sanada's anthology of despair

So... my hotel in Croatia is awesome, but the internet jack in the wall appears to be broken so I'm at an internet cafe. x__x Hopefully I will have internets as soon as I get to Slovenia! I'm shrivelling up and dying without it! But Croatia is definitely the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It's all coastline, and the Adriatic Sea makes Ocean City back home look (and smell) like a cesspit. Add mountains and 18th-century architecture and it's all very picturesque. Too bad this public computer doesn't have an photo card reader!

Even the people here are pretty and sun-baked, making my flabby pale American ass look ridiculous... lol. Everything is ultra-stylish except the tourists~

Anyway, tomorrow is a concert in Poreč, and then we're going to Slovenia where I desperately hope there will be internet access in the hotel. What will I do with myself if I can't hang on /m/ for hours every night??

Hey, fellow Marylanders, June is FREE CAT MONTH at the SPCA. FREE CATS. FREE CATS.

That's like advertising FREE COCAINE outside a rehab center.

( The new addition, bringing the cat total back up to SEVEN... )

In non-cat news... listening to the Macross Frontier OST CD reminds me of why I hate Yoko Kanno. She blatantly plagiarizes other artist's music. Usually, she rips off Western musicians who aren't particularly well known, but when you rip off the soundtracks to Star Wars, Beauty and the Beast and Pirates of the Caribbean all in ONE CD, it's kind of hard to ignore... and she has a loooong history of pulling this kind of crap.

Moral of the story - if you're going to steal stuff, make sure you do it in a way that people won't notice.

Also, FREE CATS OMG OMG OMG OMG.

( Gundam 00 kink meme, Lockon/Tiera. NC-17 (slash). )

( Gundam 00 kink meme, Nena/Tieria. NC-17 (slashy het?). )

Well, I start work at Kennedy Krieger on Monday. *laugh* Here's hoping I don't hate it too much! It's a total change from my last job, where I was stuck in a windowless laboratory all day... now I'll be doing hands-on monitoring and data collection with severely autistic kids. o__o; Um, drastic career change? lol? Well, it's not exactly what I want to be doing, but I know I eventually want to go into medicine and I think the clinical experience will at least give me an idea of what that side of the medical field is like. Because of the extremely bad location in a dangerous part of town, I didn't feel at all comfortable with taking the full-time evening shift, but I can supplement my part-time earnings with another job like tutoring, and still have time to take the certification tests I'd like to get. So... it might be okay? Yay?

But I have to get a bunch of shots so I think I deserve to buy myself some presents. >_>; And by "presents", I mean "doujinshi, fabric, and silly plastic models."

Hahaha, enough real life. I just watched the newest episode of Gundam 00, and... *sob* Noooooooo!! If they keep killing and maiming characters at this rate, it's going to edge itself into my favorite-mecha-series spot... Ep 21 was so much awesome and win. Like Code Geass, Gundam 00 occasionally felt like it was padded with filler (I could tolerate the endless political discussions, knowing that they'd be important later, but when will anime production companies understand that we DON'T need recap episodes?) but ohholyshit it's been going for the heart-wrenching emotional impact lately. This fangirl approves! (And it doesn't hurt that the fandom is extremely active and entertaining. I haven't written this much fanfic in years.)

But bring on the spring anime season! I'm anxiously awaiting it!!

And in manga news... I was at Borders looking for SDK 27 (with no success), so instead I bought the first volume of "Fujoshi Rumi" (aka Mousou Shoujou Otakukei) and OMFG I don't think I've ever laughed so much over a manga! I can't wait for more in English, so I'll have to make another Amazon Japan order... bwahahaha. It's your usual boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-in-love-with-girl... but the girl is a delusional yaoi-obsessed super otaku who'd rather fantasise about gay porn. Half the dialogue feels like it's lifted straight from particularly inane conversations I've had with nokoru - but if a schoolgirl shouting "I'M THE RED COMET!! You guys, Dom and Rickdom, should crawl on the ground and be crushed by gravity!!" to two confused classmates doesn't make sense to you, then neither will a lot of things in this manga... *laugh* The endnotes are extensive, but this is a manga for reaaaaally deep otaku. >_>;; I guess I should be embarrassed that I only had to flip to to the endnotes once or twice. But I surprisingly found myself liking the seinen-romance aspect of the manga, too. It's cute. ^__^ He's Kaworu to her Shinji! I lol'ed.

Meme time! I don't do many of these, but this one was nice:

If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

(ganked from chomiji, who is one of those people~♥)

N... Nakao Ryuusei is going to be a guest at Animazement again this year?

OH HELL YES.

The Bleach manga might be a steaming pile of crap these days, but my love for Mayuri is still strong!!

I have to fix my hat...


(And hey, Vic Mignogna! And Animazement's usual suspects too~)

Robot anime usually have a lot more than robot battles - there are realistic military scenarios, speculations on future technology, and occasionally some deep psychological issues (Neon Genesis Evangelion was so deep that I still don't understand what the hell was going on in that show). But the most famous robot metaseries of all is Mobile Suit Gundam, with dozens of anime, OVA, games, manga, novels, and little plastic figure kits produced since the late 70s, set in a myriad of alternate universes. Gundam shows are famous for long, convoluted plots complicatedcharacters and lots of angst. The latest series is Gundam 00 (airing since October), which mixes futuristic technology with the international problems of today.

( Cut for rambling about robots and religion in Gundam 00. Mild spoilers. )

I thought this was a nice idea. ^__^ You can help too!

"Amatsuki" (one of the manga I scanlate) is getting made into an anime! That means... potential for actual fandom! Bwahaha my plan to get in on the ground floor of a developing fandom has succeeded! I hope they keep the drama CD cast... but roundtuit, this means cosplay.

AHHHHHHHHH the PCAT shit is finally over. Now I can proceed to forget everything I've ever learned about chemistry! I think I did pretty well... I don't wanna jinx myself or anything, though, but the essays, reading comprehension and biology questions were pretty easy. The questions from the prep book I was using to study were much, much harder than the actual test questions. The hardest part was the basic math - I can do math, of course, but I'm so used to having a calculator that I can't do fast math.

So now that that's over, I can actually return to active life on the internets! If I owe you email, I promise I will get to it ASAP.

Uhh... it's been a while since I've updated, huh? I've been studying so much that just now, I looked outside and WOAH it's fall. When did that happen? It's still too damned hot, though. I visited chomiji last week and got fresh air and food that didn't come from a frozen cardboard box for what seemed like the first time in weeks, but that just made my house look even more dreary in comparison. The only way I've kept my sanity (?) is by playing lots and lots of video games.

Oh, and I've been watching the "Fuurin Kazan" TV drama series (aka "Takeda Shingen and Pals") - it's always nice to be reminded that no matter how bad my life gets, at least I'm not a one-eyed hobo with a bum leg and bad hair who gets screwed over by every person I meet. I don't watch much TV, but I have a shameful love of Japanese historical dramas. I think it's the way the episodes are structured - instead of a core group of characters who get into episodic adventures, renzoku drama series are more like really, really long movies (or the unholy offspring of Spanish soap operas and documentaries). Hugely complicated plots can unfold at a leisurely pace and side characters get a lot of attention, unlike a more episodic show where even the main characters can feel like cariacatures. And then there's the constant solilioquising on "justice" and "honor" which would be really corny and annoying if a diet of shounen manga hadn't primed me to love dramatic speeches and exagerrated facial expressions. You'd almost believe that history's greatest assholes were all poor misunderstood woobies motivated only by a sincere desire to make the world a better place... so yeah, samurai dramas are incredibly cheesy, but I still love them.

Speaking of shounen manga, the raw provider for Shounen Magazine has decided to quit scanning to focus on school... leaving me without raws for "Shirogane no Karasu!" *cry* And it will be forever before the tankoubons catch up... Importing a weekly magazine from Japan is prohibitively expensive, so I guess I'll just have to hope that someone else starts scanning them. T___T Until then... the translations will naturally be on hiatus!

( Eeee, my favorite flowers bloomed! )

Okay, I fully intend to make a real update on this thing... just... not right now. *laugh*

Finally made a new layout for LJ and GJ - it's guaranteed to not work in anyone's browser but mine (because IE is stupid, stupid, stupid) but the important thing is that I have a shiny new color scheme for my friends page, which is all I look at anyway.

After ages of fangirling without actually playing the game, I've fallen into the deep dark trap that is Samurai Warriors 2. And omg, I love hacking my way through enemy armies when I'm ridiculously outnumbered. I love the cheesy shounen-manga dialogue. But the best part (even better than beating famous historical figures to death with a paper fan) is the overwhelming homoeroticism. I'd say that this video game was made for fangirls, but there don't seem to be any fangirls. Another lonely lonely fandom... *cry*

So, all hyped up on epic battle, I watched a ton of Koutetsu Sangokushi last night... wtf. "WTF" is all that can describe this show. It's a gay seiyuu anime... set in ancient China. Think "Saint Beast" + "Dynasty Warriors" and you're really not far off... x__x;; So why do I like this crap? The first time I watched it, I didn't know who anybody was because I'm used to the Chinese names for the characters. But now that I've looked up all of the names, the true horror sets in. Sun Quan and Liu Bei are (male) lolis. Two of the most famous warlords of classical China... are swapping makeup tips and prancing around in drag. BRAIN HURT. And it just keeps getting gayer. Oh Japan... please stay out of other countries and their history, mmmkay? Remember all the times that's gotten you in trouble?

( Speaking of lonely, obscure, gay fandoms, I drew some fanart for Shirogane no Karasu. )

Well, the job search goes on - I'm looking at either a research assistant job or pharmacy technician. The pharmacy technician job doesn't pay quite as much because it doesn't require a 4-year degree, but it has somewhat greater sucking up... ah, I mean, networking potential for when I go back to school. And maybe with a degree, they'd let me do more stuff... I just can't take another boring job where I sit in an office with nothing to do! So maybe if I lean more towards the research/patient care side of science/medicine and away from the business side, I'll feel less like a corporate slave... Plus, there's this nice pharmacist lady who is really encouraging me! And I need that encouragement of "yes, you're doing the right thing, go for it" or I second-guess myself. That's why I didn't go directly to grad school... something with my "plan" felt inexplicably off. So maybe it was that I'm meant to do this thing instead of that thing. *laugh* Or maybe that's reading too much into things. It's just nice to get reassurance, especially when I'm looking at becoming a professional student...

I'm actually more annoyed by the wank about the LJ wankocalypse than I am about the actual bannination itself. I mean, LJ is a company, so they have the right to remove anything that violates their TOS. Of course, their TOS is a confusing mess that needs to be overhauled... but really, this isn't a "freedom of speech" issue. There are other places to post porn, so it's not like LJ is denying your right to fap. What does anger me is Six Apart's treatment of their customers. Deletions without warning or appeal, no clear TOS, poor communication... and it's set the fangirls into hissy fits of such epic proportions that I've made a GreatestJournal account just in case I need to flee the whining... I haven't really set it up yet, but the username is shinonome. So if you've got a GJ, comment and tell me what it is so I can friend you!

(I'm hopeful that one day in the not-too-distant future, there will be a journal site optimised for fandom, but we'll see.)

Going to be away at casa nokoru until she makes me go home, and then I'm going to Pittsburgh! (why, I don't know...) But I'll still be on internets, so don't worry.

A few months ago, I bought a steel tactical baton (to make the Dashinben for roundtuit's Taikoubou costume)　from one of those online self-defense supply shops. And thanks to that, I've ended up on the mailing list of half a dozen gun catalogs. o__O Me, the gun control supporter who will vehemently deny your Second Amendment rights, gets at least two catalogs a week selling hollow point ammo and laser sights for sniper rifles.

They even sell AK-47 accessories - I mean, who the hell owns an AK-47 unless they're some third-world militant!? What do you *do* with one? I'm sure the other militants won't take you seriously if you have a monogrammed carrying bag for your AK-47. "What, this is a jihad? I thought we were going golfing!" And the military-surplus fashion is amusing, too. When can you really wear assault gear in public? Why would you want to buy official Norwegian Army underwear (they only sell gear from armies no one has ever heard of) when you can get a 6-pack of Hanes tighty whities for under $15? And the ninja swords - please, fanboys, I don't care how much Naruto you've seen. A $35 sword does not make you an ninja. It makes you a failure at life.

The best part of these magazines are the articles (or rather, the written equivalent of infomercials). "Crazy Russian's Iron Curtain Military Training Secrets Revealed." Ads for communist-themed exercise videos - because nothing burns fat like forced labor and starvation in a Gulag camp!

Ahh, I've always wanted a shotgun bandolier...

I for one welcome our new zombie overlords!

I've been watching lots of Keroro Gunsou for the past few days... this show is full of crack. The kind of crack that only comes from Japan... x__x;; Dysfunctional alien frogs try to conquer the earth! It's very Pinky and the Brain, with more Pinkies. The level of gay is surprisingly off the charts for a kid's show... and more surprisingly, I find myself seeking fanart of cartoon frogs making out... *headdesk* It's not furry, I swear. They're amphibians. I'm a bad, bad person.

Which Keroro Gunsou Character Are You?

You are Kururu Souchou. You often use words most people can't even pronounce, much less understand, and your hobbies are so far beyond the average human mind that trying to relate them would be like sticking someone's brain in a microwave and setting it to "popcorn". Slightly shy, slightly hermitous, and overly troublesome, you are a bit arrogant, and definitely quite cocky. But you're also secretly quite talented, and in the end, they all look up to you for advice, help, or just bail money. Oh well-- we can't all be superstars. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Finally, Kamijyo Akimine has a new manga series coming out in less than two weeks!! And apparently it's about theives or something - this has been my lucky week, I think! Anything bad that happens ends up being good... ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Hopefully the luck will continue until Animazement next week - they've moved costume judging to Sunday afternoon, which is seriously gay and fail. It's not like I've got to rush home to work of anything, but still... bad planning!

I was going to take a picture of my 90% complete Kurei/Kurenai costume, but the shutter button seems to have disappeared from my camera... hmm, I hope I can fix that! You'll have to take my word that it's pretty wicked~ Doesn't fit in my room, of course, although the wingspan is quite modest compared to some other stuff I've made. I doubt I'll see any other Flame of Recca cosplayers... do they exist? nokoru, you should totally be Aoi sometime. It's a pretty outfit and I wanna make it~♥ after I make tayuu!Jyoka for CNAnime, lol

Since last year's hotel doubled in price, we're staying at the Comfort Inn in Durham/RTP, which is only like $60/night. It's 3 miles away, but that's what the car is for. I figure we'll get to Durham early Thursday evening, so we can either do the pre-con stuff or just flop on our asses and eat snacks.

Hmm, I need a new LJ layout, but I don't know what to make...

( Ginshu from Amatsuki )

Oh, and since everybody is doing this meme: ( My Golden Compass Animal Thingy! )