The true testament to my boredom, and a little bit of a talent that I have for remembering names. But I've been watching far too much Bleach, and here's why: I came up with a list of 104 characters whose names I could remember off the top of my head. I was bored in math class, and this is what I did instead of taking notes...

Yamamoto Genryuusai; Soi Fon; Ichimaru Gin; Unohana Retsu; Aizen Sousuke; Kuchiki Byakuya; Komamura Sajin; Kyouraku Shunsui; Tousen Kaname; Hitsugaya Toshirou; Zaraki Kenpachi; Kurotsuchi Mayuri; Ukitake Jyuushirou; Sasakibe Choujirou; Izuru Kira; Kotetsu Isane; Hinamori Momo; Abarai Renji; Iba Tetsuzaemon; Ise Nanao; Hisagi Shuuhei; Matsumoto Rangiku; Kusajika Yachiru; Kurotsuchi Nemu; Shiba Kaien; Amagai Shuusuke; Kifune Makoto; Yamada Hanatarou; Madarame Ikkaku; Ayasegawa Yumichika; Kuchiki Rukia; Shihouin Yoruichi; Urahara Kisuke; Tsukabishi Tessai; Hirako Shinji; Otoribashi Rojuro (Rose); Aikawa Love; Muguruma Kensei; Yadomaru Lisa; Sarugaki Hiyori; Kuna Mashiro; Ushoda Hachigen; Ururu; Jinta; Kurosaki Isshin; Ishida Ryuuken; Kurosaki Ichigo; Ishida Uryuu; Yasutora Sado (Chad); Orihime Inoue; Arisawa Tatsuki; Kojima Mizuiro; Asano Keigo; Kurosaki Karin; Kurosaki Yuzuru; Muramasa; Ryuujin Jakka; Suzumebachi; Senbonzakura; Hyourinmaru; Wabisuke; Tobiume; Zabimaru; Haineko; Houzukimaru; Fuji Kujaku; Sode no Shirayuki; Benihime; Zangetsu; Kon; Ririn; Nova; Kurodo; Hollow Ichigo; Coyote Starrk; Barragan Luisenbarn; Tia Halibel; Ulquiorra Cifer; Nnoitra Jiruga; Grimmjow Jeagerjaques/Jaggerjack; Zommari Leroux; Szayel Aporro Granz; Aaroniero Arruruerie; Yammy Riyalgo; Neliel Tu Odelschwanck; Ilforte Granz; Luppi; Wonderweiss Margera; Pesche Gautiche; Dondochakka Bilstin; Sun-Sun; Apache; Mila Rose; Tesla; Loly; Menoly; Lilynette Gingerback; Findor Carias; Charlotte Cuuhlhourne; Cirucci Thunderwitch; Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio; Kasumi-Ouji Lurichiyo; Kenryuu; Enryuu.

Yes, feel free to say what you will. And count it if you want to. There are 104 characters there. Okita-san, I think I might use the Japanese names as practice for Hiragana in your letter. The Espada and other associated characters aren't happening at the moment because I don't know Katakana. ^-^'

"Hi, my name is Ashlee, and I'm addicted to Bleach."

Actually, that does sound really terrible, if you think about it. I swear, I'm not huffing or drinking household cleaning products. I don't have a death wish (though I will admit that I do like the smell of bleach...it makes me think of clean).

I just thought I would showcase that sad little part of my life. Anime is pretty much all I have now, outside of school and work. And roleplaying with Okita-san! The new one is so much fun! ^-^

Also, I bought a replica of Fuji Kujaku (is it sad that I feel bad for calling it that...? If you've watched enough Bleach, you'll know what I'm talking about...), and it is now safely tucked between the boxes under my bed and my wall, since Jim would have a fit if I displayed it. I guess that will have to wait till I have my own place.

Owari~

I have made very little effort to create new art since I've moved to my mom, but I haven't exactly felt the drive to create anything either. Usually, that drive is what I wait for. I haven't felt it much here. But then again, I haven't felt as much emotional turmoil as I did in my life previously. When I lived at dad's, and when I was still in high school, I was in a relationship that did not make me happy, I was under pressure to be a good kid, I was being judged for who I was hanging out with, and I was fighting with my dad a lot. I don't fight with my dad when I'm away from him because he misses me, and he doesn't irritate me. Here and now, I am happy with my relationship, and the only person I have to fight with is Jim. Trust me, there's plenty there, but I tend not to fight with him. For some reason...

In other news, this weekend I will be attending my first anime convention, cosplaying as Michaela from Godchild. No, I wasn't creative enough or ambitious enough to create my own costume. I'll be wearing a lot of medical tape and Tripp clothing. Also, I found a tiny lolita hat at Hot Topic. I already have shoes for it. I'm pretty excited, really. I'll be going with Bonnie, who I think is going to be cosplaying as Rangiku Matsumoto. We were originally going as a Bleach pair, and I was going to be Yumichika, but as I said, no creativity or ambition. And no money. *laughs* It's still going to be so much fun, though. Yay, yay, yay!

Aside from that happy news, I don't think I really have anything to report. I'll try to post pictures after the con.

Untitled, untitled, untitled. I'm getting lazy. I really need to upload some new drawings, but I'm too lazy to do that, too. It's not as though I haven't been drawing, it's that I don't have any programs with which to resize those drawings when I am finished scanning them, and I would have to use my mom's scanner, which would mean scanning the drawings onto her computer, then saving them on my jump drive, then putting them on my computer, and then uploading them to deviantART. I don't trust mom's computer to do what I want it to, since it's so slow, and she doesn't have anything to resize pictures with either.

Uhhhh...as far as updates go, I don't have any. It's started to snow here in Norfolk already. I'm not looking forward to a repeat of '96, for anyone that was in the Midwest and remembers. The storm was bad enough that they cancelled Halloween in Council Bluffs. Every little kid would remember having a holiday cancelled on them. *frowns* Also, I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out what I should be for Halloween. I'm considering two options at the moment: Victoria, or a pirate. When I say Victoria, I mean the Victoria from Twilight. The red-headed psycho. I have wild, red hair, and I think I could pull it off. But a pirate would be fun too. Either way, it has to be something I can wear to work in case I have to work on Halloween (we can dress up there ^-^).

College is boring. Boring. BORING. General education classes are driving me insane, even though they're very easy. The only class I have that's not easy is my American Lit class, which is, strangely enough, my worst class. I have a C in it at the moment, and I find it funny because I'm a Lit major. Actually, it was a high C, so it might be in the B range now. But still...my last essay was very crappy, but do you want to know why? I HATE AMERICAN LITERATURE!!! None of it interests me, and everyone is obsessed with patriotism, and there is really no imagination in it. A lot of classical American lit is non-fiction, which is a genre that I really can't stand to read. It bores me to death. So...I am having a bit of a difficult time with that. It's hard to write something good on something completely uninspiring.

My car is a piece of crap, and after the winter is over, I believe we are going to be finding it a new home. Hopefully, we'll be able to sell it for about as much as we bought it for. That shouldn't be too much of a stretch, since it was under $2,000.

I suppose the only other thing I have to report is that I have been reading a new series of books called the War of the Spider Queen. The books have their own titles, of course, but the whole series is the War of the Spider Queen novels. They are D&D based novels about the drow (NOT Drizzt Do'Urden, though...about Gromph Baenre instead).

I've taken a new perspective on what I said last time, and I realize I was just a little depressed at the time that I said it. Today, I am in a much better mood, one that could be considered my normal mood. I'm fairly happy, for whatever reason, and I haven't even had any caffeine. So...let me say what I think I figured out since the last time I posted a journal entry.

I am not becoming withdrawn. I am not becoming more and more introverted. This is more like...a further development of my independent self. Actually, this is a lot like how I was when I was a child. I had very few friends then, also, and I did not see them too often. So, I found other means to entertain myself, which mostly consisted of reading, and playing with my dolls, and my imagination. However, now I have no dolls (except for Nicolas, my dollfie), and I am reading as many books as I can. College is not a problem, and I no longer care that I am not making any friends. Perhaps there is something to campus life, that I would at least find companionship, but at present, I have no great longing for it. I want to keep my old friends, and I confess that I am a little afraid of losing them, or having them replaced with new friends.

Another reason, I believe, that I feel much better now is that I have a car. Yes, I finally have a car (and a small round of "huzzah"s are heard in the back of my mind). I don't mind driving it, but it doesn't thril me or anything to do so. It is only that I finally have my own vehicle, and so long as I can provide gas for it, I have a means of transportation. I have freedom. It is a good feeling.

That is all I really had to say that was relevant to the point I alluded to in the first place, but I would like to add irrelevantly that I saw Inglorious Basterds over the holiday, and it was a funny movie. Morbid and weird, as most of Tarantino's movies are, but also funny. And forgive me if I spelled his name wrong. I usually make it a habit to avoid his movies, as they are usually so far removed from my tastes. I love you all, and for those of you that I haven't talked to in quite a while (like you, Okita-san!), I love you, and I miss you, and I hope I get the chance to talk to you soon.

Since I have moved to my mom's to go to college, I think I have become more withdrawn and anti-social than ever. I'm less confident than I was when I finished high school, and I care less about most things, and I have a little more anger built up than I used to. Even when I lived with my dad. Here, I have no real reason to be angry, but I am angry, and I have no way to vent it because I don't even know why I'm angry.

I've been at college for two days, and I have talked to almost no one but my teachers. A girl told me today that she dug my shoes. No, really, she said, "I dig your shoes." They were my plaid Airwalks with the black velvet roses. So then we had a short discussion about how Converse are much better than Airwalks. Then I went to class. That's about it. It was World History I, and it was incredibly boring. It's my only class on Tuesdays and Thursdays until October 20th, though. So I just go to that class, and then I go back home and go to sleep. Tomorrow, I have my Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes again, which consist of American Literature and Music Appreciation (though not with those exact names). I did all of my reading after sleeping today, pages 24-37 in American Lit, and pages 1-77 in Music Appreciation. That was a sort of strange agony. I wanted desperately to read, but to read something else. I actually turned back to reading The Two Towers to relieve some of the boredom of reading my music textbook. Dry textbook or dry fiction? Hmmmm...tough choices.

In any case...I want to healthy again. I'm tired of being sick (and I could have said "sick of being sick" there, but I decided to take the high road). This is one of the few times in my life where I would like to eat breakfast, but at the moment that is not an option. I tried to eat breakfast on Monday, and I threw up at 11:30, left home at 11:40, and I was a little late to class at noon (I had to stop in the Student Center and get my ID).

So far...college is starting off wonderfully. And work is even better. Hy-Vee is stupid. I greatly dislike working for companies like it. I do not fit in well with the company-as-a-family mentality, and I prefer to work alone. I know I am not suited for this type of work, I never thought I was. I think I'd rather work at a gas station or something. Maybe that's what I'll do when I transfer to Iowa Western? That's what I want to do, anyway...*sighs* It's all such a pain in the ass. All of it. I just wanted to go to Iowa Western and live with my friends, and go to school with at least a couple of them. Here, I have no one. No one to talk to but my mom and her boyfriend (who I argue with, more often than not), and I have my boyfriend to talk to on the phone. That's not a bad thing, not in the least, but I don't see him in person often because we live pretty far apart, and sometimes I just get tired of talking on the phone all the time. Long distance relationships are hard, but they would be so much harder without the love.

A sappy ending to a bitter rant?