A very long stream of consciousness

Blair Hall Apts., on the Feast of the Blessed Bertrand

Went to the dermatologist today and ended up spending the most painful five minutes of my life trying not to wince as she, um, poked at my face with a needle and some sort of pincers. Ouch. The equivalent of someone very tiny and malicious walking all over your face while wearing a pair of sharp stiletto heels. O_O I normally don't give a fig about my appearance and actively cultivate a plain, unadorned look, but at the beginning of the summer, when I was home for about a week, every single person I met at church commented on my acne. I think I might have been in the middle of a breakout at the time, due to stress from finals and whatnot. Anyway, the experience annoyed me, to say the least, and annoyed my mother, which is probably the more relevant point since it provoked her to schedule an appointment with the dermatologist as soon as I got back from Cambridge. >_< I went last week and received prescriptions for two, yes two, gels and an oral antibiotic; I went again today to undergo the abovementioned facial torture. I hope all this fuss is worth it because my skin's been having a bit of trouble adjusting to the medication and currently looks worse than it ever did with just a scattering of pimples and scars to mar it. (I.e. I've been going around with red, dry irritated patches around my eyes and mouth. Doctor's response: here, use lotion. -_-)

By the way, in case you were curious, I went to Mass at the same church this Sunday, and this time, everyone managed to make some comment about how I'd lost weight. I'm sure that might sound flattering in English, but in Korean, it's more along the lines of "Oh, how unhealthy you look!" It's my fault, I suppose, for not eating regularly. >_< I never used to hear these quips about my appearance when I was younger--instead I received bizarre compliments about the shape of the back of my head (I kid you not)--but I guess it would be asking too much to escape the critique forever. My mother complains that being twitted about her looks gave her a permanent complex (people called her "pig lips" on account of her full mouth, prone to pouting). It's all done with the utmost affection of course but still one can't help feeling annoyed.

( Various thoughts on reading material )

...I also wanted to tell you about the four consecutive nightmares I had a few nights ago (the last two were about kendo practices), the delicious T-bone steak I ate at an Argentinian restaurant on Sunday, my not-so-favorable impressions of Baudelaire (who is such a teenager, at least in his early poems), and the current crisis in my family due to the sudden disappearance of the local Korean channel (it got sold to some sort of Christian group; as a result my parents are completely bored and are contemplating getting cable). But really, that would be way too much for one post, even for someone as verbose as me.

(Note to the friends list: until now, I haven't cut posts unless they (1) sound excessively personal or neurotic, (2) contain fic, memes or photos, (3) mention spoilers. Nonetheless, I've heard privately from one or two real-life friends that my habit of writing rambling and incomprehensible entries without the mercy of an LJ-CUT is a bit annoying...hence I broke with tradition and put the bulk of this post behind a cut. Should I continue doing that or do most of you not mind? Maybe I ought to make a poll. O_O)

Yours &c.

Post-script: schwimmerin, I got your postcard from Hamburg today! ^_^ Also, er, I realize I haven't done the five songs meme you tagged me for yet, but I thought I should save it until I'm back on my computer again (when I'm at home, I update from Father's laptop, much to his disgruntlement).