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Sunday, June 17, 2001 // 09:08 p.m.
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"Come What May," Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman
Yes, I'm writing my History paper. Sort of. Maybe. I'm in the planning stages. >.>
I watched various parts of our RuroKen DVD in English this afternoon. It was ... interesting. Now, I realize there isn't an English speaker in existence who could match Suzukaze Mayo, but Kenshin's dub VA bothers me anyway. It's not just the "I'm a MAN, dammit!" quality of his voice, which seems rather inappropriate for a character who's supposed to be regularly misconstrued as weak and feminine; nor the unintelligible garbling that he uses for an "Oro"; but when Kenshin turns Battousai in his fight with Saitou, he makes him sound ... evil. Not just cold, but eeeee-viiiil. o.o Same with Saitou, for that matter. (Have none of these people read "Samurai from Outer Space"? They're not supposed to be stereotypically villainous! XP) As a result, he sounds rather lizard-like, and ends up higher-pitched than Sano. O_o (And, nothing against the guy, but his name is Sparky. Having a guy named Sparky play Saitou is rather ... odd.)
Neechan got some manga from Kino's today: Cardcaptor Sakura 12 and Recca no Honou 28. I have an itty-bitty rant about the end of CCS. (No spoilers, methinks; if you know shoujo, you shouldn't be surprised by the ending at all.) Why does everybody get a happy-sparkily flower-bordered ending, except for Tomoyo?? I'll admit neechan got me biased toward Eriol/Tomoyo, but it didn't even have to be that; but she got no one. Rika got Terada, and she got no one! XP As for the whole "If Sakura-chan's happy, I'm happy" bit -- that's called being a friend. You can still find your own happiness, hon. >.< Yargh.
I haven't read much of the Recca tankoubon, but it's shaping up to be interesting. Here are the titles for chapters 271-4, in English: "Welcome to Marie's House," "Do You Like Abnormal-Play?" "You're my Fuckin' Slave," and "Please Give me Some Punishments." O_o I didn't realize the sadomasochistic undertone requisite for shounen manga, I guess. (... And boy, is this gonna give me some interesting search engine hits.)
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Sunday, June 17, 2001 // 11:34 a.m.
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"Warriors Blue," Rurouni Kenshin
Happy Father's Day, everyone! Erm ... not that I think there are that many fathers actually reading this, but, um ... If you're reading this and you've got your dad handy, go tell him you love him. ^_^
Speaking of fathers, best of luck to Ruby-chan and her dad. I'll pray for you.
Lili-chan should be on the plane right now, perhaps over the Pacific already? You're going to have so much fuuuun, nezumi-chan. *niko* Be sure to snag Orie's laptop as soon as you can and blog a bit, ne?
Oh, and tell me that what you said about the prospective RENT movie is true ...! I'm still kicking myself for missing the show when it came to Portland this year, and I'd be perfectly happy to see it in any form of media. Even with Spike Lee as the director. Bah humbug. XD
Oh, and we got a DVD player yesterday. XD We "tested" it out, too, with the "Shadow of the Wolf" RuroKen DVD. How MUCH do I love that series? *happysigh* (Greedy me, though; now I want "Ice Blue Eyes." XD) It was nice to watch RuroKen animated, though, after so long; it really brought back memories of last summer, with our Saturday nights spent happily holed away in the SNA auditorium. Ah, natsukashii ... ^_^
I'm feeling very nostalgic in general, right now. Friday was the seniors' last day, and it was odd -- it seemed to me as if the school year was dragging on forever (especially considering everyone else I knew had already gotten out O_o), and yet, when the seniors left, it seemed to me as if it were too soon. I don't know; I guess, with everything that's happened this year, it'll just be strange to see it end. *shrug*
Ugh. I'm still sick. XP I have been, on and off, afflicted with various plagues for about two weeks now. >.< If I'm sick for the last day of school, I will be very displeased. *suits up to do battle with the bacteria*
On the bright side, I've gotten some writing done. Sort of. ^_^; I started the side story to "Warriors Blue" (after a good, what, six months of planning? >.>), though the whole dream sequence is something a bit more surreal and just plain odd than I'd intended. o.o Now, if I can just get off my lazy butt and type up the reedited version of "Warriors Blue," as well as that oneshot I wrote awhile back, that'll be three new fics! ^_^v;; And if I can finish my late (yet again O_o) Soapbox, I could add that, too ... And this would be my first update in ... three months. X_x I should code my new layout for this page, too. If only I didn't have a History paper to write. Che.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2001 // 09:57 p.m.
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"Beautiful Alone," Weiß
Mwahahaha. Guess who finished her physics review? XD The very night before the final? XD;; Even though I lost about two hours when I crashed and fell asleep on the couch this afternoon. ^_^;;
Yaaaa ... I have a new layout. Sort of. I have to write the code and everything, and hope my shameless manipulation of tables works (I'm not even gonna hope for Netscape's cooperation, though o_o) ... and it's not summery, so nyah. XP I do wish I had more time to fiddle and just experiment with things, though ... If you can really get me a copy of Photoshop, neko-chan, I'll love you forever. I'll -- I'll hunt down copies of Lost Universe episodes and write fanfics! XD
Wah, Lili-chan, I'm so excited for you! ^_^ Do you leave Friday or Saturday? And don't worry about the series you can't recognize; those aren't major priorities anyway. As for Tomoe's looks -- it'll be fairly obvious, since she's the only female you'll see paired up with Kenshin other than Kaoru (though I have heard of one series with a semi-relationship between him and Megumi). And I put Yuusuke yaoi on the list simply because it tends to be pretty. >D So really, just look for pretty Yuusukes. I'm sure it won't be a difficult task. ^_^
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Wednesday, June 13, 2001 // 10:05 a.m.
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I thought Wednesdays weren't supposed to feel like Mondays. >.<
Today, it has been discovered (or reaffirmed) that my current AP English teacher is on crack, next year's AP English teacher is a Nazi, my Muse is PMSing, and men are inscrutable dolts. Of the first, she has just found a way both to give us extra work (RIGHT before finals, mind you) and create an excuse for her not to read our Junior papers. Of the second -- yes, I realize that reading two novels, keeping a journal on one, writing a 3-5 page essay on the other, and writing five 200-word papers is NOT a major assignment for three months, but usually those three months are DURING SCHOOL. NOT summer vacation. (Oh, wait, sorry -- we're supposed to rest until July 4. Good, because I almost thought I'd be deprived of that one week's rest!) And, well, I guess my Muse is always bitchy, but currently it's preventing me from producing anything resembling a decent graphic for a new layout. I really liked this layout when I first got it, but after staring at it for months, I am quite ready to see a new one. As for the men? Well, two guys who are normally good friends of mine have decided to act like petulant children. We normally joke with each other, but now they take everything literally and seem to think that me and another friend not wanting to hang out with them every weekend or after school is some kind of personal insult. One of them won't talk to us, and the other keeps making "jokes" about how we hate him now, and I'm worried but I don't know what to DO about it.
UGH! MEN!!
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Sunday, June 10, 2001 // 07:34 p.m.
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"Will," Yonekura Chihiro
It's neechan's fault I'm not blogging; she's far too much of a distraction when she comes home. XD That, and I'm far too easily distracted ...
I'm sick. Again. >.> And that means interesting results when I try to write my essay for my college application project whilst being doped up on Sudafed. O_o
Yesterday was spent at a friend's house watching the last few volumes of Recca and playing Chu Chu Rocket and DDR-sans-pads. And the guys trying to get us to play violent video games, as well as showing us straaaange things like the "Terrible Secret of Space" music video ... although, admittedly, the stick figure fighting was fun. XD We also watched several openings, like Saiyuuki, Vandread, and Lost Universe (but no episodes, neko-chan ;_;), and the "Kyoto Kombat" music video (I forgot how hot-damn-sexy Aoshi looked in the Kyoto arc *_*) ... and then there was that Daikatana sound clip, which was wrong in so many ways and yet undeniably hilarious. XD
Yosha! Off to write that essay! Lemme see if I can somehow relate it to anime. XD
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Thursday, June 7, 2001 // 07:31 p.m.
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"Melodies of Life," Final Fantasy IX
How cute! Jin x Touya ... I don't believe I've ever seen a dj focussed on that pairing.
Lili-chan, your email gave me sparklies. I could get anywhere from four to twenty five doujinshi. XD
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Thursday, June 7, 2001 // 06:41 p.m.
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"Fukai Mori," Inuyasha
Neeee, neechan, why didn't you go out today? Huh huh huh? 'Cuz you know I'm going to bug you about it when you get back, now. XD
And no package today. *sigh* I know it's too early, but I was kind of hoping -- I'm crossing my fingers that it'll get here tomorrow, so you can come home and have "Peace of Mind" waiting for you at the door. >D We did get another package, though -- from an aunt, delivered to the door. Me being the dorky fangirl that I am, I immediately thought, "That's too big a box for a doujinshi ..." XP
Yes, Lili-chan, we were right about that IQ test. I mean, I kind of figured that TheSpark.com wouldn't have a real IQ test, and the fact that there were several repeated or completely irrelevant questions included kind of tipped me off. ^_^;; Apparently the "stupidest" taker of that test went through some 10,000 questions before finally stopping. O_o Sorry about your grades, btw -- I know what it feels like to work your ass off and still get a sucky return. I also liked your comment about RuroKen -- it made me giggle uncontrollably. XD But, would you really want Aoshi-sama to become a rurouni? o.o
You know, I never knew that Taye Diggs was in RENT. I never knew he was in theater, actually. I only knew him as Jackson from "Ally McBeal," which is a distinctly different medium. ^_^; He's a cutie ... It's too bad he plays icky Benny.
We have a debate tomorrow in class about whether Roe v. Wade should be overturned ... Should be interesting. I actually used to be an adamant pro-lifer; I still am, in a way. What's changed is my view on the pro-choice movement. I used to think that, since life is paramount, advocating any other cause was unimaginable. Yet there are so many circumstances where it seems to me that denying an abortion would be the heartless action. That doesn't mean I think it should be used as a form of birth control, or that it should be the first choice of any pregnant woman -- I think it should be, in all cases, an absolute last resort. But what I don't think it should be, is illegal. That, I think, is what "pro-choice" is (or should be) about.
I don't like the use of those terms, either. Advocating "life" or "choice" are both noble, yet either is so often twisted into "anti-choice" or "anti-life," which is simply purposefully inflammatory language and really pointless. Some of the loudest and most belligerent defenders of either belief are also the most illogical and hypocritical. To me, it comes down to this: yes, it is the woman's responsibility to practice abstinence or safe sex. But it is also just as much the man's. So since we have no way of ensuring that the man takes responsibility for any pregnancy he causes, some old white men are going to tell women that they have to carry these children? It doesn't work for me. And don't get me started on the extreme right view on abortion and adoption in context of their stance on Welfare.
*hyuuu* I wonder how this is going to turn out tomorrow.
This is such a pretty, melancholy song ... *_*
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Wednesday, June 6, 2001 // 08:33 p.m.
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"Take Me or Leave Me," RENT
I hate my printer. -_-;; It did start printing again ... sort of. Sometimes it prints, sometimes it just freezes my computer. Rrgh. X_x
I ran the mile today, too. XP Don't even ask about my time ... XP The thing is, though, my problem isn't my legs getting tired. I mean, obviously they do; but the worst problem -- especially afterwards -- is my throat. Even after the rest of my body has recovered, it still burns. Sometimes I won't even break a sweat or be that tired and it'll still feel like someone shoved a pipe cleaner down my throat. O_o Makes me wonder.
Anyhoo ... we had an interesting time this morning exploring my friend's Psychology textbook and finding out about Freud and how everything from the day we were born is somehow centered on sex. Apparently the early stages of our life are separated by erotic focus ... though I certainly don't remember that from when I was a five year-old. *shrug* Here's my question, though: if dreaming about flying means we're dreaming about sex, what does dreaming about sex mean? Are we still dreaming about sex -- perverted dreams, just not repressed perverted dreams? n.n
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Tuesday, June 5, 2001 // 10:13 p.m.
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"Change the World," Inuyasha
Uf. I'm still full from dinner. But Mother dearest makes the best Princess Chicken. :D~
My printer works again! ... But it won't talk to me anymore. ^_^;; For a while, it wouldn't print anything, just have a window saying it was "spooling" the document. Now, it prints normally, except it no longer has a colorful little window with graphics and a voice that tells you "Printing started" and "Printing completed" and "Thank you." ^_^;; It's just a regular text window now. *shrugs*
Sankyuu, neko-chan, for the interview! 'Twas most edifying. XD I finished my paper, and it's arguably one of my worst efforts ever ... But that's okay. I'm going to work on it for real next year, when it's our actual Senior Project and I have more than three weeks to do all my research put it all together. Really, fanfiction could be such a juicy research topic. Imagine the surveys I could do ...! *nerdish sparklies*
I'm so hyped up to write fanfic. I've been rereading old AoMisao fics and browsing romantic poetry, and I'm so ready to write something -- I just don't know what. XD;;
And I think I know what I want to do for my next layout. All I need now the opportunity to hijack a school computer and get on Photoshop.
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Monday, June 4, 2001 // 10:07 p.m.
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"Keep On," Maeda Ai
You tell me you have written fic -- even more, you have written "From the Ashes" fic -- and there is nothing in my mailbox? ¬.¬ 'Tis not very nice of you, neechan. Especially since the AMML seems to be down today, and I haven't gotten my fic fix.
(Sure, I could be writing some myself. But that is beside the point.)
Speaking of fic writing, I need to interview you tomorrow on IM, if you're free, for my farce of a Junior Paper.
I'm feeling ... uncreative. I need to apply for three scholarships for my AP project, and most of the ones I find that interest me involve writing (duh). And yet ... I can't come up with original stuff. Plot, narration -- hell, characters. >.< I couldn't do it for this and I'm lacking the creative juices for it now. It doesn't help that my Muse is basically an angst whore that refuses to cooperate unless I'm inflicting some kind of sadistic-masochistic torture on one of my favorite couples (to be topped off with sufficiently cavity-inducing WAFF at the end).
Bleah. I'm whining, aren't I? Please ignore this entry. I'm feeling sick and stressed and creatively stymied, and I just need to vent a bit.
"Life only asks you to do your best, not the impossible," my horoscope says. I usually don't believe in the thing, but ... today I think I will.
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Monday, June 4, 2001 // 06:55 p.m.
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"And Forever ..." The Big O
This song gives me happy romantic sparklies. *_*
Unfortunately, I'm still sick from Friday. O_o I'm okay; I lasted through the day, but unfortunately, we ran the mile today in Aerobics and I have to make it up tomorrow. Rrgh. >.< In case anyone there hasn't realized, I despise running. At least, running in circles on a track. >P
But! I'm glad to hear that you guys had fun. ^o^ I want pictures, neko-chan!
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Sunday, June 3, 2001 // 07:36 p.m.
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"Light My Candle," RENT
My hair is no longer curly. ^_^;; I knew it wouldn't stay if I washed it, and I kind of wish I left it as it was; but my hair felt too icky not to be washed. I must have had half a can of hair spray in it. O_o
Yesterday was ... memorable. ^_^;; I was sick for much of it -- I got sick on Friday, and was still recovering on Saturday. Taking the SATs that morning didn't really help, as my nerves did a number on my stomach. O_o I think I did all right, though; nothing seemed too hard, and there was only one question I didn't answer (the last one on the write-in section of the math). I'll find out for sure in three weeks, I guess ...
I got out of testing at about noon, but I was early so my parents didn't come until 12:30. We went to pick up the boutonniere first, then I went home for a shower and lunch before we went to the mall to get my hair done. The place I went to for Winter was obscenely busy, so we went to another place, which technically only did cuts, not styling; but they were nice and curled my hair. I guess I didn't have a really concrete idea of what I wanted it to look like, but I ended up getting ringlets -- a nice look, but it took frickin' forever. I didn't get home until 4:30, and Dave was to pick me up at 4:45. O_o Cue the fastest makeup job ever by my wonderful mother, and some stalling by my father, and all was well. ^_^; Unfortunately, since we were so rushed, I didn't get to admire my radiant beauty before we left. >P
We were scheduled to meet at Craig's house at 5:00, and only ended up being a few minutes late. But there were a few sets of parents there who wanted to take pictures, so by the time we got out of the house and onto the road, it was 5:40. Five minutes until we were scheduled to get our pictures taken. A trend of tardiness that we would continue to follow for the rest of the night. _o_
Dave, Hanne, Matt and I rode in a car, while the rest of the group took the limo (which looked more to me like a long car than an actual limousine ^_^;). We got separated and soon lost in downtown Portland. The Starlight Parade was that night, and we lacked the directions to circumvent the blockaded parade route. X_x We ended up parking in a garage several blocks away from the restaurant, by a store named Spartacus. Turns out it was a lesbian clothing store (how Matt knew that I do not know), and the joke of the night was that we would get back to the car by asking people, "Excuse me, can I get directions to Spartacus ...?" ^_^v;;;
Fortunately, we were only an hour late to dinner. ^_^; The others were there already (parked right in front of the restaurant O_o), so at least they didn't cancel our reservations. They'd already ordered, but the waiter got us caught up in a hurry, and all went well. When we left, we had to walk several blocks back to the parking garage, and on the way, we passed through part of the parade route. (No, we did not become part of the parade, neechan. >P) There were people there, though, and they started cheering for us when we passed. It was surreal. XD;;;
By the time we got to Prom, it was 9:00. I don't think we missed much by being an hour late, though, as the actual dance was rather monotonous. Not in a bad way; just, there wasn't much excitement. To me, Prom was like Winter or any other formal dance, except in a fancier location; that didn't trouble me too much, but I wonder how the seniors felt. I mean, it was nice to dress up and look pretty for a night (and to slow dance with the guys ^_~), but dances just don't seem to have the significance for me that they do for some people. *shrug*
There was a touch of drama, at least among my friends; some people I thought were just friends seemed to be more than that, others whom I thought were at least friends didn't seem to be even that, and one of my friends got lost on the way to the dance and only came for the last five minutes. @_@ It wasn't the soap opera that some friends' parents were inclined to call it, though. And even though I was sick and had to sit down a lot, I had fun. I learned the basic swing step (Dave tried to teach me the Pretzel, but it did not work ^_^;;;), slow danced some, and got some nice compliments. (I'm a glutton for praise, I know. >P) We went to Denny's after the dance ended, and after that a bunch of people went to Craig's house for a movie. I went home because I was tired, but I'm told I didn't miss much, as people pretty much fell asleep during the movie. ^_^;
Yaaan, enough of that. Sorry if I bored anybody. O_o I need a new layout ... but first I need time to make graphics. Ah, well. I hope you two had fun -- I want details! And pictures! And ganbatte ne, neechan. One more week! XD
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Thursday, May 31, 2001 // 09:04 p.m.
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"Elsewhere," Sarah McLachlan
And now it's time for a WTF!? moment.
(Hum ... I believe I'll use real names for this one. I know I don't usually do that, but in this case, it's just easier than trying to say "Girl A" and "Guy B." ^_^; Anyway, it's not like I'm talking smack about anyone, so there shouldn't be any objections.)
So Hanne and I wanted to double together for Prom -- just four people, no big deal, right? We also wanted to have Jeanette and her date come with us, though, so we invited them, too. Jeanette was already doubling with her friend, so we just linked up and ended up with eight people.
Hanne makes reservations. All is well.
Craig complains about the restaurant.
Then Mike got a date, so we added him on, too. Ten was a rather large number, but we went ahead and made plans and reservations.
I make reservations at a new restaurant, acceptable to everybody. All is well.
And then, randomly, Brian came up and asked to come along -- actually, he said he'd already been told he could. There was no real problem with that, just that -- well, none of us know him that well, and we didn't know why he would want to come with us. It actually turned out that Jeanette is friends with his date, and invited her along.
I change the reservations to twelve. All is well.
Brian informed us that he could get a really good deal on a limo for the night. We'd just have to wash and wax it, and pay for gas. I didn't really want a limo, though, because I thought it was too much, too late in time.
Jeanette wants a limo, because, well, she'd like to ride in a limo.
Brian went ahead and washed the limo himself, so we could get it.
The limo fits ten people.
Confusion abounded, and it didn't help that we couldn't really get the entire group together at any time -- we actually wouldn't know some of the people in the group if we saw them. But we somehow settled on a convoluted but workable plan, and all was well.
Brian's date invites four more people.
I understand that Brian's date wanted to go with her friends, but if that were the case ... why did she come to our group, in which she only knew one person? Sixteen people, half of whom have never met each other, is a bit much. Things were getting out of hand.
However, the four new people were not going to be coming with us for pictures and other pre-Prom stuff. They'd just meet us at the restaurant, and actually got their own reservations. All was ... okay. We knew, however, that we had to carpool to the restaurant and fight for parking a bit, since the Starlight Parade is that night.
The Starlight Parade is on that street.
We need the limo.
It's been decided that the twelve of us will meet at Craig's house, then carpool to get our pictures taken. The limo will pick us up there, and we are somehow going to fit 12 people into a 10-person limo and go to dinner. The four other people will meet us there, and follow in cars as we go to Prom in the limo. After Prom, we're going to dessert, then driving back to Craig's house. I assume the "lesser known" people will want to leave at that point, as the rest of us are going to go to someone's house, probably to watch a movie.
We don't really know what to watch -- the guys want action and the girls want a chick flick -- but most of us like anime.
Matt hates anime.
Damn.
That's the state of my Prom plans as of today -- it's not perfect, but it's bearable. Prom is this Saturday, so we're just going to close our eyes, cross our fingers, and hope it all works. And even though I may sound like I'm severely stressed, it's not that bad. Nothing exceptionally disastrous has occurred, and I really bear no ill will towards anyone in the group (despite what it may sound like ^_^;), and I know this is hardly an earth-shattering dilemma. It's just been, um, odd.
You two better be having a good time at the con. Erm, at the hotel.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2001 // 08:05 p.m.
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"Anata," L'arc~en~ciel
Happy birthday, oneechan! ^o^ Here's hoping you're out partying like there's no tomorrow! *wiggles* And try not to do anything illegal ... You still can't go bar-hopping -- you can by lottery tickets and cigs and porn, but I guess you could already do all that ... Well, watch a lot of CCS. Or the Backstreet Boys TV special. XD
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Tuesday, May 29, 2001 // 07:30 p.m.
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"To Be Near You," Viktoria
Anta ne, you absolutely do not have to get me the CD -- but reading that did make me go starry-eyed with happiness. *_* I'm thinking that I'll just wait until I get my AP scores back, and ask for it as a reward -- hell, even if I only scored a 2, I think I deserve it just for going through the ordeal. XD
Hm ... A friend gave me a CD with the last six episodes of Trigun burned on it. I'm tempted to watch, but, seeing as I haven't even seen Knives' entrance, I dunno if that would be a good idea. ^_^;; I guess I'll just wait until I can somehow see the rest of the series ... The other stuff on the CD is less interesting, such as some DBZ and translated Kenshin manga (nice, but zipped, and I am lacking of Winzip).
Katherine-san has a lovely new layout ... Remind me again why I don't go for Watase bishounen. *_*
So I have this friend on the varsity boys' (*cough* MEN'S XD) tennis team. He and his doubles partner went to the state competition in Seattle, which is like the breeding ground of wealthy suburbia in WA. Their organization logo (Seattle Tennis Club) is apparently an S, T, and C overlaid on each other, which ends up looking like a dollar and cents sign. O_o Anyway, at the competition, all the Seattle players were in their nice preppy whites, and then my friend showed up in Hawaiian shorts and some weird cutoff shirt ... needless to say, the chairman had a fit. XD Technically, though, he wasn't breaking any rules, so there was nothing he could do about it. So of course my friend was unfazed, and showed up the next day in a bright orange shirt and neon teal shorts. To say nothing of the silver Hammer-pants he had on for warm up. XD Turns out my friend and his partner won fourth place, so they were presented trophies at the awards ceremony. The chairman was having an aneurysm lecturing my friend about proper dress and how he should have been disqualified -- to which my friend said, "So I guess I didn't win the Best Dressed award?" So ... they were presented their trophy by the co-chairman. XD
Warning: The following contains gripes and general babble about Prom plans, and may be considered offensive or downright boring by viewers.
I think we've got our schedule set for Prom, after mixed messages and squabbling and several changes in dinner reservations as a result of the exponential growth of the group. I consider that a feat, since the ones in charge of planning ended up being my friend and I, two of the most indecisive people in the Pacific Northwest. n.n Actually, we thought we had it down before, but then we found out that another couple had been arbitrarily tacked onto our party. ^_^;; But we've decided on our plans, which consist of a sequence of pictures - dinner - Prom - dessert - something else. With hair appointments and SATs all that morning. -_-;; One of the guys in the group had a connection by which we could get a limo for only $10 per person (and provided we washed and waxed the limo ourselves ^_^;), but we decided that was a bit too much for junior Prom. And it also would require yet more planning, which is just beyond our level of endurance.
But, dangit, the night will be a success, even if we have people wanting to kill their dates, people wanting to have other people's dates, and mamma's boys who want to go home immediately after the dance so they can be in bed by midnight. >P And next year, it will be a perfect fantasy evening in which we will not be going in a platonic group, and there will be romance ... Or, at least, that's what Hanne and I declared this afternoon when we were (supposedly) tutoring but actually having a general girly discussion with our tutorees about Prom and men. Yes, I am a good role model. ^_^;;
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Monday, May 28, 2001 // 07:11 p.m.
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Hijikata Toshizou is mentioned in Samurai from Outer Space! *_*
Please excuse P-chan as she does a little dance for her favorite sadistic Japanese historical figure. XD
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Monday, May 28, 2001 // 05:31 p.m.
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"I Should Tell You," RENT
I still want this CD. ^_^;; This, and/or Sakamoto Maaya's "Lucy" or Hamasaki Ayumi's "Best" or L'arc~en~Ciel's "Clicked Singles Best 13." Of course, if I were to get all of those, that would run me almost $150 ... _o_
I'm so excited for you two! Three more days ...(And Lili-chan, how's your eye? o.o)
Unfortunately, my "Trigun fest" wasn't much of a fest. ^_^;; It started at two, and supposedly ended around midnight, but we had to leave a little after six ... so I saw eps. 1-10, which is what I'd already seen in the first place. O_o I did catch the last half of episode 11, but for the first part I was around in other areas, such as taking a look at "The Magic Land," a.k.a. Luke's anime collection. A shelf spanning one wall and reaching about shoulder height with all the anime he'd been collecting since he was about 16. *_* He also had a Faye Valentine figurine and a Todd McFarlane Vash, complete with removable left hand. XO Plus his various blades -- technically they're from his kung fu, but they've also been used for cosplay, so nyah. >D I liked what I did catch of 11, though. ("I've never heard steam make that sound." "Obviously you've never heard VASH steam." XD) But they said Legato showed up in that DVD, and I didn't get to see that far. ;_; (Dark-haired bishounen villain with a trenchcoat -- of course I want to see him! XD)
My personal highlight of the marathon was when Luke demanded a hug from Hanne. Hanne's only been to anime a few times, so she doesn't know him THAT well, but he wouldn't take no for an answer and hauled her to her feet. XD I hope I didn't traumatize her permanently ... but it's so FUN to see her turn bright red like that! XD
The reason we left the marathon early was to go to a play at one of the local high schools, called "Teahouse of the August Moon." It's set in post-WWII Okinawa, when the occupying American forces are trying to "civilize" Japan. I liked it a lot -- it was partly a satire, but largely just a comedy, and quite entertaining. They spoke a lot of Japanese, and fortunately, they got help (apparently from a teacher) for authenticity. A lot of it was accurate, or at least it expressed the gist of the dialogue, at the beginning. A lot of the longer lines, or the parts from the end, weren't as closely translated, but at least they used random Japanese words so that it sounded authentic to an untrained ear. ^_^;
We wanted to go out afterward, but I had to hustle home so we could drive up to visit neechan the next morning. Actually, it wouldn't have mattered how early I went to bed because I could've slept in the car, but my dad was going to stay up until I got home. ^_^;; The reason we went up was as an early celebration of her birthday -- so, otanjoubi omedetou, Oneesama! ^o^ Two more weeks until you come back, so we can party like there's no tomorrow! *noogie*
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Friday, May 25, 2001 // 10:32 p.m.
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"Active Heart," Sakamoto Maaya
Sakamoto Maaya is good therapeutic music. >D
So I saw Pearl Harbor today with my AP class. I know all the critics have been ragging on it, but I don't think it was that bad. First of all, though, it shouldn't have been called "Pearl Harbor." Perhaps something along the lines of "Two Guys Who Were in the War But Missed Most of Pearl Harbor Anyway." It wasn't focussed on Pearl Harbor or the history of the war, and I think the director admitted that -- though the section with the actual attack was good and had very well done special effects. But it was primarily a love story, and if you go into it knowing and expecting that, it's enjoyable. It's classic Hollywood-type romance, with the uniformed soldier and the porcelain-doll woman ... I kinda wish I didn't know the spoiler about Ben Affleck's character, but no matter. Josh Hartnett ... looked damn sexy. o.o Cuba Gooding Jr. was cool as Dorie Miller, though it kinda sucked that he was only onscreen for fifteen minutes ... and Jon Voight made a good FDR, I think. Except there was that whole thing about him standing up, which was way wrong -- the only time he ever drew attention to his disability, for better or worse, was at the Yalta Conference when he asked to sit down, demmit. (Or was it the Potsdam? I wish I still had my History book. _o_) And everyone recognized the nurse Sandra from somewhere, but we couldn't for the life of us remember where -- I looked it up, though, and she played Hannah from Felicity. ^_^;
I cried during this movie. I mean, it's no big deal if I tear up, because I always do no matter how dang crappy the movie, but this time I was seriously gone. My hands were over my mouth, so I had tears running down my arms, and I choked back sniffles because my friend the male chauvinist was sitting two seats down from me and kept looking at me and my friend. >.> Who was pretty much sobbing. That might have been what set me off, but it was probably because of (highlight for spoilers) the whole self-sacrifice thing. I mean, I teared up during the part with Dorie and his dying captain or Red at Betty's coffin or even the scene right before that where Rafe had just found Danny's plane. But for some reason, when Danny sort of fell in front of Rafe to block him, that got me pretty bad. Granted, it's rather unrealistic as a representation of wartime heroism ... Saving Private Ryan was definitely more accurate. But the movie never was a historical film -- it was just good old-fashioned movie-style heroism, and I liked that.
So enough of that. Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's house for a barbeque/Trigun marathon. XD Unfortunately, it starts at 2:00, and I'm going to a play at 7:30, so I'm going to miss the last half. ;_; I will see this entire series someday, I swear ...
Still reading Samurai from Outer Space, between Junior Project and college portfolio and debate research and contemporary author analysis (Free time? What free time?), and I like it lots. There was an interesting bit about the significance of sakura petals -- they tend to symbolize death, or at least a transient sort of beauty -- which fits rather well with my intent in "Waiting for Cherry Blossoms," even though I had no idea at the time I was writing it. >D
I should type up that RuroKen oneshot. I finished it on Wednesday ... but I want to wait to update until I get my new Soapbox up (which is late, as usual). I don't know when I'll find the time, with all that's going on as the school year finally winds down to a close. I already have a topic, though. I just need to sit down and write it, instead of trying to plan out "From the Ashes" or dreaming up AoMisao fics. Bad P-chan. ¬.¬
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Wednesday, May 23, 2001 // 10:39 p.m.
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"Say Anything," X-Japan
Yeah, I should be going to bed. ^_^; Actually, I should be looking up statistics on capital punishment for Friday's debate in History and writing my outline for my Junior Project. >P Ah, what the hell.
Since there's no anime this Saturday, they had a makeup showing tonight. Instead of continuing our current series, they showed a bunch of random fansubs. The first one, Angelic Layer, was quite cute. It's from CLAMP, which surprised me, because I'd never heard of it, and the character designs didn't look like their usual series -- it actually looks more like Chobits. The premise is strongly reminiscent of Pokemon style fighting (and here I thought they'd gotten that out of their system with CCS >D). Icchan is insane, but hilarious, with a lovely Kansai accent -- one of the guys also commented that he sounded like Vash, and he is indeed played by Onosaka Masaya. And the Angels provide the perfect opportunity for way cool character designs.
Then they showed Initial D, which I'm sure is a good show, judging from its decent fanbase -- but I just couldn't get over the jarring mix of CG and cel art. ^_^; "Look out! His CG car is going to crash into the animated guard rail!" ^_^;; To its credit, though, it has delicious voice acting. Perhaps that's why I didn't really get into it; my brain happily melted when Miki-sama (Takumi) drawled his first line, and I spent much of the parts with the Red Suns simply listening to Seki(Tomokazu)-sama and Koyasu-sama as the Takahashi brothers. XD;;
Next was the first two episodes of Noir, which I really, really liked. The opening is maddeningly addictive, and has been on repeat on my computer for the past several days, but the show itself is cool, too. It's stylish and mysterious, and reminds me of Cowboy Bebop in that it has a very distinctive flavor. I love the music, too, and even the unnecessary flashbacks are all right. ^_^;
They then showed the first episode of Comic Party. It opened with what was apparently a little To Heart tribute that went way over my head; but the majority of the episode consisted of the main characters at a doujinshi convention, culminating with a plot to take over the world through doujinshi. XD There was one character, the artist for the circle Kikatei (or something ^_^;;) that really reminded me of you, neko-chan. >D
After that was an episode of Love Hina, which was Just Odd, though Ueda Yuuji plays the lead, which is fun. ^_^ They started Mugen no Ryvius, but they were running overtime and I had to leave. Other interesting things they showed was a file of the opening animation for Inuyasha and videos of people playing DDR. XD
So that's that. Lili-chan and neko-chan are out of school and counting down the days until Akon. >D Have fun, you guys!
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Tuesday, May 22, 2001 // 09:02 p.m.
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"Birth of Light," Yonekura Chihiro
A friend lent me Samurai from Outer Space today. I've only gotten through the first chapter, but it's quite good so far. Cultural references are fun, and what she says about the unique perspective anime brings to Americans is very true. I believe Antonia Levi was at Sakura Con, but I never saw her.
Wai! Ruby-chan has a delicious new Azumi Tohru layout. *_*
Speaking of new layouts -- I need one. ^_^; And once school gets out (five more weeks -_-;;), I won't have access to Photoshop. So unless I make several graphics sets right now, I'll pretty much be stuck with one for the summer. I could always try to do graphics-less layouts, I guess ...
Today was hot. But nice. ^_^; I went for a walk to the neighborhood park, though I have no idea what possessed me to do so. O_o By the time I got up the hill to the shaded area, I wanted to turn around and go back to my nice, air-conditioned house. And this was around 6:00, so it was somewhat cooler than the afternoon ... Yare yare, what happened to my Texan heat-resistance? ;_; I stayed, though, because I wanted to get some writing done. Sitting on the park bench with my notebook is actually quite facilitative for my mercurial muse; that's where I got most of "Oyako" written. And this time, I spit out a couple of pages of a RuroKen oneshot I've been trying to finish since ... before the Con, I think. O_o Anyway, I've actually started writing again, and that's a Good Thing.
I miss my friends. ^_^; I realize that's sort of random, but ... The heat just made me think of Texas, and when you and I used to spend days at your house, and I just got nostalgic. I don't know, all of a sudden I felt this intense longing to see my best friends again. ^_^;; This little tori-chan is being silly, I know.
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Monday, May 21, 2001 // 09:09 p.m.
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"Shinshoku," L'arc~en~Ciel
Ufu. It's so deliciously warm today. *wiggles* Luckily, I'm wearing my ultra-cool AP Survivors T-shirt. >D Yeah, we are a cult.
So apparently, since there's no anime this Saturday, there will be a "make-up" showing on Wednesday. I read about it on the website, but, without official confirmation from last week's showing, I wasn't sure. Until, that is, it came on the morning announcements today at school. O_o My friend and I gave each other looks during third period to make sure that the other heard it and we weren't hallucinating. I mean, I guess it's not that hard to do -- you do have to have some sort of faculty approval, but all you have to do is write a teacher's name on the form -- but it was still odd. I still haven't figured out who it was that did it; none of my friends know either. *shrug*
It kind of sucks that they don't have a showing this week, but will have one next week -- because next Saturday is Prom. I don't want to miss my Kodocha ... And my Hayama~~ He's so cool. Your typical angsty, brooding anime hero, but mischievous, too. >D Too bad he's only eleven; there are times when he looks quite bishounen. Of course, that's usually how all my obsessions start -- with a qualified interest in the character, like, "Sure, he looked good in that episode ..." which eventually degenerates into a, "HOT DAMN YOU'RE SEXY!!" every time said character appears on screen. However, not in this case. I'm not a shota fan, you know. H_H
Today's Sherman's Lagoon tickled me for no apparent reason. ^_^; Unfortunately, the actual strip isn't up on the website, but it was in the newspaper if your local paper runs it. They introduce some Scottish fish, and the first thing he says is, "Aye, 'tis a wee bricknah waider so's dee starmy dinna keer tha noo." ^_^;; I dunno why I thought it was so funny.
I like this guy. As an ambiguous Catholic, it's good to be reminded that faith does not run in direct opposition to my personal morals. (And no, I don't think morals come from God. I don't actually think they're supposed to.) I agree heartily with what I've read; and also, this man, being a retired professor, expresses his opinions much more articulately than I can. And finally, someone who sees the same connection between homophobia and slavery that I do! Oh, it's nice to feel vindicated. ^_^
Question for anyone out there who knows more about date etiquette than I do (and that would be just about anybody ^_^;;) and would like to help me out with my Prom plans: how much does the girl pay for if the couple is going as friends? I'm not sure if we should split, since he did ask me ... I decided that I'd pay for the pictures, but I'm not sure if that's "right." (Actually, I suggested that I'd pay for the pictures, and he said, "Bah." ^_^;;)
Another, more serious question. I'm in this mentoring program, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, which paired me up with an "at-risk" girl at the neighboring middle school. I've been seeing her for several months now, but something that bothers me is her attitude toward schoolwork. She's a very smart girl (with a veritable genius IQ o.o), but she won't do her work. It's not that she's lazy or rebellious; on the contrary, she can be quite industrious and helpful. It's just too easy for her, and, being bored, she either neglects or forgets to do it. Consequently, she has Fs in all of her academic classes. She's told me that she would do the work if she were in more challenging courses -- the thing is, they won't let her go into a more challenging course because her grades are so bad. >.< Vicious cycle, anyone? The only way she can move into a more advanced course is if she gets her grades up -- but she won't do the work to get them up. I've tried to get her to do it, to tell her how important it can be to have good grades -- that it's not enough that she knows how smart she is, but that the school has to know it, too -- but she just doesn't seem to get it. It's not that surprising; she's a seventh-grader, and you can pretty much screw around in middle school without any consequences. But once she hits high school, things will be different -- she could fail a year, not graduate, not be accepted into colleges ... I've tried to talk to her; she usually listens to what I say, but with this, it just doesn't quite register with her. I've talked to my Natural Helpers advisor, but the only thing she could tell me is to keep trying, and not to try to fix things for her -- something, I realize, I was tempted to do. I would have asked neechan for her advice, since she's a "natural" older sister, but her problem was the opposite -- I wanted to be like her so much I did her homework for her and she had to fight me off. ^_^; So if anyone out there can help me, or just has a bit of advice, I would appreciate it a lot.
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Sunday, May 20, 2001 // 04:24 p.m.
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"Kopperia no Hitsugi," Noir
Ooooh, I'm so nervous waiting for neechan's eBay auction to end ... XO If she gets this, it'll be her first successful bid. ^_^
My friends had a good time swing dancing last night, which is cool.
I'm distracted.
Thirty seconds.
And ...
She got it!! Wai! ^o^ It was a RuroKen doujin she's been wanting for a long time, Peace of Mind. Waaaah, I'm so happy for her. >D
In other news ... Hell, what other news? Nothing interesting happened today. ^_^;; Except, a friend sent me this song, the opening theme to the new anime "Noir." It's very cool, off-beat, kind of ethereal, almost. I think you would like it, Lili-chan. It's not typical anime music -- it makes me think of Lain, actually. The anime itself sounds cool, from this snippet I read in Animerica. "Noir will emphasize plot and story, rather than flashy gunfight sequences and big explosions." Intriguing.
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Saturday, May 19, 2001 // 09:42 p.m.
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"Pieces," L'arc~en~Ciel
So I'm sticking with my first Prom dress. ^_^v My friend and I spent about an hour at Jessica McClintock trying on various dresses (I made her try some on, too, even though she already has hers ^_^;), and, while I found some really nice ones, none that was substantially better than the one I had. So I'm keeping that. It was fun trying on all the different styles, though. I actually found out that I can wear strapless dresses (provided they're small enough). >D My favorite of the ones I tried was this turquoise strapless with a skirt that sort of flowed down, rather than molding to the body or going poof. It came with a wrap, which made me feel better about having nothing on above my armpits. XD Unfortunately, that dress cost about $170, so ... I decided just to go with my black one. ^_^; There was also this dark red, embroidered strapless that I really liked ... and a black with rhinestones that wouldn't zip up all the way. o.o That's right; for once, the top of a dress was too small -- not the bust (the bust is never too tight n.n), but around the top of the ribcage or something. I didn't get to try this one dress that my friend told me about -- red with a loop around the neck and sort of flared at the bottom -- because they didn't have my size. Apparently all the small sizes go first, because "there are so many tiny girls." Che.
Fun at anime. We finished Furi Kuri and, hell, I can't say I'm too sorry about that. ^_^;; While the last episode did present a reasonable ending and made it a more coherent storyline, it was still weird as crack smoking bunnies. And to think that these are the same minds that spawned Kare Kano. O_o Most of us agreed that we liked the music better than the rest of it. >D
They also showed more Kodocha. Yay! >D I am liking that show more and more. What's shocking is that I haven't found any spoilers on it -- imagine, an anime that I enjoy, and I haven't spoiled myself silly yet! I suppose it's because I'm eschewing any sort of website surfing or fanfic reading until they finish showing the series -- or, at least, however much of it they decide to show. I have a feeling they aren't going for all 100+ episodes. ^_^;; I still can't get over how much I like this show, though -- I usually don't go for shoujo, let alone grade-school shoujo. >D I think it's the random craziness that drew me in. Plus, it's got romance without being unrealistic -- for all Sana's celebrity, they are still in sixth grade. And these episodes (15-17) had some delectable romantic angst without going overboard. Waaaah, Hayama-kuuuun ... XD Fun Fact: Kamura Naozumi's seiyuu is the same woman who played Ruri from Nadesico. >D
Recca, of course, kicked ass. More semi-finals, with the Recca/Fuuko/Domon fights against Kashamaru/Gashakura/Magensha. Fuuko really is a strong character, feminine and powerful yet not invincible, and I think her fight portrays that rather nicely. I missed the last episode because they ran overtime and I had to leave, but, hell, I've seen it enough times anyway. Two friends left even before that because they were going to swing dance -- and trying to get me to go along. o.o Granted, there was a 1-hour lesson before the actual dance, but still -- I'd rather not do anything that requires physical coordination. _o_
I liked the snippet, neko-chan. (I really liked your other original piece, btw. I know I should have told you that a while ago. >P) But do expand on this universe; it's intriguing.
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Friday, May 18, 2001 // 09:02 p.m.
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"Endless Sorrow," Hamasaki Ayumi
Waaaah. ;_; Gomen nasai, Lili-chan! Yurushite kudasa~ai! I know you said it's not my fault, but I'm still sorry I spoiled you! I know how much that bites. >.< Also, you've got my sympathies. I kind of know how you're feeling -- it's somewhat like when your brothers graduated high school, isn't it? And I know what you mean about sometimes wishing you were an only child to spare yourself the pain. Change has always made me sad, and having a sibling move out/away is one of the worst kinds; but I try comfort myself knowing it's one of those "good" sadnesses in life. You know, the "normal" kind you expect, like moving away from friends or letting your child go off to their first day of school (which I don't speak of from personal experience, nya =.=), which to me is infinitely better than an unexpected hardship like losing someone to an accident. You know?
On a random note, however, what you said about the baby deer inexplicably tickled me. XD
Anyone watch the 100th episode of Whose Line is It Anyway? Gawd, I love that show. XD "H-O-R-W-A-R-D!" That show cracks me up more than anything in the universe. Well, that and MST3K. And the occasional SNL Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. ("ASIA.")
Why! Do! People! Try! To! Download! From! A! 56! K! Modem! When! They're! Getting! Eight! Other! Files! Especially when I've already got people trying to download from me! Rrgh. >.<
Me wants to tease neechan about boiz. n.n I sense a possible interest/prospect brewing ... But I won't mention the name in case he reads this, natch. XD
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Friday, May 18, 2001 // 02:03 p.m.
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We just had elections for our ASB executive council, and unfortunately my friend lost her bid for vice president to a complete idiot because he talked a lot about sports. >.< Oh, well. My other friend said she got his vote because someone drew a campaign poster for her that had Kero-chan on it. ^_^v
Utada Hikaru beat Hamasaki Ayumi in a contest for record sales dubbed "The Battle of the Singing Princesses." Too bad, because Ayu is my favorite of the two. I haven't heard anything from "Distance," but I do know that Ayu's "A BEST" is a really good collection of her best songs.
Ne, anyone watch Friends last night? How original of a cliffhanger was that? :O I knew when they found the pregnancy test that it couldn't have been Monica, just because ... well, just because. ^_^; But I wonder when Rachel had a fling? I'd put my money on Ross. >D
Speaking of Ross, I loved his attempt at being a protective older brother. "What, you'll 'hiya' us?" XD My mom asked me if she thought neechan would do that to my (theoretical ~.~) boyfriend, and I think she would. Only my boyfriend would actually be scared of her, because she really could kick his ass. XD
Hum. My Prom plans are turning out to be something of a mild soap opera. I'm going in a group of currently five couples -- all of us are going as friends (I think), but there are exes, love-hate relationships, and attractions and possible attractions all around -- and not necessarily between people who are going together. O_o June 2 will be an interesting night, I tell ya.
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