ReadingLirael, As You Like It, The English Patient, Heart of Darkness, Suikoden III, Candidate for Goddess
Watching House, Rick Mercer's Monday Report, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, Corner Gas, Aishiteruze Baby, Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go
Playing The Bard's Tale, Katamari Damacy, Curse of Monkey Island, Final Fantasy VI, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Pretty Barbie Dressup Party Final Fantasy X-2(group gaming)
Back-burner Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, Planescape: Torment, Final Fantasy VII
Obsessing Firefly, Erik and Ray, Impulse/Bart Allen, Ford Prefect, Monkey Island, Nostalgia.
Upcoming Things of Importance January 5 First day of classes January 14 Birthday party January 16 Jaryn and Matt Are Old Day
layout
Is by Meimi, that wonderful Goddess who brings joy and happiness to the hearts of Ingrids.
This time, Meimi brought joy by doing a layout of Isumi Shinichirou and Waya Yoshitaka, of Hikaru no Go. It is full of wub.
.
1/26/2002 05:27:29 PM
You know, I just realized that my layout's netscape incompatiableness has illiminated the bar links that have apparently become "out" lately because of some little popularity game played amongst the big bloggers.
I find this hopelessly amusing, although it may be the hot chocolate talking.
1/26/2002 01:33:04 AM
Damn my ass hurts. I need a new chair with actual padding in here.
Also need to do laundry tomorrow. And mail the books - but I need the address. ~coughcoughhinthinte-maildammit~ Box all packed up and everything. I'm very proud of my unusual efficiency.
One thirty in the morning. Hm. Maybe time for bed.
Guthrie's got a basketball tournmanet tomorrow morning, and then dance exams in the afternoon. Going to be a quiet day. If I managed to wake up before ten, maybe I'll even get some writing done.
Probably not though.
1/26/2002 12:55:02 AM
More from Fire Watch -
Service for the Burial of the Dead was seriously disturbing, in a quiet, subtle sort of way. I could kind of see the ending coming but I'm sort of used to Willis' twists.
Lost and Found involves religion and the end of the world. Willis seems to have a strong Christian streak, which is rare in sci-fi (the only other authors I can think of are Orson Scott Card and Madeleine L'Engle). Very confusing, I'll have to re-read it. The strange girl who quoted scripture seemed to be mentally handicapped . . . Very odd.
All My Darling Daughters was damned disturbing. The only story I've read of Willis' so far that contains really strong language and the most unsettling sexual themes ever. Although I suppose a story that takes place in a universe that involves reproduction through plastic bags should have given be a clue to begin with. Ending up way darker than I could have thought possible.
The Father of the Bride wasn't even three pages long . . . A very realistic take on the end of Sleeping Beauty.
--
Not that worried over the Netscape thing anymore, the stuff is still quite visible and everything. If I figure out how to fix it I will. Ho hum.
1/25/2002 04:26:04 PM
Okay . . . netscape doesn't like. If anyone can offer any suggestions on how I can fix that, I would be eternally greatful. I'm not sure if the HTML just isn't compatible with Netscape, or I have a broken code in there somewhere . . .
1/25/2002 04:19:03 PM
Kouryuu just looked to amazing in the picture to resist, although I feel guilty for using such a gorgeous piece of artwork for my blog.
Had to try something in colour sooner or later though. Don't know if I like how it turned out . . .
1/25/2002 01:09:52 PM
You know, I'd like to marry Mick Nekoi now, please.
All sing the praises of Wandering Mage Chichiri, without whom we would not be able to glimpse the succulent colour Wish pictures.
And if anyone wants to translate the little story I would worship you for a limited time.
1/25/2002 12:25:55 PM
Just finished Fire Watch the title story in the Connie Willis anthology I'm trying to keep myself from reading all at once.
It's set in the same universe as To Say Nothing of the Dog and Doomsday Book. Great read. Willis is definitely one of the best in the field right now, probably because of her lack of technobabble. If it's really supposed to be an actual future, why would there be technobabble? With the exception of some far too serious computer geeks and quantum physicisits, who really babbles explanations like that? People are still people in the future, and do most people right now go on long tangents just to explain how the internet works? Most of us don't know, and it doesn't bother us, because it works and that's how it is. That's how WIllis seems to deal with the futuristic aspects that are in her stories.
Bartholomew's great, very intense and real and totally distinct from Willis' other historians. Not the adorable, over-worked muddle that was Ned, or the intensely passionate, mature, loveable Kivrin. The story's forty-four pages long, I think, and the majority of the action is described in Bartholomew's journal entries.
The ending is great. I know I've read a lot of reviews that criticize Willis for being too sentimental, but honestly, just because something's speculative fiction, does it have to be sterile and unemotional? That's the kind of sci-fi that gives sci-fi a bad name and marginalizes it as a genre.
If there isn't some kind of conspiracy against Willis at Coles, Bell-sama, I'll pick you up a copy of -something- when I go out today or tomorrow.
But there's probably a conspiracy. There always is.
1/25/2002 12:21:04 AM
Just went on a mad commenting rampage over at the Wyvern's Library with the help of the random button. I love you random button. Hopefully at least one comment'll make someone smile the way the rare comments I get make me smile when I check the mail.
--
New ASUKA scans are up.
I want CLAMP to do a colour picture of Keiichi now.
I want more Keiichi period.
Seiichirou's kekkai shape is revealed to be . . . something I can't identify. But it's not a circle, which means the theory I suggested to Bell-sama over the summer e-mail rampage could still be valid . . . Eerie music is now to be played.
--
Still tired and sulky and suffering from writer's block.
Yo, muses, you should be my bitches, not the other way around.
I'm wanting to finish the story for Kate-usagi-chan soon but I'm lacking the proper stimulus to actually make me write . . . You need to give me a title for this thing, Usa-chan. I wrote up a totally disturbing story involving Howell and Rin last week if you're interested but it's kind of thoroughly ick.
Yes Jinxer, I'm working, slowly, on chapter two, but it involves no Owdyn torture. And I'm thinking, slightly, about part fourteen but I just wnat to make it absolutely clear to you write now that there will be no groping. There will be Toshi. Lots and lots of Toshi in this part, and the next, to make up for the fact that soon ________ ______ __ ______ ___ ______ _____ __ ____ ___ _____ ______. I know you love it when I do that almost as much as you love it when I offer to tell you about X sixteen . . .
--
Sleep happens sometimes.
1/24/2002 05:53:41 PM
I hate you, geocities.
1/24/2002 05:51:19 PM
Work, bloody thing, work.
1/24/2002 05:28:13 PM
Ahhhhhh. X thirteen. Summary spoiler time!
Kamui's rushed into the hospital all blank eyed, Sorata's upset, Arashi's not visibly upset, Yuzuriha cries, Subaru shows little emotion, Subaru calls his grandmother, and Kanoe recaps the plot points of the last few episodes because Hinoto wasn't watching.
Fuuma breaks into Kakyou's hotel room, assaults him a bit in the dreamscape, and kidnaps him. He proceeds to do the traditional spider man immitation bounding across rooftops with Kakyou, in a hospital nightgown, in his arms. Satsuki and Yuuto make a brief appearance to witness the coming of their Kamui.
Yuzuriha cries some more, Sorata angsts over Kamui, Arashi is Strong, and Subaru shows he cares about something. Sexy, unromanized chanting follows, along with Subaru's face being far too close to Kamui's.
Dreamscape replay of Fuuma licking Kamui and killing Kotori. Feathers. Subaru's ear bleeds. Feathers. Grunting from Subaru. Little-Kamui cries and looks hopelessly cute before blasting Subaru into oblivion with his high-pitched screams. More grunting, more bleeding. Subaru gets back to the Little-Kamui and there is a Dreamscape Replay of Hokuto's death. Little-Kamui is eeriely observant and makes Subaru smile before he goes all fuzzy like a dying tv screen and leaves Kamui's heart.
Subaru bleeds, grunts, and collapses ontop of Kamui and falls asleep. Sorata cries. Yuzuriha cries. Arashi doesn't cry, but hugs Yuzuriha, which is like crying by proxy. Kamui cries and his hand twitches before going up and squeezing Subaru's shoulder. Kamui's other hand strokes Subaru's hair, and thanks him without using the -san at the end of Subaru's name, and the KamuixSubaru fangirls scream themselves to death and ignore Kamui's passionate, short, yet heartfelt speech about continuing.
Shall be forever immortalized because of the line "I'm going inside Kamui" which sounds like something out of a bad porno orgy.
1/24/2002 03:25:54 PM
Finals finished yesterday, la de dah.
Got a box of chocolates from John and Marg, for operating the sound system at church. Those people are saints. Good chocolates too.
Been playing Final Fantasy VII and Super Smash Bros. Melée (without the boy's permission, but screw him, he's at school). On disk three of Final Fantasy VII, at last. Busy levelling up to kick those weapons' asses. No, really! I'm sure I can do it! I've got Cloud's omnislash and maaaaaan is it ever fun to go into the Battle Arena and just slay things left and right, one solid blow. Hehe.
Wanted to watch some CLAMP Campus Detectives this morning, but I forgot how to switch the VCRs off satelitte to play real videos. Buggerall.
I've watched three episodes of Six Feet Under so far this week. Damn that's a good show. It's also probably the reason for my imense moodiness as of late.
Read Remake by Connie Willis last night. If you happen to know anything about really old movies, particularly musicals, read it. It is so. Unspeakably. Good. Emotional, funny, passionate, moving, intense, mysterious, everything. All in about a hundred and fifty pages. That is talent. Screw being able to write a novel as thick as the phone book, being able to tell a story with multiple layers (it's a romance story, it's a sci-fi story, it's a mystery, it's about the entertainment industry, it's about the future, it's about time travel, it's about the past . . .) and fascinating characters in such a short book is -talent- beyond description. It only took me a couple hours to read and man . . . So good. Tom (the narrator) is cynical beyond belief, and knows more about old movies than my mum does. That's saying something.
It's also lovely to read a book and know of pretty much every single movie that they mention.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers plays a key part. It makes me wish my mum would be willing to read sci-fi. All those old musicals being described, she'd be in heaven.
-- Mailed off Fiora's highly late birthday/Christmas present today. Bloody post office, charge an arm and a leg for -surface- mail these days. Couldn't risk sending air mail because I have another package to be mailing hopefully by Saturday . . .