Kishimoto is the best writer ever
Or: why I shouldn't have taken that stupid trick option

Kishimoto is one of the best manga writers out there today, I believe. His complex and interesting plots, fascinating characters and sense of drama all combine in one of the best-selling manga in the world today--and for good reason.

Running nigh on ten years now, Kishimoto knows how to keep a story going, well beyond the point where lesser writers would have given up the ghost. While the storylines have changed, from Naruto the outcast boy trying to prove himself to a village, to a team losing a part of them and attempting to get that part back, the central core of Naruto has remained strong. At its heart, the story is about simple themes: looking for acceptance, proving yourself, fighting your inner demons (sometimes literally), and finding your way in the world.

Such themes have been echoed from Chuushingura to Shakespeare and beyond, into today, including in Kishimoto's works. We resonate with such themes and ideas because we are human, and all have faced such difficulties at some point or another--though perhaps not with face-kicking ninjas.

( who really wants to read this tom-foolery? )

*

/dies of lol, okay

Though, to be honest, it kind have got me thinking. I mean, there has to be a reason I've stuck with this dumb teenage boys manga for over 400 chapters... Got me thinking, that's all.

I mena, think about it: if all this series awas was a a bunch of boys beating up each other, with no other deeper meaning then, yeah, sure, it could maybe last a long time, but this long?

Then again, America's Funniest Home Videos has lastted this long too. And the appeal of that show is purely schadenfraude.

Also: deliberate grammer and spelling errors are really hard for me to be doing. It's not the way my head works. It burrrrrns. But it are not unpossible. Obviously. hee tricks

/back to dying of lol

Vienna Teng last night was freakin' amazing. Musical range, emotional range--I even got to geek out a little about music to her at the signing table. X3

A meme, since I feel festive this year!

1) Create a graphic (200 x 200 max size) to represent your personal "candy". It should have your username on it, but otherwise can feature whatever you want. Make it something special since it's self-representative.

2) Make a post with the subject "trick or treat?". Put your "candy" somewhere in it, and be sure to repost these instructions.

3) Then, go around other people's LJs and reply to them with either "trick" or "treat". If you reply with "trick", they will give you an LJ dare that you have to perform before taking their candy. If you're too wimpy for that, simply say "treat" and take their candy.

4) List all your collected candies in your original "trick or treat?" post to show off your collection, being sure not to direct-link! Oh, whatever.



plus a bonus because I'm feeling generous

( collected treats so far )

I have so much to say that I have almost nothing to put down in here. For now. I'm sure I'll be back to tl;dr-ing soon loves.

Fortunately, you can look somewhere else for some vaguely academic nerdery: Fan Horizons: Fandom, the internet, and what's next. Ignore the slightly pompous title, it's a class project, but I'm hoping it'll be fun. So get your nerdy butts over there! The first post (a first half of a history of fandom) is up already with more to follow.

*thumbs up*

I smell like Samhain '08 and it is alllll good. :3

Except Nanowrimo is coming and Yuletide is coming and papers are coming and aaaaaaaaa.

No, no. I'm good. Or I will be, anyhow.

I got a new phone!

This is because I dropped my old one into a bowl of soup and, uh, yeah. But, I had had that phone for two or three years already, and had never destroyed a phone prior so, hey, I was due for a new one.

Samsung Behold, micro SD, music, wallpapers, touch screen, blah blah blah. It's a nice phone. A little tainted by the whole freakin' runaround from first the website, then three customer service reps (all on different days, one over the phone), my mother, strange hidden fees and fine print they never mention, etc. etc. etc.

But it's a new freakin' phone. So. And, hey, should I ever feel like paying more for it, I can get 3G network on here too. Plus it's not backed up on Microsoft's Danger servers lol!

They keep giving me the runaround on parking too. Can't park in the courtyard because it belongs to the house adjacent. Can't park on the street for more than two hours. Our parking spot is under the balcony in front of the garages (and in front of a no-parking sign, but I get to ignore that on say-so of the landlord). Eeeeexcept yesterday the maintenance guys (different from the usual ones--these two are only here ones a year to, uh... leaf-blower-out the gutters) told me they needed to get into those garages and I wasn't allowed to park there, after the regular maintenance guys told me they'd moved things out of that garage so they wouldn't have to get there. Hnnnngh.

So I left for a couple of hours to go get my new phone, and by the time I got back they were gone, so I parked back in my regular ol' spot. And, hey, now I actually have a working phone, so they can call if they really need to.

Nanowrimo soon! And Yuletide sign-ups. And I should be writing a paper right now. And a blog post. Both for classes. The paper is a formal analysis of two pages from any comic we've read so far (reading McCloud's Understanding Comics helped immensely, actually). The blog post is to be on the history of fandom.

Yes, you read that right. THE HISTORY OF FANDOM. Starting with, I think, an overview of 'fans' throughout history, and then getting into details around the time of the penny dreadfuls, pulp, and the earliest sci-fi cons. Should be fun~

And if anyone has resources they're willing to link to for me, I would be eternally grateful.

Except, haha, this was the class where, I'm sitting there before class begins, and this guy (also in my comics class) comes up and asks when the paper is due, so I pull up the syllabus to have a look. My computer has been running very slowly, and I mention to him that I really should defrag soon. He then... expresses amazement that a girl would know the word defrag.

.../throws things

Needless to say, I got a little pissed at him. Assuming that girls don't know shit about computers, argh. I WORK IN TECH SERVICES YOU BUBBLEHEADED, SEXIST IDIOT. I mean, just... wat? Oh, whatever. Anyway, needless to say, that didn't put me in a great mood for the rest of that day. And then every patron ever asked the stupidest questions ever, and then no one informed me before I had run home for dice and phone and back to campus that there was no DnD that night and that no one had thought to call/text/EFFING SMOKE SIGNAL me. They all assumed one of the others had done it. /sigh

The rest of the week has been on an upwards trend from there. Mostly.

Oh, and my new-old chimera_fancies pendant should be headed my way soon. :3 I'm so glad she's back to making/selling pendants again! ♥

I still have no Halloween costume. I suppose I should get on that hahaha.

Um. I really... have not much else to say. FOR NOW.

May set up a blog for class stuff. As a final project. I mean, honestly, it would be kind of easy for me, since, well, I tl;dr a lot. I could set it up on something more 'professional' than LJ, but idk. Wordpress? Something. Mia, did you say something about hosting space a while back?

Anyway, our 'final project' has to be in some new media format, so, hey, a blog would do it.

And since my final project is (tentatively) going to be focused on online fandom (perhaps, biiiig perhaps, RP fandom in particular, since that's almost entirely and wholly an online, "new media" thing). So, you know, a post about the anon meme (how convenient that that it's coming up, eh?), talking about the 'artificial social impacts' or some BS like that about it.

idk, that's all just an idea. It'd be a fairly easy project for me, to be honest. He's going on about how it's somehow 'easier' to write up a term paper versus a blog post. I lol, since I write meta allll the time that's way too srs bsns for this blog (no one wants to read that on my LJ--hell, I don't want to read that on my LJ, most of the time).

Anyway, I'm more or less keeping up with everything, except communities (I don't think I'm even trying so much any more. Whatevs). Homework, life, classes, (mostly) my readings, RP, etc. etc. etc.

Though, haha, I may be coming down with something. I keep getting sore throats/losing my voice at work, I kept sneezing earlier today, I ache all over--I'm doing my best not to! Taking my vitamins, drinking this unfiltered, organic orange juice (I hate unfiltered OJ), etc. It may only go so far though. *sigh*

Speaking of anon meme, lol. Every single time I say I won't look at it until it's done, but we all know that's not true. I don't even know why I say such things anymore. Though, hey, the TST thread almost never fails to make me happy. idk, idk, we'll see, right all?

...

This whole post has been incoherent and babbling, hasn't it? Nnngh, I'll shut up until I have something to say.


Also, all these posts I've put my little 'tag late(r)' tag on I should... really get around to tagging.

Hm.

So I despair of keeping up with my f-list for that last two weeks as well. It's been rather the two weeks, to be honest, both good and bad.

Good things like starting classes, loving them all, moving into a new place (okay, so my posters aren't up and technically my app hasn't been approved, but the new roommates gave me the key and--whatever); so on and so forth. The bad? Well, work has been insanely busy, I'm now working Monday, Thursday, Friday, which is weird, and have a 9AM class every morning. Eurgh. Oh, and my car got broken into.

So, yeah.

The story on that last one? Oh, the lock on the driver's side has been giving me trouble for a little while now and, sometimes, when you lock the rest of the doors, or even lock that one manually, it doesn't go all the way down. Well, the last time I locked it, I was tired and it was dark and it must not have gone down all the way (even though I swear I checked it), so someone was able to force it open. What did they take? Um... coins, nail clippers, a garage opener for a house 300 miles away, broken fold-out scissors and a pen holder. Oh, and all the granola bars from one box.

They left everything like the radio, the registration, etc. They took out the First Aid box and left it open on the lawn next door (which meant that when the sprinklers went on over there, everything got ruined). The inside of the car was pretty trashed, stuff everywhere, but mostly in the passenger seat.

Mostly I'm just kind of shaken by that. I... suppose it says something about me that I get my car robbed before I ever get into an accident? Anyway, that freaked me out all morning yesterday.

But I got better. XD

I... sheesh, trying to summarize the last two weeks in one LJ post is... yeah, kind of not going to happen. I may break it down at some point (definitely a post about the Superhero class, maybe one about New Media, RP babble post... idk idk).

Work though. Haha, work. Work has been interesting because we moved to a new version of Blackboard and... wow, professors are confused and thusly sometimes angry with us for changing (because it's totally the student consultants' fault :| ). And at the same time they're trying to figure it out, we're also trying to figure out all its vagaries. *sigh* Interesting, to say the least.

Anyway. Readings to do, journals to read, you know how it goes. *thumbsup*


(...This apartment needs a name. Pictures later, when I get it ready for my parents to visit, I swear.)

Okay, haha, lets be honest here guys. I'm never going to catch up with my f-list. Nearly a month of not reading it/not really having the time to read it? Ain't gonna happen. Pants so bankrupt, etc. etc.

But! If anything important happened in the last month or so, please do let me know. I've done my best to keep up with personal journals but, eh, my best is probably not good enough. I still love you all, I just... didn't have internet or free time the last little while. Not fun.

What have I done instead?

- My birthday! Yes, I am now 21 and can drink legally. Beware.

- Kumoricon! So, uh... K-con was interesting, in all senses of the word. It was really fun, of course, but it also had a helluva lot of problems, a lot (supposedly) stemming from the hotel management expectations being way different from what an anime con is (it's not that they weren't told, apparently they were, but that they simply didn't think it was going to be... how it was).

- - At Kumori-con, I got roped into cosplaying Gilgamesh Wulfenbach (from Girl Genius) for the Girl Genius Dating Game (which is now... on Youtube). Entirely fan-written and fan-produced (though Phil was there! eee!), but fun as heck.

- Disneyworld! Literally, left the day after the con. Met up with Jovanie, spent a good part of the week hanging out with her, running around like kids, and without internet (hence a big chunk of the 'not catching up') for a whole week of fun and win. More on that, uh, when I don't feel so overwhelmed.

- Moving! So I am now, as I type, sitting in my new room on my new bed in Eugene. (I'm living in an apartment down here for school, which should be really good this year). Not everything is set up and technically I'm not even 'here' yet, as I am filling out the application this afternoon but shhh. Big room, two closets, my own bathroom (which... I should take a shower, hm hmm), very nice. Even if the cat hates me. That's okay, she can bug the roommates.

- School Stuff! So, haha, I spent $140 on textbooks--and all of them were comics. Is this awesome, y/y? They really are all textbooks. I'm taking "History of the Superhero' from Ben Saunders this term (for upper-division English lit credit ohhh yeaaaah), who also curated an exhibit at the art museum called Faster Than A Speeding Bullet, which, obviously, will be a wonderful compliment to the class. Eee!

- - Also included in school stuff was my Japanese Placement test. My scores were 'good' for third year (which, two years ago, I tested into third year solidly, but that was before not studying for two years), but we agreed that, English classes being my major focus, it would be good for me to do second year (again, technically) instead. Which I am perfectly okay with. (Even if it is at 9am everyday ;; ).

Other than that, I've been running this way and that doing and organizing and buying and whatevering everything ever in an effort to get things done before school kicks off.

So, to take a little break from that, a meme.

Leave me a comment saying "GIANT SQUID",
- I'll respond by asking you five (or so) questions so I can get to know you better.
- Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
- Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

( The questions that got asked to meeee )

Oh... and what do you all think of either a Batgirl (Babs, of course) or Oracle costume for Halloween? Apparently the health center rents wheelchairs for pretty cheap... anyway, just a thought. Any other Halloween suggestions?

Edit: *sigh* Someday I'll learn to unbork my coding before posting.

EDIT:
OKAY NOW IT'S OFFICIALLY MY BIRTHDAY 8D

I have been commanded by my future-landers to put a post up for my birthday now, since it's my birthday already in futureland!

So, here we are, lol. XD

Went with mom to the mall so we go buy a PS2 for me! Eee! I decided on black because, hey, it's classy and it matches my telly. Also got, uhhh, Kingdom Hearts, Prince of Persia: SoT, and Resident Evil "essentials", which is, uh, RE, RE Veronica (or wtfever) and RE: Outbreak (lol Kevin yay). All used, so pretty cheap. But, uh, I'm not allowed to open any of it until tomorrow. Real real tomorrow, not futureland tomorrow.

I should be packing. I should text Sarah. I want to keep zooming through Rosemary and Rue. I'm not done checking any of my flists.

Ah well. I have tea and life is good.

So I guess I've been busy in preparation for being even busier, or something like that.

The schedule:

SEPTEMBER:
- 2nd (Wednesday): MY 21st BIRTHDAY, including going out to dinner, getting presents and...packing.
( Oh geez, this got long )

Sooo... by the time I get settled back into a school routine? It's the end of September. So I might be a little scare.

At some point I'll post a proper review of Rosemary and Rue (impression so far: 'oooo, it's like Pamela Dean turned loose on modern day murders!' or something to that effect. Noir fiction for those who don't like noir. Urban Fantasy for those tired of vampires and Dresden's approach. In short: *A* shiny).

At some point I'll catch up with RP tags. I have drabbles to write, among other myriad things, and I swear I will at some point. Maybe that plane ride.

In nicer news: I know at least one birthday present I'm getting: A PS2! \o/

(Shush, I know, it's not an oh-so-shiny PS3 or XBOX360 or whatever, but I'm pleased as punch with it, since it means I can play, well, a whole bunch of games I've been waiting a long time to play. X3 Though only in my spare time, seeing as I've promised to not play it when I've schoolwork to do instead (but we all rememebr how fast I finished KH II, y/n?).

Uhh. Okay, I've probably forgotten about twelve things from this but I'll just spam y'all later or something. Whatever works.

Remind me to never leave my f-list unchecked for nearly two days again. Unless it's, like, an actual vacation/hiatus/whatever.

The anon meme was, uh, fun this time around. Apparently there are some people who don't like me.

WELL BUTTER MAH BUTT AND CALL ME A BISKIT.

No, seriously, I don't actually give a damn anymore. I have my friends, their love (and their logic, their stepping up--entirely unasked, I might add--and their not-backing-down-ness) all floored me and made me feel proud and privileged to know them, all over again. You guys, I love you all back, so hard. So. Much.

Oh, and batshit! Ha! I haven't seen that one outside of Doctor Who fandom in a while! Is it a me thing? It might be.

I'm still not caught upon anything, ever, except my flist. Even Rachel Maddow! I've been typing and sewing and spray-painting away so furiously, I haven't caught up on my Maddow! A crime I will remedy, I assure you.

Drabble tennis was fun! But now I want to do more. ;o; Including possibly just writing the actual...PWP bit of that fic that keeps trying to get plotty on me. Also, what does Aizen's bedroom look like? Anyway.

I have nothing much else to say, and I left Weirdtown and entered Loopyville about 20 minutes ago. 8D

It's raining~

Okay, not currently, but it's been drizzly all day (when I went to sleep, when I woke up at 7AM, this afternoon) and then, when I went out to the store, it was POURING. My windshield wipers were going full blast and yaaaay I love it. :D

I went out to the bookstore to pick up Wolf Speaker, because, uh, I don't own that one, for some reason. And The Trickster books. I'm on a Tamora Pierce binge. But I suppose there are worse things to go on with. This, at least, is girl power wooo!

Anyway, second and third stops were Ross and Goodwill. Looking for cosplay bits (oh god)!

Yeah, so, with Kumoricon coming up, and the fact that apparently I was a dumbass and put half my Anko costume in storage and haven't got a proper coat for her anymore, I've decided to... well, to put myself to work on a mad idea I've had for a while.

Sleipnir O'Hara! From Girl Genius.

See, this saga starts almost exactly one year ago, with World Con and my fangirling the Foglios like a proper little fangirl (the 'ooo discussion!' type, not the '*bat-pitched squee* type--I kept all that internal). I mentioned something to Kaja that I really liked Sleipnir, and wished I could cosplay her. Kaja said something about how my hair was just about the right color for it too. However, this was back when Sleipnir had her huge braid, and, yeah, a wig that long? Not happening.

And then Sleipnir and Theo showed up in the comic and...Sleipnir's new haircut looked exactly like my haircut. Taking it as a sign, I started to plot how to do her new outfit, out of bits and pieces and a little bit of terrifying sewing.

There're a few issues I've got still, like putting all the shirt stuff together, whether the pants will look right, the dial in the glove, etc.

And the colorists can't seem to decide whether Sleipnir's big belt buckle is silver, or whether it's a glowy clock. :|

Anyway, that's the plan, hopefully in time for K-Con. \o/

Oh, and cute shoes (nice flats, which I had been looking for) for $12! ilu Ross, but you are bad for my shoe-aholic-ism.

*

Least I go too long without some kind of active participation, a meme!

Give me the first line of a fic (or the fic title), a fandom, and at least two characters in it, and I'll write you a scene. (Stolen from grav_ity)

Okay, back to watching Rachel Maddow. And laughing at the people who think Stephen Hawking would have had 'no chance at life' under NHS.

Leave me a comment and I will reply with why I like you. If I don't know you, I'll either make something up or tell you why I like your LiveJournal. You must pay for the privilege by posting a message like this one on your LiveJournal.

*spread the love, hm hm hmmm~* I'll do the ten confessions thing whenever I think of ten.

*

Actual entry time!

So, registration for classes for continuing students reopens today. ACK! This is a very good thing, as I had only managed to pick two classes before it closed. (My plan is to register for three classes--12 credits, the bare minimum of a full load--take the Japanese language placement test again, to see if I can get into either mid-level or second-year class (I studied for four years, but vocab has always been my weak point, and I think I've forgotten a rather lot of it--something anime/dorama-watching doesn't exactly help with).

And then, depending on what Japanese class I get in, I may or may not keep whatever extra class it is I'm signing up for on Wednesday. I've got two English classes in there already on there...as for the extra?

Augh, idk, idk, school is srs bsns and it's too hot for that. I like having this figured out beforehand though, so I can swoop in and get everything registered before other people straggle in.

*

I like summer, but I like fall just as much. I like late summer sun, and picking peaches and pumpkin pie, and ripe, red apples...I even like the cooldown towards winter and the getting to wear fun knee-high socks again... (I bought new argyle ones, the old ones had holes in the toes and these are even cuter.)

*

New contacts: still getting used to them. Thinking not a 7-day-a-week thing, but only when needed. Helmet wearing, roller coasters, pretty days, etc.

I'll take a picture soon, of me with them in. But you can help me think up easy, quick, and/or cheap cosplays for Kumori-con, in...a month. Though it will be after my birthday so... *idk what that has to do with anything, but whatever*

*

Hum. It's one in the morning and I want pork buns.

Or soda. Still too warm for tea. Though there is that Good Earth Herbal...

I will post a real entry sometime later I swear to the high heavens and my great shoes.

I was going to post properly. Too damn hot the rest of this week to do so. So, a stop-gap: bullet points.

- Saw Half Blood Prince. Liked the same things in the movie that I liked in the book, and hated the same things in the book I hated in the movie.

- It is hot and looks to remain hot for the rest of forever. 95* today, 102* predicted for tomorrow. 'Dry' does not help. Sleep may be impossible.

- Might see about getting contacts at eye-appointment tomorrow.

- Now have confidence, since college, to wear tops my father disapproves of. Incredibly liberating.

- We have no air-con, so the mall and movies are getting a bit of an economic boost from us.

Bought books! Books include:
- Song of Fire and Ice book one (A Game of Thrones), okay so far
- Dogs and Goddesses (Crusie)
- Talk Nerdy to Me (romance--we'll see)
- Need to find/buy copy of Alanna, which I am beginning to think I do not own. Strange, that, as I love that quartet.

Did I mention it's hot? I've forgotten to mention about eightmillion things but I do not care right now cause nnnnnngh.

*toddles back to tagging like a mad thing*

My stomach has been icky all day. I woke up with it all lurgy, had soup, tea, a popsicle, water, and pretzels--was finally able to eat a good bowl and a half of the yummy yummy gazpacho mama made.

But I still feel icky now. I think I'm going to blame it on the coming week. Yes, that week. Rawr.

*

You know, of all the celebrity deaths recently, the one that hit me hardest wasn't Michael Jackson or Farah Fawcett or, hell, even Billy Mays.

No, it was Walter Cronkite.

The man was a staple of not only my mother and father's childhood, but mine as well, in a strange way. Though I was not born until 1988--seven years after he retired from the CBS evening news and Dan Rather took over--he was one of the gold standards of journalistic excellence to which everyone held reporters to. (He was also, in my greatest exposure to him, the voice of Benjamin Franklin on the PBS show Liberty's Kids. Odd, I know, but there you are.)

He covered historical events from Kennedy's assassinaiton to the watergate scandal to the Vietnam War on location.

Just three short days before the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Walter Cronkite died. The only non-NASA recipient of a moonrock (which he donated to a university), Cronkite was at a loss for words, other than 'oh boy'.

92 years old.

He will be missed.

*

Speaking of space, today (okay, technically yesterday, shh) is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission!

The shuttle Endeavour is going to be retired soon.

We're putting the finishing touches on a space station that belongs not to one nation, but to all.

We don't have plans to go back.

Let that sink in for a second.

Maybe I'm just an astronomy nerd, maybe I'm just a geek in glasses who'll never get to see Earthrise herself but...maybe this is important too. Health care and feeding people, and green energy education--all of these are issues, big ones, that we need to tackle before it's too late.

But there's something to be said for not stopping to look up and think about what's next.

*
More space! Okay, not really, it's fiction, but shush. Doctor Who (minor) spoilers ahoy!

Doctor 11's costume, at the BBC And a minor, possible actor spoiler.

( I'm not much of a fashionista, but I can still kvetch )

*

My Queen of Wands print (of the tech support strip) came today. It's so pretty and shiny, and I wonder how much it would cost to have it matted, hmm~

Will go into Beard's sometime soon and ask what's best to do with it.

*

Last, but not least, yes, it's that time again RP people. The HMD meme, that other monthly thing.

This is what happens when I don't update for too long.

On this exciting episode of Anne's life really is that boring:

Television!

What have I watched? Recently, that is. Well, first and foremost, yes, Torchwood.

( Spoiler-ish thoughts under the cut )

Also! I, uh, finally watched "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead". I KNOW I'M SLOW, OKAY?! "Journey's End" messed me up for a while there, but I'm ultimately glad I did watch them.

( I'm the Doctor! Yeah, which one? )

And then!

( And then comes Planet of the Bus, er, Dead. )

*

After that, I watched a little J-drama called Mei-chan no shitsuji, aka, Mei-chan's Butler. Cute shojo fluff and all Mia's doing. She's now creating entire AUs from this, and it's really quite amusing.

Now trying to decide whether the J-drama of Absolute Boyfriend would be good or just not. We'll see. I commented to my father today that my family neither reads nor watches the same things as me anymore. So I have no one to geek with face-to-face. How sad.


Books!

Still getting through Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. I like Agnes and the Hitman better I think, but this way, way fun too. Min is fun, and rather easy to identify with. ♥ Bonnie the friend is so adorable (and is totally you, Jovanie. She believes in the fairy tale, and it is adorable). So, yes, liking it, just not having a big chunk of time to just read. Without missing more sleep. I might tl;dr about Agnes sometime, but we'll see.

When I picked up books at Powell's, I also got one that's been keeping me fairly well distracted, long after finishing it.

( You think the romance genre and gaming industry have nothing to do with each other? Think again~ )

So, yes, that was fun.

Also picked up Cordelia's Honor (which is Shards of Honor and Barrayar squished together for my headlong dive into the Vorkosigan universe--when I can get my nose out of the romance novels, at least.

Manga!

Naruto. Well. It's either going to get really interesting again or not. We'll see.

( Spoilers for chapters 454 and 455 )

Also began watching Bleach. On episode....nine or ten, I'll have to check my list. But, yes, so far wacky shonen shenanigans. Fun times.

*
Movies!

Dad took me out to see Moon today. All I knew about it was 1) sci-fi mining on the moon, 2) Dude has hallucinations, has accident, and 3) OMG THE WRITER-DIRECTOR IS DAVID BOWIE'S KID AAAAA (which I capslock since the papers seemed this fact was important to mention in every. single. blurb. And they didn't even use "Space Oddity". Sad day).

But! It was qutie good! The story was actually really interesting (and I understand why they didn't give more away in the blurbs). The effects were gorgeous and near-real without being overly flashy or in your face (no over-abundance of lens flare here). The future was plausible and interesting...all together I really enjoyed it.

(And then there was who I saw when I came out of the movie buuuuut that's another subject.

Movies I am excited for this summer:
( I cut because I love. Also, I tl;dr, but that's another story )

*

And a little bit of randomness!

Anderson Cooper is stumped by a can of whipped cream. No, seriously.

He's just so adorably fail. ♥

...

( Anne fails at boys part the billionth, under here )


Happy (belated, I know) birthday to slantiness (I will bring you a souvenir from exciting Beaverton) and pookaseraph (I owe you more thank yous than words can give). I'm forgetting someone WHO AM I FORGETTING?

As for life? I have no real life. But for the summer? That's perfectly okay with me.

...

And now I wonder if LJ has a limit on how long an entry can be...

I feel like I should tl;dr about RP or something, but no one's read this far anyway! Oh, TST thread on the IC anon meme is pretty fun. Lulzy.

Yep, that's about it.

I don't post enough, do I? This is because it's summer and my life is ~*~unexciting~*~. Turning in my volunteer app at the library sometime today, hopefully.

I got my hair cut! The usual. Short again, just in time for 90-degree days. :3

I got a couple of pairs of new shoes--probably enough to last me for at least another year. Two pairs of Rocketdog slip-ons (they were comfy and on sale--cheaper than Vans slip-ons, and everyone else has stopped making their vans slip-on clones...). Pair of new comfy flip-flops (my weird feet mean that I cannot wear the plastic $2 ones for more than ten minutes without getting blisters). A pair of those roman-esque sandals because, hey, they're a little dressy, pretty cute, and not bad comfort-wise.

And a pair of red, patent-leather, strappy heels that (being Fioni) are pretty comfortable despite being 3-inch heels. Yeah. They're that kind of heel, if you know what I mean. ;D

Anyway, those should all last me at least a year, if not more, and all pairs were on sale to one extent or another. It was awesome.

Mom raised an eyebrow at the tinkerbell!top for being classic pajamas and not 'clothes' so, well, I guess those are relegated to the days when I'm feeling uber-confident or she's not around. (My mother and I...have a curious history when it comes to clothes. Her fashion sense is good and solid if a little on the practical side. I have little to zero fashion sense and swing wildly from practical to flights of fancy--this top happens to be both because, hello, cool floaty shirt in 90*+ weather? yes plz. Anyway, whatever, I'm used to it.)


I miss all of my Eugene friends. I need to get to the downtown Powell's sometime. Hm.

And now (not just to fill up space, I swear) memes!

First, the five words meme again, this time from okroginator.

Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.

( The five words are: Anko, librarian, Itachi/Anko, books, and feminism--a good mix, if you ask me. )

Also from okroginator, icons!

1. Reply to this post with 'Icons!', and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will - allegedly - create a never-ending cycle of icon glee.

( toasters and Ireland and Anko, oh my! )

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( Things-to-write list (aka a subsection of the to-do list) )

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Heee! Dad took us all out to breakfast at Tom's (omnomnom pancakes--without work!) and now crow emoticon is fat. Socute!

Also: G33k B33r, Bawls' root beer flavor? Quite good. And, of course, highly caffeinated.

Trial done. Defense did not feel need to present further evidence. I was not impressed with some of my jurors, but it's done with now. I don't feel like talking about it without prompting though.


Anyhow, in an effort to distract myself, I've been slow-poking through Mia's meme. Got all the TST muses done! Now just the multiples of Anko, if I feel so inclined.

( Four TST muses: Sophie Hatter, Mitarashi Anko, Susan Sto Helit, and Mamma Gkika )

>NO, SHIT, I FORGOT MAMMA GKIKA HOLD UP.

There we go.

*waits for new Naruto chapter scanlations, ponders watching the new episode, Anko-less as it will be*

Oh, right. Packing. *sigh* Changed ticket to tomorrow. BSNF doing bridge work, which means bus from PDX to Vancouer, and then train up. (Is it just me, or does BSNF sound like it should be a fandom acronym?)

I am so tired.

Bodily tired, mentally tired--you name it, it's worn out.

I went in for jury duty today.

It was only halfway through the judge's question that I realized something terrifying: I am the perfect juror. I don't even have a parking ticket, hell, I've never even been pulled over by a cop. The only cops I know are from D.A.R.E., etc, I've never been victim of a crime...

Furthermore? I not only have read the fucking constitution (which some of my fellow jurors seem to have neglected...for one part of the questioning I had a running mantra in my head of 'fifth amendment, fifth amendment, for god's sake, the fucking fifth amendment means no one has to testify!'), I also have basic training in rhetoric (hello speech and debate), and am just kind of all-around smart.

So, of course, I got picked to serve on a jury, my first time round. (This probably also means I will get called every two years like clockwork. I know it's random, but my luck is just that shitty.)

The judge says the case will probably go through Friday.

My family is leaving on Thursday for Seattle. By car, so it's not like there was a plane or train ticket to cancel.

So, the plan is that I will buy a train ticket, spend Thursday and Friday nights on my own, then take the 9am train up to Seattle to rejoin the rest of my family.

Fuck fuck fuckity fuckity fuck.

(Thank you Mark Twain.)

So, if you don't see me around the next few days, it's because I'm, well, in court.

nnnngh

A note: I am in no way against doing my civic duty and serving on a court. But 1) I had family travel plans when many others didn't, 2) it was a trip I was really looking forward to, and the only one we have planned for the summer so far, 3) it's that week--yeah, that one, and 4) A three-day long trial my first time out? Could you be any more cruel to the newbie?

Plus the subject matter of the trial promises to be emotionally draining. I don't know how much I can get done, after hearing this case, all day long.

Meanwhile, I will occupy myself with getting in as much RP as I can before I crash, and loling/face-palming at that star trek post.

Yes darlings, it's that time again.


The How's My Driving? Meme

Go forth and crit.

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I have only a few scattered on Naruto ch 452.
( Spoilers, duh )

My thoughts are Shippuden 114 are much more incoherent and capslocky.

( These I cut to spare your sanity )

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I spent all day in a car with my family and manage not to kill them. I count this as a win. It was driving Mom and Dad out to wine tasting for early Father's Day (his request). Two months before my 21st birthday. I told Dad he's buying me a drink on my birthday to make up for that.

I also got decent barbecue from this, finished Agnes and the Hitman (pretty good), started really diving in on Beyond Heaving Bosoms and bought both the Dave Brubeck Quartet LP Time Out (which is...a bit famous, and the record is in gorgeous condition) and The Complete Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, with "all 187 original illustrations". So that should keep me quite occupied.

Tomorrow is maybe donuts from Donuts+.

My earlobes hurt. This is not good, but I think it'll pass as long as I keep them clean.

Well, that was a pretty much pointless post. Hmm hmm.

They say that love never really dies
Its just goes away into your bones like old drugs
Like remembrances of a 'once' you had.
I wonder if we were really invincible that night
Or if we only thought we were
I wonder if we fell like angels, instead of martyrs
Or if we lied and never died at all.

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I meant to post yesterday. I decided I was too angry and upset with the world and decided to wait.

Okay, I'm a little confused. Now, on Duckweb, term grades don't show up until 1) you've completed or declined all of your course evaluations and 2) your professors have submitted at least one grade.

I completed all of my evaluations. And I know, for a fact, that at least one of my teachers has submitted his class grades to the registrar. How do I know? Because I sat there and helped him submit them (he came into work for help with it).

Sooo, wtf? I'm still waiting on that.

Also still waiting for various people to get their act together. Yesterday was a kind of shitty day, between getting called an idiot on RP!S (for...not knowing Pink Floyd real well? Not googling everything ever? I'm still not sure), continuing to tread on eggshells around my sister, and one of my friends getting banned, mods not communicating and having no place to escape from it all because I'm back in freaking Beaverton.

Ugh.

So, yeah, no wonder I slept until 2:30 today, hm?

I can't tell whether I want to throw things at people or do something creative.

I might beg the car and go get dango. That would make me happy, right? It's hard not being within walking distance of anything really cool. Well, convenient walking distance. Two miles there and back does not count as convenient, no.

Whatever.

Distract me, flist?

Oh lawdy. My pants? So bankrupt. Some of you may have spyed me online at one point or another, but that was in the library (up until yesterday). And when in the library I had to pretend, mostly, to be doing academic things. I'm at skip=160 already and no where near being caught up.

If there's anything that you would like me to see, go 'head and link me darlings. I would appreciate that.

So, instead of a final today (which I emailed the prof just to be sure I don't have after checking the syllabus...it wasn't on the syllabus, but with some profs you never know and they might just assume you're going to show up to their final) I'm at work for another three hours. (To which, ironically, the professor who I emailed? Came in for Blackboard help. XD )

Well, okay. I guess it means I get a little more money against the jobless (so far) summer. It means I get a few more hours to catch up on internet stuff.

OKAY

Schedule for the next two days:
( Cut because it is long and arduous )

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"Elastic Bosom Company" would be a great name for a band. Or "Electric Bosom Company".

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Our next hair appointments with Mia are...on the same day I get called in for jury duty. Woops. Hopefully (yeah right) I'll get out in a reasonable amount of time and, if they give me the last appointment slot of the three, I'll be able to get there in time. I rather doubt this, but it's nice to hope.

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There is someone in the library who knows me, knows I RP, and knows Peppis' Fire-and-Brimstone anti-plagiarism lectures. I want to know who they are! But that's just me being selfish.

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Oh, what a day.