What's Been Shaking!!!

Spring Break is over!!!
And now I have to go back to school blah


But I have an appointment for a scholarship application and I'm really hoping it goes well, seeing as how I probably have less than an hour to impress these folks into giving me money so that I may go to college. Oh, and I've been researching Italian superstitions so \m/ (that's the horn sign to stave off the evil eye) 


My spring break was pretty awesome: a five-day road trip from my house to Flagstaff, Arizona,  Las Vegas, Nevada, San Diego, California, Phoenix, Arizona and back here again. The trip, according to our little Stubby (our red Mitsubishi), we logged in 2100 miles. (o.o)

IGNORE THE BLACK BOXES THEY WERE ACTUALLY
SUPPOSE TO SUPPLY INFORMATION >,<

It was a fairly eventful trip, and I got to see some pretty cool stuff, despite seeing the Hoover Dam and getting insanely nauseous. That bridge is horrifying and beautiful at the same time. Humans are either the scariest or ingenious beings ever to make that monster. I mean, seriously...

I almost vomited when I took this picture but I took it anyway. They finished this bridge abnormally fast--five years!!!

We first stopped in Flagstaff after driving across the desert and Death Valley (jk) to see our first landmark, the Grand Canyon. It was grand. That, and there were so many tourists from all over the world. I think my favorites had to be the Asians, as me and my mother, from watching so many foreign films, had fun trying to determine their language and race. Even more hilarious was that a buttload of people thought we were Asians too. Uh, no, we're native Americans :P specifically the Dine. Not to mention a middle-aged Chinese man kept giving me the leer on a bus. It was both flattering and creepy.

I also got a little stuffed owl from the Grand Canyon bookstore. I'm not showing him because he's too insanely cute. My little Chuck B...

Anywhoo, having never went to Arizona until last week, I generalized the climate and brought spring, summer clothing. Big mistake. Me and my family woke to this lovely landscape after a brief respite in our hotel room. Don't get me wrong I love snow  but this is coming from a girl with a little sweater and even thinner t-shirt. I even forgot my wonderful wool coat!!!

I didn't get a picture of our car but it had a foot of snow on top of  it.

I loved it. I'm all for gloomy and wintry weather, and the more gray and cold it is, the better. Of course I didn't like it as much as I didn't have the proper gear, and the obnoxious Europeans  at the Continental Breakfast just rubbed it in more with their fancy shmancy winter gear. Seriously, if they have so much money, why go to a dumpy little hotel and make everyone miserable with their obnoxiousness? I love Europe but some of their inhabitants tend to make me want to, well, assimilate them into good ol' American fashion.

Anywhoo before I go on another tangent: I LOVE KAIBAB FOREST. So much that its my new nickname, bestowed upon me by my hilarious father. And by hilarious I mean he is the funniest man ever and I hope that I can carry that legacy.

On our way to Las Vegas. This is one of my favorite pics out of all the others I've taken. Favoritism!

Las Vegas was pretty crazy. So in keeping with tradition, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Except for this picture with a tips person dressed as Bumblebee SQUEEEEEEE~~~~!

Oh wait no squee...I forgot to save the picture on my phone and thereby I cannot upload it...DANGIT!!!

Well you can check out this picture then, of the fake Eiffel Tower.

We also saw the Bellagio fountains. I love the song that they play its so old-timey and makes me want to dance like a lost old woman. Which I did momentarily before the Asian tourists starting staring at me again. It was One Singular Sensation from A Chorus Line, a famous Broadway show. Here's a link if you want to hear it but you can only really TRULY experience by going there yourself. You might even see me!!! Jk 

But what I didn't know is that the songs are regularly rotated from Whitney Houston (RIP) to Elton John, meaning that the song I heard is different from the others. Technology is so sophisticated!!! I say this because I am sometimes not very good with technological stuff unless its computers or the music genre.

We stayed at the Mirage, a hotel that was really nice compared to the ones I've been to, even beating one I stayed at in New York. Not only did they have a circus, wonderland vibe going on, they had a SECRET GARDEN WITH DOLPHINS AND BIG CATS!!!

The dolphins were insanely cute and I almost leapt into the pool, as windy and cold it was, and the big cats made me depressed, as you could clearly see they wouldn't mind eating some tourists before hitting the road and leaving the zoo. 

It was hilarious, however, when some tourists got sprayed by a male white tiger during his marking territory thing. It was all calm and then PBBBBBTTT!!! CHAOS!!! >:D

After that we traveled a long ways to San Diego, went to Oceanside, and saw the Ocean.

Words can't describe.

All I can say is that, according to my father, as I was on a seawater high and couldn't remember anything, I screamed "IT'S THE OCEAAAAAN!!!" and ran outside with rolled-up pants and nappy sweater, running and dashing in the sand and nearly falling into the ocean.

Basically acting like a little kid that's seen the ocean for the very first time. Picked up some cute shells and chased my sister with some seaweed, yessiree. Also ran screaming and waving into a crowd of seagulls and gaped at a flying pelican. I love those things!!!

Here's a picture that my mother snapped of me and my sister when we were lost in joy:

After that we crossed the border to Phoenix where we stayed at a sketchy, overpriced, malnourished hotel and promptly spent five hours in a mall the next day.

I bought a Hello Kitty style bento pack, two pairs of Hello Kitty hair accessories, and a Choco Cat shoulder purse. Suffice to say I spent it all on junk but IT WAS WORTH IT!

My life goal--be so awesome that I can wear a dress made out of Hello Kitties and maybe have as much charisma as Gaga

Then we traveled through deserts, like the Tonto National Forest, full of desert shrubs and rocks along with those huge caucuses, saguaro if I'm correct. I don't like cactus, and even mores if my mother makes me stand next to one that's ten feet freaking tall so she can get a picture.

I say this not out of spite but out of the fact that I sat on a cactus when I was young. Yeesh. And my relatives were peeking as my exasperated father was forced to pluck the spikes out of my butt. Maybe that's why its so small. 

Then we returned home to good ol Land of Enchantment, but not before visiting my sister and getting a new book from Barnes & Noble.

Funny thing I kept looking for a bookstore in whenever city we went to during the road trip, so much so that my family would try to hide the locations of them, or convince me to go somewhere else. Speaking of which I didn't see the rare bookstore in Las Vegas :( but I did go to some corporate bookstores!!! 

Like any good bookworm I brought books on vacation with me. Ahem. Quickie Review!!!

I'm a big fan of Wertz work and I was finally able to find a copy of her semi-auto-bio of her big move to NYC from San Fransisco in a little mountain town B & N. Needless to say I devoured, digested, and maybe ate it again over the course of the trip. Funny, a little melancholy and a whole lot of self-deprecating humor, this book is one of my favorites. The art is perfectly suited to Wertz's however crude, raunchy humor, and relates a coming-of-age tale without being overly preachy. 

 OMFG. I've been reading the Millennium trilogy for some time ever since the first book came out, and I love the conclusion. On the surface it may seem the trilogy is little more than a crime/mystery novel but its based on real events in Sweden, and Lisbeth Salander has to be the greatest, snarliest, and awesome heroine in literature. This book, tho', concentrates more on the result of her rather violent actions, and provides great build-up, tension, and a great court case. Bravo. 

I'm a big fan of visual  novels, which are like novels but they're more short and contain  illustrations, and are almost always a  series. One such is Spice&Wolf, a wonderful blend of medieval fantasy, economics, and romance.  This is the fifth book in the series, and concentrates on the relationship between major characters and love interests Holo the Wisewolf and Lawrence the Traveling Merchant. The series started as a novel, then an anime series (which I got into with the help of my father who bought me an anime/manga magazine that had S&W as a major feature and review) and a manga series as well.

I read/watch all of them and find the series to be one of the more mature (not in that sense but moreso in that each characters are portrayed realistically and that the research is very well done) and thought-provoking anime I've seen. And the romance is original (A cute deadly wolf goddess and a stoic flustered human male?) and lovely that you can't help but cheer for the two to finally kiss. And this book made me scream, cry, and finally smile, much like Holo whenever she wants some meat. I'll talk more about it in another post.

Don't let her appearance fool you. She will turn into
a giant wolf and eat you in one bite. 

Whooo! So, that was my vacation. Starting tomorrow I'll have to go back to school, but I will surely post as much as I can, alright? I hope your spring break, whether it happened or is about to happen, was as fun-filled and memorable as mine was. And it doesn't even have to be all roadtrippy or fantastic, just as long as you got some rest and whatnot. 

See ya!

p.s a sketch :)

Satan and his sarcastic secretary Sophie
I love alliterations too much
:D

pss! if you guys get bored here's some links to some websites I like to go too when I'm bored 2!

horror:

http://www.creepypasta.com/(IF YOU'RE FAINT OF HEART THAN DON'T GO TO THIS WEBSITE!!! But if you have a fascination for fear and all things freaky, then go right ahead. It contains scary stories (some are even submitted by people) which can be either real or fiction, based on whether or not you want to get some sleep. 

art: 

http://yamino.tumblr.com/ (she has a webcomic and does boatloads of fan art. She's also hilarious and the most insightful person I know on the web. Her blog is brilliant! And she makes me laugh everyday with her gifs, videos, and links to other stuff. Also she posts recent news and provides a viewpoint that most news people tend to avoid. Did I mention she's awesome?!)

http://blog.drawn.ca/ (another tumblr, but they post everything illustrative from cartoons to comics to everything, and a little in between. It's a beautiful site and great if you're looking for some new scenery or a new artist to follow. Plus it can be funny as heck.)

http://mutantmagic.com/ (this is one of many blogs of Jillian Tamaki, a cartoonist I respect and greatly admire. Her comics make me laugh and think and her art style is so brushy and I'm drooling. She also dispenses great advice and always updates. More than me for sure.)

humor:

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/rage+comics I love this website! Makes me laugh whenever I feel crappy, and going through the archives is guaranteed to make your stomach hurt. It's worth it!

THE REAL REASON JAPANESE PEOPLE
ARE A STICKLER FOR TAKING
YOUR SHOES OFF PROPERLY
:D

AUF WIERDERSEHEN~~~!!!