Sunday, January 1, 2006

A Whole Lot of Blah
Aside from Independence Day, New Year's is my least favorite holiday. Ever. We usually end up just sitting around at home, no parties or guests or special food or ANYTHING, because everyone else has plans or we're sick or stressed or something. And somehow, watching the ball drop in Times Square, counting down the seconds to a "new year", just isn't exciting for me. I'm one of those people whose aware of the fact that if you're going to celebrate New Year's, you might as well be celebrating every moment of every day. Because time is always moving forward. It's not as though we're stuck, frozen, until midnight on December 31st and then we jump forward a year. Every moment it's a year since some other moment 365 days ago. This particular moment just happens to be a year from the last time we celebrated. Which doesn't really make much sense at all. So New Year's, in my eyes, is just an excuse to get drunk and make a lot of noise, and I don't like alcohol and can't consume enough to start enjoying it, so all that's left is making noise. And I can do that any old time. I do, in fact. Often.

That, and this New Year's was rather depressing. We crossed another dog off of our possible adoptions list because he had something against poor Czar. The family's been arguing all evening. My mom was entertaining herself by watching Batman Begins, five minutes into which I left the room, thoroughly bored. I ended up yelling at my dad over something stupid just after midnight, and then he went off into his office and doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. Now my mom is cleaning and that makes her grumpy. I wanted to have Lisa over, but she had plans. I called James three times and he didn't pick up, even after suggesting a few days ago that we get together over the weekend (he got a DVD burner and I have some anime on VHS I'd like to convert over, and he's been at college for ages by now). I doubt there's anything on TV but junk and marathons of the most annoying shows the stations can dredge up.
So I spent New Year's playing Sims2 and getting my third self-insertion character pissed off at the Sim represnting Nick, since she was already engaged to Ed anyway and I felt rather malicious. Then Nick kicked over my trashcan and I had to spend two hours Sim time cleaning up and spraying roaches while Ed was at his nighttime job. I can't turn on the testing cheats anymore without getting error messages, which is very annoying. Oh, and my pajamas smell like fish oil for no reason.
But at least watching Weiss Kreuz outtakes was fun.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005

I'm baaaaack...

Here's the rundown:

Things purchsed:
6 Hellsing figures - $30
6 miniature FMA figures - $10
1 chibi-Ed coin purse - $4
1 XOXO brand shirt from Macy's - $22
1 belly ring for Lisa - $4.50 (I was shocked too)
2 volumes of Diabolo - $20
2 volumes of very soft-core yaoi (my mom gave my dad orders not to let me buy 18+ stuff...) - $26
1 tall gingerbread latte - $?
Putting the little tiny cigar in Sir Integral Hellsing's mouth - Priceless

Kinokuniya was not nearly as fun as I had hoped because my dad was under orders so I could only get the 16+ rated stuff at most. It was very depressing. The second floor was too crowded for me to pick out New Year's cards. There were no Malice Mizer CDs, for some odd reason. We didn't go to Book Off, which was okay--I just got a bunch of CDs for Christmas anyway. Elizabeth Center was more successful than usual because I'm not a shy little thing anymore, at least not so much. I love not paying sales tax. There were also some great deals there. Everything was a total steal, I thought. Not that I'm complaining. And Lisa's belly ring was only $4.50!! Normally they're like $30 (yes, as in thirty dollars) or more. I less-than-three Chinatown.
The Rockettes show... I fell asleep in the middle, but here's my review of the part I saw. The special effects were pretty overdone, although some of them were very nice, like the lighting. The 3D part was stupid, I thought. The music was so-so, and some of the songs they picked were pretty crappy. The costumes were creepy, and Santa even moreso. But the dancing? Gorgeous. Awesome. Loved it. And for the living Nativity? They had REAL animals on stage. Camels and donkeys and sheep. The donkeys were so cute!! And the storyline, um... I didn't really pay attention, so I don't know. It seemed pretty infantile though. Very family-oriented, despite the dancers.
We ate at some basic places yesterday--T.G.I.Friday's and Sbarro's--but today for lunch we went to Lindie's (Lindy's?), which is famous for its cheesecake. There are two of the diners, one right across from the train station, so we ate there. The food was pretty good; I had a chef salad. The cheesecake...oh, boy, was that good. It was a bit unusual. It wasn't nearly as heavy as most cheesecakes, so you could eat the whole slice without puking, and had a nice fluffy texture. It also had good flavor, a little bit sweeter than most. And the crust was a thin layer of cake, instead of graham cracker. Very good. I reccommend it. Also, they have cherry Pepsi there, which is unusual.
So we saw the Christmas sights. The tree in Rockefeller Center, the giant...inflated things at Macy's, Radio City. I loved Macy's. It was friggin' huge, and we covered maybe half the floors. There were some really nice things there, but I only bought a shirt, because a lot of it I had a feeling I would either not wear or not be able to store properly on the train (a dress, for example). Oh well. The one shirt I did buy was really pretty. ^_^

In general, it was a good trip. I had fun and di what I wanted to do, for the most part. I don't suggest going to NYC during the Christmas-New Year season, though. Very crowded, lots of tourists, and it's hard to get a good hotel or find a restaurant or cab with room.
Oh, and who's going to Katsucon? Cuz I'm not. It's too late for pe-reg (there's no way in Hell I could get the forms mailed in in less than two days). So I won't be there like last year. Oh wells. Otakon I will do though, even if it kills me. Nyaa.

PS - It's very hard to draw on a moving train. Eek.
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Monday, December 26, 2005

Well, folks, I'm off to NYC tomorrow with Lisa and my dad (my mom has a terrible cold and can't come; I'm really sad about that but the trip must go on!) and I'll be back the day after. I'll post about the trip then or the next day, depending on how tired I am.

The itinerary? Well, let's see. Elizabeth Center, Kinokuniya, and Book Off for shopping. Macy's for sight-seeing (I've already been to the ESB... it SUCKS; hour-long line for ten minutes of being cold and looking at grey buildings with the occasional interesting graffiti; about as fun as a tour of the DC Metro line). The Rockettes for a show (I don't wanna go, but I've gotta pull through for my dad *sigh*). Train ride there and back. Yup. That's pretty much it. I'm hungry
Talk atcha soon, all.
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Sunday, December 25, 2005

On the First Day of Christmas, My Generous Parents Gave to Me...
Here's the list so far (have to go to my grandparents' to get, oh, the other HALF).
-An mp3 player (not an iPod, but this is much better than an iod anyway because it was cheaper and does more schtuff) and $15 for iTunes.
-Depp=Wonka=Pretty to the MAXX. I mean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on DVD.
-A foot spa, nail polish dry-faster-stuff, and Frizz Ease products.
-A lucky cat made out of almond paste!
-Two FMA pins and an Ed keychain. <3
-Books: 2 volumes of Get Backers 4, 1 of vol. 5; The Book of Dragons (very pretty!); How to Draw Manga: Colorful Costumes; a little something my granddad wrote.
-CDs: Hellsing: Raid; Gackt: Crescent; Oyasumi: a collection of Japanese lullabies; The Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack.
-Clothing: an entirely black ensemble complete with satin pants, mandarin jacket, and clutch; a shirt from Hot Topic that says "Will work for anime" on the front and "Otaku" on the back in hiragana, made to look like it was done in masking tape; a Gravitation tank top with Kumagorou on it <3; a black ribbed turtleneck; really nice silky pajamas, black with pale pink trim.
-A Menchi plushie.
-POSER 5!!!

*deep breath* Am I freakin' spoiled or what? Well, I can't say I mind much. ^_^ I'm gonna copy some Hellsing music to my computer and install Poser now, whee.
And no, I didn't go to Mass because there was no service at the old church, which is so much prettier (and smaller) than the new one.
And the 4th DVD of Yami No Matsuei came from Netflix yesterday. YAY.
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Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry early Christmas, folks.
And just in time for me to make a clinching statement about it, I've decided to drop the whole Christmas vs. Holidays issue. My statement: The word "holiday" came from "holy" and "day" (no duh?), so really it isn't all-inclusive. Sure it touches on all religions, but what about atheists who celebrate the Christmas season? We've gotta get them in there too to make it worthwhile to say Holidays instead of Christmas!

And that marks the end of the discussion. I'm going to go hunt down origami patterns so I can make my parents some cute little presents.

But first I will complain about modern Christmas music, of which I am quite sick. Really, what do Rudolph and Frosty, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, All I Want for Christmas is You, and Jingle Bells A) have to do with the real significance of Christmas (both religious and social) and B) have that's worth singing about? Really. Frosty is a douchebag anyway. *shoots the dumbass snowman*

Happy Time of Snow in the Northern Hemisphere, all.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

From Inside My Head
It's rather comforting to be back to normal after such a very long time. It's been...three years? Maybe four?--since I felt so well-settled. Things are just making sense.
The thing that signalled the return to normalcy was the reading I've been doing lately. It's been ages since I read so voraciously, snatching up any book offered to me and devouring it whenever time allows. It's a good feeling--books are so comforting and stabilizing while still inspiring the imagination. I've read 5 books since October--good long novels. It's true when they say a good book is like a good meal. I feel nice and full and yet still a little bit hungry, just for the taste, after reading.
So from that came general good feelings. I no longer fret over whether I'm staying up too late or not, because I know that I can get through the day ahead anyway. I don't worry about my moral standing because I don't feel particularly evil, although a bit guilty occasionally. School is a bother, but not a source of agitation--I get done what needs to be done and if I don't, I take whatever comes next. Romantically I'm still lovelorn over Jenny, but I have wonderful Exo so I don't feel needy or lonely; rather, I feel safe, because there's no risk of the word "no", at least not at the moment. Jenny also has a boyfriend so I know she's content. There are things I want to do soon that I will do when I can: see Brokeback Mountain with Jenny and Ryan, go to NYC and buy wonderful things and have a good time with Lisa and my parents, enjoy Christmas with company, relax properly. There are things I have to do soon: homework, packing, cleaning. The next two weeks are fairly laid out for me, ready to be plundered and borne.

So Merry Christmas, everyone. Enjoy your breaks from school, however small they may be. Take advantage of the opportunity to rest. And yes, you are allowed to shoot me for being soppy. It's just that I just got back from my last midterm so I'm feeling gooooood. ^_^ IT'S OVER! YAY!
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Saturday, December 10, 2005

I'm in a rather odd mood...
I just got my first Christmas present today in the mail! I'm excited because it's from Akadot, which means it's gotta be good. Yay! I love Christmas!
As one of my dad's favorite bloggers would say, "Eat Yuletide, ahteistic bastards!" I mean, seriously, the whole Church&State Separation thing has gone way too far. In fact, interestingly enough, it has gotten to the point where its execution is contradicting its meaning. Banning kids from doing religion-related things in public school is supposed to be enforcing the Separation, but it's actually crossing the border by enacting laws against religion, which looks an awful lot like the confrontation of Church and State to me. Really, if it bothers you so much to have your kids in school with people of other religions, go start your own private school for Wiccans or Satanists or whatever minority religion you're a part of. Just stop bothering the rest of us, okay? And while I can see why companies would use "holidays" instead of "Christmas" in commercials, it starts getting a little cheesy when they take traditional Christmas songs (IE "We Wish You a Merry Christmas") and replacing "merry Christmas" with "happy holiday". There are plenty of non-denominational songs to choose from. Try "Jingle Bells", or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (it being Christmas Eve is just a date-related comment, really). And to Hell with political corrctness, I'm wishing everyone a Merry Christmas anyway! After all, what's wrong with a happy December 25th? Should I curse you all instead?

Silly politics. Religion is for people who aren't Satan-spawn!
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Friday, December 9, 2005

A Very Long Post to Cover a Very Long Time
*sigh* I wrote a post out but just as I submitted it the network blinked out so it was lost. Damn. Here's the basic jist of it, anyway. (Only the first two paragraphs, because the rest happened more recently.)

We had to put Chaucer down on Wednesday because she had a tumnor on her liver that started bleeding. I'm not too sad about it, mostly because I was expecting something like this to happen for quite a while. She was old and had cancer, so I'm just happy that she got so much extra time (from June or May when we found out she had the first tumor), and that it was an easy decision to make under the circumstances. There was no caught-in-the-middle situation. It was either put her down or have her suffer and die the next day.

So we're looking at new dogs. There are two in particular: a shiba inu we visited the other day and who is very active and social, and a sheltie/corgi mix we have yet to meet. Either would be fine, but I really like the shiba. Unfortunately we're the second applicants so we may not get him.

It snowed last night, just enough to get us out of school without immobilizing us for the whole day; how lucky! Sadly, there were two major incidences caused by the "snowstorm". A plane's front landing gear collapsed and it slid off the runway onto a nearby highway and crushed a car or two. Also, later a tractor trailer driver was stunned by the glare off the snow and cuased a huge pile-up. So I guess it was this traffic that caused the day off more than the snow and ice. Snow is pretty, but dangerous to drive in. ;_;

And I just got an email from my mom from Hide, her Japanese friend from work (he works at Genji Sushi, who just started making the sushi for Whole Foods). Here are some highlights from it. ^_^
"I have one big news I'd like you to know in advance. I and my wife decided to go back to Japan by the end of January 2006! Worst thing is that we won't be able to cooperate any more. But the best thing is that you will have pen pal to exchange mails or friend to visit in Japan, and your daughter (if she decides to be an exchange student) will have someone to rely on and ask for any help (if she would need) while her stay.
Then as I already wrote, Tory is always welcome to visit us in Tokyo, if she decides to come over. All of my Japanese friend who joined exchange student program and came over to US said that was really good experience and gave them a big influence for their way of think.
My family also had an exchange student from New Zealand for two weeks, and it was really precious experience for me to know something from outside of my small world.
Jane-san, if you have a chance to come over the ocean, off course you and your husband are always welcome, too. Now I know much about the differences between America and Japan, so that I can show you many of strange and interesting things in Japan."

I hope we do get to go visit him. Tokyo would be my first choice of cities, mostly because there's soooo much STUFF there! Kyoto would be second because it's so scenic and historic. I'm not interested in anything in Hokkaido, though. Too cold! I can only take the cold in small, season-long doses. ^_^U

And I had a weird dream last night... It was a bizarre blend of obvious dream-things and details from real life. For instance, though I was staying in a room at some dormitory (with a nice big bed!), all the clothes I had with me were things I really own. And then later I went shopping and couldn't remember whether I needed pajama pants or not, because I kept "remembering" wearing a pair before I left the room--the pair I had worn before i went to bed (I just wear an oversized T-shirt to sleep). Very weird. Then it just went nuts and turned into a video game I kept losing because there was a war between animals, most of which happened to be Yugioh-related creatures and the rest of which were actually household items like candles O_o, and humanoid things like elves, which came from something I read before I went to sleep. Dreams are so fun though, when you can remember them and start figuring out which things came from the previous day and which things were just made up. Yay!
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Monday, November 28, 2005

I just found out that the people who programmed Microsoft Word were not by any means grammar geniuses. I was typing up a religion paper and had to type "Moses's". The computer insisted it should be "Moses'". I'll tell you why that isn't the case. (Grammar lesson! Learning is fun!)
While this may not be the rule generally taught in school, it's what I was taught, by a very intelligent and educated woman, so I believe it to be true. If Strunk&White or some other real grammar authority disagrees with me, please tell me and I will change my sinful ways.

Ahem. When forming a possessive, normally one adds apostrophe-s to the end of the word. In the case of a plural noun that ends with "s" (so this excludes sheep and fish and that sort of thing), however, one would add just the apostrophe. This is to avoid people saying "horseses" when pronouncing the plural of "horses" ("horses'"). Similarly, words like "wolves'", "carrots'", and so forth are not prounced "wolveses" or "carrotses", unless you are Gollum, which you aren't.
Normally in school it is taught that with proper nouns ending in "s", such as "Moses" or "Heetderks", you do the same thing you do with plural nouns and just add the apostrophe, so you end up with "Moses'" and "Heetderks'". This is incorrect. For instance, when pronouncing the word, we do not just say "Moses" or "Heetderks", as we would say "wolves" or "horses". We pronounce them "Moseses" and "Heetderkses". For another instance, When it comes to names that end in an "s" sound but not an "s" letter, we pronounce them the same way ("Lance's" is "Lances") and yet write them differently, following this rule (notice that it's "Lance's" and not "Lance'"). Granted, of course, when speaking of multiple people of the same name, say, "Heetderkses" or "Lances", when forming a plural you do add just the apostrophe ("Heetderkses'", etc.). Since there is only one Moses, and "Moses" is not a plural of "Mose" (really, it isn't!), and "Jesus" is certainly not a plural of "Jes", there is no reason to treat them as plural nouns (and if I see another "Jesus'" I will kill things, grr).

In shorter terms: There's only one Moses and he's not a group of people, so it's "Moses's". Stop treating names ending with "s" like plural nouns! It makes kittens cry!

(If there are any typos, which there probably are, they are caused by my cold fingers and the urgency to write this post out quickly so I can finish my paper, not because I can't spell. I hope you enjoyed your grammar lesson, and if you didn't, well tough. I'm not taking it back.)
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Saturday, November 26, 2005

Yay! Art of Otaku was very good. There were really only two artists I liked, but there were some really great tut's in there. There was one on screentones that would have been tremendously helpful if I hadn't bought a book by Deleter on it already a few months ago (yay, Deleter!). There were some good colored pencil and watercolor tips, and some great tricks for Photoshop I hadn't even thought of before. So I plan on entering an artistic frenzy soon. ^_^ In any case, it was worth the twenty bucks, but not really any more--there was a lot in there I could have done without, to tell the truth. But since most How to Draw Manga books are $15 to $20 anyway (or more in some bookstores T_T), I figured this was a pretty good deal, and in an easier-to-use format than a book.

I think I'm going to play Baldur's Gate, which I haven't done in a very long time. It's a very good game, I just abdndoned it when I got stuck in one part. Bad Tory, giving up so easily. ^_^U

EDIT: Well, never mind. BGI won't install and the disc for BGII got somehow scratched into the Netherworld. *sigh* Why do all my favorite CD's get scratched? Is it because God hates me? WHY? T_T
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