Wednesday, May 24, 2006

News and Other News
A TV marketing guy just called me, and I didn't feel like talking (my voice is rapidly running away), so i just hung up without saying anything. Was that rude? I don't think so, since he called me in the first place. And he's getting paid to endure that kind of thing anyway.

So what have I been up to lately? The usual. Scrambling to not-fail classes, sleeping more than I should, RPing and downloading. Things have been pretty, well, boring, to be honest. Although today my long-lost karate equipment showed up. That was a happy thing.

For the hell of it, I will now give a demonstration of how I read TheO news headlines.
1) Wait several weeks.
2) Delve into archives to collect information all in one shot (whish, sadly, why I didn't find out about the Hyde concert until it was beyond too late and into historical tragedy).
3) Look for familiar names/pictures/titles.
Ex:
*scroll scroll scroll* Pillows! Sweetness, a concert.
*scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll* OMGOMGOMGOMGTWELVEKINGDOMSNOVELSFINALLYYAYYYYYYYY!
*scroll scroll scroll scroll* A funny video. *wacthes first few seconds* Screw that.
*scroll scroll* THERE's the Dire En Grey article I was lookin' for! *bookmark*

4) Post excitement.
Although I think I forgot #4 when I found out about the Twelve Kingdoms novels. Oh, what joy, what rapture I expereicned when I read that small paragraph. I can't wait for them, so excited. ^.^ If you haven't seen the anime already, I really have to recommend it. It gets very confusing, and there are a lot of names, but the artwork is pretty, the voice acting doesn't suck, and the story is surprisingly original (you think, oh, just another misfit girl sucked into another world story, but it's not at all, really). Also, if you need something to read but don't want to stray too far from the manga aisle, I highly recommend the Vampire Hunter D novels, with lovely illustrations by everyone's favorite Final Fantasy character designer. Also, DMP has put out the first volume of Only the Ring Finger Knows (the novel), so the yaoi fangirls also have some literature to devour this summer. The end's rather steamy, a nice touch the manga didn't have. Yays-ness.
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Friday, May 19, 2006

AAAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!
I thought I had gotten rid of that goddamn supposedly-Windows-sponsored piece of shit constantly trying to scan my computer for errors in the registry. All was well for a few months as I heard nothing from it. But today, it reappeared! Under a new name! Only it did the exact same thing! How the crap do I get rid of it?! I've run virus and spy/adware scans out the wazoo and they never pick it up, and I can't seem to track down where it lives on my poor compy. I guess it's back to using only Firefox then. A note to all site creators: MAKE YOUR WEBSITES FIREFOX COMPATIBLE! Not all of us are IE-using idiots! At this point I would demand upwards of $100 to use IE for any purpose. It's so full of crap, rather literally, since it's full of something and that something is as annoying as crap.
And I have a puppy, so I know how annoying crap can be.

On a slightly happier note, I'm sick! Actually, that's not in the least bit happier. Well, I tried. I'm not really sure what I've contracted this time, but it sucks. Chest pain, sore throat like crazy (couldn't swallow yesterday), sinus headaches, and let's not forget the canker sores that keep appearing. So I'm curled up right now in my Ed blanket, full of Ibuprofen (me, not the blanket; I know, misplaced modifier, bite me), in front of the computer at 11:30 AM, tip-tapping away so you can know how crappy I feel right now. It's all for you. *cough* Grr.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Lots of Crap
Things are not back to normal as I had hoped. Ever since Sunday I've been feeling emotionally touchy, probably because I'm falling behind with my medication. But it just goes to show that I'm not getting better like my psych. said I would. I miss a few days of meds and I'm right back to feeling the way I did November and December of '03. Things aren't going to get better, are they? All these doctors and counselors everyone has, they're just to help keep up in th race of compensation, and we compensate and compensate for all the things that start to go wrong with us and keep getting worse and worse until the day we die. It's a losing battle. I wear glasses so I can see, but every year my vision gets worse, my astigmatism gets worse. My depression isn't going to go away, and all I can do is keep the door shut so it doesn't barge in, because it will always be waiting outside.

Today was horrible. I have three canker sores all near each other so I can barely close my mouth without experiencing a shooting and lingering pain. I can't even enjoy my food. I can't get a good night's sleep and I keep waking up just as tired as I was when I went to bed. I do one homework assignment and feel proud of myself only to realize the next day that I missed two others. I havea paper to write and a project to do tonight before I can do so much as nap (if I weren't home alone I wouldn't even be able to post). I feel lonely and pressured. Some of my best friends are leaving in just a few days. I just want to curl up and go to sleep and either never wake up, or wake up in a time when these things aren't happening anymore. I just want all this stress to go away, and I can't think of any way to do it without creating more stress.

There, now I've filled my annual troubled-teenager angst post quota. I need to get off my ass and murder myself through homework now.
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Friday, May 12, 2006

So, friends, I have discovered the joys of RPing. And now my poor dragon Lin is being molested from both sides. *sigh* Poor Lin. He's such an uke. *fangirl giggle*
Off tomorrow (today?) to Rochester! Woohoo! The day has finally come! I'm so excited, everything is going to be fun, even if I have to make it. Ganbatte! Nyao!
So I will disappear from the online world for three days. Meep. I wonder what catastrophes will occur while I am gone. o.o
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Tuesday, May 9, 2006

I just read the news article about the Hyde concerts in CA. Which are sold out. Why don't celebrities I love make their performances revolve around me, dammit?! It'd be so cool to be the center of the universe... Hyde'd have to hold his concert in Baltimore and there'd be a ticket reserved for me (and maybe some for any friends that want to come) and they'd be great spots and then after the show Hyde would come up to me and give me his autograph on the roentgen CD I have and he would talk to me (about whatever... the weather maybe? I just wanna hear his voice in person!) and then Vic would suddenly show up and be like, "Hey! Hyde and I are old friends! Let's do a duet! WHEE!" (only maybe not the whee part) and then they would sing Brat'ja and maybe Oreenji No Taiyou and then Gackt would be there to sing Oreenji too and then there would be lots of food and Elgie and Exo would show up and we'd have a big party and watch FMA.
It'd be awesome if that happened.
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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Today I got an interesting sunburn, then went and visited Jenny for a while. She kissed me again...twice. Damn, she keeps catching me off-guard. Curse you, Jenny, curse you...
I might post a pic of my sunburn later, but right now Photobucket is being a poopy-head. And I'm having problems typing for no apparent reason. Keep heading for the wrong keys. Ack.
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Friday, April 28, 2006

   I know, I know, I said I'd finish the essay later--and I will. MUCH later. It'll have to wait till I go to my grandma's again so I can verify some of my information using her book on alchemy.
Anyway, all sorts of things going on recently. Here's the run-down:
1) Antique Bakery vol. 3 came out recently and Jenny returned the first two volumes to me so there has been much Ono-loving around here. Ah, who can resist the "gay of demonic charm" and his cute little crush on Chikage? Actually, more like barely-controlled infatuation. Mwar.
2) I just finished reading The Princess Bride today. Awesome book. On par with the movie, I'd say, but that is my personal taste. In any case, it's long, but it's worth it, and it sucks you right in.
3) I have two papers due within the month. I could cry. In fact, I think I will, vicariously, through an emoticon. T_T
4) I'm getting a temp job working at the office at Whole Foods MARS (that's an acronym for a very long name), mostly doing spreadsheets. It should start soon and I will get my very own income for the first time in my life! ^.^
5) The commission art shop I set up on Gaia was flooded on Easter and I still haven't finished with those customers. It's horrible, I tell you! They're driving me crazy! With their "take your time"s and their "no hurry"s! AAAGH!
6) I'm getting my green belt in tae kwan doh next week and my equipment has pretty much all been replaced, except for shinguards, hand guards, and elbow guards. Did I mention my entire bag of equipment was stolen? Well, my entire bag of equipment was stolen. What pisses me off most is that it was probably for the bag since it was all nice and new, and the stuff inside probably just got tossed--that's $300+ of equipment (sweaty and used, ew) plus both my belts, an undershirt I rather liked, and my backup pair of glasses. That stuff is worthless to a thief but means a lot to me...
7) We watched Advent Children in anime club today. First time I've watched it all the way through (I am easily bored when I don't understand the plot, which was pretty much ambiguous for most of the movie). My favorite parts: When Cloud is holding a limp and dying Kadaj in the classic hero/heroine pose... Ah, that is beauty... And also (SPOILER FROM HELL) when Cloud got shot. You think the movie's over, everyone's happy, then BANG! Ha ha.
8) The best news of all: On the weekend of the 13th, I will be taking a plane with my mother to Rochester, where we will tour the University of Rochester campus and then... wait for it... GO SEE EXO!! Then we will go to a YGO tournament together on Sunday. I can't think of anything more romantic, myself. Hee, I can hardly wait!
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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ZOMG! Alchemy! Vol. 2
All right, folks, I promised it, so here it is. The article on alchemy, condensed (sort of). No pictures this time, sorry--you can use the ones in the other post for reference to symbols.
All the information here was garnered from Alchemy: The Great Secret and another book my grandma had that I don't know the title of. Alchemy something-or-other. I didn't use any web sources because I couldn't find any that didn't want my money, and if I'm going to spend money it ought to be at a real bookstore for a real book that I can browse before buying.

In this mini-article I will cover the very basics of the practice and concepts of alchemy; not the history, however, because I find history quite dry, frankly.

The Goal

Obviously there had to be a reason alchemy was studied and formulated. Most people are mistaken and believe that the sole purpose of alchemy was to make lead into gold; others think of it as a sort of potion-making. Neither is entirely correct. While alchemists did a great many experiments with chemicals and partially founded the practice of modern medicine, and while many also sought to transmute lead into gold, there was a great deal of philosophy and even spirituality behind the ideas of alchemy.

This is immediately apparent when reading translated excerpts from the Tabula smaragdina, the Emerald Tablet, which supposedly was written by Hermes (or if you're Roman, Mercury, or if you're Egyptian, Thoth) on an emerald that fell from Lucifer's forehead when he was cast out of heaven. That lore alone should suggest a great deal of religious ideas permeating alchemy. Anyway, some of the excerpts describe a "One" who is synonymous with nearly any religion's "God", whose power created all things through the "power of the Sun. We assume this power is the manipulation of alchemy, and can be tampered with by humans in order to "achieve glory throughout the world" and "ward off all shadows".

So the basic idea is that everything can achieve unity, and probably should. Sounds good, lets move on. What is the specific goal of alchemy, then? Power? Oneness? Not quite. Hermetists (the nifty name for followers of the writings of Hermes Trismegistus) believed that everything was one already. Everything was unified with everything else, and especially unified with the aforementioned "One", or the "universal Mind". So this couldn't be their goal, as it was already so. Alchemists want, plain and simple, to figure out how stuff works. What makes such a thing happen? What is such a thing made of? Where did it come from? Where did we come from? It was, like most religions, an attempt to understand human existence and this complicated world around us. Naturally there were different specifics, varying from person to person, but alchemy was a unique fusion of philosophy and science.

Break It Down

The science of alchemy has quite a singular characteristic, in that it is very, very simplified. Of course there's "real" science involved, but from an idealogical standpoint it is broken down a great deal. Alchemy utilizes the well-known four elements used time and time again: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. These are categorized by four characteristics: hot, cold, wet, and dry. Air is hot and dry, Water cold and wet, Earth cold and dry, Fire hot and wet (I'm not sure why, but that's what Edward Kelly says). These are known as the Four, and their properties are vital to the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

The elements can also be broken down according the the Three, which are both attributes and elements of their own. They are Mercury, which represents the volatile, Sulphur, which represents the stable, and Salt, which represents the prima materia, the spirit, the quintessence. I can't remember which elements go with Mercury or Sulphur, but I will remedy that next time I go visit my grandmother.

Metals were especially important to alchemists as they were of the "realm" closest to humans. There were only seven, and each corresponded to a heavenly body: the moon, sun, or one of the five planets visible to the naked eye. These are also called the planetary gods, as each is represented by a Roman (or Greek, if you prefer) god. Venus is copper, Mars is iron, Jupiter tin, Saturn lead, Mercury... mercury, the Moon, or Diana, silver, and the Sun, or Apollo, gold. The creation of the Philosopher's Stone was called the "work of the Sun" on the Emerald Tablet, as a vital step required one to change certain materials into gold. This is probably the origin of the lead-into-gold generalization.

The Opus Magnum

In case you haven't taken Latin like me, "opus magnum" means "great work", and is often used in reference to the Philosopher's Stone. The Philosopher's Stone was the means by which to control pretty much everything, and was a perfectly harmonious blend of all characteristics. Dear Hiromu Arakawa did her research and made the Stone red--the only describeable color the Philosopher's Stone is proposed to be. The three basic colors used often in alchemical images and texts are black, the Nigredo, white, the Albedo, and red, the Rubedo. (Green also appears as the life force.) These three colors represent the three successful stages of the Philosopher's Stone.

There are a number of prescribed ways of making the Philosopher's Stone. There is the "dry" way, which is quicker and uses a great deal of metallurgy, but it was not favored by many alchemists. Instead, the "wet" way was preferred, and it had anywhere from ~~

I'm taking a break. I'll finish this later. So tired... =_=
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Saturday, April 22, 2006

Ha ha! I just spotted my little 8-pointed star medal--in the second (or first, if you're an American viewer) opening sequence to FMA! Looks like it got around. I feel so cool. ^_^
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Friday, April 21, 2006

My father is officially either a cold and heartless man or a total idiot, and I am now going to try my damnedest never to speak to him again. I don't care if he kicks me out of the house, because honestly, I don't want to associate with someone so set in their views that arguing and convincing is pointless, and whose views directly oppose my set beliefs and my lifestyle.
No, I haven't told him I'm bi yet, because he'd probably just say it's impossible, that you're either gay or straight, and if you're gay then too bad, you don't get to express your love for your boyfriend/girlfriend. I hate him. God, I hate him. Why are we related?


Later: I'm bouncinf around the ED on Gaia and found a neat lil topic about how Christianity is portrayed as the axis of evil. Most of the intelligent people commenting were saying that they didn't like evangelism. Here's my stand: Go ahead and tell me what you believe morally, and I will listen and give my moral input. Just keep religious (read: institutional) aspects out of it. I believe in God and Jesus and all that jazz, and I also believe in Buddha and the saints and a plethora of other holy people, but that's where religion becomes something that each individual must choose for him or herself. That is my comment, the end.
Oh, and why did I post it here? I'm too lazy to read the entire thread and post there, that's why. So you got stuck with my jabbering, sorry.
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