http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:foreignconcepts&section=today deviantART RSS for by:foreignconcepts en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:48:10 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28998943/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28998943/ Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:11:31 PST
We have a somewhat equivalent bank card system in Canada, except the check cards are called debit cards. They are issued through whatever financial institution you bank with, they have a 16 digit number, but no expiration date or credit card affiliation. When you purchase something, the money comes straight out of your account, therefore it is a "debit" card.

So, with that explanation of a Canadian debit card, how does a Check Card differ? I know when paying for things you choose between Debit and Credit. The Debit option seems straightforward enough, as far as I understand, choosing Debit will take the money from my account, same as my Canadian debit card would work in Canada. Only problem is... not very many retailers have their machines set up for the Debit option. Why?! It's so much more direct than using a credit card (at least in my opinion) .... oh and back to the Credit option, what happens there?? Does the Credit option function the same as if you were just paying with a US credit card??? If so, why do people have a Check card *and* a credit card????

I is confused o_0.

EDIT: Okay, after about 24 hours, I've gotten a straight answer. Since a lot of people did not known the answer, I probably should post it here. Basically, if you look at the comments below, the most accurate answer was ~PorpoiseMuffins's. And when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Here in the US, there aren't national banks from coast to coast, and by the same token, banks also are not nationally regulated like they are in Canada. So, because there are so many smaller banks (and not all of them are connected over the same set of networks), merchants use a credit card company like Visa or Mastercard to be the middleman for all of their transactions (check card or credit card), as a way of streamlining the payment process. So, any place that takes Visa or Mastercard will take a check card.

To understand how a check card works is to understand how a Visa debit card works - your check card that is issued through the bank is actually issued by Visa. The options "debit" and "credit" are a bit of a misnomer - unlike their meanings in terms of accounting, they actually serve the same function. The only difference between "debit" and "credit" is that debit allows you more options (entering a PIN number, getting cash back) and is instantaneous, where "credit" you would just sign for and that's it. Both take the money directly from your bank account, but if a merchant doesn't have offer the "debit" option, the failsafe is the "credit" option, so you won't be left high and dry. The downside of this is if a retailer does not take payments involving any of the credit card companies, and you don't have cash, you're out of luck, whereas in Canada if you had a retailer that didn't take credit cards, you had debit to fall back on as a payment option.

And that's enough talk about the financial industry for a Friday night

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28842199/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28842199/ Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:02:53 PST
As I've told some of you on Facebook or IM already, we've postponed our trip for 48 hours, we are now leaving on Friday. We don't have the snow that the eastern US has just yet, it's supposed to get to us by this evening. We'd just be driving into it if we were going south from Maine today anyway. It's actually easier to wait it out at home - we got stuck in Portland for two days on the way down last year, and the third day we only got as far as CT because there was just so much snow everywhere.

On top of this, my dad fears that his exam will be bumped a week, so that may affect our driving arrangements as well (he'll have to fly down after the fact, which means we'll lose a driver). For anyone who is looking to meet up, so far the tentative arrangement is:

Friday, December 11th - Fredericton, NB to Lowell, MA
Saturday, December 12th - Lowell, MA to Cherry Hill, NJ (this means I could stop for a break at the Woodbridge Mall and see you, Taryn)
Sunday, December 13th - Cherry Hill, NJ to Emporia, VA
Monday December 14th - Emporia, VA to Savannah, GA (Crossing the Carolinas this day. Funnn. No, not really. Lots of boring highway.)
Tuesday, December 15th - Savannah, GA to Sarasota, FL.

The return trip home will likely be this in reverse order, but I will have more time on the way back to meet up. So anyone I didn't get to see the first time... let's try for the new year.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28679746/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28679746/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:42:08 PST and !!!

This is just a quick entry. We've moved on from the last entry. I turned 24 last Sunday (the 22nd), got to go out with my cousins who almost NEVER get to see, and had a blast. One of the best birthdays ever, for real.

I will be going back to Florida shortly, and I will be driving down again. So... anyone on the I95... wanna meet up!?!? I know some of you live around there, so message me if you are interested in meeting up!

Peace, love, and Porsches!

...yeah that was random.

<3

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28392222/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/28392222/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:41:55 PST xerox2k4 wants to complain on dA that he's hurt that I no longer want to be friends with him. Here's why. I left my job at the end of last month, which he knew about (it was something which we had talked about), and then I come across this on Facebook:

[link]

I wonder if ~xerox2k4 ever took into consideration that his comment actually hurt me? No, he conveniently leaves out that part in his latest dA journal entry. He also claimed after the fact that he was talking about Paris Hilton, not me. Hmm, guys, I don't know, do you see any references to our favourite celebutante in Fred's facebook status? I know I sure don't. Perhaps a little foresight and tact on Fred's part could have saved this whole mess from happening. Really, would any of you have posted something so vile if you knew there was someone on your friends list who could potentially think that you were talking about them?

Either way, I can say with certainty that the situation does not reflect poorly on me. As anyone can see from the screenshot, my reaction was that of a person who felt that there was an unprovoked attack on them. I personally found it very rude and hurtful, and I think a lot of people would agree with me.

This is all I'm going to say on the matter. I don't really like teh internet dramaz, but if someone's going to go around claiming that I have "problems" and I suddenly don't want to be friends with them, they're damn well going to get my side of the story.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/25168921/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/25168921/ Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:57:28 PDT
I don't want to talk about Subaru. Well, I can, I guess. Everything went smoothly on the 19th as it should, she was taken away by a very nice older man with a tow truck who just dragged her by the front axle up onto the flatbed. It was still traumatic though, but then again, how is trauma addressed? It's how we put events into perspective over time, that's when we come to the conclusion that something was a traumatic event or it wasn't. I can still hear that flatbed tow truck backing into our driveway. Worse still, our neighbours across the street are having thousands of dollars of renovations done to their house, including digging a new ditch. Now I wake up to that same sound of engines and those same sounds of machinery backing up every morning. It just triggers the memory in the back of my mind. It doesn't upset me on the outside but it's just... there. The good news is I think they'll be done soon. I want to thank someone in specific for commenting on my last entry. While everyone has shown their support - for which I am immensely grateful - and I haven't talked since the wintertime, we had a little bit of a falling out I guess you could say, so it was really nice to hear from her kind of out of the blue. Thank you, Neo.

Maybe it's the grieving process that, as I say, I'm sure is still going on in the back of my mind but not much feels like it used to. I feel like I'm drifting, I'm spending too much time doing the wrong things, and not any time on the important things (which include my online life, because that is important to me). It's hard to explain and I don't know what's causing it, but I hope it'll be over soon.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24766755/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24766755/ Fri, 15 May 2009 08:43:33 PDT
There's an old saying, there's no good time for bad news. There's no good time for someone to die. There's no good time to lose something that you have deeply loved. With human life there is rarely the option to wait, you have a dynamic being hanging in the balance. With a car it is different. So when do you decide to "pull the plug" on a car? There is no real answer to the question - the need has become compelling, as compelling as it would be with human life. It can't wait any more. But are we strong enough to go through with this? Am I strong enough to go through with this?

As much as this scares me, and it obviously does if I've put it off for this long, I think we are. It's just as the first sentence says - there's no good time for bad news, and it's human nature to avoid the things that you don't have to deal with if they are not compelling. I think we are strong, grief is not insurmountable, although it always starts out feeling that way.

May was always a hard month, especially in the final years, because I never knew if I was going to be able to keep my car another year.Somehow, although we purchased the car on the 30th of January (which was my father's birthday) our inspections always were in May. Even though the car hasn't had an inspection in years, it's now confirmed that May will also be a hard month this year.

I think my mother's being a heartless bitch over this. She said they could either come THIS AFTERNOON or Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday is the day my father leaves to go to New York for a few days. And she doesn't want to wait another week until he'll get back. Why can't we at least all be together to say goodbye? I want him here with me. The Monday before won't work because it's a holiday here.




And somehow somewhere along the way there became someone else mixed up in all of this... if you're not him, obviously this next part doesn't apply to you.

[And to you. Fuck you. You promised the world for you and I behind the wheel of these cars but in reality you did nothing to ever help me and my car. All you did was reinforce every fear I ever had, to the point that it became so unbearable I had a nervous breakdown. And even if you ever do come across this, you will be SO galled by the amount of Porsche related content on this page, which is so ironic considering you were the one touting your German heritage all this time. There's a line from The Veronica's song Popular, which goes like this: "Most guys I dated got intimidated so now I date up/If you know what I mean so they shut up/If you know what I mean so just shut up..." there's also another song that comes to mind called Revenge is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were). It is.

Porsche is out of your league, and so am I. I'd say more about that but I don't want something to happen that makes half of what I was about to say not come true and then I'll end up having to eat my words. Nothing is forever, but I sure hope what I currently have lasts a good long time.]



I might add more to this whole thing over the weekend.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24402251/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24402251/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:24:33 PDT
...well not really, my night hasn't been THAT exciting. I've been listening to that line from Lily Allen's song for the last part of the night because you know what? It's true. It seems to make sense with all that's gone on in my world over the last 2 years creatively on here...

Sometimes life online and life offline kind of get too close to each other in ways that are completely unrelated, and when they do, I freak the hell out because I feel that they might collide and then both of those with the same name will crash into each other (metaphorically speaking, of course) and then look at each other and be like "who the hell are you?". Those of you who have me on MySpace will probably piece it together... it's kind of a double life fail sometimes if you ask me.

Seriously though, going back to the online world, only 1 person commented my last journal entry, where I finally came through for everyone and finished the OC meme? Come on, I need a little more than that... besides, it's after midnight now and that means it's Elle's birthday, so at least hit the "Previous Journal Entries" button and comment it for her. Mmmkay?

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24368226/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/24368226/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:48:24 PDT and her spam! (Inside joke.) Anyway, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to this, since I last posted I went up to Pensacola over Easter weekend and saw and just had a great time. It was really fun to hang around with a fellow Cars fan, and by the time we'd been together maybe a day, we were like old friends. The visit helped me relax and get recentered creatively as well... so maybe if I have some time before I have to pack up to leave this beautiful place I might get some writing done!

I fought through the answers to this OC meme because I wanted it done by the end of tonight - it's Mikey's 18th birthday. He's a 2009 model so that means he's grown to full model specifications and now looks like this: [link]

I'll give a brief description of each OC, because the meme didn't include that.

Elle Mercedes-Benz: Silver 2003 Mercedes SL500 with green eyes
Elijah Carrera: Light blue 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera with light green eyes (hmmm... sound familiar?)
Mikey Mercedes-Benz: Silver 2009 Mercedes C350 with green eyes
Ruby: Dark red 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S with blue eyes

requested that I fill this out for Elle so that's what I'm doing!

01. Full name: Elle Mercedes-Benz/Carrera
02. Best friend: Lisa, a fellow PhD student.
03. Sexuality: Straight
04. Favorite color: red
05. Relationship status: Married
06. Ideal mate: understanding.
07. Odd Skills/Skills in general: Able to read cars easily.
08. Last Amusing Escapade: Coming home after a night out and
09. Favorite food: Premium gasoline plz
10. Crushes: I’m gonna be lame and put Elijah, lol, because she did have a crush on him at one point
11. Favorite music: pop mostly
12. Biggest fear: Not knowing where her or Elijah’s careers are going to take them, and having another baby.
13. Biggest fantasy: same as the above.
14. Quirks: Is quiet usually, but if she gets excited she’s a lot louder than usual.
15. Bad habits: Not getting enough sleep
16. Biggest regret: Not standing up for herself when she was younger.
17. Best kept secrets: She’s not telling you!
18. Last thought: “I am so exhausted, and back on the west coast, so the day won’t be over anytime soon...”
19. Worst sexual/romantic experience: She was sexually assaulted on prom night.
20. Biggest insecurity: Not being able to juggle school/work and family.

and requested Elijah so here he is...

01. Full name: Elijah Andrew Carrera
02. Best friend: probably Elle.
03. Sexuality: Straight
04. Favorite color: red
05. Relationship status: Married
06. Ideal mate: able to put up with a hectic schedule.
07. Odd Skills/Skills in general: able to think clearly under pressure, most of the time anyways....
08. Last Amusing Escapade: Elle’s high school reunion, coming to Mikey’s defense after he punched out the Jeep that assualted Elle all those years ago.
09. Favorite food: premium gasoline
10. Crushes: Elle, once upon a time... *shot*
11. Favorite music: Rock
12. Biggest fear: Being accused of malpractice.
13. Biggest fantasy: Maybe going back to Hawaii...
14. Quirks: He can sleep just about anywhere (not to mention through almost anything), and is used to sleeping wherever he can find a place to park in the hospital.
15. Bad habits: Also not getting enough sleep.
16. Biggest regret: not seeing that something was wrong with Sally.
17. Best kept secrets: He kept the fact that he contacted and saw Sally from his parents for like 7 months. Fort... ]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23965365/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23965365/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:31:51 PDT
You can choose from Elle, Elijah, Ruby, or Mikey (and if you don't know who the last two are - ask!).

Pick ANY character of mine and I will tell you their:
01. Full name
02. Best friend
03. Sexuality
04. Favorite color
05. Relationship status
06. Ideal mate
07. Odd Skills/Skills in general
08. Last Amusing Escapade
09. Favorite food
10. Crushes
11. Favorite music
12. Biggest fear
13. Biggest fantasy
14. Quirks
15. Bad habits
16. Biggest regret
17. Best kept secrets
18. Last thought
19. Worst sexual/romantic experience
20. Biggest insecurity

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23965224/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23965224/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:20:58 PDT
So I've kind of become assimilated with a group on theatre interns at the theatre I'm volunteering at because we're all about the same age and we all seem to be the only ones we know in town within our own age group. Said boy from 2 journal entries ago is also an intern there, and he and I have been working fairly closely on some graphic design projects. He's been pretty impressed with my work, and we've also become friends, he includes me in pretty much everything that he has going on outside of work with the others.

On Saturday night a group of us decided to go to one of the gay bars in town called Witness. First let me explain gay bar theory to any of you who don't know. I'll use Fredericton as an example. There is fairly limited nightlife in Fredericton in terms of clubs. There's Sweetwaters (read: Slutwaters) and Rockin Rodeo, Nicky Zee's (formally known as the Upper Deck) and that was about it for clubs within one part of the downtown area. I don't remember how long ago it was now but a gay bar called Boom! opened up the next street over from these places. Long story short, Boom! was cooler than any of the other old tired clubs and now on any given Thursday/Friday/Saturday night the ratio of homosexual to heterosexual clubgoers at Boom! is probably about equal. So there you have it, gay bars are not necessarily only frequented by homosexuals.

So, said boy asking if I wanted to go to Witness, the gay bar in Sarasota with a group of friends? No big deal. Same theory as going to Boom!... right?

The first time I went to Witness was two Saturday nights ago, when this guy asked me if I wanted to join a group that was heading up there. It turned out in the end that no one else decided to go, and it was just him and I. There was nothing really too interesting that happened, he said he doesn't like dancing so we just stood around. We were watching the gay dancer who was up there dancing and he joked that I should give him a dollar. I will admit I was kind of caught off guard by it, so not knowing what to say I tried to make a joke out of it and said "I will if you will." then thought that was a stupid thing to say (for the record I still think it was a stupid thing to say, but it ties into the rest of the story...) so, as one would expect, he said "well, I won't" and I'm kind of like mental facepalm. We hung around Witness for a little bit, then decided we weren't having much fun so we drove back down to downtown Sarasota, because there is a St. Patrick's Day street party going on there. We went around bar hopping for a little while, then met up with some other people at one of the sports bars. It wasn't a bad night at all.

So, last Saturday night, an actual group of people go to Witness, maybe about 10 of us. Finally I decide to break my silence on this whole thing, which in itself is a risk, because it's fairly unprofessional (I say that like getting drunk with fellow colleagues is not, right? LOL). There's one girl that I trust enough to ask, and give me a sincere answer about the whole thing. So, not wanting to let the cat out of the bag, I decided at the last minute to put a bit of a different spin on it. I asked this girl if the guy liked me. She kind of smiled and was like "I really don't think so. [insert name here] is gay." I laughed and played it off and was like "okay, that's good to know" and we both had a good laugh about the idea of it all, but in my mind I was really confused. [insert name here] did not act gay, does not look gay, to the point that he'd probably fly under most people's gaydar.

It wasn't only that, there were other events that lead to my confusion over this whole matter. The first night we were at Witness, there was a petite blonde girl on the dance floor, and he pointed her out to me and made reference to the fact that she had curves and looked too good to be with any kind of lesbian there. At one of the opening night parties, he commented that one of the actresses looked "ravishing". At one of the pubs that was hosting the St. Patrick's day party, we both got pretty drunk off of green beer and he pointed out the flashing shamrock necklaces that one of the waitresses had on. He asked me if I knew why she wore it. I replied "because it's almost St. Patrick's Day?" and he said "No. It's to say, 'look at my boobs!'" which I found hilariously funny. So, you see, there is nothing in my mind so far that would convince me that this guy was not attracted to the opposite sex. The question in my mind was more to the point... ]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23942983/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23942983/ Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:21:52 PDT
]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23822714/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23822714/ Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:23:31 PDT
Awesomely awesome point of this journal #1...

OC MEME: Ask me and I will answer any of these questions about my OC's. You can choose from Elle, Elijah, Ruby, or Mikey (and if you don't know who the last two are - ask!)


Pick ANY character of mine and I will tell you their:
01. Full name
02. Best friend
03. Sexuality
04. Favorite color
05. Relationship status
06. Ideal mate
07. Odd Skills/Skills in general
08. Last Amusing Escapade
09. Favorite food
10. Crushes
11. Favorite music
12. Biggest fear
13. Biggest fantasy
14. Quirks
15. Bad habits
16. Biggest regret
17. Best kept secrets
18. Last thought
19. Worst sexual/romantic experience
20. Biggest insecurity

Awesomely awesome point of this journal #2...

In other news, I think there's something in the water in this country. Everyone wthin the last few weeks seems to have gotten into a relationship/developed a crush on someone, I guess myself included, which doesn't happen every day to any of the ppl in question so it's I think it's kind of a collective WTF moment, but in a good way. and I have been in a gigglefest for the last 2 days over this. I don't know what the hell has gotten into me, I'm srsly never like this. I don't go for this kind of sappyness (except in my stories). I'm also kind of obsessed with this song (even though the guy in question is not named Stephen...).

Taylor Swift - Hey Stephen

Hey Stephen, I know looks can be deceiving but I know I saw a light in you
As we walked we were talking and I didn't say half the things I wanted to
Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window
Ill be the one waiting there even when it's cold
Hey Stephen, boy you might have me believing I don't always have to be alone.

Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help I if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
I can't help myself

Hey Stephen, I've been holding back this feeling
So I've got some things to say to you
I seen it all so I thought but I never seen anyone shine the way you do
They you walk, the way you walk, the way you say my name
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change
Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving
I think you and I should stay the same

Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help I if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
I can't help myself

They're dimming the street lights
You're perfect for me why aren't you here tonight?
I'm waiting alone now so come on and come out and pull me near
Shine, shine, shine

Hey Stephen I could give you fifty reasons why I should be the one you choose
All those other girls, well they're beautiful but would they write a song for you

Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help I if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
I can't help myself

Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help I if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
I can't help myself
Myself, can't help myself
I can't help myself.

I wish I could write songs like Taylor Swift.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23731741/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23731741/ Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:22:24 PDT
Guess where I am. Sarasota.

Guess where they kick off their tour. TAMPA!

The day after my lease expires, on May 1st, they will be there. I WILL BE THERE.

OHOHOHOHOHOH - and another good thing about this, their second date? ORLANDO. Right on my way home.

I'll get to see them again. I might even get to meet them again. I'm having a fucking spaz attack! VERONICAS! SQUEE!!!!

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23616462/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/23616462/ Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:21:03 PDT
I am willing to debate things but please don't take that as a sign that I harbour any negative feelings towards you as an individual. I've seen some slowdown online after I've posted things in the last day or so and I really don't want to be seen as the "threadkiller". We all need our freedom of expression, and I think it's important you know that I still value all aspects of our community and everyone's creative work.

That is all.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/22740331/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/22740331/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:22:43 PST

... I don't have anything else to say. I gots new sneakers though.

Oh and I also appear to have 2 Shoutboards?

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/22628910/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/22628910/ Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:09:09 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

RAWR. I'm trying to get tickets to an concert that and I want to go to, and it said that the tickets would go on sale at 10 am EST this morning (about an hour ago), but once you click on the "buy tickets" link there are 2 different types of tickets, and an "add to cart" link, but nothing to specify which type of ticket and the quantity of each. Every time I hit "add to cart" I get a message asking me to select a quantity, but there's no way to select a quantity!

Has anyone else had a problem like this with Livenation? If so, were you able to get around it? I've tried calling the venue (no dice, it's early in the day) and Livenation's number for purchasing tickets over the phone, but apparently they don't believe in putting customers on hold (and I don't mean this in a good way) - they just tell you to call back later and disconnect you! What. The. Fuck.

This is the first time I've tried to get tickets through Livenation, I usually use Ticketmaster for my concert tickets (but this time Ticketmaster didn't have the tickets), and let's just say I don't think I'd be abandoning them for Livenation any time soon.

I've already torn a strip off Livenation about it, I just am waiting for them to get back to me. It's really aggravating

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21755454/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21755454/ Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:18:35 PST
So yes, as most of you know, and I went to see Lady Gaga last night. We were front and center, it was great. She was about 5 feet away from us, and she reached down and touched my hand at one point when she was at the front.

The whole day started off being crazy. Actually no, let's back up to Friday night. I've had limited internet access for most of the week because I've been travelling and been staying at relatives, so no wifi. I log into MySpace, where I'd put my status to say I had an extra ticket for the Lady Gaga show, and she asked me if i still had the ticket. My first thought was "It would be so awesome if she could come but she'd be driving all day! There's no way she can do this, can she?". We looked online for directions and she found a hotel so first thing Saturday morning Amanda set off for Ottawa.

Even though it seemed like things would work out, I still had this weird feeling, I couldn't sleep much Friday night after we went out for dinner (also an espresso martini really didn't help matters...), I think part of me was probably somewhat worried about Amanda driving all this way just to come to a show with me. I checked my phone at 9:30 and she's sent a message saying she was on her way. So far so good, then I get a phone call around 1 pm from Amanda - she's in Kingston and she realizes that she's forgotten her driver's license. (see full explanation in her journal here [link]). My mom's first reaction was for her to turn back, but she decided to continue on anyway. Over the course of the afternoon she found out that she could get into the hotel with her Costco card as photo ID, but what will she use to get into the club? She gets a faxed copy of her ID, and birth certificate sent to her at the hotel, and we set off for the club to throw ourselves at their mercy and hop they let us in. Luckily, we were first in line (not to mention an hour early) so we had a chance to explain the situation to the bouncers and they said that she would be able to get in. Eventually they opened the doors to the club and we went in.

The rest is an excerpt from my LJ on the show:

" .... I will admit it. I was skeptical about seeing her live after watching some of her performances online. But at the same time if Lady Gaga was going to be in Ottawa when I was in Ottawa, I would've shot myself before passing up the opportunity to see her.

After 3 and a half hours of waiting, she finally took the stage at 11:45 or so. It was the best performance that I've seen yet. She DID NOT stop. I figured I'd get a song here and there... I have 24 minutes of concert footage, and I think I'm going to need a T3 internet connection to get it onto YouTube.

Something happened towards the end of her set at the end of Just Dance, there was a catwalk out from the stage that she was performing on and I think she fell. One of her backup dancers carried her off but he did it so quickly and so nonchalantly it was almost impossible to tell whether it was planned or not. The only tipoff that we had that it wasn't was the MC had this kind of "oh shit!" look on his face. I was front row and almost center, so I didn't see what happened on the catwalk, but the video might have it because I was holding my camera up.

I did see her leave the club, but she didn't seem to be in a position to sign anything or take pictures. She was still in costume and just had a coat over her shoulders, and she gave us this tiny little wave but she really didn't look like she was up for any fans. I overheard one of the guys with her talking on a cell phone and saying that she was alright but a little shaken up. Either way, I didn't get to meet her or get anything signed but she saw me after the concert and she touched my hand during the concert.

I guess all I can say is she just did an amazing amazing job and I was SO blown away by it! "

I also have 23 consecutive mintues of concert footage on my computer; I got her whole set in one shot. It will also find it's way onto my YouTube account which beings me to another question - is there a time limit or a size limit on YouTube videos? I've watched the video and I'd love to post it all in one shot (it really does make you feel like you were there!) but I'm worried it won't be possible. People break up TV shows whe they're posting (illegal) copies of them on there, is there a reason... ]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21620271/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21620271/ Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:36:53 PST one of the dealerships had a few cars in an empty store space in the mall when I was in NH earlier today. I asked if they could give me the car because it was my birthday but they said no D: meanies, lol

Oh and gave me a call today to see where I was xP

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21146368/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21146368/ Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:21:01 PDT
From my last entry...

Away... but not away.
Journal Entry: Thu Oct 23, 2008, 11:30 PM
Mood: Distracted
Watching: Grey's Anatomy
"Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still around, but I've been rather consumed with getting some personal affairs in order, so I may not be around all that much in the next few weeks. It's just going to be a tough time for me. I'll still come on and check my messages, but I can't make any guarantees that I'll get to everyone's stuff. I miss you all as it is, even though I haven't really gone anywhere
I'm still working on Chapter 10 if I Could Get Used To This, in case anyone is wondering I haven't given up on the story. I've just had this massive writers block that I'm chipping away at one little piece at a time.”

... I shall begin again.

I’ve had this problem for quite some time where I guess you would say my personal life and my online life are out of sync. It kind of makes for an odd reality. I make great progress on here, and everyone positive responses to everything I’ve posted over the last … jeez, almost 2 years now has been so overwhelmingly wonderful, thoughtful, and amazing. but in real life, I’m still the same person I was before. I can have a good amount of success online, but in my real life so to speak, nothing changes. No one knows of that success, or how it defines me – they don’t know any different. Naturally, I’ve grown apart from a lot of my real-life friends for that reason in itself.

I feel like I’ve been neglecting most of my work and online life for most of 2008 – it has been a transitional year for me as I graduated from university in May, left my job of three years in mid-July, and have attempted to start out on my own doing some freelance multimedia stuff. You’re probably all thinking “hah yeah, you hardly post any art on here even…” and it’s true, as someone with multiple creative outlets I sometimes find that I can get caught up doing one thing like singing or writing and neglect some other outlet that I usually enjoy, like drawing.

Speaking of drawings, some of you probably know that I also did take the step to compete in one of ’s WC Tourney’s, only to be forced to drop out due to a family emergency in late July. I entered Elijah as an OC, and was partway through a ref pic for him when all of this happened, so I hope to finish that up. Same with Elle, I want to get some reference pics of her done as well so you all can finally see who I’ve been talking about all this time, and put car faces to the names.

Family dynamics are another things that have been draining me all year. My relationship with my parents is good one moment, horrible the next. I may have been more resilient to the effects of that when I was younger, but it’s really starting to take it’s toll on me now. One of my friends listed her parents as her heroes on MySpace (you know in the “Heroes” section… yeah there.) I looked at it and thought “We’ll see how long that lasts.” I guess I’m older and now can see how they’ve failed me, and how it’s had an impact on certain areas of my life - things that I haven’t been able to get over or move past, because I was traumatized by them when I was younger and they offered no help in the matter. But that’s getting too personal. Long story short, they’re not horrible people (and usually very supportive) but a lot of the time they didn’t know what to do with me, or did the wrong thing. We’ll leave it at that.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here. Big life changes coming. I have to be a big person now and live on my own and make a living for myself. Oh and get rich enough to buy myself a Porsche, can’t forget the Porsche in this equation I digress again. Sorry. There are some sad events which will come up for me as well – I have to get rid of my first car, the one I’ve had since I was little. (See the “Flames to Dust...” entry circa June 2007 for more on this. It’s not that far back.) It’s been sitting in the driveway for quite some time (undriveable). The problem is it’s parked fairly close to the corner of our house where my mom planted a lilac tree when we first built the house. She was under the impression that it was far enough away from the corner of the house but 15 years later, we come to find out it’s not, and we’ll have to dig it up to make sure the roots haven’t gotten into the concrete of the foundation. And I live in a northern climate where the ground freez... ]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21131442/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/21131442/ Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:30:04 PDT
I'm still working on Chapter 10 if I Could Get Used To This, in case anyone is wondering I haven't given up on the story. I've just had this massive writers block that I'm chipping away at one little pice at a time

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/17039256/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/17039256/ Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:05:10 PST
That is all.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/16838248/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/16838248/ Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:40:06 PST
nothing new to report, winter sucks and i'm feeling it. sorry if i've been late on r&ring, i'll get to it when i begin to feel better.

<3 you all still.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/15991488/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/15991488/ Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:40:28 PST
First, a story update.
This semester of school has had me completely consumed with schoolwork, sorority stuff, and graduation stuff. One semester of school left for me. I can't believe it. But I digress, this was supposed to be an update on the progress of the story. For the aforementioned reasons I haven't been able to work steadily on I Could Get Used to This, I've just been writing in bits and pieces all chapters whenever something comes into my head. As I mentioned in my fanfiction profile I'm working on both Chapters 8 and 9 now (they're the BIG ones where a lot of stuff goes down) but I'm not sure where I'm going to split them - they're continuous event wise and if I don't split them they'll be like, 7000 words long. I'm about half done both now but I'm going to have to wait until I have more of a clear picture of how things are going to play out before I decide where they'll be split.

I have 2 out of say, 5 deleted scenes complete from the posted chapters of ICGUTT that I'm going to post in a compilation on here. I know I keep saying shortly like a child crying wolf but it really will be soon. It might just be a Christmas present to you all

Christmas is here.
Aside from the usual cheer, I am happy because we are going away for the second Christmas in a row to Florida. I finished all of my obligations for school today, and made flight and hotel arrangements tonight, so I'm off to Portland tomorrow morning and then Sarasota on Thursday. You know what this means - long flights equal lots of writing time

So yeah, the deal is Sarasota for Christmas, Clearwater Beach between Christmas and New Years (with plenty of traveling around as well!) and down to Marco Island for New Years. Can you say EXCITED?

I might be able to see a couple of friends in Fort Myers area but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it up to the panhandle ~JustKaro43... but you never know. You're not heading anywhere like Key West over the break are you?

the only thing I hate about going on vacation is that i get all these ideas and whatnot for artwork to put on here yet nothing to draw them out or scan them with! I should make a list this time... just so you all know my brain is working and I'm not just a lazy ass

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/14702974/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/14702974/ Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:32:49 PDT

EDIT: Yay for ~jaslo for being my 100th pageviewer! I got the screencap a few mins after I posted this

Just a quick entry to tell you that, will write more and do CSS later, there's loads more to tell! XD

<3 Sarah

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13530285/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13530285/ Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:54:18 PDT
I would write a longer entry but I have Ritz-Carlton in 10 hours and 9 minutes.
I think I'm gonna do okay tho.

<3 Sarah

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13474164/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13474164/ Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:08:30 PDT
1. Do you like animals?
Yeah... I wish I had a pet, but I'm allergic to a lot of them.

2. Have you ever met an online friend in person?
no, but Evangeline (from Hillbilly Hell) lives in the same town as me. I'll probably go see her down at the barracks someday when I'm not working.

3. Are you athletic?
I *should* be... but my job involves sitting on my ass all day and it also takes up most of my time. Bad combination.

4.Are you: thin, fat, athletically built, etc?
Athletically built, but not as active as I should be *see above reason*

5. How much do you weigh?
I don't think i can find a scale in this house.. I don't really want to anyways haha. But really, we have like 2 and 1.2 sets of furniture and everything in here, it's like ground zero lol

6. What's your height?
5'5 I think

7.Shoe size?
10-ish

8. Girls - are you tomboyish, girly, normal, etc?
a bit tomboyish and girly but mostly scene ...

9. Boys - what kinda of person are you?
I'm a GIRL!

10. How old are you?
21

11. When is your birthday?
11/22/1985

12. Do you like to receive fanart?
haven't received any *cries* but if I did... probably yeah.

13. Are you social?
I try to be. If there's ppl around, I'll be with them, otherwise, I'm on here pestering all of you

14. Do you have many friends?
Yea... wish I got to see some of them more. They're spread out over a lot of places at the moment.

15. What's your race?
caucasian/ethnic, probably the best way to describe it. at least that what I told StatsCan when they called me a few days ago XD

16. Do you like to talk on the phone?
Not really... sometimes yes, but I don't do it very often.

17. Are you single or taken?
Single

18. Do you eat meat?
I had steak for supper a little while ago..

19. Are you paranoid?
Not nearly as much as I used to be... less to be paranoid about these days.

20. Do you read alot?
Like ~metalik-fairy said, yes, although it appears to be mostly FF lately o_0 ... I must change that.

21. Do you listen to music? What kind?
Everything... I can't even begin to name it all here.

22. Do you play any instruments?
Used to... I should start again, every time I pick up a guitar and play around with it ppl ask me if I play actually so maybe that's a sign that i should actually learn

23. How long have you been drawing?
Off and on for ages...

24. Whats the meaning of life? Do what you want, fuck everybody else that says no or doesn't understand. If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.

25. Tag 8 Friends...
~natari-atomu, ~rollerwings, ~drfrankenstein90, ~Candy-Coupe, ~life-is-a-highway66, ~madaboutmcqueen, ~nik-chik11, ~kapricia, ~togemon.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13295925/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/13295925/ Sun, 10 Jun 2007 21:11:29 PDT
I came across an interesting vehicle on my way home today - it looked like a Subaru Legacy but the front grill was slightly different. At first glance, since the sedan looked a bit on the small side, i thought it was a 2008 Impreza, but as I glanced in my rearview mirror as the car passed, I saw "Legacy" written on the back. The Subaru dealership was a few streets up, so i decided to go in and investigate - see if i could spot any new changes. At the same time as I drove around the lot in my inherited-yet-severely-underpowered Corolla, I looked at all the Legacies and thought about how even though there had been ...6-ish generations since mine, I could still see traces of my own, the original, in the newer vehicles.

Now, in my search for this "new" looking Legacy I had encountered, tonight I found out that Subaru has done the unthinkable - in what has really been their flagship model since it's introduction in 1990, Subaru has retired the Legacy Wagon for 2008 and all years beyond.

*takes deep breath* Maybe I should try and explain from the beginning for those who are new to this ... my parents bought a brand new Subaru Legacy wagon back in 1990 when I was 4 years old. It was the only new car they'd ever bought, and it was a bright red stationwagon. We picked it up on my dad's birthday - it shares it's "birthday" with my dad. It was one of the first legacy wagons sold in the city where we live and the only one of that color. Throughout grade school, I could spot my car anywhere, and being able to see it coming was very much a sense of comfort many times over those years when I felt vulnerable or insecure for whatever reason.

The car was in many ways just everything... being a very imaginative child, I was very attached to my Subaru and everything that came with it. I took pride in being a Subaru owner, even more because i had been for such a large part of my life, and because I could say I spent most of my life riding around in the back of it. Stories, lives, everything I know all of you creative people would understand.

When I was old enough to drive I drove it to school and even though it was failing, it saw me through to graduation before it could not pass inspection but to the rust of this climate. As a grievous 17 year old, i refused to let my parents actually dispose of the car, nor did they really want to. In denial, I told myself that Subaru was taking a break, needed some rehab and make if I worked my ass off at my summer job I could make enough money to fix everything that was wrong. At the same time, my parents investigated buying a new car, and the Subaru dealership (another place which I'd had a love/hate relationship with - love because it had this awesome charm to it and hate because when you're a little kid the LAST thing you want to do is sit in a waiting room waiting for your car to be serviced.... "mommy, I'm BORED!") was sold to some jackasses from Woodstock who specialized in selling domestic cars, knew nothing about imports. The whole atmosphere of the place changed, and Subaru sat in our driveway ever since.

So, as you might be able to tell, the Subaru game has not been an easy one in recent years - between having my own Subaru taken off the road shortly after high school and a horrid first relationship shortly thereafter with a Subaru guy (no, not a male car but a guy who shared my love of the cars) which culminated in a nervous break that had something to do with both things mixed together, me moving away to another city because if it (yep, I pulled a Sally Carrera for sure, just up and leaving) and as that relationship dissolved then moving back here...

Needless to say, when Cars came out, I found myself absorbed in this world and all the other makes and models that came with it, (sparking my love of Porsches) and as is human nature I began to avoid the pain and sorrow that came with looking at my old car and how I could never after all these years bring myself to do anything with it. Although I was still intensely loyal to the make, I'd had such a rough go of thing that I needed to put a bit of distance between myself and my demons, and also to numb the pain and grief that I'd felt since that time.

"We are what we don't see, we miss everything daydreaming..."

Distraught doesn't even begin to cover it... such an integral part of my identity since I was a young child growing up is gone... Corporately, this is the death of a breed, not to mention my own car rusting away in my driveway. all the stories that involved it, memories, sense of belonging feels like it is gone.

I feel l... ]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12978881/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12978881/ Wed, 16 May 2007 15:01:01 PDT
Sarah

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12839618/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12839618/ Fri, 04 May 2007 12:25:26 PDT
As I told gottalovepixar, I did take quite a bit out of this chapter but I did have the the text that ended up on the cutting room floor saved. I reconstructed one scene from these scraps and gave it a different feel, and did some minor editing to the last scene in the chapter - see if you can spot the differences!

Just thought I'd let you know

Sarah

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12727129/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12727129/ Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:23:41 PDT
I'm trying to get Chapter 5 of I Could Get Used to This written and out to you all (I'm on vacation now) but my parents keep dragging me off to this that or the next thing (family vacation, GOT TO DO THINGS TOGETHER!). It'll be updated soon though, if I can get an evening to work on this it'll be out by the end of the week. Not that it matters, alerts on ff.net are down and have been down for like 2 weeks. BAH. It'll be soon though. It HAS to be, or else I'll go nuts.

If anyone's interested, I also have the original posting dates for the chapters of my story (since they are different from when they were posted on dA):

Chapter 1 - Lightning's Return - November 23, 2006
Chapter 2 - A Couple of Weeks - December 24, 2006
Chapter 3 - Chasing Cars - January 19, 2007
Chapter 4 - The Next Generation (Part 1) - March 3, 2007
Chapter 5 - The Next Generation (Part 2) - April 30, 2007 (there... I set a date... TENTATIVE upon my head not exploding)

I told some of you on IMDb I'd be posting character profiles as well, but I'm gonna hold off on them until Chapter 5 is posted.

And to Candy-Coupe, I know I did leave you a couple of comments on your journal and deviation(s), the name "Chasing Cars" just kinda took me by surprise but I want you to know that I didn't mean them in any kind of condescending way, so I'm sorry if they came across like that, because they certainly weren't meant to be condescending. Your pic is of is Boost and Comet is nothing but awesome, I wish I could ink things in Photoshop like that.

UPDATE: Parents left ahead of me. I can breathe now. End rant

I'll be back to normal tomorrow I'm sure.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12393499/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12393499/ Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:27:31 PDT
You're probably saying what?!?!?!?

It's true.

Earlier this evening Ellis messaged me freaking out that Lisa was in one of The Veronicas fan chat rooms. I went in and joined the chat and she was just leaving, but said she'd be back in an hour and a half. I thought "okay..." I was going to be at home tonight (going to the states tomorrow) anyway, so I stuck around, even tbough I was skeptical about the whole thing. I knoew they loved their fans and communicate with regular board members but hey this could easily be a poser too, right?

About an hour ago she came back online, and was talking to us all in the chat room (which was totally awesome in itself) and then some participants asked if she'd go on Phone Chat with them, which was the corresponding party line chat for the room. I initially decided against it because I didn't want to run up my cell phone bill but after a few minutes I couldn't resist and decided to try it out. After talking to a couple other girls in the chat room on there, Lisa came in and started talking to us!!!! And it WAS Lisa, complete with aussie accent and everything. We told her which shows we were going to see and she said they'd been calling their management every day trying to get things finialized so they can offically release the dates for us, but it's great we know and we're coming already! She put Jess on the phone momentarily but she wasn't feeling too good so she just said hi and gave us back to Lisa. Lisa said they were back in LA and she was goin out tonight? I think... not sure, then she decided to get off the phone chat and get back on the online chat. So it was a good few minutes to get to talk to her, and I said that we'd be in the front row in Worcester holding up signs and freakin out. She said she'd keep an eye out for Marc, myself, and Laurie (the other girl in the chat with us). She was also like "wow, you're in Canada.." when i said I was headed to the states tomorrow for some shopping. And... SQUEEE!!!!!!!

Ellis couldn't get into the phone chat but she did have her mic on her computer on, so we got to hear her as well. She's a sweetie and every bit as awesome as she comes across online.

I think thats it. I'm just like...stunned. I don't think it's totally hit me yet.

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12309130/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/12309130/ Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:50:19 PDT
Now i just need to get tickets (not on sale until april but come april 6th at 10 am est I will be ALL OVER THAT!) and get the time off work. ANNNNND just so i won't be alone I might be able to talk my friend Marc into coming with me!

This is too awesome! I will be SO going all fan crazy, making signs and shirts and everything. Hehe, I told Marc if I can pull it off I'd tape up my boobs like Jess did in one of the performances, if they aren't too big ...

This is a total Music is My Life moment.

*passes out* (thas for you, Mau! hehe)

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/11222160/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/11222160/ Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:54:35 PST I Could Get Used to This.

asjkdhgabpgeriubavrsihartI TEST DROVE NEVAN!!!! Actually, the car that we drove pretty much fit the description of Nevan - a silver 2006 997 Carrera with 5000 miles on it. Its fast and effing awesome ... I loves it XD.

Also when the salesman showed us the features of the car, I found out that I got the concept of Elijah's carphone right - the cars actually so have such a thing where you can take the simcard from a cell phone and stick it in the car.

So cool that i was right on with these details with not much prior knowedge of them.

~S

]]> ~foreignconcepts http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/11180701/ http://foreignconcepts.deviantart.com/journal/11180701/ Sun, 24 Dec 2006 20:24:53 PST

I spent Christmas Eve swimming in the ocean at Delray Beach, saw about 433582 Porsches, and went out to dinner, but after spending 20 Christmases in the cold with snow I do have to say it doesn't quite seem like Christmas in 80 degree weather here - it's great but not the same. I've been shopping the last few days but it's not the same feeling as having presents under the tree. Not a bad thing having a warm Christmas, just a different thing.

Other interesting news, we've rented a Subaru Outback and I got to drive it on the beach, and I found a coconut tonight by the pool. Fun

Hope everyone else is having a good time at home,

~Sarah

]]> ~foreignconcepts