| Miscellany |
[05 Oct 2008|07:23pm] |
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SF Asian Art Museum = AWESOME. First time I've been there since it moved to the new building (and first time I've been old enough to appreciate it properly -- I think the last time I went I must have been 5 or less...) Didn't have time to go through all the exhibits in detail; also my camera ran out of batteries (forgot to charge it earlier). Will definitely be going again though, probably next month (first Sunday of every month is free).
There's a fairly sizable Zhou dynasty/early China collection specifically that I'm really excited about going back to look at, as it is highly relevant to my interests. (i.e. the pseudo-wuxia pentalogy)
Favorite piece this visit was actually a modern one -- a work by a Chinese Muslim who combined Islamic calligraphy with Chinese calligraphy to really nice results. Will see if I can upload the pic when I have time.
Afterwards went to Japantown only to find that they were holding the Aki Matsuri (fall festival). Much smaller than the annual spring festival (or was it Obon, I forget -- there's one really big one every year). Saw a good number of cosplayers, which was weird as an almost (not really) local who usually goes to Japantown in the "off-season".
And picked up moar cute (and cheap) cell phone ornaments in Ichiban Kan.
- - -
I've been lurking at the Huffington Post way too much recently.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/05/palin-misquotes-albright_n_131967.html
is not so funny. Though comedically absurd as long as you don't think too much about it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/04/tina-fey-as-sarah-palin-i_n_131964.html
is hilarious though. (Didn't watch/didn't care about the VP debate? Watch this instead and you've pretty much got the gist of it.) Queen Latifah's expressions are priceless. And Tina Fey is uncanny. (While being much more likable, to boot. XD)
- - -
http://community.livejournal.com/cellists/428697.html = wow, that's really neat.
The Bach Cello Suites count among my favorite classical pieces ever, which has always surprised me since I'm not that fond of other Bach works. Now I know why, though I'd like to look more into this to see if it's been confirmed/debunked and/or how recent this discovery is.
- - -
am definitely sick now, after weeks of coughing.... But that's a good thing, because now I can just sleep it off instead of trying to figure out what the fuck is wrong with my body.
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| survival 101 |
[06 Oct 2008|09:44am] |
With the world's economy down in the dumps and the threat of a recession looming on people's minds, every one of us would do well to tighten our belts a little (or a lot). It doesn't matter if our current income or savings could still support our frivolities or not. With the way things are going, nobody can really tell how stable any given enterprise/resource is (whether it's our jobs/salaries, the banks, our investments, even the effective value of our cash at hand).
Here are a few things I have recently changed/done to help cut cost:
1. I set my alarm to go off 10 minutes earlier so I won't have to take a cab to work. Yes, this means I now wake up at 3:35am instead of quarter to four.
2. I pack morning and afternoon snacks instead of buying them from convenience stores. Actually, this gives me another bonus: I'm able to eat much healthier, since I tend to pack fruits and whole grain sandwiches instead of cholesterol-laden convenience store fare like hotdogs and chips.
3. I buy my fruits at the SM Supermarket fruit sale area. They're great if you eat them within one or two days. Plus, I really prefer ripe fruit, anyway. They're much sweeter. (I wish they'd have a veggie sale area, too.)
4. I haven't bought any new clothes/shoes/bags for one month. I'm trying to go for 2 months. Let's see if I can resist. :)
5. I haven't bought any of the tech items I've been wanting to get, which are: a digicam, a Sony mp3 player, a new PC, a MagicSing, a DSLite, and a guitar controller. I figured I'd get one of these if (or when) I get a raise. And then maybe another one when I reach my goal fat percent. Otherwise, I'll hold off until the economy is more stable. Or maybe not get them at all (because who really needs all these things?!).
6. I've been staying home during the weekends, unless there is a reason to go out. No more malling just because I'm bored/hot/hungry.
I'm curious to know what the rest of my flist are doing during these lean times. Any tips and ideas that you would like to share? :)
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| Bento #1 |
[06 Oct 2008|07:35am] |
I joined the ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) bentolunch community! I always pack food for my morning and afternoon snacks, anyway. Might as well post pics. :D
Here's my bento for the day:
Left: assorted grapes
Center: boiled broccoli with cashew nuts
Right: broccoli and peanut butter sandwich quarters.
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| Maverick. Let me repeat that-- |
[05 Oct 2008|09:22am] |
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| I dunnit! |
[04 Oct 2008|08:44pm] |
Instead of making a site like I did for the pretty much defunct Shirakawa Yofune ficverse, I decided to archive my Elibe-verse fic at LJ instead.
A few reasons for this:
1. I don't like the audience/feedback system at ff.net. I really like opening up interactive discussions because most of my fic is pretty analytical and meta and I like talking to people about those aspects as opposed to the writing/technical aspects. ff.net doesn't really allow for that; LJ does. Similarly, web sites don't allow for this unless I open a forum, but I don't really *need* something as complicated as a forum for my purposes.
2. I need a place to put all of my meta/notes. (Sometimes they're longer than the fic itself! *is shot* Okay, not really, but yeah, pretty damn lengthy...) This is generally why I used to make websites, because I can go on and on and on, but again, see #1.
3. The LJ organizational system is much handier for my purposes. (My ff.net page is a MESS; doing my own web site would be time-consuming, also I lack graphics ski11z).
4. Which brings me to another point: time issues. LJ is easy to set up, easy to edit, etc. Also, formatting, which ff.net detests. Plus I've forgotten most of my more advanced html anyway. Not that I ever used it much.
All of which is to say, go check out wariskind! I *think* I have the settings set up so that anyone can join, only I can post, but anyone can post comments (including Anonymous). It's still very much under construction, but I've got it started (currently posted: barebones welcome/info post, master list, wip list, the Ninian fic, and extensive notes for said fic), so consider this a first phase opening to people who read my journal and notice this announcement. :P I'll still be posting to ff.net, of course (if I remember to), but I really want to try to start migrating over to LJ because all the fic I'm writing for this fandom is meant to be read as a series, which is something the whole ff.net system is not really conducive to. Even with the recent addition of the ridiculously bulky character list, which I might add is missing Percival and Cecilia and a bunch of other FE6 characters. Hmph.)
ALSO, the main reason: I now have a place to dump all my navel-gazing babble and meta and random notes that no one else really gives a damn about! XD (non-fandom flisters now proceed to breathe a huge sigh of relief.)
- - -
In other news, I am heading to the SF Asian Art Museum tomorrow. Wheeeee.
I'm also working on a personal statement. Again. Not so wheeeeee, but at least I feel like I know what I'm doing this time.
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| New York |
[04 Oct 2008|07:50pm] |
Historic Chautaqua (pictures are of the Chautauqua institute and grounds, with many buildings dating back to the late 1800s)
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| i for you |
[04 Oct 2008|02:17pm] |
While channel surfing, I came across a TV ad playing Luna Sea's "I For You" in the background. I almost fell off the couch. Imagine just randomly hearing Ryu's nasal voice going "Kokoro kara, kimi ni tsutaetai..." on a lazy day!
The ad was for an old jdrama called "Precious Time" (Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake). Oh, and Takeshi Kaneshiro is in it.
If anyone's interested, the Tagalog-dubbed jdrama is showing at Studio 23, Saturdays at 12 noon. Me, I don't think I can sit down long enough to watch it (yea, even with the Takeshi Kaneshiro factor). I don't like heavy dramas, and this definitely looks like one.
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| First Tokyopop now...DMP is next |
[03 Oct 2008|04:23pm] |
Digital Manga Publishing Talks About Layoffs, Schedule Delays
[full article]
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| Fall Color Report! |
[03 Oct 2008|07:48am] |
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music |
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How Can Love Survive from The Sound of Music |
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Via the ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) japanstuff feed (original blog is here: Japan Now and Then), it's time to chart when the fall colors (紅葉 kouyou) are coming! She linked to several charts on the upcoming colors for this year, including this handy English-language page on Japan-Guide, here.
It put me in the mood to find kouyou here in the US, but that takes a bit of work. The United States is huge and things aren't quite so organized: the information on fall colors seems to vary from state to state. However, the USDA Forest Service maintains a page about fall colors with links to individual regions. The northeastern region of the US is famous for the brilliance of their autumn leaves, but I think the upper midwest can give them a fierce run for their money!
Locally, Iowa's Department of Natural Resources has a page here on fall color, with a link to weekly updates. The northeastern corner of the state (of which Dubuque is a part) usually has remarkable color! Wisconsin has a page here on the leaf changes in their area, while Illinois has a fall color watch link at the bottom left of their page here. Minnesota's DNR has a very detailed page here.
The nights are starting to dip into the 30's (F) here, so it shouldn't be too long before we get a hard freeze that will snap the colors into full blast. Now that we have a camera, I should walk around the neighborhood some and take some pictures.
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| революция |
[03 Oct 2008|11:12am] |
вчера с друзьями и боевыми товарищами Эленнарвэ и Риноном совершили революцию - передвинули мебель в моей комнате и выставили шкаф в коридор. За передвижку мебели особая благодарность Ринону, потому что это такое дело, на которое трудно решиться в одиночку. теперь платяной шкаф стоит в коридоре, а в моей комнате жизнь есть не только на диване, но и вокруг него. и место для жизни останется даже после добавления в комнату еще одного рабочего стола. ура!
А потом мы с Эленнарвэ героически пристроили на места все вещи (ообенно книги), которые были перемещены в процессе перестановки мебели - и справились всего за два часа, успев до возвращенияя матери с работы. тоже ура, потому что иначе бы вещи меня победили.
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| Biden/Palin |
[02 Oct 2008|07:44pm] |
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I GOT TO PLAY WITH MACHINES THAT WENT SKREEEEEEE TODAY!
Without losing any fingers.
- - -
First, a few quick fact-checking links on points made in last week's debate (not extensive -- haven't had time)
McCain mentioned cutting ethanol subsidies, which was probably one of the only things I agreed with him on -- http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2481/whats-the-true-story-on-ethanol
On Pakistan: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-bergmann/major-gaffe-mccain-said-p_b_129780.html
On the energy bill: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-roberts/what-does-the-2005-energy_b_83130.html
On troop funding: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_truth_on_troop_support.html
On the entire debate: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_debate_no_1.html (I love this site)
- - -
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.transcript/
Not that I'm not biased or anything, but Palin skeeves me out even without watching/listening to her talk. (I did catch a little bit at the end this time.) People have made the "popular girl in high school" comparison before, which I don't like doing because it gets into really muddy waters, but sometimes it's reaaaaally tempting. Especially when she starts talking about McCain like she's Defending Her Man (!111).
Won't do a point by point thing again this time as I think Palin's sections are much, much less substantial than Biden's (mostly she's just going "I'm so soccer mom"/"I bitched at the oil companies I rock"/"I did blah! I did blah!"/"McCain did blah! And he also did blah!"/"You guys did blah! You guys did blah!"* and it gets pretty repetitive after a while), and I can't read what she said without wincing every two seconds.
* Actual Palin quote: "And I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also."
Like I said, though, I'm biased, and I kind of adore Biden.
I will post a few highlights though --
( snip! )
- - -
overall:
I really like it when Biden gets personal, which is kind of weird, because not many people can pull that off without making me uncomfortable. But I think he pulls off the small-town origins, average-Joe who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps image much better than Palin does (she just comes off as smarmy and fake), and I'm not sure why. It's really interesting to compare.
I think part of it is that Palin just sounds like a broken record repeating what she's been told to say, while Biden feels more genuine, more thoughtful, more passionate.
Also more intelligent. Note that I don't need to do any fact-checking this time -- Palin doesn't say anything new, and Biden's detailed knowledge is never even really challenged. (She just changes the subject/avoids the issue each time.) I know people have said that Biden's long-windedness is his weakness, but I think the time limit actually helped him this time, and serves mostly to highlight the extreme contrast between him and Palin. All that fluff Palin spouts -- immediately falls apart.
At least that's how it comes off to me. Not sure if the average viewer would have a different reaction though.
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| Potpourri |
[02 Oct 2008|12:45pm] |
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Topic 1: Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr. has been cast as Sherlock Holmes in a movie due out in 2010. I was a very big Holmes fan girl in my early teens. I read all of the original stuff multiple times (hey, this was before the internet) and read and watched as many movies and non-Doyle novels I could get my hands on (which weren't many, mind you). It's based on a original comic (that I believe is still in production). Anyway, I'm looking forward to this movie, I just hope they don't add an unnecessary romance between Holmes and Irene Adler. Jude Law has been cast as Watson.
Topic 2: Hellsing (finally) ends.
Topic 3: Howard Shore will be scoring The Hobbitt. I don't actually listen to the LOTR soundtracks much now days, but I think this will be great for keeping the same feel as the Trilogy.
Topic 4: I really should stop adding a fourth topic. More often than not, I don't have anything for it. Ah, well.
Cheers!
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| eated by school |
[01 Oct 2008|11:02pm] |
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Wasn't going to post until tomorrow -- I am so busy with school that I barely even have time to think -- but this article caught my eye.
What the heck? I'm *still* trying to figure out what she means by "federalist". Well, I mean I guess probably so-called "new federalism", which does indeed support "states' rights", but I'll be honest -- my initial reaction was the original federalism (Federalist Party), which actually supported stronger national govt, and obviously was not her intended meaning. I do wonder if she's even aware of the confusing historical context of the word.... (the connotations have flip-flopped quite a few times.)
Oh, who am I kidding.
- - -
Also? I think I am in love with Nancy Pelosi.
- - -
And some navel-gazing written earlier in the week (sorry, but I *do* find it useful to chart my growth as a writer...):
Posted a new fic Sunday night, featuring Erk, Priscilla, and Serra being deceptively domestic. Oh how I love subverting this "triangle." I don't know why I keep writing about Erk and Priscilla when I don't even like them that much. (Don't hate them, but...) Except maybe that I love being evil and Erk is just fun to write with his horrible social skills and selective intelligence. And Priscilla is just so fucked up beneath that vanilla, nice sweet polite girl mask. (And Serra is just awesome.)
* I think I probably have a very different take on these three than everyone else in the fandom though. LOL.
** It helps that I see Erk as kind of an infinitely less cool, much more socialized (which is obviously not saying much) and not half as jerkassy version of Severus Snape.
That being said, it was kind of a rushed job because I didn't really care enough to tweak it, and it probably shows -- the intended climax is horrendous. And of all the fic I've written for this fandom, it stands least well alone -- it's very much reliant on The Deception of the Thrush (though not quite a sequel), and in terms of plot it's essentially a side story to Sand and Moonlight. Also, though my style has been beginning to settle down over the past two years (thank god), I still play around with it now and then, esp. when writing in unfamiliar POVs, and I think this one tends more to the minimalistic extreme, i.e. my attempt to be Subtle. I can say that every sentence was chosen carefully and serves a purpose (not every word -- too lazy), and it's... mostly just very careful. But I didn't take enough time with it because I'm an impatient bitch, so some of it ended up a bit messier than I'd like.
I also had a massively hard time titling at first, because everything I came up with seemed just really trite or cliched or too obvious. ("Masks" was a prime contender.) Still not totally satisfied with "Midnight", but it works with what I'm trying to get across, I think (though it could use more support in the body of the piece), and my subconscious is very good at fitting pieces together without my noticing so I totally lucked out in that I placed the coup on Midsummer's Eve in Sand and Moonlight. (Of course, I chose Midsummer for a reason when I was writing that fic too, but it's just nice when everything falls into place conveniently like that when you go back to minor details like this later on, when you're working on something completely different.)
There are definite worldbuilding holes though -- I'll admit I haven't given much thought to the details re: Erk's baronage and the layout of the city (or if his place is even in Aquileia or not). I don't really want to. It doesn't interest me, and with any luck this will be the last time I write about Erk in a way that necessitates that information. If it weren't for the fact that I love the FE6 Etrurians + Reglays so much and hence need to give a damn about the other Etrurian characters, I probably wouldn't even bother! But as it is, I even have a reasonable Erk backstory (i.e. pre-Reglay Erk) in mind that will probably never see the light of day because I don't find it interesting at all and it's totally irrelevant to any of the stories I'm planning. Though it does inform my characterization of him pretty heavily.
(if I had to sum up my apparent writing philosophy, at least when it comes to fanfic -- "selectively careful, but mostly sloppy")
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| Anime Stuffs |
[01 Oct 2008|11:59am] |
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angela - "Brilliant Road to Tomorrow" |
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The D.Gray-man anime ended this week with 103 episodes. Despite the fact that I love the manga (enough that I would call it my current favorite), I never got into the anime. Evidently, I wasn't the only one as it was canceled for poor ratings. The manga, fortunately, is still very popular.
In other news, I've been watching and very much enjoying (so much that I bought the box set) Samurai 7. I'm half-way through and plan on finishing it up by the end of the week. I even got a new cosplay idea out of it (Katsushiro). It's a remake of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. I've never seen The Seven Samurai. I've seen The Magnificent Seven (recently, even), but don't remember much about it.
In other, other news, the fall anime season kicks off this week. Tales of the Abyss airs Friday (YAY, Jade!). That's the only series that definite at the moment. I'll check out some of the other series, but nothing else looks very interesting right now.
Cheers!
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| доткала гобелен |
[01 Oct 2008|01:19am] |
по эскизу Марины из нашей мастерской, но эскиз был не закончен, да еще и в трех вариантах, так что цвет - это лично мое, да и часть форм тоже. почти авторская штука.
"- Дети, пишите: "Рыба сидела на дереве."
- Но, учитель, разве рыбы сидят на деревьях?
- Нууу... это была сумасшедшая рыба."
итак:
"Сумасшедшая рыба".
завтра срезаю.
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| So the book is on sale at a few places now... |
[30 Sep 2008|12:53pm] |
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You can pick up your paperback copy of Katana Duet: Samurai's Forbidden Love at all these places...( Read more... )
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| Hotdog & Hell Yeah!!! |
[27 Sep 2008|09:35pm] |
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I haven't been able to write anything "worthwhile" for weeks...and weeks...and freaking weeks.
But this week--these past two days to be precise--I've managed to put 7,600 new words--good words--sexy words--squirm in the seat words--into the next ChildsPrey book that ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) annecain has put entirely into my grabby little hands.
13,795 words down 10-15,000 more to go. Wish me luck.
Monday update--The word count is a shade under 20k now and I have one longish scene to get in. Go Mad Muse ! ^__^
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| Writer's Block: R.E.A.D. in America Day |
[27 Sep 2008|01:34pm] |
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Medieval Baebes--Salve Nos |
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Reading is like air to me. I'm always reading something. Sometimes I have concentration problems that interfere, but then I switch to things like manga or short stories or children's books or poetry. But I never stop. Reading is an integral part of my life.
Currently, I'm alternating between The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry and Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris.
If I could recommend anything, it would be the Kokin Wakashu, a collection of poetry from Heian-era Japan. There is an English translation by Helen McCollough that is wonderful. Also, Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology by Steven Carter is a wonderful book that I go back and reread every year.
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