Which Fruits Basket Character are you?

[[ April 3, 03 | 12:57 a.m. ]]

I'm so sorry to hear that your mother is feeling unwell. I truly hope she'll get better soon.

Gee, it never rains but pours (literally, in the case of Toronto these days). Anyway, I got a brand spanking new look up at Echelon. Now, I don't want to touch PSP/1st Page again for a LONG time!

I think part of the reason why I've been spending so much time on my sites lately is because it's a distraction from all the shit that is going on in the world. Initially, I was watching/reading the news daily for the latest developments in the war, the SARS outbreak in Canada (with a mortality rate of 3/4%, I'm not *that* concerned...still....), the Quebec elections, the amazing rise of the Canadian dollar, the anti-war protests, the deepening gap between the PM/Liberals and the American government--what have you. I was not trying to overload my brain with all those Issues, but it seems like everytime I turn on the TV, or the radio, or open a newspaper--BAM. Breaking news. Well, I'm really fed up. I'm at the point where I just can't bring myself to care about what happens next.

My personal life is going just fine. I'm a bit stressed about exam preparations but I'm not at the eleventh hour just yet. Oh! Gee, I got tons of new anime. As I was saying to Aki, I got Yami no Matsuei vol. 1 (DVD) and fell in love with it. YnM (the anime) is like a breath of fresh air--despite its bloodiness. After a string of mediocre anime (Ai Yori Aoshi, Veda, X), this funny, sexy, suspenseful and well animated has rejuvenated my love for anime. Umm...what else. Clover #1 (neat! I think I'll get the rest), Fake (<--cute, not as sexy as YnM despite what one might think...want to get the manga...hurry up TokyoPop *kick*), and FB #3. Lol, of course I'm way behind in my readings now!

I'm cleaning up my hardrive again. Actually, I moved all 600 MB worth of CLAMP images onto a disc, which is something I should've thought of sooner. I also deleted tons of files. Hopefully, my screen will freeze less now.

Wow, I'm not sure if I've already plugged Leigh's gorgeous new layout; that stuffy old Greek God has never looked better.

I saw a French flick the other day on TV, called, errr. Une Pique-nique sure l'Osiris or something like that. It was pure fluff, a bunch of French ladies go to Egypt circa 1900. The plot was so silly (but kawaii) that it could've fit in with all those campy Hong Kong movies. Still, since it was French, the movie had undeniable flair and style.

[[ March 30, 03 | 08:44 p.m. ]]

Lol, my online self also defeated my real self. Okay, enough with the silliness.

[[ March 30, 03 | 08:42 p.m. ]]

Lol, sorry I defeated you.

[[ March 30, 03 | 08:12 p.m. ]]

I love your new KKJ layout! It's warm and feminine, yet I also feel a sense of urgency and action to it as well. And you changed your layout again (wow, this blue one is one of my favourites ever).

Trin, I sent the MO a few days ago ^_^.

Instead of reading Virginia Woolfe and Burke and Wordsworth and some anonymous Old English monk, I've spent my weekend reading a fantasy novel, Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn, and W Juliet. Coriel of Summers is a really engaging heroine. I knew by the second page who she would end up with (....umm...I also read the ending before hand XP). This is definitely a light "shoujo" read; it doesn't demand much emotional involvement from the reader except to sit back and be entertained. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the writing though. I think Shinn also wrote a semi-religious novel called Archangel which I want to read next. Oh, and W Juliet is SO good! Initially I thought it was going to be a lesbian-themed manga, but I'm glad to say that it's not.

I went to see the opening of Madama Butterfly on Friday w/ J-kun. I can't say I was moved to catharsis, but I enjoyed the music immensely. I'm rather broke at the moment, so I can't get the CD...but maybe I can borrow it from the library and burn it (*ducks*).

[[ March 26, 03 | 07:59 p.m. ]]

Look, it's finally done! Unrelated: why is it "Ralphie-kun" and not "Raphie-kun"? Wow, what a deep thought XP

Got a haircut yesterday...I'm not trying to be like Frank Churchill here, but I need to rant: the lady who cut it kept 1. brutally yanking my hair 2. chat about her failed relationships 3. chat about her failed relationships. Gee, I hope my old girl is still around 'cause I'm not seeing that bottle-blond bimbo again.

Aki has moved. Blink's new layout is very beautiful--as always. I'm glad I can access it again. Hikari, that's such a cute and cosy new layout. Nichole also has a sweet new CCS layout. Sarah-neko got a Sailor Moon tattoo--that's so unique, so cool!

Damn, you're professor sounds like a jerk. I'm glad that he's giving you the chance to write another essay, but I think it's so unfair to reject your paper just because of a difference in opinions. I'm sorry that your hardwork did not pay off this time *hug*

[[ March 24, 03 | 10:19 p.m. ]]

Thanks Pam for agreeing to host my new wallpaper site! *sigh of relief*

I just read on various peoples' blogs that Spirited Away won the Animation Oscar. I haven't seen the film yet, but I'm excited nonetheless. Hopefully, having the highest film institution in the US award an Anime film will help make anime more mainstream. I really want to see more anime on TV, and more manga available on bookstands--and have my friends stop asking me "isn't anime porn?". Still, if anime becomes mainstream and popular, I might feel that it will have lost its underground/indie mystique....pray not.

[[ March 23, 03 | 05:47 p.m. ]]

I'm finishing up an ani-manga wallpaper site called Menagerie and I was wondering if there's someone who can host it? Please e-mail me, etc. If not, then I'll just use one of my brinkster accounts...it's all good; no pressure ^_^.

I felt really distressed when I saw the video footage of the American POWs. I hope they will return to their families soon, without too much physical and psychological damage. Yet at the same time, I feel a fresh wave of dislike for Bush, Rumsfeld and his Central Commands--for sending these fresh faced recruits to fight his bloody war in the first place.

[[ March 23, 03 | 11:11 a.m. ]]

Blink-san, like Leigh-san, I'm also finiding that my browser freezes when I visit your blog....

[[ March 22, 03 | 12:23 a.m. ]]

Yay. Week of HELL finally over with. I may have flunked my Shakespeare's test...alas, poor Penny, only thought of the thesis in the last 5 minutes of the test...but fuck that, it's over.

I've been trying to read Alichino; the design is even more beautiful and feminine than Angel Sanct and X. Yet the story is so...unexciting. The characters' faces register only a limited range of expressions. Still, the art is exceptional.

[[ March 20, 03 | 01:54 a.m. ]]

Check out the Sidekick Clique's new layout! I used a chromeless pop up window for the first time; I seriously hope it's working. If there's something wrong with the layout, I would really appreciate it if you could just write me a note in the guestbook. *whew* 'Nuff fun, I gotta finish this essay.

[[ March 19, 03 | 04:13 p.m. ]]

Laetitia, I thought St. George was a fun character, pretending to lose the wedding ring and then really misplacing it. But Cordelia x Edmund? I never really thought about that pairing. There's this playwrite who wrote a Cordelia x Edgar play. What about a slashy pairing...Edmund x Kent? ^___^;;

[[ March 17, 03 | 07:59 p.m. ]]

Wow, I didn't know that Angel Sanctuary has liscenced French translations, selling on Amazon.fr. They don't have Vol. 19 and 20, but it looks like by the end of the summer, all 20 volumes will have gotten translated. The availability is very iff, though. I'm going to check if I can order it from anywhere else. I REALLY want to see Barbiel's story's conclusion.

[[ March 16, 03 | 09:06 p.m. ]]

Laetitia, I did not even realize that you had this amazing collective...wow, where to begin. I love the new Sensei layout. I also enjoyed reading your opinions on the various fictional males at Al Harem. I was so shocked to find that you liked Lupin (the Cinar one), Lord Wimsey, Tintin and Edmund the bastard. I love them too. Edmund, IMO, is a much better constructed villain than say, the petty 2D Don John, and the flat doppleganger Iago. He is also younger and from the fact that 2 Royal Duchesses have the hots for him, handsomer ^___^;;

But say, I have a question for you--and anyone one else who feels like responding--do you find Milton's Satan attractive? My literary spectrum is so narrow that I haven't really read any other works in which he is featured. I think he also featured in Dr. Faustus and The Divine Comedy, both of which I'm very curious to read (in the near future...uh...after exams XP).

Oh yeah, Laine, I've finished Angel Sanctuary up to Vol. 15 (thank you SOOOO much for recommending that Scanlation site!)...and Lucifer-sama has only appeared briefly in one of Michael's reminiscences. Wow, his pre(post?)lapsarian look was very yummy. I liked how his facial features were slightly rounded, giving him a lusher look than his bonier, younger, high school lad version.

I'm not really a Satanist.

[[ March 15, 03 | 05:17 p.m. ]]

Oiy, I'm working hard slowly in digging myself out of a pile of work...other than work, nothing else worth yapping about has been happening: good time to start plugging.

Aki has a yummy new Tzuzuki layout. Leigh's new Schism layout is wonderful for several reasons--the foremost being that she drew the picture herself. Also, a lovely new layout from Sanna.

[[ March 13, 03 | 09:45 p.m. ]]

Thanks Amy for making me feel so much better about myself *glomp*. It sounds really childish, but I just needed to hear from someone that I'm not...well, worthless ;_;. My Dad can be such an insensitive clout sometimes; he did join the communist army when he was like 15 years old, so that must have done much to desensitize him. Still, we made up today. Not in a gooey, sentimental way, but more like "let bygones be". *smiles* So don't worry! BTW, Amy, don't kill me but I'm happy to hear that you're socializing with your co-workers! They sound like an entertaining bunch, maybe in an annoying/immature way, but undeniably lively. I hope the boys won't bug you too much ^_^

Okay, my introductory session with my Learner went well, IMO. I din't feel it appropriate to ask him too many personal questions--even though that's what we were told to do by the co-ordinator. I think he's about my age--so that's good! I was dreading that I was going to be placed with an older person; not because I don't like interacting with older people (au contraire!), but I thought it would prove to be awkward. I'm glad that he seems to be truly interested in improving his literarcy--kudos for him. Oh yeah, and he's also pretty to look at. I say this in a PURELY aesthetic way, of course.

Dear God, I think my medication is atrophying my muscles! Everytime I reach up for a coffee mug, or stand up quickly, I get a muscle cramp. WTF?! Is it the med? Is it just because I've been getting very little sleep lately--or maybe it's because I'm stuck in a chair, bent over writing/typing all day long? Accccck.

Oh! I'm 130 lb again--bummer! But I'm not *that* surprised, considering I've been eating these scrumptious little brownines for the past week. This is the way I see it: Toronto is frozen over 8 months of the year. Bears eat and eat and put on fat to brave the cold. Thus, my weight gain is a sensible method of surviving the Canadian winter.

[[ March 13, 03 | 01:27 a.m. ]]

Jeez Louise, I can't believe I actually wrote that last post. Sometimes, I forget that I'm a 20-year-old WOMAN for God's sake.

[[ March 12, 03 | 10:44 p.m. ]]

I really hate my father at this moment. There, I said it. I just feel like he has been horrible, condescending, mean, mean, and cruel to me everytime we talk on the phone. His rhetoric is always the same--that I'm disorganized, lazy, not well read, careless when it comes to research, little logic in analysis. At first, I felt hurt. But when the rhetoric was repeated, I just felt rather dull--and let it wash over me. But now, I'm seething mad! I was smashing the phone against a dictionary, but the antena got bent! So I had to stop...urg! Baaaah.

Thanks Amy-chan and Sav darling for the nice responses about this new layout ^_^. And thanks so much Kirsti for even signing my gbook! Laetitia, that's really nice of you to say so *sniff*

I'm meeting my English Literarcy learner tomorrow. What perfect timing: I signed up for this volunteer position last fall. And it's now that I'm called into teach, when all my essays and tests are due.

[[ March 10, 03 | 03:12 p.m. ]]

Wowness, a new layout (even though I liked the last one, I thought it was high time for a change). Okay, weekend past, I read Great Expectations and I'm still struggling though Emma. As well, my Mom had ordered RG Veda and Ai Yori Aoshi, so I was like "can I watch it with you?" and she was like "sure". The former is an old OAV (only 2 episodes in existence, WTF!) by CLAMP--actually, one of their first series. The story/characters have so much potential; too bad it's so short. The latter...well, let's just say I didn't even end up watching Ep. 5. Semi-nude females are not my cup-of-tea. I thought that its pretty-looking animation and romantic storyline would guarantee a shoujo series--something light a fluffy to watch on a Friday night--but it's totally not! Eeee, what a raunchy/sexist beginning. No more, I beg of you.

I've got 2 major essays to write, so I'd better get going!