Reading The Stars Dispose, The Blue Mountain People of China (BARF)
Watching Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, House, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars
Playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, We Love Katamari, Okage: Shadow King, Phantom Brave, 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 Ivan Vorpatril, Erik and Ray, Impulse/Bart Allen, Bruno and Boots, Gilmore Girls (Doyle and Paris and Logan).
Upcoming Things of Importance October 21 Canadian politics paper due October 25 Canadian lit paper due
layout
Meimi has apparently decided to make herself my awesome layout fairy. Behold my twenty-first birthday present: A layout of pants!Logan, from Gilmore Girls (and, you know, that girl who's always hanging around him, what's her name . . .).
.
Fuck hell shit damn
2/28/2004 02:12:00 PM
"Regular and Extra-Crispy now live with their adopted daughter, Ami, in a two story house in the suburbs of Miami."
So, I went to the bank, and had to withdraw some cash so I could chip in for food tomorrow at the Paradise Lost reading . . .
Guess who found out she's about sixty dollars short of having enough money to pay her rent on Monday?
Go on, guess.
I called Prince Albert, but no one but Woody was in (fuck) so I'll try again tonight before I go to bed and hope some more money can be put into my account post-haste, so the cheque doesn't bounce.
I'm so screwed.
This'll teach me to spend more than ten dollars a week on grocery.
How many different things can I kill myself over in one weekend? Ingrid, Signing Off
I'm so pwned
2/28/2004 10:45:51 AM
". . . Bloody hell. It's ugly and in need of love. Like you."
Looks like it snowed last night/this morning. Hope that makes the sidewalks somewhat less deadly for walking on. I need to go to the bank and get money (and manga . . .)
In happier news (and also, in news that will result in me being INCREDIBLY BROKE), the Loki manga's been licensed. It'll probably take ADV (I think that's who picked it up) forever to put it out, but dammit, there is now hope! I can finally find out about Utgard-Loki without shaking people upside-down. And there will be more Kou-chan.
Kou-chan <3<3<3<3<3
I am so pwned it's not even funny. But even wealthy blond playboys need love.
--
Did a plot-related battle in Disgaea over my breakfast tea . . . Spoilers for Episode 5: Etna's Secret. Laharl twitching and having a near-heart attack over the optimistic comments of the imps and Flonne's 'eternal love' babbling is so goddamn cute. Almost as cute as his ore-sama-ing (but nothing's quite as cute as that). It drives him so crazy that it reduces his stats! BWAHA! Not that it matters, because Laharl's at level 27 right now . . .
Oh, Laharl, you crazy little demon brat, I love you so much.
Sadly, I should stop cooing over Laharl, and go and practise my reading for tomorrow, or write the good copy of my fucking Jane Austen essay.
Stupid Jane Austen.
Blow up, damn you! Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
Stretched thin, like plastic wrap
2/27/2004 12:06:26 AM
"... You mean there's more to Lindsey than his gay UST with Angel?"
Feeling stretched way too thin, trying to get all the stuff done I need to do for school, and do it properly, and do the things that keep me sane, and remembering to eat . . .
I've been skipping meals a lot lately. I can't remember the last time I had a real meal. Nn . . . I'm sure it was some time last week, at the very latest.
I have scones, anyway, and scones are good. They make the world a better place.
--
Last episode of Fucktard season one was on tonight. I watched happily, for there was blood spurting and Lindsey and good interaction between Wesley and Cordelia and Fucktard. Those were good times, they were.
However, am I the only one who thinks that 'The Prophecies of Anatole' sound like something that a french chef with a thin moustache would write?
--
I want to read more of Paladin of Souls but I should be going to bed, and otherwise I don't know when I'll find time since I should be practising my reading for Sunday or working on my paper or my translation of "The Wanderer".
Sad, that. I'm in mad love with Foix. Mad love. He's like a weird hybrid of Illyan and Bel, and at the same time, utterly Foix-ish and like no one else.
Mmm. Foix. <3
I want an evil hand when I grow up, Almighty Ingrid, Evil Hand-less, Signing Off
Not so Smile Time
2/24/2004 12:38:04 AM
"I heard Timothy Roberts, CEO of Infinium Labs can't have an orgasm unless he kills a dog. That's just what I heard somewhere."
Okay, first things first.
I have a ticket to the Arrogant Worms next Wednesday!
Unfortunately, at the moment, none of my car-enabled friends have tickets. If all else fails, I'll ambush Sarri's place or something. It's near the theatre.
Secondly - bell rocks and I'm not worthy of having such a tolerant friend of my weird mood swings.
I started reading Paladin of Souls today, and I love it, don't get me wrong, but I got to one passage . . . (blackened to prevent spoilers, because spoilers for Bujold are like lice, only worse)
"Honored to serve you, lady." The elder dy Gura came to a species of attention before her, and recited, "Chancellor dy Cazaril presents us to you with his compliments, to escort you upon your journey, Royina. He begs you will regard us as your right hand. Hands." Ferda faltered and extemporized. "Or right and left hand, as the case may be." His brother raised an impenitent eyebrow at him, and murmured, "But which is which?" (18)
My first impulse was, "Foix is wonderful! Ee! I have to tell . . ." and then I started crying.
What am I going to be like when a new Vorkosigan book comes out?
Still, bell helped, and this is good, and tonight's episode of Fucktard (plus the viewing of MXG before hand) definitely raised my spirits.
(And once more with the spoilers.)
I can't help but feel that my inner cynical nature should have issue with anything that's called "Smile Time" but it was the most wonderfully evil show ever . . .
Best Lindsey-free episode of Fucktard ever.
Best moment? Fucktard biting Spike's arm in some kind of deranged Animal-like rage. Although Nina waking up and thinking she ate Fucktard was pretty awesome too.
I'm not keen on the Wesley/Fred thing. Just . . . give Wes something to do, huh? And Fred was just mean to poor Knox. He was trying so hard! I mean, yes, he's probably evil, and yeah, I'm not keen on him, but still, he was trying! Poor guy, having her give back his valentine.
Also, Gunn should really know better than to be selling his soul, essentially, for a second time. I think -he- needs a dose of the self-esteem song.
Puppet!fight! Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
IT'S A SQUID GODDAMMIT! SQUID!
2/22/2004 10:40:00 PM
"We bring you an offering of wine. Please give my daughter back."
It's an update, 'cause I have no life, it's an update, because I have nothing better to do that doesn't involve Tightass or Jane Austen, it's an update~!
I realized I never talked about what happened when I went back to Prince Albert for suicide break. So . . .
First night, I was fed real food. No devouring cookies at the Lostels because I hadn't eaten since noon.
Dad had free tickets to the winter festival art show where he was doing his yearly schtick of pretending to be the mayor. Mum had a headache, so I went with him, to steal free food.
At the art show I met an old classmate, who had a couple things in, which we were quite good. I talked with her a bit. When last I saw her, it was at the Halloween party. Briefly. Shit was going down then, so . . .
But it was nice to talk to her and make fun of the hats worn by the winter festival princesses (giant albino racoons).
I also met up with three (count 'em, three) old teachers. My grade ten/eleven french teacher (who I actually run into quite a lot) was doing tickets and stuff, I think she's a member of the arts board, or something. Also my high school art/math teacher, who I love and admire dearly. It was so nice to be able to talk to her. She was just such a great influence on my in high school, and such an all around wonderful person, so kind and supportive. She gave me hugs. She had some pretty stuff in the show, plus a showing in the library gallery, which I went to see the next day (gorgeous stuff, really beautiful). Also, my grade one teacher, who also hugged me, and talked in french to confuse my dad. I wouldn't think a woman who taught me almost fourteen years ago would even remember me, especially since I wasn't a very good student . . . Weird, but I guess when you teach french immersion, you don't see as many students as normal teachers?
Other highlights of the evening were pretty girls in pretty dresses advertising their upcoming Ren Faire (in Cultural Hell Homepit? Good luck, you poor optimistic fools) and my father making snide comments about my considering a career as a lawyer, which he later denied.
There was cheap breakfast at the Coop, and, nn, me sitting around reading and wanting to kill Woody and listening to "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" on audiobook.
Sunday was the Happy One's birthday party (she's old) which went well, aside from fucktards certain individuals who said they were going to show up not showing up at all. We played Munchkin (with Randy's Redneck Tree in the deck! I love!) and Tetris Attack and other things until early in the morning, and I was not lynched for giving the Happy One the beta max player, camera, and tapes.
Relief, major relief.
There was a blizzard that prevented me from coming back when I wanted to, I spent a lot of time sulking and depressed, and it was pretty much the usual thing.
Could have been a lot worse, really, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
The Poetry of Ellipses and a whole lot of FFX - Blitzball: Better than Chichironin (and that ain't saying much)
2/22/2004 01:07:00 AM
"I guess the moral that we're supposed to get out of this is that if you ever have to fake being happy, just scare the ever-loving shit out of everyone around you."
Certain individuals (who I dearly love, but that's not the point) should be very ashamed of themselves for not telling me the most cracked out bit of info from Prince of Tennis 20.5. Namely that Fudomine has an annual poetry slam, Shinji wrote a poem about Kamio, Kamio made him -enter- the poem, and it won.
This is the best thing ever. I can just imagine Shinji poetry. It would be -long-. Longer even than Milton!
Also, there would be ellipses.
--
Tonight I was supposed to do the usual thing with Fro and Fish, but Fish got sick, so Fro, being the good boyfriend he is, is tending to the sick, which meant I was faced with two options for the night - I could reread more of "Persuasion" in a vain attempt that something would give me an idea to make my paper suck less, or I could face the horror of a blitzball tutorial.
Since I spent all day swearing at Jane Austen and thinking of different ways to murder my professor, blitzball it was.
It should be noted before hand, though, that I think some of my issues with Final Fantasy X stem from the fact that Tightass reminds me of Woody, what with the annoying hyper-confident talented jock thing with the groupies (I don't know if Woody has groupies anymore, but he had them back when he took dance lessons, so I assume he has them in basketball/volleyball/track/football/whatever) and the "I HATE MY FATHER HE IS THE EVIL" mentality. Plus, Woody used to bleach his hair (admittedly, Tightass' hair is better than Woody's was, but Woody wasn't designed by the crackheads at Square).
Also, I think Spira would have a lot less trouble with Sin if everyone, especially Tightass, would just put on some proper pants. Dice and I decided today that all the world's problems can be directly related to lack of pants today, and really, how would you feel if you were a great world destroying evil and -you- got your ass kicked by a teenager who couldn't even find a real pair of pants? You'd feel stupid, that's how.
Anyway, FFX, wherein I encounter blitzball.
. . . At least it's not chichironin.
I continue to hate the way FFX handles tutorials, and the blitzball one is no exception. It takes about half an hour to go through everything (although I'm not sure why, since I couldn't win the only game I played, but more bitching about that later) and I realized what really irks me is the lack of any kind of music. Good lord is a tutorial boring when I have nothing to listen to, but I'm too lazy to get off the couch and turn WinAmp on.
Even more annoying than the tutorial itself is the fact that, after the tutorial, we don't play blitzball at all! Yuna and her guardians who -don't- waste their time swimming around in a giant sphere of water playing with balls have seen Auron, and it's up to Tightass to help them track him down.
I go 'Yay', because Auron is cool.
Then I go 'Boo', because why the hell did they make me sit through the tutorial if I'm going to have to go Auron-hunting right after it?
Whores.
Before we leave for the Auron-hunt, however, there's a disturbing conversation between Tightass and Wakka. Now, I love Wakka, despite his stoned attitude, bad hair, and the fact that whenever anyone says his name I -still- think of Fozie Bear (although that may be a point in his favor), but Tightass telling Wakka he's 'stiff' (not in the face, either, as Tightass feels the need to make clear) is something I didn't need to hear. Especially not from Tightass.
After this disturbing and pointless cutscene (is it pointless? or is it just so we know that Wakka's tense about blitzball? is he horny? I don't know, but I hope not), we head off, and a Mystery is Revealed as Yuna tells Tightass that if they find Auron, they can find out what happened to Jecht, because Auron was one of Yuna's father's guardians too.
I'm sure Tightass is just thrilled about seeing his scary looking old man again.
Outside we run into some Al Bhed who aren't Rikku, and who talk at Tightass in their crazy untranslated language. Tightass, obviously not content with Yuna and Lulu and Lulu's boobs, asks them if they know Rikku and, once he realizes that they don't understand him, does that American thing where he talks very loudly and slowly, like that'll somehow help the communication process.
Fucktard.
Outside, there's some stuff about a crowd that's communicated rather badly, but gives Tightass and Yuna an excuse to have a dorky little bonding moment involving Tightass shoving his fist into his mouth.
Fine, fine, it's whistling. There's talk about doing the whistle thing if they get separated, and for no particular reason, I'm reminded of Jowy and Riou making their mark on that rock at the beginning of Suikoden II. Maybe that's why I actually found the scenelet cute, I don't know.
We find out that blitzball is the only form of entertainment they have on Spira, which puts them above the poor kids on Destiny Island in Kingdom Hearts, who have nothing to do but beat each other with sticks, but still, that's pretty damn sad.
Also, SIN KILLS ALL.
Just remember, Sin wouldn't be a problem if everyone put pants on.
I wander around, and find those two Crusader dorks because I'm intentionally not going where I should be, and find out they're . . . waiting. For something. It's a mysterious something.
. . . Right, Auron.
We get to a cafe that the little arrow on the map's been pointing me to, and find that Auron . . . isn't there.
In the cafe, however, Kimahri gets picked on by some scary and gay giant Ronso of doom, and Yuna gets kidnapped.
Dude, the cafe's not that big. Shouldn't someone have noticed Yuna -screaming- or something if she was kidnapped?
Of course, she -is- kidnapped by the Al Bhed Psyches so they can make the Aurochs throw the game, and I know I'd be humiliated if a bunch of dorks who played blitzball kidnapped -me-.
But still, everyone seems to think the Aurochs suck wang. What's the point of kidnapping Yuna?
Nevertheless, with Lulu conveniently showing up, we head off to rescue Yuna, while Wakka . . . plays blitzball. I forgive you, Wakka, because you obviously know that I only need three people to rescue Yuna anyway.
The rescue is pretty much a waste of time (incredibly easy, even if the boss does shoot BLITZBALLS at you, and Wakka wins the game against the Psyches - they must -really- suck, and once more Tightass pointlessly jogs in place, looking like a total idiot - wtf?), except we find out . . . stuff. Like the Al Bhed have machina, and that's why all the Yevon-lovers hate them (including Wakka). Oh, and Yuna's half Al Bhed and has an Al Bhed uncle named Cid.
I have Final Fantasy IX flashbacks, minus the religious stuff.
Now that Yuna's safe, though, we get to the part I was dreading - blitzball.
I admit, blitzball is better organized than I thought it would be, but still, ten minutes (plus time for selecting actions, arranging things at halftime, and so on) seems a bit long for a mini-game. Also, the Aurochs really do suck compared to the horribly named Luca Goers. Apparently it -is- possible to win the game against them but . . . I didn't manage it. Possibly because, when given the chance to try the Jecht shot on the boat, Tightass screwed up.
It's all Tightass' fault, really.
Wakka subs in for Tightass near the end of the second half, not that it matters, because they NEVER SCORE A GOAL AGAINST THE GOERS. Ten minutes of my life wasted on a game I couldn't win.
At least when there were those impossible to win duels in Suikoden III, they had the decency to let your opponent completely FLATTEN you in two seconds.
But I'm not bitter.
After the HORRIBLE AND SAD LOSS, Tightass swims out to Wakka - apparently the players don't need to hurry to get out of the sphere or anything after they win, and some random shit attacks.
I blow stuff up and feel happy about it.
I feel even happier because, while Tightass and Wakka are battling annoying little sissy fiends that go down with one blow from Wakka's blitzball, Auron's kicking major ass of other, bigger, cooler randomly appearing fiends.
We love Auron.
Also, Auron wears pants.
Somehow, Wakka and Tightass get out of the sphere, and meet up with Auron.
Sadly, even with the power of Auron, they can't defeat all the fiends, and creepy looking Seymour dramatically summons a hideously ugly mummy aeon to fry all the fiends.
Wow, it's almost like he -isn't- going to turn out to be evil. Only not.
Seymour's still ugly and creepy looking.
After the death of all the sinthings, Wakka abandons his team so he can do his real job - trying to keep Yuna from dying.
Meanwhile, Tightass is having a screaming fit at Auron, blaming him for everything. It's at this point that Tightass really begins to remind me of Woody. Tightass is about to cry, a bunch of stuff I already know is reiterated, and we finally get onto the question of where the hell is Jecht.
Jecht is Sin.
Not that how this is possible is actually explained in any way, but you know, it shocks Tightass, and emphasizes the whole "MY DAD IS EVIL" think which, as I mentioned before, makes me think of Woody.
Tightass throws a temper tantrum for a while and this really might be more emotionally moving if he wasn't such an idiot, or, you know, his voice actor was in any way talented.
He's not. I hate this man. Maybe if he had a less annoying voice, I would actually refer to Tightass by his real name and not hate him.
Eventually Tightass stops throwing his tantrum, and he and Auron go off to find the rest of the group, so Auron can offer to become Yuna's guardian. Like he even needs to offer, he's just that cool.
Auron discusses their plans with the people who aren't idiots (not Yuna and Tightass), and Yuna and Tightass have another scene, full of corny dialogue that seems to be missing a few important words that would make any of it make -sense-, but it results in Yuna ordering Tightass to laugh out loud.
Good lord is it scary. Everyone looks at Tightass, and then Yuna, when she pointlessly joins him, like they've gone insane, and I just have an urge to wash my ears out. Seriously, it's such a disturbing sound, it's like a mule and a chicken had sex, and this is the noise the baby makes.
Thankfully, the pain eventually ends, and we're off to Djose temple. But probably not for a few days, since I need to get to bed so I don't fall asleep over Jane Austen and translations tomorrow, and tomorrow I might actually try to work on a recap. And Monday, as we all know, is Fucktard night, and there is little videogame playing on Fucktard night.
If I ever start calling him 'Tidus' again on a regular basis, it probably means the hate has faded, Almighty Ingrid, Signing Off
