HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Yay!

...

I don't have a costume :D

But I did carve pumpkins! ...cool!

NANOWRIMO STARTS TOMORROW! Exciting! This will be my first time participating. I hope to keep up with it!

...and I don't have a plot!

I'm thinking of making some grand romance with Toda Erika in it. Only I'll pretend it's not her and that she's an original character lol Or maybe a sci-fi space western like Firefly! I don't know! I just have to write!

Hmm I won't be posting at 12midnight though. I will be out partying. And by partying I mean hanging out at Honeybee's house and watching lots of Firefly and Dr. Who. w00t!!

I'll go think now.

Of Power Pop goodness. It is brewing in my mind right now and once it is extracted I shall post the results and also distribute physical manifestations to my friends. That I swear!

Besides that, Ayaka and Kobukuro collaborated again!! New single (or not new? I haven't been keeping up!) is named あなたと, meaning "You and Me." I just listened to it, very romantic and very heartwarming - sax makes everything sexy. As usual, their voices blend together well. And I love the parts in the video where they're set against the setting sun background in a neo-futuristic looking city. It reminds me somewhat of GetBackers *sob* Oh, by the way, am so not feelin Kuroda's hair. What the eff man, cut it!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I attended my first International Pop Overthrow. I remember being so psyched, being so excited, so eager that I thought I could attend all five days of the festival lol I ended up going to the one on August 19th at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco.

It was a very good show. I loved the opening act, Plasticsoul. Looking back, the lead singer has a voice not unlike that of JoDee Purkeypile's from The Alice Rose. The music was laid back, bluesy, but still rockin'.

Honeybee and I shared a Guiness, and I made her get one because I was too terrified to go up to the bartender myself LOL I just turned 21 and I was worried they wouldn't believe me if I went up to them. And to think it was Honeybee who went, she looks even younger than I do!

The whole show was enjoyable, and there was this really, really cute musician who sat really close to me and I was like, omg OMG OMG talk to him!!! Being the reserved person I am, I just sat there trying to look cool and nonchalant (probably ended up looking snobby boo!) and I think he wanted to talk to me too. WHY DIDN'T I JUST SAY HI?! Ah well.

And I know, I KNOW that one of the chick singers from 9 Red Sun was checking me out. It wasn't the lead singer, but a guest singer methinks. She was pretty cute too. GAH why do I clam up in front of new people??

All in all it went smoothly, bar the entrance scene where I bumbled through the card identifying process lol Hey, it was my first time showing ID at a real bar (lounge)! Oh yeah, and I think most of the people who attended (there weren't many) knew at least one of the bands that performed. That was cool, back then I wished I knew someone too, lol. I would now if I just talked to them! Boo shy me!

I didn't attend IPO this year, though. My hermitness had taken over me this summer so I didn't really go out much.

I might go next year. Who knows, by then I'll be living in my own apartment, listening to good music, and just lazing around, but with a stable job lol

Because I got an email from Peter Adams that he's selling some super cool Lunaphonic Omniboxes, I started rummaging through my dusty power pop collection and wondered why I ever stopped listening. WhY?? It's so awesome! Don't mind that I don't fit the "lifestyle," it's all about the music. And it's such jolly music and jumpy and happy-poppy; my kind of music hehe

When I have enough money, I'll bring up my power pop wishlist again.

It's today.

I would tell myself then, this is what has become.

It's unbearable to think of the years.

"That's cool with me, it's not my favorite, but I'll do it for you."

What I think is the most romantic line right now is from Tenacious D. Of course :D

I think I found my new heroes. They are fucking awesome!!!

I have Wonderboy on repeat along with Naughty John from Japan.

"How about the power to kill a yak... with mind bullets!!" "That's telekinesis Kyle. How about the power... to move you." *guitar twist* GAaawd that was great.

"If Rob was short for Robert, then isn't Bob short for Bobert?"

Just because I don't have anything to post and I'm really idle bored.

I'm... listening to Tenacious D for the first time. First came the Friendship Test which was holy awesome... pppppppprrrinnggggg... "Hey, what're you doing?" "Oh god uh..." "I love you." "What'd you say?" "I said I love you man." LOL And Wonderboy is wondertasticful, high above the mucky-muck.

I'm... reading some books. Actually what I did is borrow a bunch of books that I might not be able to devour before the due date. Ah, typical. But I did finish:

Kickboxing Geishas

Geisha, A Life

And am currently "devouring":

Rising Sun (which I own)

Too Late for the Festival

And on my read list (aka the books I borrowed):

I have chosen to stay and fight

The Mountain is Moving

Autobiography of a Geisha

[Tenacious break: "What are we gonna do with all the cash? Smoke hash!"]

Geisha

Yeah so I guess I'm on a quasi-Japanese culture/Geisha/Feminist kick? Not sure about the feminist part because I really don't claim myself to be any kind of "-ist." All the while, I do like reading about women, struggles, and triumphs. But then, there was a time when I did obsess over reading about young boys. Okay, that did not come out right, I know, but I don't know how to say it. More like... boys' childhood stories? They're always full of adventures. Huck Finn, Christopher... shit I forgot his name... but a magically centered tale, [Tenacious break: wtf, Inward Singing? Genius! "When I'm singing in it sounds even better than singing out! Fuck you man!"] and a bunch of others I read. Yeah... I'm not good at summarizing OR remembering stuff lol.

Anyways, I better start on that list.

Oh yeah, and I totally have PS1 games on my laptop. So, I'm... playing lots of (classic!) games:

SaGa Frontier (Go randomness!)

Parasite Eve (Aya I love you forever!)

Final Fantasy Tactics (Ramza you're the bomb)

Legend of LeGaia

Vagrant Story (Callo Merlose is smokin hot)

But currently, I'm only actively playing Legend of LeGaia. Too many hours to put into leveling up just for a Seru who won't fucking die!

Hm, on top of that, I'm trying again on the guitar. Blame it happily on BECK (MCS) manga. HEHE. I can't choose a fave character 'cuz everybody rocks. I can say that Taira-kun is somebody I would always love to have in a band, just because I lack responsibility lol.

I think I'll go see what my sister wants from me. Oh yeah, and like I love how Tenacious D put "Hard Fucking" first then "Fuck Her Gently" next. HAHAHAHA

I finished two books recently and given the speed at which I went through them, I thought I'd recommend :)

A Hundred Secret Senses [by Amy Tan] - whew! This I finished cumulatively in 1.5 days.

The story is about two sisters, Olivia and Kwan, with Olivia (half-white, half-Chinese) narrating throughout. Olivia is American-born and raised while Kwan is already eighteen (and more) before she immigrates to the US.

The outstanding theme to me would be the differences in culture and perspectives of the two sisters - Kwan is not the demure, shy and quiet sister Olivia and her family expected and Kwan is always trying to convince Olivia of her ability to see ghosts. Other themes include reincarnation, romantic love, sisterly love and loyalty.

The pace is steady but doesn't drag. It literally is a page-turner, the way Amy Tan writes this book. It is sectioned in long chapters/parts but each one goes by fast as you try to find out more of what's going on.

Overall a very good read, good comedic pace and tugs at the heartstrings.

The Harp of Burma [by Takeyama Michio] - finished in spurts, but on whole, a day.

I indirectly found this through my mother. She pointed out a video in the library of animated Japanese classics and I immediately went to look for the printed counterparts. I found The Harp of Burma and a few more books which I borrowed right after.

This is about a bunch of singing soldiers who, despite the war, come home in higher spirits than the rest of those who came home from Burma.

This is very short, almost 200 pages, maybe even less. The writing is simple, or rather should I say, the translation. Nonetheless, it was easy to follow. The only gripe about the writing style is that when it came to parts where it's supposed to hit the hardest physically (ie, violence), it doesn't match. However, it was perfect when you get over those parts, the moments in the book that really matter, when the lessons are learned, the style fits.

Going from the book summary, it mentioned that more than a story, Takeyama also intended this as a commentary about the morality of sending young men into a war that they didn't have to fight. There are many instances in the book where the soldiers reflect on their situation but never really come up with a solid answer.

Besides their antics and adventures, I recommend this book on the monk's letter. The goal undertaken at the end is so noble and heartbreaking that I wouldn't forget something like that so easily.

And so that's it for now! These books are actually already overdue (oops!) so I need to return them already. Have no fear, I just raided the thrift shop and came home with even more books HAHA

Y'know, this layout would be perfect if it would let me link titles. I've found some solutions, but they all require a damn paid account. Boo paying! Joke, joke.

Anyway, I still haven't decided the fate of this journal. But! I got an idea. I have other journals out there that already serve one main purpose. I'll list and link them here, and hopefully that will give me an idea of what to write on this journal.

List of Other Journals:

Amature Tantei - fangirl journal on Multiply.com. I fangirl over Japanese doramas, stuff, actresses/actors, music. Anything Japanese goes here.

Trippin' on the World - my travel log on Blogger. I started this before I left for my Philippine trip and so far have nothing to really show for it. There's a couple entries, but nothing mindblowing. Woe!

It's hard to pick a name - my (temporarily-named) WordPress account. I started one just because. I've been seeing a lot of WordPress use lately so I gave in and made one. Nothing substantial is posted yet.

Among all these accounts, I would like to note that Blogger is the simplest and most efficient (Lj's rival to me), that Multiply has a lot of neat gadgets and fairly easy to use, and that WordPress is all over the place; it tries, but still needs improvement. Either that or I still need to get used to it.

So I'll go ahead and link these.

And that is, skipping class.

Today I'm skipping my Experimental Photo class. First reason, of course, is because I feel lazy.

And I thought, I think I need to take pictures again. Nevermind the extended time I had this Memorial Day weekend to do that, but I just thought it would be useless to go all the way to school and not really have anything to do. It boils down to the gas, yo. And really, my pictures so far this quarter have been no luck.

But today, while I also study for my Japanese quiz, I will take marvelous pictures. Then I will go to open lab on Thursday and develop them and be amazed.

Until then, I shall suffer the consequences of my absence in class.

I thought it was time to update from my hideous experiment. Not to worry, I saved the css for the that one, not that I'll be touching it anytime soon. I'd rather fix this one myself.

Today, I took a walk with my dearest mother. I'd post the picture, but I'm too lazy to do that. Furthermore, I need to discuss the direction of this blog. No, no you needn't read through this, but I thought I ought to write it down instead of just keeping it in my head and never really getting anywhere with it.

A lot of things interest me. Consequently, because said things occupy a lot of my time, I never write about them. But that's also partly because of my laziness. I shall make a list, hmm? And I'll see where to go from there.

Things that Pique my Fancy (in no particular order):

- books (that have substance, please! Although I do have that silly romance tucked away in the shelf)
- jdramas
- japanese actresses/actors
- japanese language
- japanese culture/music/food
- music (powerpop, mainstream)
- fiction writing
- traveling
- photography

I used to be so involved with make-up and clothes, hence the interests in profile page. Now though, not so much, so I won't really be talking about it.

Well, now that I have that, I think the tags should undergo their own upheaval. Oh, but look at this, the laziness has kicked in. HAH, just a joke, I actually have other things to do, so I'll finish this later.

I've coveted so many things in my life (as in wanted, but not really gotten) and for now, it's photography things.

I want studio lights. I want backgrounds. I want slaves. I want more film. I want a darkroom. I'd need darkroom supplies and chemicals. I want an enlarger. I already have developing tanks, but I need reels. I want a digital camera. I want a LensBaby. Gosh, I want so many things!

But then it all boils down to how much I can afford. And the truth is *drumroll* ...I can't. For now it remains a wish-list that I constantly take out of the drawer in my mind and mull over until I've salivated enough on the mind-paper to almost wash away my desire. It works, I guess, because my rational part comes over and says, "Hey! You can't keep on charging on your card. You gonna have to pay those bills sooner or later!" So my desire is abated, until I find a new reason to want all of those things again.

Patience is the key. Goal is, too, indirectly for that matter. If I am patient and earn enough money, then I will have enough to buy what I want. If I have a goal, then I will graduate with a set major and get a steady job and make a lot of money and then have more than enough to buy what I want. It's like that saying about fish and guys - feed them and they'll be satisfied for now, teach them and they'll be satisfied for life. Now about who feeds on whom, I'll leave that for the dear reader to decide.

So right now I'm kind of "craving" for photo stuff; the next best thing I did was log on and make a post about it. It'll satisfy an unassuming itch, which is part of, no, the cause of my craving - I'm kind of bored so I went to browse through photography supplies, thus immediately sparking my desire to buy them. Now I'm here at the root of the problem, and plus my conscience just won't let me checkout my cart because I've just bought (necessary, really!) items for my experimental class. I won't I won't I won't charge anymore!

I wish my photo job paid more. I love that job dearly, but please pay me more!

On Wednesdays nights, I get up and open my window.

Well, when I remember anyway.

I see thin floaty curtains with the frills on the bottom. In the frame of my windowpane there's a little town nestled in between the mountains. What a silly rhyme, but it's what it is.

Why did the river dry out? Don't phoenixes supposed to come out of their ashes?

I was almost halfway to watching Stand By Me twice. I stopped when they began to complain about food. I wish they stayed friends. But I'm also glad they had that movie. Who was to say the outcome eerily mirrored the future? I'm glad they were friends.

So I misunderstood it a bit; the new change is stated here: http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=38&view=full

"Basic Account is an option available to accounts which were created before March 12, 2008. No account created after this date can be turned into a Basic Account."

And then a few more restrictions on userpics and subscriptions.

Well, that sucks.

They've also got this thing called the Early Adopter accounts (Basic Accounts with a few more perks) if the account was made before Septemberish of 2000. What a way to show appreciation for user loyalty. Eight years and they'll let you search the Directory AND peruse the S1 and S2 styles! If only I'd known eight years ago...

There's outbursts and a day of silence already in reaction to this change. Why, anyway? Are the Basic users that much of a hassle?

Anyway, I'm too lazy to think of my own argument. What's my stance? Well, I got mine so there.

So I heard Livejournal was shutting down basic accounts, huh?

Well.

Should've posted more when I could then.

How to respool 120 film onto a 620 spool

Hee hee! Can't wait 'til Tuesday, free darkroom! w00t!

From the one and only EGM magazine:

Gemini (May 21 - June 20): You feel that the online community doesn't understand you, but it's probably just because you've been wearing the headset backward all this time.

Does this mean I can be fixed? :D

Scene: my bro and sis and me watching the turtle exhibition tank. Two turtles are going at it, Discovery channel style, unabashed, unashamed and totally uncaring of the gawking public. A little girl, aged around 5, comes up to the glass.

Little girl: Daddy, Daddy, can I take a picture of the turtles?

Her dad: Sure honey.

Little girl: [upon closely inspecting the two lovebirds, er, turtles] Daddy, they're on top of each other!

Her dad: [cheekily] They sure are!

Me and my sibs amusedly look to each other as we walk away in a giggle fit.

---

In other news, I'm kind of getting the hang of the auto-bookkeeper-shop job. I also got another offer from my cousin today - a babysitting job. Yes, another one. No, I didn't take it. Yes, it paid hella good money. And yes, I'm aware of that. And no, you don't get to call me an idiot.

And I developed two rolls of film, both from the zoo trip. Some turned out pretty good, but half of one roll was too dark - that was the one shot inside the reptile house. Still, not so bad pics. One more roll to develop and I swear, no more shooting until I finish printing the backlogged ones. Man I need to make a list.

Woo hoo! I got some great pictures at the 4th of July fireworks!! Know what it means?? Layouts! Yeyyy Now I'll have a cool background to go with my tacky lj layout.

It was El Fun. It wasn't so cold tonight, but there were so many friggin' bees out there. I swear, one buzzed right, just right, by my ear, I could hear the low buzzing sound. Talk about revenge of the killer bees.

In story news, I've finally given the bondage story to Honeybee. Ooohhh *shudder* thinking about the leather *shudder*

In job news, I will be going to the auto shop and see if I can't wring out a few hours of work. And I really need to remember to write down my time on the time-card. Need to get paid and all.

In bill news, finally sorted it out. Paid the city utilities, and now I'm waiting for the electric. And of course, as usual, insurance is not charging me in a timely manner. To think I used to lose so much sleep over these things. Yeesh!

And is it just me, or is my metalk tag being overused these days? Methinks I need to bust out some story bits soon. Or at least talk about something else other than me. Maybe I need to go back and develop some crazy-ass philosophic ramblings. Yeah.