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8/30/06 ~ Wednesday 6:15 pm

Status: shocked O.O ~ Listening to: me complaining ^^;

[ + ] Otakon con report

Pluto is not a planet anymore?!?

I don't check out the fandom/news for over a week...and this is what happens. o.O After much debate, it was announced that Pluto has been demoted as a planet and will be joining ranks with the other two asteriods, Ceres and Xena. I (true Sailor Moon fan as I am) am totally shocked. *stares in shock* Sailor Pluto, you will be dearly missed. *emo tear*

Inuyasha = antichrist?!?

Insanity roams the interwebs.... An otakin (fan that claims to be a fictional character in real life) claims to be Kagome and that Inuyasha is the 'Antichrist', signalling for the end of the world. Insanity featured here. It seems that those who think that she is wrong (*ahem* out of her mind and should see a mental health specialist) will face her wrath since she is planning to put 'spells' on everyone. O.o Well, I'm Kikyo and as an undead priestess, I'm much more powerful than she is. :P lol

I know I have been typing this alot...but I'm almost done with the pics. ^^; I'm in the last stages and hope to finish picking out the best by tonight. That is...if I ever finish my work so that I can actually go home.... ^^;

8/28/06 ~ Monday 2:15 am

Status: ultra sleepy -.-ZZZ ~ Listening to: Rebirth (Kumi ver.) - Alien 9 ED

[ + ] Otakon con report

Bronx zoo expedition

Picture this: you're in a dark room, nearly pitch black and you see a dim red light before you. You walk towards it expecting an adorable spiky creature the size of a rabbit. Instead, you're met up with a larger animal with spikes that suddenly speard upwards, away from the body. I leapt backwards and knocked into my friends behind me. ^^;

It's been over 10 years since I last ventured into Bronx zoo...until I returned this past saturday. It was an enjoyable experience, being able to relax and look/smell various animals as well as hang with some of my church friends. The scary creature I encounter (in paragraph one) is none other than the porcupine. There are small porcupines, but the ones we saw were huge. Like a large dog. What startled me was the long spikes that just stood up as I was approaching it. As said, I knocked into everyone behind me. *sings 'I'm a chicken....'*

We checked out the butterfly garden (where an orange butterfly decided to alight on my friend's shoulder. *click*) I also saw 4 penguins at the zoo. *happy sigh* Peacocks wandered freely throughout the zoo, though we weren't able to get any males to spread their tails. It was a pleasant day.... *yawn*

My church friend took pics so I'll share after I receive them ^^; Still sorting my con pics...I thank you for your patience. ^^;

8/25/06 ~ Friday 11:30 am

Status: sleepy -.-Z ~ Listening to: Anxiousness II - Loveless OST

[ + ] Otakon con report

*sees fav character* *screams*

Last night was as awesome as the convention's screening. My godsisters never really experienced being in the midst of fangirls. (They went to I-Con this year, but they were only spectators, not really in the crowd itself. Christine-nee-chan (FMA fan) was kinda shy when everyone screamed/squealed/clapped when Mustang, Ed, Al, etc...appeared on screen, but she soon joined in. Yay! Another full-fledged fangirl! ^.^ Before the movie, someone was giving out theater posters for the FMA movie if you answered a trivia question correctly. O.O I wanted one (so did my godsister) so I jumped at every question. No good...everyone was jumping too. ^^; They gave out some dbz and Voices of a Distant Star posters as well. Than the movie began.... *happy sigh*

Loveless drama cds

Loveless anime may have ended, but there are at least 3 sets of drama cds. O.o The first set are 'regular' drama cds (1-4), than manga version drama cds (1-5), followed by character drama cds with the fighter/sacrifice pairings (1-4). Two other drama cds include a memorial cd as well as an 'interview' by Yuiko (one of the characters) of the two main characters, Ritsuka and Soubi. Of course, I'm downloading all of them. ^-^ (The number of drama cds for each set may be wrong...I just recently found out about them. ^^;) *sigh* I'm in Loveless heaven.

8/24/06 ~ Thursday 10:30 am

Status: happy ~ Listening to: Michiyuki - Loveless ED

[ + ] Otakon con report

FMA movie premier: tonight!

*jumps around the office* I'm going with o-nee-sans to the movie premier tonight! I have my two plushies, pocket watch, bag, pins and shirt. ^-^ I also brought a manga with me to read in case we have to wait a long time. (YYH manga. ^-^) I'm going to be meeting them at the ImaginAsian theater at 5:30pm. The movie time is 7:15pm. Crazy, I know, I'm too excited to care. ^-^ I'm just happy that we got the tickets early. Yay!

Butterflies everwhere....

I'm so obsessed with Loveless. Besides watching my fav scenes repeatedly, I downloaded the 6 extras and the prologue which has interviews with the seiyuus and comments from the mangaka, Yun Kouga. *happy sigh* I still haven't gotten my necklace yet, but it should be soon (I hope.) I'm also planning to get blue or silver earrings like the ones Soubi has. I won't be getting the official ones since they're clip-ons. O.o lol Other Loveless stuff that I am considering are the butterfly chain (kinda like a belt) which is really pretty and of course the fasteners. *hits eBay*

pending plans

Pics should be up by the end of this week. I'm still sorting which is starting to be a big pain, but still entertaining enough. ^^; I'm practicing my singing so I hope to upload a passable mp3 after I'm done with the picture gallery. Other things to look forward to is a look-alike cosplay gallery where I bring out my fav. cosplay pics and show a side-by-side comparison with pics of the actual character. Just for fun.... ^.^ Between these plans and my latest love for Loveless you can see where my time goes.... *runs off to an appt*

8/21/06 ~ Monday 12:45 pm

Status: elated ~ Listening to: Tsuki no Curse - Loveless OP

[ + ] Otakon con report

Loveless is total love ^.^

I watched all of Loveless last night (late into the night) and it's become another of my fav. shonen ai series. Comprising of 12 episodes, its unfinished in terms of storyline, but I'm happy to hear that the manga is up to 6 vol. and is still continuing. ^-^ I'm definitely going to buy this manga. *adds to wishlist* There are too many questions left unanswered, but the anime left off at a calm moment. This is one of the few series that I'll accept the anime as is: ending without a real ending.

I have already downloaded the OST for the series (love the piano parts) and am looking to download the 'After Corner extras' shown after some episodes. (There are 5 in total and I have number 3 already. ^^;) Prior to watching the anime, I already bought the silver butterfly necklace, the 'icon' of the series. I saw it at Otakon for $15 but didn't buy it. Instead, I bought it off eBay for $8.50. ^-^ *waiting impatiently for it to arrive* Perhaps I should buy Soubi's butterfly earrings too...hm....

Still working on con pics. It'll be awesome once I'm done sorting them out. ^-^

8/20/06 ~ Sunday 5:45 pm

Status: duly pissed ~ Listening to: Chase - Xenosaga II OST

[ + ] Otakon con report

Mini-rant: male or female tickets?!?

I have a monthly LIRR ticket. My monthly transportation expenses are close to $300. Besides having that unhappy experience with the MTA officials (baka officials >.<) I discovered something new today: our monthly tickets are designated 'male' or 'female'. O.o Why? I'm guessing to limit the sharing of these tickets. I lent my guy friend the ticket so that he can ride back to the city yesterday and ride back today. Turns out, my ticket is for 'females' and that he can't use it. WTF? I didn't understand until I look at all my monthly tickets.... Guess what? An 'F' is punched out as opposed to the 'M' that is untouched. So it isn't the freakin' color-as my guy friend thought-becuase EVERYONE has the same color, or even the name that is printed on the ticket itself (not like anyone can tell the gender by the name,) but the stupid letter that is punched by the conductor.

*headdesk* I'm just pissed (at myself? my friend? the conductor?) because my friend was so honest. He actually waved the ticket at the conductor. I usually leave the ticket on my lap and even covered part of the ticket so that I can be sure others don't take it. Usually the conductors don't look that carefully and just make sure you have a ticket. Also, I pay sooo much for a ticket and I should be allowed to use it. Who knew that the tickets disignated for females or males?!? Oh well...I guess it's just for my female friends.... Baka company, making stupid restrictions while I spend so much already. (This is a pointless rant, but I'm still pissed off. >.<) *grumbles to self*

8/18/06 ~ Friday 2:05 pm

Status: confused ~ Listening to: eXdream - X-Japan

[ + ] Otakon con report

I have no life...

...beyond cosplay. ^^; It's only partially true, but it seems more real than ever since I've done nothing this week besides sorting pics and looking for hotel rooms. Gomen ne.... I don't have my Otakon gallery up yet. Cosplay.com got smart and finally posted an all-encompassing thread which everyone may link to their Otakon pics. Due to the convenience, I've been able to look at thousands upon thousands of pics. I'm not kidding. I've looked at over 7,000 pics. This is not surprising since we have over 22,000 ppl at the convention, majority with cameras, multiplied by 3 days.... O.O lol, I'm taking a break from looking at pics. I can't say when I will get them up, but I'm continuing to work on it. ^^;

FMA movie NY premier!

I'm going with my godsisters to go see the FMA movie in Manhattan on Thursay, 8/24! The premier showing is at 7:15pm at the ImaginAsian theater. Christine-nee-chan will be ordering the tickets early (today) and we'll get to the theater at 5:30pm on thursday to pick up the tickets and wait excitedly for the movie to start. Of course, I'm going to be bring my Ed and Al plushie and pocket watch. ^.^ Can'twaitcan'twaitcan'twait!

8/15/06 ~ Tuesday 4:30 pm

Status: busy being busy ~ Listening to: me typing

[ + ] Otakon con report (if you haven't read it yet. ^-^)

Pluto 'planet' on the path to deletion?

Pluto, the tiniest planet of our solar system has held it's title of 9th planet since it was discovered. It's title of 'planet' has always been controversial since it's size is no bigger than Earth's moon and it's orbit is more wild than any other celestial object on the belt. Recently, another object was discovered to be larger than Pluto and a conference is being held to discuss what to do about this new discovery of 'planetary' mass.... Confused? lol Just go read the article. The decision holds to name a new successor to the 9th planet, add a 10th planet and/or add dozens of new planets to our astronomy textbooks. (Am I glad I only needed to remember 'My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas' when I was in school. ^^;)

For Sailor Moon fanfiction writers, it could only mean several things: the death of Sailor Pluto, the addition of Sailor Xena (SM and Xena crossovers galore) and more senshis than our solar system can hold. (Wow! Sailor Stars is coming true! o.O *dies from corniness*)

Humor...internet language

With the progression of the internet, web-speak has flourished ranging from fanpoodle-ese, iming language, emoticons, l33t-speak and more. We should have a babelfish equivalent for Fangirlnese to English.... Wait, we do! lolz

1:35 pm ~ Status: food coma ~ Listening to: me typing

'bandwidth exceeded'

lol...my apologies to those that were trying to access my site the last 4 hrs. I was moving my pics to photobucket and knocked my site out unintentionally. ^^; Gomen.... No new pics yet, but I'm still working on them. Just a small note to explain the craziness this morning.... ^-^

1:15 am ~ Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: me typing

Pics, pics and more pics....

Wow, I haven't updated in a LONG while...if you count 5 days of silence long.... ^^; In either case, I have not been slacking off in work or play so you can be proud of that. *bows dramatically* ^-^; The only out of the ordinary thing I did these last few days was go to my co-worker's bbq on saturday. (It was that or going fishing with my church friends...but the boat fee was $40. Choices: $40 fishing expo or a free bbq.... ^-^) Oh yeah, we played MJ and I won a round. ^-^

I have about 1/3 pics of Otakon left to go through. I must've looked over 800 pics in the last week. O.o No joke, but it's worth it sorting out the best for my memories. ^-^ Hopefully, I'll get through this by Wednesday and have the pics up on the site before the end of the week.

Anime KTV

In between pics, looking for con hotels and planning my next cosplay (never to soon to plan, ^.^) I'm working on a mini project: singing. I admit that I don't sing very well (my voice cracks more than anything,) but I'll give it another try. Practice will help me train my voice...even by a little bit. ^-^ I know that I haven't been uploading mp3s lately, but I have a treat/punishment in store for you guys: I'm going to be uploading mp3s of me singing anime songs. ^.^; If you want, you can choose. The ones I'm planning to upload first are:

Inuyasha

Sainokoku Monogatari

Pokemon Movie: Jirachi Wish Maker

Ayashi no Ceres

RahXephon

I'm looking for instrumentals of these songs and more, but that seems to be difficult. I'll make do with what I can. ^.^ If you have any prefrence for any of the songs, just let me know and I'll upload it first. I'll do my best to give the song the honor it deserves. ^-^

*emo* -.-

I don't feel as down as last week. Even though it still feels weird, I'm getting used to the off feeling. I appreciate the compliments I received about my hair, but I do prefer having long hair. One of the guys in my church actually gave me my fav comment: "You look...weird." *grins* Yeah, I do look weird. I feel incredibly weird too. I'm happy for his honesty. Anyway, I'm not 'emoing' as much as before. No melodrama here...I have too much to think about...

...like people who is trying to push me out of my comfort zone. I've settled into a quiet pattern of doing what I want and arrogantly pushing other's opinions away. As much as I hate to admit it, the comments/critisms do chip away into my mind. When I get the chance, I'll think about it objectively. Until than, let me stay as the stubborn person as I am, enjoying life the way I want to. ^.^

8/10/06 ~ Thursday 10:25 pm

Status: melancholy ~ Listening to: silence

Digression

Lemme see...I don't think I've been this down in awhile. *thinks* Maybe I have, but I'll establish this as one of my 'low' days. Yes, the cause of my mood is my haircut...which although benefits others, have been the reason why I'm feeling down now. Some of yous have seen my cut...barely past my shoulder. I didn't want it this short...but the ladies at the salon convinced me that to be extra sure they would be able to use my hair is to give more. Afterall, if I'm cutting it for a wig, I might as well give as much as I'm willing...right? -.- This is the last time I'm doing this. This haircut is acceptable...as in I don't look like my aunt (like the last time I cut my hair. >.<) You can still tell it's me and I'm glad about that. Overall, I'm upset and I'll be for some time.

I'm still going through Otakon pics and will upload them when I'm done. After pics, I will reserve hotels for next year's conventions. It seems that AnimeNEXT and Otakon are within two weeks of each other. o.O I'm still going to both cons though...since they're both tons of fun. I will also be planning for I-Con (redoing on my spear...again. ^^;) Hopefully, my hair would have grown a reasonable amount for me to don my Asuca cosplay. (I'm thinking about competiting again now that it looks alot better.) If I think of any new cosplays, I'll let you know. (Thinking of short hair cosplays...maybe Rukia from Bleach? lol....)

8/9/06 ~ Wednesday 1:00 pm

Status: happy ~ Listening to: Sore ga, Aidesyou - Full Metal Panic! Fumofu OP

No more 'exceeding bandwidth'! (At least not for pics. ^-^)

I moved my cosplay pics to photobucket, so when I upload con pics, my website won't disappear. ^^; If you see any broken links, please let me know. Domo! ^.^

1:00 am ~ Status: tired ~ Listening to: me typing

Con report for Otakon 2006!

[ + ] Day 1: Friday, August 4 - Asuca Hayashi

[ + ] Day 2: Saturday, August 5 - Chun Hyang, Kikyo

[ + ] Day 3: Sunday, August 6 - kimono

Here is the con report, but there are very little pics. (The saturday portion is the one with the most pics...but only 3 each for friday and sunday. ^^;) There are little to no pics of me since I can't take pics of myself during the convention. I'm currently downloading Otakon pics from others so I'll upload if I see any of me. ^-^ The cosplay page for this convention hasn't been uploaded yet, but I should have it up by the end of the week.

Afterthoughts of the convention....

Some things I didn't go to that I usually attend: masquerade, dance/rave and yaoi panel. Some things I did that I don't usually do: start convos with other otakus and meet up with friends. This con was an unusual experience for me on many levels. Though I missed some major things, I can't say that I rather not meet up with the awesome people that I did. I realize one thing though...I need to sleep more. Although I had a really good schedule (balancing events, signings and food,) I still had a 5hr. sleeping average. I was fine at the con, but the no-sleeping status was hard to recover from. *learns lesson*

AnimeNEXT is scheduled already and I-con will be the first con of next year so I'll be planning for them. Also, I might have found my next cosplay venture...but I'll have to wait and see before I decide. ^.^

Plans for tomorrow....

Since it's after the last convention of the year, I decided to donate my hair. I will be going to Flushing for my haircut tomorrow...only 10-12in. this time. I will also be taking stuff around to you guys...like bringing the Yellow box back to Pearl-chan. ^-^ Ano...I'll be contacting yous tomorrow to make sure you'll be in a locatable position...but if not, I'll be dropping off stuff at your homes. (You have been forewarned. ^^;) *yawn* Oyasumi! -.-Z

8/3/06 ~ Thursday 1:10 pm

Status: happily busy ~ Listening to: Demashitta! Powerpuff Girls Z ED

Last minute packing

Outfits all clean but I still need to sew up one small thing. I'm going to be ironing my outfits there, but there will be no need to stay up all night working...like last time. ^^; I'm almost finished packing...just waiting for the outfits to dry so that I can place them in the suitcase. As promised, I have the info on my 3 cosplays. ^-^

Cosplay Info

Kikyo - Inuyasha

Easiest part: Buying sandals and socks. Everything else was just a bit difficult to buy and of course make. ^-^;

Most favorite part: When it was finished. The results were amazing. And...my most favorite part of the outfit itself would be the sleeves and the openings right off the shoulder. It is also my most comfortable costume to date. ^.^

Chun Hyang - Legend of Chun Hyang

hanbok

Easiest part: Sewing on the small decorations onto the outfit. The shoes were also surprisingly easy since I only had to cover a pair of slippers with the same cloth as my dress (so they would match.) Making shoes like that is a new experience for me. ^-^

Most favorite part: My belt is my fav. part of my outfit. When I spin, the long lengths attached to my waist make a really nice circle (though this isn't too understandable. ^^;)

Asuca Hayashi - Pokemon Edit: Music Video 'Chiisaki Mono'

obi

obi-jime

Easiest part: Designing the dress. Once I figured out how to add on the designs and shadow them, the task became more enjoyable (since I like to draw. ^^;)

Most favorite part: I love how the dress falls about me. It's sooo long and I like the sleeves (similar to Kikyo's) and the white shiny things I added everywhere.

Hallcosplay: AnimeNEXT 2006

As you know, I submitted by Asuca cosplay to the hallcosplay competition. Though I didn't win, I received compliments about my outfit. In order to compete, I had to fill out a form. Here is what I wrote.... (Ano...this is very long, don't read everything or you'll fall asleep. ^^;)

The original designer is Saori Kanda. For this cosplay, I worked out the pattern with my mother. The designs on the dress itself were modified pictures from Ms. Kanda's website and some original artwork created by my god-sister, Christine Yeh.

Asuca Hayashi wore this dress in her music video for Pokemon movie 6, Jirachi: The Wishmaker. However, very little pictures of the video or dress is available. After obtaining the DVD of the video, I was able to have a better view of the dress and it's design. This dress is a kimono styled gown with a very long obi. The pattern of the dress itself was not that difficult considering the simple layout of the kimono, particularly taking notes on the length of the sleeves and collar. The cotten fabric was chosen due to it's lightweight feel and the way it falls to the ground. The sleeves were designed from 3/4 circles, folded in half and sewn. Ridges were made by sewing thread along the length of the sleeve. Unlike a usual kimono, there is more of a v-neck shape in the front that opens to show a false other layer. The full skirt connects from the above the waistline (as a kimono would) that is longer in the back than the front. The most difficult part of the skirt would be the front where an opening is cut to stay true to the original design of Asuca's outfit. However, I must say the most difficult part of the making of this outfit is the individual designs on the dress itself. Artist/designer Saori Kanda created intricate designs all over the back, sleeves and obi. Since I was unable to duplicate these designs from watching the dvd itself, I enlisted the help of my godsister, Christine who is also an artist. We were able to choose several designs from Ms. Kanda's artwork that may be similar to the deisgns shown on the dvd, modifying them to place on the dress. Although imperfect, I felt by emulating Ms. Kanda's style, it would be the closest to the unique designs she originally made on the dress. The designs were modified by Photoshop, printed out with transfer paper and ironed onto the dress. Additional details were made on those designs by fabric paint and pencil.

Although some of the designs varied from the music video, I tried to keep it to as close to the original as possible. The back of the outfit is a conglomerate of designs originally created by Saori Kanda. Some details that were usually missed on the video is the two small designs at the bottom skirt. They are not seen at all in the music video itself, however, they can be seen for a brief second in the 'making of' after the video. (Japanese DVD single 'Chiisaki Mono' by Asuca Hayashi.)

Before I go....

I'm going to be leaving around 2pm. I probably won't be able to update until I come back on sunday.... Or maybe even monday (since I'll be dead tired by that time. ^-^) Being that this is my 3rd convention, I feel more prepared...even if I have to work on my outfit when I get there. (Iron and sewing kit all packed. ^^;) *tummy growls* Gonna eat, finish packing (for me and o-kaa-san) and hit the road! Ja!

8/1/06 ~ Tuesday 12:45 am

Status: sniffy ~ Listening to: me sneezing

Stuff completed....

Just gonna list some stuff since I need to get to bed. *points at time* This evening, I picked up my pocky stash as well as Pearl-chan's Yellow box that she wants Makoto Tateno-sensei to sign. I saved lots of time since P-chan and Alby-kun hit Pearl's house and got my stuff together. Domo arigato gozaimas, P-chan! Domo arigato gozaimas, Alby-kun! *bows* Since they got my stuff already, I even had time to eat dinner with them and Alby-kun even drove me to the train station...getting there on time without speeding. ^.^

I'm still getting my pics together for the Otakon guests to sign. Pearl-chan sent me alot of pics from the Cardcaptor Sakura movies since pics from the first movie are nearly non-existent. (I prefer her outfits from the second movie though. ^^;) Arigato, Pearl-chan! ^.^

I finished adding 'shadows' and 'shades' to my Asuca cosplay dress this past weekend. I still need to work on other stuff, but I should be done by tomorrow night. When I'm done, I'm going to be putting up a cosplay summary...should be in my next entry. It'll have info like time of completion, description of cosplay and other info that some you probably read before. Of course, my newest cosplay has info you haven't seen yet. ^-^

Convention schedule!

*jumps around the room* So happy that they finally posted the schedule. I printed it out (after enlarging it due to the super small font X.X) and started picking out the events I want to attend. Good thing Tateno-sensei's signing is in the morning. I can go get the stuff signed, than drop off the stuff in the hotel room. (Don't wanna carry a box around...might get it squsiehd and than Pearl-chan will kill me. ^^;) Actually, I might need to go buy more pocky since it seems that more guests are coming to Otakon. ^^; Next stop, Chinatown.... ^-^;