a few sites. They had a category on one called, “punkballs.” I was confused and curious, so I clicked, and a punkball is one of those little spiky-looking silicone thingies…uh, I have a pair of earrings like it, red and black. An example:

They’re neat. They’re kinda squishy; fun to poke or whatever. Most of them are UV sensitive, so if you have a blacklight, they look neat.

Actually, there was a craze, around here, regarding their popularity, when I was around thirteen. Oh lawd, everyone had to have the little spiky earrings because they were all squishy and multicolored. QUICK! Everyone rush to Claire’s and buy them out! [Or something].

To see what they offer, I open the “punkball,” category. Down the list is this:

…a vibrating tongue-ring. I mean, it isn’t like it is surprising or anything, and I know they have non-piercing sleeve-things for the same purpose, but just…wow.

I wonder how many women, having seen this, have tried to coax their man into getting a spike through his tongue? :x

I’ve been paranoid that my bellybutton hasn’t healed right.

It was indeed paranoia.

After my shower this evening, I decided that I was sick of looking at the little captive ball that I was pierced with. So, since I was absolutely terrified of doing it wrong and hurting myself, I called Jeremy–haha, he just knows so much…so how could I go wrong? :D–and he directed me on how to do it without hurting myself/spazzing. After a little tugging, the ball slid off and the hoop slid out with ease…the new curved bell sliding in with just as much ease.

No discomfort = happy Jenn! Turns out it has healed perfectly fine, and I was just being silly. :D

Anyway, it’s a cute new ring…it’s dangly and has stars! See?
Small because of bloggy size, etc etc.

I was just experimenting to see how it looked, but when I went to change it back, Neon Lights was gone. There’s a similar one by littleredstar that is blue and purple, called Neony…actually, come to think of it, it is identical aside from the color scheme. Mehe.

I don’t mind being stuck with this, this is a nice little theme. My only complaint is the black-on-white text-to-background…kills my eyes when I look over my post. I wish it was white-on-grey [like the grey in the header]…that would be nice. :3

More Victoria’s Secret shenanigans.

Alright, so, generally the bras from Victoria’s Secret run a little small. I’ve been fortunate enough to have pretty good luck without having to play musical sizing with them, but not some friends of mine. [One is convinced that she's a D-Cup because one of their skimpier pieces was a little tight. Well, no, VS is just retarded with their sizing.]

So, when buying clothing from them, I applied this rule. I bought [ordered, of course, because I'm almost a recluse] a couple tops and a hoodie in Small, fearing that their apparel would run small as well.

Wouldn’t it be just my luck that it is just the opposite and I should have stuck with the XS that I’m used to? They arrive here and they’re a bit looser than I expected them to be. As clearance items, though, there was no returning them.

Fortunately, though, they’re susceptible to high washer-and-dryer heat. So after a few rounds, they’ve shrunken down to an appropriate, non-ill-fitting shape. [I don't want them to be *tight*, but they sat oddly here and there.]
Good to know that, though, for future purchases.

All of us have suffered computer crashes. They’re so fun, aren’t they? I don’t suppose everyone, though, has experienced the delight of a Macintosh Crash, though.

“The update manager was bouncing … like a Jack Russel FUCKING TERRIER!”

I don’t own a Mac, and I probably won’t…ever. When the iMac G3 first came out, though, my school bought a shitload. Why? I couldn’t tell you; they must’ve gotten one hell of a deal.

None of the teachers were familiar with the Apple OS and so they were freaking out because they were ripped from the comfort-zone that was their PC and put on this monster with ONE MOUSE BUTTON and NO START BUTTON [oh noes!!11?!] … You would’ve thought it was the apocalypse.
And that was only the teachers.

The majority of the students were fucked six ways from Sunday. Not quite everyone had a computer of their own yet [at my school, now, maybe 2% of students don't have machines. 3% max..and most have 2+] and the ones that did were busy worshipping Windows 98 or just then switching to Win2K. [We did maintain one lab of PCs, though, running 98.] This was a middle school…most kids were just then using the computer for more than goofing off with some little kiddy game. A few of us were fine with the switch [albeit not being pleased with it] whereas others, throughout our time in Middle, were often put to tears–no exaggeration, there–out of frustration. The source of their frustration was often the notorious seizing-up of machines in the middle of, oh, typing a paper or doing some other work that wouldn’t be saved or salvaged.

The drama and catastrophes went on unaided or remedied. So, a little bit later with the G4 came out, the school system decided to purchase a whole load of those, as well! “Oh, these are newer; they’ll be more stable.” Okay, they were slightly less stable. The issue remained, though, that new teachers were mostly used to PCs, all the teachers were more comfortable with PCs, the students who were growing accustomed to them [the Macs] were still dealing with the machines eating their work, etc etc. So why the hell buy more of a problematic product?

In my Freshman year [my second year of high school, as eighth grade was high as well], I heard that they got some damn sense and reverted to the PC.

A few of my pre-CISCO and CCNA-in-training cohorts are pushing to put Linux on the school’s machines. No luck yet, but y’know. ;]

Whilst perusing the perverted wonderland that is J-List for more innocent things–like Hello Kitty stuff for my little sister [and no, not the goddamn Hello Kitty Personal Massager]–and little bento boxes when I stumbled across one of their tattoo books. One of the pictures they had scanned in as a little taste of what the book had to offer was a young lady with an orange-and-black crane tattooed along her ribs on the left side of her body. Fascinated, I clickied for a larger version.

I think that is an absolutely beautiful tattoo, and I would really love to have an imitation of it. Upon showing Jeremy, he points out that her skin is a little raised where the ink is..but oh well. [Facetiously, he points out that it's strategically placed to uh...enhance her assets.] To me, it appears relatively new–you can still see that her skin is reddened around the edges.

It is a rather large tat, but it would be hidden by most tops, so anyone who would probably be offended by a tattoo probably wouldn’t be.
–and how can something that pretty be offensive? :3

edit: fixed. Originally, the picture showed for me, but upon glancing back, I saw that it wasn’t, anymore.

Well, or so I’ve appeared to be. I’ve had a lot of work to get done lately, and I haven’t really had time for blogging. Now that I’m waiting for Jeremy to call me back, though, I have a few free moments with which to type. So this is sorta what I’ve been up to the past little bit.

I managed to up my gym membership another month with part of my tax return. We’re supposed to be getting a new car soon so I can make use of my permit and of my gym membership. I also cut my guitar lessons to bi-weekly since I’m just…eh. Not getting enough out of them. I’m still searching for a job, to my dismay. My search of a car, of course, is continuing as well, as I mentioned.

Also, I look decidedly strange in pseudo-business-y attire. Considering I parade around in my beloved worn jeans, t-shirts or tank-tops, and flipflops [even in the ice and snow we've been having] all the time…it’s definitely a different thing to be shopping for pencil skirts, a button-downs and heels. [Sadly, it's for school. Damn...competitions for SkillsUSA.]
Although I can’t really damn it all too much…tis an excuse for Jer to come see me. I’m thoroughly excited.

I’ve been doing more movie-watching lately–stuff I’ve seen, stuff I haven’t…it’s whatever. It curbs the boredom. I’m not really a person who digs all that many movies simply because today most of them consist of flashy bullshit [something I noted in my post about Casablanca]. So, instead, I’ve been watching some uh…I dunno how to describe them. The stiff-collared–ha, or collared at all!–might call them off-beat, but eh. Almost Famous, Leaving Las Vegas, Mysterious Skin, The Secretary…yeah. The middle two are kinda sketchy, but hey. x3… Older stuff too, Dr. Zhivago, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove…even trashy wannabe sci-fi like not-quite-as-old Barbarella–which I, not having seen it prior, found absolutely hilarious. It was that bad. At least Fonda was hot back in ‘67/’68.

I’m greatly enjoying teaching myself both Physics and Chemistry. I’m getting much more fulfillment doing it myself–I actually feel as if I’m accomplishing something–than in a classroom. Money well spent…very well spent.

Washu seems to be perpetually in heat. The yowling is driving me up the wall…

I loathe my age, at times.  In myself, but especially in others.

We didn’t have school today…we had an ice storm last night and the roads were too fucked, so they called it off. Ah, a nice extra break.

But I’m tired and my back aches to the tune of age yet to come–which I have yet to understand…I have decent posture, I don’t randomly fold myself into pretzels, my mattress isn’t bad–and I think I shall lay down to alleviate it.

Er…what’s up with them? I’ve noticed a couple, and yeeeah.

I hardly see the point of having a bot make a blog at random. x__x;