Wednesday: 9-25-02 ~ Russian Reprieve...

I return to Russian class after a few days of being away (thank you mysterious illness)... only to find out in my absence the syllabus had been moved up two days, and the test was today. I rescheduled to take the test Friday. The unit is mainly vocabulary, plus learning the noun, ppronoun, and adjectives endings that agree in gender and number with the nouns... I understand the concept, but keeping all the MANY endings straight is driving me bonkers.

*nods her head repeatedly*

So I should be in class at the moment... and will be heading over there in a few more minutes, after the exam we're supposed to be beginning chapter 3.

And as soon as Seimei sends me the last bit of troubleshooted and corrected code... DF will have his new, kawaii and autumunal Fruits Basket pita layout. OOOOH... Ahhhhh. ^=^





Tuesday: 9-24-01 ~ Autumnal Reflections...

Today is a beautiful day outside... I'd prefer it if it wasn't quite so sunny and clear, like a nice partially cloudy day. Yet despite that.. the temperature is wonderful, and the breeze is crisp and cool the way I prefer it.

The fairly slow Hurricane season seems to be picking up, there's Isidore plus several tropical storms brewing in the Atlantic (Kyle and his predecessor... "L" since I can't recall the full name).

A bit more tweaking and the new layout for DarkFax's new pita. Isn't it *CUTE*?

I'm eagerly awaiting my order of Mercedes lackey's newest book, "Exile's Honor" to arrive. The book's main character is Alberich. Woohoo! The prologue and the first two chapters are up at Lackey's website.

I can't wait for tonight, it's the season premiere of the WB's Gilmore Girls, and Smallville. I've been finding Smallville to be repetitive though fun action fluff... but the premiere for the season looks to actually be substantial in content *AND* plot. I've been on pins and needles awaiting the continuation of Gilmore Girls. I *SO* love that show. :)





Monday: 9-23-02 ~ Ears... pointy ears.

The following is an excerpt fromt he Grennbooks Q & A section available at theOneRing.net:

This is a tough question that has baffled many Tolkien-readers for years and years. The only evidence there is, and it can be interpreted in several ways, comes from a letter Tolkien wrote to the American publishers of The Hobbit, sometime around March 1938. This letter, a response to a request for some drawings of hobbits in various attitudes, is published in Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Letter no. 27, p. 35). Part of the description reads as follows: "A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'." The quotes around "elvish" are Tolkien's own, so what does he mean? Elvish, as in his own Elves? Or "elvish" as in what the recipient of the letter might think of as "elvish"-i.e., a more public idea of "elvish"? I suspect Tolkien meant the latter, but the remarkable thing here is that Tolkien does imply that Hobbits have ears which are "slightly pointed".

-Turgon

Update!

Carl F. Hostetter pointed (no pun intended) us to another consideration that really makes a much stronger case that Tolkien intended his elves to have pointed ears. In "The Etymologies", a very important work for the study of Tolkien's Elvish languages, first published in The Lost Road (1987), the two entries given for the elvish element "las" show that "las", as in the Quenya *lasse, meaning "leaf", is possibly related to "las" meaning "listen", and *lasse meaning "ear". Tolkien wrote: "The Quendian ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than [?human]" (The reading of the last word is uncertain in the lightly pencilled manuscript.) Fascinating!

So there ya go, elves should have poitned ears, and hobbits slightly pointed ones too. I prefer my Leggy with his ears that demand to be nuzzled and nibbled. *SIGHS*

OOH look what I found: Lord of the Rings ringtones for Nokia cellular phones.

Also there is a possibility of a LotR TV series: read the article.

My obsessions never leave me. *CACKLES*



Wednesday: 9-18-02 ~ To be Grey...

Warning there be Babylon 5 Spoilers here... don't read if you care.



"We are Grey. We stand between the Shadow and the Light, the candle and the Star." -Grey Council, Babylon 5

Before there was Legolas, and even before there was Chichiri... I was in love, with a cynical, humorous, debonair and dashing Brit, on Babylon 5... a Ranger named Marcus.

After seeing that the series is beginning to *FINALLY* come out on DVD, my old fascination has been rekindled, and I've been catching up on my Marcus obsession.

I remember when they killed off Marcus... I cried, I get misty-eyed even thinking about it. It was the most beautiful, most tragic, story element I have EVER experienced. He gave up his own life force, after moving heaven and earth to save the dying woman he loved... the woman who had never shown any interest in him... and only realized it once it was too late.

Thank god for FANFICTION. I can have some nice happy Susan and Marcus endings in the realm of fic-dom.

The catchphrases of the Rangers in this timeline would be "we stand on the bridge, you shall not pass" and "We live for the One, we die for the One." A dedication that made them into agents that walked the treacherous places of the universe... ready to die at any moment if the need should arise, ready to live all their moments for their goal and cause. To be the defenders of the Light from the Shadows that crept across the universe.

There's something about that dedication that has always spoken to me... and indeed you can see that in my other obsessions: Chichiri & Legolas.

My obsessions... are because I relate to these characters, I see something in them that is a compliment to my own character/personality... and every time I look upon them... I see... a hint, a promise of things to come when my match comes along.

Sometimes it's hard not to be all gloomy... here I am a couple weeks shy of being 24... and I've never been on a date. I have my own desires and needs... and there are times when my bed can be very lonely... and it's not a void pillows and a Tigger or two can make up for.

I'm definitely an old fashioned type. I'm waiting around for my match. I'm not going to waste time or energy on anyone that doesn't measure up. Hell, I'm a virgin, and proud of it... as much as it irks me sometimes (I have needs ya know for mirkywoods and the like :P)... proud because that's an experience and gift that should be for love, not lust... though lust should be involved too. Afterall what woman doesn't want to be not only loved for her heart and mind, but lusted after as well? To have someone who wants all those aspects... hmmm?

I also realize I'm... a toughened old battle axe... I shelter my heart a great deal from my friends... I'm sure I'll be even worse from any potential suitors... it'll take patience and observation for any man who suits me to win my hand and heart I'm sure. Don't forget laughter... that's important too :) And if he's lean and lithe... all the better... *slurps* DEFINITELY all the better.

I shall return to the depths of fic-dom. Adios, muchachos.




Wednesday: 9-18-02 ~ Clarification...

I've had a few people expressing concern for how crummy I've been feeling lately. I'm beginning to wonder if I don't have monolucliosis (spelling?). Although technically if you've had it once in your lifetime you're not supposed to have it again... I've had it several times, none within the last decade however. I'm exhausted and tired, sleeping around 12-16 hours a day. I feel absolutely HORRID in the morning, everything from nauseau, to flu like aches, headaches, and fevers. I feel fairly good by afternoon, and by the time evening rolls around I start fading fast with the symptoms returning.

I feel dehydrated and constantly thirsty, and am drinking at least a gallon of water a day, even Gatorade has no effect. Whatever I eat or drink goes through my system between 20 minutes to an hour later.

On top of all that, I'm having basic sinus problems... so yuck. I have finally broken down and scheduled an appointment with the doctor tomorrow.

Bleh.




Tuesday: 9-17-02 ~ Message from Beyond...

I feel so miserable. I've been hibernating, and it's not even winter. I can always tell when I'm coming down with something, I start sleeping between 12-16 hours in a day, and even when I'm awake still feel worn out. My hereditarily weak immune system responds to illness in this fashion. I've had the gamut of symptoms this week, nausea, indigestion, sinus problems, dehydration... bleh, bleh, bleh.





Thursday: 9-12-02 ~ I Concur

I must say I agree with Seimei. We must remember, bear witness, and testify to what we have seen. That is the legacy and history we must pass down to the generations that come after. I think of all the many races, cultures, religions, the Jews understand this best of all because of Masada, because of the Shoah, the very reasons why the phrase "Never Again" is a cry of the people.



Wednesday: 9-11-2002 ~ 9-11 Broadway Musical...?

I don't know if I should be scared, disturbed, or any number of things, but a musical *ABOUT* the 9-11 terrorist attacks...?



Tuesday: 9-10-02 ~ A Retrospective...

For the last year, nary a day has gone by when the terrorist attacks of 9-11, were not mentioned in all the forms of media... and now that the eve of the anniversary is upon us... I thought I'd throw out my perspective and thoughts on how things are today.

I don't know how I feel about the mania of adopting the slogan "Let's Roll." For those of you unfamiliar with the significance of the words... it was what was overheard, as among the last words of the passengers on Flight 93 (which crashed in Pennsylvania) before the passengers decided to take matters into their own hands. (On a tangent... what most people fail to realize, is that Fighter Jets had been scrambled (that had been doing training exercises and were UNARMED) to intercept, and if need be, bring down the plane. The pilots of those jets were looking at potentially kamikaze type maneuvers to bring the airliner down... but the passengers made it a moot point before the fighter jets were even in the vicinity.)

The slogan "Let's Roll" has been adopted, and painted on too fighter jets in the military, was used on the countdown billboard for when the Pentagon rebuilding was to be done by... and I noticed this week, had been painted over the old slogan of the campus Army ROTC offices. The phrase has become the equivalent of "Remember the Alamo." Although I can *appreciate* the significance of the words... I really grow weary of seeing them used so.

9-11 was one of those days that will mark a generation, for my grandparents Pearl Harbor held such a place, for my parents the JFK assasination, for my generation it will be, where were you on 9-11? So the date was something of a milestone... its sad it took the government and the general public such an incident to understand the resentment and unsteady political waters the US government attempts to run roughshod over in the Middle East.

Bush's talk of war on Iraq.. is nothing more than sheer idiocy. You do not fight a war on multiple fronts when you haven't even learned how to fight with the enemies tactics! I mean look at the operation in Afghanistan... without US military support, that could easily become an achilles heal in a multi-front military agression. We haven't managed to get the results we were expecting, and haven't managed to find ways to achieve those results by terrorists who for the most part forego the modern necessities we consider as tantamount. I also cannot help but wonder if part of Bush's push is because his daddy had the chance, didn't, and rues the fact he did not act when he had the chance.

The type of capabilities Hussein is alleged to have... is not something you should rush into nor confront him over until you *KNOW* you are fully equipped. US tactics, both against the terrorists abroad, domestically, and airport security measures is ... quite lackluster. I mean any strategy based off of reactionary input... will never prevent as it is meant to do. So people can't bring nail clippers on flights now... even I know hair clips can be used as weapons, pins and pens, shoe laces... Yet the biggest *OBVIOUS* loophole in airport security, FAKE ID's, is not being addressed. Most official documentation these days has hidden text or symbols that appear under UV light to verify the legitimacy of the ID. A UV light costs around $20-$30.. yet there's been no move to equip airport handlers with it... but such basic security measures are done at your local bar by bouncers... gee don't you *REALLY* feel safe. Security is still a JOKE at the airports.

In fact the only real changes I think I've seen in this nation are 1) you can't escape hearing about 9-11 and 2) longer lines at the airport. Otherwise life continues as normal. At least for those not directly affected.

Looking back at it all... there was one thing that just really... just is hard to describe or sum up in a few words. When the towers fell... after a bit of stunned disbelief, blood centers across the nation had lines so long they were turning people away. Food, clothing, money, was being donated in waves, and flags cropped up EVERYWHERE. People didn't have to be told, they just did. In my opinion this is what makes this nation great. Despite the political, gender, racial, religious, and culturual differences, in the face of tragedies domestic, foreign, or natural, we the people come together.

Competitors put aside their problems, and extended helping hands and solidarity. The hollywood marathon that the major networks all chipped in and together aired... how brokage companies sent commissions to competiting companies (even allowed them to use THEIR phones THEIR computers so they COULD work) who had lost large amounts of their employees at the World Trade Center. School kids bought pizza for workers who worked around the clock to rebuild the Pentagon... massage therapists donated their services free to firefighters, men and women from not only around the nation, but the world came to volunteer until they weren't needed anymore.

The problem is... we forget the daily "tragedies." Blood banks are running dangerously low. I also can't help but think... where were the flags people are flying now, BEFORE 9-11?

Perhaps there is one other, significant change that has occurred. The real heroes are being recognized now. Before in this nation, media darlings (sports and entertainment figures) were the "heroes". How can you justify calling a star athlete a hero, just because he can catch a ball? Score a run/goal?

I think that of all the things I recall witnessing from the news on TV that just really... struck home, was the lines of regular citizens lining the streets and cheering on any rescue/recovery/clean-up personnel to and from the WTC site.

I can't help but think of that line from Apollo 13, when NASA was facing such a tragedy "I think this will be our finest hour." Indeed, I feel that way, I'm proud to be an American not for the politics (lord knows I have "issues" there) but rather because the real America, not the government or the constitution, but the PEOPLE came together.

I count myself fortunate that my friends and family, some who witnessed the events first hand, are all accounted for. I realize how fortunate I am.

The next great controversy... is what to do with the WTC site... I do believe it is hallowed ground... and I also believe they should rebuild. I think it's wrong of them to want to rebuild to the point they can reclaim *ALL* the lost office space. I can guarantee that the "debates" over what to do with the site, will get very ugly, very fast, and in fact already is.

What many people don't realize is... Osama Bin Laden didn't appear overnight. This government has been trying to kill or capture Bin Laden since 1998 at the very least, if not sooner.

In my opinion we haven't come close to crippling the terrorist networks... but beyond our national pride there is one thing I can look to and see that we have accomplished. Look at Afghanistan, look at how the varying ethnicities have *FINALLY* come together. Women are free of the brutal opression and are out from underneath the burka. Girls are attending schools openly again. Boys may actually have a chance at being children, and not soldiers by the time they're 10. Afghans are now themselves focusing on rebuilding. We can only hope that the interim government paves the way for a permanent government that will serve the people, but things *do* look promising.

So we don't have Bin Laden at the executioner's block yet (hell we're not even positive if he's alive or dead)... even mortal justice will never suffice, and whether we get him or not... I do not want to be him when he stands before God.

"Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord."

It'll be strange to be in classes tomorrow. Several of the news networks are doing contiuous broadcasts throughout the day from Ground Zero. there's supposed to be a good documentary type news article on Frontline tonight on PBS detailing the political intricacies this government went through to procure allies, alliances in war, and putting the broad-based multi-ethnic interim government into place. I'm going to try to catch it... it looks interesting, and you *KNOW* there was wheeling and dealing going on.



Wednesday: 9-4-02 ~ Hiring a Russian Hitman...

Ok... I'm contemplating the fantasy of homicide brought to glorious technicolor life. Why... you may ask. I can answer with one word, spoke with a great deal of contempt, scorn, and loathing of the sort where you don't JUST pull your hair out... but scalp yourself as well...: RUSSIAN.

My teacher is a ... hmmmm... *avoids obscenities* an assinine, absent-minded, muddle-brained muggle! (Yeah, muggle). This Monday is the oral and auditory portions of our first chapter, followed by the written on Wednesday. She has failed to *EXPLAIN* anything she has discussed in the class. We barely have mastered the Russian alphabet... and she expects us to read entire paragraphs "correctly" with Russian pronunciation for our Oral examination. She expects us to know Chapter 1 vocabulary, when she's never used it once in class. She skips to chapter 4, 7, and stuff not even in the book for conjugations and other vocabulary we also have to know. She writes it in cursive. OK folks, it's bad enough to have to learn the capitals and lowercase letters of the block variety, but then to elarn cursive to at the same time is insane. Especially, when one of her cursive letters looks like 3 different cursive Russian letters. *ARGH*

She hasn't explained the basics, such as what constitutes a first conjugation, or a second... the teacher is... nuttier than a Planter's Peanuts factory. Essentially our first test, after 5 classes will be over the equivalent of 4 chapters worth of stuff, none of it given to us in any particular order.

I am no novice to language, I've studied Spanish, French, Japanese, and Middle English, in addition to English... you simply can't teach a class like this and expect to have retention of *ANYTHING*.

I at least have that background to pull from, I pity those who haven't really studied languages before. The only people who seem to have a clue in the class at the moment are those who have been forced to drop out in the past. Bleh.

By semester's end, mark my words, I will make the class evaluations BLEED with ink with exactly what I *THINK* of this professor.



Wednesday: 9-4-02 ~ Auctioning...

I'm putting some items, a little very day, up on E-bay. i got my doujinshi and shitajiki posted last night... and I came across this. I think online auctions have now gone just a little far. ^+^



Tuesday: 9-03-02 ~ ... Hobbit & Elf Wenches...

This past weekend was AnimeFest, an anime convention held in Dallas, TX. I did show up at the convention, though I was not in official attendance. I primarily was there to visit Usabunny and her hubby since they had come up from out of town, and to briefly bother my friends and fellow anime club officers.

I hobbit-napped Usabunny and took her to my apartment, where we watched all the special features on the LotR: FotR DVD August release. (I had borrowed/dvd-napped Lycaon's parents copy for such a purpose). After our fun filled night, I returned her next day to her husband, and finally had the opportunity to watch Studio Ghibli's newest film "Spirited Away." Which is the best Ghibli film to date. It doesn't have the dragging problem that some of the studio's films seem to experience. And the film has a truly charming and original story, and breathtaking visual depth to it's animation.

As we were waiting for her hubby to return to check out on Monday morning, I was using Usabunny as a pillow (having jsut taking my shower) When I got up... she looked like she had experienced an "accident". She had to go blow dry her lap off. While she was doing so I couldn't help but snicker with amusement.

As soon as I came home, I crashed and slept, slept some more, watched some anime, and slept ALOT more.

I had been planning to start to clean out my room at my parents... but we got home so late Friday night from dinner at a Caribbean restauraunt, and then ice cream... that I didn't have the time to.

It's time to take the posters off the wall, go through the drawers and closet and donate some items, try to sell others, throw away stuff, or pack up what I intend to keep. Scary, ne?



Wednesday: 8-28-02 ~ Back to School Blues

It has been one of those weeks where you feel like a chicken running around sans head. My Russian teacher needs to retire. She goes off on tangent, touches on the alphabet once and starts going into special rules for conjugation... not even generic conjugation for heavens' sake! This is a *BEGINNER* class. UGH. I missed the second class today due to a most horrendous migraine that woek me up early at 6am, and persisted until an hour before my work shift was to start. Bleh.

Work is driving me BONKERS. I'm continually revising the schedule. Just when I get it to work with everyone's schedule, someone is transferred out and a new employee is transferred in... and then in 2-4 weeks I'll get to go through that again. Oi vey.

AnimeFest is this weekend. I'm not attending but I'm going to meet up somefriends. I'll be kidnapping my pervy hobbit fancier and we shall esconce to my apartment and watch the goodness of LotR: FotR. I commandeered a copy from my friend Lycaon. *CACKLES*.





Saturday: 8-24-02 ~ Precious... so precious

I spent my day working on DarkFax's new pita design. You can take a gander at the rough prototype here. This is the first time I've designed like this... so this ought to be interesting. I'm making this becoming my... initiatory design for my first experience with Dreamweaver. Seimei I may be da'ing on you for some help/advice.

Lycaon was finally home, and he had LotR:FotR. WOOHOO! We watched the precious. And I went quite happily crazy over the special features. YEAH! SUGOI! ^+^

Also, I finally updated my wish list for my upcoming birthday. I vow not to buy any more goodies until *AFTER* my birthday from that list. I don't expect presents, but I do expect being thought of... a simple e-greeting does wonders for my mood. ^+^ If you do pick me something up... keep a receipt handy... without fail I have several people end up getting me the same thing ... da.





Tuesday: 8-20-02 ~ Fall Cleaning...

Graduate school books, which I can't dispose of because I need to keep them in reserve for my compulsory examinations for my master's degree, are currently warring with my anime collection for room. I have decided there are items I can replace (making the transition to DVD) or can live without. If you feel something is priced unreasonably high... let me know.

I have the following items up for sale.

I will ship internationally, but for international payments I will accept only money orders in US currency, or credit card payments via Paypal.

For Domestic (US) shipping I will accept payment via money order, credit cards via Paypal.com, or check (items will not ship till your check is deposited and cleared).

If your overall total exceeds $60, I will take payment installations upon request, but items will not be shipped till all the money is received.

All sales are final. All items are reported accurately, and though used are in good condition unless otherwise noted. If you have questions I am more than willing to answer them.

All prices exclude shipping, and shipping will be added to your final total.

Inquiries can be made at: wmchichiri@yahoo.com


------------------------------------------------
Fansubs on VHS - $2 ea.

Commas indicate a new tape.
Most titles are recorded in 2 hour SP mode.

Angel Sanctuary
OVA 1
Ayashi no Ceres
1-2 (+ 3 & 4 raw on same tape)
Card Captor Sakura
1-4, 4-7, 32-35
Escaflowne
9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-24
Fushigi Yuugi
1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-24, 25-28, 29-32, 33-36, 37-51, 52 & OVA I 1-3, OVA II 1-2 + FY Music Crips + On Your Mark Video, OVA II 3-4, OVA II 5 + FY Music Crips, OVA II 5-6
Gundam OO80 [War in the Pocket]
1-6 (all)
Himiko Den
1-4, 5-8
Hyper Police
6-9, 10-12, 20-23, 24-25
Kaitou Saint Tail
1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 33-36, 37-40, 41-43
Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijyo
1-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-24, 25-26
[Serial Experiments] Lain
1-4, 9-11
Lupin III:
Die Nostradamus
Mahou Tsukai Tai TV (aka Magic User's Club)
1-4, 5-7
Magic Knight Rayearth
17-28 (ep)
Mammotte Shugogetten
3-6
Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water
9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 29-32
Nurse Angel Ririka: SOS
1-12, 13-20
Rurouni Kenshin
1-4, 5-8, 25-28
Shamanic Princess
3-6
Tenshi ni Narumon (I wanna be an Angel)
1-4
Trigun
3-6
[Revolutionary Girl] Utena
14-17, 18-21, 22-25, 26-29, 30-39
Vampire Princess Miyu
1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20, 21-23, 24-26
Weib Kreuz
5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, 17-19, 20-22, 23-24
You're Under Arrest
5-8, 9-12, 13-15, Special v.1
Yu Yu Hakusho
1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-20

MIX Fansub Tapes (they have more than one title on a tape)
----------------

Kodomo no Omocha 9-12 & Lost Universe 1-5

Shamanic Princess 1-2 & Weib Kreuz 1-4

Trigun 1-2 & [S.E.]Lain 12-13

[S.E.]Lain 1-8 & Kaitou Saint Tail 17-20 & Slayers Try 1-2 & Slayers Excellent & Hyper Police 1-5

Excel Saga 1-2 & Houshin Engi 1


------------------------------------------------
Domestic VHS- $10 unless otherwise marked

Blue Seed Sea Devils Subtitled
Bubblegum Crisis Moonlight Rambler OVA 5 dubbed
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Shadow War v1 Dubbed
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Trial By Fire v2 Subtitled
El Hazard: Alternative World complete set subbed $60
El Hazard: Magnificent World The World of Founder v3 Subtitled
El Hazard: Wanderers Adventure Begins v1 Subtitled
Heroic Legend of Arslan Age of Heroes Dubbed
Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland - subbed
Record of Lodoss War TV: Box Set subbed $80 (retail $160)
[R.G.] Utena volume 2: Legendary Spice -subbed
Sakura Wars Spirit Warriors Return v2 Subtitled
Silent Mobius Tokyo Underground v2 Subtitled
Tekkaman Blade II Final Encounter Subtitled
Yotoden Chronicle of the Warlord Period (movie)
Vampire Hunter D (streamline) dubbed (out of print)


------------------------------------------------
Hong Kong DVD- $10

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Prequel volume 2
Japanese language dialogue with your choice of Chinese or English subtitled.


------------------------------------------------
Manga & Graphic Novels (in English)

Mobile Police Patlabor: volume 1 & 2 $10 for set
You're Under Arrest: The Wild Ones $5


------------------------------------------------
Manga (in Japanese) $10
Fushigi Yuugi: 2002 special deluxe manga edition release Volume 6
This release has numerous color inserts, is larger, and combines several tankoubans into one volume.


------------------------------------------------
Animation ArtBook

Mononoke Hime Animation Artbook Japanese $10


------------------------------------------------
Out of Print Shitajiki (aka pencilboards)

scans can be found: http://www.seika.org/anime/sale/

Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi . Serial Board # 1195A $12
Mitsukake from Fushigi Yuugi . Serial Board # 1195E $10
Chiriko from Fushigi Yuugi . Serial Board # 1195F $16

Sanzo, Hakkai, Goku, & Goyjo from Saiyuki Serial Board # 0300FE - $6


------------------------------------------------
Original Production Animation Cels

Cels from Clamp School, Fushigi Yuugi, & Escaflowne

Scans & Full details can be found here:

http://www.seika.org/anime/sale/cels.html

Also, I will be selling the Sanosuke cel from Rurouni kenshin found here:

http://www.seika.org/anime/cels/rk2.jpg

There is minor paint damage in his hair ribbon. Standard size. asking $35


------------------------------------------------
Doujinshi

From Mirage of Blaze, Saiyuki, and Weib Kreuz

all yaoi content

full details & scans can be found here:

http://www.seika.org/anime/sale/dj.html






Monday: 8-19-02 ~ Clutz-o

Today was just one of those days where drinks, food, and other stain leaving substances I managed to continually spill all over the apartment... I probably spent over 2 hours on my hands and knee scrubbing the carpet and removing the stains before they became permanent attributes of our carpeting. The worst stain was when orange chicken, sesame chicken, and lo mein ended up all over the floor. I just want to say I love "Simple Green" that stuff has taken ink out of my clothes before. And thanks to Usabunny, I learned a good way to remove blood stains... hydrogen peroxide!

The carpet is damp now in several places, but the stains are all gone thankfully. But sadly in the process of lugging my roomie's cooler outside to dump the water from it, a fly was allowed in the apartment. I hate flies. >_< They buzz in my ear and drive me BONKERS.

The lab has gone back to normal hours, though my schedule this week is erratic covering my shifts plus a co-workers. After this week my usual work schedule is: Tues. noon-4pm, Wed. 3pm-9:15pm, and Fri. noon-5:15pm. I also have classes in the mornings, and an Evening class on Thursday I believe.

As many of you should recall, something always happens to my roomie when she travels internationally. Her first trip to Barbados: she was interogatted by law enforcement for hours... apparantely she has a doppleganger who is a known terrorist. Her trip to Canada had National Guardsmen training rifles on her... and her latest trip to Cancun... also had some problems.

She informed me that SailorDot was picking her up around 10am, to giver them plenty of time to load up the car, etc. I came home for lunch at 11am... and she hadn't come yet to pick my roomie up. My roomie didn't bother to call her until 90 minutes after the time she was supposed to arrive. Apparantely, my roomie failed to inform SailorDot as to the time and day she was getting a ride to the airport. By the time my roomie made it to the airport, through security, etc... the plane had already left the gate. She had to purchase another ticket, and leave the next day.

After work tonight I'll probably be bothering my friend G who graduated this weekend. She leaves tomorrow with a permanent relocation to California. On the upside, if I ever decide to attend Anime Expo, I could probably crash with her. But I will miss her.





Friday: 8-16-02 ~ ... musings

well the carpets are now cleaned. WOOHOO! But now that it starts to dry.. several of the stains are slowly re-appearing... which is a sure sign that the stain is coming up from the carpet pad now. Which means there's no way to get rid of it without replacing the pad. Which isn't going to happen.

There's a commercial airing that if you test drive a KIA you get a free LotR: FotR DVD... hmm do i want a car?

I love the fact how I told everyone to get their schedules to me over a month ago, the last one came in yesterday, I make the work schedule.. and it gets blown apart by an idiot who had failed to inform me of a class. I am not a happy camper.

Why is Rocky Road ice cream, so named?

Where does the expression originate that great events happens in threes?

Why must obtaining guests for a convention be so difficult?





Wednesday: 8-14-02 ~ Lilo & Stitch, & Miyazaki too!

The facts are in, for Disney's latest Animated feautre length film, Lilo & Stitch, there are intentional references to anime big-wig Hayao Miyazaki as noted on Nausicaa.net and . The first is a nod at Kiki's Delivery Service, by naming the shop "kiki's Coffee Shop" In Lilo & Stitch. Plus a fairly credible report of Miyazaki animation influence (specifically the water details in Porco Rosso) into the look and feel of the art style setting to lilo & Stitch.

In further news, the US premiere of Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" will be held at the Egyptian Theatre in LA, with Miyazaki himself in attendance to provide a Q & A post film viewing on September 10. Anyone in the California area, I highly urge you to attend if at all possible.



Wednesday,: 8-14-02 ~ SUGOI! Catch the Chichiri

Ah yes... some dear Japanese soul has made a cute online game that encourages us fangirls to play capture the bishounen. YES YES! More encouragement! *CACKLES*

It's sorta like the whack-em game you seen in arcade games, just click on the grey button to start!



Wednesday: 8-14-02 ~ baaa... sheep in the fold



Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna

Let's face it, I'm a creature of comfort and *in Transylvanian accent* the Night. If it could be nighttime all the time and I could wear my PJ's all the time, life would be good. I get separation anxiety whenever I have to leave my bed.





Wednesday: 8-14-02 ~ Fresh New Start

Ah yes... I finally got my lazy rear in gear and archived. Don't come nagging to me about lack of a new look. Seimei had made such a big deal about it, she sorta volunteered herself to give me a new pita design. But as is the case with nearly all things Seimei, she is good to her word, but a bit slow juggling her various commitments. But I _AM_ a patient woman.

Monday night... I felt really loved by my parents. My mother shows up out of the blue at about 10pm, with leftovers from The CheeseCake Factory ^o^ and there was much rejoicing, and parental worship, and mantra chanting of "I'm not worthy." So my roomie and I split the leftovers between us, and it was still enough to make us stuffed! We shared the chinese chicken salad, the orange chicken, and the angel hair pasta (with some sort of tomato/garlic sauce). OISHII!

It appears that I will be doing the schedules at work. Bleh, they're being bakayarous about it this term with "block scheduling." In some ways it makes sense, that across the board for all the labs, the same type of shifts will be used at the same time blocks, so an 8am-noon shift is universal. That way if they need to send someone from another lab to help out, it's easier to offset those sorts of discrepancies. The difficulty with this is our lab unlike the others for 75% of the time has only one worker on duty, rather than the usual two. As a result it is far more difficult to cover certain shifts and try to adhere to these inane scheduling blocks. In the past I've had total carte blanche with the schedules, so long as I was as fair as possible with the hours, and made sure that there was someone working at all times when the lab was open they left me alone. As it is, they curtailed our total working shift hours. 25% of the time we have doubled shifts, with two people working. This was created because we have more shifts than 4 employees can handle, but not enough for 5 employees to get their max of hours a week. So since we handle a total of 5 computer labs I was able to double up shifts during those times when the 4 classroom labs had classes going.

They will allow me to make adjustments as necessary to these "blocks" but I have to keep them as minimalized as possible. The problem is they curtailed these double shifts... so now we have approximately 15 hours a piece a week, versus the 17-18 hours we're all used to. Most of us have pressing needs to cover rent and usual monthly bills by working our expected number of hours. I'm going to see what I can come up with. I think the problem is the new manager is taking the "rough guidelines" as given by his supervisor and assuming that they are unchangeable. Whereas I worked for over a year directly under the supervisor (for lack of us having a manager) and he's quite malleable on such matters.

I'm a bit down to realize that in a week and a half I return to classes. I really don't want to. Every summer it becomes harder and harder for me to go back. Once I get my masters, I'm definitely going to be out of school for a while. Or at least not taking classes towards any degree. I may take up some art classes, or other classes more for fun than 'work'. But classes must resume in order for my next birthday to role around at the end of September. In Britain my birthday is synonmous with the fall semester, called there as Michaelmas. Why? My birthday *IS* Michaelmas, the traditional feast day of Saint Michael. No wonder I have a thing for bishounen with wings.

*leers at her two bishounen Yasushi and Tenshin. Yasushi smirks, Tenshin flushes becomingly*

I'm making revisions to my list of what I have and what I want, and will soon be posting that here, so people will have a clue what to get me for my birthday. As always, if you're broke I certainly understand that, and really only ask a free e-card for my birthday. I just want to know I was in your thoughts. Though I never say no to loot.

But in some ways... I'm a bit down about my birthday too. Why? Let's see I'll be 24, with very little to show for my life. Except for a nice accumulated debt from school loans that have paved my way through college tuition and one Honors English B.A. degree. If you go on the basis that the average woman lives until her late 70's, I'm 1/3 of the way into my life... and I haven't seen to have done much. Yech. I think I'll go read some fanfiction where bishounen or tormented, it should cheer me up before I relapse into my bad funk of a few days ago.

I was reading MegaTokyo today. Today was their 2 year anniversary... and under Piro's column is a press release announcing that the first collection of the comic will be published later this year by Studio Ironcat. I love this comic enough, I'll definitely be getting me a copy!

My roomie leaves today for a week long vacation with her father to Cancun. LUCKY! I think they're going to one of the Mayan Temple archaelogical sites... I'm envious of that, if nothing else. I put in my request for a postcard or two of the temple site. In her absence maintenace is coming out to shampoo the carpets, and I gotta get on their case about re-caulking around the edges of the tub, and repairing the hole in the bathroom ceiling that occured when the neighbors above us had a slow water leakage from their tub.

This weekend one of our friends graduates from Engineering school, and then moves out by Tuesday to California. She's still looking for a job, so if anyone has job leads let me know! I'll be spending Saturday with her.

I'll miss not seeing you tomorrow Seimei. Any chance you could come haunt me on Sunday? And I commiserate with you over the loss of your car. I can certainly relate. Ever since mine was wrecked (stupid city light fell in front of me of it's own accord as I was driving)... 6 years ago this month, I've been sans automobile. *sobs*

And just because it's too cute... and somehow seems appropriate since I started a new fresh, clean slate for this pita, I'm reincluding the kawaii Japanese fanart animated gif that came from this site: