Friday, September 29, 2006

POSTING CONTENT. . . AND THE BOOK UNVEILED?
Every day, sikaurai tries to set aside an hour of playtime to go into everyone's sites and check out their updates. I must say, you all have been keeping her amused. And for that, sikaurai thanks you.

sikaurai tries to be diligent in keeping up with everyones' portfolio additions, but she is sometimes a little addle-brained. Sometimes additions get skipped over. . . but never deliberately. So with that said, if she's missed any new art in the last couple day, please feel free to PM her with a clue. Sometimes the ol' box is filled, but be patient and try again. sikaurai is trying to keep her PM box under control. (Also, if m'lovely artists ever get impatient for a response and/or an immediate viewing, please free to post your art announcement under my comments on my homepage. . . )

ANOTHER THING: sikaurai is still plugging away at her book in a dogmatic fervor. She is wondering what the response would be if she started posting chapters of her book to her home-site--would anyone be willing to read it? Or would it be an exercise in futility? Although m'friends Rez and Julie are currently editing portions of m'endeavors, I would love to hear feedback from the AUDIENCE for which it was INTENDED. . . Lemme know. . .
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Thursday, September 28, 2006

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES. . .
Sikaurai's oldest daughter is currently having issues with another child who also stays overnight at the babysitter's. sikaurai works third shift, so every morning, she blinks, bleary-eyed as she is subjected to Autumn's agitated rants about how she hates boys, and boys are dumb,'cuz they are mean to her, 'cuz she's just a girl.

"Autumn," sikaurai said at last. "'Hate' is not a nice word. You shouldn't say 'hate'. And there's nothing wrong with boys. . . boys can be just as nice as little girls. There's good and bad in everything in life."

"So you like boys, Mama?" Autumn asked.

"I like all people who have good intentions," sikaurai said, confident in her response.

Well, this morning, sikaurai had to take her car to the mechanic. . . and it ended up costing her 600 bucks!!! She's a pretty decent gearhead, herself--her knowledge acquired out of sheer necessity--so she wasn't too terribly shocked by the bill. (M'car's in pretty bad shape)

As the cute lil' mechanic began writing up the work-order, Autumn brazenly sauntered over to him, her finger jammed into her mouth, as she stared, wide-eyed, at him in the kind of innocent wonderment that only preschoolers can ever pull off.

She reached over and tugged at his grease-stained jeans. "Hi," she announced herself.

He looked down at her and offered her an obligatory smile, and returned to his work. Undaunted, Autumn planted herself with a toddler's authority in front of him, still staring at him.

"My mommy likes boys," she informed him.

sikaurai could only rub her lip in response. The mechanic looked up at her, and offered her the most winning smile that sikaurai had ever seen.

"That's nice to hear," he said to Autumn, as he winked at her mother. "I like girls. Especially cute ones."

Well, that in itself wasn't so spectacular. But THAT, coupled with the fact that I noticed my cute lil' mechanic scratching something last-minute down on m'bill, kinda made sikaurai raise an eyebrow. And, um, SOMEHOW, by the time my credit card reached the counter, m'bill was knocked down by two hundred dollars.
Surprised? Yes, greatly. Relieved? Absolutely. Confused? (GAH?)
. . . Like no one's business! But oh, well. Like sikaurai always says:

THAT'S COOL. . .
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

GAK!!! YES, GET OFF SIKAURAI'S BACK, ALREADY!
YES, I cleaned out my PM box. . . you are all free to message me again. . . I admit it, I'm a slacker!

Also, I'm shutting down MSN Instant Messenger for awhile, 'cuz I'm bored with being yelled at--for those few of you who are chewing me out about the gear, thanks for your concern, anyway. . . I LOVE YOU. I'm hitting the book before I go to work. . .

'Course it WOULD make things easier on sikaurai to manage her PM box if some of you more notorious texters would stop sending me those ONE-WORD PMs. Kinda hard to keep up . . .


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WHY IT'S OKAY TO CRY. . . DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS
Recently, sikaurai has been having some pretty intense conversations with fellow Otakuites via her highly-trafficked Private Message box. It appears that many of my lovely artists have been enduring--emotionally speaking--some pretty turbulent times. Usually, in unleashing said emotions, there are feelings that follow. . . feelings often associated with guilt. . . many of us think that, sometimes, depression can oft times only be viewed as self-pity, and is therefore to remain the victim's dirty little secret.

Mmmmm. Let sikaurai tell you why that's not true.

A lot of you out there think that sikaurai is loopy and silly all the time, and that's cool. sikaurai is all about spreading 'da love. But sometimes. . . sikaurai feels that she can empathize with pain. She knows what pain feels like. She also knows, however, that saying things like, "I know how you feel", only compounds the pain, and such words can only be the catalyst for resounding resentment.

Lemme tell you all a story:

Sikaurai is the young mother of two young kiddies. Sometime, early this spring, the sperm donor realized that he didn't like family life so much. He disappeared, leaving her alone to take care of the kids on her own. sikaurai, in her infamously care-free manner, thought: that's cool. 'Cuz now sikaurai is free to make her own decisions, and do her own thing. . .

He left right after she had major surgery, leaving her to the recovery process all alone. As a result, she can no longer have any more children. And that's cool. 'Cuz she hadn't planned on having any more anyway, and her friends were there for her during rough waters.
(Thanks, lovelife7 and frogking. . . and Rez, and Julie, and Shaggy, and Beth, and Scott. . .and even Gary ;)) The romance was dead, but friends are forever.

sikaurai's birth mother told her that if she moved to MN, then her mother would help put her through school. sikaurai, against her better nature, moved in with her mom, and within three months, sikaurai was homeless. She was forced to flee after her chemically dependent mother became verbally abusive in front of the kids. She left all her possessions behind. And that's cool, because possessions kinda bog down the soul, anyway.

Sikaurai now lives in an economically depressed area, and the the only job that she could find is forty miles away from her home. And that's cool, 'cuz she likes to drive, anyway.

Think she's got it all figured out?

Well, now her car is starting to break down, and is becoming unreliable. sikaurai has no furniture--just a computer, a TV, her kids' toys, and her kids' clothes. The system is punishing her for having a job, and is taking away her food benefits. Her children eat, but she doesn't. She can't afford to. And just last night, while doing her duties as a caretaker in a group home, sikaurai held an old woman's hand while the lost soul screamed into the darkness that her mother was coming to take her home. sikaurai was scared. She knew that her ward was going die soon, and sikaurai was the only one there, in the dark, watching helplessly as the old woman cried out in her pain and confusion.

So, what I'm trying to say to everyone out there, as they're feeling lost, and over-burdened by the every day trials and tribulations of a tired existence, is that. . . sometimes it's okay to feel sorry for yourself. Sometimes it's okay to let the pain all out, and bawl like a little baby. Sometimes it's okay to seek solace on the shoulder of another, as you weep for your own frustration and confusion.

Sometimes . . . sometimes even sikaurai cries.

*blinks* WELL, THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT! sikaurai is scampering off to catch the final episode of Samurai7 on YouTube. I'm getting out of here before anybody mistakes me for DEEP. LATERZ. . .

My japanese name is ”Ñ–ì Iino (rice field) ŽO�ç‘ã Michiyo (three thousand generations).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

OH, FOR THE LOVE OF. . . . ?!?!?!?!?
Hey, you guys were right!!!! I zipped off to resubmit, and sure enough, within a half-hour--there HE WAS!!!!!

WEll, at least SOMETHING'S going right, today!!!! Thanks, guys *sniffle*. . . I feel better now! Now, if only I can figure out why my car's making that scraping noise, my day will be set. . .
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MY FAN-ART NOT APPROVED????
Well, I can only assume that my rendition of another Otakuite's character did not make the approval process here on myO . . . we've been waiting since yesterday for it to show up in m'portfolio, and I have yet to see it. . . normally, my pics show up within an hour.

That's a crying shame, too, 'cuz she did a great job on m'Sascha. . . sorry I let you down *sikaurai sobs*
So. . . anyway, if anyone wants to see the pic that theO apparently didn't like, they can go to m'photobucket account.
http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l28/bowerydweller/?action=view¤t=morteforebony.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch2
It's an account for storing random crap, and it's under m'other name, BOWERYDWELLER. . .(yes, I like BOWERY ELECTRIC--LET IT GO!!!!)

Y'know, if you have the time, and all. And maybe later, I'll take a chance and post the pic to m'homepage. . . and watch as the flaming comments pour in! Thanks, you guys!!!
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AWWWWW . . . TRADES?. . . OBAN IS SO CUTE!
I didn't realize this. . . but remember that cute lil' Oban clip in m'archives? Well, as I said, it was a vid-clip from the prototype trailer, before it actually BECAME Oban. . .

BUT. . . remember the scene with the alien bunnies that attached themselves to Molly Star-Racer's windshield? Well, the bunnies made a cameo appearance on Oban (the televised version) last night. And in the video, Molly made this evil face, complete with sharp teeth, as she shook her fist angrily at them. In the televised version, she's so much sweeter. *throw dumb look*

Anywho, Prince Aikka is such a cute lil' character! (I love how he calmly intervenes when the gunner Jordan tries to hold Molly's hand. . . poor Jordan--he just ain't gettin' any love!) My daughter likes Aikka, too. We love to watch Oban together every Monday night. Ah, quality time. . . it beats My Little Ponies.

So I'm reposting my Oban clip. . .



OH. . . AND EBONY PUT UP A KICK-BUTT RENDITION OF MY SASCHA IN HER GALLERY LAST NIGHT!!!! IT IS D'SHIT, LEMME TELL YA! I hope my latest entry in m'portfolio does her character the same justice *crosses fingers*
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Monday, September 25, 2006

PRIME-TIME TV'S NOT SO USELESS, AFTER ALL. . .
YAY, another episode of Oban Star-Racers!!! And it's not a re-run!!!

'Kay, that's all I really had to say. . .
(?!?!?!?!?)

TO ADD TO THIS . . . OBAN HAD THE CUTEST EPISODE!!!! Awwww, Jordan tried to tell Molly that he liked her (LMAO), and he tried to hold her hand! TOOOO cuuuuuute. And she was so oblivious, it was so sweet. And then, of course, Prince Aikka had to intervene, as the "other" suitor ALWAYS does in every cartoon with a love triangle. . .
(snore)
Anyway, that's all for now!!!!
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   DEADLINE. . . WHAT'S THE STINKIN' PRIZE?
'Kay, you groovy cats. . .(where did THAT come from?), rev your motors 'cuz the final details are in!!!! Submission deadline is October 31st! I understand that all my awesome artists have busy lives, so we're tryin to accomodate this! Some of you have trades left to finish up on (sikaurai included), and some of you have. . . well. . . LIVES. So Oct. 31st is the big red-letter day. Fair enough?

Everybody will be submitting to their own galleries first, obviously. Whereas, upon submission, sikaurai will swoop in, snatch up your renditions, and post them to her homepage. As sikaurai says, voting will be cast by blind ballot. . . voters will be encouraged to send PMs to sikaurai's box. . .the pics will run for one week, and then votes shall be counted!!!!! the winner
shall be announced in exactly seven days after posting. . .

HOWEVER. . . for the sake of fairness, sikaurai is requesting that my beaty-ful artsy folk not post their pics to their own galleries until the week of Halloween. We must take the longevity of exposure into consideration.

AND ONE MORE DETAIL. . . sikaurai IS STILL TAKING SUGGESTIONS FOR A WORTHY PRIZE. COME ON, PEOPLE, GET CREATIVE!!!!!


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Sunday, September 24, 2006

GAH! IT'S TIME TO DO WHAT?!?!?!?!?. . . and the CONTEST IS ON, FOLKS!!!
Oh, unbelievable! The sun has been out for a couple hours and I'm almost out of coffee. . . where did the time go?

I promised myself that I would finish three chapters in my book today, and I'm GONNA FINISH my little art-trade with Ebony . . . 'cuz this character of hers is really fun to work with! Thanks for the opportunity, Ebony!

SO GOOD NEWS: I have enough artists interested in this little competition, so here's the go-ahead, you wonderfully talented people, you! With that said, listen up, folks, to my general contest rules:

1) Ukyo must be the primary content of your piece; however, other characters of Samurai7 MAY be used as secondary content, if so desired.

2)Cross-over anime is acceptable and even encouraged. . . as long as--once again--UKYO is the primary content. (I can't stress that enough!)

3) Yaoi/Yuri is acceptable and even encouraged.

4) Het is acceptable . . . however, I must warn you: sikaurai finds Het boring *yawns*

5) Don't suck up to the contest promotor: sikaurai will not be voting! I have good friends on theO. . . WONDERFUL ARTISTS!! . . . and I don't want to imply a conflict of interest. Voting will be executed through an anonymous ballot, cast via my Private Message Box (therefore, visible only to me.)

6) COMMENTS as the contest progresses will be encouraged. . . however, actual votes shall remain secret until the day of posting results.

7) Please do not submit your art until IDIOT SIKAURAI finally hears back from her cyber-god as to how to post other people's art on her homepage, with the ACTUAL pic instead of the test url. . . sikaurai is an idiot savante. . . good artist/writer, but somewhat DENSE.

WITH THAT SAID, EVERYBODY HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!!!! AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO VISIT GB FIEND'S SITE FOR AN ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS VID-CLIP ON UKYO!!!!!! *SIKAURAI FALLS OFF CHAIR LAUGHING*
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