Okay, one last William Shatner song because it needs to be done.  This next song really amuses me.  <3 for Has Been.

Okay, so I was at school sitting at a table by myself just writing.  I had some time to kill before class and all.  These two girls come up to me and ask if they can talk for a bit.  I was thinking, why?  But I was like okay, whatever, maybe they need to do a survey for class or something (because I remember when I had to do that one semester.  Not cool, btw). 

First rule when a stranger comes up to you and asks (vaguely) if they can talk to you for a moment, the answer is always NO.  Always. No.  Wait wait.  First rule when a /pair/ of strangers come up to you and asks if they can talk to you for a moment, the answer is always NO.

So, first mistake.  I said yeah sure.  (Always. No.)  So, then they (an asian chick and a white girl) ask if I believe in God.  At this point, I'm thinking, "Shit. Why didn't I say no?" 

So, what else do I think about?  I'm trying to figure out the quickest way for them to leave.  I say, yes.  I'm Catholic; have been my entire life.  Do they leave?  Why would they?  I already told them to talk to me.  *hangs head in shame And, why not?  It's always interesting to listen to missionaries. *eye roll.  This is why I hate answering my door when a stranger knocks.  I didn't want to tell them to get lost; more like, I didn't quite know how to do so without seeming ungodly rude (haha, pun). 

So, they start talking about God, God's love, sin, death, &c. They were really fixated on the death part.  You'd think for a religion about cherishing life and all that jazz, they'd focus less on the death part, but I guess they did have a reason.  They were going for the "accept God so your soul doesn't go to hell when you die" bit.  I always hated that approach when trying to talk other people into believing in your God.  That's not really the point of being good.  Fear of punishment (although quite effective at times) is like one of those mental stages that children go through before actually coming into morals and doing good for the sake of doing good, you know?  I don't remember where I learned that.

But really, sending Christians to try and save a Catholic's soul?  Come on.  And non-denominational Christians, too?  I made a comment about purgatory (at which point they asked if they could sit down, and in my head, I was yelling No bitches.  But I just said go ahead.  I was two feet into this conversation already, saying no would've only been rude) and then I had to explain how purgatory works - I do completely understand that there's no reason why they should know about purgatory since it's not even a part of their belief system but still, if you're going to talk about death so damn much, you should at least have an idea what other Christians might say in response. 

Have you ever tried to explain purgatory to a person who insists that since Jesus took away all our sins when he died on the cross, the only place good Christians go is straight to heaven?  Not to mention the fact that the asian chick was all like, Religion's been twisted and all other religions are wrong and they're all going to hell if they don't convert - loosely translated and probably not as harsh as I just put it there, but basically what she was saying.  She did say that she wouldn't tell those people to their faces that their religions were wrong (although she believes they are) because that wouldn't be 'love'.  I nearly laughed in her face at that comment, but I let it slide.  Telling her that 'love' isn't talking behind someone's back would've opened up another can of worms.  So, she couldn't grasp purgatory and kept saying that since God forgives and you accept that God forgives that you should immediately go to heaven.  I personally think otherwise, which made her try to explain it to me several times (all basically the same exact way, btw).  But why would you even argue a point like that with someone?  Why?  I already said, heaven's after purgatory.  What's wrong with getting purified in order to reach that step?

And you know how after a conversation you realize the perfect way to explain something?  Well, yeah, that was me.

Anyway, the great part of this conversation was that I was listening to POTO while they were talking and there were moments when I had to fight my damned hardest not to smile or laugh inappropriately as Carlotta or the managers were singing.  It wasn't as though I wasn't listening.  I'm pretty good at blocking things out (like music), but for the most part, I indulged in their need to 'witness.'  It's good for them really and sometimes seeing people do that makes me feel inadequate in my job as a disciple.  But still, I mean it was all kind of repetitive.  Do you know God loves us?  Do you know that when others may think poorly of us, God will still love us?  Do you know God is everywhere?  Fuck.  13 years of fucking Catholic school.  I know this shit.  And all I could think was "preaching to the choir" and stop telling me things I already know as though they're revelations.  I know God is everywhere.  I know God=love.  I know Jesus died for us. 

I understand.  I really do they were trying to be all witness-y and proclaiming the good news and all.  But shit, up the conversation when you're talking to someone who knows this shit already.  Do you think I'm not going to zone out when you go over the basic tenets of a religion that's been part of my life since I was born?  It wasn't like they didn't know.  I told them.  I've been Catholic since forever, went to Catholic school, and I do know what I believe in.  Did that change anything?  No.  Why would it?  And you know, I was being very generous about the whole thing.  I humored them because they really wanted to talk and the white girl converted to Christianity like only a few years ago, and the perspective of everything being so damn revelatory is refreshing and I almost, /almost/ wish I was that so fucking awed and gung ho about facts like, Did you know God is with you wherever you are?  Did you know you could speak to Him?  Did you know that he's like our Father?

Why?  Because I wasn't awed by that fact, I was like, Uh. No shit. For the hundredth time, God is everywhere.  God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Sound familiar?  Have you ever heard of the 'Our Father'?  That is definitely one prayer they should know (Jesus taught us that prayer, right?).

And what's sad about me is that I don't know what they /should/ know.  You know, as non-denominational Christians what facts should they know about our religion that I basically take as fact already?  They didn't know about the sacraments (and I definitely should have known that one, right?).  They didn't know about purgatory and you'd think that they'd really take some of those things that they kept asking me as fact.  Of course, it wouldn't be so convincing to a non-Christian if they were so blase about stuff like that, but still.  Not everything is freaking 'brand new information'. 

What's worse is when they start throwing Bible quotes.  I hate that.  I understand you read the text.  I do.  And I'm glad it's supplementing your faith, but could you be less arrogant about it/  Like, don't just blurt out Bible passages and then explain them because it doesn't make you seem as though you're supporting beliefs so much as you're an ass who remembered certain quotes to throw in other people's faces.  Who quote simply /to quote/ instead of saying straightforward what they want to say.

I don't remember Bible passages.  I know pretty big stuff.  I know what I believe in and when people use Bible quotes to try and disprove things I take as fact simply because that's how I learned it in religion class (I take those as fact since they're basically Vatican approved stuff), it doesn't convince me.  It just makes me wonder what they're taking out of context and where some other quote could possibly be used to disprove them or whether or not they're just interpreting it however they want (and that's more of a complaint for Jehovah's witnesses who knock on my damn door - fucking "Jesus had literal brothers and sisters (a lot of them too)").  Yeah, just a pet peeve.

So, in the end, they asked if I had any questions or comments, and I was like, "No questions, but I do have a suggestion."  I'm being very helpful at this point, having already analyzed their witnessing.  "You need to be a little more focused in your approach when having a conversation.  I understand you want to talk about God, but it all sounded a little rambly to me.  You should have a goal and work towards it."  I even did hand motions, and all in a perfectly reasonable tone.  "And you should try to adjust what that goal is when you find out a person's level of understanding."

LOL.  Definitely not what they were expecting.  It /was/ kind of condescending as though I'd just belittled their whole witnessing effort down to judging their public speaking technique.  Subtle, right?  :D  I was a little annoyed by that point because, guess how long they were talking to me about God?  A whole fucking hour.  An hour.  I don't talk to people I like for that long.  And, I could've been spending that time writing.  It's NaNoWriMo month, too.  I guess I can be a little passive-aggressive at times.

But really, do I have a freaking sign that says, "Talk to me about God" because this isn't the first time this has happened. 

Last words: Always. No.

--Long post is done.-- 

OMG. 

I have this practical exam that I /cannot/ fail (because under no circumstance do I want to have to repeat this class).  It's not until December 8 or something, but we need to have the menu by this thursday.  It's a chicken practical - yes, a chicken one where we get a leg and thigh as well as a breast and we have to cook an appetizer, two entrees (the chicken, a starch, and some vegetables), and a dessert.  God, I think I'm screwed.

Anyway, so I bought some chicken leg/thighs in order to practice and just get an idea of what I'm getting myself into.  However, there wasn't just some leg and thigh, it was leg, thigh and part of the breast.  And let me tell you, it was one of the worst experiences of my life.  I had to separate that part of the chicken breast from the rest so that I could then bone the leg and thigh because I was making stuffed chicken leg.  (btw, I keep wanting to say de-bone, but it's really just bone; i guess it's just like saying irregardless.)  Anyway, so I had to cut off the chicken breast but in order to do that I had to dislocate the poor chicken shoulder, and dude, that was not cool at all.  Boning is not cool at all.  Period.  I wanted to gag (of course I didn't but I was sorely tempted to... and in the midst of boning, I seriously considered going vegetarian).  :(  Not cool at all.  It really was the worst experience of my life (so far). 

The chicken turned out pretty okay.  Since I had the partial chicken breasts left over, I pan-fried it, which took like 40minutes, but I guess it turned out alright (I didn't really eat that one because I was full from having eaten the stuffed chicken). 

Oh, and totally haven't blogged in a while.  I'm just sleepy all the time.  Really though.  It's weird. 

that's it for tonight.  I wanna sleep.  XD

So, Thursday the 29th October, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights.  It was pretty fun.  I’m apparently a screamer… ha.  We had to go late since I was in class pretty late because we were making some potato crap that took forever.  I’m apparently not very good at this cooking thing, which isn’t really surprising.  I’ve never actually cooked anything in my life.  So, this is better than nothing, right?  Anyway, so my group was kinda slow since we were the last ones to finish.  :(  I wash so many dishes though that it’s like I’ll get better at washing dishes sooner than I will cooking.  Not cool. 

Anyway, HHN.  It was fun.  I was scared.  I screamed a lot because I was either the one they put in front or in the back, and when you’re going through a maze or something, you do not want to be in those positions.  Even though you know someone’s there, it’s the loud sound that usually gets me, and apparently, I’m very unobservant because half the time, I don’t even know they’re there.  :(  But dude, I love USH for their musicals.  I, hands down, love their shows.  They had Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute and Bill and Ted’s Halloween Adventure. 

I <3 Rocky Horror Picture show.   Anytime to scream slut and asshole at the top of my lungs at a movie screen is simply too great.  And what’s funny is that my mom went with us.  Yeah, so I was just screaming obscenities in front of her (and literally at the top of my lungs).  And I bought the hat and the party noise maker and the freaking awesome cow bell.  Too. Great.  And the singers were freaking awesome.  That’s what so great about USH, they hire really talented people.

In the Bill and Ted’s Halloween Adventure, they had really great dancers.  And I thought it was hilarious.  I kind of wanted to watch it twice, but there wasn’t really any time and we were all pretty tired.  Anyway, for this show, they did it in relation to Pop Culture and they made fun of like everyone.  My favorites: them making fun of Twilight, red shirt reference in Star Trek, Wrath of Khan reference (also Star Trek), the Terminator Christian Bale outburst (because shit, that was hilarious), and the dancing.  Dude.  The dancing was incredible especially since they were doing really popular songs and there were surprisingly a lot of dancers (and it‘s always impressive when there‘s more people dancing the same thing).  I mean, they had the STXI characters doing the Beyonce dance (uh, Single Ladies) and that’s simply priceless.  Priceless.

So yeah.  All around good feelings about HHN.  The shows were the main reason I wanted to go.  Remember, I’m a scaredy cat.  But it was fun to scream bloody murder when something jumped out at me.

I went to the public library today because I had some time between classes.  It's a really weird cross section of people that goes to the library, like really weird (I don't even know how to explain it; maybe it's just the one I went to). 

The first thing I do whenever I enter a place that I'm going to probably spend an hour at just studying, I walk around the area.  You know, do a perimeter search to figure out the best place to sit down and not be disturbed, or at least find a spot that doesn't feel like it's too out in the open.  I'm apparently a little paranoid about sitting in the middle of an open area (where most of the tables actually were).

Anyway, I was pretty constrained about where I could sit because I needed an electrical outlet because I wanted to use my laptop.  I also kind of don't like sitting next to other people, so while I did manage to find a spot, I didn't realize until I was totally set up that the guy on the other side of my table had taken off his shoes.  Great.  Just perfect.  Smelling the guy's feet.  Good times. 

So sucky is what that was.  Man.  That was a major note to self.  Don't just check cleanness of table and electrical outlet.  Check homies on the other side of the table.  :(