Birthday • 1987-01-06 Gender •
Male Location • My happy place, which happens to have a dead body in it -_-' Member Since • 2003-08-10 Occupation • Proffesional Bum and Angel of Death Real Name • Dr. Phil
Personal
Achievements • i think the mere fact that that i am still here on the earth after OVER 20 years is an achievement in and of itself. ive done a bunch of other stuffs too... Anime Fan Since • Jan 2001 (tho i liked pokemon b4 dat) Favorite Anime • Cowboy Bebop, all Gundam, Evangelion, stuff by Mokoto Shinkai, Saikano, Midori No Hibi and many many many more Goals • to rid the world of normal people and set up a chain of islands which will be a paradise for all otaku. Hobbies • anime-what else? Talents • i am the luckiest bastard alive. i am l337. and i am quite artistic. i have magic fingers.
myOtaku.com: darkeangel
Welcome to my site archives. 10 posts are listed per page.
just...wow.
man, i logged on to MyO this morning, and sitting there in the middle of my screen with a blue update sign was Memaki! 0.o its been like two and a half years since i heard from you memaki!
still, only goes to show, you hang around this place long enough, interesting things DO (occasionally) happen.
anyways, its been an...interesting...week. yeah...
Monday was a long day for me. i had to work from 9 am to 6 pm and then i had to go to a training course from about 7:30 till coming up to 10 pm. the training was for authotics (???), or basically specially designed insoles for shoes. i thought it was gonna be all about how to shape and fit them, but instead it was like an hour or so on why people need these insoles, with lots of basic bio-mechanical terminology thrown in and me falling asleep in the back row. still, they had free beer and i got a free pair of insoles too, so i guess i cant complain too much.
the best thing about this training course was that it was on the top floor of this office block called New Zealand house. its only 17 storeys tall, but if you've ever been to London, you'll know how flat most of it is.
THE VIEWS WERE BRILLIANT!!!!
seriously, you could walk all around the top of this building and see practically all of London. AND it was sunset, so the atmosphere was Amazing. it was so frigging beautiful.
and i forgot my camera. ARRRGRUGURGRGRUGRJAUGJRGUAJGAURGAAGURGAJAGJGAJJR RGJAUHRGAJURGJARURGJHUGJRAUGRJUGAJUGRJAHRGJAUGR RGAJRAUHG HRGAJUUHGARUGARUHAGUHRGAURGARHAURGARURUAGHURGAUGAURARUUUHGH!!!!!!!!!!
I was severely kicking myself all night for forgetting my camera. i LIVE ofr views like those. dammit dammit dammit dammit. and my camera on my phone isnt working anymore either. DAMMIT!!!!!
anyway...
i was SOOOOOOOOOOO close to being on TV Monday night too.
basically, some girls died over the weekend when a lorry crashed into their coach whilst they were on a Gap Year excursion. And ITV news wanted to interview someone who had been on a similar Gap Year thing to explain why they are good things to do and why they are beneficial to young people. so the news people called up Raleigh International (which is the group i went with when i did my expedition to Malaysia) and asked if there was someone available.
so the girl at R.I called ME and asked if i was available to do it.
Of course, this was Monday, the night i had to go to that boring old training course i just told you about. so basically, i didnt get interviewed and they had found someone easier to get to anyway.
the ONE night of the year that i had an ACTUAL commitment that i HAD to fulfill, and im requested to go on T.V. DAMMIT!!!!!!!
monday was not a good day.
in other news:
- almost finished making up my Unicorn Gundam. its a very fiddly Model, and i've also been distracted with my mecha tournament.
- finished pencilling mecha tournament Round 4. 24 A4 pages. will try and ink about half of that today.
- still need to book a dentist appointment.
- bought Stardust on DVD the other day. its quite an amusing film. ^^ i enjoyed it.
~and thats it. pretty much.
i was bored yesterday, so i did this Art Meme thing on DeviantArt yesterday... its kinda weird, but i enjoyed doing it. its pretty craptastic too, but what the hell, im gonna show it to you guys anyway...(be warned, its quite a BIG piece...you might just wanna hit the ole STOP button and just skip to commenting if you're on a slow connection...)
ALSO, im adding a PG-13 rating on this. some offensive language and gestures will ensue. hey, dont say i didnt warn you.
urgh~
morning folks. i havent got a proper post for you today. im kinda dealing with the aftermath of a saturday night out drinking with my friends from work. No hangover, thankfully. but uhm...yeah. my room is a bit of a mess. and my bag smells like puke. and i think i made a spectacle of myself. more than once. ^^;;;;;;;;;;
so, uhm, anyway, here are some lyrics i would like you to read. the first lot you might know anyway. It'S Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen". if you have never heard this song, you should totally go find it and listen to it. its got some good advice in it.
***
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;
oh nevermind;
you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…
You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind;
the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…
the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…
***
the other lyrics i would like to share are from an Evangelion CD entitled VOX. these songs never appeared in the anime or the movies ("Death and Rebirth" and "End of Evangelion". im not sure about the new movies)
anway, this is a piece entitled Armageddon. Its set to the music of Pachelbell's Canon, but its a rap. again, if you can ever find this song, listen to it cuz it says some important things.
***
How many times must we start again
The creation of the world from beginning to end
What will it take before we learn
We gotta wake up now 'n' show some concern
What will the future hold
How many untold stories will be told
Just what will the future bring
How many species of birds will have a song to sing
Man 'n' man can't even get on
'N' man 'n' womans been at war for far too long
Superior race all this black 'n' white vision
Catholic. Muslim. There's too many religions
Too much hatred too much greed
Ignorant people pollute the air that we breathe
We've gotta wake up now before it's much too late
Hungry people need food on their plate
People being killed for just a few pence
Can you justify that 'cause it makes no sense to me
You're growing up much too fast
The destruction of mankind - how long will it last?
Perfect - that's what I'm striving to be
The next best thing will do for me
I do my best you disagree
Holier - than - thou holier - than - me
Commiting crimes with no remorse
As good as gold now an evil force
One word description is a dis
You lick a boy down for his bag of cheese 'n' onion crisps
And you don't even stop to think
Whatever happened to the dinosaurs could make us all extinct
I'm being judged by the clothes that I wear
We gotta educate those with a grudge to bear
But I'm content to a certain extent
You're condemned for life it's too late to repent
Inna - most beauty such a terrible waste
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Be judged by according to what you've done
Live this life the next is a better one
Eat the fruit from the tree of life
'Cause if you live by the sword... you'll die by the knife
How great and wonderful are your days
How right and true are your ways...
No more death, grief, crying or pain
'Cause only the good things will remain...
Heed my words 'cause what I'm saying is true
Treat them exactly as they treated you -
Wipe away the tears from your eyes
Be proud, lift your head up - reach for the skys.
Condemned for what you did to them
Now see how quick they fall to worship him
There's a place in my heart that makes me understand
Prepared and ready like a bride dressed to meet her husband
Treat life like a learning process
I said turn right so you took a sharp left
Wake up and we'll all sleep peacefully
The sun shines but it still seems bleak to me
You tell a lie and convince me it's the truth
I'm well mannered but you still call me uncouth
I believe that there's got to be much more
I hope I'm ready when death comes knockin' on my door
Maybe tonight maybe as I sleep
It can drive you mad if you think too deep
But don't have a breakdown 'cause I called you a clown
You threw a punch 'n' missed I killed you with a kiss
What on earth will you do then
The hour of your death amen
'N' all the prejudice that I've sustained
I know it sounds funny but I just can't stand the pain
***
well, i hope y'all read that and gleaned some small speck of wisdom from those words. ^^;
if ya didnt, well you wasted your time coming here didnt you? sorry!
*is too busy rocking out to Dragonforce to think of a proper post*
i've never ever played Guitar Heroes, so i did, believe it or not, come across that song without the aid of videogames. yay me.
anyway, has become sunny again here. although my brothers snowman is still hanging on for dear life...though he's more of a snow blob now. ^^;
things are pretty quiet here. nothing big or interesting happening. got a day off today, so am probably gonna end up sketching out most, if not all, of my round 4 entry for this mech tournament. im pretty stoked to have come this far, but its getting harder and harder each round!
im about half-way through making my Gundam Unicorn model...i'll try and find the time to finish that at some point.
i was free sketching using my tablet last night, and came up with this:
RX-0 Unicorn Gundam ("Under Unicorn" Mode). its a bit squiff, but im fairly happy with it.
Macross Frontier started showing this weekend. it keeps me going until Gundam 00 comes back in the autumn. XD although, having said that, i do enjoy a good Macross show, and this looks like its gonna be fun. we shall see.
Has any body checked the warranty on this planet recently?
i think its broke...
and from my little brother (taken this afternoon)
so yeah. Its *checks watch* April 6th 2008.
AND IT WAS FREAKIN SNOWING THIS MORNING.
still, it was pretty cool. i had to work, so it was kinda annoying (made even worse by disruptions to train services, but i aint gonna go there) but twas very pretty whilst it hung around...its mostly melted now.
also today the Olympic Torch made its way through London. i didnt go to see it (working, remember?) but i followed its progress on the internet at work, and also followed the exploits of the douchebags who tried to disrupt the progress. i dont just blame the protestors for this, i also blame the governement for failing to provide proper security along the route. what really gets me down is the fact that people are attacking the torch.
for those of you who dont know, there's a huge conflict going on over China and Tibet at the moment, and lots of Protestors are disrupting various events in a mark of protest against China and their actions towards Tibet, todays attacks on the torch being a few of many.
now im not in a position to say whether one side or the other is right or not, NOR do i particularly have much interest in the Olympics.
but Beijing won the Olympic bid for this year fair and square. Most of China has nothing to do with the problems in Tibet. and most of all, the Olympic Torch is a symbol of the games, and a symbol of unity and harmony. The Torch has nothing to do with the conflict with Tibet. Why attack the Torch, why attack the Torch Bearers, why try to extinguish the symbol of the one thing on this stupid planet that actively encourages a togetherness, a untiy of humankind to engage in friendly sporting competition and not SLAUGHTERING each other which we seem to do on a regular basis?
why cant people just fucking get along?
its so easy to lose faith in humanity. its so easy to lose faith in this planet and its people.
but part of me still hopes. part of me still believes that tomorrow will be a better day. and part of me...the important part...believes that everything is gonna turn out to be ok.
...
BTW, i really wanna play this song at work REALLY LOUD...
Ladies and Gentleman, I present for your consideration A Pun.
Only three comments? Sheesh. ;p
This week has been hectic. I finally posted the end of my mecha tournament entry up on DA. Took me forever and I'm so tired. And then my opponent went right ahead and blew me away with his entry. I’ll find out the result later this week.
Watched the end of Season 1 of Gundam 00. It was FANTASTIC and I loved it. I so cannot wait for the second season to start in September!! Its one of the best Gundam series I’ve seen for a while. Oh well, in the mean time I have Macross Frontier to follow…
Oh, speaking of Gundams…
MG RX-0 Unicorn Gundam. its gonna be a beast to put together.
I declared Luna officially Off the Road (for Tax and Insurance records) yesterday. Her tax was due, as was her M.O.T, her insurance and my CBT certificate. I know that means zilch to most of you, but its all stuff I need to pay and do so I can ride Luna around legally. BUT, since I'm going to America in about a months time and am going to be away for about four months, in which I am, obviously, not going to be riding her, I figured I’ll legally declare her off road and then sort it all out when I get back…I have Clarissa (my 21 year old Nissan Micra) for the last month whilst I'm here. BTW, someone had the audacity to stick a notice about the removal of abandoned cars on Clarissa the other day. Now I know Clarissa is old and looks like a bit of a wreck, and I know I barely drive her, maybe once or twice a fortnight, but that is VERY rude to assume she had just been abandoned outside our house without asking first. Some people…jeez.
Yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, and they did a Fly-By over central London to commemorate this.
That’s the World Famous Red Arrows in front, followed by four larger Eurofighter Typhoon fighter planes. Pretty sweet, huh?
Also whilst in London, I spotted this, and just had to take a picture:
This cat was waiting outside the church door patiently for someone to let it in. which the tramp did. Go fig.
Also yesterday Peter Hillary, the son of Sir Edmund Hillary (first man to climb Mt.Everest) was coming to our shop to do a talk on Antarctica. My shift ended and I left before he arrived, but I thought that was pretty cool. (no pun intended)
Well, I'm gonna go and get some rest now…well, I gotta go work, but I also need to catch up on the sleep I lost over trying to finish the art tournament. ^^;;;
and March has gone. jeez.
Glad you enjoyed my story. I enjoyed writing it. that’s all that really matters, right?
This week has been…long. And tedious.
I got some bad news earlier this week. I'm not gonna say any more then that, it’s a private matter, but to the people who are involved, know that my thoughts and feelings are with you at this time.
I got paid this week, which gave me great excuse to go up to Forbidden Planet and buy stuff. I got New Dominion Tank Police on DVD, which is a WAY retro anime. The dub is appalling, and the animation is dated, but that’s kinda why I like it. ancient stuff. But its based on Shirow Matsamune’s work so its all good.
I also bought the original Appleseed animation too. Again: Dodgy Dub and dated animation, but ya cant beat the classics.
I also bought a book called “Groundwork of Evangelion” vol 1. it’s a big book basically containing production sketches from the original eva anime. Its great to see how little changes from the production sketches to the actual animation…that’s traditional cel work for ya. None of this CG animation hooey…
And I also went and bought myself a Gundam. should be here by Tuesday. Moving on… XD
Watched both “Transporter” movies this week. the first one was better than the second one, and neither of them were particularly outstanding movies, but I enjoyed em.
I am so close and yet so far to finishing my Mecha Tournament entry. The first three parts are up on DA, but the rest still needs editing…oh well…I have today off…
Yesterday was my mums birthday. Its rude to say how old, but HAPPY XXXXIV BIRTHDAY MUM!
;p
And I am surprised that y’all found my lil comic so funny. I mean, yeah it’s a good joke, but i thought I’d be getting groans and “immature” accusations…oh well. Yay for base humour!
That’s it from me for today. Have a Music Meme:
RULES:
1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, ETC on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5.Put this on your journal.
1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say?
The Song That Goes Like This- Spamalot
(so i think that means im ok)
2.How would you describe yourself?
"Building a Mystery"- Sarah McLachlan
(i is mysterious...)
3.What do you like in a girl?
Red Fraction- Mell (Black Lagoon OP)
(a badass wielding a gun? Revy would make for troublesome girlfriend)
4.How do you feel today?
The Circle of Life- Lion King
(well, there wasnt much sun today to be honest)
Tired~ @.@
So much for my new years resolution of “sleep more”
Anyhoo, hope everyone had a good easter. In vague answer to questions asked:
I'm leaving for America in the second week of may, I am going to Maryland, I am going to be there pretty much all summer (though I might do a little bit of travelling after I finished my work there) AND my supervisor (not my boss) is 20 years old…younger than I am. It’s a funny old world innit?
I blitzed through the inking phase on my mecha tournament (two days straight) and now all I gotta do is finish the dialogue and scan it in. hopefully it’ll all be done by Sunday.
I got a pretty good haul for easter. I have chocolate coming out of my ears. XD I also watched a lot of movies. Particularly “Second Hand Lion” and most of “Big Fish,”. I also watched “Princess Diaries” for some reason. Go fig.
So yah. A good easter.
But now I am working again. Le sigh.
I have been thinking, in that way that I occasionally do, and it occurs to me that a pretty awesome place for a holiday (in a sick twisted and demented way) would be the proverbial “Funny Farm”. If you look past the poor unfortunate condition of the inmates, consider it this way:
You get fed and other basic conveniences.
You get a bed (or even better, a padded room to crazy in)
You can do WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT and people will just accept it cuz, let’s face it, YOU’RE CRAZY!
And when you’re done being crazy, all you gotta do is prove you’re sane to go home. Especially if you admitted yourself.
There are probably many flaws with this idea, but it’s an intriguing concept…
For some reason I was thinking a lot about marriages today. I think it would be pretty awesome to be one of the guys who stand up at the reception and make a funny yet glowing speech about the bride and groom. Maybe when my bro gets married….whenver that may or may not happen. I'm too young to be thinking about marriage. Whatever…
Oh yes. I went there…. XD
Anyways, like I said last post, I wrote a one-shot story the other day based upon a snippit of conversation I had with my brother. I finished it on Sunday, but wasn’t happy with it, so I edited it on Monday and am now I quite happy with it. I also posted up on my world in VV too. I may as well use it for something, right?
So, I present for your enjoyment:
“Song”
(if you don’t have time to read this, please feel free to skip to the bottom. Its not very long, maybe a ten – twenty minute read, depending on how fast you read. Maybe only 5 minutes. I dunno. Whatever. Enjoy.)
“Song”
“It’s quarter to three…
And there’s no-one in the place…
‘Cept you and me…”
The bar was deserted. Outside a raging storm loomed overhead, lashing the streets with rain and stopping all but the most hardy of patrons into coming out. and they had left a long time ago.
I sighed and stole a glance at the old wooden clock on the wall. Just gone midnight. I usually kept the bar open till about two in the morning. Tonight there didn’t seem to be any point. I tucked my cleaning cloth into my pocket and made my way to the end of the old wooden bar, lovingly polished and reached over to switch off the jukebox, which was quietly playing some old jazz.
Suddenly the door swung open and a small figure, silhouetted against the lamp light behind them, stepped into the shelter of the bar and heaved the door shut behind them. In the dim light I could see the figure was of slight build, wearing a big thick raincoat, the hood pulled over their head, obscuring their features. Strapped to the back of the figure was a black guitar case, glistening with hundreds of small rain droplets.
The figure paused for a second, then headed over to the bar.
“Sorry to do this to ya pal, but we’re closing early tonight.”
“Come on barkeep, one for the road at least?”
I raised my eyebrow in slight surprise. Partly because of what was said, but mostly because of how it was said. The figure pulled back their hood, revealing a young woman with raven black hair and dark brown eyes. If I had to guess I would have said mid-twenties. She wore her hair short at the back and long in the front, her generous bangs falling across the right side of her face, covering it.
I hesitated, then shrugged.
“Sure. What’ll it be?”
“Whiskey. Double. On the rocks.”
This again caused me to raise an eyebrow, but I said nothing, and prepared her drink whilst she unburdened herself of her guitar and raincoat. She was wearing a thick sweater underneath, and a pair of cargo pants that were damp from the rain. A heavy pair of well-worn boots finished the ensemble.
I set the drink down in front of her, and she muttered a word of thanks before taking a sip. I left her at the bar whilst I went to put the chairs on the tables and clean out the booths so I could close up quickly once my sole customer had departed.
All was quiet in the bar, with just the tinny sounds of a slow jazz piano emanating from the jukebox and the occasional clink of ice against glass as the girl took another sip.
The clock chimed one am as I finished my workload. All that was left was the girl at the bar. She had been nursing the drink for an hour, her ice almost completely melted.
I rested easily against the wooden surface and nodded at the guitar.
“What make is it?”
“A C.F Martin OM-42PS”
I let out a low whistle.
“A Paul Simon huh? Only two hundred and twenty three ever made.”
“You know your guitars huh?”
“I like to think so.”
“I don’t know much about em. Allison was given to me when I was a kid.”
“Allison?”
“That’s her name.”
I smiled at that.
“So where do you live?”
“Me? Oh, I'm easy to find. I'm always in one of two places: Here. Or somewhere else.”
I looked at her quizzically.
“First time I’ve ever seen you here.”
She smiled; the first smile I had seen all evening.
“It’s like this. Now I am here.” She got off the stool and walked down to the other end of the bar.
“Now I am here.”
She then walked to the back of the room, and perched on a booth.
“Now I am here.”
She returned to her seat.
“See? No matter where I am, I am always “here”.” She drained her glass. “and if I'm not here, then I must be somewhere else.”
“Huh. That sounds like drunk logic to me.”
“No. Just drifter logic.” She pulled out a cigarette. “Do you mind?”
I glanced about. The new laws stated that smokers had to have their nicotine fix outside, but it was gone midnight, the bar was empty and it was still flinging it down outside.
“Go right ahead.”
“Thanks.” She pulled out a heavily used Zippo lighter and introduced the cigarette to the flame. A small curl of smoke escaped, fading into darkness.
“When you have no place to call home, “here” and “somewhere else” are the only two places that matter.” She sighed.
“Homeless?”
“I prefer Drifter, but yeah. Pretty much. We get by. Allison and I.”
Several thoughts were running through my head. How did this girl become homeless at such a young age? Why was she “drifting?” Did she have anybody, a friend, family? How was she gonna pay for the drink? But mostly…
“What do you play?”
The girl smiled sheepishly and reached for her guitar. I leaned back and cut the power to the jukebox. A brief silence settled on the bar, but was quickly swept away by the thin vibrations of steel strings.
“I’ve tried writing my own stuff, but it’s still pretty bad. So normally I do cover versions of songs I like.”
I said nothing, but watched as the girl ran her hand up the neck of the guitar, its silver strings and wood panelling gleaming in the dim light, despite its ragged and worn appearance.
And then she began to play. The tune was familiar, and the notes clear and concise. She started to sing, her voice soft and gentle, caressing the lyrics as they floated through the air, intermingled with the smoke of her cigarette.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t have a partner,
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, the city of angels,
Lonely as I am, together we cry…”
She continued to sing, her slender fingers easily moving up and down the neck of the guitar as if by instinct, her eyes unfocused as if in a trance.
Eventually she stopped playing, and the reverberations flickered and died softly. All that could be heard was the rain outside.
“Under the Bridge” huh? Good song.”
“It was that song that made me pick up a guitar in the first place. It reminds me that I'm not alone in this world. That I’ll always have here and now. Even if the song isn’t about that.”
She glanced at her glass.
“I guess I had better get going.”
“Hang on. You’re really talented. I bet you could make a living out of doing that.”
She regarded me with those large brown eyes of hers.
“Already am making a living.”
“I meant a proper living, good income, a place to stay, a home of your own.”
She laughed, short and hard. Looked away.
“Me and Allison don’t deal well with being in one place all the time.”
I thought that was all she was gonna say but she turned and looked at me sideways, her fingers gently caressing the neck of her guitar, causing a slight accompaniment to her words.
“Y’know, when you’re a kid, everything is so simple. You go to school, grow up, get a job, a lover, settle down and live out your life. You know what you wanna be, where you wanna go, who you’re gonna be with. But then you grow up for real. And life isn’t that simple. People leave. Opportunities are missed. And you wake up one day with nothing ‘cept the clothes on your back, and an old guitar. Your dreams weren’t good enough for the world, but they still expect you to have a place and a purpose.”
She looked away again, a scowl on her face.
“Well fuck that. I decided that if the world wasn’t going to accept my terms, I sure as hell wasn’t going to accept theirs. I took to the open road, Allison by my side, and just walked. Wasn’t sure where I was going, how long it was gonna take to get there. 6 years later, and I'm not sure I care anymore. All I know now is wherever the current “here” is. And tomorrow, the road brings a new “somewhere else”. So long as I make enough money to survive, nothing else matters much. The road and Allison are my only companions. I don’t need anything else.”
She looked at me, and I could see a kind of sadness in her eyes, masked by a defiance and stubbornness that keeps people like her in the street going.
“But sometimes…just sometimes…I wonder if the reason I'm out there walking is because that little kid in me never gave up on finding her purpose. I’ll guess I’ll never know.”
There was silence for a moment. The girl dragged the last of the nicotine from her cigarette and stubbed the filter out in the ashtray.
“So there you have it. My Sob Story.”
“It’s sad to see someone so young lose their place in the world.”
“No offence, but I get this sermon from every shelter I walk into. I don’t need it again.”
I wanted to press the issue, but she interrupted me, holding up a crumpled twenty.
“This enough for the time and drink?”
I took the crumpled bill from her hand and stuffed it in my pocket. I went to clean her glass, and whilst doing so, I asked her the second to last question of the evening.
“Do you do requests?”
“what?”
I told her. She looked at me strangely for a second, then smiled a sad smile and took up the guitar once again.
The song she played was my favourite, and she played it with a delicacy and grace that made it sound as good as the original, even though it was really a piano piece. Her voice sang clearly through the notes and I was caught up in both the tune and the memories.
“So that’s how it goes,
And Joe I know your getting anxious to close.
So thanks for the cheer,
I hope you didn’t mind my bending your ear.
But this torch that I found,
Its gotta be drowned,
Or it soon might explode…
So make it one for my baby.
And one more for the road…”
The notes finally faded into the darkness. Neither of us said anything. The girl went to put her guitar away when I spoke quietly.
“That song was the song that made me decide to be a barkeeper. I was a no-good kid with nothing going for me. No future, no prospects, no family or friends. I was drifting. Then I heard that song on a jukebox like this one here.”
I patted the music player with affection.
“And I figured I could be like Joe. I was a good listener. I wasn’t smart enough to be a shrink or charismatic enough to be a radio DJ. But I could make drinks easy enough. And I could listen. So I went to Bar School. And found out being a barman is nothing like it is in the movies and songs. But I had a purpose. To be the barkeep that anyone could talk to. And that was enough for me.”
I pushed the crumpled twenty into her hand.
“This is for the song. And if you do ever find your purpose and stop drifting, come back here and tell me about it.”
She smiled briefly.
“I’ll come back here and sing it to you.”
“I’d like that.”
She hoisted the guitar onto her back and turned to leave.
“You know, that was my mom’s favourite song. She’d make me play it on Dad’s old guitar over and over. I haven’t played it in a while. It brought back a lot of memories.”
She opened the door. It was still raining, but not quite as heavy as it had been when she had come in.
“Hey,”
She paused.
“Does it ever get lonely?”
Another Pause.
“Often. But I'm used to it.”
She pulled her hood over her head, obscuring her face.
“Thanks for the drink,”
“Anytime,”
And with that she walked out into the rain and disappeared into the night.
I switched off the lights and was about to leave when I remembered that it was that time of year when clocks went forward one hour. I adjusted the old wooden clock, which chimed gently as I did so.
So hey folks, its Easter Sunday! You know what that means right? Easter eggs. Yummy, yummy chocolate easter eggs. XD
Of course we should all endeavour to remember the true meaning of easter, but we shouldn’t neglect the eggs either. ^^
also, when i awoke this morning, it was SNOWING! heh, only like, a month and a half late. it was pretty thick earlier, now its just powdery...i doubt it will settle.
EDIT:
It got heavy again:
i still dont expect it to settle...
Meanwhile, in other news…
Once again, another boring week at work. I got sniped yesterday walking up the stairs to the first floor. My supervisor (yes, supervisor…he’s younger than I am though. lol) was waiting for me and fired off a Stomp Rocket (a small plastic tube powered by a foot pump) right at my crotch…fortunately it missed my vital spot my a few inches. ^^;
So yah, when shopping in London, watch out for SAMs. (Surface to Air Missiles...or should that be Supervisor to Air Missles?)
I’ve finished the pencil work for the round 3 of this mecha tournament. 27 flippin pages!!! I thought I was gonna make this one shorter…guess I didn’t listen… I got a week to ink and edit it. fortunately I got today and tomorrow off, so I can do most of it asap. Deadline is next week.
I was struck with Inspiration yesterday (in the way that happens every now and then) and started writing a story. It’s a short one-shot called “Song” and I hope to have it up here soon for your consideration. Its not really an anime-ish piece, so I doubt VV will ever get a look at it.
Welcome Back to Yukina! Its been forever and a day since she’s been here, but its good to see her back again. And yes, you know me too well girl…I'm off to America again this summer. ^^
AND NOW…something special…
I know I said I wasn’t gonna do these anymore, but this idea hit me at work yesterday and it was too good to pass up.
So for One Time only (maybe)
Heh. CDD will never die.
Well, that’s it from me today. Hope y’all have a great easter!!
meanwhile, back at the funkiness…
ok, quickly first off I wanna say welcome to all new members of VVRC. Below is the code for you to put a banner on your site should you wish.
also, please visit and consider joining up with kitabug’s Passive Dissent group, as can be found here:
http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/passive_dissent
they’re probably gonna be more proactive about getting their say out and about then I am, to be quite honest. I am very much a procrastinator still…
anyways, enough beetching about VV and the like. Back to regular darkeness…
its been a relatively quiet week here. On Sunday we did a stock check at work that started when the store opened at 11am, and apparently went on till about 9pm. I got to leave early cuz I was doing delivery the following day, which is a 7:30am start.
Anyways, someone or something screwed up cuz now our stock system is showing massive discrepancies between what it thinks we have and what we actually have. So infopoint is now useless, and we have to recount everything. Yay. >.<
Went out and bought Matsamune Shirow’s “Intron Depot 1” today. Its got a whole bunch of colour works from his famous manga such as Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police and the like. I'm looking forward to reading through it. it was really funny cuz me and a few of the guys in Orbital Manga, the store I bought it from which is near where work, had a really nerdy conversation about Gundams for about five minutes whilst I was in the store. Its cool that there are Otaku near where I work whose eyes don’t sort of glaze over (and in fact even get excited) when I mention Gundam…
Oh and to Master Hiko: not THAT kind of Visa doofus. I meant the kind of visa that lets me enter your country and work there. I already have the kind of visa that allows me to pay for stuff on plastic…
Finished watching through RahXephon the other day. the DVDs were going cheap (it is quite an old series now) so I bought all 7 pretty quickly.
Admittedly when I first looked at it way back in 2003/4 it really didn’t appeal to me that much, but I cant think why not. After I read the novelisations, I decided to give it a go, and was pleasantly surprised. It is very well animated, and the characters are very well developed. The story concept is quite interesting, and although a lot of the plot does echo of Evangelion clone, it is different enough to make it good viewing. The twists and turns in the plot are a little confusing, and probably require multiple viewings to understand, but overall I really enjoyed it. it’s a sorta mecha show, but at its heart it’s a tragic love story, and a story about how people interact with each other, about how people hide their true natures and how music, like in many animes, is a powerful force. Check it out.
I’ve also been rewatching the first few volumes of Trigun. Its been a while since I’ve seen it, and watching the crazy mishapes of Vash The Stampede over again is quite pleasant. Trigun may be old-school, but it is a testament to how great an anime can be.
I have also made up a few Gundam models the other day. these are from the new Gundam 00 series which I have been following quite intently. The last episode brought quite a shock, and I cant wait till next weeks episode. Every week the show keeps bringing new shocks and surprises and the show just keeps getting better and better.
Anyway, without further ado, i give you GN-001 Gundam Exia and GN-005 Gundam Virtue (HG 1/144 scale)
MYO SECRET TECHNIQUE! MULTIPLE IMAGE POST!!!
Gundam Exia (alt text included)
Gundam Virtue (more alt text…you know you love it…)
ALL CHANGE
Hey folks. Time for regular Darke-action here on good ole MyO.
As you may have noticed as you came in, I changed my intro. Its been a while since I’ve done that…first major change is I’ve disbanded and removed MyProcrastinator.com club and UK OTAKU club. Partly cuz no one seems to ask about it anymore, partly because MyO is pretty much dead these days.
Which brings me to the next big change… I am founding the MyO V.V Resistance Corps. This is open for anyone to join, but its mostly aimed at people who are dissatisfied with Version Vibrant. People who just want a simple blogging interface that interacts with their creative works. People who wanna post more than one image at a time. And mostly, for people who want a nice comment box.
Don’t get me wrong here; I'm not trying to spark up a total war with VV. In fact, I encourage people to use VV, report the bugs and get em fixed. Ideally, a full integration of MyO and VV would be our ultimate goal. Blogging on MyO, with portfolio links, and all the funky features of VV in one simple to use system. MyO and TheO are brothers. And they shouldn’t be split like this.
As a member of MyO VVRC you should strive to get the word out, to encourage people to use MyO more often, to request (politely) that MyO be returned to its former glory. A return to the days when we were a community, were friends and neighbours, despite our international roots, and where we could post our creative works and share them using one simple system. And whilst I say “go back” to the days, I want us to push MyO and TheO FORWARDS, so that together they can be everything they have the potential to be. One Unified site for Otaku to share and show off to the world. So that one day the definitive online community for the Otaku of the world will not be MyOtaku or TheOtaku.
Instead it will be:
OurOtaku.
Spread the word folks. I cant do it alone. Visit “Worlds”, visit other MyO blogs and spread the word. All members will get a small badge to put on their site. Just ask me for the code.
For a brighter future, for a unified otaku community.
VIVA LA RESISTANCE!
In other news, (in brief) it has been a slow week. the real world is terribly boring. Today I have an undetermined shift, that is to say I’ll start at 11am and have no idea when I’ll finish. Gotta do a stock check. Could take a while…
Almost finished applying for my Visa for America. Haven’t got long to get it sorted.
Almost finished the pencil work for the mecha tournament I'm in… its gonna be another huge one!
Finished watching RahXephon. It was really quite good actually, though it did seem a lot like Evangelion at some points. I'm gonna watch the movie, then probably do a review.
I’ve also recently made up a few Gundam models…pictures at some point.
just...wow. 
Tired~ @.@ 
