First We Take Manhattan

Anyone interested in an IJ comm like this one based off of Post Secrets?

I'd love to do one that's only fandom characters, with the possible option of a sister community for Original Characters.

Though I'm not sure the best way to create a community on IJ yet... I asked once, but no one replied to that post. Suggestions??

Dammit!!

This is why impulse buys are bad!

Purchased the PVC Bardo (from Lamento) figure. It cost 4,750 yen brand new from Animate, which is a pretty typical price for that sort of thing here. Which is why I didn't question it. Showed it to my friends, mentioned I was lusting after it as an impulse buy, and they laughed but no one batted an eye at the price.

THEN, when I was looking for a picture link, I discover it for HALF that price (or less) on the net!!! (seen here and here for proof of the Japanese retail price.)

Of course, then you'd need to add in shipping, but STILL. NO FAIR!! *wails* It's still in the box and I have the receipt (as I just bought it), but I don't know if Animate has a returns policy. I sorta doubt they accept them at all, this being Japan and otaku culture and all that. It's not even the sort of thing I typically buy - I usually stick to doujinshi, and small goods or figures. Stuff that runs like $5-6, not $50. But a couple of my friends have some, and this one I do love so I figured, fine, one would be nice. Bardo's a sexy kitty, and my favorite from the game, and I love his figure. But it's just So. Not. FAIR!

GAH!


Edit: One more detail to add to the drama of it all. I actually passed the Bardo figure up on Saturday, when we were shopping. But Sunday, we had to pass through the same area to go to the train station. I had an hour and a half wait for my next train that I hadn't expected, so I took it for a sign, and then caved in and went to buy the damn thing. :P

Have I ranted about this before?

Perhaps.

Okay, I love the prettiness of "Friends Only" banners. And I respect people who chose to make their journals Friends Only.

MY journal is not, and never will be, friends only. I take a great deal of pride in that.

So why can't I have pretty banners too?

*wails*

As some of you may recall, around late October, I started dating this one friend of mine.

Today he told me that he wasn't comfortable being my 'boyfriend', so we've broken up.

I am... upset. Not angry. It's not like he ran off and cheated on me or used me or lied to me or anything like that. And I kinda suspected/feared it was coming. The last couple of times we spent time together felt awkward and he seemed a little distant. I entered this relationship not sure how I felt about him, and then started to fall for him as we spent more time together. Perhaps the opposite happened for him?

I'm not sure. But, that's that. しょうがない and all. I'm sad and upset and that sort of thing, but I'll get over it. I'm pretty strong that way.

Okay, so I SWEAR I`ve seen a picture and/or scene from Gundam Wing where Quatre hauls off and punches Heero. Or, tries to at least. But for the life of me, I can`t remember where, when, or why!

I`m pretty positive it wasn`t a fanart (or my imagination). Anyone have any idea what I`m talking about?

Also, if I wanted to create a community here at IJ, what`s the best way to go about doing it? Creating a whole new journal, or creating a community journal through this one?

(Back home by the way -- that being Japan right now. ^__^ Mixed feelings about Northwest but at least the Hindu meal was good.)

Home safe and sound back in the States for any of you who might have been wondering.

Here till the 3rd when I trundle myself back up and off to my OTHER home in Japan. ^__^

Happy Merry Christmas Eve!

Need to load photos still, but I had a gorgeous day today!

Went to Tokushima with Iain on a day trip. We took a mid-day train, getting in about 12:30. We were both starving by that time, but luckily there were plenty of restaurants right in the station. I spotted an Il Rosa, which is a favorite cafe of mine, so we went off there.

After lunch, our plan was to find the ropeway and go up to Mt. Bizan, but we instead found this pretty river walk and took that. It lead us to the old castle grounds, which were lovely. Lots of little playgrounds, an old-style train engine, a fountain, couple of water spots, some ruins, and a nice elevated look-out. Ended up not making it to Bizan but that was fine. Had a light 'dinner' at another coffee shop - just toast sandwiches and coffee. Teased Iain about his addiction as that was his third cup of the day.

Best moment was bizarre and lovely and just oh. There were these small little rose gardens, but with big gorgeous roses still mostly in bloom. And this in November, with all the fall foliage out too! Wandered through them, and spotted this stray black cat. She looked a good deal like my tomcat back in the states, save for smaller and with a white patch on her chest. She was in great shape for a stray too - dusty but obviously well-fed and uninjured. She let Iain pet her and when I sat down on the bench, she came right over to me and cuddled up on my lap, purring! So there I was, in Japan, amid roses and fall foliage, with a boy man from New Zealand and a black cat curled up on my lap. It was amazing and beautiful and the most wonderful, crazy moment.

It reminded me of this blog post one of you linked to once. Sadly, I can't find the link! If anyone has it, would you please, please send it to me? It was all about walking along the Philosopher's Walk one day in autumn, and how that one day just make all the shit in life worth it. And the writer concluded by wishing that everyone could have their own "autumn day in Kyoto", and saying that she(?) believed they would.

Because today was that sort of a day. ♥♥♥

Why must I suck so bad at life? Or, at least at waking up in the morning.

Last night, I went to sleep at about the usual time (11-12). I set my alarms, actually setting them for five minutes earlier than usual so that I could take my trash out.

I woke up from my phone ringing. It was 8:30 am and my teacher was calling me to see if I was coming to school. ;_; ( WAH!! )

*hums*

It's my birthday and I'll hang out at home all day surfing the internet if I want to, hang out at home all day surfing the internet if I want to!


Well, actually, yesterday was my birthday. ^___^ Had curry with friends for dinner Friday night, went to a friend's for Thanksgiving Saturday, then spend Sunday (my actual b-day) hanging out at my house and watching movies with friends. We saw Ghostbusters and Hot Fuzz. Got some cute Alice in Wonderland tea cups, a lap blanket, a DS game, a really comfy beanbag, and a cute pair of my-hashi (travel chopsticks).

All in all, a very good weekend. My friends even tidied up before they left, which was about an hour ago. It's rainy and icky today, so it's the perfect day to just stay home and curl up with my computer.

Only thing I wish is that I had a new book or two to read.

But yes.

Very good weekend. ♥♥♥

I'm so happy right now, I don't have the words.

SPEECH!

To all of you who voted, regardless of who you voted for, thank you.

Fake cut to Videos



VOTE!!!


Edit: "If you don't vote, then you have to shut up."

And I'm voting for a lot of reasons. But among them, I want my little brother to come home... alive.

Go ahead. Vote. I'll wait for ya. I'll be here all night, waiting.

Vote!

As the title indicates, the cold continues to cling. The sore throat is almost gone though, except for waking up in the morning. Now it’s the nose. ( Cut for slightly gross nose issues )

That said, due to my brains being dripped out my nose, I spent yesterday afternoon finishing up Princess Tutu. I really liked it myself, despite my doubts caused by the animation style (stick-thin main characters mainly) and the fact it’s based around ballet. And called “Princess Tutu”. However, I found the story to be quite good and the characters really pulled me in. I even came to really like Neko-sensei, despite my initial WTF over him being a CAT. (There is a reason for all the ‘people-as-animals’ in the anime, but I don’t want to give away the spoiler.)

Uzura, who comes in the series in the second half, is either the cutest little anime/manga girl EVER, or else tied with Yui from Animal X for that position. *squees and dies from the cute* I would so love to find someplace to RP a little drum-playing toddler who’s far too curious about things for everyone else’s good.

I wouldn’t rec this to everyone on my f-list, because it does require a good amount of suspended disbelief. Basically, it’s based around a bunch of fairytale themes, rather like Revolutionary Girl Utena (series, not OVA). If you watched Utena and didn’t mind (or enjoyed) that sort of trippy strangeness, then you should definitely give Princess Tutu a try!

(My only real complaint is that I was really hoping to see something else happen for the ending that didn’t. But, I won’t give away that spoiler either unless requested.)

Well, the day was at least. Today went a loooooong way to making up for a shitty week, even if it did start at 5 am and run through a good box of tissues. Got to play two of Japanese people's favorite games with them: "Dress up the Foreigner" and "Feed the Foreigner".

They're good games. >D

( Read more... )

Still sick. Dammit. I actually felt better yesterday. What the hell?!

And I'm out of medicine so tomorrow morning, I may actually have to cave and pay a visit to the damn doctor.

*hisshate*

Maybe there's some way to rip my throat out... I don't really need that, right? But then, there's still the nose to contend with.

And dammit, this is my busy weekend too! >> Think I'll go watch some more Princess Tutu while my tea brews. (Mini-rec: If you liked Utena, give Princess Tutu a try!)

My Halloween costume just arrived... and it's too big! By like almost two whole sizes. ;_; The site said it was a small/medium, which was dress sizes 5-8. Maybe I've been in Japan too long and didn't adjust for the right sizes but it's way too big on me! *sighs* And since I paid for the express shipping, it's not worth returning it, since I'd have to pay for shipping there too. Goddammit!

I ordered it as a last minute Halloween costume, which means I now have none. Plus, I have a dress that won't fit me, that I don't know what to do with. It's lovely but.... AH! Anyone of you who might be interested in it, for whatever reason? It's quite gorgeous as seen here. Doesn't come with the hat though I'm afraid. I actually chose this one because it would also make a good theater costume and can easily be made kid-friendly with a pair of black leggings.

Add this to the fact that I missed the festival I wanted to go to today because I was sick and my life is a continued FAIL.

Edit: Okay, momentary panic over. ( Sort of. )

GAH! I completely forgot about my tea ceremony class at 10:30 this morning!! And I have no excuse; I was up and getting dressed by 10. And I was fiddling around and decided to do laundry and try curling my hair because I thought I didn't have to be in Sanbonmatsu till after noon... which is when my teacher called me to ask if I forgot. >_<

Epic FAIL.

Someone is never allowed to go to sleep again! Bad things happen to me once you lose consciousness! Sorry, but we're going to have to stick you with Cozzy's insomnia.

..think I just got so busy with everything else going on that it slipped my mind. I wrote it down in my agenda and had it in my phone. I mean, it's a good busy. Went shopping, got treated to dinner last night, having dinner with friends tonight, seeing a friend perform tomorrow afternoon, and kabuki tomorrow night. Fun stuff. Plus, this morning I got the notification that my costume shipped so that it should be here in time. Yay! (Notably, that happened when a certain someone was still awake. ^_~)

Anyways. Fail.

Oh, and we're naming the plushie "Ahou." ^__^


( Here, have a pretty picture of my school to make it all better: )

So, yesterday I ordered a Halloween costume online, and had to pay $83 for it. A good half of that was the shipping fee (international and express because stupid me waited till the last moment). Then this morning I decided I want to spring for a bottle of this LE BPAL scent that I really love (FEARFUL PLEASURE) which is $17, although I haven't bought it just yet.

And then stupid me got bored and decided to go shopping today. Because I'm an addict and an idiot.

Did buy a couple of gifts and a pair of high black boots that I needed to go with the costume. I have a pair back in the States that I actually (stupidly) bought on a whim at a Ren Fair but hey, those are in the States! This pair was half the price of those, and heels instead of flats. Plus, these are more something I could also wear with a short skirt. But still... It doesn't help that on top of that I bought 2 pairs of jeans (one lined for winter and I did need new jeans...), one pair of black dress pants for work, one pair of jogging pants also for work (preschool), two cute tops, and a replacement carpet for the stained one in my bathroom. And headphones, seeing as my old ones broke. Ah - and a really cute, soft plushie.

I'm a sucker for soft things.

Had to have blown through a good $150.

Eh heh heh heh.

FAIL.

Did resist the bigger, grey triceratops plushie though!

Taking Friday and Wednesday off. :P I know, sounds weird. But I need to make-up a doctor’s check-up that I missed during the summer on Friday, which is my half-day. I can only go in the morning, so we’re just going to take the other couple of hours off as well. Then, my first years and my Japanese teacher are going on a school trip until next Thursday, so I won’t have any classes till then. Monday is a national holiday and Tuesday I teach elementary preschool in the morning. I’ll have to sit on my ass and twiddle my thumbs Tuesday afternoon but I can handle that. Wednesday would be the full day, which is a bit much. Besides, my friend’s town is having a festival that day, so by taking off I can go to that.

I’m not doing a trip to anywhere because a) trying to save some cash, what with the flying home for Christmas and all and b) got other stuff keeping me busy. Eikaiwa, tea ceremony, Japanese class, etc.

Still no Halloween costume. Need to shop around for ideas. I did find a few things online, but shipping is insanely expensive, and I don’t want to risk it not even getting here on time.

( Annoying Pet Shop of Horrors fandom thing )

I apparently don't use proper emoticons. Who knew? *shrugs* Or else I use Japanese ones. But I prefer ^_^ over :) for one very simple reason: it's not on its side. And I'm OCD.

The end.

Edit: Ah! Almost forgot! Something that hasn't quite made it to the "Things That Really Piss Me Off" list but is getting there: people who assume everyone else on the internet who speaks English is currently a resident of the United States.

No.

(Yes, I know this icon is grammatically incorrect. But I likes it so much, I'm going to continue to ignore it.)

(Yes, there was a grammatically incorrect verb in the above sentence. I dids it on purpose.)

(That one too.)

(Because I can.)

/LiCD moment

Well, this weekend turned out to be a bit of a wash. Quite literally, thank you Mr. Rain Cloud.

That said, my mornings were good. Chatted with a few people I missed last weekend, and even remembered to call my mummy and wish her a happy birthday. Had banana pancakes for breakfast the one morning... and curry this morning. >D

Problem is, yesterday the weather was great but all my plans were for today. So, of course, it rains all day!! DAMN YOU RAIN!!

That means the flea market I wanted to go to got canceled, as did my dinner plans. I decided not to bother to go into the city to go shopping because I would have gotten soaked on the way there and it just wasn't worth it. I have to pay $20-30 for the round trip train fare into the city; I don't want to pay that and do it cold and wet. Did do some grocery shopping (needed milk) and that got me quite wet enough, thank you very much.

Webcomic rec: Brat-halla: The Norse gods as kids. Well, most of them anyways. I LOVE Loki. ♥♥♥

Currently addicted to a new (for me anyways) Fall Out Boy song. Which is funny because I am so not emo and punks would laugh at me. But anyways.

Topi, the shopping fail means you'll have to wait longer on the package. Sorry!!

Status of Halloween Costume: Continued FAIL.

Oh, quick BPAL review! ( FEARFUL PLEASURE )