Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Anime fans
Yay anime fans!

So I wandered into Barnes and Noble yesterday to drop off an application. I quit my job on monday due to a bunch of junk, so I'm searching again... >.< But anyway, I HAD to go look at the manga section, even tho I can't buy anything. Long story short, I got into a nice long conversation with another anime fan, whom I've never met before. ^^ That's one thing I love about this little subculture. You can start random conversations and get along fairly well with other fans, plus you *know* you already have something in common. I think that's why, at a convention, no matter how crowded it may be, I'm not nearly as nervous and "I wanna leave as fast as I can" as I am in a general group at school or in a store.

Speaking of conventions, it's official that I'm going to A-Kon in Dallas this year. I *technically* don't have the money, but a friend pretty much decided to drag me along. ^_^ I'm excited. Big convention and ROAD TRIP! Tho 14 hours in a car with two or three boys is gonna be interesting. Haha!
We'll see if I can get Subaru's ceremonial robes done by June. That'd be awesome, but I dunno. If I do it at all, I'm definitely gonna buy the hakama, because they look WAY to hard to make without a full-scale pattern. ::cries:: So, if anyone knows a place to buy hakama under $40, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!

So, ya, thoughts of conventions are pretty much getting me through the next week of school. Eeeew finals, but then I'm done till June 18, when I have to start Physics II. ::dies:: How dumb would it be to transfer schools when I only have two more years to go? Heh heh... ::cries::

Take care! I will try to visit everyone next week after all my finals are FINISHED!! I'm looking forward to it. Quickly, I looked at some of everyone's new wallpapers and such. They're wonderful, so I can't wait to actually spend some time downloading and commenting!
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Monday, April 2, 2007

E-Days
So, uh, E-days. Friday was fun--hundreds of college kids taking up a lane of a major highway into Denver, walking over seven miles to the capital. Oh, and we were hauling an orecart and a donkey, too. ^_~ The point is to make as many people honk and/or stare as possible. ^^
Then there was the Flogging Molly concert that night. The first time my college has had a really well known band like that play for E-Days. Yay! It was pretty fun, but I'm afraid of mosh pits, so I stayed on the sidelines and watched... hehehe.

Saturday wasn't so fun, tho. We raced our cardboard boat that we've been slaving over for the past week and a half or so. It did really well, actually (even after we capsized as soon as we got it in the water)! We got third place. But anyway, after the first heat, we had to drag our boat back to the start line for round two. It was freakishly heavy, so I was already struggling, and then I slipped and fell off the sidewalk and down the bank. I was mostly OK, but the police called an ambulance and I had to go to the ER for X-rays and stuff. Turns out that I only sprained my back and neck (and wrist), and I had hypothermia. (The water was d4mn cold, and I got completely submerged.... not to mention I'm afraid of the water.... ::cries::) That was the worst part. I was shaking so bad. ::shivers:: I was in the hospital for all other E-days events except Mythbusters (yeah, THE Mythbusters, at my school) and a comedian.

Oh, and I fought my car door. lol! It sorta won and gave me a black eye and a cut on my cheek. yeah, it was definitely not my weekend...

Sooooo, I'm hoping this week will be better. For starters, I get to talk to an astronaut tonight, so that's really cool. ^____^ me so excited!! And I get to start working. So, ya, wish me luck!!

Laters!
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Thursday, March 29, 2007

   Me so sleepy... School definitely eats me. ::dies::

Sooo, a short update is in order, so you all know that I'm still (mostly) alive.

1st:
I got to meet the professor I will be working with in Japan next year. He came to visit my school and give a lecture, and I got to take him out for lunch. It was really awesome to finally get to talk to him in person. ^___^ I'm kinda scared, tho, because I'll be working with all graduates and PhD students. It's really exciting, tho, because I know I'll learn SO much!!

2nd:
Cardboard eats me, too. For the past several days, three other girls and I have been working on our sophomore design project. This weekend is what is called E-Days, or engineering days, at my university. One of the events is the cardboard canoe race, and that's what we are participating in. We've been building a kick-butt cardboard canoe to race this weekend, and let me tell you, it's been a trying process. More like, I'm not sure how I didn't kill a couple of my teammates. lol! But it's over now. All we have to do is survive the water on Saturday!! ^___^ Tho, I'm not sure how we'll do that... lol! It's snowing today!! Aaaaaaah! I'm sooo gonna freeze... ::cries:: But our boat is AWESOME! So, ya. Maybe I'll try to post some pics here for you all to see. ^^

Um, what else? I got a job today, so that's really exciting, too. And I might be able to move to a cheaper apartment this summer, so hopefully I'll have some money for my study abroad, ne? ^___^ yay!

Well, I'm off to go eat with my cardboard boat teammates. Laters!
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Monday, February 19, 2007

   DIR EN GREY!!!
Soooo, I haven't been around myO for a while. School has been keeping me really busy the past month or so... especially with getting my application to study abroad turned in. That's an interesting story I may have to rant about on here sometime. All I have to say now is that the Engineering Department is EVIL! and cruel, but mostly evil.

But anyway, just a quick post today. I got to see Dir en Grey on Friday!!!! It was awesome!! The stage performance was a little disturbing, and I'd have liked it if they played more songs like "Ain't Afraid to Die," but I like the ballads and those type of songs. it was still really cool to see them. I nearly cried when they came on stage and Kyo started singing. but I'm a fangirl, I guess... ^^;; I don't understand how he can scream so much and still have such a nice voice... and how he can sing higher than a lot of girls I know.
And the audience was great. Even thought the venue was small, it was completely packed! ^____^

Well, I have a test tomorrow, so wish me luck!
Laters!
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Sunday, January 14, 2007

x_X
Hehe, so much for the "series" of posts I was planning... ::points to last post:: Grr. Maybe I'll write more some weekend I'm not obsessing over school, because I really wanted to continue.
So many things to do that aren't school related. ::cries::

Good news! My application for a university in Sendai finally came in, so I've been working on that!! Yay!!!! I really hope I get accepted! Oi, there are so many classes I wanna take there--I could spend years there! But I *may* get to go back for graduate school if all goes well. Hehe. But that's not going to happen for a few years, sooooo. One thing at a time, I suppose.

With that, I must be going off to bed so I don't fall asleep in my super boring 1st class.
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Wednesday, January 3, 2007

   The “Anime is way too important in my life” series of rants
First off, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!! Hope they were wonderful for everyone!!

On to the rant: Cosplay. Hardcore cosplay—not just costuming, but costuming AND acting.

Note: forgive redundancy, length, and the complete lack of flow. (Come on, I go to an engineering school that doesn’t believe in any form of liberal arts… I’ve lost the ability to write well. ::cries::)

Cosplay: an interesting concept for little, quiet, shy me. The first convention I went to, I was interested in seeing all the cosplayers, but would not be caught dead in a costume. At that time, I barely knew what the word meant. I walked around thinking, “There are a lot of really cool costumes here, but why on earth would someone do that? I mean, some of these people are in their 20s or 30s! Aren’t they embarrassed?”
Heh heh… The more I watched people, the more fun it looked. Heck, probably over half the convention attendees were cosplaying, so it must be kind of fun, right?
I kind of randomly chose a character to cosplay as for the next year, and had fun making up a pattern and sewing with very little prior experience. At the con that year, people noticed me. And took pictures. And talked to me. It was a little scary, but really cool. I entered the cosplay contest—why not; I spent a lot of time on this costume—and made a new friend. I was sold on cosplay right then and there, even though I didn’t really do much “playing/acting.”
Since then I’ve been cosplaying every year with at least one costume, usually two. Last year, I met someone who has become a very good friend. After meeting her, I’ve realized how much cosplaying can affect your life if you get too into it. ^____^;;

I met my sister last year while cosplaying Subaru. Of course, the person I’m talking about is Hokuto-chan. I met her randomly, and ended up hanging out with her for the entire con. We seemed perfectly suited for our characters, and it was a total blast to actually *act out* the part, rather than just dress it. It was only natural for us to stay in contact, and, as if to extend the convention fun, we continued calling each other by our cosplay names. (Because of this, half of Hokuto-chan’s friends don’t know my actual name or, if they do, they never use it.) Perhaps it’s because we do call each other by our cosplay names, or perhaps it’s because we fit the characters so well… either way, some interesting things have started to happen, at least to me.
1) I can actually blush simply at the mention of Seishiro-san’s name. Hokuto-chan loves to do this to me. So do all her friends. And I can’t help it!
2) I honestly think of Hokuto-chan as my sister. I love her and wish we could be together more. She nearly cries when we have to say good-bye after visiting.
3) Hokuto-chan has begun calling my bf “Sei-chan.” Unfortunately, I don’t think he gets the analogy. Or at least, he didn’t until I had to explain it, red-faced, and even then I’m not sure if he really understood…
4) As an artist, I should be able to at least attempt drawing a scene out. Hokuto-chan has a really fun idea for a… ::cough::…wedding scene for Subaru and Seishiro-san. The artist side of me REALLY wants to draw it, but I JUST CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO DRAW MY OWN WEDDING!!!!
4 ½) As another point, it’s really funny to introduce a person as your sister when the person you’re introducing her to knows that you don’t have a sister. It’s even worse when she introduces me as her brother… or talks about me. (“You should meet my brother. She’s really nice!” “Eh?”)

Hokuto-chan and I cosplayed the first ZERO team from Loveless this last year. As a theater major, it was easier for Hokuto-chan to switch roles, but a little harder for me. But we pulled it off rather well. It was so fun! Afterward, we realized something: after cosplaying someone, you can’t really help but be attached to that character. Attached and sort of in-tune with them. We both got mad/jealous because our charas weren’t in the Loveless AMVs… sad, ne? We’re already planning to go as the twins from Ouran High School Host Club next con. Yay!
The girl cosplaying Soubi in our group had some fun comments, too. She said she’s usually not very good with groups. And even though she’s a photographer, she doesn’t like her picture to be taken. She said she’s usually a shy person until you get to know her (kinda like me). But when she had Soubi’s costume on, she didn’t care anymore. She had no problem acting out his chara, and said she felt like a completely different person. I dunno… I think it’s cool that people like us, who aren’t actors by nature, can still pull it off while cosplaying.
And my bf’s comments: When you’re cosplaying, I think you have it harder than stage actors. Not only do you have to look the part, you have to come up with stuff your chara would say and do on the fly. You don’t have a script to memorize. Instead, you have to know your character in and out to pull it off really well.

So with that, I give you all a break from reading. = p

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Thursday, November 30, 2006

Well, I'm trying to do a little better w/ updating and visiting. At least I finally got some time to visit today. Hehehe, bad me for not studying for my calc test, tho.... It's tonight, and I *really* need to do well on it this time.

I've been keeping busy with school and all. Things are really going well there, and that's surprising. I've got a new adviser (because of my new major), which is awesome! He's been helping me pick classes for next semester. I'm gonna have a pretty heavy load, but then again, I think I like that much work... ::sigh:: Mostly, dynamics, diff-eq and mechanics of materials are gonna be hard, but the rest should be more fun. Like the into to space exploration class. I can't wait for that one!!
I'm also now involved in a research team called NERDS. Some of the other students in the group are doing it for their senior design project, but I'm just helping out now--doing some other side projects and whatnot. But at least I can finally see where I'm going in school, which helps. I can't tell you how much it helps!!

Haven't had much time for drawing tho, and that's kinda sad. I was so busy over Thanksgiving break that I didn't get anything done. Then I caught a cold, as I never fail to do over a break, and am still trying to recover from it... Waaa! Only a couple more weeks. Then I get a nice long break for Christmas.... ::smiles contently::

What else what else? I'm hoping for nice weather this weekend. My b-day's soon, so some friends are gonna come visit me as long as the roads are clear. I'm so excited!!

I suppose that's enough rambling for today. On to studying for my exam!
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Sunday, November 5, 2006

^^ So I'm avoiding doing homework right now. I'm so sick of it... Having no motivation kinda sucks..... Meh.
Don't really know what to write today. I just noticed that I haven't updated since NDK, so, ya. What's happened since then?
Halloween--that's always fun. ^____^ I went to a party at a friend's. It was great! Over half the people there didn't know each other, but we still had a good time. I got to see Hokuto-chan and Soubi again, so that was awesome! And I got a LOT of new anime to watch. Hehehehe... So much for homework, ne? lol!
A couple of friends from school and I went trick-or-treating. It's hilarious when someone younger than you gives you the candy. ^_~ But we made several people laugh pretty hard. A group of college kids trick-or-treating in wacky costumes... yeah. Fun stuff.

Speaking of costumes, I've updated my cosplay section w/ NDK stuff. I'd love to hear your opinions, if you get a chance to visit. ^___^

As for drawing/making wallpapers.... not much going on. I'm sorta working on a big project of Harajuku. it's gonna take a while, but I hope to make it *really* good. hehe, maybe I'll get it done and put it on here. ^^ And I've got several other little projects I'd like to do--mostly about charas from my story and my friend's. So much to do! Why am I at an engineering school? lol!

One last piece of randomness:
Japanese tongue twister, so have fun:
Tokyo tokkyo kyoka-kyoku kyou kyuukyo kyoka kyakka.

^____^ Have a great one!
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Monday, October 9, 2006

   NDK!!!!
Ya, so this last weekend, Oct 6-8 was NDK in Denver. It was so much fun to actually get away from school and all sorts of junk from every day life. Not to mention seeing friends again. ^___^

The convention itself wasn't particularly great. I was a little disappointed, actually, which is really odd since I'm such an advocate for NDK. The dealer's room was especially bad... Selection seemed really limited. Perhaps that was because I was specifically searching for Jrock CDs, and there were a precious few there. Sooo, the majority of my money went to buying artwork and Jrock posters and pics. Which is still nice. ::drools::

I must say, though, that this was probably my favorite year to cosplay! It's the first year I've been in a group of more that 2 people. ^^ We had a group of 4 from Loveless--Soubi, Ritsuka, and Youji & Natsuo (me), the first zero team. It's really saying something that this year beat out last year with the cosplay of Subru and Hokuto.
Our group was a rather random one, which worked out amazingly well. I knew Youji from last con--she was Hokuto. Then, 5475uk1 was able to come and be Ritsuka. One of Hokuto's friends was Soubi. It was hilarious that Soubi and Ritsuka didn't know each other, tho... Made for some *really* funny pics. I sorta felt sorry for teasing 5475uk1 so much, but at the same time, I soooooo understand why Hokuto gets such a kick out of teasing me when I'm Subaru. Hehe, but Ritsuka enjoyed it, even tho she did look scared to death in every pic. OMG it was fun. So many horrible BL pics. ^^ Lots of hugging, fake kissing, tormenting, and... eh... wonderfully awkward scenes. I may be able to post some in the cosplay section once I'm not a zombie from no sleep.
Ah, i must share a funny story, and then I'll be able to stop ranting. One fortunate time, there were only 5 people in the elevator; the 4 of us and a fangirl. ^^ I shoved Ritsuka, rather unwillingly, toward Soubi. Ritsuka started backing away when the elevator stopped on a floor. it jerked a bit, and Soubi accidentally lost her balance and completely fell into Ritsuka, trapping her against two walls of the elevator. it was SOOO funny, and the fangirl was having a heyday with it. The best part was that it actually was an accident. We didn't stop laughing for a long time afterward.

I'll try to post some pics and then perhaps I'll post some more convention stories soon, as well. ^^
Hope that was fun for you all to read! Thanks again for stopping by. ^_____^

-ch1b1
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

I'm Alive!!
Hi!! Thanks for your kind comments! ^^ I apologize for not posting for so long. I didn't realize so much time had gone by......

On the bright side, I've been doing a lot better. I still go to the doc about once a week, but I don't feel nearly as bad as before. I've had some interesting experiences since the start of school.
One, physics isn't nearly as bad the second time around! I had my first test yesterday, and it went surprisingly well. Yay! ^____^ Is it scary that I actually enjoyed taking the stupid test? lol!
Two, I've started hanging out with different people. My old roomie and neighbor are in the sorority now. We still hang out, but if it's for anything having to do with school, it's almost too stressful to be w/ them. I dunno--it's like they're still in that "I hate school" mode, whereas I'm finally starting to get out of it. Can't get dragged back into that! But ya, I'm meeting new people this year. It's kinda fun. ^^ Even for anti-social me! lol! I could dedicate a whole post to how college has changed from last year to this year. Maybe I will later! ^___^ So I won't write any more 'bout that in this post...

Oooh, NDK is so close! Hehehe, Hokuto-chan and I went shopping for fabric for cosplaying last weekend. That was exciting. ^^ I hope I can finish the costume! It's getting close! I can't wait for the con! It's happiness.

Hmm, anime club is fun at school too! We're playing 3 eps of Innocent Venus every month (it's our repeater), and then three eps form other random anime. ^^ And we have quite a few people this year, tho I'm still the only girl. Hmm, no shoujo anime this year, either... meh.

Apartment life is a blast! I'm really enjoying living by myself. I tend to get homework done a lot quicker, which means more time for fun stuff like drawing and writing. Yay!

Oh, and I got my car back. My little Golden Snitch!! I hugged it as soon as I got it back... ^^ I so happy!

Well, I suppose this is a long enough post for now. I have several hours off tomorrow, so some visiting is in order.
Thanks for stopping by! Take care!!
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