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So, I finally picked out and bought a laptop. I ended up going with a ThinkPad T60, mostly because I know someone who was able to get me an employee discount, and for the 'can withstand nuclear apocalypse' factor the ThinkPads have. The specs:
-1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor
-15" screen
-1GB RAM
-100 GB harddrive
-DVD-Recordable optical drive

...And a bunch of other stuff that comes standared, like an integrated fingerprint reader, and wireless card, but those are the big shiny ones. Final cost was just over thirteen hundred US, which is pretty sweet. It's coming with XP Home to save some money, but I'm probably going to install Pro myself.

Getting this done before I get around to the gigantic NYC post of doom, because I need Jo around to remind me of all the shit we did for that.

On Saturday, we headed in to Boston for our second day there, because I can spend days and days in Boston. This time we opted to kind of just wander and be touristy and stuff. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that most of the historic sites close relatively early, so we ended up more just taking photos of the outside, wandering through the shopping districts, and hitting up some of my favorite stores. We also spent some time hanging around the Harvard campus after buying snacks, and made lots of jokes about how pretentious Harvard is (Harvard students don't need maps; they can use the stars to navigate the campus grounds). We also went for an early dinner at Legal Seafood, and got to hear the table of forty-somethings next to us discussing Snakes on a Plane. We then did some wandering, and in a moment of silly stupidity, decided to run through the fountain outside of the Christian Scientists' building. We pretty much got totally soaked, and then had to wander more to dry off before finishing the night of with dessert at Finale.

Sunday we drove up to Salem - I'd never been, either - and discovered that not only do things close early, they're almost all horribly touristy and kind of pricey. So we did one really touristy witch-trial related thing (the Witch Dungeon), and then spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the waterfront, which was pretty and free, and I got to watch Jo realize I wasn't exagerating when I said the Atlantic was fucking freezing.

On the normal-life front, I'm still looking for opinions on laptops, and got most of the school stuff sorted out, thank god. Just wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow.

It is really, really frustrating to have a class I'd love to take both be full and conflict with my required classes. Yeah, I would love to take Japanese. But all the sections are full, and if they weren't, I have three three-hour science labs a week (one for a course I don't even want, but have to take), which I can't reschedule. And I can't put off my remaining arts credits because then I won't be taking enough to qualify for housing (the three-hour labs don't count for any extra credit), but if I take them this year, the requirement for graduation is filled and there isn't really any way to justify the expense of taking them later to my parents, because half the point of the Academy and getting all my credits transfered was so we didn't have to pay as much tuition.

And I'm getting more upset about this than I probably should, but Winter was talking about how she's planning on taking Japanese earlier. (And yes, we're back from NYC, but I'll post about it when it's not five am and me being stupid and upset).

I should totally be asleep right now, as it is five am and I am incredibly tired, but I know if I don't, I won't get around to it later, and it is probably worth posting about. Jo and I went into Boston today, and managed to not get totally lost finding the Riverside station, despite missing the exit at first because we were talking (note to people visiting from outside the area - the Riverside T station is easy to get to, has a huge lot, and ridiculously cheap parking). Headed into Boston on the T with a crowd of Red Sox fans going to a game, and decided to hit the Museum of Science first. We basically stayed until closing, because the exhibit halls are awesome, and while I've seen a lot of it before, it's been a while, and the MoS never gets old.

We left to grab a quick bite to eat at the Cambridgeside Galleria, and then did the requisite throwing of a tea bag into Boston Harbor (okay, the Charles River, but it's close enough, damnit). And yes, there will be photos with a slightly more coherent explanation later. We then headed back to the museum to see an IMAX showing - Greece, which I thought was okay. I'm not so big on the history ones, but it was the best thing showing, and Jo liked it, so it's all good. We opted to explore a little before finding dinner, and wandered through the MIT campus, played super-cheap DDR (and augh, I suck now, I'm so out of practice), and up through Central Square, where we got drinks at the Starbucks.

Then we finally headed up to the North End, and after a little exploring (I'm used to being in Boston with people who know the city better than me, honestly), we found a nice little Italian restaurant, and Jo learned that at real Italian restaurants, the portions are huge. I've known this since about age six, so I had no trouble finishing my pasta (fetticcine alfredo, mmm), but we brought half of her's home. We did a bit more wandering, and discussed a whole bunch of S_F stuff (which may end up deserving it's own post later, because I <3 S_F), and continued discussing it on the T and then in part on the car ride home, among other things.

Then I mostly just played the original RE for a while and came to the conclusion that Chris is a huge idiot, Wesker's voice actor is the only one who isn't a total moron, and nobody can escape the power of Capcom's terrible one-liners.

Hey, anybody on my flist going to Yaoicon - Jo and I are looking for people who either have a hotel room with extra space in it, or who need a hotel room and are interested in sharing. Please, save me from the mess that AB hotel stuff became here XD;

Jo is here, although her plane was an hour late getting in. I managed not to get lost going to Providence, mostly because Grace and Anthony randomly decided to go with me and thus could look at directions while I drove.

And now it is four am and I am fucking tired, so I'm going to bed. Probably won't be around much for the next two weeks online, although I'll check e-mail and probably LJ at least once a day, because I am a sad nerd.

Is it just me, or does Dark Nation look like some sort of strange dog/cat/tentacle monster hybrid? I would assume this to be Hojo's work, except Squall is the only one in FF-verse to know what the hell a lion is, so their fauna can't really judged by normal standards.

Also, this site has some beautiful Rufus fanart (it's under 'LOG'). And before you all start going 'Ew, Rufus/Reno' (I know the way my flist swings when it comes to Rufus pairings by now XD; ) there's some really nice stuff tucked away in there, too, and I say that as a great big Rufus/Tseng shipper. Also has assorted other FF7 guys, but mostly Rufus.

And I found the other half of my pants pattern, which is yay, but now I can't find my favorite pair of pants. Which I was planning on wearing tomorrow. Argh. They may have ended up in Ben's room somehow - I'll check tomorrow.

Yeah, I know, I'm kind of spammy today. Anyway, someone on the little_details comm posted a link to this, and I went 'Dude, that's an awesome idea!'. Except that it seems to mostly be for original characters in original or historical/real world settings. And honestly, where's the fun in limiting it to just that? So what I'm thinking could probably best be summed up as 'penpal RP'. In essence - one of my characters, original or canon, would be a penpal so someone else's character, again original or canon. I think doing them cross-canon would be more fun than within canons, although I may have to instate some basic rules to deal with the multiverse-stuff. E-mail is the easy default for this, although I'm personally willing to do pen and paper with someone I can trust with my address (pen and paper is fun, because you can fool around with handwriting and paper and decorations).

I've done stuff like this before, mostly within my little cosplay group, and it's been lots of fun (I have the best birthday card in the world somewhere, from Cain and Maryweather to Alexis). Soooo. What are other people's thoughts on this? I want opinions here ^^

And while I am at it...*shameless pimping*

Snaps Cup! My thread is here, and I'm replying to everyone that posts on my flist, and a few that aren't. Spread the love!

Apparently the Boston Cosplay Picnic was this past Saturday and I didn't know. I am...more annoyed about this than I really should be, possibly because it's almost five am. I went fabric shopping, and bought stuff for Fujin on impulse (both FF8 and KH2 versions, too, because I couldn't make up my mind). Spent more than I probably should have, but they'll be good experimenting costumes because they're both simple enough I'm not going to get really frustrated with the design aspects, and I can play around with some new techniques before using them on bigger projects. Plus, KH2!Fujin's outfit is really cute - will totally wear that outside of cons.

I honestly should have gone to bed hours ago, although I guess it's nice that Asher's got a shiny new default icon - finally managed to get something worthwhile done with that image. Next up is new layouts for various things, either because the current ones have been up forever or because the current ones suck and when I look at them I feel vaugely embarassed they saw the light of day.

Oh, anyone interested in running the S/S fanlisting? I'm not active at all in X fandom any more, and as such, I'm not really interested in running it anymore, but I'm still a little attached and would much rather see it go to someone I know.

EDIT: Also, I have a Reliant K song stuck in my head augh.