World Champion
Forgive the simplicity of this layout... ^_^* This cutie
is Wakka, my favorite character from Final Fantasy X. The picture, however,
is from Kingdom Hearts, in which Wakka - 23 in FFX - appears as a
fifteen-year-old. I don't know why, but I plan on picking the game up when
it's released tomorrow. Wakka is a very sweet guy, albeit a bit dense. I
love him for that, and also because he manages to pull himself together even
after everything he's believed in all his life comes falling apart. He even
apologizes to the Al Bhed he was so prejudiced against. Pretty nice of him,
ya?
All-Rounder
Name: Christy DeShong
Birthdate: 8-2-82
Hometown: Kalamazoo, MI
Interests: Anime, writing, reading, yaoi, DDR
Fav. Anime: Cowboy Bebop
Anime Character: Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun)
DDR Songs: Afronova, Oh Nick Please Not So Quick, Gentle Stress
King of Fighters Character: Benimaru Nikaido
Guilty Gear Character: Axl Low
RPG: Final Fantasy X
RPG Character: Wakka
Movie: The Princess Bride
Current Desktop:
Playlist
Switch Hitter
Arcana
Sarah
Kathleen
Aaron
Zach
BBT
Collin
Fox
Katherine, who I don't actually know
but who writes interesting blogs
Boy Meets Boy
Glamour Lust
My Life In Blue
Penny Arcade
RPGWorld
Strange Candy
HP:CoS r0xx0rs
Anyway, the movie. It was awesome. I liked it a bit better than the first one - better pacing, I think, plus the story is tighter anyway. And I actually think they made a couple of improvements to the book, dare I say (most notably the scene where Ron and Harry find out Ginny is in the chamber - they were much less stupid in the movie.) Kenneth Branagh was great as Lockhart, and Tom Riddle was downright hot. Mmmm. Er. Yeah. Anyway. Lucius Malfoy grew on me, too; I didn't think I'd like the casting for him based on his looks but he was really very good. He went to the Slytherin/Gryffindor quidditch game and sat next to Snape, which struck me as being vaguely odd. And Dobby was cute and pathetic, not annoying. I already want to see it again! Come visit me, Kathleen! We'll go to a matinee and cheer loudly when Snape Expelliarmus-es Lockhart! = D Harry Potter!! Agh. Oh yeah!
Thank you for making my day, Tycho. ^_^
...in other news, I left my glasses in East Lansing. Not good. And in even more news, today is Rolonoa Zoro's birthday! = D I think I'll walk around with a katana in my mouth for the rest of the day. Free weekend!
In other news, I wrote an Auron/Jecht fic last night, and I don't think it turned out too badly. I'm going to sit on it for a little while before I post it anywhere, especially since I still haven't figured out how to end it. I mean, it doesn't really end. It takes place in-game so, well, it's really not concluded yet. And I hope yaoi fangirls won't be too upset that I didn't focus that much on the sex. ^_^* There's sex in it, but I was going for a more emotionally driven story than, well, sex-driven. I think I'll show it to Kathleen tonight and get some feedback from her - if my Internet connection doesn't freak out again, anyway.
Since it IS NaNoWriMo, maybe I should break out "Finding the Darkness" again... just start at the beginning and see what happens... hmm. I can always go back and touch up plot holes later if I have to. ^_^*
Oh yeah, I started a new Kingdom Hearts game the other night with the difficulty set to "Expert". While exploring Wonderland, I got fed up with dying every few minutes and restarted so I could just play it on "Normal". ^_^* Call me a wimp, but I really wanted to replay it just so I could see the story again, not because I wanted a challenge. But this time I'm going to attempt to beat Leon and Cloud when I first have to fight them. That should be interesting. I'm still on the Destiny Islands trying to beat Riku and the Tidus/Wakka/Selphie three-way fight. (I said FIGHT! Get your mind out of the gutter, perverts!) Anyway, time to go to campus and work on my articles. Stuff.
I have no idea what it means, but it made me smile. Construction Zone o.O
Anyway, that's why I haven't been online. And why a new blog layout is going to have to wait awhile. Ah well... Now I should really be working on my Japanese stuff before I go to work, but of course I'm not. ^_^*
Oh yeah, and how can you say that *I* forgot to put up your blog layout? = P It's not like you remembered either! ^_^* Anyway, I'm sure I'll see you again before too long. Maybe you'll have posted enough to need an archive by then. Whee. Happy Halloween. This is pretty neat...
Anyway, yes, I can bring my memory card when I come visit. (Do you want me to keep calling you "Kathleen" or should I start going with "Ares"? I doubt many people read this blog who don't know you already, except the ones who do weird search referrals like "Kimahri yaoi" and "Oriya sex fantasy".) Err, and I still need directions to your dorm. Yes, knowing where the hell I'm going might be nice, heh.
In other news, the Halloween store seems to be entirely out of swords of any kind. I might be stuck with my old beat-up katana. Oh well, I can always put it in my mouth. That'll be fun.
And I'm still thinking about changing my layout, but what to put on it? Riku? Saionji and Touga? A scan of Wolfwood looking badass from a doujinshi? (If I went with that it would be a very black-and-white layout, which might look cool but I sort of want something colorful this time.) Oh well, no rush. Click on me! You know you want to!
In other news, I may have to change my layout (already?!), because looking at Wakka makes me think of FFX-2 which makes me want to die. And I don't like wanting to die. If only I had Ansem pictures... Maybe I'll go for bright colors and something a bit more complicated this time. Woo, I'm psychic.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. So I headed off to study for a kanji quiz, and forgot about it.
Forgot about it, that is, until I was headed home. I wasn't paying much attention to the radio but as I turned onto Oakland, what should come on but - you guessed it - "Breakfast At Tiffany's". Isn't that odd? w00t!
First off, fighting the Night On Bald Mountain guy was SWEET and caught me TOTALLY off-guard. Rather unfortunately, I was so strong from leveling up beforehand that I killed him, and all subsequent bosses, fairly quickly. Ah well. Ansem is still totally, totally sexy.
As for the ending itself, I have mixed feelings about it. If they don't make a sequel within the next couple of years I'm going to be a little bit pissed, because it really needs one. ^_^* Especially since poor Riku got locked in a room with Mickey Mouse. God, he's going to go insane before long. Er. ^_^* Anyway.
The "secret" at the end was SO SWEET. Riku! Looking slightly older and very badass and cool! Yum! I hope it means that they ARE making a sequel, and that it's Riku-centric, because that's what it sort of looked like.
I still don't understand who Cloud was looking for. Aerith, I guess, but you'd think he would have found her well before the game ending. ^_^* Oh well, that clip was still really cute.
I need to eat now, and then start plowing through all the anime piled up I need to watch. ^_^* Poor, as usual ^_^*
I tried new sushi - eel, egg, and salmon or something. It was all surprisingly good, although I liked some more than others. I also picked up Trigun Maximum 7, Hikaru no Go 4 and 5, a Yami no Matsuei CD, and a present for Crysta. (I don't think she reads this, but just in case she does, I will refrain from saying what it is.) The YnM CD was a very pleasant surprise. I was a bit afraid it would end up not having any of the really good BGM on it, but... it has ALL the really good BGM! When I heard "Shiden no Hitomi" playing, I was already feeling like it was worth buying, but then it ended up also having the Creepy Hisoka Music, the pretty Kyoto music, the Devil's Trill, Amethyst Remembrance, and some really haunting vocal ones I can't quite place. I was just starting to think that the Suzaku-summoning music would make the CD absolutely perfect when... guess what came on? ^_^ It made me so happy.
Hanging out with Kathleen was fun too, as always. Some day maybe we'll get sick of each other, but it hasn't happened yet. I got her through killing Yunalesca and going back to Bevelle, and then found a couple more Jecht Spheres, so she's seen pretty much all of the FFX plot. But she has not gotten on AIM yet. I hope it's just because she got caught up watching Angel and not because anything is wrong. = /
Anyway, my next paycheck is going ENTIRELY into my savings account!! Geez.
Oh well... Spirited Away tomorrow! Yippee! And spending way too much at Mitsuwa! And not getting any sleep all weekend! Oops. Mirage of Blaze
CPM picked up the show. I am going to go broke, drowning in a sea of debt with nothing but my anime DVDs to cling to. Isn't this always how it is?
In other news, I plan on applying to go to JCMU this summer. It's about $5600 for the ten-week program, but I can get loans if I have to. Japan, here I come!! Needs
I need RikuxSora yaoi.
Dammit.
The really annoying thing about it is that I've been reading everything on the Internet I can find about what to do when you start getting Disc Read Errors, and they all say to use a CD lens cleaner or, if that fails, to open up your PS2 and clean the lens yourself.
I did both.
It STILL DOESN'T WORK.
I'm just plain at a loss right now. I really, really want to be playing Kingdom Hearts right now and instead I'm just sitting here frustrated. Gaaaah. I don't know what to do. I'm almost tempted to just go out and buy a new PS2 right now - that's how badly I want to play this game. Scary isn't it? Sigh. Arrrgh! Plans, plans, plans Kingdom Hearts... More archiving, more layout-ing.
Saturday, November 16, 2002
01:14 a.m.
I have the Dark Mark on my arm. Give a girl free time, a Sharpie, and a Harry Potter obsession, and this is what happens. It looks pretty good too, I think, although my snake is still too cute. ^_^*
Friday, November 15, 2002
12:32 p.m.
Gah. I want to go see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I want to see it with Kathleen and cheer fangirlishly whenever Snape is onscreen. But I have to work all weekend and she lives an hour away and so it will not happen. = / Hopefully I'll be able to go to it with my parents tonight, at least. I'm going to draw the Dark Mark on my arm. Hee. I'm already practicing but dang, every snake I draw is just so darn cute! I need to work on that.
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
12:39 a.m.
Oh my god, I think I have a crush on a 14-year-old boy I talk to on IRC. Eek.
Monday, November 11, 2002
04:54 p.m.
"Last Thursday when I was over to write the strip, he [Gabe] was doubled up on the floor, curled into a crescent shape like a huge baby. He suggested that he might be unable to do a strip, so intense was his agony, and I told him he'd better rub some dirt on it because this isn't fucking Megatokyo."
Friday, November 8, 2002
10:32 a.m.
The only homework I have for this weekend is typing up my articles for the Zasshi... which should be fun, although the tanuki/raccoon one might be a pain since I'm going to have to look up a lot of kanji for it. (Sigh.) But once I'm done with that my weekend will be pretty darn open. I have no work until - seriously - next week Friday, at two. I'm not sure what to do with all this free time. I think I'll go type my articles at the computer lab in a little while, then maybe go to the mall or something and fill out some job applications. Tomorrow is Miss Saigon at two, and then I very likely might head back out to East Lansing to visit Kathleen. (It's not like it's a very long drive, and her roommate and her fiance (the roommate's fiance that is) are going to be gone.) I should ask if the parking garage has free parking on weekends... Unless this is a game weekend. I don't know. ^_^*
Monday, November 4, 2002
12:08 a.m.
Sunday, November 3, 2002
10:05 a.m.
When I came home from work yesterday evening, it was to the discovery that every single object that had previoudly been in the den (aka computer room) had been taken out and was somewhere else in the house. Turns out my parents had bought a new bookcase and computer stand and were totally rearranging everything... and also that my dad had (again!) tried to install RAM in the Vaio and killed the motherboard. He set the IBM up last night, after we accomplished the interesting task of assembling the new computer desk. It was actually kind of fun - I got to pound nails. I'm horrible at it though ^_^* I can never hit them in straight.
Friday, November 1, 2002
11:58 p.m.
Halloween was fun, even if plans kept getting screwed up. ^_^* Oh well, hanging out with Kathleen is always entertaining. Speaking of which, I'm posting so she knows I made it home without getting into any accidents or getting lost or anything. Now I have to go to bed, since I work at 8:30. (Yay.)
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
10:20 a.m.
I love Wednesdays. Only one class, and it's at two. Sigh. Time for rest, relaxation, and watching a bit of "Witch Hunter Robin".
Monday, October 28, 2002
10:17 p.m.
...okay, so Kathleen has started actually USING her blog, meaning I will link it in the sidebar. I'm glad, 'cause I think blogs are a good way to keep up with someone when you're not talking to them. And I like hearing my friends rant, it helps me know them better, I think. I now have Halloween plans with her (yay!), and just came home from a great vacation to Cedar Point and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, and am eating some homemade (well, it was in a packet) egg drop soup. So all in all, good times. ^_^
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
04:16 p.m.
So this morning, as I was sitting at the light at the Howard-and-Stadium intersection, "No Rain" by Blind Melon came on the radio. I mused that 103.3 plays a lot of older one-hit wonder type songs, and then thought that it would be nice if they played "Breakfast At Tiffany's", since I hadn't heard it in awhile. Recalling the time I had thought about wanting to hear Smash Mouth's "All Star" mere seconds before it started playing, I waited for a minute after I'd parked to see if it would happen again and "Breakfast At Tiffany's" would magically be the next song played.
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
10:03 a.m.
I just beat Kingdom Hearts! ^_^ I even got up earlier than I would if I had Japanese class because I was so looking forward to doing it. ^_^* Naturally this entry will have some spoilers about the game ending, although I'm going to try not to go into too much detail.
Sunday, October 13, 2002
11:28 p.m.
Spirited Away was really good, which was really not that surprising. It did feel a bit long - I think it was 2 hours and 20 minutes or so ^_^* For the most part, though, I didn't notice the length, especially since the chairs in the theater were so comfortable. They were very tall, with lots of leg room, and each row was set high enough above the other that anybody could've been sitting in front of you and you'd have been able to see over them. Aside from getting lost on the way to the theater and having to kill 2 hours because we were late to the movie, I'd say everything went pretty darn well.
Friday, October 11, 2002
01:33 p.m.
I'm nearing the end of my lunch break. I really should have worked on rewriting the article for Japanese, which is due Monday, or at least reading Hard Times, which I have to be halfway through on Monday... but instead I checked webcomics and fed my Neopets. ^_^* I need to do something about my priorities.
Sunday, October 6, 2002
11:26 p.m.
I took my Japanese book and binder to my grandparents' house when we went for dinner tonight... and forgot my workbook. So I have not done the homework. ^_^* I could probably do it right now but I'm tired, so I'm opting to just turn it in a day late. Sigh. I also started filling out the JCMU application. I need two letters of recommendation... and frankly I don't know who to get, besides Fukushima-sensei. The other two Japanese teachers I've had are back in Japan right now. ^_^* That's a problem!
Thursday, October 3, 2002
11:29 p.m.
I have no idea what the title is supposed to mean, but dangit, this show is nifty. I only saw one episode but it featured angsty hot men with their bangs blowing in their eyes, implied yaoi, AND undead samurai warriors. Also it's the first anime I've seen that has both Hayami Sho and Seki Toshihiko and actually has them interact!!! In fact, judging by the opening sequence, they are seme and uke, respectively. It's just weird, since they're both in Ai no Kusabi, Trigun, Please Save My Earth, Captain Tylor, AND Yami no Matsuei as fairly important characters who never actually talk to each other in the series. Well, that's been remedied now.
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
12:03 p.m.
I'm trying to write my Japanese article, about the differences and similarities between the raccoon and the tanuki (or "raccoon dog"), and the English-Japanese online dictionary I'm trying to use is going really slowly and giving me lots of error reports. It's very annoying! I suppose I should have worked on this earlier, but I really should have more than enough time to finish it today, in theory. And I have to look up how to say that tanuki produce a lot of saliva and can eat amphibians normally protected by toxins. That's a lot of new vocabulary. ^_^*
Sunday, September 22, 2002
12:38 a.m.
I need money. I need direction in life. I need goals.
Friday, September 20, 2002
02:27 p.m.
So all yesterday I was getting all excited, because I don't have any work or school on Fridays, meaning - yay! - I could play Kingdom Hearts all day long. But apparently it was not to be, because my PS2 has died.
Friday, September 20, 2002
10:34 a.m.
My PS2 is sick. Every now and then it would have a lot of trouble loading, and freeze and start making odd noises. Sometimes it would keep loading after a bit and sometimes I would have to reset. Now, however, it just plain isn't reading the game disc at all. I've tried several games, so the problem is the PS2 itself and not the game. I suspect it just needs to be cleaned - I took a peek at the fan and it's practically caked with dust - but I don't have any means of doing that. I can't seem to find a cleaning CD, only means of cleaning your games, and the games aren't the problem. Maybe I just need a more general CD-player cleaner. Hmm. Looks like I will be wandering over to Best Buy soon.
Thursday, September 19, 2002
11:43 p.m.
Robin and I have made tentative plans to go see Spirited Away in Chicago on the morning of October 5th, and then go hang out at Mitsuwa the rest of the day. Right now we're thinking about going to the 11:30 show - which is 12:30 our time. Yes, it's early, I know. Sarah, I'm sure you'll see this before too long - let me know if you're interested in coming along, and pass the info on to Matt too. Maybe Jason too, but... I wouldn't mind him going, but I also don't want the entire anime club to end up there when we are. I'm sure you understand. ^_^*
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
11:59 p.m.
kicks ass.
I wish I didn't have to go to school tomorrow so I could play it all day long. ^_^*
Monday, September 16, 2002
07:50 p.m.
Just archived the latest batch o' stuff. I'm going to put the new layout up now too. It's very simple but it's got Wakka so I like it. ^_^*