Long time no update! The basics:
-Finally down to 40-hour weeks! However, Casting continues to hire morons, so we'll see if that lasts. (Let's face it - if you can't even pass the Splash assessment after five days of training, you really are not the brightest crayon in the box. And that's being polite.)
-psychoticorca came to visit for a week and pick up shifts!
-My air mattresses has a hole somewhere. Yay for having a backup! (Yes, I'm too cheap to buy a real bed. Or any other furniture for that matter.)
-Hanging out at the parks with ariellen, salukfan, and princeali_m_fan!
-Got my picture taken with Indy after the stunt show at Studios. <3
-LESS THANK TWO WEEKS UNTIL THE X-FILES.

Pleasure Island is closing September 27. BOO. Actually, I could care less, except that the Adventurer's Club is LOVE. I will miss teh funny and teh booze there. KUNGALOOSH! Their strawberry daquiri machine was down last Monday, so no kungalooshes. BOO. But $2 beers all night. YAY!

Saw "Get Smart" last week... loved it! Funny stuff. I wish I remembered more from the original TV series, but I only have vague recollections of watching it on Nick at Nite back in the day. Steve Carell was hilarious, and Anne Hathaway always does a fantastic job.

Brazilian tour group season is here. D: Seriously, getting them to get in and stay seated is like playing whack-a-mole - you yell at one to sit down and three others pop up. BRAZIL FOR THE EPIC FAIL. (Also, apparently me, ariellen, and salukfan have the power to summon them by clapping and chanting. We're sorry, princeali_m_fan, we really are!)

Also, it is a sad day when I have to tell our managers and coordinators "You can't reset A-lift with 2 logs on it. Only one! You have to jog one over!" because they keep trying to do it and think the mountain is broken. You do this reset like EVERY DAMN DAY. Prease to know own attraction?

Brendan Fraser was at Universal last Friday. I was this close to calling in and going to see him, but I was a good girl and went to work instead. (My reward was a 3+ hour downtime at the end of the day)

Been trying to draw a lot, too. When I was hanging out at Studios one day, I spent a loooong time talking to the sketch/watch artist, and he pointed me to a good art store up in Winter Park. So I stopped in there on Tuesday and picked up some stuff. (I keep an art supply list just like a grocery store list) Been playing with some nice bristol paper and colored pencils, and also trying Col-Erase pencils for sketching. And when I'm at work, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking up pieces I want to do. (If I'm at virtually any position except grouper, most likely I'm working on autopilot and thinking about art or something else instead of the task at hand) If I could do nothing but sit at home and draw all day, every day, I'd be the happiest camper in the world. (I'd also like to start taking commissions to make a few extra bucks, but I honestly don't think that I really have the skills to do so) I did finish an Elizabeth Weir portrait, but Photoshop keeps dying on me so I haven't been able to scan it yet. Also decided to join animalart100 to get more animal stuff done...

I've totally been on a movie-watching kick lately. Not new movies, but stuff I've seen a billion times: all the classic Star Wars trilogy, Mulan, Ella Enchanted, Gone With the Wind, Mary Poppins, etc... and then I watch them each about 50 times.

And it's been ages since I posted anything regarding stuff I've read, so here's an abridged update of stuff I can remember finishing recently: ( Finally trying to catch up on some of the reading stuffs... )

This random post brought to you by too many beers.

Anyone else here collecting those free iTunes download cards from Starbucks now? Being one of those people who goes to Starbucks nearly every day, I've been collecting a new one each day. Should download the songs I've gotten so far and check 'em out...

I really need to get off my lazy butt and finish my Atlantis jacket. I worked on it a bit this weekend, but I still gotta finish up the waistband, do the cuffs, and add the zipper and collar. I could probably do it in a day, easy. I just gotta get off my lazy rear.

So Amazon apparently shipped my Tokyo Disneyland 2007 Halloween CD last week... and didn't send me an e-mail telling me! Than it says it was delivered on Saturday... but it wasn't! :( I hope that just means it went to the post office on Saturday. *crosses fingers for tomorrow* I want my CD!

I started re-reading one of my favorite XF fics last night! :D I'd forgotten how freakin' AWESOME The Magician (scroll down to find it!) was. So long, and so damn good!

( September 2007 Books! )

This post is Full of Random. Consider yourself warned. XD

Lightning storm last night? AWESOME. Loved it! Tried to get photos like I did once in San Diego, but this time the sky was just whited-out every time. :( But I love falling asleep to thunderstorms! I miss the good ol' Orlando storms...

I got more Yan Yan today at the grocery store, and holy crap, this time the sticks have random animal facts and JapaneseCartoon!animals on them. :P ( Picture under the cut! )

Got a copy of a couple of Zoo Tycoon 2 expansion packs today at bookstore!work. I shall now be absent from the internet while I beat those. :P

Stumbled across this Stitch vid on YouTube last night, and it totally cracked me up! It was only shown on the Disney Channel in Japan, apparently. The best part? THEY DO THE ACTUAL DANCE. Seriously. Step-for-step. And if you watch Stitch at 2:04, he even does the same funky leg/knee wiggle thing that Zac does. (compare it to this clip at around 3:12! XD) LOVE.

And I gotta pimp this here: everyone go and pre-order Tokyo Disneyland's 2007 Halloween album!!! The show stop music for the parade was composed by Rick McKee, who's been a long-time member of the Disney music online fan community. He's one of those people I admire for working so hard to reach their goals. A few years ago, when he joined the boards, I remember him saying how much he loved the park music and one day dreamed of writing music for Disney. And now, after LOTS of hard work and perseverance, he's finally made it - at Tokyo Disneyland, no less! So Disney geeks, get over there and pre-order your copy (it comes out Oct 1) and show your support! :D I did! :D And it's TDL, so you can't go wrong. ;)

( Music meme! )

( And last but not least, August 2007 reading list! )

I still live! Erm, kinda. Been completely exhausted lately, for obvious reasons. But my bookstore days are pretty restful for me, compared to the insanity of my zoo days. Since I keep so busy, there's really not much else to report! :P

Everything's going well at the zoo! It's been a month already! Baby Bean's little baby is doing fantastic - she's out playing every day, and is very curious and energetic. The other day a little kid (maybe 7 or 8 years old) got excited when he saw her, and ran over and pressed his face against the glass. She came running over to him, and smooshed her own face right up against the glass to look at him! Cutest. Moment. Evar.

And it's time for the monthly book roundup! :D ( July 2007 Book Reviews )

Oh, and I just had to use my new icon, because Marion + frying pan = OTP. :P

Kirsten update time!

I'm getting considerably more independent at the zoo. Now that I've gotten the basic routine and cleaning and feeding stuff down, I work on my own for a good portion of the day. And for whatever reason, I feel a lot more comfortable with what I'm doing there than I did at Rocky Shores. I think I felt more intimidated by all the rules (and, to be honest, some of the staff) at Rocky Shores, whereas at Asia I feel more confident in my own decision-making power. (Half the time at RS, I was terrified to even go find enrichment for an animal because I felt like the other staff would disapprove of my choices) I'm getting to know the animals a lot better, and most of them I can tell apart fairly easily now. I still have to look closely at the otters to tell them apart, and I have a bit of trouble with the tapirs when they're out together, but other than that I'm pretty good at it. And I'm having fun! I really love doing otter fish feeding, 'cause the otters are adorable. And I got to give a couple of treats to the gibbons yesterday, which was neat! They're really fun to watch during treat times in the afternoon.

Still getting back into the swing of Furry Paws! I've picked up a few great dogs in the last month or so, although it'll be awhile before I have any that are old enough to start breeding. And I missed shows last night because we all went out to a bar after work and I didn't get home til after shows had run. Doh! Ah, well, I'll live. I had to break down and get access to the Show Entering Form, though, 'cause entering all my dogs in 50 shows a day each got too time-consuming for my schedule. :P

( Mmmm, Disney geekiness! )

Not much reading in the month of June, sadly! Between crazy schedules and stuff to get done, there wasn't much time. That and reading big books. Hopefully I'll have more by the end of July, but here's the very, very short June rundown... ( June 2007 Books )

ETA: Oh, yeah, and freakin' HEAT WAVE this week. So it's not bad compared to everywhere else (and it really doesn't feel bad to me compared to Florida or SoCal), but we're setting our own records. It's into the mid-90s here for the next few days. I'm fine outside, but my room is starting to get pretty damn warm.

You know when you need to go to the dentist, and you dread it but tell yourself you're stupid for that? Well, maybe instinct is better to be followed. :P I went in yesterday for a regular cleaning. They found a couple of small cavities they want to fill, no biggie. I spent the whole appointment looking at the clock, hoping I'd be done in time to rush over the freeway to the movie theater to catch the 1:10 showing of Pirates. And just as they're finishing up? I feel a little pop, and the hygenist says, "...oh." o_O And suddenly there's a big gap on one of my teeth. Apparently, while she was flossing, she popped out one of my old fillings. They rushed to put a temporary filling in there, while I stared and the clock and crossed my fingers. Seriously, I have my priorities!

When they were done, I made an appointment to come back this morning to have a permanent one put back in, and rushed out the door. I had 10 minutes to get to the theater. I made it - in ten minutes I got through the Intersection of Doom (although, admittedly, that intersection isn't as bad as it was before the road widening a few years ago), got to the theater, bought my ticket, bought snacks, and got in to the theater just as the previews started. Woo! It was fun to see again, and be able to notice the little stuff that I was too worked up to notice the first time.

But no zoo today. :( I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn and go get my filling replaced instead (and get one new one done on top of that). It was quick and easy, though. Only took one Friends episode (I <3 technology) and they were done with both, and I was almost completely un-numb by the time I got home.

Not as many books this month, 'cause I started re-reading the "His Dark Materials" trilogy in anticipation of the movie! Didn't include those here, 'cause they're already on my all-time favorites list.
( May 2007 Books! )

And because I'm in a big Disney theme parks mood this week, here's a few nifty videos I've found:
( Look under the cut for links and descriptions! )

So we changed our shelving sections at work... and now I've got Science and Nature! Wheeeee! That's gonna be trouble, cause now I'm gonna see a million books that I want. :p Had about three hours of shelving time there today. As I was digging through boxes, a plain book with "killer whale" on it caught my eye... I looked closer, and it was:

Killer Whales of Prince William Sound and Southeast Alaska: A Catalogue of Individuals Photoidentified, 1976-1986

I ran around in very happy little circles after that, and immediately bought it on my lunch break (only $2!). SQUEEE! There's not much detail to the individuals or their relationships, but it does have an individual ID number (same system as the PNW orcas), photo ID, photo date, photographer name, and pod.

( April 2007 Book Reviews! )

ETA: I forgot to add my completely random weird dream! Last night, I had a dream that there was a huge snowstorm here, so I was skiing everywhere instead of driving. So I skiied into a bank-that-doesn't-actually-exist by my house to warm up, and while I was waiting, I thought I saw Joe Flanigan walk in. But I decided that I was just seeing things, so I headed out. As I was outside putting on my skis, he walks out of the building and I look up and go "hey." And he goes "hey," and we move on. As I ski around the side of the building to go home, I see that he's suddenly wearing the Atlantis uniform, like Clark Kent going into a phone booth as a mild-mannered reporter and coming out as Superman. So I yell "OMG, I knew it! YEAH!" like an excited little kid cheering on the arrival of a super hero. And he, grinning, cheers back "YEAH!" and runs off to fight the forces of evil. Or something like that. I <3 my crazy dreams.

After weeks of work, it's finally able to be uploaded! Since there's no real fansite for Flipper, I made one myself! I wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible... and that's taken a loooong time. It's still not completely finished - I still have a few episodes left to do screencaps and transcripts for. And I know that the "Forum" link goes nowhere - still working on getting that set up! But if you'd like to see, check out FlipperFans.com and see what you think! Feedback and suggestions are always appreciated, and definitely let me know of any dead links (aside from the "forum" one I already mentioned).

Alas, the reading report for March is very, very short. You have my crazy schedule to thank for that. Hopefully I'll get a bit more reading done this month! As always, the current list and all-time favorites are here.

3/15/07
The Romanov Prophecy - Steve Berry
While it's a very interesting concept, the execution has about as much finesse as your average Mary Sue fanfic. The author has an irritating fixation on his main character's race, and it starts to sound more like a soapbox than a plot. Everything about the book is predictable from page one, and just as cliched. This author managed to take one of my favorite ideas and turn it into trash. While the historical side of it is interesting, I really wouldn't bother with this one.

I got to free feed Blizzard today!!! EEEEE! It came totally out of the blue after den cleaning. He was a good boy, and I came away from it with all ten fingers still attached! :P Oh, and Kenny snuggling with his barrel (in his holding pool that I made sparkly clean)? Adorable! I also took my water quality quiz today... and OMG, I couldn't read the questions about the "weirs" without giggling. :P

WTF is up with THIS?! Seriously, who's bright idea was that?! TV show based on commercials = *puke*

Aaaand, since February is now over, here's the book wrap-up for the month! Current books and all-time faves can be found on my "Book Recs" post here!
( February 2007 Books )

The Mummy 3 is shaping up! WOO! I'm still skeptical about the plot, but I really, really hope both Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz come back. They were what I loved so much about the first two - I think I'd be disappointed if they weren't in the next one. Brendan's shown interest, at least! *crosses fingers for Rachel, too - not that she's exactly desperate for film roles these days* In honor of that article, I'm listening to my Mummy Returns soundtrack.

Not too much going on at the zoo! It's been pretty quiet. Just going through my usual routine and such. Although I did get to help with a harbor seal training session yesterday, and got to touch Louise! *bounces around*

And as it's now February, here's the book reviews update for January! As always, current month's books and all-time faves can be found on the Book Recs link on my sidebar.
( January 2007! )

Ugh... this cold deprived me of a night's sleep the other night. I went to bed by 11, and woke up at least twice every hour with a stuffed up nose, a sore shoulder (damn tetanus shot), a scratchy throat, a sore left thumb (damn Sega), cramps, and a sore back. I spent the whole night tossing and turning, and finally gave up around 9 am and just got up. Last night was only mildly better - I had to be up early this morning to take my car in for an estimate to fix the damage from the accident.

Tomorrow is my last day at the bookstore. :( I'm sad! I liked it there! I've started clearing out my box of all the books I've stashed away there. I brought home quite a few books today, and probably more tomorrow. I really enjoyed my time there, though. Everyone was awesome, management was great, and duh! Books! :P

But I'm gearing up to start my internship, and I'm all nervous now! I got caught up on my tetanus shot this week and dug out my TB test results from this past summer. I got a couple good pairs of work pants, and just need to go find some good rubber boots now. My starting date was bumped up, so I start bright and early - the day after tomorrow! Eeep! I'm gonna need a beluga icon or something now. :P *goes to play in Photoshop*

I've been reading Eragon while I'm sick and it's not bad! I'm almost done now. I wouldn't call it spectacular or anything. The fantasy world is fun enough - albeit a rather blatant rip of Pern/Lord of the Rings/Star Wars, all smooshed into one. It definitely reads like it was written by a 15 year old, though (since it was, duh). I can't exactly put my finger on why, but the writing style just seems sparse. He's not one for very florid descriptions. All that being said, I do enjoy it from a narrative perspective. It's rather predictable, but entertaining none the less.

Hope everyone had a great New Years! I didn't have more than a few drinks, but I think one of King5's reporter had enough for the entire state. :P (We were more entertained by watching her than the actual fireworks) The cold is still lingering - the runny nose part has hit me hard today.

I'm having way too much fun listening to old cartoon themes tonight. I can't believe I can still sing all the words to the opening number of "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealers." And I really need to get the She-Ra DVDs. :P And "Hey Dude" needs to come out on DVD, like, NOW, as does "Mysterious Cities of Gold" (although the latter is quite easy to find on BitTorrent). Just finished playing through the theme to "Jem." I mean, seriously, what kinky love triangle did that show have? Jerrica and Jem were the same freakin person, and Rio was in love with both of them separately, not knowing they were the same person. He was cheating on her with her!

Anyways, here's my list of books for December 2006. As usual, my current list and all-time faves list is always here!

( December 2006 reading list! )

Okay, so I figure that at the end of each month I'll post up the reviews of books I've finished. As always, my all-time faves and current books can be found here and is on the link list on the right!

Picked up a bunch more at work today... my stack of "to read" books (these are ones that I physically have in my possession) is getting huge. :P

( October/November 2006... )

Okay, so every so often we get real gems of titles in at Half Price Books. The ones that make you go "...the hell?" In this week's shipment:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mary of Nazareth
...is there anything they won't write a book about?!
Marry Your Baby Daddy
Now, maybe my Ghetto is a bit off, but shouldn't that be "Marry Yo' Baby Daddy"? Either way, that's gotta be the worst title EVER for a book.
CineManga: Cinderella
Yes, that's right. It's DISNEY'S Cinderella. As a manga.

And richiied and sana_chan, we also got in a bunch of those "My Side of the Story" books. :P I so need the Sleeping Beauty one. :P

I finished Good Omens this week! I thought it was absolutely hilarious, and now I'm kinda bummed that the movie plans were scrapped. The ending kinda left me disappointed and scratching my head in confusion, but the bulk of the book was fantastic.

( Elphaba and Fiyero doodle! )

( From the 'WTF?!' Department today... )

I figured I'd finally get around to consolidating all my book recommendation stuff in one place! Here's the details of what I've been reading, what books I have in my "to read" pile, and my personal favorites/recommendations! I tend to read heavily on the scifi/fantasy, nature, and Disney subjects, but that's not exclusive. I'll include here short reviews of the books I've finished recently, lists of what I'm reading or am about to read, and of course, a listing of all my favorite books! Hopefully someone out there can find a book they love this way! This works both ways, too - if you have a suggestion for something you think I might enjoy, let me know! :D

I'll keep this post updated as I finish books, too.
Last Updated: 8/15/08

( Book Details Under the Cut! )