Saturday, January 26, 2002
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!! Even tho this will say the 27th, I couldn't write it till later on the 26th, so...sorry ^_^

Friday, January 25, 2002
Ok, before I get to the meat of my blog entry, I would like you all to go here : ***(http://www.koanju.com/blog/)*** and read the writer's entry for Thursday, January 24th and then go here ***(http://www.ageha.pitas.com)*** and read my sister's rebuttal to it ^.^ It's about shoujo manga.


Anyway, what I wanted to talk primarily about today is my job. Er, welll...not exactly ^^;; I work at the produce/floral department of a Jewel grocery store. Not a great job, not fabulous job, but it pays, and it's something I can do. Now...Shortly after I became to work there I began learning how to work in the floral department, and generally know how to do most things (can you believe I still don't know how to properly wrap flowers?? embarassing). Anyway, there was even a short period of time before I left for Japan that I was actually running the department myself, so I imagine I know how to do a few things ^.^;;

So this guy buys three 3/$10s and wants to put them together, which we can absolutely do in the floral department and simply reprice it....Well...here's one thing I'd really suggest to you folks out there who want floral department ppl to arrange your flowers for you: LET THEM DO IT!! DON'T try to help, ok? Unless you, yourself are semi-experienced in arranging flowers, you will simply be more a hinderance than a help of any sort. *Trust* me on this one people, I know what I'm talking about. This man obviously didn't know what he was doing, and I can't just take over when he's set his sights on doing it primarily himself.

Well I honestly was hoping to be a tad more eloquent with that rant...but unfortunatly it always seems to leave my head no matter how long I think about it in advance ^_^

Now as to the Japanese portion of my entry :P I've watched up to ep 4 of "Sta- no Koi" which starts Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and Fujiwara Norika ^^ Admittedly, this is not the greatest series in the world and the plot is definetly not complicated...but I pride myself on being able to tolerate stuff that's not great *lol* It's cute enough for me, and even if Fujiwara Norika doesn't do that much, I at least can like her better....I've never liked her much since "Love Generation", and I'm not sure why :P At least with this series I can get used to her. THere're a couple more dorama I have my eye on at Akemi-ya (yes I will be submitting myself to "Antique" tho lord only knows why), but I'm really waiting for the winter dramas to come in...because I'm dying to see "Long Love Letter" ^^;;

Thursday, January 24, 2002
So my sister tells me that on her j-ent ML she read that FUNimation got the rights to distribute "Fruits Basket" (god I hate writing it that way -.-).....

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--------------------- Ok ok...sorry there FB fans ^^;; I had to get that out. It's really more from the relief that HanaKimi, SekaKira, Kanata-kara and other series I like were never made into anime series and thus, while they could be forced into translation, I much prefer THAT than having to worry about how they'd dubb an anime series ^^

Actually, I really do feel bad for fans of FB. I'm sure for the most part they're probably horrified...not only because it's being dubbed, but because of the company that's in charge of it. I suppose the "good" thing about this, if anything good CAN be said, is that FB is MORE a typical shoujo story than the mahou shoujo stuff like SM or CCS. What I mean is, the same way a lot of people get the impression that Japanese anime is mostly sci-fi because of what is available, I think girl's anime in America has been more focused on the SMs and CCS's (which is not bad ^^ I'm just saying).

Still, FB does include a "magic" theme, what with the characters being animals of the Chinese Zodiac , so it's not entirely like a typical straight-forward shoujo love story (altho admittedly, not many of the TYPICAL stories get animated...MB is the closest I can think of and that's just...well...read it yourself and find out :P), but it may go some way to giving ppl the idea there are OTHER plots apart from "mahou" theme in shoujo stuff (granted, the love story is general theme the same way fights or sports are with shounen manga).

ANYWAY, also from what Meg tells me, her Josh/Donna mailing list is NOT filled with happy people :P From what she says I have the feeling they are downright livid :P Extremely frustrated with the events as they concern Josh and Donna ^_- My only gripe with "West Wing" in general right now (since I feel the character of Amy is simply a roadblock) is that I think it needs a "goofy" ep...like the "block of cheese" episode ^^;; and the "Cartographers for Equality in Maps" ep or whatever. OR heaven forbid, in respect to Josh/Donna, another "red lights/beer" scene as in last season's "17 People".

Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Don't really have anything to write at the moment, except that I was rummaging around my computer in order to get rid of files (Because, embarassing as it is to say, we desperately need SPACE) and was debating whether or not to delete the file of the Esca movie or not. Granted, it takes up a lot of space, and both meg and I have watched it and probably won't watch it again unless there are extinuating circumstances, but there's this bit of music around minute 26 that I just didn't want to lose. I don't think about it much, but when I do, I always catch my breath ^^;; I finally just figured out what that song is called (FYI, it's "Sora" ^^;;). I don't mean to sound all weird and mushy, but that song is as equally heart-wrenching as it is beautiful...and I'm not sure if that's because it's that way stand alone or because of how the Esca movie ends (which, although I dislike the way both tv and movie end, I much prefer the movie's ending...it's a little more...I dunno...quiet and grand? ) ^^ Anyway...just wanted to comment on it ^.^

Tuesday, January 22, 2002
I got my "diploma" for participating in the Japanese language program at Nanzan this past fall ^.^~~~ It's blue and nice, and opens to the left, as it should ^_-

Along with it are a final kanji quiz (9 out of 10, bah :P), my Japanese history exam (89%) and short paper (A! woo! Booyah Mitford!) and my paper for Japanese Lit (A-, boy I pulled THAT one out of my ass for sure :P)...^.^ I got an A in history and presumably at least an A- in lit, since I only missed one class and got A-'s on both papers.

Well...that's all ^_^ Don't have much else to write about! ^.^v

Monday, January 21, 2002
I should really learn not to read Katherine's blog (tomoyo.pitas.com...give me a break, I don't know how to insert web address yet XD) entries :P (sorry Katherine ^^) because it only ends up depressing the HELL out of me. Well, not REALLY bad, but I miss Nagoya the most when I read her blog. ^.^ Like how she and Jason went to Osu Kannon, or when she went to the Hard Rock and then to the Sega World next door. It's one thing to hear people talk about Tokyo or Osaka, (Been to Tokyo twice briefly and never to Osaka) but when they talk about Nagoya, a place I've been and would like to think I know a tiny bit, it's hard. XD That's not me bitching, Katherine, simply...hmmm what's the word....pining? :P~ I wanna go with you and Jason to Osu Kannon ;.; (the birds there scare me XD Oh, have you ever seen the little "show" they have in the big ass wooden box thing? Where it plays music and shows like...Tokugawa or Nobunaga or whatever? I loved that XD).

ANYWAY, today I thought I would address the "Fruits Basket" issue, simply because I have nothing better to write about and a day off from school. My plan was to sit down and write out something that may very well torture you with it's pointlessness ^_^ So if you don't want to know what the "Fruits Basket" issue is, stop reading. If you don't and still want to read, don't say I didn't warn you. If you do, please continue reading and you get a cookie at the end of the journey ^_^ (okay, that's somewhat of a lie. *I* may get a cookie, but you just get wasted time :P). Anyway, continuing:

Okay, manga Japanese anime/manga fans (particuarly fans that lean toward shoujo manga) know there is a manga that runs in Hana to Yume called (in Japanese) "Furu-tsu Basuketto". I'd just like to say, for such the shoujo fan I am, I don't read this. Tried to watch an ep and couldn't. *Shrug* Continuing: Now, knowing Japanese as I pretend to do, I know that these two words are simply the Japanese pronunciation (Remember that, it's important) of the two English words "fruit" and "basket". I also know that words in Japanese are not inherently plural or singular. "Kimono" can mean one kimono, or many kimono. The Japanese don't pluralize and say somethign like "kimonos" *shudder, hates pluralizing Japanese words* (sorry it just sounds wrong O.o I'm a snob I guess)

Now, as to why a word like "fruit" is pronounce "furu-tsu" as opposed to say, "furu-to" or something, is something I haven't a clue about, but I do know that "furu-tsu" is not an implication of the number of "fruit" there is. It's like "boot" in Japanese is "bu-tsu", or peanuts butter can be "pi-natsu batta-".If the Japanese want to sort of pluralize an English word in their language, they usually do it with "zu". Example, the title of a dorama, called "Brothers", is "Buraza-zu", in Japanese, or the music group "Southern All Stars" is "Sazan O-ru Suta-ZU", etc. Get my drift here? The only exception I can think of is "sports"...which is pronounced in Japanese "supo-tsu". But I'd argue in English, we rarely EVER say "sport", the singular, to begin with.

Now, my problem is that every time I see someone write on their page, or in their blog, etc., that they like "Furu-tsu Basuketto", I ALWAYS see it written "Fruits Basket". Okay, WHY?! I understand that this may be what is written in English letters on all the merchandise, and for the Japanese I can excuse it. But for people who are native speakers of the language(English, that is), and can theoretically read some Japanese, I don't understand it. I ADORE "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e", but I don't go around calling it "For you in fulls BlossomS", simply because the English on the merchandise says "BlossomS"...I know FULL WELL that in English you would NOT put the "s" on the end of "blossom", so why the heck should a speaker of the English language says "fruits basket"?! Do we, in English, often SAY "I bought a fruits basket"!? No O.o We don't. We say "fruit basket", and I think if someone is going to say they like "fruits basket", they'd darn well better say they like "fruits basketo", if they want to be anywhere close to correct with the title.

But I digress, if I'm just not getting it, and the author is totally going for a pluralization of that word, then I'm absolutely in the wrong and completely willing to admitt it. I have no problem being wrong, I just wanted to air my annoyance.

Gah I had something else to blog about...something to do with my friend Mai and the number of manga meg and I have...and our discussion of what it means to be "otaku", but I'm blogged out at the moment. If I remember it well enough I'll blog about it tomorrow ^^

Saturday, January 19, 2002
O_____________________________________________________O

*******HIKARU NO GO SPOILER SPACE********************

I just finished "reading" Hikaru no Go chapter 147. OKay, by "reading" I generally mean perusing it first for the basic idea of the story/dialogue and worrying about the details at a later time ^^;; It's the general way I work when reading manga. I'll do a "look through" first to get the idea and then actually READ it later on ^^

Anyway, as I said above, I just finished, er, perusing, the latest chapter up on http://home.kimo.com.tw/amemura1/, where I'm following it since I'm not in Japan. I sort skipped over the first pages, because they're dialogue heavy, and I wanted to get to where Hikaru and Akira are playing (as I said, I'll go back later ^^) and everyone's talking about going to lunch (even though Akira and Hikaru are still playing) and Akira starts saying some surprising things! Of course, to get this part, you should of course know that Sai disappeared in volume 15 and hasn't been heard from since. hmmm maybe I'll just write it out:
Akira: (as Hikaru's getting up to go to lunch)....sai.
Hikaru: !
Akira: Kimi to utte ite netto no "sai" o omoidashita. (I remembered the Sai that played with/against? you on the net)
Hikaru: Touya Ore wa "sai" ja nee ze..zannen dakedona. (Sorry, but I'm not "sai".)
Akira: ....Kimi da yo (It's you)
Hikaru: Touya?!
Akira: Mou hitori no kimi da (Another you! ) Mou hitori irunda, kimi ga, deatta koro no Shindou Hikaru. (There's been another you since we met ) Kare ga "sai" da ([That other person] is "sai")
Hikaru: !
Akira: Gokaijoude, 2 do boku to utta...kare ga "sai" da. (The one that played me twice at the Gokaijou was "sai") Kimi o ichiban shitteiru boku dakara wakaru....Boku dake ga wakaru. Kimi no naka ni...mou hitori iru. (Because I know you the most I know. I'm the only one that knows. There's someone else inside you )
Hikaru:
Akira: ....iya nandemonai. Okashina koto o itteruna, boku wa (No, nevermind...I shouldn't say such strange things).
Hikaru: Touya ga Sai o mitsuketa. Imamade ore shika shiranakatta Sai o...Sai...Touya ga omae o mitsuketa. (Touya found Sai. Sai, until now only I knew about you...but Touya's found you ).
Akira: .........
background words : Kimi no naka ni mou hitori iru. (There's someone else inside you)

GAH O.O And there's where it is!! !.! Poor mom and dad, who were watching the Bears/Eagles game, and suddenly I'm shouting ^^;; I can't WAIT for the next chapter. Having just "read" volume 15 of HikaGo I'm really distressed with Sai's disappearence, even though I knew it was coming. I'm not saying Sai has to stay around forever, but Hikaru never was able to say goodbye, nor did Sai, really. I just feel like I need some closure, in that department ^^ I can't have that Sai has just completely disappeared and won't make a final appearence.

*******HIKA GO SPOILER END*************

Anyhoo, today we went to Mitsuwa. No real reason to go. Just that mom mentioned it and it got into my head, so I wanted to go ^^ Thing is, I made a mistake. I wanted to buy Shounen Jump, but then I thought I saw the new issue of Hana to Yume and I HAD to buy Lala...so I got thoes...only to discover later that the HanaYume was the same one megan bought ;.; Still, I wasn't positive the HikaGo was in that issue of Jump and I can always read each issue online, so it's not a huge deal. I was mostly concernced with Lala, since the new chapter of "Kanata-kara" was in it ^^ (yay! *loves Kanata-kara*. The thing I hate is that I had to wait two months BEFORE to get this issue and now I have to wait for the April issue of Lala for the next one ;.; This is why it's taken so long for the volumes to come out. Right now there are only 12 volumes of Kanata-kara in more than 3 1/2 years! That's slow even for monthly manga zasshi!

Anyhoo, I also bought Utada Hikaru's "Final Distance" and Kuwata Keisuke's "Shiroi Koibitotachi", which were two songs I loved while in Japan, but never bought ^^;; I'm really happy to have them, but I wish I would also have bought Tokio's "Dr", because I thought it was a great song. I didn't want to spend that much money ^^

You know...it's kind of sad going to Mitsuwa XD After being in Japan, the manga selection there depresses the HELL out of me ^^;; Especially the shoujo section ;.; *sob* The shounen selection isn't TOO bed, except they don't have #1 of ANYTHING ^^

Friday, January 18, 2002
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY CAME! THEY CAME! THEY CAME! *dances around happily* WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XD For those of you wondering what all the excitement is about, about 3 weeks before I left Japan I sent a box 'o stuff home ahead of me (via surface mail), and I've been waiting....and waiting....and waiting....for it to FINALLY manage to arrive here. Actually, Megan was slightly mean and sneaky about it ;.; She picked me up from my "Cultural Diversity in Dress" and as we left the parking lot she says "Boy it's boring to look in the mail and not find anything."
Okay admittedly this should have clued me in right there. As it is, I'm quite tired today and just wasn't paying attention, so I just voiced my general displeasure at the fact it was taking so god-damned long for our boxes to get here ^^ So we get home and put my stuff down in the kitchen (when I usually put it in the dining room or our room) and started looking through the mail...finally Megan just looks at me and grabs my arm and says "You're so annoying!!" and pulls me into the living room, where I see her box open and manga stacked on the floor, with mine sitting beside it, as yet unopened. XDDDDDDDDDDDDDdddd

"I was waiting for you to look through the mail and probably look up and see it!" Meg says to me :P I dunno what we're gonna do with the rest of the manga tho O.O There's no room to put it all where they can be seen. Which means selecting certain volumes to be put out of sight, which we don't want to have to do ;.; *shrug* Oh well...

Thursday, January 17, 2002
ACK ^^;; So Megan found out today that in the Korean DVD release of "Il Mare" (still don't know the Korean title. Meg has it written down in her notebook, but she's still uncertain if that's the correct way to "romanize" the Korean) it has English subtitles!!!! O________O And here we thought it was a good deal getting the Japanese subtitled version that comes out next week! !.! Megan e-mailed a guy frantically asking what region code Korean DVDs are in :P~~

Tomorrow I will finish the first week of school in 5 1/2 years that I have not had a Japanese language class. It's weird...because on the one hand I've really noticed it, but on the other it's completely slipped my mind. I'm not sure how that works out, either ;.; Maybe I haven't noticed quite so much because I have a class about Japan that is taught by my Japanese sensei. *shrug*

So today I was reading a drama list for Fuji's Winter 2002 dorama, and all I have to say is : DAMN YOU FUJI!! There are at least 4 series I at least want to check out (actors include Katori Shingo, Tokiwa Takako, Kubozuka Yousuke, Fujiki Naohito etc.), I know Akemi-ya won't get them all, but this is just ONE channel!!!! AGH!!!! It's times like this I wish I weren't such a sucker for love-story dramas...because that's what gets me into so much trouble ^^ As many other kinds of dramas as there are, there are always a plethora of love story ones ^^ which megan and I are quite fond of. Because of this, we spent a fair amount of money each "season" (there are winter, spring, summer and fall drama seasons) forking out money to rent, usually, at least 3 series. ^^ We still have yet to catch up on fall dramas, and the winter season just started last week! ;.; gah!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2002
^______________^ I found the song "We Must Say Goodbye" today! For anyone who hasn't read my blog (and I know that's all of you ^_^), when I was sti"ll in Japan we went to see a Korean film, with the "Japanese" title of "Il Mare" (it has a different Korean name, that I don't know ^_^). ANYWAY, it has this GORGEOUS song in it that I could never find using Morpheus or WinMX, so I got AudioGalaxy and JUST today thought of trying to find it and BOOM, there it was ^^;; It's sung by a guy named Kim Hyun Chul, who has a fantastic voice, IMO. It's just a damn shame I don't understand Korean ^^ (It was fun watching a Korean movie with Japanese subtitles XD).

Bah, Meg and I are both thouroughly pissed. -.- "The West Wing" was pre-empted here because of Bradley University (a university over in Peoria) basketball. I just about FLIPPED, especially when Lauren tells me Josh and Donna hugged! I'm not a huge basketball fan to begin with, but that just sours me completely :P~ I hate being surprised that "West Wing" isn't going to be on because of stupid basketball -.- It'll be re-run on Sunday, but it's not like watching it Wednesday night, with everyone else in the US that's watching it *sigh* What can you do, ne?

So tonight at work (I work and inexplicable shift of 5:30-8:30) I find a note left for me by the floral lady....Well not LADY really, she's a little younger than me, I think, but runs the floral department. Bear in mind I did the same thing for a couple of months before I left for Japan...in other words, I KNOW my way around the floral department without someone to lead me by the hand. Anway, note reads:

Things to do:
water
dust
finish processing load (2 boxes)
put roses in cooler
**no exceptions**

Excuse me? No exceptions?! WTF?! O.o As if I didn't do this job a year and half before I left, and ran the department a full two months before she started? @_____________@ Like I'm *******12******** and have to be told I have to finish this stuff? It doesn't even take 2 hours, let along writing "No exceptions". %$@$@%#$^%$ girl!!!!!!!! >_________<

Tuesday, January 15, 2002
^____^ Meg and I are freakishly relieved ^^;; We're both in a class called Nations and Narrations, which is about Japan and taught by the same teacher as for our Japanese language classes. Last night we were thinking how weird it would be if he called us by our first names or Miss Thompson O.O/ Having been taught Japanese by him for this long, and always being called Thompson-san, that's what we were used to. Well, as it turns out, that's what HE is used to as well :P He decided that in order to make it a more "cultural" experience for the class, HE , at least, would refer to everyone by their last name +~san, which is a massive relief to Meg and I. Although, that still doesn't clear up the problem of what we call HIM O.O I'm used to "Thomas-sensei" and I can't imagine myself calling him Professor Thomas any more than I can imagine calling one of my teachers in Japan Mrs. Ootomo or something O.O!

Anyway, speaking of this class....my sister and I are the only ones in it that have like ANY idea whatsoever about Japan O.O Not that this is a bad thing, it's just surprising....although, on second thought, I guess not. This IS a class that fills a GenEd requirement, but for Meg and I it's both GenEd, major requirement, and personal interest ^^;;

Ah! This evening I was reading vol. 22 of "Itazura na Kiss" and about half-way through I noticed something ^^ I'm not sure when it started (this is testament to my careful reading skills :P) but I noticed that Chris was speaking Kansai-ben! FYI, Chris is a girl from England who turns up earlier in the manga and Kotoko is afraid she likes Naoki, but turns out she likes Kotoko's old friend Kinnosuke who'd had it bad for Kotoko for YEARS. Anyway, she and Kin-chan end up dating and I can't remember when it is she begins speaking Kansai-ben, but I just remember noting it this evening! That completely makes up for the fact all her words are written in Katakana ^^ I think, anyway ^^

Tuesday, January 15, 2002
^____^ Meg and I are freakishly relieved ^^;; We're both in a class called Nations and Narrations, which is about Japan and taught by the same teacher as for our Japanese language classes. Last night we were thinking how weird it would be if he called us by our first names or Miss Thompson O.O/ Having been taught Japanese by him for this long, and always being called Thompson-san, that's what we were used to. Well, as it turns out, that's what HE is used to as well :P He decided that in order to make it a more "cultural" experience for the class, HE , at least, would refer to everyone by their last name +~san, which is a massive relief to Meg and I. Although, that still doesn't clear up the problem of what we call HIM O.O I'm used to "Thomas-sensei" and I can't imagine myself calling him Professor Thomas any more than I can imagine calling one of my teachers in Japan Mrs. Ootomo or something O.O!

Anyway, speaking of this class....my sister and I are the only ones in it that have like ANY idea whatsoever about Japan O.O Not that this is a bad thing, it's just surprising....although, on second thought, I guess not. This IS a class that fills a GenEd requirement, but for Meg and I it's both GenEd, major requirement, and personal interest ^^;;

Okay now I've had about a million interruptions trying to write this...-.- So I've lost track of my thoughts...^^

Monday, January 14, 2002
^____________________________________________________^

ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA KATHERINE!!! (tried writing that in kana but when I copy and pasted it, my comp went all weird O.o) I received my copy of "Hikaru no Go" vol. 15, the mini-"Hikaru no Go" calendar, a new idol card Katherine made me of Hikaru, and a kick-ass piece of "Harry Potter" Japanese fan-made stationery ^^ kya!!! chou ureshiindesu!!!!! ^.^v

I haven't really read vol. 15 closely yet, but I knew what was coming a long time ago...almost two months by now. Still that doesn't really make it any less sad reading this volume ;______; It's like reading the end of "The Amber Spyglass" even when you know what the catch is with the "tears" ;.; You know what's coming, but that doesn't mean it's any less heart-breaking when you do. I won't say any more than that, for those of you that aren't that far along in HikaGo....but it's NOT happy ;.;

So I've decided that Jon's cat is a bad influence on Zoe. He's the kind of cat that's so nimble he can go and jump ANYWHERE he pleases and Zoe...well Zoe's just NOT ^^;; Well, he's been jumping on all of counters and the table and even the old refridgerator (the kind they had to buy ice in to keep it cool ^^)....so today, Zoe gets this genius idea that SHE can jump up that high and proceeds in attempting it. Now, I LOVE this cat...I adore her, but she's just NOT built for jumping like that ;.;

Anyway, must go ^^

Sunday, January 13, 2002
^.^v Finished reading "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones. Re-reading, more specifically ^^;; Meg and I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and I was looking through the "teen" section sort of out of nostalgia ^^ And there it was ^^ The catch to this book is that I read on nausicaa.net that in 2003 Studio Ghibli will release it as a movie ("Howl no ugoku shiro" XD...god I love literal titles), so I thought I'd refresh my memory. From re-reading it, I can see how perfectly this book is for Ghibli-fication ^^ It's got that wonderful quirkiness to it that works so well! (I love books by Dianna Wynne Jones ^^ There're only a couple I don't much like) My only beef with it is that Miyazaki isn't writing the script, but he IS executive producing it ^^;;

All right...I'm pissed. The People's Choice Awards were on tonight and "The West Wing" was up against "Law and Order" and "ER" for Best Dramatic Series.......and "ER" won -.- GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid "PPL"!!! *drops bricks on ppl* GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, I have nothing against ER, really. But "The West Wing" is so much better than ER ;__;

Anyway, new subject ^^ Last night I was watching this program about Ellis Island, and it just reminded me how much I wish we could have gone there during my high school chorus trip to NYC. We went to the Statue of Liberty and were SUPPOSED to go to Ellis Island, but in the end didn't have enough time ;.; I so want to go there, since it's such an important part of what made America what it is today, such an important part of our history. Places like that really get to me ^^;; Just to be there and imaging the millions and millions of people that went through those doors on their way to a new life in this country ;.; It's wonderful! O.O!

gah, school starts tomorrow. uso----------- O.O

Saturday, January 12, 2002
*glomps her sister* THANK YOU MEGAN XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I am totally, throuroughly, UTTERLY in love with "Itazura na Kiss" XD *hugs Kotoko and Naoki* The one thing I'd have to say about this manga though, is that Naoki is a bastard XD He's just damned lucky I understand COMPLETELY how shoujo manga works or I'd HATE him. For anyone who'd read this or any shoujo manga and get fed up with the guys for being mean, or the girls for being a cry baby, or whatever else, they obviously don't understand the dynamics of shoujo manga....That or they understand so completely that they're sick of it. I, on the other hand, don't find myself getting sick of it any time soon!
<> Speaking of this manga, it's quite amusing in volume 3 when Kotoko comes upon the "Anime-bu" (the Anime Club) at her university. I'll try and scan the pic and put it up here some time because that picture, my friends, shows EXACTLY what connotation the word "Otaku" conjures up: a small, dirty room filled with dirty, geeky guys who do very little else than sit in that dirty little room. People, it is NOT a title to be proud of. I'm sorry, but it's NOT.

WOO!! OUr unversity sent money BACK to us O______________O Seriously, things like that don't happen! First at Nanzan we get that 30000 yen back and now I get a check from ISU for nearly $700! O_____________________________O That means with this weeks pay check I'll have nearly $1000 without blinking! !.! It's great and all but it hurts too! Just think of all the extra crap I could have bought in Japan if I'd known this money was coming to me! O.O Ah well, all for the better I suppose, ne? ^^;; I need to save money desperately for A-cen, Otakon, Sha-chan's wedding and just paying back my student loans ^^;;

Gotta go!

Friday, January 11, 2002
Woo! Can finally watch the Kouhaku Utagassen tonight ^^ Mai's family taped it, but we weren't able to borrow the tape until yesterday, and of course we can't watch it without Talia ^^ Of course I'm miffed that V6, Kinki Kids, Arashi and SMAP aren't on it (gah, stupid Goro), but there are some groups like Chemistry, Gospellers, Ulfuls and Re:Japan, and others that are pretty good. My only gripe about it is...well...Ayumi -.- Why ruin a perfectly entertaining evening with her? I'd rather watch the Enka singers than her! Ah well, it'll be enjoyable enough ^.^v

So last night I started reading "Itazura na Kiss". Meg's been collecting it forever and finally has all of it (well, "all" of it being relative. The author died before it was finished, although the "final" volume apparently ends in a place that could be considered an end? Correct me if I'm wrong) so I figured I might as well jump right in. Actually, I figured out I have a bunch of series in our room I haven't read yet, and most of them are long (HanaDan, Massugu ni Ikou <--tho I've read the first volumes, Koisuru 1/2, Itazura na Kiss, etc.) I finished "Reading" volume one last night. I really have to start reading manga more carefully...I just have this habit of getting through them enough to understand the story, but not to catch all the details....which I imagine would make me love them even more, ne? Anyway, thus far I really like ^^ Naoki is your basic shoujo manga bastard, which means I liked him right away, and Kotoko is your average shoujo manga heroine, which means i liked HER right away as well ^^ (I don't have high standards...basically as long as they're not the characters of "GALS", I'm ok ^_^). My sister loves this manga, which means I am likely to adore it as well ^_^

Speaking of manga, it was really funny yesterday when Mai came over :P When the three of us were sitting in the living room just talking and the subject of manga came up momentarily, she asked if I had gotten all of "New York New York" (I think last summer she had read part of volume one when she was spending the night) and I told her with GREAT enthusiasm that yes, I had gotten all four volumes (I ADORE New York New York, it's fantastic).

For those of you that may not know, "New York, New York" is the story of Mel Fredericks (he starts out 23, if I remember correctly) and Kain Walker (25), two guys in their 20s in New York city, both gay. Kaine's the kind of guy that isn't really looking for a commited relationship and Mel...well Mel has never really had it easy with relationships ^^ This manga is basically about their relationship and both of them finally finding their true love ^_^ It's great!!

ANYWAY, So Mai asks me this and I say yes and how much I love it, and she goes "But they're gay"...and sort of trails off. Ok, thing you need to know about Mai...I know she's not homophobic, but I think she just doesn't get how people of the same sex can like each other, if you get my drift. I've never known her to have a bad word about gay people, she just doesn't get it. So basically I told her she should really read it, because it's a great manga, and not graphic.

Anyhoo, gonna go for now ^_^

Thursday, January 10, 2002
O_________o I am stuck between the obvious disdain and obvious ok-ness of last night's new episode of "The West Wing" (entitled: "H Con. 172") ^^ This is particuarly because I, like my sister, am a big Josh/Donna fan XD

First off though, Josh's side story about wanting to go out with Amy was not the focus of the show, ne? The episodes main focus was Cliff trying to get Leo to accept a deal tostop the hearings (meaning no one would have to testify about what they did or did not know. Doesn't leave the president's wife from having to speak in front of the AMA of course), in exchange for censuring the president, an official condemnation for hiding his illness. Of course Leo won't accept this, even though it saves his career from possibly being ruined by what the hearings would reveal.

It was really great to see Leo being all loyal ^^;; Of course, that's what you come to expect from these characters, ne? "I take a bullet for the president, he doesn't take one for me", Leo says at one point ^^;; I know that some people criticize WW sometimes because the characters are TOO good....but honestly, I love being able to watch a show in which I just LOVE the characters, which is exactly what "West Wing" is ^.^;;

I suppose the only thing I can complain about is that I almost feel like this wraps up all this trouble too neatly. Like it was building up to something big and this was sort of...anti-climatic, you know? So now they just want to concentrate on Bartlett's run for the presidency for the second time ^^;; STILL, I'm sure there will be a lot of elements from all this turning up later on ^^

Anyway, the side story was about Josh wanting to go out with Amy who...well I forget what she does ^^ And on the one side, while it has all us Josh/Donna fans freaking out (particularly when they kissed. UGH O.O None of us want to see him locking lips with anyone other than Donna) on other hand it's like "Well, here's an interesting obsticle, I can't wait to see how it'll ultimately work out, because I don't think ANYONE thinks Aaron Sorkin will abandon that part of the story (Josh/Donna ^^ I mean).

On another subject, Mai came over this afternoon to visit before she leaves for college and to gives us our b-day gifts ^^;; We knew that she was giving us this manga series called "Miracle Girls" by Akimoto Nami, which is about this set of twins with ESP ^.^v (it's really cute so far) but she also gave us each an HP shirt ^.^

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^.^ Unlike most ppl, since we were in Japan, we weren't Potter-ed out from over-exposure, so I was THRILLED! Mine's red and says "Hogwart's Quidditch" on the front, with a crest, and says the same on the back with the crests for WAthe four houses on the back. Meg's kinda looks like a baseball shirt and says "Gryffindor Quidditch" with the Griffyndor crest with two brooms crossed behind it, and on the back it says "Potter" with the number 7" ^.^ kya! sooooo kewt!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2002
^______________________________________^ Woo!!!! I got a Nengajou!!! *dances around in bliss* I've never received a nangajou before ^.^ (FYI, a nengajou is a New Year's card that people send in Japan. It's a very big deal. Something akin to Christmas cards here) u re shi i------------ ^.^/ I got it from Ooishi Ryohei. ^^ When I went with my host parents to Shimada this high school student came over in order to practice his English (I think he's 17), and he was really nice, with VERY good pronunciation ^.^v So yay, 39 Ryohei!!!

Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Meg and I went to visit our mom's fifth grade class today to tell them about our trip to Japan ^^ They recently finished reading "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", so we also showed them how to fold them. That was....interesting. It's pretty fun because most of the students are great, it's just those one or two you feel like smacking around because all they can do is mouth off-.-The nice thing was that we were able to unload some of our Japanese change onto the kids :P We had a massive amount of 1 en left over so we gave 2 each to about 40 kids, which leaves us still with WAY TOO MUCH O.O

Where are our boxes?! COME IN THE MAIL DAMMIT!!! ^.^

P.S. KATHERINE O.O If you are reading this *big, pleading eyes* If I send you money in March can I get you to get me the HikaGo artbook?! PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEEEE?! *glomps Katherine's leg* PLEASE PLEASE O.O

P.P.S. Also Katherine....don't forget when you mention your friends that live in Illinois XD Since we live here too I thought you were talking about us at first (when you said they were..ahem...tipsy XD) *lol* :P~~~

Monday, January 7, 2002
XD So I'm re-reading volume 3 of "Mahou o shinjirukai" (because of course our boxes have still not arrived so I can't re-read volumes 1 and 2 over again yet ^^), and I'm just delighted with it all over again. It's just sooo...great ^^ I love Saburo- and Hinata (yay a Hinata I can like. Why everyone thinks "Love Hina" is so great is beyond me O.O It's cute enough, but not nearly endearing enough as people led me to think). I'd really like to try and write a story (not a fanfic, mind you) based on this manga ^^;;

That's about it for now ^^

P.S. I miss Japan soooooooooooooo much ;.;

Sunday, January 6, 2002
Why with the Pocky?

Okay...I don't understand the Japanese anime fan obssession with Pocky. I'm a fan in my 7th year, and still I don't understand it. Even in my early fandom when I didn't know I had easy access to it it wasn't all that big a deal to me.

So, uhm, why do people get so worked up over a bread stick with some chocolate/vanilla/strawberry etc., stuff on it? Particuarly when there are snacks of the Japanese variety that are much better (IMHO) than Pocky (I'm more a Toppo person myself ^^). But still.... what's the big deal with Pocky. Someone e-mail me and explain it please, because I don't get it :P

Saturday, January 5, 2002
Okay, I am just going to complain today XD Not really complain...more like a mini-rant. O.O

I really really don't like the term, "bishy" (also occasionally spelled "bishie"). As in, it's like nails to a chaulkboard for me. Call me elitist, call me a snob...call me whatever you like, but that term drives me nuts. I guess because it's "fangirl" Japanese...or maybe just because I study the language and sometimes tend to get all purist. Which is completely idiotic of me, especially when I occasionally Anglify some Japanese words myself (like saying "chikan-ed" tee hee hee ^^;;). Still, for some reason, this word drives me NUTS @.@ It's worse than regular fangirl Japanese X.x
Well, enough of that rant...

So theoretically Meg and I are going to try and make Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which has a base of soba noodles instead of cabbage, like your typical okonomiyaki. The unfortunate thing is that we won't be able to put "mochi" in it, like we had it at this small restaurant near the Irinaka station when we were still in Nagoya ;_; That was so good. I'm so afraid I'll never be able to have Okonomiyaki like that again.

I just finished watching what I assume was the movie "There's No Business Like Show Business", starring Marilyn Monroe and Donald O'Connor. If you know me, you know I LOVE "Singin' in the Rain", in which Donald O'Connor co-stars with Gene Kelly (sp? -.-) and Debbie Renolds (sp?). Anyhoo, my point is, he's a supporting role in that film and I've never seen him as a film's main character and love interest ^.^;; (this is because I haven't seen as many old movie-musicals as I wish I had) yay! I really like Donald O'Connor quite a bit, and I really liked what I saw of that movie. Should go rent it, I'm thinking ^^

Friday, January 4, 2002
So I was able to get into the class of Thomas-sensei's that pertains to Japan ^^;; Since my major is semi-Japanese related (it's REALLY difficult to explain about my major ^^)he was more than happy to request an over-ride so that Meg and I could get into his class (yay! sankyuu Thomas-sensei!). It's great because it's a class that's a GenEd requirement but also counts toward my major ^.^v

So in my e-mail from my penpal Yui from the middle of December that I just replied to (we always take time between mails) I noticed something that I hadn't the first time I read it:
Turns out this Sunday she's going with a friend to the taping of this dinner show of Tonisen's O_________________O I just about D I E D when I read this. GYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IKITAI O.O I want to go so much *sniff* TAKE ME WITH YOU YUI!!!!
*sigh* ^^;; Yui's a great penpal because she loves V6 (has been to several concerts), loves Miyazaki movies (has been to the museum and shaken hands with the man himself!!), and loves Harry Potter (wah, she has the Griffyndor) ^.^v...Well that, and she's just a really nice person. But she makes it difficult for me not to be jealous of her XD

Prufrock came home from the vet's today. Poor boy XD Had to go in early to erm...what's the best way to put this...to get his manhood taken from him XD Mom was just getting too irked with him and all his antics and couldn't wait until his scheduled appointment on the 16th ^^;; Poor kitty ^^

Woo Talia's home from her Florida trip. She is now good to go for rollercoasters (usefact: they're called jet coasters in Japan ^^)! Woo! So now we can go to Six Flag's with no trouble (well, except the fact the Shockwave BITES).

Allrighty, done ^^

Thursday, January 3, 2002
Ok, so I just spent over an hour adding a manga list to my blog ^^;; Took longer than I thought because I decided that putting them in alphabetical order was a GOOD idea ^^ Done that before, but that time it was by author. This time I thought it would better to do it by title, seeing as I usually remember manga more from the title than the author (unless you're talking about something like HanaKimi, Mars, Hikaru no Go, Inuyasha, etc.).

Meg and I rented and watched "Spy Kids" last night. My favorite reviewer had said this past summer that it was just an overall nice, cute kids movie, so I'd wanted to see it since then, but never went to the theater. It was just coming out in Japan when we left, but of course, it's already on video here. ^^ Anyhoo, my general opinion coincides with his. I thought it was really cute, and I love the message about how important family is ^^;; (I love buddy movies and sibling/family is important movies...but with this movie it's better because it has that added aspect of adventure, which is preferable in the "family is important" category ^^).

So we went to register for classes today XD BOY, it was, as we had anticipated, a pain in the ass. Not quite as bad as I thought, but I think that was because we went so early on the first day the registration re-opened. It's weird to go to registration and NOT add a Japanese class tho *sniff* Still, I believe that Meg and I can study on our own, by reading manga, watching dorama, translating, going to see Mai's mom, etc.
Pretty much all of the classes I'm taking are the required classes you have to take to graduate. I'm hoping to get into two other classes...one of which would go toward my major but is also one of the required GenEd classes. The teacher is my Japanese sensei, so I'm really hoping he can slip me in on it ^^;; The other class is a GenEd requirement and is taught by the father of one of my best friends :P So I'm hoping maybe she can beg him for us XD

From there we went over to Jewel (a grocery store chain) where we went to see the manager who had told us since the day we left that we could have a job when we came back. We gave them our hours (or as best as we thought) and tomorrow we're going back to fill out some paperwork. One of us may have to work grocery, which I don't really know what that entails...I imagine it's like produce only with grocery stuff ^^ (you know, putting products on the floor). I'm hoping they'll put me back in produce since I can also work in the floral department, while Megan really can't.
Well, I'm done for today, unless I come up with something else XD

Wednesday, January 2, 2002
Gah, my e-mail from Jason was MEAN today.....Okay...not really ^^ He just panicked me momentarily when he said he hadn't taped "Hikaru no Go"...until he explained that it was because it was pre-empted for New Year's stuff ^^ WHEW! Thank god ^^ I'm going to have to kill him if he forgets (sorry Jason XD)

Speaking of HikaGo, I realized I could actually use the calendar now ^^ Plus the Inuyasha one. What I'm going to do with the covers (where I'll put them on the walls/ceiling) is an entirely different matter ^^;;

So I read this manga series Meg brought home. It's a Margaret series by Chiya Toriko, who is the same author as for the NON-CLAMP "Clover". It's called "Tengoku no Hana" (ah, a good, cliche sounding shoujo title ^_^) and about these two characters named Aki and Ruu (ok, I REALLY like that name. So few shoujo girls are named Ruu ^^). They're both artists (ah, echoes of "Mars"...except in that, only Kira was ^^) and Aki's half sister (I believe) was set to marry Ruu's father.
I went through these pretty quickly, so please correct me if I'm wrong ^^.
But in the beginning, the half-sister's apartment burns down or something and she has to come live with Ruu and her father and grandmother.

Anyway, long story short, there are some complications on Aki's part concerning his sister (ewwww, echoes of Angel Sanctuary! blech!) and the fact Aki is pretty much a bastard to begin with (aren't all good shoujo manga male protagonists? Aside from "Massugu ni ikou" 's Akiyoshi-kun?)until he becomes nice ^^ Plus there's the number of times he and Aki ALMOST end up together but don't. ^^

ANYWAY, it's a pretty typical shoujo manga series, which is exactly why I enjoyed it. It was just a chance to completely ignore the world and sit through 6 volumes wondering just how they'd end up together (Because there was absolutely never a question of "If"). I'm rarely, if ever, the kind of person that has to have a complicated story to enjoy things ^^ Just depends on my mood :P