I don't usually talk about political things here, but I am now a huge fan of Representative Dennis Kucinich, who was on the floor of Congress for over four hours this evening, reading 35 articles of impeachment against the piece of shit in the White House. Here is the most recent article I found on the event. Still no word about it at all on ANY of the major news sites. Funny, that...

In any case, I'm going to send Kucinich an email thanking him for having the balls to say what needs to be said, and write my own representative to ask that he support the impeachment. If you want to do the same here's Kucinich's site, and his contact info:

14400 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107

Phone (216)228-8850



( Landel's App Cycle Ad )

LOL

Working on commissions and not visiting the bathroom every half hour or so today. Yay!

I'm more amused than I should be by Rukia meeting Sylar. >:D

Taking a break from drawing to do this cool meme I stole from oceanica:

( Music stuff )

Anyway, posted two new commissions on my deviantArt site. I'm too lazy to upload them and post there here, so I'll just link to DA. This one is for kemono_art, and this one is for mikasaigo.

I'm going to be doing some World of Warcraft stuff for katsudon, jaysummers, and dalac, as a sort of self-promotion. I might wait until all three are done, though, before I post them. Want to try and make them fairly consistent, quality-wise. I haven't worked on any of those today, though. I've instead been doing sketches and thumbnails for a super secret project I'm working on! Actually, it's not secret at all. I just don't know if I will be able to pull it off, so I'm not going to say too much about it. Suffice to say it has to do with "The Crane Wife", by the Decemberists. &hearts

I'm really obsessed with that band lately, partly because they have a beautiful sound, and partly because the stories they tell with their songs are so intriguing! There's all kinds of cool imagery in songs like "We Go Down Together", "A Cautionary Song", "O Valencia", "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)", "Red Right Ankle", and the list goes on and on. *swoons* God, I'm such a dork.

Not much exciting going on, which is of course fine with me. Drawing, RPing at damned (where all kinds of craziness has been going on!), walking the dogs... Today we went on a... like, three and a half hour walk, I think. Geh. I thought it would only take about two and a half hours to get to Boulder Bookstore and back, but I was working on loose-leash walking with the beasts, so that took some time. I picked up a new copy of Howl's Moving Castle, partly because nijiirono (curse her!!) has been trying to get me to app Howl at damned, and partly because I just really love the book and have been wanting to read it again. I think I will bookmark any pages that are particularly pertinent to Howl's personality or history, just in case I actually do decide to app him. I just don't know if I would do a good job, since he's a lot smarter than I am, lol. ^^; Plus, I'm not sure if I should really spend the time to play a second character... But I do love Howl so...

Nick and I started watching Darker Than Black (黒の契約者) the other night. Only watched two episodes, but it was interesting. No fan service or giggling, wide-eyed girls, which was nice. I guess I just don't have the attention span I used to, but I can't watch a lot of anime any more. I still love to read manga, but I just can't deal with the rubbish that goes into a lot of anime. And other TV shows/movies, for that matter. Especially if there are commercials. Then I'm gone. >_>

Um, what else? Obedience classes are going well! I think we have the best behaved dogs there, haha. X3 Although they're also the oldest, so that accounts for a lot of the spazziness on the part of the other dogs. The trainer has all kinds of useful tips and things, though, so we've been trying to employ as many of them as possible. I was doing some loose-leash walking with the dogs in the park yesterday, and this one woman (who has a rotten little ankle-biter of a dog) was like, "Oh, doing some training?" I said, "Always. The training never stops." Because that's how it is if you want a civilized dog. I'd like to try for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test eventually. I think with a little more training Guy has a really good shot at passing. Azu would be a little harder, only because hse was never properly socialized. She can do all the tricks, but she's incredibly nervous around people she doesn't know very well. So she will need a lot more work and time. Hopefully someday she won't be such a wuss. ^^

Nick's picking up pizza tonight for dinner. Yum! :q I'm gonna get back to drawing for a while before he gets home. Maybe I can talk him into watching Howl's Moving Castle tonight...

So, yeah, mostly I've been very busy lately, and when I haven't been busy, I've been RPing on damned. ^_^; Let me try to make this brief, since I'm lazy. In no particular order:

- Nick and I have got shiny new cell phones. The PDA-style ones, with internet and qwerty keyboards and all that snazz!

- We went to Nan Desu Kan, and did a little EMS volunteering, but I was feeling pretty sick that weekend (period cramps), so I wasn't very useful. There were a ton of amazing cosplay outfits, though!

- We've been staying with Rachael and Mike since September 17 or so, and enjoying the company of Rachael's psychotic cats.

- I still haven't really unpacked anything, since I just don't know where to put anything. Plus, we don't have any desks or dressers or anything, yet...

- Nick had been working his butt off looking into cars and car insurance for us. We're currently looking at buying a Kia Rio5. It's a cute little hatchback with amazing mileage and a great warranty. I want orange. :3

- I've been going to kung fu a lot with Rachael, and, while incredibly exhausting, it's a lot of fun. It's such a good work-out, and I think I'm finally starting to adjust to the altitude here. I've gotten through the last two classes without feeling like I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, so I consider that to be a big improvement.

- I'm working on getting some commissions. I don't have my big monitor set up at the moment, though, so that pretty much nixes any attempts to color digitally (my laptop monitor sucks).

- I start my first day of work today at Colorado Canines, a pet supplies shop on Pearl St. in Boulder. I'll only be working part-time for October, but I'll get bumped up to full-time in November. Which is fine with me, since I'll need to get back into the mind-set that I have to, you know, work. X_X Anyway, the place looks like a lot of fun; everyone was super nice, people bring their dogs to work, and the store is funky and colorful! I'm just a little nervous, since I've never worked in retail. ^_^;;

- As mentioned above, I'm having more fun than should be legal over at damned. All sorts of Bleach characters are showing up, so Rukia and Renji have lots of new playmates. >.>;;

- Nick is awesome, but that's not news.

- My moms birthday was yesterday, but I haven't been able to get to a post office to mail her gifts! D8

- We've been riding around a bit on the bikes that used to belong to Rachael and her brother. The bikes are a little scary, though, since I'm used to my Mama Chari, and these are mountain bikes. The gears are a little wonky, and the seat is really high. I bruised my upper thigh on the seat the other day when the gear randomly shifted and almost knocked me off the bike. DX

- I really miss the Family on Sapporo; especially playing canasta with Beth and PJ, and going to karaoke with everyone. I also miss the subway, and how awesome public transportation is there.

- I need to post more to lets_japanese. I'm a bad mod. ;__;

- I've been helping Rachael and David with their Japanese, though I feel bad when I can't give a definite answer. I want to study Japanese more.

- Colorado weather is absolutely beautiful, but so dry that I get frequent nosebleeds in the mornings. O_o It's like stigmata in your nose!

- I posted some new Renji/Rukia art on my deviantArt page. Also, a new ID, FINALLY.

Uhhhh, I think that's pretty much everything of significance. I hope I have more time to keep an eye on my Friends List; I miss seeing what you guys are all up to! &hearts &hearts &hearts

Edit: I can't wait for Halloween, the best of all holidays!!!!!

Edit 2: THIS IS SO CUTE IT MAKES MY BRAIN BLEED.

List all the characters you play in various RP associations, and those who reply may ask whatever questions they wish of the listed characters. Replies will be in-character to those who reply.

landels - Kuchiki Rukia
bl_scenes - Kai Schwarz, Sasha

PJ and I went running the other night, a little after 9pm, and we were running so fast, we got stopped by the cops! WE WERE EXCEEDING THE SPEED LIMIT!!!

Actually, that wasn't why.

Anyway, we go running, and Nick rides his bike along with us, since he wants to get outside, and it's a nice night. PJ and I run 20 minutes, down around 豊平公園 and then back toward the subway station. We walk for a couple minutes, then start another 10-minute run. About 3 minutes into it, we reach the convention center, so we circle around that. Then we hear a car noisily pull up on the other side of the road, a ways behind us, and someone says "こんばんは" (good evening) out the window. We don't really pay attention, though. Then the cars honks, and we see some lights flashing, so we turn to see that it's a cop car, and the cops have gotten out and are running after us!

We stop, and I'm thinking, "HATE CRIME, we're gonna get beat down!!" Haha, but anyway, they come up to us and point their flashlights at us. Then they see that we are foreigners, and they're all like. "......Oh!!!" I ask them what the problem is, and they explain to Nick that there have apparently been a lot of bikes stolen in the area recently, so they need to check his bike's registration number. So the one cop starts asking Nick all these questions - name, where do you live, where did you get the bike, when, etc. The other cop, meanwhile, is apparently in charge of crowd control, because he starts chatting up PJ and me like we're not standing there in the cold, panting. At one point he has the balls to ask me what I think of Japan, and at the moment I want to kick his teeth in and tell him it sucks. I behave myself, though, and we continue our inane conversation while the other guy finally gets around to contacting the station and giving them Nick's registration number for verification.

In the end, all is fine, and they tell Nick, "Make sure you always lock your bike," like he hasn't owned the bike for two and a half years. Just... gah! That's the second time I've been stopped by a cop here. The first time, I was riding a bike, and this time, I'm running! I suppose it says something about the general lack of real crime in Japan, that cops spend their time harassing joggers, but man! Leave me the fuck alone! I was really pissed at the time, but now I'm just amused.

Let's see, other than that little tale, there's not much else to say. Still been exercising (except for today, since the weather was ass and I'm tired); went swimming twice this week, plus that long run. If the weather is okay tomorrow we'll go swimming in the afternoon.

Nick is going out with Beth tomorrow morning/afternoon. They're going to take a pottery class. I wanted to, but I need to save the money, and having some alone time every Sunday doesn't sound like a bad idea. I've always been one of those weird hermit people who needs way more "me" time than most human beings, so it should be nice. :)

Speaking of my sweetie-pie, he ordered a bunch of stuff from Victoria's Secret a while ago, and the package got here yesterday. It contained five bras and two sexy shirts. I really didn't think the bras would fit, since they were D-cups, but apparently my boobs are bigger than they look. O_o; I feel bad that he spent so much money getting me stuff, but at the same time, it was really sweet of him to do that. I don't know why he wanted to get me gifts so badly.

I'm thinking I might drop that last prompt for yaoi_challenge... I just can't come up with something, because the prompt is really specific, and I'm not super familiar with the series. Meh. I'll decide tomorrow, I guess.

I'm thinking of going to bed early tonight;the lack of sleep all last week has probably caught up to me, and I'm really drowsy. I guess that's what I get for staying up til the wee hours chatting with my girlfriend (you know who you are!! ^_~ ).

This week at work was easier than I had expected, since I didn't actually teach 21 classes. That's supposed to start next week, but thankfully there are only 2 weeks left in the month, so I just have to survive that. (=_=) Then Nick and I are off to the Kansai area to see miyabiarashi and explore Osaka! :D I can't wait.

Let's see... Oh, I lost some weight! I'm down to 69kg, which is around 153 pounds. I figure, what the hell, I might as well just post my weight here. I'm a lot more comfortable with how I look as time goes on, and I have put on a lot of muscle... I was considering of posting a photo I found the other day, of me when I was 15 and weighed 98 pounds (down from 135 less than months before that). I don't know if anyone is even interested, since anorexia isn't exactly a fun topic, but it doesn't bother me. Let me know what you think. :)

The 1年生 at my school are adorable, but I think I said that in the last entry. So cute. I have an enkai next Friday, which should be fun. :)

And now, STUFF I REALLY NEED TO DO TOMORROW (in no particular order):
- Get together figurines for the people who requested them, and mail them out for god's sake!!! I'm the worst procrastinator; slap me!!! D8
- Write up damned wiki page for Rukia.
- Upload yaoi_challenge pics.
- Upload stuff to DeviantArt.
- Catch up on all the people I watch on DeviantArt.
- Update my website (though I doubt that will get done).
- Clean the house.
- Type up hand-written edits to the fic-thing Rachael and I are working on.

Okay, I think I'm gonna brush my teeth and crawl into bed.

Happy birthday miyabiarashi! Feel better!

Yeah, so I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, other than crazy amounts of RP that eats my life with its sweet, sweet addictiveness, exercising a lot, and hanging out with Nick, Beth, and PJ, I haven't been doing anything.

I feel, however, that I should comment on the awesomeness that was Friday. It was the opening ceremony at my school (and I LOVE this school), so it finished at 10am, they let me go home after that!! That alone is enough to warrant a "This Day Rocks" label, but then I got home and RPed like a fiend with Rachael, because we needed our Renji/Rukia fix. I cleaned the house in between posting, and moved my computer to the desk. Nick's been using the desk all along, and I sat at the small coffee table we have. But a month or so ago, when I was having those bad back problems, Nick moved my computer to the kitchen table for me. Which was great, since sitting in a chair was easier on my back. But then we didn't have a kitchen table, so Nick offered to switch with me for the last few months we are here. I gladly accepted. ^_^

In exchange for cleaning the house, Nick asked me what I wanted for dinner, so I requested stuffed mushroom caps and pork roast, and it was HEAVENLY. He is such a good cook. Yum! :D Then I fell asleep on his shoulder at Beth and PJ's, and he dragged me home to go to bed early. It was a kick-ass day.

The weekend was cool. More RPing and chatting with people I don't normally get to talk to because of time zone differences. Nick, Beth, and I rode up to JUSCO to get swimming gear for them. I talked everybody into going swimming with me when I go to do laps at the pool, so Beth needed a suit, cap, and goggles, and Nick needed a cap, nose plugs, and goggles. We also got PJ a cap, and I got a new pair of nose plugs. Swimming gear can be expensive, but I think I helped them pick out some nice stuff. :)

We rode the 10 minutes to 豊平公園温水プール (Toyohira Park Pool) yesterday, only to find that it was closed for maintenance, so we decided to try the 白石温水プール (Shiroishi Pool). Which was about 15 minutes in the opposite direction, but, the more exercise the better. It was open, so we went in and I helped Beth and Nick with their strokes for a few minutes, then went off to do laps while they practiced. My upper body is way out of shape after the winter, so I was only able to do 1,100 meters. I should be able to get up to 1,800 or 2,000 by the end of the month, though, if I go twice a week or so. I really miss swimming in the winter, so I want to try and make up for all the lost time.

Today was my school's Entrance Ceremony for the 1年生 (7th graders), so I didn't have to come in until 12:30 (Did I mention I love this school?). I got up at 6 with Nick, but then got really sleepy around 9. Crawled back into bed for about an hour and a half, then had to get ready and get out of the house. I laced my corset up myself, but I can never seem to get it as tight as Nick can. Guess I don't have "the proper leverage". ;)

Not sure when they'll send me home today, or what we're having for dinner. I kinda feel like sushi...

Oh, I only have one prompt challenge left to finish for yaoi_challenge! Out of the fifteen I originally accepted, I dropped one, and finished the other thirteen. Go me! The last one, though... still trying to figure out what to do for it. Anyone ever played "Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne"?

I'm hungry. Gonna go eat a Calorie Mate and think about how perfect the lyrics to "Haunted" (by Poe) are for Rukia. <3

Haven't been getting up to anything spectacular the past few days. We're just wasting time at Chieria from 9:30 am to 3pm (though I usually sneak out early), so I've been sitting on the computers here checking LJ and RPing with katsudon. LJ has really been sucking my life away lately. Its sweet, sweet nectar is just too delicious to resist. XD

Yesterday and today Nick and I rode out bikes to Odori Station (3 subway stops up from where we live) in the morning, then hopped on the subway to ride the rest of the way up to Chieria. Since the weather has been mildly warmer the past week or so we thought it would be a good opportunity to get some exercise, get outside. So, yeah, we did that yesterday, then rode the subway back to Odori in the afternoon. Unfortunately it was starting to rain when we got to our bikes, so we ducked into Starbucks and got some drinks, hoping the nasty weather would let up. Hahaha...

It just kept getting colder and more icky outside, so when we finished our drinks Nick said he was going to take the subway home, then just come get his bike tomorrow or something. I was like, screw the weather, I'm riding home. A little rain won't kill me. It's only like a 25 minute ride, and I'd be going straight home, so I could take a hot shower and get into dry clothes right away. PJ was with Nick and I at Starbucks, so he volunteered to take Nick's bike and ride with me (he said for the company, but I'm extremely boring, so I dunno). Nick of course agreed, because it meant his bike would get home and he wouldn't have to ride in the nasty weather.

So PJ and I took off, and about 5 minutes into the ride the rain started turning to sleet. It wasn't all that heavy, but when you're moving at a good clip you get a lot more rain on you (It's true - ask Myth Busters!), and the wind doesn't help either. We were very cold, and ended up hitting just about every stoplight on the way home. By the time we got back to Higashi Sapporo we were both red-cheeked and sopping wet, and the sleet was turning to snow.

Really, though, it wasn't so bad. I don't mind stuff like that so much. Physical discomfort and pain just toughen you up, so I think it's good every once in a while. And I always have this incredibly dorky thought that, when I'm out in bad weather, or walking a long ways and my feet hurt, or whatever, this must be what adventurers feel like. Like, adventurers from fantasy books or DnD, stuff like that, LOL. Told you I was insufferably dorky.

I still have one more prompt to complete for springkink, and three more for yaoi_challenge. They are, of course, the four most difficult, in that I can't seem to come up with any good ideas. I've done some sketches, but I think, because I don't know the characters all that well, I'm having trouble visualizing how they interact. Need to work on those this week. I submitted my stuff to het_challenge, but the reveal hasn't happened yet, so I can't say what they are.

I stayed up WAY TOO LATE last night, as I mentioned in a previous semi-coherent post, RPing with katsudon, uploading the stuff to het_challenge, and trying to beat Leech FTP into submission. I've been trying to upload some music, but the connection has been either sucking or crapping out entirely and disconnecting me. I'm wondering if maybe it doesn't have something to do with the router settings Nick was messing with the other day... Will have to ask him about it when we get home this afternoon.

We need to buy plane tickets to Osaka this afternoon, or we won't get the "month in advance" discount. Actually, we might not get it anyway, but we'll try. It's my fault, too, for being a horrible procrastinator. I just hate doing crap like that, making reservations, phone calls, yuck. I'd rather clean dirty toilet bowls for an hour than spend a half hour planning a vacation. I don't know why I have such an aversion to that kind of thing. >_>

Okay, about to head out for the day (told you I would be leaving early).

Yesterday was fun and relaxing. After all the exercise I got, I showered and then we went to Beth and PJ's for pancakes. They were so yummy. I think I ate 5, and they were pretty big. Then Nick and I went back to our place, but Beth called to see if we wanted to go out for a bike ride. The weather was warm (about 14C) and sunny, so I couldn't resist. We rode up to 豊平公園 (Toyohira Park), and tried to walk around there a bit, but there was still a ton of snow. The park is filled with big pine trees, so not much sunlight reaches the ground. There was probably still 2-3 feet of snow in most places, so we turned back pretty quickly. Nick and Beth went to Ralse to do some grocery shopping, but I rode home to get my RP on with katsudon.

After Nick and Beth got back, they went for a walk up to GEO, a big game center/movie rental place, and came back with a ton of DVDs. One was "Black Dahlia", so the three of us were going to watch that at our place, since PJ had some league games to play on the XBOX over at their apartment. Nick pops in the DVD, and we're like, wow, this looks incredibly cheap and low budget. I checked IMDB to see who the director of the Hollywoodmovie was. NOT the guy listed in the credits of the DVD they rented. Incidentally, the same guy was listed as the director, producer, and about six other things in the credits. So, we were pretty sure we were in for a treat from this homemade movie.

( These people must have been on a lot of drugs. )

After that fiasco, we went over to Beth and PJ's to watch X-Men 3, then Ultraviolet. X-Men was pretty cool, and I'll never complain about Hugh Jackman wearing wife-beaters, XD Ultraviolet was visually interesting, I guess, but if there was supposed to be anything resembling plot, I think I missed it. The best part, by far, was the Polish Firing Squad scene, heehee! Good stuff.

I had leftover curry & rice for dinner. Nick made it a couple nights ago, and it was REALLY good. I always love his curry, but he put fresh pineapple in it this time, and it was really different. Extremely yummy though.

We went to bed pretty early last night, but I was still kinda groggy this morning when Nick woke me up. He had to go to his school to do lesson planning with another teacher, but most of us ALTs are here at Chieria. They put us here when we don't have anything to do at our schools, so we just sit around in the computer lab and waste time. I'm not complaining, though, since I get to mess around on the internet all day. Unfortunately, Smart Filter is installed here, so I can't check DeviantArt or do instant messaging. Curse you Smart Filter.

Will possibly meet Nick downtown after "work" today, and go to Cafe Croissant for a late lunch/early dinner. I'll be stopping by Animate anyway to pick up something for katsudon. It's a super sexy clear file with Renji on one side! Byakuya is on the other, but, really, Renji is way hotter, and he has his kimono undone in the front. XDDD

Oh, katsudon sent me oodles of music yesterday, and I'm so in love with it! Especially the band, Iris. I had never even heard of them before, but damn, their music is sexy and gorgeous. I also really like - what are they called? Afro-Celt Sound System, I think. Cool stuff! I haven't had a chance to listen to the stuff by Apoptygma Berserk yet, but I know I will have time today. I've glued myself to my iPod, because I'm an asocial toad and I don't want to talk to anyone here.

So, feel free to bother me all you want today! In fact, please do! :D