As you may or may not know, I really hate facebook. I despise it. Maybe I have no reason to feel that way, since I've never actually used it, but it seems like at least once a week I read about someone whose life was ruined by facebook. Sure, most of the time it's their own fault, but even innocent people have lost jobs and such. It boggles me that people who knew ten years ago not to give strangers their real name or address in a chat room, will post that information right on their facebook for the entire world to see.

The other thing I hate about facebook is the way that facebook users tend to exclude non-users. I've had more than one friend tell me that basically they're too lazy to e-mail me, so if I ever want to hear from them, I have to join facebook. I just got a KAJET e-mail, and the ONLY way to RSVP for any of the upcoming activities is through facebook. And I'm sure that from here on, things like career networking will be done more and more exclusively through facebook.

So, I might be getting one soon. :/ *sigh* There are advantages of course, but the severe lack of privacy makes me really wary.

As you may or may not have heard, Focus on sucking Republican cock the Family is going to air an anti-choice ad during the Superbowl. If you think this is a load of bullshit, fill out a complaint form here, and let CBS know that you won't be watching any part of the Superbowl if this ad airs. (Even if you weren't planning on watching it in the first place.)

Vacation was insanely busy, and I did almost none of the things that I was supposed to. I wanted to use the time to catch up on things, and instead I fell even further behind. ;_; I did have a good time though, and I got to hang out with anruiukimi, kyashieru, jougetsu, and misspaulette. I also had the most Japanese New Year's yet, including sending and receiving New Year's cards, making a trip out to the inaka, going to a temple for the New Year's Eve bell-ringing, making a New Year's Day shrine visit, and shopping at the New Year's sales.

x____x OMG, the New Year's sales. I spent so much money. Like seriously insanely ridiculous amounts of money. First we went to Peace Now, and I got two skirts, a top, and a sweater. Then we went to the loli department store, and I got a jewelry lucky bag. Then Cassiel took Paulette and me to Osaka to show us the Qutie Frash store, which is made of awesome. And the salesgirls' hair was made of even more awesome, all teased up and crazy colors and filled with tiny little New Year's decorations. I wish I'd thought to ask for a picture. Anyway, Qutie Frash makes Asian cyber-punk clothes in styles and materials that actually fit the non-tiny. And they even let you try on sale items! I bought two skirts, a pair of pants, a Chinese-style tunic top, a Japanese-style kimono top, and a camisole. After that, we tried unsuccessfully to find an ATM that would actually let us withdraw money, ate at a cute okonomiyaki place, went by h. Naoto, Gouk, and Hangry Angry, but they were closed, and hit up Kera and the used shop. I had no money left, but I went back the next day and got a pair of armwarmers at Gouk, a hoodie, a pair of bloomers, and a doll case at Kera, and a whole bunch of stuff at the used store. I got an h. Anarchy t-shirt, two Algonquins skirts, a Qutie Frash skirt that would be Cassiel's if I hadn't seen it first (and if it didn't go PERFECTLY with my dragon jacket), and two h. Jelly skirts that I thought were wraparounds, but turned out to be fitted skirts with wrap overskirts. x_x One of them fits (barely), but the other one I don't think I could fit into even if I were at my ideal weight. The overskirt goes great with my QF stuff though, so I'll probably just keep it.

And there's still Super Comic City next weekend! T__T But after that, I'm definitely through spending money. Except for BPAL. And maybe some shoes to go with the skirts that I bought. It wouldn't really be a problem, except that I also bought three dolls for other people during vacation, so my yen level is pretty giri-giri for this month. And the whole thing about maybe having to return to the US with its distinct lack of jobs soon.

Speaking of BPAL, holy crap, my collection exploded over vacation. Not literally, thankfully. XD After the After Event, Cassiel and I had a sniffing party at Starbucks. (BTW, I highly recommend this month's houjicha latte. I don't like coffee OR tea, and even I thought it was great.) I tried scents until both arms were full, and she very generously gifted me with several of her unloved imps. Then when I got home that evening, there was a package of even more imps waiting for me! XD So now I have 50 different scents, not including the vial of Zombie Apocalypse that fell down the drain. And 30 more in the mail. Aaaand about 15 more that I need to send money for. ^^;;; BPAL is very dangerous, because it's not very expensive, if you look at each imp or bottle by itself, but it's SO easy to get carried away.

One of the things on my list that DID get done was a trip to Spa World. I went with Lannie and a friend of hers, and had a great time. It's a pretty strange experience though, moreso than a regular onsen, because there are employees selling snacks or doing spa treatments, and the customers are all naked, but the employees are all clothed. We decided to get some spa treatments; I got the one where they rub off all your dead skin, and a mini-facial. I thought that the skin rub was going to be just arms and legs, but no, it's ALL over. o.O I hated it at the time, because my skin is really sensitive and it hurt a lot, but I have to say that my skin looked fantastic afterwards. The facial was also uncomfortable because it involved a lot of really hot towels, but since then, my face has been noticeably less oily than usual. It's starting to go back to normal though, unfortunately. Outside of the baths, there's a lot more stuff that you can do while clothed or in the spa-provided tunics, like several restaurants, a game center, a nap room, and a pool where doctor fish suck the dead skin off your feet. I love the fish, they're so cute and it feels like a cross between a tickle and a mild electric shock. There's also a pool, mixed bath, and seasonal water park, but we didn't get to that part. And they've extended the ¥1000 campaign, so I want to go again either this month or in March to see the European floor, but finding a day that won't be packed will be difficult. Oh, and one more awesome thing about it: the building is really well-ventilated, so you can wear your glasses everywhere! Being naked in public is a lot easier if you don't also have to be blind.

I also did get up to Mineyama to see Elizabeth, and Mandy and Jarrad came over for dinner and hanging out. There were cookies and hamburgers and mixed veggies and biscuits and proper bacon and scrambled eggs.... T^T I miss having real food. We watched The Fifth Element and Cars in shiny shiny blu-ray, and I had a nice, snowy train ride back to Kyoto. I also now have Kirk and Spock action figures which I need to put in inappropriate poses.

Hatsumode was beautiful! It was snowing gently, and clouds raced across the full moon. Unfortunately, my videos of the bell-ringing turned out crappy because my camera was on a super low-res video setting that I didn't even know it had. But I got a lucky fortune, and ate delicious strawberry taiyaki! And then Paulette and I rode the subway back and forth until 5 in the morning.

What I DIDN'T do: dishes, cleaning, studying, mailing Christmas presents to family. x_x I don't feel quite so failtastic though, because out of the whole vacation, there were only three days that I was actually at home, and I spent one of those recovering from vertigo. I also didn't eat any McDonald's the whole vacation! Yay me!

I'm not going to do a decade retrospective, because I'm lazy 2010 is the last year of the current decade, not the first year of the next one, geez people. 2009 was pretty okay, had some fun times, not too many bad times. My biggest regret is that I pretty much just let 2009 happen to me, instead of going out and making things happen. That's the main thing I want to change for 2010.

Merry Christmas, everybody! (Sorry to my Jewish friends, but I have no idea when Hanukkah is/was. ^^; ) I was supposed to go up to anruiukimi's, but was kept at home by a strange case of vertigo (and the billion things I have to do). It wasn't caused by seeing Avatar in 3-D, but that probably didn't help things. So why am I still up? Because I only just now finished my New Year's cards, which have to be mailed by today to be delivered on the 1st. @_@ Kyoto addresses are crazy! There was also a moment of panic when I realized I have no idea what honorific to use when addressing a letter to my students. So being the genius that I am, I wrote their addresses in kanji, but their names as "Miss Nantoka Daredare".

Anyway, hopefully some sleep will get me feeling back to normal. I'm going to be pissed if I'm still dizzy by the After Event.

Red musk + patchouli = urine-soaked hippies.

Seriously, what on Earth made me think that Lust could possibly work on me? I hate musk! (White musk seems to be okay if it's an underlying note, though.) I put a drop of it on Thursday night, and it's STILL THERE! T____T Get it offffffffffff

The rest of the imps that have arrived so far are decent, but nothing I would buy a whole bottle of.

Okay, no more BPAL for the rest of the year, or at least until the stuff that I've already bought arrives.

...Is what I told myself yesterday. But the seller was in Japan so shipping was really cheap, so it doesn't count, right? Anyway, no more for now, really.

What I'm waiting on:
November 13
Spooky
Lick It Till It's Sticky
Gold Phoenix
Copper Phoenix
Hod
Snack Hut
Snake Oil
Versailles
Hellcat
Poisoned Apple
Desdemona
Ave Maria Gratia Plena
Blood Countess
Zombie Apocalypse
Sticky Pillowcase
Lust

And the list of stuff I want to try is at least twice as long. >.> *shakes fist at misspaulette and rkold (happy belated birthday, btw!)*

Enter other stuff here that I can't remember because my brain is fried. -.-

FLYING PIKACHU I HAS ONE

LEGIT MEW I ALSO HAS ONE

There were previous storms that coworkers had referred to as typhoons, but apparently that was just wind and rain from storms that were hundreds of miles out at sea. Last night we got the actual thing. VERY different. I woke up at 2:00 in the morning to the sound of the wind trying to rip my privacy window off. Not too much damage around here other than a few fallen trees and branches, luckily.

But what I really want to know is, if it can blow the roof off a kindergarten in Osaka, why does the giant spider still have its web hanging out over the bike rack?! D:

• CLEAN. I want to use my kotatsu this winter!! (And also the cabinets that it's currently blocking.) I've decided on a regimen of cleaning for an hour every day on weekdays and two hours a day on weekends, but I keep finding too many excuses not to do it. I really need to force myself into that routine.

• Get back into writing. I'm having major mental blocks about it. RP with magicpotion is fine, but if I try to do any actual writing, my brain freezes up. How stupid is that! I'm a prize winning published author*, for crying out loud!

*First prize, Cricket Magazine monthly story contest, 1991

• Artsy crafty stuff. Need to clean first, because now there's no place to work.

• Eat better and exercise more. Apples and oranges are coming into season, so I want to get in the habit of eating more of them while they're "cheap". The pokéwalker has been encouraging me to walk more, but my clothes don't fit any easier yet. :/

• Do more fandomy stuff. This would be easier if every fandom ever didn't suck. Why can't everyone be as cool as (but not cooler than) me?

• Make more pointless LJ entries.

[edit] Oh hey, check it out, new icon.

The higanbana are blooming, and summer is finally over... is the entry I've been meaning to make for the last 3 weeks or so now. I don't know why I find it so difficult to update my journal these days. It's not like I'm spending my time doing anything useful.

Anyway, Silver Week was awesome. Besides sitting around doing nothing, misspaulette and I went to Universal Studios Japan. I can see now why it's so popular: it's made to look exactly like America. Much like Costco, but with thrill rides instead of 24-packs of canned tuna. The buildings of course have that uncanny valley look of theme park buildings designed to look taller than they actually are, but I was really impressed by the details. Poured concrete sidewalks with painted curbs! Trees with metal grates around them! Fire hydrants and blue mailboxes! A trash can next to every streetlight! I'm pretty sure the Japanese tourists were laughing at us. The area around the Jaws ride made me feel especially nostalgic, since it was made up to look like New England.

But OMG the crowds. INSANE. The line for Jurassic Park was 190 minutes. (We went in the singles line for that one.) We only just barely made it to the 5 major rides, and only because we sat right outside Spiderman to watch the parade, so we were able to get in line when it opened again for about 10 minutes before the park closed. It was a lot of fun, though. I especially liked Back to the Future and Spiderman.

The next day, I put Tobin in one of her new Dolpa dresses and took her to Sato. She was incredibly popular, and we had a hard time leaving because people kept asking me if they could take pictures of her with their dolls. But really, can you blame them?



Sato also had a billion tiny baby koi in their pond. SO CUTE.

On the last day of vacation, a big group of us went to Osaka to see Cirque du Soleil. It was amazing. If you've never been, it's well worth the ticket price to see it at least once. It's unbelievable what those people are able to do.

The next weekend, I went to Hirakata Park, which is an amusement park halfway between Osaka and Kyoto. It's a lot smaller and less exciting than USJ, but they have a lot more rides, and you can actually go on them because there are practically no lines at all. They've also got a beautiful rainbow colored Ferris wheel which looked stunning against the blue sky and puffy white clouds. And an alpaca tried to eat my cell phone.

More recently, I got to hang out with rkold while she was here, so now I have a DSi and puzzle games and candy! :D Which also means I won't be having a life for the forseeable future. Plus I have more shampoo and deodorant, which not only I but my coworkers thank you for, Rachel. ^_~ ♥

Sighhhhhhh I need to get off my lazy ass and be productive. >.> As soon as I get over this cold thingy.

I'm not normally a big Salon fan, but this article is the most concentrated amount of win I've seen in a long time.

So, a while back, I asked this question. And it appears the answer is a resounding, "LOL no."

The Prime Minister resigned AGAIN. From the little I understand about Japanese politics, he would have been kicked out anyway once the new ruling party came into power, but seriously, people. This is the third PM to resign since I've moved here. Acting all nicey-nice is so culturally ingrained that no one has the balls to stand up to a little criticism.

Anyway, I finally made my big trading post over at pokemon, and it went pretty well. My pokédex is at 401 seen, 350 obtained now. I also completed my berrydex and got some master balls to finally catch Mespirit and Cresselia, thanks to magicpotion. ♥

I also finally found a Firefox add-on that will block specific websites. I'm hoping I can finally kick the sf_drama habit now.

• The heat and humidity are killing me.
• Going up to Big Nag tomorrow for dollie and gay bar fun with triplepunch + SO, misspaulette, and anruiukimi.
• Had a truly awesome moment at karaoke when I found out you can get this song with the actual video.
• My cell phone is the best cell phone ever, because it now has a matching leopard print tail.
• Really looking forward to the new Pokéwalker, and hoping it will help spur me into both losing the weight I've gained, and getting to know Kyoto better.
• Kakigoori is the greatest invention ever.
• Mint Oreo McFlurries are good too.
• Barney Frank is my hero. ♥

( alphawebz meme )

Sorry, no pr0n.

OMG I HAVE CHEETOS. REAL ONES. T___T I haven't even eaten any yet, just sticking my head in the open bag and breathing deeply.

OMG Star Trek IV lol FOREVER.

Need fic where Kirk "retrains" Spock on certain customs. :3

Also happy late birthday to magicpotion!!! *chuuuuu*

I'm really confused now. The Sato event on October 4th is NOT the usual Angels Descending event, but something else. And there's no mention of the Angels Descending event on the October calendar, BUT Sato is going to be closed on the day it's normally held. So are they having it this year, or not??? Damn it Volks, why do you always have to be so secretive?

Also: take the slashiness of Wrath of Khan, multiply it by 9 billion, and you get Search for Spock. :3 Seriously.

Win 1: I ordered a pizza! \o/ This is especially big news for me, because I don't even enjoy talking on the phone in English. It was sooooooo good, too. Either they use real pepperoni, or it's been so long since I've had real pepperoni that I can't tell the difference any more. The bad part is that now I'm going to be tempted to have pizza way more often than I should.

Win 2: Scored some 70% offage at Black Peace Now.

Win 3: Volks is NOT having the Sato event on Health and Sports Day weekend for once, so I can actually go!

Fail: The leopard print glasses that I've been lusting after look absolutely terrible on me. ;_;

In other news, ST:Wrath of Khan is amazing and amazingly slashy. So goddamned sick of the surprise!son trope, though.