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~ January ~ February ~ March ~ April ~ May ~ June ~ July ~ August ~
~ September ~ October ~ November ~ December ~ archive: 2007

12/31/07 ~ Monday 8:20 pm

Status: happy ~ Listening to: Mushishi on tv

BeBeautiful and Libre update

BeBeautiful finally spoke up at NYAF, though not officially. Yaoisuki reports in after someone spoke with a rep from CPM, BeBeautiful's main line. Seems that BeBeautiful did have the rights to continue publishing even with Biblos' 'demise'. (The author's words, not mine. I like the phrase though. ^^;) Even at CPM's request, Libre refused to legally discuss the matter with them. The rep "thinks that they are trying to deliberately harm the sales of the books until CPM's license expires so that they can license the series to another company." <.<; CPM is annoyed, the fans are annoyed and I'm shocked that Libre would do something like that. *sigh* Hope this blows over soon. *been hoping since last year* >.<

listed archive

I went through all of this year's posts and chose a bunch that I wanted to link to in my archive. I'm working on my 2008 page, so only the '07 blogs are available right now. Tomorrow, '06 and '07 will be there again...not that you would need to read my previous blogs.... ^.^ The archive itself might be revised as I look over my posts again. I wrote so much in the course of one year.... ^^;

Mitsuwa

I'm decidedly going to Mitsuwa tomorrow. ^.^

12/29/07 ~ Saturday 9:25 pm

Status: amused ~ Listening to: Mata Ashita! (Remix) - Ouran Highschool Host Club OST

when dubbers sang...

Anime News Network featured an article about anime songs that were dubbed, 'Buried Garbage - Dubbed Songs FROM HELL!!!' As the title implies, they listed 4 songs that were the worse of the lot. lol Ranma 1/2's Christmas song, 'Equal Romance' was listed. I didn't think it was that bad.

Anime info: why or why nots to dubbed songs

I'll take a moment to explain a bit of legal background to this issue.... *clears throat*

The songs featured in Japanese animes belong to the creators of the songs. The OPs and EDs are usually done by existing bands, like 'Ready Steady Go!' by L'arc for the opening of FMA. If a company wants to dub a song, they would need to get the permission from the Japanese bands as well as the anime companies involved. That was why 4Kids created new theme songs to the Pokemon series since getting permission would take too long. That is also why companies don't dub songs and just use the original Japanese. The dubbed opening to Magic Knight Rayearth is a prime example of them getting permission and dubbing the opening as such.

I know too much useless info. ^^;

back to the songs...

Good and bad songs appeared from dubs. The seemingly annoying but you-can't-totally-hate-it Sailor Moon theme song was a result of the initital ventures into that territory. Actually, many songs from the Sailor Moon series was actually pretty good. The VAs did not sing the songs. 'Oh Starry Night' was an interesting rendition of 'Eien no Melody'. The song 'My Only Love' that was made to replace another song was very beautiful and became a fav among fans. 'Talent for Love' from the Tenchi Muyo series is another good dubbed song. (Pearl-chan and P-chan, remember when we used to...sing? ^^;) Those were the songs that actually made sense. The dubbed songs from Ranma 1/2 weren't that bad...though it was clear that harmony lessons are still needed. ^.^ Trying to figure out the lyrics for the song 'Equal Romance' was difficult...I'm still hearing 'conserve the trees' when girl Ranma was singing. ^^;

For the record, I like the English OPs and EDs for Rayearth. Sandy Fox had a good tone that mirrored the Japanese version. As for bad song dubs...'Mr. Dandy' from Bubblegum Crisis will forever give me nightmares due to the pic that accompanied the song. I will blame ANN for my nightmares. ^^;

1:15 am ~ Status: satisfied

didn't we do this last week?

Day off and I headed into the city again.... First I needed to run some errands, one of which was go to Borders to buy Ai no Kusabi for Pearl-chan. ^-^ After all my errands were completed, I went to Elizabeth Center to check out stuff...and hopefully convince P-chan to come out. Well, P-chan didn't come out but iceblueaya and crew found me (minus animemiz who was waiting for us at Bryant Park Kino. ^^;) We went around EC for awhile before heading to Commerce Bank aka. Disney World of banks (ask. Jilly's crew for reasons why.)

We hit Rockafeller Kino. and stayed until the lights were blinking (to show they were closing.) We didn't leave right away, taking in the last sights and feel of the store since it will be the last time we are there. *moment of silence* The music going through the store had stopped and the lights were all off (except for those in the front) before the cashiers finally waved us out. ^^; Sayonara, Kinokuniya...Youka Nitta-sensei was there, the first mangaka I ever met when I had my manga signed for the first time.

We met up with animemiz at the other Kino. where I had a salad dinner. Yummy.... We headed to Asahiya next and met up with another friend. I found a manga by Shinjo Mayu-sensei that was BL.... O.O I didn't know she started drawing BL.... (Pearl-chan later affirmed that many shoujo mangaka started drawing BL...Watase Yuu-sensei being one of them. Sugoi!)

Ouran has a third OST!?! Yay!

Some of the crew headed to Borders as I went to Flushing to meet up with okaasan. We stopped by Pearl-chan's house so I can bring her the stuff that she ordered. That was when Pearl-chan showed me something I never thought I'll see...a Ouran Highschool Host Club CD with Tamaki's piano piece! O.O It was the 3rd soundtrack with the last episode waltz and the music from the special ending with a remix of the song 'Mata Ashita!' O.O Since I couldn't rip the songs from the cd, I promised to find it when I get home...and I did. Yay! *dances around the room* Arigato, Pearl-chan for showing me the cd!

12/27/07 ~ Thursday 2:05 pm

Status: amused ~ Listening to: office noise

another round of Chinatown ^.^

lol I rhymed! *headdesk*

After work last night, I met up with P-chan at Chinatown. Of course, as everyone can figure out, the purpose was to give her her Christmas present. However, P-chan ended up treating me to dinner and dessert. ^^; Arigto gozaimas, P-chan! Truly, you treat me too well.... Dinner was nearby her grandmother's place and dessert was Eileen's cheesecake. Well, I got tiramisu and she got the oreo cheesecake. Note to self: tiramisu was okay but the cheesecake is the best. Will order the cheesecake next time.... It started raining on the way back so we stopped by her grandmother's place to get umbrellas before she walked me to the subway. *hugs*

I don't know if she opened her present yet, but I hope she likes it! ^.^

Another exchange of gifts

On the way home from Flushing, I dropped by Jenn-chan's house to give her her present. She also gave me something...Godiva cookies and a $$ Visa giftcard! O.O We promised that we'll take each other out to dinner. lol Perhaps I'll use my giftcard then.... Arigato, Jenn-chan! *starts dreaming of potential manga and anime purchases*

Kowai! (trans. scary!) *hides*

My Japanese co-worker asked her mother to send her one of the latest trends in gadgets in Japan: a face bank. Yes, it is a squarish looking box with a face on it that has a mouth where the money goes. It has a sensor so that by just waving your hand, the mouth opens and closes, slowly swallowing any coins you happen to feed it. ^.^ It is cute...in a creepy sort of way. my co-worker has the gray one.

12/25/07 ~ Tuesday 10:35 am

Status: peaceful ~ Listening to: Sanctuary - Utada Hikaru

another quiet day

140 and I woke in the afternoon and had a late breakfast/lunch while discussing the merits of para para and the fastest way to get into Flushing. ^-^ After seeing her off (okaasan drove her to the train station,) I cleaned up and took a nap. *yawn* Still can use more sleep....

more calendar updates

The BL calendars are coming along quite nicely, though it is difficult to find a good sakura pic. *frowns* If you guys have any cute BL couple pics that have sakura blossoms, please share them with me. I need it for my April month since April is hanami watching time. ^.^

For the male/female couple calendar, I have one update for June. I'll try to be more creative. With my other months...I know my PS skills need much improvement. (Hmm...this sounds familiar. ^^;)

1:05 am ~ Status: hyper ~ Listening to: me typing

Ouran in one day

140 and I woke at 11am and started watching Ouran Highschool Host Club over congee breakfast. After a few episodes, we took a break and walked to Target to buy tons of snacks. Of course, ice cream was one of our top choice purchases. ^-^ We actually finished the series by 8pm, though we skipped a few episodes: Kasanoda-centric episodes, the Zuka club episodes and the Halloween episode. Of course, we'll come to them later on. ^-^

Kawaii!

At 12am, 140 and I proceeded to unwrapped our presents. 140 gave me a penguin statue with a card around his neck (she mentioned that it was specifically for my cubicle so that is where it will go ^.^) and a deck of cards that are really $10 gift certificates for restaurants in the city. 52 gift certificates = eating out at least once a week for the entire year! O.O Pearl-chan gave me 'X-Kai' vol. 1 and Gravitation Lyrics of Love OVA dvd. Yay! I have the complete Gravitation anime! ^.^ larkspur's gift totally surprised me. Besides the silver cross necklace, she got me Rukia's butterfly broach from Bleach! It's so hard to find...and she got it! *hugs* Arigato, minna-san!

12/24/07 ~ Monday 11:25 am

Status: happy ~ Listening to: Can You Keep A Secret - Utada Hikaru

Happy Holidays, minna-san!

12/23/07 ~ Sunday 1:10 am

Status: calm ~ Listening to: About You - Ayumi Hamasaki

bloodtype revealed

Sounds incredibly irrelevent and silly, but I finally found out my bloodtype: A+. Updated my bio to include that info. ^^;

Holiday plans

140 is coming from the city as I type to spend Christmas Eve with me. I have her gift all out, though it isn't one of the things on her list. I'm happy to say that much of the gifts that were blocking my bed are with whomever I gave them to. ^-^ I will be seeing my godsisters after the holidays so our gift exchange will occur at that time.

Hello Kitty fans rejoice!

KittyCon 2008 is a Hello Kitty convention that will take place Nov. 1-2, the 1st being Hello Kitty's b-day. The location is Raleigh, North Carolina. So far, the events seem to be seminars, arts and carfts and not much else. I will see how the events are and if there are any guests. Christine-neechan is thinking of going, but I'm wary of the cost due to my anime conventions. ^^; Sewing my next cosplay will not come cheap either....

1:10 am ~ Status: creative ~ Listening to: silence

Yaoi calendars update!

As promised, I have started putting together my calendars for 2008. I decided to forgo the yuri theme since the pics I have found (which weren't many) were all very H: the usual big boobs, skimpy miniskirts and gropage. Not worksafe at all. Can't show these to my co-workers.... *blush* Anyway, the few that I have found which are acceptable are not ultra pretty so I give up on the yuri theme. Gomen to the guys (who don't read my blog) whom I have promised to make a yuri calendar for. *bows* ^^;

Explanations aside, I have uploaded 3 months for the BL theme and 1 month for the M/F couples theme. Will upload as I make them. Of course, January is up already so it won't be missing from next year. ^-^ Just go to the viable page to check them out. Info on words, characters and series will be on the respective calendar pages. I moved the info for this year's calendar as well as the two 2008 Inuyasha calendars to their pages as well. Hope you like them!

12/22/07 ~ Saturday 1:40 am

Status: tired ~ Listening to: silence

Ritsuka in the city!

After I left the office, I went to Borders to pick up a gift. Then I headed to Kinokuniya (Bryant Park branch.) Pearl-chan and P-chan met me there. Pearl-chan presented us with holiday gifts. (FYI, throughout the evening, P-chan kept on setting off the door alarms at the stores due to Pearl-chan's gift. We're assuming that of course.... ^^;) They helped me take some pics by Takehiko-sensei's mural on the 2nd floor.

I like the second pic: it's like saying 'I'm a man too!'. ^.^ Yes, I still need to work on the 'not smiling but staying cute' expression. The third pic is actually another pic that Takehiko-sensei drew, which I didn't see until today. You can see the picture when you're facing the escalator at the very top. Pearl-chan brought me pad thai noodles from her restaurant so we went to the cafe for tea and sandwiches...while I had tea and pad thai. ^-^ Oishi! Arigato, Pearl-chan!

Animemiz found us (we're always meeting at Kinokuniya!) and sat down with a hot caramel latte. Looked very sweet...and Animemiz thought so too. ^^; We all headed to the basement level of the store to look at stationary products and I bought part 2 of the gift. Some of Animemiz's crew arrived. The rest of the crew (Iceblueaya, Jilly, etc...) was on the 2nd fl...at the cafe of course. We greeted the rest of the crew and showed off my ears and tail. (Animemiz recognized my character even without my ears. ^^V)

Pearl-chan, P-chan and I walked around Bryant Park shopping area and checked out the crowded rink (with $10 rental fee) before we decided to head to the Kinokuniya at Rockafeller center. (Pearl-chan had already gone there today and bought a really nice bag, but that doesn't mean we can't go again! Onward to manga sale! ^-^) Of course, coming to the tree and lights, the touristy thing to do is to take pictures. As Ritsuka, I could do no less. More memories! ^-^

Ano, the figure you sorta see in the middle is me. ^^; I put back on my ears just for that moment. A Hello Kitty walked by us, but I couldn't stop it in time for a pic. Anyway, P-chan mentioned a moment later that taking a pic with Hello Kitty (or any of the characters near Rockafeller center) costs money. Hm...would anyone want to pay to take a pic with Ritsuka? lol The Nintendo store was filled with people playing Wiis and DSs. P-chan and I played a bit of baseball on the wii...not too well. ^^; Pearl-chan collected research on the games she is thinking to buy for the brand new Wii I was able to help order for her. (Yay for internet at work!) Unfortunately, Kinokuniya was closed by the time we arrived so we walked back down to Bryant Park and onward to the Empire State Building to look for food that Pearl-chan would eat. ^^;

The meal of the evening was Korean and I ordered my usual tofu soup with rice while Pearl-chan and P-chan ordered chicken hibachi and salmon. The salmon was yummy...especially in the orangy sweet sauce that came with the glutinous-rice-roll-thingee. (I don't know what it was called, but it was yummy too! ^^;) After the meal, we headed to the nearby Korean bakery to pick up dessert for Pearl-chan...since she has a separate stomach for dessert (like I do for ice cream. ^-^)

We stopped by Borders at Penn station to look for the Ai no Kusabi novel that was listed online as might being there. Alas, we couldn't find the book so Pearl-chan bought another yaoi instead. ^-^ P-chan dropped us off at the LIRR train to Flushing to meet up with okaasan. On the way home, we first headed to Alby-kun's house (who was sick >.<) to drop off his Christmas gift. We dropped off Pearl-chan at her house after presenting her with her gifts...one of the heaviest I wrapped this year. ^^; I still have more gifts to give...but some will have to wait until after Christmas.

12/21/07 ~ Friday 3:30 pm

Status: hyper ~ Listening to: Taiyou no Tomo ni - Ritsuka (Loveless)

I have a supoena!

My supoena is for 1/7 and 1/8. I can go to work, they'll just call me when they need me. ^-^ Sugoi...I never seen a supoena before...and my first one! I never even seen the ones they give to my clients. ^^;

And Ritsuka appears...

Today is my day off, but I decided to come to the office. *points at previous post* After finishing some things, I went into the little meeting room...and came out as Ritsuka! ^-^ Of course, my co-workers all laughed and a few tried to pull on my tail. As mentioned before, I'm taking off my ears when I'm walking around on the streets, but I'll have them on when I'm at Kinokuniya.

I'll be leaving the office soon for the Kinokuniya at Bryant Park. Pearl-chan is first heading to the Kinokuniya branch at Rockafeller to pick up a few sale items. I might head to Borders first to pick up a last minute Christmas gift. P-chan is 'lost' in Chinatown somewhere. Somehow, the 3 of us will meet up. ^^;

12:25 am ~ Status: embarrassed

over sushi and ice cream

I just got home from our center's party at a Japanese karaoke place in Chinatown, Biny. Our food for the evening was TONS of sushi of various kinds, tempura and other usual fried Japanese goodies. (All fried since Chinese ppl ran the place and fried foods is the fifth food group of a Chinese diet. ^^;) They also had green tea ice cream which I happily ordered with my second drink ticket. (We were given two so we can order drinks with-we had unlimited water-so I used my second ticket for ice cream. They said it was okay. ^-^)

My songs for the evening started with 'Eyes on Me' by Faye Wong, then went on to 'Every Heart' by Boa, 'First Love' and 'Automatic' by Utada Hikaru. I wanted to sing 'Rooftop' in Chinese, but the music was looping so I couldn't. >.< I also wanted to sing 'Seishun Amigo' but they didn't have that either. I know my singing is mediocre and my pronunciation was horrid so I hope my Japanese co-workers won't kill me tomorrow.... ^^;

I have been charged more then ever by my co-workers to learn hirigana. Romaji is not the way to sing karaoke. I know, I know.... ^^;

Otanjoubi omedatou, Ritsuka!

In honor of his b-day, I will cosplay him in public. ^-^ After I meet with the DA, I will head to my office for some catch-up work (yes, I'm a workaholic) and put on my wig, ears and tail there. I'll meet up with Pearl-chan and P-chan afterwards for some fun. We're probably going to Kinokuniya again. Which one? I don't know...maybe both? lol Ritsuka in the city! *cheers*

Too bad I don't have a Soubi-kun with me. *cries*

12/19/07 ~ Wednesday 2:10 am

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: silence

back from the concert

I went to Carnegie Hall for my friend's concert. He is a tenor in the Oratorio Society (choir) in their performance of Handel's 'Messiah'. It was an enjoyable concert and I was totally impressed with the contratenor, a male who can sing 2-3 octaves higher then the usual soprano. o.O After the concert, I caught a late train home. Thx to Pearl-chan for keeping me awake so I don't miss my stop. ^.^

12/18/07 ~ Tuesday 2:00 pm

Status: busy ~ Listening to: office noise

It's doujinshi...only not really! >.<

Lost+Brain is a new manga series that features a genius high school student that kill criminals with hypnosis. A genius detective named 'M' investigates the case and drama ensues. O.o This is not Death Note the sequel...or prequel or any part of the actual series. This is an actual manga that a mangaka wrote while stating it was 'inspired by Death Note.' Can you say lawsuit? Even in Japan, land of fanmade goodies, this will not stand. There is a consensus in the comments that the main character "looks like the love child of Light and Near." The detective dresses like Mello and apparently likes kittens. His parents? Might as well be L and perhaps Kanda (D.Grayman) from the way he looks. ^.^ *waits for Shonen Jump to sue*

2:10 am ~ Status: blank ~ Listening to: silence

Updating in the middle of the night

Acparadise uploaded the Anime Festival masquerade vids on youtube, so I updated all the masquerade links to their links...since their vids are clearer and more complete then others. ^^; I also took away some skits that I don't feel like having in my report. My favs are still there of course.

I finally uploaded my Ritsuka pics to my cosplay.com account. I really want to do a Ritsuka photoshoot...but I don't know when I'll do it or who will be my photographer. <.<;

Me on youtube!

Youkurokage2007 (cosplaying as Hiei at the con) was the one who asked me to shoot an arrow. You can see the lame shot here at timestamp 2:40. ^^; Also, a surprise shot of me when he was interviewing Haruhi (aka. Soubi) here at timestamp 3:19. I didn't even know they were there.... ^^;

12/17/07 ~ Monday 10:10 pm

Status: pissed off ~ Listening to: Starless Night - Nana

I'm so behind this year....

First it was my delay in reserving hotel for Otakon that I have pay $$$ more than last year for the Sheraton Inner Harbor. Now, it is another delay that I'm not able to book my usual hotel for AnimeNEXT. Courtyard by Marriot is all booked so I reserved Hyatt Place Meadowlands. The price for all hotels have been pricy, but I'm extra pissed at myself since the delays were all due to me not avidly checking on these things. >.< *headdesk*

Of course I got the early pre-reg price for AnimeNEXT. Otakon hasn't started their pre-reg yet. I'm also an idiot for not wanting to share a room, which is another reason why I stomach all the costs for the hotel. *unhappy sigh*

12/15/07 ~ Saturday 10:25 pm

Status: happy ~ Listening to: my typing

Through Manhattan I go...

This year's holiday party (for clients) went through pretty smoothly. There was so much food and ice cream among the different desserts. As soon as the ice cream came out, everyone came by (where I was helping with Santa pics) and was telling me to get some. (My love for ice cream is no secret. Even the executive director knows of my passion for the dessert. ^-^) Of course, I waited until someone was able to take over before I left my post to get some. Oishi! I had two large cupfuls. *grins* My Japanese co-worker made inari sushi which was yummy. I was able to take a small container of it home. I ate most of it before I got home though. ^^;

After the party, I headed to Borders and picked up FMA's 5th novel, 'The Ties That Binds'. (Does every series in existence have to have that title on one of their books? <.<) Yay for 30% coupon...or maybe not. I headed to Rockafeller's Kinokuniya which was having a 50% sale, and found the book again. I ended up buying another copy. 50% is better than %30. ^^; I'll be returning the first copy to Borders on monday. Even with such an awesome sale, I didn't buy anything else. Saving money is good always a good idea.... ^^; I'll probably end up buying something there before the store completely closes down.

Going to criminal court...not for clients.

Please recall that I got punched in the face by a bastard in early June of this year. That bastard will be put on trial in early January of next year. (Yes, it takes that long to actually start a case to persecute someone. ^^;) The DA will meet with me this Friday (my day off and I still have to run around >.<) to go over the case. I already e-mailed him pictures of the bruises on my face. (I look REALLY bad in those pics...though I suppose that will help the case. ^^;) To make it official, I will receive a supoena from the court which basically states that I have to appear. I'm a willing witness, I don't mind.

On another note...

My book 'The Virtu' by Sarah Monette arrived! Since it's a paperback, it's so much smaller then the first book 'The Melusine'. I can't wait to read it...but I won't start until after my calendars are done. Now that the convention and the Secret Santa events are over, I can finally concentrate on calendars. Of course, if it starts snowing again, I'll be taking a break to take pics outside as Ritsuka.... I'll just be saving 'The Virtu' for later. ^.^ The adventures of the gay wizard continues! (FYI, his lover is no longer Shannon, which is fine by me. Shannon was very stuck up. ^.^)

12/14/07 ~ Friday 10:00 pm

Status: accomplished ~ Listening to: Comatose - Skillet

More Domo-kun pics!

Since Darren-kun uploaded his pics from the con, I added them to my gallery. If you haven't found them yet, all the con pics (Loveless and Ouran photoshoots included) are in the viable section. Natsuo (the photographer of the Loveless shoot contacted me saying that there were some pretty cute pics. Yay! I can't wait. *dances around the room*

plans and new book

This past week was the Secret Santa activity at my office (headed by me, as usual. ^-^) Besides the usual Japanese snacks and instant noodles, I got the book 'Everybody Cosplay!'. o.O Me cosplaying is no secret to my co-workers (though most of them have no idea what I'm talking about. ^^;) But the book features photos and costumes by Jan Kurotaki. Sugoi! This will definitely inspire me to become a better cosplayer. ^.^

The center's annual holiday party (for clients) is tomorrow so I'll be heading to the city in the morning. Our own holiday party (for staff) will be next thursday, held at a Japanese karaoke. My Japanese co-workers want me to sing. I better start practicing.... ^^;

12/13/07 ~ Thursday 11:20 am

Status: creative ~ Listening to: silence

Pics are up! (at least some of them)

I'm at home today and not the office for many reasons. Anyway, I'm still working from my laptop and cell which is most important. ^^;

Picture-wise, I uploaded choice pics from the con, concentrating on the best cosplays IMO. There will be more pics for the Loveless category, just that I haven't gotten them yet. ^.^ There are lots of pics for the Ouran Highschool Host Club category since I helped take some pics in this outside photoshoot. Most of the Ouran pics were taken by the wonderful cosplay photographer, Lou. P from Refractor Productions. And the cosplays are awesome. ^-^

Domo-kun's interview on ANN!

I found Domo-kun's interview on animenewsnetwork. She shows up at time stamp 15:23. ^-^ Kittens...yummy.... Also, here is a clip that Sandy-chan took during Domo-kun's interview with G4 posted to youtube. I'll link any others that I find. ^.^

12/12/07 ~ Wednesday 3:55 am

Status: restless ~ Listening to: Earth - Unicorn Table

con report updates

Why am I up at this time? I just updated the con report with some youtube links of the masquerade. The masquerade was on Friday so the links will be on that page. I'm still browsing pics. I'm downloading sparingly since I don't want to go through 5000+ pics again. (Even though with such a small con, I wouldn't be in danger of doing that anyway. ^^;)

Something new I found out was that on Sunday at 4:30pm, CPM booth had a mob since they announced that all merchandise at their booth was free. All you needed was a CPM red bag and you can grab whatever you can fit into the bag. O.O Wow...I was probably still wandering around at that time and missed the scene. lol Yes, it was an unprecidented event and I don't know if they'll do it again. The idea was that they get rid of the stuff, they wouldn't need to bring it back. ^^; However, if they did this at Otakon, I hope the staff will have medics on standby: the crowds there are HUGE.

12/11/07 ~ Tuesday 12:30 am

Status: exhausted ~ Listening to: Fly Away - Unicorn Table

post-con exhaustion

I barely survived not sleeping through both of my appts today. ^^; I plan to have a Kikyo and Domo-kun gallery dedicated to me and Diana-chan. Also, a Loveless gallery dedicated to me and Soubi. ^.^ But first, I will search for everything I mentioned in the previous post.

This post is mainly to share one of my fav songs from the Unicorn Table concert on Saturday. And to record how tired I am. ^^; Oyasumi!

12/10/07 ~ Monday 5:25 am

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: silence

Con report for NY Anime Festival 2007!

[ + ] Day 1: Friday, Dec. 7 - Aoyagi Ritsuka

[ + ] Day 2: Saturday, Dec. 8 - Kikyo

[ + ] Day 3: Sunday, Dec. 9 - Aoyagi Ritsuka

I really like not having to wait in lines EVER and I spent most of my time with new friends. I truly enjoyed those moments. ^.^ I was also interviewed at least 3 times and I hope to track down those interviews (if they deemed it worthy enough to unleash it to the public. ^^;) Overall, this seems like my first really cosplay-centric con. My first crossplay and I truly enjoyed it.

I'm writing this early in the morning, so there will be mistakes. I will also add youtube clips and links as I find them. The cosplay gallery may or may not be uploaded since there were not that many totally awesome cosplays. I may just add more pics to the con report. As for the photoshoots, I will probably put them in another gallery, not just a general one. So, future additions will include, youtube links about the masquerade, amv links and cosplay pics. Just the usual. ^.^ Afterwards, I will continue on my calendars. Of course, Christmas shopping is also on my list. Did I tell you that I was busy? <.<;

I still give myself a B+ for my Ritsuka cosplay. I wil strive to become an even cuter Ritsuka!

12/6/07 ~ Thursday 3:20 pm

Status: super busy ~ Listening to: me typing quickly

last minute prep

I'm in a hurry again. ^^; Will do the last of the ironing at the place I'm staying at tonight. Will also get the number of the car service okaasan once she is back from where she is right now. A kind of incident occured this afternoon (nothing to do with me) but I will not type about it until next week when I'm back. Not going to take my laptop with me so no access to internet. Call me if you're looking for me. ^-^ I'm finishing packing now and will catch the next train out.

Ritsuka - Loveless

12/5/07 ~ Wednesday 10:45 pm

Status: tired ~ Listening to: Chikai - Hirahara Ayaka

oishi!

P-chan, if that cheesecake was considered 'small', how big does it have to be for you to consider it 'big'? I opened the cake to share this afternoon and was like. O.O It was large. And the taste was so yummy. *happy sigh*

just one more day of prep

Went to check out okaasan's friend's place. Brought flowers and red envelope as asked. I'm also taking a day off tomorrow so that I can take my time with packing and bringing everything into the city. Also, I'm super tired since I stayed up all night working on someone's Christmas present. Of course, I won't say whose. ^-^

Looking forward to seeing Diana-chan this weekend, meeting the VA for Maes Hughes (FMA,) speaking with Kobun Shizuno-san, checking out the Drama Queen yaoi panel and cosplaying Ritsuka. I'm taking it easy at this con and hoping to pick up some small stuff. I'm kinda over my budget. ^^;

1:15 am ~ Status: touched

over boiling water

The meal of the evening was shabu-shabu. Pearl-chan arrived a bit after we started cooking. She ordered 'ma la' broth which is super spicy. O.O I would order it, but it would take me a long time to finish eating. ^-^ Oishi! It has been awhile since I ate hotpot with my co-workers. We spend alot of time eating each other's food. What surprised me was that I found out Alby-kun was coming with P-chan. O.o I thought that he'll be too far away to come.... Yay! *danced around the restaurant*

Alby-kun and P-chan arrived halfway through our meal. Since our table was full, they had a table to themselves. ^-^ Alby-kun brought me flowers! 25 roses. O.O *bask in the scent of roses* You're awesome, Alby-kun! ^.^ What's more, P-chan surprised me with Eileen's cheesecake! Sugoi! *glomps P-chan* I really wanted to share the cheesecake with them, but we didn't get the chance.

Everyone was introduced and I basked in the moment that amity and co. got to meet my co-workers and vice versa. *grins* Near the end of the meal, all of a sudden the lights turned off. (It happened just when I was jumping to the other table. I think I startled one of my co-workers. Gomen ne.... ^^;) They brought out an ice cream cake! My co-workers spent a good two weeks telling me that ice cream would be too hard to get and they would be getting me sponge cake with a scoop of ice cream on top. ^^; At the end, it was a heart shaped cake from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Yummy lychee flavor on top and taro flavor on the bottom. One of my co-workers stated that if it was her picking up the cake, she would have chosen wasabi and ginger. O.o lol

At the end, Alby-kun drove Pearl-chan and P-chan home while I took the subway with my co-workers. Of course, not before we had a pic in front of the restaurant. Not Quickly. It was decided in the afternoon to go to 'You Choose'.

details to remember

The light in the back shone red. I turned it off with the restaurant's permission. ^.^ Since we were the only customers there, the staff kept on asking us if we wanted more broth or if we wanted to order (at the beginning.) Since we were the only ones there, that was also why they could turn off the lights. ^.^ The bubble tea was lacking. Passion fruit was really green. Strawberry looked like Pepto Bismol, though the taro looked alright. The restaurant was pretty clean, though my co-workers and I noted the absent tofu from our initial hotpot plate. Next time, we're bringing our own eggs! All in all, a good choice. *applauds the birthday planner of the office* ^-^

gifts of interest

Throughout the evening, amity and co kept on passing me wrapped packages. You guys spoil me! (Though I enjoy it immensely. ^_^) I saw at once that P-chan bought me Megatokyo vol. 5. (I noticed because it was wrapped in a see-through Bookoff bag...my fav store.) On the train, I unwrapped everything else. *grins* Pearl-chan got me 'X-Kai' vol. 2 by Tohjo Asami-sensei. She added that vol. 1 will be coming along later. Arigato, Pearl-chan! ^-^

Besides the flowers, Alby-kun also got me a card and a present. The package was so beautifully wrapped.... *unwrapped* Naruto! He burned me Naruto episodes 1-125. I guess he wants me to become a Narutard like him and Jenn-chan. lol Can't wait to watch the Chunin exams again (though the death of the Hokage was sad) since I love the episodes of Naruto trying to summon a frog. ^__^ Lastly, he gave me a $25 American Express card. lol I promised amity and co. that I will no longer give them gift cards as b-day presents anymore. ^^;

As for P-chan's yummy cheesecake, I decided to share my it with my co-workers since they were drooling all over it. However, I'm only sharing my cheesecake with selective individuals. *grins* One of my co-workers took it back to his place (since he lives in Chinatown) and will bring it to the office tomorrow...with the promise "I'll eat only one slice." lol Arigato, P-chan! *hugs* I already promised okaasan a slice since it is one of the top ten in NY.

My ticket came!

My VIP ticket came in the mail with an Anime Fest t-shirt, a sake set and the limited edition plushie. Can't wait for this friday!

PM to P-chan and Pearl-chan

You guys are going wii-hunting tomorrow...ganbatte! ^_^

12/3/07 ~ Monday 11:50 pm

Status: still cold ~ Listening to: I Am - Inuyasha ED

Malaysian today, hotpot tomorrow

Today is my co-worker's b-day and we went to Malaysian Restaurant, the one in the tunnel near Elizabeth Center. The food was yummy and the cake was marble cheesecake, though not alot of marble or alot of cheese. Just alot of cake...though it was still yummy. (Most of us thought it might be miss-named mousse cake.) The convo was heated and humorous about work and our personal lives (or lack thereof.)

Tomorrow, we're heading to Quickly for hotpot dinner. We'll be meeting around 6:30pm, 7pm latest.

Snow is so pretty!

12/2/07 ~ Sunday 11:45 pm

Status: cold ~ Listening to: FFXII fmvs on tv

first snow!

This morning, I was greeted with snow falling. It was a beautiful sight. Of course, my first thought was which cosplay outfit should I wear in the snow for a photoshoot. Ritsuka cosplay? ^^;

fanfic archive...I knew thee well

One of the first lemon archives I frequented was the Sailor Moon Romance. This is where I discovered 'Yaten to Scandel' by Sailor Star Love and other fics by Sailor Mac, author of 'Love Energy'. I don't frequent the forum as much anymore, but alot of fanfic veterans had gathered there and they helped me find the Mermaid Saga/Ranma 1/2 I was looking for. In Sept. '07, the site crashed and the owners decided to close the site. It is kinda nostalgic to see it go, but I'm happy to see that another are gathering up the Sailor Moon fics for an archive. The 'classics' of SM fanfics should never be lost. I have already deleted much of my previous fanfiction collections, but I have also recovered some that I wanted to read again. Others, I would have to get from Pearl-chan. Pearl-chan, I think I will ask you for 'Moonlight Midnight Glory'...pre-published version. ^-^

less then a week to con: to-do list

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping, but not quite yet. As usual, I'm listing what needs to be done, convention-wise. ^.^

So busy! *runs around*

dinner every night

I'm going to eat with my co-workers tomorrow and tuesday, each day for a different b-day. Mine...on tuesday. ^^; Between that and what I need to do, I'll be really, really busy. I'm thinking about taking Thursday off so I can take my time in bringing stuff to the city (where okaasan's friend's live.

12/1/07 ~ Saturday 8:10 pm

Status: awake ~ Listening to: Brand New Breeze - Kanon (Kiniro no Corda OP)

new manga!

Even though Pearl-chan said that her manga gift was not on my wishlist, it actually is: item 6, English BL manga. ^-^ I now have 'World's End' by Eiki Eiki-sensei and 'Love a la Carte' by Minami Haruka-sensei...can't wait to read them! ^-^ Also, I just bought 'Moon Child' by Shimizu Reiko-sensei off eBay. The lot was vol. 2-5, 7 and 8. Only missing 6 and I have vol. 1 from the gift bag from the Anime Awards. ^.^ It's a sweet BL story that is kinda confusing. Shimizu-sensei is a fav of Theresa-neechan.

into a new series

I slept at 6am in the morning because I finished the book 'Melusine' by Sarah Monette. It is a good enough book that I want to keep reading...and I can. The story of the characters is unfinished and I truly wish to know what happens. Guess I'm picking up the sequels, 'The Virtu' and 'The Mirador'. I don't know if 'The Bone Key' is part of the series. ^^; I never thought I'll get into it so quickly, but it really is an intersting read. I'll consider buying the books after I read the other two...hopefully I'll be able to find them at the library. ^.^

As for waking up today, I woke at 5:45pm in the afternoon. ^^; I could sleep more though....

2:30 am ~ Status: tired ~ Listening to: silence

drinking tea and pictures

I ended up not leaving work early since there was just simply too much to do. After debating whether or not to come out, Pearl-chan finally decided to leave the house (she had no work today) and greeted me and P-chan when we arrived at Kinokuniya. The sweets event was already over by that time, but we checked out the yummy stuff on display. I didn't take pics of the treats, but I clicked away at the mural painted two weeks ago by Inoue-sensei.

Below is the smily face he drew beside the large face. Kawaii! ^-^ His signature was placed next to the fullbody samurai.

You can see this mural when you come up the escalator. At the stairs on the other side, you can see this smaller mural Inoue-sensei drew. You can see details more in this first pic, as well as the butterflies on the side. However, the second pic is closer to what you'll see when you're actually walking down the stairs. The pic of the girl really startled me the first time I saw it. ^^;

We decided to stay for a cup of tea before we went off to Flushing for our dinner. I ordered jasmine green tea which was delicious while Pearl-chan had the white ambrosia and P-chan had citrus mint. Though very unique, P-chan soon decided that the tea was too minty, with a taste akin to chewing gum. Note to self: don't order that next time. The white tea that Pearl-chan got had a sweet scent. She also ordered BLT (like last time,) while I had the chocolate cherry cake. Oishi! While we were eating, I opened my first b-day (or 'pre' as she called it) present from Pearl-chan. O.O It was 'Love a La Carte' by Minami Haruka-sensei! *hugs manga* I love her works, so sexy. ^-^

Admist their usual bookstore hopping, Iceblueaya, Jilly and crew greeted us (minus animemiz who went to Starbucks.) We all left Kinokuniya together, but they went off to Asahiya while the rest of us took the subway to Flushing.

spicy soup and fried ice cream

My restaurant choice of the evening fell to Sunway along Prince St. Don't know why I always end up there, but the food is reasonable and the 'facilities' are acceptably clean. ^.^ We ordered a veggie dish, clam soup and pork chop with shrimp roll appetizer. We ate slowly waiting for Alby-kun to join us, and he did come, near the end of our meal. Pearl-chan and I ordered fried ice cream while P-chan tried the manga pudding. The fried ice cream was good, but melted very quickly. When the check arrived, the waitress gave it to Alby-kun. I fumed quietly as P-chan and crew picked up the check. Arigato for the dinner, guys! ^-^

Since Alby-kun didn't really eat much (though we did save some of everything for him...he was just too slow in getting there! ^^; ) we went to his house so that we could talk and he could eat dinner. Our convos rotated around the holiday wishlists that Pearl-chan and P-chan made as well as how perverted my mind has become. Yes, my perversion has become a subject of discussion again. Didn't we go through this last time? ^^;

We talked until past 12am when we decided to leave and let Alby-kun's mother rest. (She was talking through the evening with okaasan.) P-chan stayed to use the comp as I sent Pearl-chan home. It was a wonderful evening, a nice beginning to the weekend.

PM to amity and co.

Arigato for spending so much time with me! ^-^ *bows*

autographed doujinshi

A Loveless doujinshi autographed by Kouga Yun-sensei was auctioned off at Yahoo!Japan auctions. Of course, the seller will not ship internationally. Since proxy bidders have such high fees, I appealed to my co-workers. One of my Japanese co-workers, (a different one then she who brought me my Sailor Moon cel) agreed to bid on it, arranged to have her mother send the money if we won the bid, and have it shipped to her house. I truly am honored to have such wonderful co-workers helping me with personal hobbies. *bows to them* The bid ended this morning with me winning as the only bidder. Yay! ^-^ I have an autographed doujinshi by Kouga-sensei! My co-worker will be going to Japan in February 2008 and she will bring the doujinshi back with her. I am perfectly happy with waiting for such an item. I will write a note (English? Japanese?) to my co-worker's mother to thank her for helping me. My co-worker will of course be giving her mother the note for me. I hope to find a really cute card for her. ^.^ Arigato gozaimas!