Technically, I never left. I've been skulking around dA an average of 6 times a day. I felt like it was time for a journal update.

So what has the fantastically airheaded moron mortals know as "morticianus apprenticia" been doing with her life? Kvetching like the Jew I am, that's what. But seriously, my life's been kinda busy, and like I always say, "I'm not happy if I can't complain."

Prom is just around the corner (this Friday, to put a date on it). I'm pretty excited, but I also can't believe that it's here. It's super early from last year, so it feels like it should be farther away. I've got to master some heels by Friday, and grab a crenoline from the local college's costume department that will hopefully fit okay. I had gotten some from a friend last year who is smaller than I am, so I had a tough time finding one large enough for my legs and my waist.

I'll be worrying about all that after school Monday, though, when I get an early out just for my Communications class. We're going to see The Hunger Games in theatres as our "book turned movie" "unit." (I guess you could call it that, anyway.) I saw the movie last night with a friend of mine, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I'm not a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence to begin with (she has a limited gallery of expression, in my opinion, but at least she can smile and weep. *cough cough Kristen Stewart cough*), and the movie seemed to move almost a little too fast in places. In the first five minutes, there must have been at least 500 cuts to the next shot. I also noticed the camera was quite shaky whenever Katniss was the subject or we were shown her POV. Director's choice/statement about her character? I'd sure like to think so. I was disappointed that some things were cut out that I would have liked to have seen (the Avox girl's role was nixed and there was no sleep syrup anywhere in sight. C'est la vie, I guess), some parts were altered maybe too much (the muttations were more pit bull and less werewolf) but the parts written especially for the movie were very well done, and I found myself enjoying those scenes a little more than the "main plot" of the movie. I told my friend afterward I liked it, which I did, but I think I went in with my expectations a little too high. It would have been better to have gone in knowing nothing.

I've also applied for a summer internship at the closest zoo (which is still a little more than an hour long drive). I'm hoping that I'll get it (they want 14 people around my age with an interest in the field, so I think I'll be all right), and if I do, I hope they'll let me take an approximately 10 day leave for a SERVE trip to Washington, D.C. Some friends from last year are going, and they had two openings after three girls dropped out and another guy joined. My sister and I immediately took them. So if both things work out the way I want them to, I'll be spending my entire summer volunteering. Well, I suppose I would be even if I couldn't take my 10 day vacation (if it came down to it, I'd ditch SERVE, but I'd rather not). This is why I'm an idiot.

Hopefully I'll get some art posted here in the next 48 hours. I've been drawing a ton, but it's all pretty sketchy stuff. I'll be working on my capstone project, so you guys will get some nice teasers from that. I might actually break down and create a YouTube account so I can show people the final. I probably can't upload the project to dA because of some potential copyright infringement issues. Oh well.

Stay devious, my friends.

...Maybe "Overdue Update" is a better title...

I managed to skip over a journal entry for January, since it was a pretty busy month. I had Spiritual Renewal Week, Homecoming Week, and a new class schedule to adjust to. With that new schedule, I get slack classes and one whole free period to learn Japanese by my onesies so I can be a total weeaboo and have all my friends desert me.

Not much exciting stuff is going on, otherwise. I had a third English teacher beg ask me to be an English major, but I'm not feeling it. Maybe I will be. Who knows? My psychology teacher is kinda pissing me off by making class more like, "Let's turn this into a theological debate for the goody-two-shoes-popular-pansies about why our school sucks and what stupid crap we're doing now -- also, why we believe in predestination but also that we choose God (that one really pissed me off)." I feel like I'm learning more about psychology by my own observation than with class learning. Maybe it doesn't help that I sit at the introverted/unpopular/"delinquent" table.

I've also been sensitive about my introversion lately. TIME magazine wrote a wonderful article about it (cover story) and recently I've been making observations about my own introversion and introversion in others. For example, I've noticed that I and the other introverts in my class make up the unpopular group at my school, and that we are also among the most intelligent of our class, recognized or otherwise. Direct correlation? Maybe. I also realize that I've been more touchy about how teachers treat me, especially when TIME magazine mentioned that introverts get points off for class participation (I'm super guilty here).

...For an introvert, I can really talk when I want to.

FOR SCIENCE!!

Oh, and I guess it's Groundhog Day. Eh, whatever. We Americans and our holidays...

Stay devious, my friends.

Since my Thanksgiving journal is a little outdated, I decided it's time to once again spam your inboxes with a meaningless... thing.

As deviantART informed y'all for a week, my birthday was last Friday night. My family and I spent it at a Japanese steakhouse (which was about an hour away from my house OTL ). The chef we had was incredibly talented and very funny, and his food he made was delicious. I received two of my favorite movies for my birthday: Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Gorillas in the Mist. I hadn't seen Gorillas in the Mist since I was a very little girl, and I'm very happy to own it.

Christmas brought with it some nice family time, as per usual. I got some nice surprises, as well as some Black Friday purchases I had put away for Christmas. My little brother got an XBOX 360 with Kinect, so I got Dead Island and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 (which are both a lot of fun ). My parents had heard about The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and I wanted it for Christmas, but I never really brought it up to them, so they had rented it Christmas Eve from Redbox. I played it the most, after I got frustrated with my brother's awful efforts and took over. It was a ton of fun, and I need to cash some Christmas checks so I can buy it myself.

Yesterday, my mom's aunt died. Her aunt partially raised her after the death of my grandma when my mom was 5, so it's important for her to go. We're still trying to decide who else is going with her to the wake and funeral. If you're religious, please pray for safe travels and peace for my mom. If not, I still appreciate your thoughts.

If I end up staying home from the funeral, I'll be hanging with friends and celebrating New Years with them. I hope it'll be fun.

[EDIT: I will not be attending the funeral, so please pray that my mom will be at peace (no, not dead, silly) and won't regret her decision later...]

Stay devious, my friends.