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June 27, 03 | 03:07 p.m. | Feeling: Fine!
If you haven't read Blood Hound by Kaori Yuki yet, go download it right now! It's an energetic vampiric romp ^_^ Gawd, last week was sultry. I didn't dare turn on the main computer for fear of it exploding in the 42 degrees Celcius (including humidity) on Tue-Wednesday (that's around 107 Farenheit for you Americans). Thankfully, today is MUCH cooler and I can finally catch up on my blogging and household chores. Thanks guys for the continued layout plugs! Trin, I love those pics you took from your England trip. BTW, that's a lovely new layout (it displays your personal style of web-design; wish I had a style ;_;). LAINE, où est tu? ça va cherie? Laetitia and Maria, do you guys still see a "no direct linking" sign on this blog? It looks fine on my screen.... I don't understand this Harry Potter phenomenon at all. I read Book #1 with no pre-conceived prejudices against it and I thought the quality of the novel was excellent...for the grade-school level. Compared to C.S. Lewis, Robin McKinley, and Sherwood Smith, I felt Rowling's prose style was too simple; the characterization, as dry as sandpaper. And Di, I agree, the sensational media surrounding this series is nauseating. Everywhere I turn--CNN, the Subway, Campus, blogs--I see people fawning over HP--it feels as if the HP merchandise has gained so much social momentum that it's becoming the new religion. I wouldn't be surprised if October 31 gets renamed Harrywe'en. I have tons of Anime to catch up on! I saw Mirage of Blaze Vol. 1 and it was probably one of the worst series I've ever seen. My main complaint is that it didn't develop its own "style". The character designs show little difference from that of AS (OAV) and X. But my Mom reminded me that this is based on a really old manga that came out a decade ago--so perhaps it is the later series that copied this one? Don't know, and frankly, don't really care.
June 20, 03 | 11:47 a.m. | Feeling: Fine.
Aki, Kirsi, Nichole, Sanna, and M-chan, I'm SO glad that you guys like the new layout *sigh of relief*. I wish I had my own style but the truth is, I can draw pretty faces and that's about it >_<;; Pam, I'm so sorry to read about your break up. It sounds really painful...but I'm sure that in time, you will bounce back stronger than before. *hug* I finished watching Great Teacher Onizuka live action series. It's not as zany or humourous as the anime, but it was still good. At first, I was a bit appalled by the series' cut and dry sense of morality: in several instances, a child will take it upon themselves to expose his/her parents' seedy money dealings and filial obligation be damned. Then in another instance, Onizuka supports one of his students' decision to pursue a pop-star career over finishing up her education. This really goes against all the values that were instilled in me at an early age--that children's first duty is to the parents not themselves, and that nothing is as important as school. However, despite this clash of sensibilities, I still enjoyed the show. Oh, I'm finally starting to watch Last Exile. Hmm. Aesthetically, it's one of the most gorgeous series I've ever seen. But the main girl, Lavi, is so godamned annoying!! She has thus far proven herself capable of doing nothing but screaming, crying, and fainting. And I can't stand the fact that this LITTLE GIRL presumes to boss Claus around when it's so obvious that he's her superior in intelligence and pilotship! Grrr, I hate those immature kinds of anime girls! No doubt in the end, she will be humbled somehow, and from that experience, she'll metaphorisize into a model of maturity and determination. Bleeeech.
June 17, 03 | 02:11 a.m. | Feeling: Ready for bed.
Came home from C18th class more tired than usual. But after eating an...interesting meal by Mom consisting of bitter broccoli root, shrimp and cauliflower (it's better than it sounds), I felt energized enough to put up a new layout. Umm...I feel kind of self-conscious about using my own art for a layout but I take comfort from the precedent examples set by Leigh, Cat and Sanna (last month). Anyway, the main image is of Astarte from Angel Sanctuary (yes, AS AGAIN), done with pencils and Indian ink.
June 15, 03 | 10:45 p.m. | Feeling: Fine
If you press SHIFT and then TAB, you'll go up the boxes...humph, I just found that out. It never rains but pours: Rubie just put up another beautiful layout. As for your question...I can't say that I felt sad at the dispersal of my highschool friends. We had been together for five long, sometimes tediously and insufferably long years (as you may recall, highschool was 5 years in Ontario) and it really was time to part ways. However, I believe your highschool friendships are deeper than mine were so I can understand why you would feel down about the last days of school coming to an end. BTW, where are you going for Uni? As I was saying to A-chan, the key to happiness seems to be content with one's state. I've been trying to take Fielding's gnomic truth to heart, and so far it's worked. I got through a whole weekend without feeling a twinge of angst, or inadequacy. The beautiful sunshine that broke on Saturday helped too. I took up many of the helpful suggestions from you guys; when I was not reading Sterne, Hemmingway, Joan Wolf, the papers, I was playing Bach and Stamitz on the flute, doodling, watching movies (finally saw the new Bond flick--it was awesome), and paying a visit to the supermarket to flirt with that cute grocery boy. Mom and I also visited the pet store and we saw the cutest, most strikingly beautiful flock of white-faced, pearl baby cockatiels! Unfortunately, all of them had only arrived a few days ago and the keepers still need to observe them for another week for signs of infection and what not. I can't wait: we bought ANOTHER cockatiel! She is a slim, lively and very pretty dove-gray girl....oh, times like these, I wish I had a digital camera ;_; I've been listening to a bunch of Do As Infinity and Kiroro MP3s recently. Hmm...smooth, rich vocals and gorgeous instrumentals, yet I know in my prejudiced little heart that if either were English groups, my admiration would dim. Bad girl. Mary, I too become extremely uncomfortable with myself when I see a cleaning person of advanced years picking up after commuters, or students. That bitter pang of guilt gets under the skin, until you're just itching to start your own Equality group--until you realize that the situation isn't as black and white as all that.
June 12, 03 | 12:13 p.m. | Feeling: Sleepy...yet not.
Just finished Get Backers 1-28 (over a 3 day span). Hehehe...the shounen ai undertones are sooo addictive (especially "best friends" Jubei and Kazuki). My only complaint is that there doesn't seem to be any real character development occuring; a season's already finished and we haven't learned anything new about Ban's past history since ep. 4. You're new collective layout is psychedelic (and stunning)! And what you call a drab layout, I say it's simply elegant. Thanks Aki for your helpful suggestions on alleviating my ennui. When I thought about it, I realized that there were a lot of things I could do: flute, art, horticulture, not to mention help Dad on his literary projects.
June 10, 03 | 04:51 p.m. | Feeling: Relieved.
Because my left eye was watering and gritty for the past two weeks, I thought I might be experiencing the first symptoms of Thyroid Eye Disease (which is a really horrible effect of Thryoid disorders--perhaps even more traumatic than a goiter). But my U of T doc cleared up my worries. I turns out I have a viral form of pink eye. Anyway, he prescribed an eye-drop, which has a bit of a sting; it seems that this is such a common, minor infection that physicians usually wait it out. Apparently, viral infections has been known to disappear spontaneously. Anyway, I AM relieved to hear that it's not Thyroid Eye disease. But I should continue to be cautious since hyperthyroidic people can develop it even years after a full recovery. Blech!
June 9, 03 | 10:58 p.m. | Feeling: Behind in readings....
June 9, 03 | 02:39 a.m. | Feeling: Tiiiiiiiiired.
Essay more or less done. Yes!! Made 2 new wallpapers (Hikago and AS).
June 7, 03 | 07:18 p.m. | Feeling: Harrassed, yet bored.
I've been working on a "small" 18th century essay on Pamela and Joseph Andrews. Dad said the first draft was "not complicated enough" and ordered me to stare at a white wall, Buddist style, and meditate on a more complex thesis. Umm...the actual chinese proverb he employed was much more elegant than that--he's right! A new spin on the old thesis came to me while jogging. Gorgeous new layouts at Foxfire, Bloodlust, Schismatic, and Fire Hazard. You know what I need? I need to find a new hobby. Besides anime/games, what's your hobby?
June 2, 03 | 10:53 a.m. | Feeling: Okay
Socialness: Aki, Kirsi, and Nichole--thanks so much for plugging and commenting on the collective layout! Regardez, new links to Barbara and Phi. And finally, everyone go see Jan's new blog layout (it's really fun and original). I think I'm starting to loose some of interest in Anime. It's hard for me to conjure up the same level of enthousiasm as before for it these days. This will sound rather dumb, but back in 2000, when I had just discovered anime via Escaflowne, I had very little access to anime which made each new series I did get to watch a novel, exciting experience. And now? Anime is everywhere! Switch on the TV and there're badly dubbed reruns of Yu Gi Oh, CCS, SM, and kiddy mecha series. Stroll through campus and you can drop into Anime Extreme and rent anime. Turn on the computer and you can download anime. Go on Amazon and--bank account permitting--you can buy it. Open a newspaper and you can read yet another article by some bespectacled film critic on how he would like to draw your attention to the superiority of Japanese animation to American ones. Duh! Anime, anime, anime. I'm so sick of it! I need a break! ^___^. From now on, I only want to watch 2 hours of anime per week (ie., a volume of Great Teacher Onizuka, a delightful series). Got to go (Joseph Andrews awaits).
May 30, 03 | 01:42 a.m. | Feeling: Pooped.
Well, the test didn't go too well *smacks forehead* I guess we'll see...
No classed tomorrow, but my day is jam packed with errands to run, and I've booked off all afternoon (and perhaps evening) to hang out with Dolphin at the Island. Funnily enough, I just happened to watch one of those Heritage shows on TV: it was about the history of the Toronto Islands. Can't wait!
May 25, 03 | 11:10 p.m. | Feeling: Another inane report
So cool result! So, what have I been up to lately? Well, not a whole lot. On Friday, Dolphin and I went to China Town and repeated our over-the-top, 3 hour-long luncheon ritual at various places in the area. Due to the SARS scare, Toronto's China Town felt positively deserted. There was a noticeable lack of sidewalk congestion: greatly diminished are the throngs of new immigrants, shabbily-dressed bohemians and shady looking pimp daddies. I felt a little bit deflated, since part of the fun of going to China Town is to get lost in the crowds, as one would in Beijing. While walking back, I chanced to come upon an anime store. It's called Anime...umm...what was it again? Anime Extreme? Yes, something along those lines. Anyway, it's run by a bunch of Anime fans and they have a great collection of anime DVDs for rent--horray! I got RK, Lain (which bored me to tears...no offense) and the first volume of a series called GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka). The art, humour, and perverted--yet good hearted--hero (Onizuka) reminded me of Psychometer Eiji, but I don't believe there is any connection between the two series. Anyway...I love this series!!! Note the three exclaimation marks. Thanks Mada (belatedly), for your comforting words regarding my blah GPA. Read Willa Cather's My Antonia in one gulp. Currently finishing up Pamela....
May 21, 03 | 11:23 p.m. | Feeling: Okay
Prof. dismissed us 1 hour early because cramming 100 people into a rat hole on a summer night, with the heater ON resembled too much a third-world sweatshop. Gladly, I came home to Yami vol.3 (in which Tsuzuki gets pawed by Muraki not once, but twice. Yaay!!) and Angel Sanctuary OAV (unfortunately, what you said about it was all too true: what a non-sequitor and rather tacky adaption of Kaori Yuki's elegant and absorbing manga. I didn't finish it. *sigh* However, being an obsessed AS fan, I just had to try it out for myself. I have so much reading material to get through. I'm finishing up Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton for my American Lit class. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the characters and plot seem to be a prototype for those in The Age of Innocence, albeit down-graded and countrified. Still, I'm finding it quite exciting to read. Ah, then there's Pamela by Richardson for 18th century class. I've always wanted to read Richardson, but the sheer size of Clarissa has always thrown me off. I'm glad our Prof chose a shorter, more accessible early work for us to tackle. Oh yes, I bought a book on Thyroid disorders because I am very troubled by my Endocrinologists' lack of seeming care and professionalism: she's cancelled and postponed my appointment 3 times now. If she cancels my appointment next week, I'm going to try to book an appointment with one of the specialists I found at the hospital directory. I mean, I don't want my Grave's to send me to an early grave! Sorry Shakes, I just couldn't resist that pun.... Blech. I don't know why I'm blogging; obviously, I don't have all that much to talk about right now. Amy, I sent it today ^__^
May 18, 03 | 11:09 a.m. | Feeling: ~
 Happy 15th Birthday Nichole!! You've left Miss Utena in the dust and joined the proud ranks of 2 priestesses, 1 pacifist, 1 psychic, and 1 witch^__^.
May 17, 03 | 12:05 p.m. | Feeling: Shocked
I just checked my marks online...Oh my God, I think I must have done horrible on my exams because all my year-marks are MUCH lower than I thought. *weeps à la Serena* WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I thought I did well on the exams, urg, I feel like such a fool! My annual GPA is only a 3.50. All this means in the end is that I have got to work harder. *sniff* Birkbeck. Dolphin and I finally saw X2 yesterday. I thought the dialogue was the corniest--to see Oscar-winners utter such corny lines as "I have faith in you" and "I don't want to hurt you", etc. chilled my blood. However, despite the sappy lines, I enjoyed the movie as a whole!
May 12, 03 | 09:35 p.m. | Feeling: Fagged.
What a tiring day! I got up bright and early to babysit a precocious little princess--who was an angel until she got tired, and bam, what a hideous transformation. "I'll hit you! I want my mommy! This is my room, get out! I don't wanna play!" Fucking Christ, I had forgotten how much I hate kids. I mean, I love observing them at dinners/get togethers--from afar...but up close...*cringe* I'm babysitting all week. On top of 2 summer classes (they're in the evenings) and volunteering. It's starting to look bleak again--but then again, I love being kept busy. Heh, I should just stop complaining now. Edit: I forgot to plug Amy's blooming (or should I saw wilting?!) Ayashi layout! The lines and blending of this one feels sharper and more defined than the last one (this is a style that I like very much). I'm happy to hear that you finished Trigun! Glorious, glorious, glorious series.
May 11, 03 | 03:52 p.m. | Feeling: Tickled pink.
Lol, someone did a search for "Ugly layouts" and my blog came up as #5. Yoshi!
May 10, 03 | 08:14 p.m. | Feeling: Very mad.
Thank you SO much for pointing out yet another wallpaper thief to me. Why. Why are people stealing my stupid wallpapers for their stupid backgrounds, and direct linking them? I e-mailed the girl in question, politely of course; hopefully she will take the background down. As a precaution, I'm going to delete the wallpaper section from my Vash shrine, tonight, and re-upload them onto a brinkster account. Don't you just love the extra, needless work that theives make you go through to fight them?
May 10, 03 | 12:30 p.m. | Feeling: Sated
I realized that I don't really have any money to shop for clothes/books...so I'm watching anime instead^^; Last night was perfectly relaxing.
I also watched ep. 8-12 of Wolf's Rain (all I have at the moment). I think the plot has picked up steam, and the characters are starting to gain loveable (or, at least, interesting) personalities. Unlike WHR, this series has its small share of humourous moments. The music--oh--the music is wonderful! With the exception of the opening "Stray" (which I absolutely can't stand!), I've fallen in love with the score. Even though the main people behind WR are from Bebop, I felt a stirring nostalgia of Escaflowne when I was watching the latter eps...thanks to Kanno's music. Yes, Laine, I'm coming around to this series. Gotta go and do some real work now^^;;
May 9, 03 | 06:16 p.m. | Feeling: Jubilant
Socialness! Aki, I made this layout with you in mind, so I'm really glad you're enjoying it. BTW, that guy in your layout is striking a very cool stance #_#. Amy-chan, I'm really sorry to hear about the inanity and pedantic pickiness of your co-workers. Grr. I guess we just have to think of it as a means to an end--ASU! Di, I know this will be belated...but I say you tell your crush how you feel about him and let the situation resolve itself. Personally, I love it when guys and girls are open about their romantic interests--honestly, who has the time to be coy and hesitant anymore? ^^;; Ohh...people think you're an alcoholic? Please don't be offended, but that strikes me as humourous: the typical image of an alcoholic is just so far from a pretty young thing like yourself! Also, another great (dark, smokey...) layout. Holiness: Lainie's new collective layout is so beautiful. I noticed that it garnered a huge amount of admiration from the SS Boards. Leigh, I'm so sorry that you are ill *sends positive thought waves in your direction* And Nichole, it was terrible to hear about your school transfer problems. I'm really sorry; I know how important academia is to you *hug* Whee, thanks Marion, and Aeka for thinking me interesting enough to link. Gotta go; need to eat, shower, and generally vegetate.
May 9, 03 | 12:53 a.m. | Feeling: Out of steam
Minna, I am NOT yet done my exams (tomorrow is my last one), but the urge to blog was overwhelming! First, thanks for the bracing support and well wishes guys! Thank you, thank you--in my darkest hour (ie. alllll week long^^), I only needed to re-read your comments to feel reassured once more! Tomorrow, I'll cyber-glomp in more detail. Boring stuff below, feel free to skip. I almost have no energy left--and I still have to study SO much (this course, my least favourite, covers materials from Chaucer to TS Eliot, needless to say, I'm just about boggled out of my mind, craziness!). My Dad told me to just familiarize myself with the works I already did essays on, or knew pretty well. The list is very unimpressive. It's rather late now to worry. Speaking of worry, I have so many gray hairs now, even my friends are starting to take notice. Not only that, I'm also losing it--I think it's all due to the stress and general unhealthiness of cramming to 2 AM! Today was bad, I had no energy to continue studying--until around 5 PM when I suddenly woke up and went into panic mode. Watched Ep. 3-6 of Wolf's Rain (thanks to my efforts, my Mom has been hooked on anime, and she's figured out how to download stuff--which I couldn't for the life of me). Well, very beautiful series--and musical score (dare I say it?) is on par with that of Bebop--but the pace is too ponderously slow for my taste. I've been fantasizing about the things I want to do after my exams.
Gotta go and cram some more!
April 29, 03 | 12:34 a.m. | Feeling: waves
April 28, 03 | 01:23 p.m. | Feeling: Alert
Gackt and Hyde both star in Moonchild...umm...can we say total fanservice? I hope it's not years and years before it comes to NA theaters because I'm really curious to see their acting skills. The American examples--Britney, Mariah, what have yous--have so far been belly-flops (from what I hear).
April 28, 03 | 01:00 a.m. | Feeling: Moo
More Laruku goodies from Jan! Now I really regret deleting all my Laruku MP3s when I last cleaned out my files ;_;. Look who's back! Darling, I'm so glad my little e-card helped lighten the burden of all those exams. Well, now you are finished so you can relax!
April 27, 03 | 11:34 a.m. | Feeling: Patient
Oh, and the "heroine" was irritating, IMO.
April 26, 03 | 01:00 p.m. | Feeling: Refreshed
Hey! I got some sleep (finally) and I'm feeling much more like a human again. I was almost tempted to see just how far I could go without sleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow(s), I was a goner. Some of the interesting effects of sleep deprivation that I noticed include:
Gee, those symptoms can also be applied to PMS =_=; I'm not repeating that experience any time soon. I've missed too! I'll make an effort to be on MSN tonight (the usual hours) and maybe we'll catch each other then. Hehe, it's been so long that I can't even remember the list of things I wanted to say. It'll return to me, doubtless. Silly girl, you shouldn't feel guilty about not blogging. Of course I'm always delighted to read the newest happenings in your life, but I don't want you to feel pressured to post. This brings me to a semi-tangent: I'm saddened that Rhian (whom I don't actually know) feels burned out by the new blogging community. Me, I too feel a bit lost by the influx of anime bloggers, and new domains that have little original content, but for better or worst, the revolution we're seeing in the anime community keeps things interesting. OMG, Kirsi's snake is damned gorgeous (shed skin or no)! I'd love to see more pics of him in the future. You're latest post seems to lack the...je n'ai sais quoi...poetic fluidity of usual. *pets* I hope you'll find food soon. Pam, I usually avoid anime series that portray happy kids doing fun things in highschool, because that WASN'T my experience, and seeing it always makes me pissed off somehow. *sigh* Rubie, lol, that's a sick anecdote but very useful to know (because our addition has an ant problem). I usually have to kill 3-4 black ants per day. The problem is that that room has badly constructed walls, and bird food always gets on it despite cleanings every morning. Grrr, I used to be scarred by the ants, but now, upon familiarity, I just hate them. BTW, new Boys Next Door layout! I hope that the lime colours are not too bright on your eye. Lawrence is a very memorable character. He has Setsuna's fighting spirit, but Kira's philosophic maturity. I love how he never sees himsels as a victim, despite the fact that by society's standards, he's a victim twice over. I like this layout because it's clean and compact. I wanted to add some random panels of Sensei at the space on the wide margin on the left, but it looked too cluttered ;_; Maybe I'll do an Andrian layout next.
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[[ QUI EST LÀ? ]]
[[ ABOUT THE BLOG ]]
Today's layout is based on my fanart of Astarte, one of the aristocratic Satans from Kaori Yuki's Angel Sanctuary. I only wish I had the skills to do justice to the original beauty of this character. For more info on Astarte, see Sloth. Archives: Entries since August 2001. [[ READS ]]
Aeka @ Temple © = Nearest and Dearest [[ POSTS AT ]] © SS Forums, © Resonance, © Memory For You, Kyoryoku, Metropolis [[ JOINED ]]
[[ RESISTENCE IS FUTILE ]]
 
 
[[ FANCY ]]
Current Anime: Great Teacher Onizuka, Scrapped Princess, Trigun
[[ TECHNICAL ]]
Hosted by Pitas.com and BlueNET! My blog has been online since Aug. 30, 01. *wooo! -_-;*
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Petshop of Horrors (DVD, 4 eps): I finally know what 
I've officially finished my exams, horrraaay!! I've been looking around everybody's blogs...it seems like I'm one of the last people to finish @_@;; My Major Brit. Authors exam wasn't too bad, although I was rather rushed at the end. The important thing is that I finished all sections. Hopefully, I will be able to pull off an A- overall grade this year. 
Have 
Alias: Rem 
