Friday, July 21, 2006

The bird on my wrist is doubles as a fashion accessory and a weapon!
Evil Lair-- 11:37 PM
Oh! I didn't see you there. Well, come in, don't be shy now. Have some "grape juice." What? No, that was an order-- Drink! Do you like the new surroundings? I just redecorated. I think the touille is a bit much, but the dark red adds sophistication and warmth. Oh, that? That's one of my many...er...exercise machines. I just got it reupolstered. All the victims' blood...I mean, my sweat, made it necessary. Er...what do you mean, I said "blood?" Of course I didn't! It's an exercise machine, I tell you! Why don't you try it out? What do you mean you left your stove on? Hey, come back! That's an order, not a request!

Today is a pretty terrible day. I managed to drop a computer (the CPU...in a large suitcase) on a toe on my left foot, tweaked my right ankle, and almost got hit in the eye by a plastic table. I'm also exhausted because I couldn't fall asleep last night, but had to wake up early-ish today. Fortunately, I'm done cleaning and cooking for today, so I can just rest on my bed for awhile. Momma's having a party tonight (not the exciting kind, but the kind with all the middle aged women and various patterned papers), and I have to help my sister teach the little 'uns coming. Momma's planned an activity for them, and she's requested I be an extra set of hands. Not that I don't love children (and fortunately, they're all 5 and up), but the way I'm feeling right now...it's probably not what I need. ^^;;

But, on the bright side, I was able to comandeer the living room TV while Momma and imoto-chan were out shopping. I managed to watch episode 2 of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok and episode 12 of King of Bandits Jing. :D Jing has been a long time favourite of mine, but I'm not seeing much of a plot there overall-- it's pretty episodic. Then again, I missed about two or three episodes, so I might be wrong. But, hey, a wisecracking crow and a phantom theif-- who needs a plot? XD He manages to get himself out of situations in very entertaining and clever ways (like Conan-kun!). Mythical Detective Loki Raganrok was actually as good as I expected. I'm a mystery series junkie, so I was immediately sucked in by the title. Add the premise of Norse mythology, and I'm addicted. For some reason, most of the manga with roots in Norse mythology sympathise a lot with Loki and his family. I kinda chuckled when Loki says, "Why does Odin want me dead?!" Gee, you only killed his favourite son and brought Ragnarok (the apocalypse, I think?) on the world. In the legend, at least. XP Odin is Head God, by the way (like Zeus in Greco-Roman mythology). I'm really, really rusty on Norse mythology, so I might be wrong (feel free to correct me).

Well, that does it for today. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Welcome back, BlueHawk! :D

-MC

Awww...Isn't Loki cute? :D


"And don't touch my dirt!" -Captain Jack Sparrow

Music: "Life is Like a Boat" --Rie Fu (Bleach ending theme)
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Thursday, July 13, 2006

It's like bureaucracy: Frustrating and ineffective.
I can't spell bureaucracy to save my life. Bah. >(

Anyway, I signed up for college classes yesterday. What a pain. It took me two hours to get squared away. I expected the counselor to give me advice, a catalog, and to send me on my way. Nope. I was sent to Admissions to make my schedule. Trig and Speech weren't playing nice-y nice with me, so I got crazy on them. I'm a little worried about the set-up of my schedule, but I think I'll be okay.

Gosh, I'm a bona fide college student. Scaaary.

Speaking of scary, someone somewhere awarded me my IB diploma. Yes, a terrible slacker like me actually scraped through. XD Should I be proud of that or seriously worried?

Come to think of it, a lot has changed over the years, hasn't it? People have come and gone. Fads have gone in and out and in and out of vogue. The sophistication of user-made layouts has grown. TheOtaku has become more well-known, far removed from the fansite it used to be. It's...strange. I can sort of remember the Old Days, and the community seemed so much smaller then (well, it kinda was). Everyone seemed to know at least half of the people here. Also, my ranking didn't suck as bad (but, hey, it's pretty good considering how bad a slacker I am XD). Sigh...I used to have a rhythm here. It feels like no one's having fun around my site any more....hmmm.... Well, the inspiration will strike again someday.

Anyhow, finally finished Chrno Crusade. The ending was so bittersweet that I almost did one of those smiling-and-crying-at-the-same-time things. I opted for the in-between and ended up stone-faced. But, I'll say that it was really satisfying and a good study of character development. I'd recommend it to practically anyone. Also, I bummed about in the bookstore and caught up a bit more in Tsubasa RC (but I'm still four books behind). Is it just me or can Fai look flamboyant in almost anything? XD

Anyway, I'm going to cut it short before I write another epic. :D

-MC

If there's anything I've learned in life it's this: Always carry a potion and a couple of ethers.
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Tuesday, July 4, 2006

What? My pants are not on fire!
So, I was reading someguy's fourth of July post for last year and it made me remember this interesting article I read that I think would be appropriate to share on such a holiday.

The article was basically a psychology study. The team of researchers went to numerous nations and took a random sample of data in the form of personality surveys. They found that a lot of national stereotypes were false. I remember Canada and America the best (though they also mentioned England, Germany, Poland, and maybe Holland). It showed that the myth that Americans are brash and somewhat beligerent was wrong, and the myth that Canadians were a bit more submissive than Americans was also proven false.

In sum, we're all the same in the end and world harmony and rainbows and all that jazz. :D

Anyway, aside from my potentially misguided attempt at being fascinating by quoting articles from over a year ago, not much going on here. I'm starting to get a bit of a cold (complete with upset stomach...ugh...), but as long as the aspirin kicks in, I'll be fine. I did go out to the mall Saturday and managed to pick up the first .hack//Another Birth novel (which chronicles the games: Although I have the games, I'll probably never finish them 'cause I suck). I also finally became one of the cool kids and got Kingdom Hearts for the GBA. I hate the battle system with the cards and stuff. It's an okay concept, but having a card for a normal attack is a bit much. I kind of wish it were a better system. I've also been playing another (albiet much older) GBA game called Monster Rancher Advance 2 (or something) in which you raise monsters for battle in tournaments and stuff. I enjoy it muchly, even though I get choked up when I have to retire my monsters. Despite the fact that they're called monsters, they're really cute. Maybe I'll try to take some screenshots (with my uber-crappy digital camera...it probably won't turn out well).

I also managed to get out of the house to see Cars, which I've been wanting to see since I first saw the trailer. It was really good, definitely one of the better movies I went to see with the family (some of the awful movies I saw with them included The Medallion and The Pacifier). It's mindboggling to think that all of that was lovingly programmed and designed by human hands. I couldn't pay that much attention to detail even if I tried. Although I could see the general flow of the plot within the first fifteen minutes, it did have a few surprises. I think the best part was the kind of adult humour that usually flies over a kid's head. Stuff like references to actual pro racers and just the kind of humour that only people who know a thing or two about racing can fully understand. Oh, and I advise sitting through at least a bit of the credits. They have some really cute stuff in the end credits, including a bit where they parody a few of the other Pixar films by changing the actors to cars. "You're a toy car!" "You're a sad, strange little wagon." It was really funny. XD

I'm also looking forward to the Pirates of the Carribean sequel. I might even brave the crowds this weekend to see it. I already have a few takers among my schoolchums. :D

Yanno, I think I'll just leave you with a few nifty links.

-MC

I saw some interest in online Japanese/anime radio stations. I'll post a link to a few of my favourites.

1) AOL radio: Anime music. You'll find it under "Kids" when you open the radio player. You can find Japanese pop under "World music."

2) Japan-A-Radio is a radio station run entirely by fans, but listener slots are often low (meaning sometimes you can't access the station). You'll need Winamp, RealPlayer, VLC player or something to use this. Windows Media kind of works, but you have to do some special ninja trick to get it to work.

3)Anime Academy Radio is a lot like Japan-A-Radio, but plays more anime music than J-pop. Windows Media works just fine with this station.

4) LiveScience.com breaks and confirms a lot of myths about the world around us. Definitely fascinating. :D


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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

I hope you have found a friend.
Eheheheh. So, not much getting done on my end. Maybe I should stop sleeping so much. There's no way I'll ever get back all that sleep I lost in high school.

I'm glad everyone likes the new theme. I always grin whenever I load the page. There's just something about lime green and a plucky hero on a webpage that induces happy. I really want to change my avatar, though. It's not very summery (and it's really ugly).

Anyway, just a few days ago, I busted out the copy of the first FMA game (The Broken Angel) that I got for my birthday and finally played a bit more. Hmm... If you've never played it-- don't. I mean, by Square Enix standards it's pretty terrible. It doesn't coincide with the series very well at all, the battle system sucks (the cronies are easy, but the bosses are next to impossible), and the plotholes are almost dangerously large. Despite all of this, I'm going to finish the game. I want to see how they wrap all of this up. It's almost the end of the game and I still haven't the foggiest how any of it makes any logical sense. I shall see. In sum, save your money for Crimson Elixer, in which they fixed most of the problems with Broken Angel. Actually, if you're into fighting games, Dream Carnival is pretty cool, but you might have to import it.

Augh, I have a long weekend coming up. Okay, summer vacation is one long weekend, but still. I need to get out of the house. I love my family, but spending another weekend with them might drive me nuts. That and my friends haven't seen me in awhile. They might start thinking I'm a computer program that updates journals with stupid nonsense. :O

*sigh* I better get crackin'. I'm really behind here. ^^;;

-MC

P.S. Hey, I just realised that AOL Radio has a Japanese pop station. It's pretty cool. Just check it out under "World Music." I'm addicted to online radio stations. XD
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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Bubbly corneas.
So, the new theme is up...kinda. Actually, the splash image is supposed to be a site map, but it doesn't work. Augh, I guess I have to fix the code. So, it's just a pretty picture for now. I think the background was subconsciously inspired by Constance's pretty stripes. It's really bright, but really summer-y. I kind of like it. :D The icon might change, but this one will do for now. So, it's not perfect, but it's kinda sorta done. ^^;;

-MC
P.S. I had to edit this post three times to get the link to work properly. I think I'm having an off-day. ;.;
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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

If love is a labour, I'll slave 'til the end.
Have you ever just had one of those days where you subconsciously seemed determined to suffer? Yeah, that's been the past few days for me. I've had nasty mood swings. I hate being irritated. I hate feeling impatient. I hate sitting still like this. BLEARGHHHHSAHAHAH!

Anyway, so progress for the new theme is still kinda slow, but it's picking up because I'm forcing myself to have it up tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow. I always drag these things out and cause myself more suffering. Besides, the comic has lost its funny. D: Also, I'm putting up my AIM screenname in my profile. So, feel free to bother me whenever. :D

On the bright side, tomorrow is the first day of summer (not like it matters here, but it's kinda nice for it to be official).

Erm...I guess I'd better get started if I want the theme up tomorrow. ^^;;

-MC
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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Never try to shave a cat.
Hello again, Angels. :D I'm feeling better now, so thanks for all the comments. I think it was just a combination of questionable fast food and allergies. ^^;;

The theme is still in the works, but I have made definite strides. I wish I could show you, but it would kill the surprise. D: I spent a few hours yesterday bonding with my image editor to colourize the spash image. I just have the background, an avatar, and maybe a few other bells and whistles to make. I'm trying to make it as lovely as possible so I don't get bored of it in a week. ^^;;

I did indeed get around to watching Serenity and enjoyed it immensely. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I watch the series upon which it is based beforehand. I still haven't gone out to see any recent movies, but I'm really holding out for the second Pirates of the Carribean movie. I hope my friend will be back in town by then, and we can go and fangirl. XD We used to joke that psychology would be more fun and educational if we replaced our relatively incompotent teacher with a cardboard cutout of Jonny Depp.

Speaking of things delightful, I really wish we had a sort of Smell-O-Vision for the Internet. I got these really lovely candles and they smell so lovely (and they're still in the box!). I just want to wave them in front of my computer screen so that everyone can have that bit of Zen. I also would wave some of my mom's cherry cobbler in your direction. Cherry cobbler + vanilla ice cream + whipped creame = 14 kinds of love (4 of which are probably illegal -_^). Okay, now I'm just spiraling into insanity.

I quietly leave you with this: When Modern Art Goes Bad.

-MC

*proceeds to have tea and cake with all*
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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

You don't have to fight anymore.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate staring at the blank posting area, trying to think of what to write? Because I do.

I'm not feeling really well today, so this'll probably be a short post. The new theme is still under way. I have the pictures picked out, but they need to be scanned sometime. I tried to do it last night, but my computer and the scanner were having a lover's tiff. Well, so was my computer and the speakers. How strange. Hopefully that'll get done tomorrow. ^^;;

Anyway, thanks for all the lovely posts and stories of the bizarre. I loved reading them. :D

Auugh. I think I'm going to shower and relax the rest of the evening. I think I'll finally bust out "Serenity" since I didn't watch it with the family a couple of months ago. Okay, okay, I really need to end this post because I've mentally made about twenty bad jokes in the span of five minutes. That's at least ten more than usual.

-MC

*wallops beavers with a pumice stone*
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Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Is it abnormal if it happens all the time?
Hooray, my laptop came! It came much earlier than expected. :D So, I'm really excited to have a computer that actually works well (it shuts down and everything! I can actually read text now! XD). Of course, I had to set it up on my wireless network (which was easy once I figured out how the wireless card worked) and reinstall all of my programs. The only bummer is that my old image editing program won't load. ;.; It's supposed to be on my disk for my digital camera, but it won't load on my computer. Bummer. I do have a trial of Paint Shop Pro, but it's really complicated. @_@ So, I'm really excited and I'm looking forward to really putting it to use. Once I figure out exactly how everything works, of course. :P Oh, I almost forgot that I have a picture of it here. You can see my Alphonse plushie and printer in the background. ^^;; I dubbed it Sushi, partially because it smells like packaging. XD

Other than that, not too much going on here. The one and only vote I think I got for a new theme was Mimmi's, so Hikaru no Go it is. I have a ton of resources, so it's all good. I have a couple of old Shonen Jump magazines and the first DVD. I think I'm all set on the picture front. I just need to toy with my photo editor a bit and actually get said pictures into my computer. I want to play with CSS a little, so I might incorporate that into my new theme. Or I might not. Depends upon how the experiment goes. *dons a labcoat and cackles*

I was reading Pleiades Rising's latest post and I thought 'If everything you experience could be considered abnormal, is it normal to you?' I'm going to tell you, I experience odd stuff whenever I leave the house. Sometimes, it goes a little crazy in here too. O_o I don't think I ever told you the story of the crazy dancing old man. Well, here it is:

Mom and I were sitting at a stoplight. We're chatting as normal until I look over to a car slightly ahead of us in the next lane. There's this old guy, and by old I mean he's probably in his late sixties or seventies, and he's rocking out. Wildly. He's bouncing up and down in the car, swinging an invisible lasso and seeming completely oblivious to the fact that people can actually see him doing this. I almost died laughing. I think it took me ten minutes to stop and my mouth hurt all day. XD

All the abnormal stuff happens to me. ^^;;

And on that note, I bid you farewell.

-MC

*Rides off into the sunset*
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Sunday, June 4, 2006

Carpe diem! Whatever that means!
Wouldn't it be funny if carpe diem didn't mean "seize the day"? What if some Latin nerd decided to tell his friends, "Hey, this really cool phrase means 'seize the day.'" His friends, in turn, told a whole bunch of other people, who told a whole bunch of other people, who told the writers of The Dead Poet's Society. What if, instead, it translates to "I enjoy licking jelly from between Marshwiggle toes"? How do we know?

87.7 brownie points if you get the Marshwiggle reference. :D

Other than my unusually active inner life, not much going on here. I fought My Closet for dominance of the room and won! Now our trashcan is full of all my old crap. ^^;; Most of it, sadly, is old school notes that my mother insisted I get rid of. I'm such a dork. But I am a victorious dork! I also hung all the stuff that was hiding in my closet, including my mad awesome Spiral wallscroll and- hey, why do I get the feeling you've heard this before? Maybe that's because I covered this last entry! *blushes*

Ahem. ^^;; Anyway, nothing too new on the anime front. I think I'm slowly starting to warm up to Eureka 7. At the beginning, I kind of shrugged it off because of the animation style and the sort of stereotypical characters. I think I finally warmed up to it as the characters gained a bit more depth. Plus, it's the only new anime on AdultSwim, so if I want my fix, I'd have to warm up to it. ^^;; I haven't really got much on the anime front what with my inability to use Bittorent on this outdated computer and my lack of opportunity to use my giftcards. I think I might even sell off some of my old manga that I've lost interest in. I figure that I could use money from manga I don't really like/read anymore and buy stuff that I do like. I'm wickedly behind in basically every series (even Chrno Crusade!). I only have the first two volumes of Tsubasa, the first three of FMA, and the first four of Shaman King. Gaaah, see what school does to you?

Not much to do this week, so I might crank out a few projects I've been wanting to do. I have to at least feel productive. XD Maybe I'll get around to watching all of those cult classics I've missed. Believe it or not, I've never seen all of a Star Wars movie. :O Nor have I seen Moulin Rouge! and a bunch of other stuff sitting in my living room. Maybe I should *gasp* relax over break. ^^;;

Anyhow, have a lovely rest of the weekend! Especially Mimmi, who doesn't have to work until Wednesday! ^-^

-MC
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