a crack in the brain

chocolate_chip @ 2008-09-07T20:13:00

2008-09-07T11:20:51Z

I got a box of hands in the mail today! That was fast!

"Objection!"

"I shall call me... Mini-me!"

"I am not a crook!"

They're Kun-approved!

Now I just need to decide which ones to keep....

chocolate_chip @ 2008-09-06T13:27:00

2008-09-06T04:28:47Z

I finished season 2 of Heroes. Thankfully, it got a lot better towards the end. It was like the writers suddenly realized, "Oh crap, everything we've done this season sucks! What should we do?" "How about incredibly gay incest? It worked last season!" Because seriously, that was not going in for a hug, that was going in for a kiss.

In other news, here, have a poll:

View Poll: #1254547

I need new icons. :/

o.O Well, here's something to improve my mood.

2008-09-04T13:41:31Z

HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS.

I was about to get in the shower, when I remembered I hadn't done my daily Picross yet, and I HATE having that blank spot on my calendar all month. So I was doing that, and for some completely unknown reason, I decided to check Weezer's website to see if they'd posted any tour dates, because for the last forever, their site has been all "we're not on tour now, lol!" But this time, it was "O HAY WE'RE IN OSAKA NEXT WEEKEND. AND BTW, YOUR FAVORITE BAND IS OPENING FOR US."

That's right. I HAVE A TICKET FOR ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION/WEEZER.

....I'm still in shock. This is way too good to be true.

okay.

2008-09-04T12:06:35Z

Well, I decided to set a deadline for September 16, because that will make it three months. Still not sure what I'll do then, whether I should actively cut all ties, or just set phasers to ignore.

I feel so miserably shitty lately, and Heroes is not helping because season 2 sucks ass. And this stupid song makes me want to cry.

the good, the bad, and the poll-y

2008-08-31T02:14:18Z

the good:

Kun arrived! ♥ And she's soooooo cute, especially in the dress triplepunch made~ ^o^ I would post pictures if I wasn't so lazy. I want the 13th to come already, so I can order my Komame plushie!! >o<

Kun and I watched to the end of season 1 of Heroes together, and LOL, the "Kyoto" that Hiro goes to is nothing at all like Kyoto. I had a whole night of very strange dreams about incredibly gay superhero brothers running around places that were pretending to be Kyoto but not.

the bad:

I feel like a sucker. Well, that's because I am a sucker. And now I'm wondering again if I should just cut ties entirely. I realize I'm not flavor of the month anymore, and that's my issue to deal with, but that doesn't mean I deserve to be shoved aside and ignored like a discount bottle of Pepsi Blue Hawaii.

Speaking of flavor of the month, I should try to get down to Baskin Robbins today. :9

and the poll-y!

View Poll: Hands

what I did for porn

2008-08-23T12:56:32Z

I just walked to 7-11 in the frickin' pouring-ass rain, because I was afraid that $300 might not be enough for Super Comic City tomorrow. And then the machine told me I can't use my ATM card until 8 in the morning. What the hell. x_x

In my defense, about $100 is already earmarked for stuff I'm getting for other people. And I know it's stupid and ridiculous to even contemplate spending $200 on doujinshi for myself, but there's soooo many good circles going! >o< And I'll have to move quickly to get to them all, so there's no time to go back if I decide later that I want something. *flails* Whyyyyyyyy does it always have to end so early????

lol zomg yay

2008-08-17T05:46:48Z

I've been really excited about the upcoming Super Comic City, without being able to put my finger on why. And because I'm trying to distract myself from doing chores, I decided to check the Suoh/Nokoru doujinshika's webpage, even though I didn't think she would have a new book out. But not only has she just published a new book, it's R18! X3 WANT. Plus my favorite Supernatural circle will be there, and some really good-looking AtoZuka and FMA circles~~~ Why is it a whole week away? >o<

wa

2008-08-13T12:56:44Z

o.O There was just another earthquake. Tiny, but that makes two in a week after a whole year with none. I'm kind of freaking out a little bit right now.

Also, I spent sooooooooooooo much money in Nagoya, OMG.

chocolate_chip @ 2008-08-10T02:13:00

2008-08-09T17:15:34Z

Dark Knight opened today (well, yesterday, by this time). Fucking amazing.

And what, Kuroshitsuji anime already?! There's only 4 volumes of the manga out!

[edit] WAT. Sakamoto Maaya is Ciel's seiyuu???????????

でた!! Update SMASH! part 3

2008-08-07T08:23:41Z

So, I took a few days off before classes started to go around and see the cherry blossoms. For some reason, I had it in my head that I needed to go to Nara, so I went. The park is very lovely, but you definitely have to watch where you step. I also learned that you shouldn't buy deer crackers if you're by yourself, unless you want a herd of deer to swarm out of nowhere and have their way with you.

Todaiji is amazing though, and definitely worth the trip. Buddha is totally chill, and the guardians at the gate are amazing. Hard to believe they were carved 700+ years ago. Nara was also my first time seeing true hanami. Three salarymen, a camp stove, and a 24-pack of beer. Rock. But instead of boring you with words, I'll ~~bore~~ enthrall you with pictures.

This gate is a reconstruction. A reconstruction dating from 1199.

Can you believe that these were carved in 1203?

Daibutsuden

The Great Buddha.

Kasuga Taisha.

This is the second-tallest pagoda in Japan. The tallest is in Kyoto, of course.

The next day, I decided to stick around Kyoto. I caught the last of the plum blossoms at Kitano Tenmangu, had yakisoba and Ramune under the cherry blossoms at Hirano Jinja, and checked out the zen garden at Ryoanji. I wanted to go to Ninnaji too, but thanks to getting sick in the middle of the night, I got a late start and got there just after they closed.

A Shinto priest.

Plum blossoms.

Hirano Jinja. At the time, I thought it was crowded. LOL.

Ryoanji's Zen rock garden.

Friday, I went to Hana no Tera in Oharano. Even though it's well-known for its cherry blossoms, Oharano doesn't get many tourists. So it was very quiet and peaceful there. Actually, the only other gaijin that I saw there happened to be the guy I sat next to on the plane from Boston, who teaches in Okinawa. o.O Everyone I met in Oharano was super-friendly, and the other temple, Shohoji, had beautiful gardens, and you could actually go inside the halls. So I had a great day. ^_^ Then I took the train back to Kyoto and went to the Gion light-up and to see the huge cherry tree in Maruyama Koen.

A sakurazuka. XD

Yasaka Jinja.

Now there's a tree you can bury a body under!

Saturday was the big Sakura Matsuri at Himeji Castle, and like a crazy person, I went. It was sooooo beautiful though, and definitely worth fighting the crowds.

With telephoto lens.

Without telephoto lens.

Omg yes i will marries you! Actually, she was just trying to whistle around a sakura petal.

On Sunday, I went to Kameoka for a hanami picnic with Paulette and Sue. We had alcohol and a tarp, so it was genuine hanami!

Monday it rained, and I was exhausted, so even though I had the day off, I just stayed home and had awesome RP with kanaliya. Unfortunately, it continued to rain heavily for several days, so that was pretty much the end of sakura season. :(

As always, there are more photos here.

Next update: Tokyo and pr0n version!

Happy Japanniversary to me!

2008-08-06T07:48:20Z

Hard to believe it's already been one year. To celebrate, there was an earthquake this morning. \o/

paaaaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnn D:

2008-07-21T07:20:28Z

Ever find yourself at 1:30 in the morning wondering, "What the hell am I doing climbing a volcano in the middle of the night?"

... Yeah.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

2008-07-17T08:49:55Z

The unthinkable -- dare I say, the unspeakable -- has happened.

Japan is in the middle of a butter shortage. ToT

I was able to skip out of work today and go to the Gion Matsuri parade, which was awesome, but I only took one picture before my camera decided that all my batteries were dead. >.> And I have lots of work to do to get ready for Fuji tonight so I can go to the baseball game tomorrow. It's the prefectural quarter-finals or something like that.

This spastic and discombobulated post is brought to you by the letter stress.

chocolate_chip @ 2008-07-06T21:26:00

2008-07-06T13:00:32Z

Fuji hike in two weeks. x_x What the hell was I thinking, seriously. Though since we're starting from the 5th station, the vertical climb is not that much more than Mt. Washington, so maybe it won't be so horrible?

In completely unrelated news, I'm reading a book called The Tin Star, which I picked up because it's about gay cowboys, and even though it's published by one of those "online publishers", it didn't look like it was horrible.

I was wrong.

Dear God, it's so awful. Almost comically awful, but not quite. There's absolutely no sense of plot structure or dramatic tension or theme (beyond gay=good, homophobia=bad), the characters are unbelievable, and holy crap, the dialogue. At first I thought that the author had never heard how real Texans talk. Then I found that she (I'm assuming the author's female because of the ridiculous hoops the bio jumps through to not mention a gender) actually lives in Texas, wut. Does not compute. Even I could write better than this, if I could come up with something worth writing about.

Of course I will finish it, because there is sexx0rz.

What I really want to read are the next Dexter and Nightrunner books. I reread the first two Dexter books, and badly wanted more, so I tried watching the series again, but it's just such a disappointment in comparison. :/ I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and place an amazon.com order soon. I think I still have one gift certificate lying around somewhere in this mess of an apartment. *sigh*

enkai night

2008-07-04T15:37:01Z

I just got home from an eight course dinner. All eight courses were tofu. x_x

chocolate_chip @ 2008-06-26T18:08:00

2008-06-26T09:09:41Z

LOL, the police have my neighborhood blocked off because of the G8 talks. Maybe I won't be going out this evening after all.

chocolate_chip @ 2008-06-25T07:23:00

2008-06-24T22:30:37Z

LOLOLOL, well isn't this the pot calling the kettle black. Hey, Dobson, here's a Bible passage for you: "You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5

wait for it

2008-06-22T12:57:32Z

FMA.

Post-movie.

CROSSOVER WITH INDIANA JONES OMG YOU KNOW IT WOULD BE AWESOME.

And now, for another rousing edition of "Look At All the Crap Emily Bought!" I ended up NOT going to Comic City today after all, because there's a bigger one in August, and it's a lot of time and money and hassle just for some mediocre porn that I already have too much of anyway. Plus, the group that was going wanted to see Juno afterwards, which was all hell no. But I promised rkold that I'd send her package today, and hey, I was already dressed, so I went down to Kyoto Station. In case you're wondering, Kyoto Station is where the central post office is, which is open all day on Sunday, and there's also a big craft store there, and I needed to buy some snaps for my h.Naoto skirt. (That's right, bitches, I said h.Naoto.) And the easiest way to get from the subway to the post office to the craft store without getting soaked because yay, rainy season, is to use the underground mall. And I was weak. But most of it was stuff I really did need. I got some socks and a couple calculators and a necklace stand at the 3 coin shop, where everything is ¥300. Of course, that's not including tax, so it's actually impossible to buy anything with 3 coins, but whatever. Then I went looking for the shoe store I had seen earlier, because they had Toppers, and I really REALLY needed a new pair of sneakers. But I was distracted on the way by a really cute blouse. >.> It was a little expensive, and I probably shouldn't have bought it, but it actually fit, and it's SO Japanese. So it can be my token Japanese girly shirt. I just need to find the right thing to layer it with. Then I found the shoe store, and they were cute and fit well and were actually not that expensive considering what shoes in Japan usually go for, and considering how hard it is to find shoes here that you can actually wear all day without wanting to shoot yourself, so I got them. And then I thought I was done, but a display of folding fans caught my eye. Of course the one I liked was the ¥3000 one in a display of ¥1000 ones, but it was really nice, and I really needed one, so I got it anyway. I was also tempted to get the Disney's Belle perfume that store had, but I didn't. XD The End. Until next week, when the sale at Black Peace Now starts. >_>;;
This shopping trip was brought to you by the numbers 7 and 11, which is the only place I can get cash on weekends. *fang*

But yes, I saw Indiana Jones yesterday! *fangirl* It was far from perfect; the dialogue at the beginning was soooo heavy-handed, and the whole monkey scene was NO (it would have been SO much improved if Mutt had like completely failed at the vine-swinging), but overall, I really really enjoyed it. I love that old pulp-novel feel, and the plot that meanders from one action scene to the next, yet without feeling slow or incohesive. Of course, it's always a little awkward seeing an American movie in a Japanese theater; we thought the lettermen vs. greasers scene was hilarious and laughed our asses off, but the rest of the audience didn't understand it at all. Also, I noticed in both Indy and Caspian that the Japanese subtitles directly used the words "died" or "killed" when it was only implied in the English dialogue. Strange, especially considering that Japanese is supposed to be the more indirect of the two languages. *shrugs* Anyway, yaaayy Indy, so happy I saw it.

Back on the topic of doujinshi, last weekend I went with Ilona and nightflight to a Phoenix Wright doujin and cosplay event. It was small, but fun. There were lots of good cosplayers, including a cute-as-a-button Apollo, a freaking amazing 6-years-ago Mia, a perfect Judge, and a Jean Armstrong, lololol. There was also a raffle, and Ilona won a pair of Gavinners or whatever the Japanese name of the band is guitar picks, which she gave to me. And if your birthday was in June, you got a bag of Godot's special blend coffee. As for doujinshi, there wasn't much for pairings that I like, but I got two Gavincest, one when they were younger, which I can fully endorse, and one just because it's a whole lot of really well-drawn cat-ear porn. Ironically enough, after explaining to my cohorts how Klavier and Apollo just didn't have that "spark" in the game, they sparked in my own mind, so I think I'm an official fan of the pairing now. ^^

Long sentences are long. Also rainy season sucks, even though it looks like we got off easy this year. Also, I want to punch American Guy in the face, but that's an entry for another time.

Oh, and I uploaded my old Yami no Matsuei music video to youtube. Validate me, plz.

re: His Dark Materials

2008-06-09T10:40:50Z

First of all, to the asshole that stole the one-offs from NY Dolpa: way to go, fucktard. I wouldn't be surprised if Volks never holds another Dolpa outside of Japan again, thanks to you. I just hope you're stupid enough to try to sell them.

So, it took a lot of work, and a lot of forcing myself to slog through, but I finally finished the His Dark Materials trilogy. Not to be ironic, but good God, what a pile of misogynist, propagandistic bullshit. Not only that, but they're horribly written. It's obvious from the start that Pullman doesn't really care about telling a story. The books are nothing more than a bullhorn shouting "my edgy ideas, let me show you them." Which explains why everything about them sucks ass. Aside from the premise being built on lies from the start, the plot is aimless and full of holes, the writing has no style, the characters are one-dimensional and unlikable, the dialogue is dull and unauthentic, logic is nonexistent, hypocrisy permeates everything, and Pullman wouldn't be able to create a proper parallel even if he had a drafting table. Oh wait, these books are supposed to be about thinking for ourselves? When does a single one of the characters ever think for themselves? What ideas or conclusions is the reader allowed to create on his or her own? Everything in the books is delivered with such heavy-handedness that thinking is the absolute last thing the reader needs to do. Does Pullman even realize that he's every bit as close-minded as those he claims to hate? But an open mind isn't what Pullman is after, is it? No, it's quite clear that all he wants is for people to think exactly the same way he does. He leaves no room for anything else. Hooray for hypocrisy.

These books are so bad, I wonder if Pullman was actually trying to write the worst thing he possibly could, just to see how many people would lap it up for its *~*EdGiNeSs*~*. And then, when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, I came to the "love scene". How the hell did that shit get published? I can't remember the last time I read something so clichéd and unrealistic outside of ff.net. He actually used the phrase "with every fiber of his being." Seriously.

You know, I'm an apologist through and through, so I fully expected to like these books when I started reading. And maybe if they weren't written so badly, I would have. But don't smash my head with a sledgehammer over and over, and tell me you're "opening my mind".

a fandom post??? :o

2008-06-01T14:26:11Z

So, thanks to my upstairs neighbor who was being really loud all night long (not that I needed very much incentive), I finished GS4 last night. My thoughts: NEEDS MOAR EDGEWORTH.

Actually, I didn't think I would like 4 much, because I love Phoenix, and really did not want to see him reduced to a poker playing has-been, but he was wayyy more central to the plot than I thought he was going to be. Plus, smiling Phoenix sprite = omg<33333333333333333333333333. But even before getting to that part, I was won over, because it's just impossible not to like Apollo. And his blushy sprite is so cute!! Before the game was released in English, it seemed like most people were Kristoph/Apollo? But what's up with that? I mean, even putting Kristoph's personality aside, how would it even happen? Plus, it's pretty obvious that Kristoph was trying to get into Phoenix's pants, but Phoenix was like, step off bitch. (Or alternatively, Phoenix was blowing him for information, but I don't want to think about that scenario.) I think Klavier's much better suited for Apollo, though I'm not super crazy about the pairing. 'Cause first of all, air guitar? No. I don't care how hot or incredibly gay you are, that is just lame. Even Godot could not make air guitar look good. ~~(Well, maybe Godot could.)~~ But also, there's no real spark between them, although it's quite easy to believe that a spark could happen. I do like how the writers were like, "Hey, you know what this series needs? MORE SLASHY DIALOGUE!" XDD 'Cause wow, Klavier is basically openly flirting with Apollo, and Apollo clearly has a tiny bit of a schoolgirl crush on him. But still, there's a little bit of something missing. Apollo and Ema should totally be drinking buddies, though. That would be so awesome. Also, fic where Phoenix makes Apollo teach Trucy how to drive? DO WANT.

I'm also enjoying catching up on Supernatural. But it's slightly nervewracking, because I take it way too seriously, and I hate having to put my trust in a group of writers, because they invariably end up doing something really stupid, like the werewolf episode. It's never good when you care more about a series' characterization and continuity than the writers do. ^^; Which is why I don't read mainstream US comics anymore, but that's a rant for another time. I just hope that the thing I've been noticing and really like (which is that Sam only goes postal on those who threaten or harm Dean) is intentional and not just a fluke on the writers' part.

Oh, I also saw Prince Caspian, like a week ago. It wasn't bad, but seriously, the entire script should have been rewritten. I mean WTF, if you can't fit everything from the book into the movie in the first place, it's not the time to go adding things that were never in the book to begin with?? I was VERY surprised about Eddie Izzard, though. I had no idea! Internet, you have let me down! All in all, it was well worth going, if for no other reason than REEPICHEEP PLUSHIE CUTEST THING EVER OMG. >o< And that is why Japanese movie theaters are better than American movie theaters.

And oh yes, I will kill anyone who spoils me for Indiana Jones. >:E

chocolate_chip @ 2008-05-31T21:51:00

2008-05-31T12:55:21Z

This is a momentous day! My flickr account is completely up-to-date! :o

pick up the clue phone

2008-05-25T12:32:41Z

Things were going so well, then crash and burn. You think I'd learn eventually.

Fuck this, I'm gonna do dishes and go back to playing GS4.

>_<

2008-05-13T11:10:06Z

I just spent a good hour or so looking at mindfuck macros. Whhhyyyyyyyyyyyyy??????

でた!! Update SMASH! part 1

2008-05-12T09:57:47Z

It’s a special kind of person who can roll halfway down a mountain strapped to a pair of skis and be fine, but needs to go to the hospital for x-rays because they messed up putting on their shoes. >.> And yes, that person would be me.

I haven’t updated in, um, forever, because A) there’s been a ton of stuff going on, B) I’m lazy, and C) I hadn’t been taking my medicine regularly because I was running out, but I got some more, so I’m starting to feel better now that I’m taking it every day again. I do wish that the world could just stop for a bit and let me catch up, though.

Anyway, I’m convinced that one of the gym teachers at my school is, in fact, James Bond. He speaks English, plays the guitar, sings karaoke, drives like Mario Andretti and never gets a ticket, skis, snowboards, coaches the track and field team, cooks, can drive a speedboat, knows everyone, and his daughter is one of the best students in the advanced English course. He organized a little ski trip to Nagano in March. I went, two other teachers from my school went, and three JETs from other schools in Kyoto joined us. I didn’t know anything about what kind of place we were going to, so I had no idea what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t this:

I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to the “wake up at 6 and drive for four hours” method of skiing after that. The place was amazing. Our rooms were two-floor suites with an 8-mat tatami room and bay windows overlooking the slopes. Breakfast and dinner were all-you-can-eat buffets with Western and Japanese food, and also a whole table full of Chinese food at dinner. The hotel also had its own onsen, game arcade, and karaoke bar. And the back door was less than 100 ft. from the main ski lift. The snow was not so great, being the end of the season, but it wasn’t too bad, either. Monday morning, it was snowing heavily, so there was about a foot of fresh powder up at the top of the mountain, but it was impossible to see anything, so I only did a couple runs before giving up.

On the way back to Kyoto, we watched Die Hard 4, except I didn’t watch it because it was dubbed into Japanese and I hadn’t seen the English version yet, and I didn’t want to be spoiled for Justin Long’s hottness. I did, however, totally nail Okiayu Ryoutarou as the dub voice of the bad guy, lol. Actually, all of the dub voices matched the characters really well. Clearly, the Japanese are much better at dubbing things than Americans are (*insert stabbing of dubbed anime here*).

The next weekend happened to be the ides of March, and between Ilona having her purse stolen and Paulette losing her wallet just hours after taking $1000 out of the ATM for Dolpa, I think I was pretty lucky to get away with just a severe foot injury. >.> So yeah, I was putting my shoes on, but apparently my foot can’t tell the difference between a shoe and the edge of the stairs. It was pretty clear from the start that my toe wasn’t broken, but good God, it hurt enough to be. So one of my JTEs took me to the hospital, where we watched some drama starring Gackt (me: Is that.... Gackt? JTE: へぇぇぇぇぇぇ, you know Gakuto??? *fangirl*), and I had x-rays taken and got some hardcore pain pills. And now, two months later, it’s almost completely healed! *headdesk*

Anyway, the pre-Dolpa event went really well, except for the part where I hobbled to Tenshi no Sato in intense pain. I got a good number and was able to get everything that everyone had asked me to get, and hung out with people and had fun. Dolpa was boring; my number was too bad to get any of the limited items, and my foot hurt too much to walk around the dealers’ room.

And then it was spring break! Paulette and I celebrated by going to see Enchanted (Central Park scene ftw) and laughing at all the jokes the Japanese people didn’t get. Then, because this is Japan, so of course the department store at the train station has a world-class museum gallery inside it, a few days later we went to an exhibit of French impressionist paintings on loan from the Hiroshima Museum of Art. The van Gogh was the big draw, of course, but my personal favorite was Monet’s Arm of the Seine near Giverny at sunrise. And because the Hiroshima Museum of Art’s mascot is van Gogh (them having a whopping one of his paintings and all), I bought a genki!van Gogh keychain which is made of lol and wrong.

The next weekend, yhibiki and I went down to Kobe to see the Edvard Munch exhibit at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. It was really amazing, but it also pissed me off, because The Scream and Madonna WOULD have been there, if they weren’t still being restored because of those fucking assholes who stole them and then couldn’t even fucking take care of them properly.

Anyway, then we went to Ikuta Jinja where the cherry blossoms were just starting to open, and then we swung by Kitano, where the western houses are. Apparently, the Japanese think the western houses in Kitano are hot shit, but if you’ve actually been to Europe or places settled by rich Europeans, they’re not so grate, ackshully. And after that, we sort of accidentally climbed the mountain behind the shinkansen station. Toe was not happy. But the view was nice, and we saw a waterfall and a kitty.

Okay, I’m ending things here, because I know that anything more would be just TOO MUCH AWESOMENESS for you to handle at once. But stay tuned for more zomg amazing updates featuring exciting topics such as: Flowers! Being attacked for food by crazy animals! Flowers! Bitching about the Japanese system of school administration! Porn! And moar flowers!! And as always, check out my flickr page for more photos.

still not an update

2008-05-11T14:34:53Z

>.<;;;;;;;;;;; I am officially not allowed to buy anything fandom-related for at least a year. *dead* Thanks to rkold, I now own a doujinshi of the U.S. screwing England. Except I didn't check the cover for the pr0n warning, so they don't actually screw. But they do make out on a couch. DFHkjsdrubglieu I don't even particularly like doujinshi; whyyyyyy is it so addictive? ;-;

[edit] Oh right, because it has Atobe bribing Momo to steal Tezuka's uniform, and then Atobe wears Tezuka's pants on his head. How silly of me.