azurite | Entries tagged with playstation 2

I know that I want to be an editor at a place that publishes game strategy guides. It bugs me how I have so many, and EVERY SINGLE ONE is chock full of mistakes, bad layout, poor font choice, etc. that could be SO MUCH BETTER! Plus, if game companies recruit testers to test a game before it hits the market, then strategy guide publishers could recruit a small team of gamers to beta-read and try and use the guide to see if it's well-organized and helps.

Case in point: the SO3 strategy guide from Brady Games. IT SUCKS. Almost as badly as the Prima guide for SO2! What the heck, yo!? I may have missed my chance to recruit Nel as my 8th party member (which was my plan), and I already said no to Peppita and Roger! I know there's no way to try and recruit Peppita again, and probably not Roger, either. But the way to recruit Nel was so easy to mess up on and not at all mentioned in detail or highlighted/put in a sidebar! So I might end up with 7 party members AND NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT! ;_; FYI, I only have the one save file, so it's not like if it turns out I DID do the action wrong that I can just reload the save. It's probably been re-written over ages ago. :(

Now THERE would be a cool invention-- a program and/or special memory card for the PS2 (or any other console, feasibly) that could let you "go back" and restore accidentally-overwritten or possibly deleted saves. I mean, what makes game saves so different from files saved to another sort of portable disk? You can do restorations and repairs to real computer disks, so why not memory cards? I would pay good money right now for the ability to go back to a save at a certain point in my game... like the situation above, if it turns out I missed my chance to recruit Nel just by saying the wrong thing... :P UGH!

I wanted my Albel x Nel ending... :( (Of course, if I DO bother to start another game, I'd probably have Nel as my default 7th and then just get Albel as my 8th; that way I can get more Battle Trophies, too)

Le sigh...

Current Mood: sad
Current Music: Enya　★　How Can I Keep From Singing? (Shepherd Moons)

So I decided to go to the mall this evening, being that I have no interest in football, let alone the Super Bowl. All was well throughout the whole adventure-- I got a new shirt and pants at Express (total was less than $40), a new external HD from the Apple Store (250 GB for $175! What am I going to do with all that space!? They even had 1 TB versions!), and DDR SuperNova and "Shall We Dance?" (The American Remake) from GameStop. I was eager to try out the home version of SuperNova when I got home, but I noticed with some dismay that my PS2 memory card (my *only* PS2 memory card, the one I've had for YEARS) was missing.

So I headed upstairs expecting to find it amid the pile of stuff I dumped out of my suitcases or the boxes I had from my Mom. No luck. Even when organized (as best as piles can be), I didn't find anything. I emptied out my Scrapbook bag in case it ended up in there... nothing. I headed back down to the rec room to search for it with the Joytech screen, the OTHER memory cards and remote... still nothing. And I didn't bring any PS2 game boxes with me to Japan (nor did I buy any; I only bought DVDs), so it's not in the holder there... and it's driving me batty. Admittedly, I played more Star Ocean when I was there in Japan, so it's not as if my precious and hard-earned Cave of Trials data is lost... but all my FFX and FFX-2 saves (*NEW GAME PLUS!!!*), my Katamari Damacy (1 & 2) data, and countless other random games, like Duelists of the Roses, DDR Extreme, etc. are on there. I'm positive I must have brought it back from Japan, because I have all the other PS2 things; how could *ONE* memory card have vanished on me?

But I don't want to stress about one little thing, especially something so "unimportant in the grand scheme of things" as a memory card. I do hope I find it, though. :( It would suck having fun with SuperNova and not being able to beat it. As a point in fact though, I guess I should buy one of those many-memory-cards-in-one Memory Cards, or at least another PS2 card, so I can have a BACKUP.

*sigh*

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: Home - Northridge, CA, USA

Saw "Snakes on a Plane" with Erin on Friday evening... even if I dropped out of the cult-following a few months ago, it was still fabulous fun, and I loved it. It was very much deserving of the R-rating, especially at the beginning of the movie, but it managed to be both suspenseful and unpredictable-- great, considering how many people judge the movie by its title (or its poster). And the band that won the fan contest to have their music video in the end credits-- that song was DAMN good! It's actually sort of stuck in my head! Erin said the band reminded her of the Black Eyed Peas.

What was fabulous was when EVERYONE in the theatre (and this was a big theatre, but not sold out by any means) -except Erin, who had no freaking clue what was going on- said The Line in unison "I've had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane!" Yes, even me. It was fab. Absolutely fab. And of course everyone started cheering afterward.

( Spoilers, of course )

And now for something completely different...

I really would have thought that the damn "pink is for girls" concept would have DIED by now. First off, I, a self-respecting woman, HATE PINK. Especially cotton candy pink, Chibiusa pink, hot pink, or any derivative thereof. The closest I can come is maybe a deep rose color that I wear for blush or lip gloss. But then you have the freakin' PINK Razr. -_-; But hey, guys are wearing pink now... it looks weird to me, especially seeing ripped black guys wearing those AE pink polos, but whatever. Personally, I just don't like the color. But, to each their own.

Last night I got to cleaning my room, and of course I found tons of notes for fanfics, including WDKY. I had to go back and check to make sure that I'd made the changes I indicated on paper; I also had to add some "references" to the WDKY References page. Unfortunately I haven't been keeping up with the Changelog (the thing that I use to track all the updates I make to chapters, and what specific changes I make), but I can pretty much guess based on what I've added to the Reference log. I have random references in a lot of places, but at least I'm not Cassie Claire in this respect; I keep track of everything, and invent my own convoluted plot twists and references. I just wish there was a way to get Snakes on a Plane in there somehow. *snicker joke* Well anyway, I uploaded the new version of the References page to the old Darkness Rising (at some point, it will be under the new masthead of Epiphany, running eFiction 3.0), and later on tonight, I'll be updating Chapters 11 and 14 for some minor tweaks on all sites.

More fanfic-wise, I actually got inspired for a Sailor Moon fic. This kind of makes me feel better, considering how unsure I've been re: Only 16. Having a good idea (and getting started on it) would mean I have something to replace Only 16 in terms of Sailor Moon fics under my name; this would also be something dramatic and long, so it wouldn't feel like I'm shafting Only 16 into the oblivion (even though that's where it belongs). Actually, I thought of a way to combine this Very Good Idea with one that I wanted to do for

sm_monthly (I never got past Chapter 1 of it, unfortunately, because WDKY has been keeping me on my toes; I don't want to get too distracted. I've already stopped reading the 200 days of Sailormoon posts at AFSM, and I'm backlogged by about 310 posts!). But I don't think I will, just because it would complicate things too much.

Finally, it looks like the next 2 people up for the Astrology, Blood Types, and Yu-Gi-Oh! feature on

playthedamncard are...
* Ryou Bakura
* Katsuya Jounouchi
I'll try and get started on some of that now. Yesterday I bought myself the 2nd edition (2001) edition of Parker's Astrology, one of my favorite books on astrology. I've also been using Astrology Source to calculate things like midhavens/medium coeli, imum coeli, decantes, desendants, and other fun things. Takes all the hard calculating out of the game, so I can do more "character exploration." I have the book with me today at work (actually spent the first few hours of work reading it, because my phone was broken and I was on "standby"), and since all the old sites I used are on the previous posts, I shouldn't have any problem constructing Ryou's profile. I'll have to add things (like his Mystical Card number) later on, and I can always include new things each time-- numerology, tarot... ^_^ It's all related! Go ahead and read the last 2 posts on Yuugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba, and tell me what you think!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Work

So I'm getting all geared up to buy a laptop (a decent one, this time) for Japan. The way it's looking, I'm really leaning toward the Mac Book Pro (white), since it's lightweight, can run on both OSX and Windows (yay for Boot Camp), and is just generally better than anything I've seen so far on the PC Market. Now, at Tokiwa, you don't have TVs in each room, and hell if I buy and/or schlep a TV in/to Japan. I wanted to be able to play my PS2 on my laptop-- because I've never successfully been able to get a PS2 emulator to work, anyway.

But for all my searching, even if I found the right adapter or cables, it looks like the Mac Book Pro doesn't have a video input, which royally pisses me off. I wish there was a way to convert the video output into a video input, but I'm not sure if there is such a thing. Regardless, it looks like I might have to scrap the idea of getting cables and adapters to play my PS2 on my laptop screen; instead, I'm thinking about buying a separate mini-LCD screen for playing my PS2 (slimline) on.

I found this: here, but I'm not sure about it. If anyone else knows of any other ways of playing a PS2 with a small, lightweight screen (or converting the PS2 cords to something that can be input into a laptop without much fuss, better if it's for a Mac Book Pro), I'd really appreciate it. :)

Other finds:
* Amazon.co.uk
It looks like the Joytech 8" one is the way to go (the other one I found had a dinky screen and huge speakers), but where to get it from? And is it worth the price?

Current Location: Work

Grr, argh. That's my common phrase for this mood, ne? So I decided to try and play some Katamari Damacy again, just because I've been working like crazy the past few weeks -school work and work-work- and I decided I needed a break. For once, I have no looming essays, applications, or anything to worry about (save my article due for Journalism, which I will get to work on tomorrow afternoon). Today, I was worried I wouldn't even finish my Japanese HW, but Takase-sensei was about 30 mins. late anyway, so I finished it up just in time as the TAs did this replacement for our response drills thing. We wrote all 16 answers down, instead of picking one out of the 16 (from either e, e/supplement, or f; we added g, so we don't have to do it on Monday). I think I did okay... I got some things wrong in my Situational Drills, I know that, but it's better than nothing at all. I have to get my Listening Comprehension done by Monday though, because now the website's back up. :P

Anywhoozle, so I'm trying to get the Camera in Make A Star 5. And after you get past the 45 cm hill, you hang a write, go around the corner for a bit, and head up this ramp-like green fencing. And then you go to the narrow part of the fence in the far right corner, and there's a crow hovering in the air, your Camera (Present) in its feet. All the guides I've read recommend you "dash" to get to it, but every time I do the Charge 'N Roll, NOTHING WORKS! Like, the ball will spin very fast for about 2 seconds, and then it's like slamming on the breaks. It stops right at the tip of the fence, and I can't "shoot out" to catch the present.

HELP!

I'm going to try and play again (between bites of the Chinese takeout I ordered... yum!) and see if being BIGGER helps at all. Maybe if I fall, but I'm at least 1 m, I can catch the present anyway. :P

In other news, looks like I'll be adding a Hall of Fame to

30kisses. What makes that job easy is that so few people have finished claims, so I'll be able to grab most of their finished claims pretty easily. One person already has a made banner; if the other person wants one, I can make it for them. And that'll be the Hall of Fame. :) Whenever more people get close to finishing, I'll probably need more help with the HoF, but that's not the case at the moment.

I've also been adding Memories to

betasquad, even though it's not that active at the moment... but as I write more WDKY24 (still need to get some info from

guardian_kysra before I'll feel comfortable with this one scene), more will go up. A new member has just joined from the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, too, so yay to that!

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music: Katamari Damacy - Home Planet

Alas, the weekend has come to an end! Am I some kind of weirdo for having classes today, when everyone else seems to be off work or school? I had a geography quiz today, and in a few hours I'll have a dialogue for memorization, two response drills (eugh), and I have to turn in my Listening Comprehension. My LCs have gotten a LOT harder since last semester; the speakers go so fast I can barely understand them! Last night the sheer speed of the speakers on the MP3 tracks got me so stressed out and worried about my homework -among other things- that I nearly started crying.

I guess it would make sense for me now to start freaking out-- I've gone half the distance and gotten letters of recommendation, filled out applications, sent forms, filled out my FAFSA, and all that blather. Now it's a matter of finishing up, writing more essays, getting more letters of recommendation, and getting into a program. I would hate myself if I didn't try at all, or if I quit halfway through, but likewise, I'm terrified of the prospect of actually getting in. I'd be leaving a lot behind -friends, family, material objects. What if I don't make it? What if I end up being a dissapointment to all the teachers that have called me brilliant, motivated, creative, and determined? What will happen to that part of my personality that is always looking for the unknown, or a great challenge? I love that wonderful sense of accomplishment when you achieve something, even if it doesn't mean money in your hands. I get giddy knowing I have a high GPA, or that I'm only 49 more units away from graduation and a degree-- a real degree!

And I believe in what my dad's drilled into my head all my life: reach for the stars, land on the moon/reach for the sidewalk, land in the gutter. I know I might be trying for the impossible, but I'll still go farther than I ever would have if I set my sights lower, because of my bad self-esteem or whatnot.

So here's the situation: I need more letters of recommendation.

janimelee, I know you said you were interested, and I would really appreciate it if you're still open to the offer. Likewise,

guardian_kysra, I don't know if you saved your old letter that you sent to my teacher, but if you have the DOC file saved, I would love it if you could help me out again.

This time, it's for Waseda University itself, not for a particular scholarship-- although there are other scholarships I'm applying to that will need letters, but considering they all mostly ask the same thing, what I'm really asking for is:
* Permission
* Your signature

Here's my current list of recommendations:
* Takase-sensei - 3 (1 for Waseda through CSU IP, 1 for Tokiwa, 1 for NSEP)
* Blumenkrantz - (1 for Tokiwa)
*

guardian_kysra - (1 for NSEP)
* Scott - (1 for NSEP)
* Salido - 1 for Waseda through CSU IP
* Hirota-sensei (1 for Presidential Scholar's faculty statement)

The Waseda University one seems to imply that it should be from a professor though-- so I'm hoping I can ask Prof. Hirota again, and possibly Prof. Davidson, my Geography teacher. I've had him twice now (including this year), and even though it's early in the semester and he might not remember me well, I hope he's willing to give me a recommendation based on what he DOES remember of me from previously. I'm willing to ask Salido or Blumenkrantz again; Scott gave me a copy of his letter so I could re-use it if necessary. Again, it's a matter of signature and permission though, so I don't want to be frivolous with these.

I'm also applying for other scholarships:
* The Bridging Scholarship
* The JASSO scholarship (if I get accepted; I can only apply if/when I get accepted)
* The Aurora Grant
* any others I find
Most of them seem to have deadlines in mid-March. The Tokiwa application is due on the 24th of this month; all I have to do is finish estimating the dates, attach my photos (make 4 more copies), and print it all out. I hope Blumenkrantz really did mail my 2nd letter of recomendation and that the people at Tokiwa didn't throw it out b/c they didn't have a matching application!

In any case, please let me know if you can help; I'll have more information when I'm at home (today's my long day).

( A wonderful weekend )

And now I have to try and study for my Japanese.
Kono shigoto wa dono gurai kakarimasu ka?
Isshukan gurai deshou?
Jya, raigetsu no mikka goro dekimasu ne?

Current Mood: hopeful

Spring Break in Hawaii after all! WHOO HOO!

Early this morning Mom called me, saying she felt bad that she'd killed my good idea (and generous offer) to spend my spring break and birthday with her-- my treat, a trip to Hawaii. Her excuse was the kids, and she knew it was a bad one, so she changed her mind. I'm thrilled-- not because I don't want to see

rhapsody_dragon or

mklutz (I do! Though Mamono, I would probably only try to visit you at school and help you upstage that brat-that-shall-not-be-named, not stalk you at home. o_o;), but because I was just running low on other good ideas.

Mom got us reservations at the Sheraton Waikiki from the 9th to the 15th, so I'll need to get plane tickets-- I've searched all the major sites I can think of, but I still have to check STA travel tomorrow, in case they can still get me something cheaper without the hotel room package. I wonder how Mom's going to get here to LA, though? It'd be sort of stupid for us to fly on separate planes to Hawaii and meet up there... o_o; But I don't think I can afford paying for her ticket to LA, *AND* both our tickets to Honolulu. A ticket down here is only about $90 or so on Southwest from Burbank, so hopefully Mom won't see that as TOO much of a cost to spend a whole week with her loving daughter that she spent 36 hours in labor to bring into this wonderfully screwy world. :D

In other news, the Coworker-who-shall-not-be-named sucks. Even more than ever. Funny how this whole "I like him, I hate him" thing works. Well right now, I hate him, because his sense of humor is about as low as the Miranda Trench, and I don't like being teased in that weird, snotty way of his. I suppose it's partly my fault, because irritates me to the point where I make stupid comments, and then that leaves me open for his stupid retorts... Well. :P So he knows I have a "boyfriend" (quotes for you guys; you know me and my anti-label/who-the-fuck-cares status at the moment) and I hope that will shut him up, thinking I was or want to flirt with him. I met his girlfriend, she's nice, sweet, and... even without her, he's made a bad enough impression on me at this point that I do not care. Maybe it's not just an "older guys" thing, but a "older than the last guy." o_o Think about it. I've started a trend! Crush-wise, I started out liking guys in my grade. Then a grade or two over. Cunningham was 3 years above me; a senior while I was a freshman. My first boyfriend was already in college while I was still a junior, and Mike was around the same age, plus or minus. Lonnie was the kink in the chain, but then, he was practically inhuman, so he doesn't count. Then there was Scott, 5 years my senior. We have to keep going up-- going down proves fatal!

My PS2 premod has made it to Toledo, OH and is expected here by the 18th. Scott's coming tomorrow night, and I'm off work and school by 4pm, so I'll have enough time to clean up before he comes. :) I have no plans, no idea what he'll eat (he says he's been beefing up lately and eating 5x a day! o_O!), and I'm still as happy as a clam. I think I'll duel Parshath on JTP again, see if my new deck works. :>

Current Mood: chipper

Okay, so I'm downstairs at the ITR walkin right now, putting up with the unfortunately ~~attractive~~ annoyance that is... er, my co-worker. But I'm in a fantastic mood, because:
* I turned in my Presidential Scholarship packet with everything, most of which was done at the last minute
* I gave Dr. Lopez's secretary my Freeman-ASIA form, so she can endorse it by Friday
* I finished my Japanese homework on time
* I ate a decent lunch AND I still have cookies leftover
* My group performed our Japanese skit first, and though I got corrected on two lines, I think we did well-- and better than other groups (though they were funnier-- we had a Spiderman and a Doc Ock, and a NEKO MAN!)
* My interview was much easier than I thought. It was in a small, comfortable room in the involvement center, and I was talking to Prof. Hirota, Dr. Lopez, and one other woman from the CSUN faculty-- that was it. No chancellor, no board of stodgy old men...
* I might be applicable for a $10,000 scholarship from the Japanese government if I get into the SA/Waseda program!
* I took my passport-sized pictures for my Tokiwa application; I'll estimate the dates tonight and get that printed out and turned in tomorrow.

My new shiny, dry-clean only blouse/jacket got completely pwned by a sweat stain as I tromped all over campus (to all the department offices for English, Japanese, and Journalism) and to the post office (to mail my transcript my Priority mail) and then back to the building where my Japanese class was. But it's faded now, and I'll be sure to get it dry cleaned asap. In any case, I'm glad I got this nice new outfit from thar boutique, Cubby, yesterday. I even got a pair of brown corduoy's... o_o If I get an orange plaid shirt, I can be the female clone of Scott! (creeeeppyyy...)

But since I got everything done and I'm in a good mood, feeling accomplished and happy, I bought a pizza. At least this means I'm responsible for my own dinner, even if What's His Face doesn't appreciate it. No one has even noticed my haircut! No one asked why I'm happy! Aw, who cares!? If I can keep this mood up through tomorrow (and score some free chocolate and/or flowers while I'm at it), all the better! I don't need to be some Absolute Boyfriend villainness, trying to steal other girls' boyfriends!

Scott's coming on Thursday night! I'll have PLENTY TO DO! *lecherous grin* Things are looking up! I think I might even write more of WDKY later tonight if I'm in the mood, and if I get an email confirming my payment for my new premodded PS2, things will be EVEN BETTER! :D

Current Mood: happy

Happy Birthday SvelteRose!

^_^ Party hard.

( Snip-snip! )

Oh, and here's a quick reminder of all the communities I own/help mod:

30kisses - Everyone knows I created this as an alternative to

30_kisses. We have several alternative lists, rules that are different, and several kick-ass mods. I update this one the most frequently.

betasquad - The request-to-join community for anime, manga, and video game fanfic writers. I post all my un-beta'd WDKY chapters here, and I'd love it if more people signed up to join the comm. and the forum so I could have a regular supply of interested editors!

delishidoodle - My icon journal-gone-community. I've just recently updated with a few icons, and hopefully more coming soon.

smrff - The SailorMoon Romantic FanFiction Mailing List's official LJ community. If Aria's Ink can update regularly with fics, why can't we? I say we get WAFF vs. TAFF Day started early this year!

titans_go - Co-modded with

baine. But we just haven't started it yet. Why can't I find a decent Teen Titans font!?

weekly_ygo - I'm just the editor. :} But I'm also in the news, every now and then... I hope that post I made about Joey the Passion free online duels makes it into this week's edition.

ygo_extend - I never got around to starting this comm anywhere, but it's meant to be a repository for those great oneshots that should be continued- if not by the original author, then fans with evil imaginations. It's also a challenge community for 1sentence and drabble fics to be fleshed out into something longer.

ygo_goodfic - I co-mod it. Why don't more people bounce their recs our way?

ygo_icontests - I own it-- it's meant to be sort of like

weekly_ygo, but for icontests. Many of the icontest owners were impossible to get ahold of, though.

ygo_lyricwheel - I'm going to be restarting the next round soon, if anyone's interested. Any ideas for a theme?

ygo_mst - Meant to be the place where you can be inspired by and write MSTs of Yu-Gi-Oh fics. MSTs being "Mystery Science Theatre" style, which is pure satire and humor. MSTs aren't allowed on FFnet, but they're great learning/teaching tools and good for several laughs. Someone send badfic "recs" over here! We need fodder!

ygo_offtopicon - I'm starting up a new challenge this week, and I hope to keep it regular, this time. We never did finish Challenge #9, which is too bad, but I don't want to let this one die. I have a good idea!

I would appreciate any people interested in helping mod/update these communities. Comment if you can lend a hand at least once a week.

( Snip again-- with a dictionary!? )

Coming up:
* Finish up my Freeman-ASIA scholarship form. Get the hardcopies sent in to IIE, and give the copies to Dr. Lopez in the Study Abroad office.

* Presidential Scholarship? Professor Hirota DID agree, and though it only needs an unofficial transcript from both CCSF and CSUN (I can print both from the web), it also requires Prof. Hirota's signature. -_-; Her office hours are only on Tuesday and Thursday before class, and the thing is due on MONDAY. Geeeeehhh... There goes a potential $5000 down the hole, all because I didn't prepare enough in advance. I could TRY and find her on Monday, but there's just no guarantee. And I refuse to forge.

* WDKY24 - I write more of it last night, and I only have bits and pieces to go, but this is looking to be another difficult chapter. I'd also like to get beta volunteers NOW, so that I don't have to worry about scrambling to find them once I'm actually finished. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

* WikiFic - The Ultimate Yu-Gi-Oh Encyclopedia is slowly but surely being updated. I managed to get through linking the Shipper's List F-M, but there are still tons of pages that need to be created. I'm also trying to get as many pictures as I can, but I'd like people to tell me which ones would be relevant for the pages in question. What information is necessary? I'm also translating pieces of the Gospel of Truth for WikiFic. More members!

* Get my Tokiwa application finished - I need to estimate some dates, or else ask Mom. Then I need to go to the photo place on campus and get a few photos taken, passport-size.

* Blah blah, websites. - I need a new name for what was formerly Animanga Collision. The site will be another eFiction archive, housing all my fics, rants, essays, etc. from every fandom EXCEPT the Azureshipping Yu-Gi-Oh stuff (which will remain on Dragonfayth, just for the sake of things). But what to call it?

* Can't win, will duel - Okay, so I'm no deck-construction maven or anything, but I still play JTP Online even though I can't seem to win any duels. o_o At least in this, I don't have a level to intimidate me into backing off completely, and for the most part, everyone still seems pretty polite even when I lose miserably. I've seen some great combos, and I want to write them down for future reference. A lot of great duelists post combos and strategies on

yu_gi_oh; they could find a good home on WikiFic or elsewhere (with permission, of course). Few actual Yu-Gi-Oh fics actually make use of duels! I think maybe I should ask for more advice in constructing a deck that works... though from what I've seen a good Exodia deck is pretty damn good. Joey himself pounded me with one (HEY! He shouldn't have Exodia!) even when I had over 10,000 LP!

Er... yeah. I'm done for now. :)

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Leona Naess - Charm Attack

So my dad is here, and he tried to help me fix my PS2. He opened it up, fixed this loose cover over the lens, and we tried to play games. At least Katamari started up, as did FFX-2 I+LM. But Katamari has the same issue with the music dying on me and replacing it with a loud "squee!" (and not the happy fangirl kind) of sound. Then again, it might be the disc itself, which looks pretty beat up for only 5 or so plays. I wish I could return it to Game Stop, except I can't find the receipt. I think I paid cash for it... it was only $12.50 from my GameStop Bucks, and I can't remember what I did with that receipt.

Well, buying Katamari wouldn't be so bad, but I'm still not convinced that it's not my PS2. It's an old PS2, really. The disc tray is taped in there, the inner ribbon connecting the eject/reset buttons is not taped down anymore either, and the cover over the lens was loose. I could pay $150 for a new slimline PS2, and the extra $100 for a new mod chip, shipping and installation (theoretically), and it would only be a total $50 shy of the projected new PS3 price... which may NOT be coming out in March after all (so much for a birthday present), but in FALL!

Shit.

So what has anyone heard about the PS3's imminent release? I think I can get by okay without my games... *sniff* But I miss not being able to watch my DVDs on the couch in front of a wider-screen (than my monitor, that is) TV.

What about whether buying a new slimline and TRYING to find a modchip installer in the Los Angeles area (trying now... no luck so far) and doing it that way?

Or what? Should I just forget about this whole deal and save myself $250?

Help. (If you can point me toward modchip installers, repair places that actually do modified PS2s -not that the mod should have anything to do with the errors I'm having- and get back to their customers, or whatever... I'd appreciate it. So far, I haven't heard from any of the repair places I've called or emailed. And for the record, Dave of PSX-TECH.com has apparently gone out of business. :P)

Current Mood: worried

Don't you hate it when you go to a lot of effort for something, spend a lot of time, money, and emotional stress, and then something really STUPID fucks it all up?

It's probably not what you're thinking.

So I'm just relaxing, trying to beat Make a Star 5 in Katamari Damacy, when OOPS! my PS2 falls to the thickly-carpeted floor. No problem-- the game's still on. I pause, pick it up, and resume. Blast! Still no star. I try again, but this time, the music starts to glitch up. I worry. I reset. This time the game hardly loads. I freak. I take the disc out and clean it, and blow softly on the disc tray, just for the heck of it.

I put it back in. After a couple of tries, the game starts to work again, but it glitches partway into the intro. I still make it to the main screen, but the background looks weird. I start playing Make A Star 5 again... and again, and each time, the music glitches on me. I try to reset the game, turn the whole console off, etc.

Nothing works.

DVDs won't play, either. I tried to watch Equilibrium, and it gave me an "Unable to read disc" error.

...I paid SO much money and wasted SO much time getting my PS2 chipped. I know I could buy a PS2 for cheap right now-- hell, a slimline PS2, after I get my paychecks and the like. I could try and import a slimline Japanese PS2, though it probably wouldn't play all my US PS and PS2 discs. Or my burns, for that matter. Dammit, I want my TEH SHIT PS2! And now, this old, modded piece of junk that I've had forever is giving out on me because of a tiny drop to a plush, carpeted floor. I can't think of what to do.

I wanna cry.

Current Mood: upset

I returned the Crossover cable to Best Buy; no hassle. There was a $5 difference between it and my new blue PS2 controller. :D The whole store was so noisy though, because they had some girl named Sabrina there from Radio Disney. All these screaming tweenyboppers. X_X Gah, I'm glad I don't work at Best Buy. Their poor employees didn't even get ear plugs!

Okay, so I got the Crystal Chip firmware working. Dave set it to boot automatically; all I have to do is press the reset button. Simple enough. :) I already played DDR 3rd Mix (ow...), but 5th Mix doesn't work; I guess the CD it's on is too scratched up. ~~But I can try to do a disc-to-disc copy and see if that works.~~ I tried the reset thing with Persona 2, but it gives me a disc read error (not even a "insert a Playstation or Playstation 2 format disc" error).

...And even though the 5th Mix CD takes up 380+ MB of space, my Explorer can't see anything on it (thus, nothing to copy to another disc), unless there's something I don't know about burning games...?

I'm crossing my fingers that I'll win the Persona 2 auction on eBay, but I'd also like to get FFX-2: International/Last Mission. I think I know the game well enough to be able to read the menus (plus I know 'Hai' and 'Iie' in kanji...) but the whole point of buying I+LM is LM... which is entirely in Japanese. Does anyone know of where there's a Last Mission translation? And supposedly if you beat FFX-2 (J) or FFX-2 International, when you play LM and get to the top of The Tower, you get a special ending. Anyone know where that's hosted? I've already seen the "perfect" ending of FFX-2, but not this LM one.

Oh, and is there any released artwork for YRP in their new dress sphere outfits, Psychiccer and Festival-goer?

Current Mood: exhausted

Okay, so yay for getting my PS2; nay for not being able to play the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment CD that

pockyken sent me. Hey Kenny, were those CDs made for PS2/PSXs that are modded, or only for emulation on a computer? I suppose if someone would enlighten me on PS2/PSX emulation, I could work with that; I do have the PSX-controller plug in for my computer, but I don't know anything about emulators or loading games off discs/downloads for anything other than SNES/Super Famicom.

Ignore all of the above. I just tried booting the game CD into my ePSXe emulator, and it didn't even read. I looked at the CD in the DVD and CD-RW drives of my computer, and nothing showed up on the CD. It's either a faulty CD or it won't read in the computer because it's formatted for a PSX/PS2... o_O?
I think maybe I'll try and bid on some legit versions on eBay; see where that gets me. Sorry, Kenny! (max bid on a $6 set = $25! Bidding ends in 1 day; think I'll win?)

Really, the only things I wanted to be able to play (aside from legit PSX/PS2 games) are:
* CD-Rs of PSX games (Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix, 5th Mix, and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment)
* Import Games (Karaoke Revolution: Anime Mix, Para Para Paradise 2nd Mix, FFX-2 International/Last Mission, whatever else I can think of)

I don't have nor wish to buy/get any burned PS2 games (DVD-Rs), which Dave told me wouldn't boot well on my V10 anyway, because there's a risk of scratching up the lens... which would require a replacement of the whole system.

I googled around looking for stuff about the BootManager; apparently when the Firmware was installed, so was the BootManager. I know Dave supposedly made some modifications to the open-source coding of the Firmware, to allow it to support burns/backups/silvers/whatever, but I don't have his Firmware disk anymore... and he never updates his webpage or checks his email. If I don't get an email from him tomorrow, I'll call him up again and ask him how I access the bootmanager. I can supposedly burn the bootmanager CD on my own and "reinstall" (?) the firmware, which would work fine... but I don't think I can install JUST the bootmanager on its own. The site that it's supposed to be from, bootmanager.cc, is down. :(

On top of that, the firmware unpacks itself using makeit.bat. I ran it as instructed in the readme.txt file, but it said there was an error, and "any key" shut down the terminal window. So I don't know if the files it was unpacking are fully unpacked, corrupt, or what. I don't want to do anything to further screw up my PS2... and as I'm finding out, it's pretty much a done deal at this point; you can't undo hardware fixes. I always find out things too late/after the fact. Mike from anime club was saying it was much easier (and cheaper!?) to just get a PS2 hard drive and use HDAdvanced to boot any burned/backup software from the hard drive itself, instead of from CD. ;_;

...Help?

Coming Soon
Drabbles/Ficlets (especially for you,

mklutz!)
FFX-2 goodness... ^_^v

Current Mood: confused

Ah, I never should have signed up for the Literary Guild or the eHarlequin Reader to Reader service. I love books and I love free stuff, but I hate it when the free books stop being free. On the plus side, I got a very pretty plum wineglass that I will probably drink soda out of. But now I apparently owe $23 to eHarlequin for something I did not want, did not order, and already took out of the box. ;_; The books look cool enough, but... >_> There's no way to cancel future shipments on the form... like they SAID there would be. Grr.

I'm still waiting for a shipment of craft books from another service, mind you, but afaik I'm done with their "obligatory purchases."

I also got my PS2 in the mail today... in the exact same box that I sent to Dave@PSX-TECH.com. I enclosed a $15 check; he spent $9.80 on shipping. He couldn't have bought a new box!? Geez. Anyway, I'm kinda-sorta-not-sure if the Crystal Chip is installed like he said... I'm supposed to be able to access some sort of boot screen/boot manager so I can play my burns, imports, etc., but I haven't been able to access it yet. It might be because I don't even have a controller at the moment; I lent them to my uncle Fred, so all I have is a DDR pad. -_-; I need a new controller anyway.

I'd also like to thank anyone and everyone who signed up for

4husorting. ^_^ It made me so happy to see I'm NOT just talking to myself on this LJ...

Anyway, I have to get going to anime club soon... and because I was so durn sleepy earlier, I didn't go with Grandpa to the bank to get money for the guys (which I owe for gas + hotel room from Ben's funeral; try as Phil and Jesse did, we couldn't get out of the EconoLodge bill) or Best Buy to return the Crossover Cable that does Jack Shit. (Speaking of Jack, I would love to play You Don't Know Jack 5th Mix again.)

Even more reason to YAY! (aside from getting WDKY19 done and posted, getting ideas for "The Show Must Go On," and tweaking the sequel to WDKY/CO7 a bit more...) is the fact that my BitComet downloads are almost done, and I'll be able to burn PGSM onto a DVD for Chibi. I'll also have more of FMP: The Second Raid (good material to base your drabble/ficlet off of,

mklutz!) the full Shin Kaguya Hime Denetsu Sera Myu musical (my first!), and practically every Ranma song, EVER. :> Whee.

Current Mood: creative

Chatsworth is burning to the ground.

Okay, it's only a brush fire, and anyone with any sense of propriety probably won't miss the areas getting burned (only 2-3 houses so far, from what I've heard), but there's smoke covering up what was once a completely blue sky; the sun was dark and then bright red and then glaring orange in less than 10 minutes, and they evacuated campus because of the poor smoke conditions.

I'm glad I got off work early; I'm just so sick of this summer, of August and September especially, of people who bother me whose names start with K (but ironically, this is NOT the same K as before; this is Ks, who I always got along with before... but she felt the need to be bossy and tell me what to do when she had no place nor reason to and on top of that I'm SICK and on my fucking period, so I don't feel like taking shit from anyone, least of all HER)... just of Jamba and its sucky atmosphere.

I know I'm not guaranteed the Red Robin job, but I'd like to be more optimistic than that. So pray for me, okay?

In the meantime, I still hate being sick, on my period, and in an area where the littlest bit of ash floating from 5 miles away gets me watery-eyed and hacking like a lung cancer victim.

Scott was nice enough to give me a call after I TMd him with the evacuation warning... but alas, he's a Scorpio, and a stubborn boy if I've ever dealt with one, so he's going back to the photo lab. He has a good point when he says there's not much difference between his apartment and school in terms of air conditions and safety, but at least at school he can get stuff done. Having come from San Diego and experienced the Simi Valley brush fire 2 years ago, this is pretty routine for Scott, I guess. Nonetheless, I've felt so incredibly lonely and moody lately (especially today with Ks yelling at me the way she did) that I just wanted to spend time with someone for a while. Baba and Grandpa are leaving for Seattle/Rosh Hashannah way early Saturday morning; I have the Clubs Conference all day that day, and then finally, some off time on Sunday (Eva, still coming over? Please say yes!). Then I have almost five days entirely to myself, assuming Scott doesn't stay over for a few (which I hope he does ^_~).

Oh yeah, and I called Dave during lunch today-- the guy picked up his phone, was prompt, answered all my questions... and he's sending my PS2 back to me today (which would have been EARLIER today, as post offices are closed by now) or tomorrow. Turns out the lens was scratching against DVD-Rs. It plays normal PS2 games (including imports) just fine, and CDs and CD-Rs (like my music, PSX games, and "backups" of older games I either broke or borrowed). I don't have nor intend to get any DVD-R burns, so I don't think this'll be a problem. I'm glad I got the whole issue cleared up, anyhow.

*stabbity stab stab* Ouch, a harsh review! But it's not a flame... I don't think... ( I dunno, tell me what you think. Nicely-sandwiched concrit with a side of honesty? )

...*starts crying all over again* Damn it, I don't want to be a waterspout today! WHY VAUGHN, WHY!?!??! (Alias fans, I need some good discussion. Hit me up. Let's theorize.)

( Trick or treat! Hey, what's this block of wood for?! )

Current Mood: depressed

Okay, I want honesty here.

I mailed my PS2 to Dave@PSX-TECH.com approximately two-three weeks ago via Priority Mail. I mailed a package to my mom the same day, and she got it the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Even though all I sent her was a sweater, and the PS2 weighed much more than said sweater, I assumed the PS2 made it to San Francisco on or around the same day.

The box was not marked with anything other than the sender and my return address. It was a white, corrugated cardboard box with heavy tape on it. The PS2 was wrapped in over 3 feet of dark purple bubble wrap, with the Crystal Chip and firmware disk wrapped within. I sealed a $15 return-shipping check in a white envelope on top of the bubble wrap. The check has not yet been withdrawn from my account.

I neglected to get Proof of Delivery or Delivery Insurance. I know it was stupid, but I can't do anything about it now.

I have emailed Dave no less than 3 times, and not received a reply. He has always been very forthcoming with email replies before, when I purchased a chip from him, when I had difficulty understanding the install, etc. I have also spoken to him over the phone, and I have his cell phone number. I have checked his website for updates.

But Harry things I got pwned. He says my PS2 has probably been stolen by now, and this idea does NOT make me happy.

I'm planning on calling Dave tomorrow morning and finding out if he got the PS2, and if he did, whether he installed the chip and simply has not had time to get a box/mail it back to me. I sincerely hope the latter is the case.

But... I can take a hit, so everyone-- do you think I got pwned?

Current Mood: worried

Okay, so the following people arrived last night:
* Sally (aunt)
* Joyce (aunt)
* David (cousin, Joyce's son)
* Sammy (cousin, Sally's youngest son)
* Joshua (cousin, Sally's oldest son)

The boys are playing Halo or something right now, as my PS2 is disconnected for the time being... I have to get around to going to the post office and sending the PS2 and chip to Dave, but of course I want to email him first. And I still have to send my bracelet back to Harmonia in Canada, to get it resized.

( The Keys to my Heart )

I've got work in about an hour and 15 minutes, so I might as well get dressed and ready. Blah. And I DON'T want to work closing tomorrow... *sigh*

Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: rapid machine-gunfire

Honestly, I hate WebRing. I liked it when they were with Yahoo!, because everything was easier. But now that Darkness Rising has been suspended from WR, I fixed the website to reflect DR's new home, but the idiotic thing still has me suspended... and I can't get the new code or contact the WR master until I get to the webpage, WHICH KEEPS ON FRACKIN' TIMING OUT FOR NO REASON! It's not me, it's them. Idiots.

And I tried to open up a savings account with a better APY than the one I have with Wamu-- this thing advertised in Oprah magazine (Jill asked me to take a look at it and see what inspired me; she wants to start a magazine for girls ages 15-20 that's not so based on trash talk and celeb hype) by Suze Orman, that blonde lady who's all about Rich WOMEN!!TEHYAY1eleventy-one! Anyway, my application "could not be processed at this time," so now I have to call customer service.

Isn't it weird how I get so resolved to do (or not do) certain things in the middle of the year, rather than at New Year's, when we're "supposed" to? Like, I've decided to join the fitness center and try to swim more often (I didn't go in the pool today at Jill's because it was COLD for me. Nikki and James, my 2nd cousins, were splashing about like fish-- me, I didn't want to get my hair wet) and exercise more.

Okay, so... I've decided to turn WikiFic into the Complete Encyclopedia of Yu-Gi-Oh. The general theme is for fanfic authors, but obviously any dedicated fan would probably find the place useful. The site is pretty much up now and is awaiting submissions... but any and all of them are subject to editing, and of course I don't allow anything controversial or biased (X pairing is better than Y pairing; Anzu is a slut, etc.) I'd appreciate it if people ran their ideas by me before creating accounts and submitting anything.

Obviously I'm still looking to customize the site a bit more, but it's proving to be difficult.

I'm also trying to get back into Fathom/Michael Turner's creations, but he went off and separated from Top Cow in 2002 (3?) and now has Aspen Comics, his own line. I'm trying to figure out how the new Fathom volumes work into the original series which I think I have the completed first volume of, in hardback form. And now there's this new series called Soulfire, and another one called Ekos, and... I'm all confused. (I think what I have is the collected version of Volumes 1-9, with all the alternate covers provided in the back of the book, except the Christmas Cover.)

I also think I'm going to send Dave (of PSX-TECH) back the chip, because everywhere I read, the Crystal Chip doesn't play imports or backups, both of which I require. When Dave "upgraded" me to the Crystal Chip (because the DMS3 was my original order, and the DMS4 is already in production) he did it because I didn't have my PS2 in SF to get a free install... but the CC costs the same (or pretty close) to the DMS3, so it's not like that upgrade really made up for the four-month wait. So now I'll pay the shipping to send the PS2 back to him, but I'll settle for an old chip, so long as it does what I want. I haven't been able to find any local, drop-off places that could install the Crystal Chip anyway, and even if I did, I just don't want the CC anymore. :P

I did eventually go to Jill's today, and it was fun-- I didn't swim, but I had some delish burgers and butter cream cake (I don't know why she always seems to have birthday cake on hand) and Jill and I talked at length about magazines today and what teenage girls and young adult females need-- more than glitz and glam, but inspiration, motivation, and stories and people they can relate to. We might try and put something together, but as excited as I am, I wouldn't really know where to start. Still, I have ideas for layout (Publisher or Adobe) and printing (Jill's house, HP High-Gloss paper), and even articles (I've got enough experience and friends to be able to talk a lot, don't you think?), so we'll see.

As for me and Scott... well, there's no romantic relationship. We're not together, and I know this, and he knows this. But you can't really "regret" decisions like that, you can only wonder or wish you knew what it would be like if things turned out differently. And as always, we're taking these slowly and seeing where they go. We still care for each other, maybe even love each other still (he's kind of unclear with his feelings in direct words, I don't want to jinx what we DO have, so I don't say anything... but on the flipside, when I'm not around him or contacting him so much, the feeling DOES fade).

He didn't want to contact me as much because it would be going back on the whole idea of HIM breaking up with me, which was to the point that we didn't have time for each other (read: him for me) or that he couldn't be the boyfriend I wanted (case: true). But he knows that's bunk, because friends (even with benefits) do contact each other and hang out, because otherwise they aren't friends at all. So... he will call me. And it's not like he was doing nothing the past few days-- he's gotten more hours at work, he's been "promoted" to Guest Services (a much bigger, more comfortable deal at Pac Theatres than it ever was at AMC) and he's been hanging out with people (birthday parties), scouting for a roommate/apartment... So he HAS been busy.

But... well, it's not like I'm so desperate to hang out with him, it's the feeling of hanging out with anyone. I don't have any friends down here, and in times like these when it's slow at work and all I want is for school to start, I'd like someone to hang out with. Scott used to be that person I could devote my energy to 24/7, but I can't anymore, and I've had to reconcile that fact with my reality. When I do see him, it's great because we can talk about what we've both been up to, how things are with the people we care about, and we're just HAPPY to see each other. There's no obligation for either of us... though truthfully, I am going to be sad on Sept. 1, which would have been our 1-year anniversary. It would have been nice to get to that point and be surprised with a nice gift. (He bought Baba and Grandpa a bouquet of daisies and a card for their 60th Wedding Anniversary this weekend!)

It's hard for me to really see the "freedom" that this new relationship of ours offers (even though I can preach about the bonuses of a casual sexual relationship, the few in my history did NOT end well emotionally), and it does feel almost like we're starting over. We've got the great part of our relationship (the attraction, the curiosity, the feeling, the intensity... and yes, the sex) without the arguments over his time, where he is or who he's with, and whether or not I'm still important to him. I never ask my friends if I'm important to them, it's just something I accept as KNOWING, and that's the way I'm going to trust it to be with Scott. Scott's got a bit of a guilt issue with this, because he doesn't want to think he's obligated to be with me, to make me happy just because he broke up with me and hurt me so much. I don't want him to feel that way either, and I don't want to feel obligated to spend time with him (though I always look forward to it, so I don't imagine I COULD feel obligated, like it was a chore). I don't want him to feel guilty about what we do (there's not much "saying" things that he could take back or "regret," like he did in our relationship) so... again, it's just about taking things one step at a time. I still plan on wowing him when I walk into class on the first day of school (leather pants, boots, sheer white-and-black floral printed blouse with a tattoo on my lower back) and MAYBE even inciting the attention of some other people (Scott said he would be jealous if other guys started looking at me... *grin* As mean as it is, that makes me happy)... or maybe just making some friends. :P

Anyway, I've got work... er, again, later today (1:30-7... bastards are cutting me off from a 30 minute break AGAIN!) and then closing (AUGH!!!) on Saturday. Hopefully I'll hear from Jamba CSUN on Saturday, and then I have a few days off... and within the next two weeks, a transfer, a new job application (Red Robin) filed, and then SCHOOL! YAY!

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: TV

Profile

azurite

Seventh-Star.Net

Syndicate

Style Credit

Style: Plain for Tabula Rasa

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

January 2016

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Page Summary

One thing I want to do with my life
Just what I needed.
We got m0t#erf*ck!n' SNAKES!
So close to giving up
Katamari Damashiiiit~!
Terriffic!
I like it when Mom gets her own internal guilt trip.
Celebrate with pizza!
Snip-Snip.
Is it worth it?
Fuck.
I feel...
&screwed!?;
It's like a Venus Fly Trap. Once it gets ahold of you, you're screwed.
The Porn Kingdom is on fire, is on fire, is on fire: The Porn Kingdom is on fire, my fair skank-ho!
Did I get pwned?
The gang's all here. (Why do I feel like I've had this subject line before?)
The operation timed out while trying to contact the website. Oh well.

Page generated Jan. 6th, 2026 02:19 am

MILES to GO || before I sleep

lovely // dark // deep

Entries tagged with playstation 2

One thing I want to do with my life

Just what I needed.

We got m0t#erf*ck!n' SNAKES!

So close to giving up

Katamari Damashiiiit~!

Terriffic!

I like it when Mom gets her own internal guilt trip.

Celebrate with pizza!

Snip-Snip.

Is it worth it?

Fuck.

I feel...

&screwed!?;

It's like a Venus Fly Trap. Once it gets ahold of you, you're screwed.

The Porn Kingdom is on fire, is on fire, is on fire: The Porn Kingdom is on fire, my fair skank-ho!

Did I get pwned?

The gang's all here. (Why do I feel like I've had this subject line before?)

The operation timed out while trying to contact the website. Oh well.