Now, I am officially scared about this swine flu.

There are 5 suspected cases in Michigan.
everyone who has gotten it has recovered so far, but with new cases, 5 have been hospitalized. Some at the CDC suspect that the reason that there have been no deaths in the U.S. is because it's going to get worse. I'm scared because I don't know the facts from...well the fiction.

Oh yeah, and of those five suspected cases, two are right out my fucking back door! Right here in Grand Rapids, In Kent County.
All I want to do is go home now. I don't want to be around crowded class rooms or cafeterias! Christ.

Maybe I am freaking out a little to much.

But they say they can't contain it now. We have meds that can combat it once people are sick, but that's once they are sick. They are in the process of making a vaccine, but that will  take months. Whats left then? Hope it dies out and we don't get sick? I don't like this one bit.
Hopefully this may be tied to the flu season it's self and won't last to much longer.

All I can do is try to stay clean, not share things with people and make sure my hands are washed (Anispetic anyone?)
Otherwise, what can you do?

Two weeks to go. God help me.


I have homework and project crap coming out my ears. Lest night, in a slight panic, I sent in my final draft for a paper less polished than I would have wanted. This means that i will have to do that extra credit. Because it involves creative writing, I don't think it'll be a big deal to complete.

I am excited to go home though! I get to go Morel-Hunting with my Inkypoo (lovely tweaked nick name, right? Well he calls me Thalopie sometimes! XD) and his family, which should be fun. Also, the Kentucky Derby is this saturday and I hope that I can get to a T.V. in time to see it.

Aside from that, I ahve been a little (Well more than a litt,e but I don't want to go into those details) worried about this "Swine Flu" Outbreak. As I write this, I think that 1,600 people have been infected and hospitalized, and 103 or so have died from it in Mexico. there's been more than several confirmed cases in the U.S. (20 I believe) but everyone ahs recovered. It seems to be targeting more or less healthy young adults (25-45). Odd thing is, I found out about this on Reddit and from there looked into various news websites. Apparently there are suspected cases in New Zeland, Fance, Nova Soctia and Scotland. It's crazy; I just hope that things work out for the better. Otherwise, normal things like washing your hands and not sharing food and the like would be in order. Also, you can't get this from eating pork, rither. (Not that I really eat meat)

Anyhow...

I am excited to be doenw ith school so I can focus on things like:

• Drawing
• Getting a second Alt to level cap.
• Starting to teach myself how to speak/read Russian
• Riding, of course.
• Writing

These of course, are not in "order". I would like to get a second alt to level cap, but riding coems first. Not on this list is spending time with Ben and of course my friends. He comes first before a game,and as to the toher thigns, hopefully we can ride together....

Which I want to mention, being on the topic, that I am going to finish off my horse's trainign this summer, and work with another horse, Tamarack! (He's a cutie) I AM SO EXCITED. OMG YAY PONIES. Sorry, ahd to get that out.

I'm listeing to a "full version" the Firefly intro song and I'm loving it.

So far today I have:

-Written a reply to an RP
-Posted in my Hunter Blog
-Working on my Illuminated Manuscripts (Actually pretty cool) research paper which has to be six pages (at least) and the rough-draft is due Thursday, but I am going to sumbmit it Wednesday night via e-mail because I can save some paper, Yay!

Tonight a friend of mine is going to get me into 25-man Naxxaramas and hopefully it will go well and my rolls on gear upgrades won't suck royally like they always do. /faceroll

Aside from that, I go home Thursday night (Guild 10m Naxx run!) and come back to school sometime Wednesday next week; I'm excited because I will be gone almsot as long as I was for spring break just because of the schedule that I ahve w/my classes. Woot!

Ame-You have died of dysentry.
I also want to inform you that we have lost 2 sacks of flower, a wagon wheel, 4 tins of sardines and a sack of coffee beans because YOU wanted to caulk the wagons and float, not for the damn river.

So For some reason Firefox is all skewered and messed up. I ahve no idea why but all the pages displayed in FF look like someone took a jackhammer to the code. O_O

IN OTHER NEWS!

I made a hunter blog. Yep, a hunter blog. Hunter as in World of Warcraft Hunter....from the Beastmastery Perspective, mainly, but there you go! Go go go! take a look even if you don't play WoW!

The Spiked Collar

Hope you like.

So theoretically I should be working on my research paper for humanities sometime today. Theoretically.
I can't wait until summer even if it means that I I will work 16 hour days. Bah.

I went to a gun and  all things sporting out-doors-ish show with my dad in Kalkaska on Saturday. Whoo boy. It was fun, actually, to hang out with my dad. I have made up my mind that  am going to save my money for this during the summer:

Mark III Hunter

It's because I want to do target/sports shooting because I find it a very enjoyable activity, and also that  I want to get my RTC permit.  It shouldn't  cost me to much....I will have to look into classes and such for the permit part, too. This is something I really have been wanting to do; I feel it's my right to be able to own a side arm and in approiate places, carry it on my person. Any of you that know me should know how I feel about guns, gun rights and all that jazz. In case yo don't...I'm a staunch supporter of my (and hell, yours) 2nd amndment rights. I don't want this to be all ranty so I'll stop here....but jsut to say it again, I **love** shooting. It's helluva lot of fun.

In other words, I have a speech that is due thursday (my day to  present as it were). O_O
I'm not afraid, by any means of getting up in front of people (Drama? :D ) but I jsut want the blasted thing out of the way. On the up side, it's about horse racing....so it shouldn't be to hard for me to talk for 4-5mins about horses. *nods*

In any case, I also wish to work on my entry for Blizzard's Global Creative Writing Contest.  can't hurt to enter. ^_-

Also:
I have a lovely picture on my laptop that's a picture of a cloud that rather looks like it's flipping someone off; under this is:
God: "Seriously people, knock that shit off." 
I laughed fairly hard. Heh.

OMFG.

Ink and I saw 'The Watchmen' last night.
I was drooling over the amazing and artistic way that it was filmed, how it was all pieced together...
I can't get over how freaking sweet it was. Seems I will follow the same route when I saw V for Vendetta; see the movie first and then read the graphic novel. It's alright though, sometimes I like it that way because a good movie is not ruined by reading the book first, if that makes any sense. (Like V for Vendetta, both the book and the movie were very good but extremely different in some ways...like for instance, V is much more of man missing most of the crayons from the crayon box than the movie portrays, but it doesn't make the move any less good...)(I hope that makes sense)

Anyhow, I ask Ink who was his favorite, and he said Dr. Manhattan.
Then:

"Ben, guess who my favorite was..."

"Rorschach"

"That was *not* hard to guess, was it...?"

"No."

Rorschach was my favorite, too.  I am not sure exactly why, but he was. Perhaps the complexity of the char, I'm not sure. His personality, for sure. Yeah, he pretty much freaking rocked. BAMF.

'am Still looking for Loque'Nahak, that little bastard. <.<

So I was thinking today, 'I want to draw Zhire's normal outfit she wears. I want to draw Varro, her partner in crime (so to say)' so I say to myslef,
"Self, why the HELL HAVEN'T YOU DONE IT YET?!?!111one11!!." 
RIght, so it's time for me to STOP telling ymself I suck at drawing people because I'll never get better if I don't do it...you know? So MAYBE , if I amnot to embaressed by what I draw, I'll post a pic or two up here on LJ.

Wish me luck.

No, really.

Alright so I went and saw Defiance with Inky.

OMFG.

This is the best movie I have seen in god knows how long....guys, this was really good. I mean [i]really[/i[ good. Despite my biased, female opinion, Daniel Craig did a superb job of acting. Just amazing. I'm telling you this was good stuff. Yes, it was a war-related movie...but it had a message to it, one that really spoke to me...or at least touched me. Go check it out, even if it's when it comes out on DVD/BluRay.

Did I mention this was a good movie.

Yeah, suppose I did.

UPDATE:
I am also still looking for Loque'Nahak.
Killed the untameable rare-bird, Aotona in the same Zone, Sholazar Basin.
I don't want the damn bird, I want the cat. O.o

So I have been hunting this beautiful beastie for almost two weeks now...

Loque'Nahak

And I have yet to even see him. Shoot me, now. Mind you I have seen King Krush (another rare spawn)
He is a rare spawn in Sholazar Basin....the competition to find and tame him before he  is killed for whatever reason is currently borderline violent, though I have met a few very friendly people who have agreed to tell me where/if they see Loque'Nahak  if I tell them where titanium nodes are.

I log on this morning and find that someone has tamed him just before I got to one of his span points...and hadn't re-named him (He still ahd "Spirit Beast" as his name)

/sigh

I can't help but think that if I had gotten there but a bit earlier i would have had him.

/die

I have a habit of becoming extrmemely deadicated to a cause of my, going to all ends to complete a goal. I want this guy as a pet for my hunter, damn it, and come hell or badly baked cookies I'm going to have him.

So here's my question...and I would really like it if you could comment your response (if you have one)

Animals...
 Instinct or "want" (Choosing, not just 'reacting')

How "smart" ? 

The ability to reason?

---If so, how do you know? How different are they from us, really?

Right, ok, the reason why I posted this up is because it came up in a class of mine today.  :D

Diem Ex Dei by Globus is quite amazing. My favorite song right now, even if I discovered it some time ago. I think it's because of the deep tones in it.

Cheers!

OMG

You guys MUST read this. I think I DIED laughing.

The 9 Most Bad-Ass Bible Verses

So I am VERY excited!
I may get THIS for X-mass from my parents!




A defining moment in horse racing history, Secretariat's 31 Length victory in the Belmont. He did 1 1/2miles in 2:24 seconds, flat. If you have never seen this race, I HIGHLY suggest you go youtube it. Even if you are not a horse fan to the degree I am, I guarantee you will find it truly amazing.

You guys will be so proud of me!
I'm finally getting my ass in gear, getting my homework done, playing WoW a bit less, drawing and writing more...it feels GREAT. It really does. My room is all spiffy-fied, clean and the energy in it is just great! It makes me feel really happy. I even set up my horse figures and stones and such in a pretty, neat little set-up. I have been watching Paranormal State on youtube. Now hear me out here; this show is only so-so. I think TAPS  is much better, even if there is a bit of drama. I keep in mind that this is TV. and most of the TIME JUST THAT. I know what I believe, and sometimes it's hard to take what happens on these shows...well, seriously. You know, they could edit things, they can put stuff in...and well, you just know.

*waves had idly in the air*

I know with the paranormal it's hard to take anything as 'proof' or evidence; but there are things, data collected, that can raise some questions, if nothing else. I don't have much money, and it's just sucky because i can't find a job, but I want to start a Paranormal research Group or something like it here on the AQ campus. There's a Knitting club (which is quite cool, IMO) but if there can be a club like that, then I bet I could get something started for Paranormal research. Something professional, or as close as I could get to it. I really dislike giggly people who crack jokes and such while you are trying to do work. (I have done this before a few times.) I am going to ask around and see how and what my friends here think of it.

When looking at these records, just think a bit about how this is an animal, not something man-mad  that set these records. Despite everything, it's still kinda cool to think about...(Well ok, I'm constantly amazed, but don't have to be!) (These are overall WORLD records, fyi; 'dirt' and 'turf' )(Also a F=Furlong, or 1/8th of a mile.)

Becasue it didn't transfer, the key is:

Distance:Name:Age:Weight Carried: Track Record was accomplished at: Date:Time

4F	Ameri Brilliance	4	121	Timonium	08/23/2003	:43.76
4 ½ F	Valiant Pete	4	121	Los Alimitos	08/11/1990	:49.20
5F (T)	Procreate	7	116	Gulfstream	04/09/2005	:53.79
5 ½ F (T)	Pembroke	5	120	Hollywood Park	07/05/1995	1:00.46
6F	G Malleah	4	120	Turf Paradise	04/08/1995	1:06.6
6 ½ F	Sabertooth	7	118	Emerald Downs	05/22/2005	1:13.00
7F	Soaring Free	5	126	Woodbine	07/24/2004	1:19.38
7 ½ F	Awesome Daze	5	119	Hollywood Park	11/23/1997	1:26.26
1 Mile	Mr. Light	6	118	Gulfstream Park	01/03/2005	1:31.41
1 1/16 Miles	Told	4	123	Penn National	09/14/1980	1:38.00
1 1/8 Miles	Kostroma	5	117	Santa Anita Park	10/20/1991	1:43.92
1 3/16 Miles	Toonerville	4	120	Hialeah Park	02/07/1976	1:51 2/5
1 ¼ Miles	Double Discount	4	116	Santa Anita Park	10/09/1977	1:57 2/5
1 3/8 Miles	With Approval	4	118	Belmont Park	06/17/1990	2:10.20
1 ½ Miles	Hawkster	3	121	Santa Anita Park	10/14/1989	2:22 4/5
1 5/8 Miles	Tom Swift	5	110	Saratoga	08/23/1978	2:37.00
1 ¾ Miles	Paper Junction	4	123	Lincoln State Fair	11/10/1985	2:50 2/5
2 Miles	Petrone	5	124	Hollywood Park	07/23/1969	3:18.00

I sometimes can't believe that its been a whole year.

It doesn't have that 'just yesterday' feeling anymore, but when I think about Andy and Coley my heart still feels heavy, and I think it always will, at least a little bit.  I'm more ''at'' peace with what happened now than i was and hell, if were them, god damn it, I would want me to be happy.

And I am.

I remember them fondly, and try to think of those moments where I could have peed my self laughing at something Andy had done or joking with Coley. In fact I am wearing Andy's hat today. It's all dirty and has some grease marks on it (He wore it when working on stuff in his garage.) but it makes me happy. i wish Laura could have had it because I think she needed it more than I...but alas I did not have her address.

I hope everyone has a great day and gives a moment or two to remember Andy and Coley.