Legend has it that among us, there are those humans gifted with incredible ability. For some, it is the power to make a killer comeback after a lousy period of being slammed with hurricanes, floods, storms, and FEMA excuses. For others, it is the intangible spirit of hope and faith in one's home, that no matter how ravaged it may be, it is still the one place he or she wants to be at the end of the day. And there are those who are all this and more: able to see beauty in words, to craft emotion from mere letters, capable of penning the most incredible fanart on either side of the Mississippi!

guardian_kysra, by now you should know I'm talking about YOU!

I got my fanart donation from the Help Haiti fandom auction today, and HOT SAUCE is it awesome! Kysra has awesomesauce in her veins, among all those other wonderful things above. I'd show it to you, but it's up to her first and foremost, and even then, I'm kind of tired of her awesome stuff getting swiped without credit and plastered all over the 'Net, even though the 'Net IS about collaboration and sharing, especially where all things wonderfully Azureshipping are concerned. I'm a firm believer in "give credit where credit's due," so said fanart will be my personal Reason to Squee #465 for now.

In case you weren't somehow already aware, the fanart is of That Scene in "The Joke's On You," my first-ever multi-chapter Seto x Téa fic, and probably one of my first attempts at something akin to dirty humor. The fic itself is still on the backburner because I never could make up my mind about how to keep it funny or whether people would hate me if it got all dramatic (considering it DOES take place during the Battle City arc of "Yu-Gi-Oh!"), but I'm sure if I stare at this artwork long enough (and you know I will), I might just get inspired to write (it) again, or at least write something.

I am going to frame it, when I have the time and the money.

Speaking of money, later today (because officially it IS Wednesday) I have my live interview about video games from a research group. I managed to clean up the dining room pretty well (many boxes have been relocated to the living room/my room or hidden under the table), though there are still piles of book boxes on one side and empty boxes near the door on the other. I suppose I could break some of them down and put them in the living room or in the recycling.... Anyway, I'm kind of looking forward to this! I don't really know what they'll ask me or what my answers will be used for.

I actually got a lot done: first I went to the DeVry in Daly City, which, despite being very close to the Daly City BART, was annoyingly hard to find once I got there. I went around the building, up some stairs, past the park, around the building again...and then back the way I came, around the building the other way, where the entrance was small and only marked with a white sign. The bad news is, apparently they don't offer the Multimedia Design and Development program like the site (and TV commercials) advertise. Grr. But at least they can help me get set up with other classes, hopefully, even if they're online and I can finish this degree up sooner, maybe get some more units from CSUN transferred over. I have an appointment Friday since they were so slammed today.

Then came the fetching of the fanart at the post office (which smelled like oatmeal). That at least went quickly because about five minutes after I got in line, someone shouted for pickups and three people (including myself) skipped the line and got our stuff pretty quick. Yay!

I went to Japantown and met with staplerx, lilddrpinay2003, vermilionone, and pockyken. I'd gotten Subway near the DeVry campus so I didn't join them for actual food from Tommy's Joynt, but I did drool longingly at the delicious-looking meat and potato salad and desserts. We headed to the infamous GameStop on Powell, where oddly they were very helpful and even greeted me, but I'm still suspicious of the place and think I should try going on there on my own again, instead of with a group (which is half male) from the get-go. After that, we headed through Chinatown to meet ohsupervinchan at the very-cool Russian Hill Bookstore (which actually sells The Settler of Catan and other cool board games! DO WANT!) and snack on some rice pudding at the nearby Loving Cup. An actual cafe devoted to RICE PUDDING.

Even when I think about how much I wanted to leave S.F. after high school, it's little things like these that reminds me of how awesome it is to be here, and how privileged I am to call it my hometown.

Vince had to head back to work, so we took the 45 again to Lombard, where we went to this bar/restaurant called La Barca for a trivia night. We sucked (the questions were clearly not geared toward anyone from my generation, at least), but it was mostly fun. I'd like to go again after I've "studied" more of my random facts. Maybe I need to play more Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy?

Final happy thought: I finished the Hi My Sweetheart fanlisting, Extravagant Sky. All I have to do is make some more codes before I'll officially announce its opening to the folks at TheFanlistings.org and the fans over at D-Addicts, but if you have a sec, check it out and tell me what you think! I designed the layout myself. :)

So, I'm chilling here at SFO (San Francisco International Airport, for those that don't speak airport code). I shelled out $7.99 for a T-Mobile Hotspot Day Pass, because even though I don't visit airports (or Starbucks, or even Borders) quite often enough to get a Hotspot account/shell out $40 a month, sitting here for 3 hours nursing a Coca-Cola and reading the August issue of Wired just doesn't cut it for me. I need to be connected, which is kind of sad. I sort of miss my childhood. :P

( Tech jargon )

( More win and OSM )

I'm actually somewhat looking forward to going home, if just to sleep on my own bed (though the AeroBed Mom got was pretty damn comfortable, no matter what Eva said about it being too soft) and have steady Wi-Fi in all my usual haunts. Also, MAIL! And money. And work for a week, until I have to get my butt to DC. And in-between all that, family visits and the Orange County Fair. Should be fun.

Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's "Beat It" is stuck in my head, along with a plotbunny for a multichapter Sailor Moon fic I meant to write for sm_monthly and never got around to. I mean really, ANOTHER multichapter? I wish I could churn stuff out as fast as moodwriter, with her "Hate, Prejudice and Secret Intentions" (I think I got that title right) Dramione fic that I've been reading lately. Good stuff! I've also got to catch up on Stargirl's "Tsuki no Namida," an AR of the Silver Millennium, since the latest chapter is up for critiquing on one of the_circlet communities. I'm not a big fan of walking into a long-ish multi-chapter fic blind, so I'll start with the beginning and go from there. So far, it's got an interesting premise but some grammar issues that irk me. But hey, SAILOR MOON FIC. I ought to get writing!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY an_ardent_rain!!

Happy almost-birthday (and if I don't say something about it now I might forget), crpsaiyan!

And now back to your regularly-scheduled LiveJournal (or whatever).

Well, spring break has at last come to a close. It went fast, but at least it was fun and relaxing. It certainly was nice sleeping in till around 10:30 a.m. every day; tomorrow my "waking up at 6:30 a.m." routine begins anew. Oh, and also my habit of going to the Arbor Grill for occasional morning breakfasts; I'm looking forward to enjoying a breakfast burrito again after a week of waffles, cereal, and toast.

I didn't post during spring break even though I had the time; it was more like my thoughts were pretty scattered and I tried to be out as much as possible-- or at least doing stuff.

I went to Opening Night for the Giants at AT&T Park with Steph, Kathryn, Nora, and a guy named Melvin who was only there for a blip of time, it seemed. I shouted myself hoarse and then ended up sick as a result-- I've got awful congestion, a dry nose (ow) and an occasional cough, but I hope to be better by my birthday. I'm being smart about what I'm eating and drinking, and that, of course, includes medicines to help me get over this.

I also got to see Evie, Eva, Crystal, and (surprise surprise!) Louie (from high school) again at our Chevy's night. As is my luck, I got a certificate from Chevy's THE DAY AFTER for a free entree. Isn't that always how it works? Whatever "it" is? Well, maybe I'll go this weekend in San Diego: the closest Tex-Mex to the border when the border is more or less off-limits!

Oh, oh, oh! I also got the real "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" (a.k.a. Furyo, which translates to "Prisoner of War") soundtrack, which I think is beautiful, so even though I don't like Utada's sophomore U.S. album (not counting her days as Cubic U, of course), I applaud her for indirectly introducing me to another composer and his music (Ryuichi Sakamoto). I actually like the title track of the movie (which is what Utada sampled from) a lot more than this song... sorry Utada! Although I am curious if the vocal version, "Forbidden Colours" is the same "Forbidden Colours" that is a special bonus on one of Sarah Brightman's Canadian albums. If it is, it'll be interesting to see how she redid it; I didn't like the vocal version too much, but maybe that has to do with the kind of "spacey" quality it had as a song.

( Read more... )

I'm really craving a red velvet cupcake for my birthday. I wonder if any bakeries around here have them?


 This One (Crying Like a Child) by Utada from This Is the One (Rating: 0)

*singsong voice* Oh an_ardent_rain....! Your fic is here!

Miss Scrooge
A Yu-Gi-Oh! HOLIDAY Fanfiction
By Azurite

"Prompt: "the joy of giving", Seto x Anzu

Summary: Domino High has modern-day Scrooge in it, but it's not Seto Kaiba.

Oneshot, complete.

...Even if you take out the blather I always put at the beginning and the end of the fic, it's still 10,232 words! WTF!? I think writing short stuff is impossible for me. Budget your time for reading accordingly, I say!

Anyway, it's hosted on FFnet (and will be up on the other places like MMorg, Dragonfayth, and FicWad soon), so please leave a review there if you read the story!

Thanks for this fun challenge, ILB-- I hope you like the story!

 Crossover Interlude by Utada from Exodus (Rating: 0)

I'm typing this on steph's iPhone. So not much to say now except I want one! Not on the AT&T network though. I'd rather wait for that partnership to end if it ever does. ILB, I'm still working on your fic. I'll try and get it (and Scrib's prologue to AoA, too) by new year's eve. It's all planned out but I don't like the prose I wrote so far. What is my "style" I wonder?

schmollieollie, you MUST READ THIS. And this too, though it might not make 100% sense if you don't know Supernatural. (I don't, but it was still LOL-worthy.)

Also, pictures from Alcatraz. Only a few with actual PEOPLE in it, but for people who've never been (which shockingly includes my mom, who's been in S.F. since 1982), it might be cool to take a look at the real "Rock," versus what you see in the movies. Since it only took me 24 hours to get the pics up, come on ladies (cutieme4u, schmollieollie, katiat325, get yer pics up)! Last time I was at Alcatraz... oh, several years ago, at least. I know I went when I was in elementary school, because one of my teachers also part-timed as a park ranger, and we got to go to all the closed-off areas. It's actually worth the cost of the cruise to check out the island-- it has an amazingly rich history.

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

I want to participate in a holiday challenge. Is yuugiouxmasfic still around? If not, anyone want to do a holiday challenge of some kind? I'm up for almost anything...

( Three birthdays in one! )

Anyway, I've got school work that I've been procrastinating on to do, so... off I go!

So, continuing on my old school gaming trend, I found out about ScummVM (a Mac OSX program that lets you play certain old-school games natively with almost zero hassle) today and tried to play the ancient Windows CD-ROM "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis." I actually got farther than I ever remember getting before, and it's quite fun. Even better, there are walkthroughs online for this antiquity of a game (because it has THAT much replay value!) so I can guide Indy to the treasure with no muss and no fuss! :P

I want to find the other games ScummVM supports, namely "Day of the Tentacle" (one of my favorite games when I was, oh, 8 or 9) and "Sam and Max Hit The Road" (you sunk my battleship!). I think those might be (for some bizarre reason) in Northridge rather than here in S.F.; I've gone through all of the old CD cases here that I can find and those two CDs are suspiciously absent from all the other old games and other Windows-era ilk.

What's tragic: I remember playing The Lemmings (little green-haired people jump off cliffs if you don't give them something "better" to do) and Spin Doctor (the one with the wand and the dots) on a really old Mac back at Claire Lillienthal (this was my old after school program AGES and AGES ago), and I loved those games! Is there any way to play THOSE on a Mac? Nooooo, not if you've got Leopard. Classic environment (aka OS 9) is not supported in any size, shape, or form. There's not even an emulator, like Doom95 has with PrBoom! What gives, Apple!? I want my old school games! Screw Chess and Minesweeper! (Not that those are on here either, but still.)

Anyway, a new, shiny idea (a.k.a. new school): going to the Macworld Expo. It just hit me last night that I'm actually going to be in town for it this year, unlike the past two years (when I've been a Mac user). So even though it's past Early Bird pricing, I think I'm going to go for it. Do I technically have the money? No, but I'm hoping to get a usable priority code that'll at least discount some money off the otherwise $290 pricetag (which is the Users Conference plus the Macworld BLAST! party. Sure, the party is totally optional, but why NOT schmooze and drink with fellow Mac users?). In the past two years, shoddy programming on the IDG Expo planners' parts had people scoring FREE $1695 Platinum passes (which includes EVERYTHING including Steve Jobs and daily lunch, though not simultaneously), but there's been no word on any such "holes" in this year's site. That's GREAT for the Expo, but sucky for those of us who are broke and would still love to attend. If it weren't for my experience with cons of this sort having BOATLOADS of awesome swag, I'd say the price (close to what I've paid for honor society cons, which are supposed to be all PRIVILEGED and stuff) is outrageous.

Of course, if anyone hears anything about passes with other organizations or free passes somehow, DO let me know... *wiggles eyebrows* My plan at this point is to earn entry via computer work for Gary. Somehow.

Oh, ONE MORE THING!

I have $2 in LiveJournal credit. Who wants a present? (Let it be known that I totally thought of obabscribbler and kitesareevil first, 'cause hey, your guys' birthdays are coming up, but unfortunately Scribbler, you don't have a paid account, and Stef, your paid account is expiring before the 2 months of userpics would. And much as I hate to say it, I can't tack on a paid account because I am desperately broke. Like, Desperate Housewives-level desperate, except I'm a Desperate College Student. So get yourselves paid account time and I'll give you userpics or something!) It is only $2, which I know is über-pathetic, but I didn't even know I had ANY until tonight when I randomly decided to investigate just why I suddenly have 195 userpics. I don't even LIKE 195 userpics enough to upload that many! So yeah, in need of some more icons, plz! (Apparently they come from the Loyalty Userpics program.)

Whoo-hoo! I finished my five quizzes for Environmental Geology (chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13) and my Exam (cumulative for all of those chapters) and I KICKED ASS! I got As or Bs on all of the quizzes, and an A or A- on my exam (I got a 96%, that's an A or A-, right?). Last exam, I missed 6 questions, this time, I only missed 3! :) :)

But the fun never ends, oh no. I still have a biology quiz due tomorrow morning at 10am, my flood insurance rate map assignment due for geology tomorrow night (but I want to get it in earlier so I'm not thinking about it when I'm out with the gals... STALKING RPATTZ! I am kidding. Sort of. More on that later.), and a paper on war (or something like that) for my gender and women's studies class.

So yeah, no shortage of school work here. But I seem to perform best under pressure, so, armed with some delicious Green Tea flavored with honey and ginseng (iced, of course) and some freshly made fudge walnut brownies I SHALL EMBARK UPON THE NOBLE QUEST OF EDUCATION!

And caps-lock of rage, too. Except it's not rage, it's something completely different and bizarre.

This month is just non-stop. Aside from already having missed my deadline for my environmental lifestyle audit for my Recreation and Tourism Management class, I've also failed to update WDKY26 within one year. *hangdog face* I'm quite ashamed, but seriously, looking at all this school work and all the drama I've had in the past year, does it surprise anyone? I'll get that damn thing done... if it kills me. HA HA I MADE A FUNNY! -_-

Coming up: thinking about getting the new T-Mobile G1, since my contract with T-Mobile is just about up, I think, and I'm due for an upgrade. Plus, I wanna get my PSP. Of course, both of those involve spending money I DO NOT HAVE but... minor detail, seriously. Also: possible Bangra dancing on the 15th, Thanksgiving coming up (Dad is mysteriously and suddenly okay with me having a room of my own at the Hilton we're staying at in San Diego. I wonder what he did? He won't tell me), HOPEFULLY a new baby cousin (Brooke said last night there's no baby yet, which means she's kinda overdue at this point afaik) and Scott (and his twin brother Ryan)'s 29th birthday! Whew. Oh, and then Alcatraz in early December, because WHY NOT!? :D

Don't get me started on all those other personal projects I've got lined up, like getting my stuff on Fanworks Finder, working on Epiphany, changing the layout for BEA and the Secret Society Girl fanlistings, adding my stuff to AnimeXX, working on the RPGClassics Star Ocean 3 shrine, fixing my laptop iTunes library, working on all my fics, and, and, and...! I've probably forgotten a few. My brain feels like it might "asplode." But I guess that's better than FURSPLODE! Ha, ha.

Oh, I'm going to love it when this semester is over. Only two more to go. And then what? I have no freakin' clue, but I imagine at least a little bit of relief will be involved. Even if I love learning.