After speaking with my sister on the phone, I remembered that I wanted to sign up for the Give a Day Get a Disney Day program. If you haven't heard of it, the idea is straightforward -- volunteer a day and get a free ticket to Disney. The website makes it easy since it locates nearby volunteer opportunities.

I signed up to hopefully be a driver for the American Cancer Society's Road to Recovery program. I'll only have to drive one patient to a doctor's appointment to get the ticket, but it sounds like something that I could continue to do. I missed out on the chance to volunteer at the library (lol) but that's okay. Helping out people with cancer is also important to me.

I have been searching for a job but the economy is as tough as ever. Right now I am interested in getting in the public library system - especially if I can be hired as an assistant or entry level librarian.

Like most people, it is coming down to paying the bills -- so someone please hire me to do anything before I get evicted from my apartment. :)

I just read a fascinating manga about bacteria. (Now that's something I never imagined I'd ever write.)

I've just finished reading the first volume of the ongoing series Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture by Masayuki Ishikawa. Winner, by the way, of a number of major manga awards.

It is about students at a large agricultural college near Tokyo. The main character, Tadayasu Sawaki, has the special ability to see micro-organisms. They appear as generally cute little blobs with different features and are - seriously - 'characters' in the story.

In the first volume we learn quite a bit about fermentation, food poisoning, and the totally disgusting 'seal pickling'.

We get to meet:
Sawaki, living bacteria microscope
Kei Yuki, Sawaki's childhood friend (oddly quiet so far)
Keizo Itsuki, wacky elderly research professor
Haruka Hasegawa, graduate student, assistant to Professor Itsuki, she's very bossy
Hazuki Oikawa, another first year ag student. She's obsessed with antibacterial sprays.
Kaoru and Takuma, sophomores who like to brew illegal sake in their free time.


And everyone plays Hornussen.

I started watching Glee on Hulu. I've been hearing about the show for a while but I imagined it to be a lot different that it really is... In fact, I really enjoy the show. It's funny and strange. Plus, the music is fun!

YouTube trailer

I thought it would be more of a Disney-like cheesy show but it's more adult and is witty.

You may have caught the clip online from episode 4 where the football team performs "Single Ladies" as an intimidation tactic. Lol. ;)

Worth checking out!

I took a trip today to Walmart to buy socks and lip balm. Thrilling stuff. On my way back home I stopped in at a local branch library to return a book that one of my darlings at school turned in to the wrong place.

The local branch is apparently under construction so it has been temporarily relocated to the 2nd floor of a Bank of America office building. It is as bizarre as it sounds.

I found the first volume of Pluto by Urasawa and Tezuka in the new books section. Score!

Came home and read for a bit before going out to wash a small layer of dirt off my car. It isn't perfect but at least my father won't say, "Your car looks moldy" when I see him tomorrow.

Later I'll practice asking, "Do you speak English?" with my French CD. Surely it's the phrase I'll know the best...

Hello! It has been awhile since I've posted a public entry. I have been focused on my work. Starting a new job tends to eat away at your life. I've also enjoyed having a visit from some of my college buddies (Ashlie, Nancy, and Travis) last weekend. Ah, and my mother and two of her sisters came for a visit on Tuesday night and we ate dinner together.

After work today, I stopped by a bakery I've been meaning to check out. It's called The Flour Pot. I bought a collection of random pastries - mostly the delicious chocolate types. ;) I love bakeries. I want to buy some bread there next time I go.

This evening I tried a slice of Pizza Vito. It promised to be New York style pizza -- ehhh, not so much. The crust was disappointing. Not terrible, but I don't think I'd make a habit of eating it for dinner.

Then, I stopped at the Booksamillion (I think I'm getting recognized after so many visits...). I can't afford to be faithful to one bookstore so I tend to visit all of them depending on sales and the coupons they e-mail, but I do have the BAMM card so I shop there with the 10% discount when possible.

I bought the latest Outlander novel, An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. I've been looking forward to reading it (all 814 pages of tiny text)!

I also picked up a Beginner's French CD set. I want to listen to it in the car on the way to work. I want to learn another language! I'd be satisfied with focusing on conversational knowledge over the reading/writing part. Unfortunately, I can only take about 12 minutes before I start getting frustrated, lol.

So far I've learned that my French pronunciation is terrible and that I can say no and the word for English, lol.

The newly released paperback version of John Green's Paper Towns was on hold for me so I also grabbed that at BAMM. And I used a coupon at Borders to get a paperback romance. ;)

On Sunday, my father is driving up for a visit and a trip the school's television studio. I want to update our studio so that we can record digitally. We are still using VHS tapes, which is very difficult, not to mention outdated. He is going to help me do that work.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!