Moving... Journals.

For reasons unknown (okay, Tumblr is more modern and I can have a photo album.), I have moved this journal to http://autisticdolphin.tumblr.com/. Follow me there!

Thoughts, An Update, Etc.

I've really got nothing to say.

Some Updates about my life:

• Back in college, full time - Taking BioII, College Algebra, Ghosts in Literature, and Humanities. I'm in my Humanities class right now, and I'm really not into it. All we've done is stare at pieces of art. I'm not an art person. Animal/Plant/Nature photography, yes, paintings, no.
• I've got two ball pythons - one is a normal phase, and one is heterozygous for genetic stripe. My het. G-stripe is a baby boy that I have named Salazar, after the Slytherin House Founder, and the other one is a nearly full grown female that is named Kenya (her former owner named her). They bring so much joy into my life, and I'm so thankful for them! They're awesome animals.

• Jason, my boyfriend, is going to teach in S. Korea for a year, starting in October. I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. I guess I'll survive.

I'm kinda freaking out about the student in front of me who keeps throwing his hair over my computer. Also, there's this gross Asian kid that sits next to me in my math class who smells and is just really gross. I don't like this Asian kid. And he fits every stereotype, down to the new shoes. Whatever.

Kids. I don't know how you guys do it.

I'm currently listening to the (not so) lovely sound of a bunch of little kids playing/screaming.

I don't know how you parents do it. Especially with kids with autism.

My mom and I... well, really my mom, had to babysit an autistic three year old on Tuesday. She said he was good, but I thought differently. He drooled, he smelled, and he chewed on EVERYTHING... plus he was sick. Thankfully, we didn't take him to MarineLand in my car, but we did take him in my mom's car... and he drooled all over me. It was disgusting.

In other news, I'm going down to hang out with a friend of mine in South Florida for my birthday. We're going herping, and then we might possibly go down to the Dolphin Research Center to say hi to a dolphin that I haven't seen since I swam with him at the age of three - A.J. I would really love to see him again and thank him for giving me the love and passion for dolphins that I have now...

So, here's my question for you guys: Why have kids? They're smelly, loud, and steal attention, and, to be frank, are a piece of flesh you throw your money at. But hey, I am an egocentric autistic who really doesn't want kids at this point in life, so don't listen to my opinion. But I do want to listen to yours!

Reading List!!!

Okay, I love reading. According to my mother, I taught myself how to read books when I was about two years old. The doctor diagnosed me as hyperlexic, which is the opposite of dyslexia. When I was a child, I didn't like to read fiction books until I discovered the Harry Potter series, which I fell in love with.

Anyway, I've been reading quite a few books over the past year or so. The first book I read, or should I say re-read, was the seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I basically locked myself up in my room and read straight through the 759 pages in two days flat. Like I said in my previous journal, I can't wait for WWoHP to open!

I also fell in love with a particular author, Neil Gaiman, particularly with his book American Gods. This book had me from the start, and it was very gripping, if not obsessively intriguing, until the very end, where there is a major plot twist that I never saw coming. I also read Neverwhere, which is also by Gaiman, but I didn't like it as much. I mean, it was a great book and all, and very well written, but it wasn't my type of book. I guess you could say that' I'm pretty particular on what kinds/subjects of books I read. Heck, I bought a third Neil Gaiman book, called Good Omens, and wound up leaving it unfinished becuase I wasn't entirely interested in the story plot (for the record, it took me about a month to get through the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when I was like ten years old).

I also kind of got into some of Stephen King's works. Although I find the basic plot of all of his books to be kind of redundant, they still kind of intrigue me. I originally read Pet Semetery when I was about thirteen years old or so, and I really liked it. However, my mother forbid me to read more of King's work because of the anxiety that I get at night (I've had this anxiety for my entire life, and still have it). But now that I'm an adult, I feel as if I can make my own choices as to what I can read or can't. So, I went out and purchased Insomnia, and blew through that in about a month or so. I'm pretty sure I read another one of King's books too, but the title has slipped my mind for the time being....

I also found extreme intrest in Dr. Jan Garavaglia's book, entitled How Not to Die. I personally think that everybody should read this book, because it gives a lot of tips to prolong your life, and a lot of examples of how stupid decisions can lead to your early demise. It's a great book, but I kind of wish there were illustrations in there of the cadavers.

I'm reading a rather interesting series of books right now, by Mary Roach. The first, entitled Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, was recommended to me by both my english teacher and a very close personal friend. I simply adored this book! It kept me in stitches the entire time, and presented its highly researched and educational material in a comical way. It was simply stunning. I'm currently reading her second book "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife", and so far it's great. I am also looking forward to reading her third book, "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex". Aah, Mary Roach picks the most interesting topics... not to mention that I'm head over heels for her writing style and overall wit/snarkiness.

From there, I'm probably going to try to get a copy of Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death to read. And, if you didn't figure it out by now, if I don't become a veternarian for some odd reason or another, I'm going to become a medical examiner for humans. I've had a morbid fascination with death (no pun intended) for years; my mother can recall me asking to witness an autopsy from my early childhood. I don't think death is "sick" or disgusting at all, I think that the subject is very fascinating. A lot of what we know now, as far as the medical community is concerned, has been learned through studying dead bodies and their organs/limbs/parts/etc. Personally, I'm going to donate my brain to the Harvard Brain Bank, where it can hopefully be used for autism research. I'd also might like to have myself plastinized with a tiger or a cetacean and be put on display somewhere, say in the American Museum of Natural History.... that is, if I get famous.

WWoHP

For those of you who don't know what that is, the title acronym stands for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!


This is the solid most exciting thing in my life that will occur for the entire year. I only have bad grammar when I'm completely excited... like RIGHT NOW. Because the opening is only a MONTH AWAY. And I'm going to go with Magic City Mayhem and have them record my fangirl spasms! I will probably be going as Hermoine Granger, and will run around and use the Killing Curse a bunch of random people... I wonder if MoM will kick me out for it! :D

On a side note, has anybody noticed that the movie Voldemort and Satan from The Passion of the Christ look a lot alike? Is there something to this?

Voldemort

Satan

Oh, and I'm repeatedly watching this... I love PPP! <3

What Love Has Taught Me....

Firstly, I'd like to say a hearty congratulations to my boyfriend for graduating college. He's such a fantastic guy, and he deserves the best. We've been dating for almost two years now, and I couldn't be happier. He has helped me to grow as a person and has taught me valuable life lessons. I've learned a lot about myself and about love through him. It's amazing, really, the kinds of things you sacrifice when you love somebody. I'm undoubtedly grateful for him, and I will continue to be. He's off to Europe for six weeks for his graduation present from his parents, so I will have to cope with not being able to see him. It will be hard, but I know I can do it.


WHAT LOVE HAS TAUGHT ME

• Be yourself: Why? Because if you're "fake", and put on a different personality to attract the "popular" kids, or just because you want to be popular yourself, you will wind up with somebody who has nothing in common with you. If you're going to potentially wind up spending the rest of your life with someone, why should you be polar opposites?
• Honesty is key: As depicted in last Monday's episode of "House", a relationship cannot go anywhere without complete and total honesty. Lies can lead to serious relationship problems, and can ruin it entirely.
  
• Put him before yourself: love, true, selfless love, is self-sacrificing. Normally, I am like Dr. Gregory House - an egotistical, self-absorbed S.O.B., however when I'm with my significant other, I completely do a 180. I become completely selfless, ready to serve and please at the drop of a hat. His happiness comes before mine, as it always overjoys me to see him smile. And, I'm sure he appreciates all I do for him.
• Your lover should also be your best friend: Well, in my case, he is. We get along as if we were siblings or were best friends since grade school. I feel as if I have known him for my entire life because we have (almost) everything in common.

I'd like to say thank you to my amazing beau for putting up with me, as he is a non-autistic. I'm sure he would like to give me a row sometimes.

The End of an Era, Schedules, and Transparency

So, the end of an era dawns on me. The ending of my spring term, my second full term in college, ends in a few weeks. I've been making good grades (I probably have the lowest grade in anthropology), and I can't complain. Now that I'm contemplating my summer schedule (in which I will take about three or four classes), I need to figure out not only what subjects I'm taking, but also which teachers I will be instructed by.

Needless to say, I'm very specific about my teachers. I either "click" with them, or I don't. If I do get along with the professor, I usually get good grades, participate in the subject matter/class, etc. However, if I don't get along with the teacher, my mind tends to wander, I get distracted, I fidget, I draw... you name it. Hence, I flunk out.

This semester, I have found two great teachers at my college. My math teacher, Mr. Flax, and my biology teacher, Mr. Mann. I have signed up for Mr. Mann's biology II course over the summer. Both teachers are very passionate about the subject and very thorough in their presentations and lectures. Now, I'm not a fan of math, but Mr. Flax is very aloof and carefree and makes the class very funny and relaxing. But, he's actually serious about math and gets his message across. Mr. Mann is also awesome, and it helps that I'm very interested in biology, as it is my college major.

--------------------

On another note, I've been thinking about my transparency lately. I would absolutely love to be a "translator" for autistic behavior, exposing things that "set me off", delight me, etc. Would this help any of my followers? I don't know how revealing I'll actually be, but I'll reveal as much as I feel appropriate.