Wow. It's now been about two full weeks since I started this post.... I've been working in a store about 55 miles from my home store for those two weeks and my attitude has been all over the map while I've been down there five days a week. (And usually staying overnight for strings of four days at once).
[EDIT: 55 miles, not 5. I'm not THAT much of a whiney baby. >.>]

( First Impressions )
Luckily, that rant was cut short because I started watching Arashi no Shukudai-kun first and was too in love with MatsuJun's new hair to care. ( Additional Arashi Babble goes here. )

..... all that was two weeks ago. There's been a lot of development on the work front. I'm actually getting very involved in the store. I'm growing to love the team (more on that later), it's clear that they really have their hearts in the right place. We're slowly getting back on track with freight and recovery. There's a growing sense of ownership with me and the store. And... a lot of other things going on that I don't know how I feel about. I will be down there for at least one week, probably two.

I get the feeling that my home store crew figured out where I was in the last few days. I've gotten more calls for store transfers in two days than I did in the whole last week I was there. :P

This may be my last genuine day off for a while, so I've got to spam a little.

( First, for The Twins, a color personality test )

( Second, a quote for the people that preemptively decided they didn't care about the Beatles because of drugs )

Ok. So. I have fallen off the face of the internet. Partially because it's that time when work starts to want to take 12-hour days instead of 7 and nothing ever feels like it's done.

That's not really the reason though. See, the real issue is that I picked up the English version of The World Ends With You. And now I am an ADDICT. The plot and system were much easier to pick up without having to work to read the simple dialog, and if the game didn't /require/ shut down time and idle mingle time, then I would probably never put it down at all.

( Read more... )

Also also, am I the only one in the world who wants to try to cosplay some of the /other/ branded clothes instead of the regular outfits? I know it's totally not recognizable, but I'm way amused by the fact that I've had Joshua in "bondage pants" for... most of this week.

I just woke up from a rather disturbing dream.
And I feel like I need to write it down because otherwise I'll forget it and it was rather serious.

WARNING: Topic below include my family issues, religion, freedom of speech, and mermaids.

( Cut for length )

Anyway... just explaining it to Jess made me break down crying. Typing it out also did that again. The scariest part? It feels like it could happen. Too much of it re-tells very much like real life. From what I've heard from them recently, I've gotten the impression they really are pretty strongly atheistic. As a lapsed agnostic with leanings toward small-deity Paganism and/or monotheistic Buddhism... is pretty scary to think about from half your parental units. Maybe that's just me.

Yanagi Renji.
For my own future reference:

Fav. Classes：古典、国語、世界史　-　classic literature, japanese language, world history

Other Skills　(Besides teh tennis):
暗算 mental arithmatic
俳句 Haiku
純文学 'pure' literature
茶道、囲碁、将棋 (tea ceremony, go, shogi)

His hobby is reading/writing, again 'pure' literature.

Ideal date spot is the 文学資料館 or museum of literature.

In other words. Yes. He is that dorky and that old.

Also, he reads an average of 600 books PER YEAR. That's nearly 2 per DAY. ;_;
Why? No. Seriously. WHY?

First: Thank you /so/ much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday this weekend and yesterday. I am really lucky to have as many awesome friends as I do, and I really deeply appreciate you all. Thank you.

I am still very sick. I thought I was better until I was actually /at/ work and I started feeling like I was seriously crashing. Like I did on Saturday afternoon, but there wasn't a bed for me to go curl up in. I did make it through truck and I did get Apparel, Costume and Basic HD stocked before I really crashed and asked if I could go home.

When I got home I poked at the new free DLC for LBP, and redecorated my Pod. Then I set up the 360 for Netflix Streaming. Looking through their lists, I found guite a few shows that I had no interest in. A few that I might watch... and then.... I found out that they have This American Life. Both seasons. Streaming in HD.

I am the happiest nerdy NPR fangirl ever. Of all time.
So me and my blanket and bottle of orange juice are gonna curl up on the couch and watch as much TAL:TV as Netflix will let me. Which should be a lot. :D

Had a fabulous mini-party yesterday with my sister, her boyfriend, Jess, Corina, Chris, my dad and both my brothers! Could only have been more awesome if Mom had come by.

We had just enough food, lots of snacks and a lot of fun! Thank you /all/ for coming. I felt very loved. I didn't take any pictures while my living room was filled with Beatles Rock Band awesomeness (except for one bad cell-phone pic). I'm regretting that now, but ah well.

Also, learned again that /anyone/ can pick up and like Little Big Planet in virtually no time flat. And that Gavino is much, much, much better at Halo 3 than we are. XD

Now I'm curling up with some Katamari Damacy and orange juice until my mom calls me back. Hope everyone's weekend is going splendidly!

So... today I worked a 7 hour shift, downed 6 sudafed, spent most of my time at the cut table and... ate two bites of banana bread between 9 am and 7:30 PM. Not smart.
I did cook awesomely tasty corn stew with pork when I got home. (Japan and it's stew and curry roux-based recipies are the sum total of my cooking abilities.) While cooking I cranked up my ipod and got a lovely chain of songs going, including a fair amount of Arashi and some Aoyama Thelma, Amuro Namie and Kanon. I always need to remember that /nothing/ can turn my mood around like ten or twenty minutes in a room where I can sing my lungs out with impunity. Seriously. Try it sometime.

Then, I vegged out for a while with fic, until Jess got home. We cleaned up the apartment quite a bit, which makes me feel ten times better about the state it will be in for the weekend.

Also! Happy Birthdays to: Joe (9/24), Kirihara (9/25), Nikki (from work 9/27)!! We Libras are pretty awesome people, no? ^__^

Today was rather satisfying, even if I was exhausted for all of it.
I was into work early and we made some pretty massive progress on truck.
Did four interviews at work (actually conducted 3, Boss did the last), all of whom seem pretty competent interesting people. Excited for tomorrow's group and to get some new help in for us.

Before that, I even took a lunch and actually came home and cooked during it, even if it was just Ramen. Once home I picked up Jess's baking project (Banana bread) without burning anything AND cooked me dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow. ( Food/Bentou Rambles ensue )

I even did most of the dishes from all those cooking projects! This isn't a big deal or an achievement for real grown-ups, I know, but it's a big step for me. ^_^

On my list for tonight are a letter of recommendation for one of the girls at work and finalizing my letter of recommendation requests for JET (scary!). Though I may take a small break to play some video games. >.> We'll see.

I realize that I haven't posted since NDK, so... here's a brief summary.

We did compete at NDK, but only with Masaomi and Tomomori. I was not comfortable with the quality or presentation of Kiyomori and the judges were thrilled to let us drop a slot. We did not win any awards this year, but those who did were overall AMAZING and quite deserving. Competition was more fierce this year than any NDK I've ever attended, especially for the intermediates.

Coming home was relatively low key, we have some interesting skit ideas for the future, and I have gotten to spend a bit of time since getting home with my DS (TWEWE and Trauma Center) and with The Beatles: Rock Band. There was some drama with my work situation on Tuesday, but it all worked out in the end. Sorry to everyone who panicked over my well being.

This week at work went really well, lots accomplished, store looking clean and sharp, and the DTL visit on thursday felt more like 'Ok, keep up the good work' than any other I can remember. It's ramping up to crazy-season, so that's a good place to be in.

On my slate for this weekend: ( And also note to self... )

For better or for worse, it's con time! See everyone at NDK!

Kiyomori.... isn't really ready. Wearable, yes. Done to my standards? No way.

Done today on thursday:
-purple layer
-obi
-channels for wires/balls

Not done or non-functional:
-wings (the attachments are screwed up and the robe isn't stiff enough to hold them up...)
-shoes/boots ... I know how I want to do them, but the time and the frustration were getting to me so I did everything else first
-bags/purses of any kind... one of those things I wanted to do once I got Kiyomori done... which never happened.

Productive day was productive. (Wednesday) I could maybe be done now if monday and tuesday hadn't been what they were. Oh how I wish.

Progress today:
-white layer fully aseembled (including collar cover)
-purple layer body and neck band assembled - sleeves need lining or binding and then to be attached.
-fastener attached to yellow layer
(Damn, that looks a lot less impressive on paper - it means 3 out of 5 major Kiyomori pieces are done!)

Left for tomorrow (later today):
-Kiyomori obi
-wire channels sewn into yellow robe.
-attach snaps for wings to yellow robe (<-- do this before wires?)
-attach snaps for shoulders to Masaomi.
-boot covers/shoes for kiyomori
-Style Kiyomori wig, pack Tomomori wig
-ribbon ties onto Kiyomori's crown
-TIES FOR ALL
-return unused supplies.
-assemble emergency repair kit, extra fabrics, etc. Pack.
*Test fit all, discuss choreography, plan makeup, take a few photos?

........ organize and print progress materials... halfass scrapbook. FAST.


I'm starting to have this feeling... like... how much extra money would I have if I didn't sink all my money into this hobby? Really, is it even worth it? Is anyone besides me getting any enjoyment out of it at all? Would I really miss it if I went back to making one costume every year or two just for myself?

Didn't keep my phone on me, so missed out on about half of truck. :3 Looks much more managable than I was afraid of though. Also got my first friend on Cosplay Atrchive. The site is still incredibly difficult to use, but I did find the search photo feature that actually works!

The photo collections are mostly memberz only, but they're worth it. Like 'Zomi, Saku, Chibi-Hakuryu and seven of eight Hachiyou. Not the highest quality costumes, but still an awesome group. :D
Also, I may start stalking (or try to friend) their Saku. I just need to compose a message that doesn't sound wierd and update my profile to look less lame. After NDK. >.<

Progess since this morning
-washed some laundry!
-sleeves attached to Kiyomori's yellow robe
-made frogs/closures for Kiyomori's robe (need a color consult before attaching)

Now back off to work. Then two whole days to pull this nonsense together before con. o.o;;

In poking at my PS3 video stash, I decided (after two episodes of Maoh) to watch "Doukyuusei". If I thought "Taiikukan Baby" was depressing.... man was I not prepared for this. Both are very serious stories and very much better made than some of the BL movies I've seen. "Doukyuusei" isn't BL at all actually, but it's some of the same characters in two different versions of the same period of time... so, I feel like it was enough involved with "Taiikukan Baby" to count under the same production values.

Anyway,
Progress:
-Yellow Upper body interfaced
-Yellow neck band on
-Channels made to attach to lining of the Yellow (will go on by hand)
-Tomomori neck fasteners made and put on

Is the con really only two days away? ;_; I'm doomed.

Anyway. Sleep for a few hours now. Then go get Jess from the sleep study place and then run some laundry and work more on Kiyomori until it's time to go in to work for truck. THEN come back and close. And make things look pretty for The Boss. I hope. Why do I agree to these things? Seriously!

Post NDK, I need a serious icon overhaul. My current collection is just not really conducive to my current interests and moods.

Progress:
-Pants cut and sewn, just need elastic, ankle ties and bottom hems.
-White sleeves lined and finished. Need a body and neckband to attach to.
-Purple layer still in yardage
-Need white satin for boot covers and to fit them to some size 9 flipflops.
-found perfect wire for floating balls. need to set channels for wires into yellow lining.


Not /my/ progress, but the wings and crown are looking /gorgeous/. If we had psychic powers to levetate them, they would be almost done. XD

I love Project Runway.

Predictably, I picked up a shift on Tuesday (when I should already be on costume crunch PTO). Anyway. Very very tired now. Hopefully the motivation will come back tomorrow.

There is Drama in fandom again... though this time I just find it vaguely frustrating. For anyone concerned, there are articles here and the purpose statement of the... insigators? is here. On the one hand, reading their statement, I see what they are trying to do and why Fandom can't handle it. Fandom is intensely insular and defensive of it's community and culture. So despite their claims, I really don't feel fandom can or should be used to analyze the mind in the way that they are implying.

Anyway...
We got more coats of paint on Kiyomori's balls and jewels and wings today, and I survived work! Yay!
Tomorrow morning I sew and then I need to start working on the craftsmanship forms. They're due thursday.
Also, my mom cut about 7 inches off my hair. And I'm thinking about taking off more. This is an epic step forward!

Another eleven hour shift today. Shows what I get for making plans.

Yes those are three bicycles in the drive through at Taco Bell. Which could actually be kinda cool, until they took off before the window and left the poor girl making three drinks for no one. I'm hoping the one on the left was going for irony when he chose his shirt; the back reads "Service Integrity Excellence".
If you could read it, I might actually try to put it on failblog or something.


Pretty good progress today. Screen printing was working great, but I may actually have discovered the limits of repeated printing with a single screen. The wings are deffinitely wings though and it's very exciting. ^_^

I have a Japanese costume blog thing. Yez, that does make me a complete geek.
On Cosplay Archive
So far only a couple Saku and Kagetoki pics up and I'm still not done tagging them (read, don't know how to) but I'm working on it.

(Also, Tomomori and Masaomi ironically, one of the better pairs that I've seen. Oh to have such a tiny appropriately-shaped body to put my costumes on.)

er... work. Whatever you want to call it. With any luck, I won't see my boss again until after NDK. Luck because she's on PTO and needs a damn vacation. And then I go on PTO for the con, so. Yeah, anyway. Work was madness, as usual. I felt bad leaving, but me being over 40 hours this week won't help us anyway.

At home I finished the 'Chance' special. It was actually pretty cool. A little predictable, and classic J-dramay, but different in some good ways. Also Meisa is pretty and Maki is adorable. Of course, I followed that up with Episode 1 of Innocent Love. My heart is breaking already and I just know it's going to get worse and probably never get better. BUT.... it looks good, so I'll try to stick with it.
Or else I'll end up rewatching Love Shuffle. Maybe both.