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.

( Nara )

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.

( Kyoto )

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.

( Oharano )

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.

( Himeji )

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!

( Kameoka )

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!

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; ( spoilers )

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.

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.

( super boring update: skiing version! )

( super boring update: doll and bodily injury version! )

( super boring update: art snob version! )

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.

ZOMG I HAVE OGLED STING'S ASS WITH MY OWN TWO UNAIDED EYES. (Yes, he was wearing tight pants. XD) AND THERE WAS STING/ANDY SLASH AND DURING MY FAVORITE SONG TOO.

fsejrhgj *flails* I still can't believe I actually saw The Police live. And it was amazing. It was my first time at a stadium concert, and I was up in the nosebleed seats, but I had a good view of the stage. The lighting was soooooooooo good (don't know why, but good lighting at a concert is really important to me), and Andy and especially Stewart were just incredible. The big disappointment was that Sting did almost all the singing by himself, so there were none of those great Police harmonies, which is one of my favorite things about The Police to begin with. ;_; Also, no concert towels! What's up with that? I was really looking forward to having a Police towel in my collection! But it was definitely definitely worth going, because I never ever thoguht I would actually have the chance to see The Police perform live. And I was so happy because they did an extended version of "So Lonely", which is my favorite song of theirs, but since it's not a single, I wasn't sure if they'd play it or not, but they did and kyaaaa~~~~ ♥

SET LIST!
Message In A Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head/When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can't Stand Losing You/Regatta de Blanc
Roxanne
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

As for goods, I got the world tour t-shirt and the Japan-only hoodie. :D

Also, Osaka Dome totally looks like a giant spaceship.

I think today would classify as a good day: no classes; the local bakery re-opened in its new location, bigger and better than ever (they have chocolate chip bagels, what) and just a block away from school; there was a family of no fewer than three wild monkeys prowling the neighborhood (Me: Look! A monkey! Student: 何や？ Me: *points* Student: Oh!! Cat!); and I SAW BUMP OF CHICKEN LIVE OMG. Of course, I had to pay 4x the face value of the ticket, but better that than regret not going forever. Supernova live is ♥~~~~~~~~~

The bad news is, I have to get up at my regular time tomorrow, and I still have to shower before bed. >.>

Happy Birthday, nightflight! I hope you have a great day~ ♥

Man, Straightener puts on one effing KICK-ASS concert. And Nanba Hatch is a really nice venue. There was no opening act, which was good, because that meant I was able to get back to Kyoto before the last subway. There also wasn't anything in the way of set design, but the lighting was so freakin' amazing. Especially at the end of "March" when they had these bright white lights shining from behind the band into the audience and they kept getting brighter and brighter until it hurt to look at the band~

I wasn't able to get too close to the stage, but from where I was, I had a really good view of both the band and the crowd in front of the stage. I think I like that better than being down in the crowd. I was also standing right behind two guys who weren't into jumping up and down, so it was really lucky for me. ^^ (Is that proper English? God, I can't even tell anymore.)

In addition to the band being just so damn good, the bassist really gets into performing, like there's honestly nothing else he would rather be doing than playing on that stage. It was really fun to watch him.

As for merch, I got a tour t-shirt, the tour towel, a wristband, and a bright pink keychain with the Straightener dog on it. The keychain is for my bike, since it's a happy keychain, and I have a happy yellow bike. (My bike is also named Ken-chan because Ken-chan is a happy name.)

I really want to see Straightener again. This concert was sold out, but since I got a pre-sale ticket, I don't know how fast the tickets went. I hope I'll be able to get tickets next time, too. Now if only I can get into the Bump of Chicken concert~~~ >o<

( I can has blatherings about Asian Kung-fu Generation? )

I’m hoping that this string of good things, particularly situations which seem bad but turn out well, applies to the JLPT, too. I did really badly on the first two sections, but much better than I expected on the last section, which is worth half the test. So there is a very slight possibility that I may have passed, but I won’t find out until March or so. :x

This post has been brought to you by the letters A, K, and G, and the fact that I have no classes today. \o/

If you're in the mood for fresh mountain air, do not go to Yellowstone. XP Stinky. But I saw Old Faithful erupt, and the paintpots, and a big herd of elk, and a bunch of other cool stuff. To get there, I took this road that went right over the top of an 11,000 foot mountain, and at the very summit was a herd of mountain goats. The babies were so cute! I camped at Yellowstone, which was much more pleasant than Badlands (where the temp didn't drop below 90 until about 3 in the morning), and even though my food wasn't strictly properly secured, I didn't get attacked by bears. The next day I drove south through the Tetons to Salt Lake City. The Tetons are really impressive. It's definitely an area I'd like to go back to again.

Utah has a lot of seagulls, which makes sense if you think about it, but it was still weird to see them there. I went to Arches National Park, which was amazing, but soooooooooo hot. D: The average high during the month of July is 100, and I went during a heat wave. ~.~ But then a thunderstorm moved in and there was a huge rainbow~

I managed to make it to my aunt and uncle's near Aspen that night, in spite of a major flaw in her directions. My uncle has his own motorcycle repair business now, so we took a couple of the bikes he'd just finished out for a test drive. He's also the caretaker of the motorcycle mentioned in this article. Then we went into town for lunch, I finally bought HP7, and I had a pretty uneventful trip to my dad's house.

And thus, my road trip ended. I didn't have as much time at my dad's as I originally wanted, but we played tennis, went out to dinner with my brother John, bought a Squishee from an authentic Kwik-E-Mart, and went to the midnight showing of The Simpsons Movie. I washed Sei, but because of a power outage, I didn't have time to polish and wax him. :x I miss him.... ;_____;

Flying back to NH was a hassle, with the airline security and bad weather around DC, but I got about halfway through HP7, instead of doing stuff I actully should have been doing. And last night was the free They Might Be Giants concert at Mohegan Sun! I just barely got in, which meant I actually got to be in the reserved section instead of the regular section. There were free giant foam hands, and they played some old stuff I'd never heard live before, like The Famous Polka. And I wasted way too much money on the slots afterwards. -_-

And now I have a freaking ton of stuff to do before I leave for Japan, so I really should stay off the internets as much as possible.


22 days
4970 miles

West Virginia is full of mountains, trees, and abandoned buildings. I like mountains, trees, and abandoned buildings, so it gets two thumbs up in my book. Plus, thealisonbailey's Jack Russell terriers gave me so much attention, I felt like a movie star. 8D I got to see the museum and meet her crazy boss (no exaggeration), And then her sister forced us to go see Harry Potter, which, well, let's just say it lived up to my expectations. But it doesn't matter, because time spent with Alison is always time made of Win. ♥

Thursday, I drove up to Michigan, which was a drastic change of scenery. But the flatness of the midwest has its own charm, like how when the local high school or AAA league is having a baseball game, or there's a county fair, you can see the lights from miles away. And then when you get a bit further north into lake country, it's so peaceful and pretty. It really brings back memories of when I lived in Minnesota.

Anyway, sailorstarsun and I went to Cedar Point on Friday, which was OMGTEHFUN. We went on sooooo many roller coasters~~ Maverick is really cool, but the line is way long, and it's still buggy, which makes the wait even longer, so Millenium Force is still the best. However, we learned the hard way that right after dusk is a very bad time to ride it. Ewwwwwww. XP But of all the things we went on, the giant swings were the scariest. MaxAir was super fun, too.

It should also be noted that Sunny has the most anime and manga swag of anyone I've ever seen, and her doggy and her grandparents' kitties are full of squeeeeeeecuteness. Furthermore, Arby's strawberry banana swirl milkshake is really good. :o


day 14
3016 miles

I'm ridiculously excited, because after reconfiguring my router, I'm able to use my DS' wi-fi function. (I also gave the router a much cooler SSIN than the one lesboy had given it.) Anyway, if you're playing Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, give me your friend code! Let's trade Pokémon! And mystery gifts! And visit each other's secret lairs! My code is 0473 4272 4291.

Poll #973822 Pokémon D/P friend codes
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None

What's your friend code?

I had a good time hanging with the posse in Norfolk. The weather was soooooo nice~ We went to Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, and we saw wild bald eagles at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Including a baby eagle! So cute!! Colonial Williamsburg was really interesting. The "interpreters", as they call them, at the plantation are amazing. I learned so much. And I somehow ended up with a season pass to Busch Gardens, so I'd really like to go down there again if I can manage it, especially since they have a new roller coaster opening next month.

Despite it having New Hampshire's state motto in the title, I wasn't really planning on seeing Live Free or Die Hard, but Justin Long as the damsel technogeek in distress? I may have to. I can already imagine the Die Hard/MacPC crossover fic. Plus, you just can't go wrong with helicopters blowing up.

Gah, I need to get dressed, but I can't stop playing Pokémon....

Ugh, my head feels like it got run over by that thing that carries the space shuttle to the launch pad, and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I took my meds with vodka. You're not really supposed to do that.

Anyway! The Cinematics were awesome, like always. I say that as if I've seen them more than twice. But I'm pretty sure that awesome is their default state. Most people there had never heard of them, but everyone said afterwards that they were really good. Actually, I heard several people say that they wished they'd played longer. Scott had a cold, so he was drinking tea while everyone else was drinking beer. XD You couldn't tell from the singing, though. And he is still omg so adorably gorgeously cute. *_*

Mute Math is...............

Um.

Yeah.

Well, they're very melodic, very jazzy, almost new agey, even. A part of me wants to say mellow, except they're as far away from mellow as you can possibly get. They sound kind of like Sting might sound if Sting was still a rocker instead of a wuss. And was on a lot of speed and LSD. 'Cause oh man, they put on one crazy show. The lead singer was doing handstands off the keyboard, and the drummer was playing the ceiling at one point. And I couldn't even count how many drumsticks he broke. (They toned it down a lot when they were on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and they still ended up destroying the set.) But what struck me most is that I've never felt so much positive energy coming from a performance. It's no wonder their shows always sell out.

So afterwards, I was of course hanging out at The Cinematics' merch table, and they did remember me! :D And I gave Scott a hug, and I got a signed poster~ And Ramsay and I were talking about Mute Math (as he was rolling a joint), and he said they were kind of worried about being booked with them when they couldn't find anyone who'd ever heard of them, but then they saw their ticket sales, and it's like, wtf, they sell out every single show they play. And I was like, "That's exactly what blueskin said!" And Ramsay's like, "Oh, you know Kevin?" (He said you were a really great guy, btw.) However, I was not able to work into the conversation how Providence is so close, it's almost like having a day off before tomorrow's concert, shouldn't they go out and have some drinks or something? So my hopes of hanging out with the band were dashed. ;_; But I did get Mute Math's cd (I wish now I'd gotten their DVD, too) and yes, a Mute Math t-shirt. I know I need to cut back on t-shirts, but I can't help it! I don't feel right leaving a concert without a t-shirt! (Their merch table was run by the lead singer's wife, which surprised me, because he was giving off soooo many gay vibes. But that has almost nothing to do with me liking them, really!)

Ohhhhhh, I wanna go to tomorrow night's show in Providence! >o< But even if I did blow off work, the venue's tiny, and I'm sure it's already sold out. *emo*

( for my own reference - songs performed, in no particular order )

4 hours on a cramped bus + running (literally) around New York City with a heavy backpack + 4 more hours on a cramped bus = OW HOLY CRIPPLING PAIN, BATMAN

x_x

The JLPT went about as I expected it to, which means whether or not I passed probably comes down to how well I guessed. ^^; Then I met up with rkold, and we went to Book-Off (got 2 Tanaka Suzuki manga, 1 Nekota Yonezou manga, and Stance Punks' 2002 EP) and Kinokuniya (they didn't have the FMA calendar, so I didn't get anything). There was a kosher restaurant that Rachel had been wanting to try, so we went there for dinner, and OMG SO GOOD! It's called My Most Favorite Food, and it's right off of Times Square. I had potato gnocchi in a red pepper sauce. :9 And then a cake with layers of chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and white chocolate mousse for dessert! T^T It's pretty reasonably priced, considering the location, too. Then we went to Muse for karaoke, but we didn't have nearly enough time there before I had to go back to Chinatown to catch my bus. And I had to sit between a guy that reeked of pot and an old lady that smelled like rancid Chinese food. D: And this guy was snoring really loudly, and I had to pee and the bus never stopped at McDonald's or anything!!

Anyway, it was lots of fun, and I survived. XD

*spazz spazz*

OK Go concert = EFFING AMAZING. So much.

The show started with a local band called Scamper. Their songs were all chord-based rock; nothing too original, but very very good. The next band was The Cinematics. Think Simple Minds meets Franz Ferdinand. They were incredible. Just wow. And the lead singer is hot times nine billion. He had this great '80s haircut, and looked like he just stepped out of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And the Scottish accent? Yeah. Rwar.

And then OK Go! >o< And I was way close up front! So not only was I out of the path of the speakers so my ears didn't get murdered, but I had an awesome view of everyone, especially Tim, Damian, Damian's legs, and Damian's crotch. X3 They had a big projection screen behind them which played different things during different songs, and it worked really well. Especially during "Invincible", when they showed not the video itself, but all the stuff blowing up in the video. During "Here It Goes Again", it was a trippy treadmill design. XD They were all dressed in the style of "Oh No" too; Damian had this really cool tie pin, and Andy was so cute in his suit, and Tim was pimpin' like always. About the third song in, Damian goes, "Okay, who in this audience is a good musician?" and I'm like, "Me! 8D" and he gives me this kind of suspicious look and then hands me a miniature tambourine with the OK Go logo on it!!!!!!!! They threw some more out into the audience, but mine is specialer because it was personal. ^o^ Plus the song they played then was "Don't Ask Me", which is one of my favorites. It kind of broke during "It's A Disaster", but somehow settled itself out. ^^;

About halfway through the show, they went into the middle of the audience and did really nice intimate versions of "A Million Ways" and "What To Do." Then they went back onstage for the rest of the concert, and they finished (way too soon!) with the "Million Ways" dance. The screen in the background showed the same shot of Damian's backyard from the video, which made it all that much cooler, but OMFG, seeing Tim and Damian dance like that only 5 feet in front of me. I thought I was going to faint from the sexiness. And the fangirls all screamed when Damian and Andy were dancing together. XDD

Then the sucky part! The band didn't come out afterwards. D: Which was odd, because they nearly always do. Me and a group of girls I kind of assimilated into waited until security kicked us out, and then we hung out at the merch table. I got the OK Go DVD, and the Cinematics single. Then we were hanging out some more, and who do I see at the coat check, but Scott, the hottie lead singer from The Cinematics! So I asked him to sign my single, which he did, and then he gave it to the drummer to sign, and as we were chatting, the bassist showed up, so he signed it too. I mentioned that I really wanted to have my tambourine signed by OK Go, so Scott (have I mentioned how incredbly hot he is?) took it backstage for me!!!! ^______^= Of course, it was during that time that The Cinematics' guitarist showed up, and Scott had my silver marker, so he had to sign my single in regular black ink. ^^U So even though I didn't get to see OK Go personally, I did get my tambourine autographed, plus the really really really really hot rock star guy was nice to me! *flails*

Then I got horribly lost on the way home, because it was dark and rainy and only my third time driving in Boston. ^^; Like that matters when I have total awesomeness to sustain me.

You should see the bruise on my thumb from that tambourine.... XD;;

Oh yeah, and go listen to The Cinematics at their website.

( for my own reference - song list )

OMG. I don't even know where to start. Concert was SO. FUCKING. GOOD. And OMG. Maybe I got good concert karma for snatching the PE'z setlist and giving it to the girl who was obviously a huge fan? Because vgfdsjhggrhjaieugbksrnz.

Okay. Since I didn't want to have to worry about missing the last train, I actually drove into the heart of Cambridge (where there is ample free parking after 5:00!) I left way late, but The Rodeo Carburettor had just started when I got there. They were good, but not amazing. I was able to get a pretty good spot for Stance Punks, who I had heard of, but not heard, so I was looking forward to them. They put on a really good show. The lead singer's got an amazing amount of energy. He kept knocking down the microphone stands because the stage was so small. XD And then the bassist ran into the middle of the audience for part of one of the songs, which happened to be exactly where I was standing. So that was pretty exciting. ^^

PE'z was definitely not what I had expected (having never heard of them before)... sort of a jazz/punk fusion quintet. It was interesting and a nice change, and they kept the moshers pretty quiet. As soon as they went off, I snuck right up next to the stage, which was when I snagged the setlist and gave it to the aforementioned fan, who was very appreciative.

And then~ >o< When Hosomi came out to help with the set-up, everyone cheered. And okay, in photos, he generally looks decent, but after seeing him in person I've got to say he's one of the most unphotogenic people in the world, because he is GORGEOUS. Anyway, the roadies put down the setlist, which we were all reading upside-down. There were lots of songs from all over on it, not just from Riot on the Grill, but the song I particularly wanted to hear wasn't on it, so I yelled "Mr. Feather!" And Hosomi turned around, and I was like "Play Mr. Feather!" And Hosomi smiled and was like "Well... we haven't practiced that one too much...." but OMG, he is SO nice and friendly!!! And he kept laughing because he was playing Pizza Man during the sound check and I kept on singing every time he stopped. They also played Undone (The Sweater Song) during the sound check, which was pretty cool. I can't remember exactly what the setlist was, but they played a few songs, and Hosomi really got a kick out of those of us in the front who knew all the words. I also spent a lot of time molesting their photographer who was standing right next to me, thanks to the moshers. But it was okay, because somehow after one of the big mosh surges, I ended up even closer to the center of the stage. ....By which I mean, only dokool was standing between me and the center monitor. And Hoshi was talking to the audience (he's so nice!), and asked if there was anything that anyone wanted them to play. And I yelled, "Mr. Feather!" And he laughed and was like, "Okay, Mr. Feather," and they had to do a little warming up for it, but when they got into it it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good, and the crowd really loved it. So I won't be surprised if that makes it on their regular setlist. ^__________^

Afterwards, I got everyone's autograph, and Hosomi was so friendly and chatted with me and some people that I met from ellegardenrocks, and took pictures with us. And he gives really good hugs! ♥ And kya, I am so hardcore in love with him now. >_>; I feel kind of bad for The Emeralds, because they seemed pretty good, but not many people were paying attention to them. ^^ I bought a couple of Stance Punks cds, and got all their signatures too. ^-^ And then it was just awesome, because members of Stance Punks and Ellegarden and The Emeralds hung around in the audience listening to TsuShiMaMiRe, who are a strange blend of cotton candy girl pop and hardcore rock. They're good, but not really my style. Hosomi and I talked a bit more (of course I couldn't think of a single thing to say) and when he had to leave he gave me another hug. ^__^ ♥ And in return for his autograph, I gave him a little sign that said "U.S. loves ELLEGARDEN" because I'm a dork. ^^U And I floated back to Sei-chan, and WTF is with the traffic signals around Harvard Square, anyway? And I chastised myself for not asking him to go for a drink or something, because me = the in love.

And now it is time for me to change out of my beer-smelly clothes and drool over my autographs go to bed.

Ho-lee.

Polysics live is effing amazing. Wow. You really haven't experienced Polysics at all until you've seen them play live. I missed hey willpower because on my way from Sasuga (Nekota Yonezou manga and FuruBa fanbook with sparkly stickers!!!!!) to Alewife, Sei-chan suddenly developed the power of teleportation. and within the space of half a second, I went from the middle of my google map to about three miles away, completely off the map and going the complete opposite direction. And I had no idea where the heck I was until I realized I was driving next to the Charles River and headed to places I do not want to be driving. ^^;;;; The houses in that part of Cambridge are really nice, though. Anyway, I missed his performance, but I did run into Will Schwartz after, and I was like "Hey, I just saw you in The Advocate!" and he was like "Wow, I really like your shirt!" XD Actually, I got many compliments on my shirt, since it features the cover art from Asian Kung-Fu Generation's Loop & Loop EP. I made friends that way, which was good, since pieces was too sick to go with me. ;_; The Talk was really good. The songs were really catchy and tight. Great bass and drums. After their set, I decided to buy a Polysics t-shirt because I am a t-shirt h0. And as I'm paying, I see someone dressed in red to my left, and my first thought (I'm such a dork) is "Oh, someone came in Polysics cosplay!" And I look over, and HOLY SHIT POLYSICS IS STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO ME. ALL OF THEM. I AM STANDING TWO FEET AWAY FROM HIRO. I was totally huaaaaakjhakgjhliurhhgvkdjfhg. And omg, all of them are just so adorable! >o< And the performance was just amazing. Hiro is such a spazz. XD And Kayo is so cute, deadpanning everything! I definitely want to go the concert in Wilkes-Barre at the end of the month if I can crash with Lauren for the weekend. Would go to Hartford tomorrow, but it's too far to drive back and still be conscious for work in the morning. Oh well, I'll just have to make do with my autographed 7" picture EP until then. ^__^

(It also bears mentioning that Hiro drank an entire draft beer in one gulp during one of the songs. XD)

Then on my way back to Alewife, I swung by Kotobukiya to stock up on Pocky, and I also got bubble tea, Japanese pastries, and red bean ice cream because red bean ice cream is yum! Doesn't go too well with coffee bubble tea, though.


Other news.... Last monday, I told my supervisor I wanted a raise. This past week, I've worked 47 hours, even though I was running a fever through Wednesday. No one else in my department worked even 40 hours. On Monday, I'm going to ask about the raise again, and if I don't get it, I'll likely be spending next year working in Japan. :x