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The Blackout’s Brightside

As some of you may know, a storm hit my area, leaving my house devoid of all electricity for a bit more than 1.5 days. I can barely last that long without internet, let alone without the lights, fans, televisions and air-conditioners. It was basically a very dull 39 hours. I know that I wanted classes to be suspended, but I definitely didn’t want this to happen.

I did get to do a few things I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while now, so at least it wasn’t a total waste of time.

More than a month ago, I remember complaining about not being able to do a few things over summer vacation. Among these were finishing reading Wicked and scrapbooking, which I was actually able to do yesterday.

Since I didn’t have the computer or television to distract me, I actually got around to finishing 2 pages in my scrapbook. I still have a long way to go (10 years to be exact), but at least I got a bit of it done.

After that, I just suddenly felt like reading. I actually got to finished reading Wicked, though I had to keep looking back due to my lack of memory. It’s been such a long time since I’ve actually read it, so a few details started to slip my mind. It must’ve taken a lot of imagination to think of all those details though; it’s like the author just created this brand new world, writing about things such as the geography, culture, politics and religions of Oz. It was such a good book that, soon after finishing the first book, I went ahead and began reading the sequel, Son of a Witch. So far, it’s really good too. I wouldn’t recommend reading it if you were a bit young though; it can be a little “mature” at times.

We also went to the mall today because of the lack of good food that remains in the house; lot of the food got spoiled because there was no electricity to power the fridge. While we were there, my mom and I noticed that the book store was having this huge sale. I ended up buying 3 books (all basically design-related books).

I found this really nice book with all these amazing poster designs and found them really inspiring, so got it for the next time I get design block. I also saw this patterns book with all these different designs and textures; you get them all copyright-free when you buy the book and even get a CD with the PSDs of all of them incase you wanted to edit them! I just thought it would be really useful, especially since I’m worrying about using resources all the time because I’m afraid that they might be copyrighted. I also bought this guide to CSS, Dynamic HTML and Ajax. They were a bit expensive, but definitely worth it!

At least I got to do something productive. Despite that, I definitely don’t want a blackout like this to happen again, at least not anytime soon. I’d rather go to school.

Thanks. :D I’ll try to make the new one good because it has to top this one lol. I can never keep a layout long at all. Idk but i just get sick of it. Sometimes it gets so bad that i don’t go on my main site, just my dashboard lol. My parents dont get that, they want everything to be done their way.

You click on the image to download the actual brushes.
I was too. I hate the first hsm a lot!! eww barbecue lol.

I don’t think i can go a day without internet. Unless i have something else to do like watch tv but since no electricity, it’s torture.

Lucky!!! I want those books lol. The CD sounds wonderful. Some resources are copyrighted but i think if you credit the owner then its all good.

Comment by isi • July 15, 2010 • 9:51 pm

I am sorry to hear that your house had lost power for a bit more than 1.5 days, but on the bright side it could have been much longer. I guess that what they say is true, be careful what you wish for. :) Nevertheless, I am glad that you were able to get some of the things done that you’ve been meaning to do.

I am pretty sure that I read Wicked last summer, and I haven’t read the sequel yet. I’ll have to check it out. :)

As for scrapbooking, that’s something that I have yet to get into. I don’t really have the attention span, or the creative span to do something like that. But congratulations on completing 2 pages. Have you thought about setting a goal of completing so many pages a week?

I haven’t been to the mall in forever, but then again I don’t have any money to spend. :( I absolutely love when bookstores have sales.

Comment by Jessica • July 16, 2010 • 3:10 am

I feel heavy when I hold it in. But I try to do it anyway. Sometimes when it’s too much, I let go and cry. Then after a couple minutes I wash my face and act like nothing happened.

I have a fear of sweating. I despise intense heat.

I’ve heard of Wicked a bunch of times, but I never bothered reading it. After all of that persuasion from everyone, I think it’s time that I go to the library and check it out.

That books sounds amazing. Copyright-free designs that can be edited. :O I want it.

Comment by Nugget • July 16, 2010 • 3:18 am

Ewww, I hate blackouts

A few years back when I was in highschool there was a really bad storm that hit Washington and our power was out for 2 weeks during a wind/snow storm. 2 WEEKS! Finals for fall semester where stopped but still… Really the only place to get food was jack in the box and they only opened at certain times cuz they were on a generator….

Good that you got some scrapbooking done thought =) yah, I need to work on mine

Comment by Monnii Bee • July 16, 2010 • 10:06 am

I’d be absolutely in a blackout, let alone for that long. I’d be grumpy and as I just re-read everything when it comes to books, I’d have basically nothing to do. Well… I could draw or something, lol.
At least you managed to get some simple things done. I like scrapbooking but I never took it seriously and just stuck random crap into my scrapbooks (which now rot under my desk).

I love book sales, needless to say. Those books sound good! :D

Hahah yeah it’s like when we get snow days, everyone is like “yay!”, but then after a bit it’s like… -_- I’m bored. I wanna go to school.

Take care! xx

Comment by Georgia Kate • July 16, 2010 • 7:50 pm

I scrapbook too! :P I’m glad you got new design books! I love getting new ones :)

Comment by Nicole Dominguez • July 16, 2010 • 10:23 pm

That book with the CD sounds great! It’s terrific that you’re given the PSDs to work with. I think you should get it!

It’s a shame you were hit by that storm that caused a blackout. I would have read a book. I know my family would have trouble thinking of what to do since we’re all so dependent on technology. :P My brother would be freaking out and I know my mum would probably try and weave in a way for us to clean the damn house. D:

I’m glad you got things done in your scrapbook! I am sure it’ll come together, it just takes a little more time than you have right now. I know there are many things I want to do but they will take ages. For example, putting album art and lyrics on all my songs. I have over 6000 and even if I just did 10 a day… that’s going to take years. :|

I would fuss about wasting time if I had a blackout because there is always so much I want to do on the computer. At least you didn’t completely waste your time. :)

I used to bite my nails as well but I had to stop when I got braces, so that really helped. I also pick at wounds, making them bleed over. It’s a silly thing to do but it becomes a habit when I notice a scratch or something on my skin.

My mum’s made my brother and I eat fruit from a very young age. We forget to eat it daily but when we are made to, we never kick up a fuss. :3

WordPress personally wasn’t hard for me to get the hang of. I made one theme then I used that as a basic template for everything.

I don’t mind plain rice but YES, it gets super boring. D:

I know I say “fight” when I refer to arguments between my boyfriend and I, as well as close friends, but it’s ever so hard to classify them as real fights. They are serious… but because we don’t fight a lot, it comes as something big.

Comment by Georgina • July 16, 2010 • 10:37 pm

When I used to have gym class, I’d always have a wet back. I know, it’s gross. I never have time to take a shower so I just wipe myself with my own uniform t-shirt, even though I don’t take my gym clothes home until the end of every week.
My mom doesn’t let me wear deodorant because I don’t give off much body odor when I sweat. =/

Comment by Nugget • July 17, 2010 • 12:24 am

Haha wow lucky. Maybe you don’t search for the right ones :P

Yeah… ’cause of filters and stuff they’re automatically blocked even when they’re very probably 100% fine.

Haha I love taking pictures :3

I like drawing although some of my sketches are absolute crap.

Aw, snow is awesome… and it does earn you a few days off school :P

Comment by Georgia Kate • July 17, 2010 • 3:20 am

I started making it today and so far its been going good. :D
That is weird. I have no idea what’s going on with it.

This one time i was home alone and we had a huge wind storm and all the lights went out. It was so boring. No way to cook, no tv, no nothing. Yah the computer battery was uo but it would die soon and no internet to even use it with. Worst day ever!!

I use images from livejournal. Does that count as a public domain?

Comment by isi • July 17, 2010 • 5:22 am

Haha yes, both are terribly ugly :/ I’m surprised people still use them.

YES SAME. My teachers always use Comic Sans and our school computer also use Internet Explorer.

Yeah, same; with Twilight, Justin Bieber, etc. I don’t necessarily hate them but they’re just shown up to be better then they really are…

I like doodling :3 But I wouldn’t say I was good at it.

Take care! xx

Comment by Georgia Kate • July 17, 2010 • 11:41 pm

I’ve had gym class every day for one semester last year. I’m so happy that only one semester of it is required. I don’t have to take it again. Ever.
Yes, it does feel gross to feel the sweat all over my body. x( Someone actually accidentally touched my back and said, “EWWW, you’re back is WET.”

Comment by Nugget • July 18, 2010 • 1:06 am

Yup. I’m going to put it up once i get done with the comment replies. :D
It can also be fun if there are people there with you lol.

Awesome thanks. :D

Comment by isi • July 18, 2010 • 1:13 am

You are lucky! :) I have white skin too, which is a little unusual. I love it though, because I’ve always loved being pale and I would hate to have a darker shade of skin.

When I go to Indonesia I stick out like a sore thumb because I’m so pale. I really hate it because people make jokes there (in Indonesian of course) about my skin colour, or they start making sexual jokes about the way I look in general. It’s really nasty, it happens to no one else. But most people want what they can’t have when it comes to appearance – hair colour/style and skin colour included. I don’t get many pimples, they’re annoying but I definitely don’t get as many as some people.

I knew someone who had a turned up nose and flared nostrils, and everyone thought he was just a cocky person, but he was actually quite nice.

A lot of songs in my iTunes have no album art or have unknown albums. I feel bad for them but sometimes it is just too much effort to go through them and fix them up. I don’t ever delete songs because I like adding to my collection and I never know when I might suddenly feel like listening to a certain song I have.

Ahaha I would have been complaining about the blackout too, I’d probably be checking everything to make sure it worked, every ten minutes! D:

Since I’m Asian we eat rice a lot too. :P

That’s a shame. :( It is sad to see couples fighting. I had two friends who dated and were totally in love with each other, but this girl friend of the guy was very close to him, and he started to like her… so the relationship ended and he went for that girl. They’re living together which is nice but I thought he had a good relationship with his ex. ;(

Comment by Georgina • July 18, 2010 • 8:58 am

That’s really unfortunate your power went out. D: But it was almost like it was meant to happen so you had time to do the things you really wanted to do! I still need to read a book for school, sometime, remind me to do that…

There’s a sequel to wicked??!! I didn’t know that, I saw wicked on broadway, and i know it was written after wizard of oz to be before that happened, but wow, i’m so lost. XD

Comment by Mandi • July 19, 2010 • 10:06 am

Oh. I was completely away from the net for a week and 3 days, and that would mean that I was completely unaware of the news. I’m sorry to hear about the blackout. It’s irritating yeah. Well, in India, you’ll experience ‘power-cuts’ which are nothing but loss of electricity for some time. Well hours. Not days though, thank god!

Since I was in India for some time, I had gone through a lot of power-cuts and they were freaking irritating as India is a land of mosquitoes. And without light, it’s even worse. I’m covered with mosquito bites all over. I’m a mess, totally! But who cares. :D

Oh, I’ve been reading a lot too! Lately, I went to this bookstore and I randomly picked up Lee Child’s ‘The Hard Way’ (a thriller) and bought it. And I have to say, it’s pretty ah-mazing. Addicting. Couldn’t get my hands off the book. You should also try Robin Sharma’s books, if you like life science. He’s said to be the world’s #2 best international writers and you’ll his writing. Ah, your tastes :D

See ya around Clarisse! I just came back from India so yeah, I’m kinda lost :P
Take care!

Comment by Ash • July 19, 2010 • 4:39 pm

[...] finally got a chance to use that patterns book I got last July (Constellations: An Inspirational Sourcebook of Repeat Patterns) when I began to base this layout a [...]

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