Ten Years
by V.E. on December 12th, 2011
filed under fyi, meta, personal, recap/review, school, thoughts
I’ve had this journal online, in some form, since 12 December 2001. That makes today my tenth birthday. I’m double digits, guys!
I really wish I’d thought of this ahead of time because I would have commissioned some art or something from one of my artist friends to post here as a birthday present to myself. It’s not every day a website turns ten years old, after all. ^_^
Unfortunately, I didn’t plan anything, so: here, have a clip art birthday (cup)cake instead. (I couldn’t even find one with ten candles haha. One candle, yes, obviously. Five? Yes. Even seven and eight candles, but not ten. Oh well.)
I’m ancient, in internet time.
Here’s to ten more years! I’m sure they’ll be as interesting as the last ten.
holiday_wishes 2011
by V.E. on December 12th, 2011
filed under anime/manga, fyi, personal
I think I may have skipped on this project last year and that’s just plain sad for me, since I really like gifting things (especially things that are basically brand new but have been sitting in my room taking up space for heaven knows how long).
In any case, I’m going to try to fulfill a few wishes this year—I’m pretty stressed out at this point, but I really think I should at least give as well as I (potentially) get AND sometimes giving things (making people happier) helps the mood, anyway. We’ll see.
But, there’s no giving without at least having a list for myself, too, since I also like getting things in the mail!!
1. Mail from other parts of the world. Like, real mail. Honest-to-God letters and holiday cards (Pagan ones, if you have them!) and postcards and whatever. It’s just nice to get something in the mail that’s not a bill, you know?
2. Unused United States Postal Service stamps in any denomination. I send a lot of mail and I will use the stamps you send me. Doesn’t matter if they’re “H Rate Make-up stamps” or “Forever” or whatever as long as they’re not cancelled out (y’know, so I can still use them!). If you’ve had a bunch of old stamps sitting in your drawer because you just don’t want to bother looking up how much they’re actually worth, send them to me!
3. A new battery for my Mac. (I have a 15-inch Macbook Pro.) A long shot, I admit, but I’m just throwing it out there.
4. Anything related to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, especially Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, or Trowa Barton. I actually own the entire series itself (including Endless Waltz), so I don’t need that, but I would love GW icons, fanfiction, fanart, etc. (And I ship 1×2 pretty hard /cough*otp*cough\, just in case you’re looking for inspiration haha.) Also, I cosplay as a Preventer when I attend anime conventions, but my jacket has been worn so much that it’s fraying at the seams… Hahaha ^_^;; I would love for someone to give me a decent pattern for a new Preventers jacket, since the one I used for the first jacket is lost to the sands of time.
5. I really, really love retellings of old fairytales, especially Beauty and the Beast, so if you could point me in the right direction of any versions of fables/fairytales you’ve heard of/know about/have written yourself (!!), I would be very grateful. I already have a lot of versions of my favorite (so many that I can’t name them all), but I’ll happily take repeats. But, just in case you collect retellings, too: the more rare/unknown, the better.
6. I’m visiting New York City in January and I have some decent cold-weather clothing, but I don’t have any good gloves. I’d really like someone to give me some cold-weather gloves that fit my hands. I’ve been told I have long fingers, and it turns out that most gloves I’ve tried on almost fit. I don’t know how difficult it is to make gloves (or find/buy ones with longer fingers), but I thought I would ask just in case someone on this community is a master glove maker or something.
7. My all-time favorite theme park is Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California. I don’t get to go very often (I’ve never had a “year pass” or anything, for example), but I really love saving the park maps from the times I’ve been. I have park maps from the last couple of years, but I didn’t start the tradition of saving the maps until recently, so I don’t have any from the 90s and early 00s (and before!). If you just happen to have a Six Flags Magic Mountain (Southern California) theme park map from any year before 2008, I would be happy to take it off your hands. I know this is a different kind of long shot than #3, but still… If I don’t ask, I’ll never know, right?
8. An image of your favorite tattoo and why you got it (or, if it’s someone else’s, why you like it). I know some people are really protective of their tattoos, so if you’d rather not post your response for the whole community/world to see, please email me at iwasborninjune[at]gmail[dot]com (correct symbols, of course) with “holiday_wishes tattoo” or something similar in the subject heading. If the tattoo is someone else’s (and you know whose it is), please get permission from that person before sending the image to me. I really love tattooing and sort of collect meaningful and unique tats because it’s like a little window into that person’s world; it helps me know them better. I will never post your image—what you share with me will stay with me.
9. My little not-that-little sister is an artist (see her deviantart); she just opened an etsy shop and is anxiously awaiting her first orders. She doesn’t have a lot of stuff up yet, but I think it would really boost her confidence if she got more views and maybe even a couple people to buy some of her work. I humbly request that you click through and see for yourself is her jewelry is your style, and—if it is—please buy something! If you have a friend who likes jewelry, please pass the link along. I’d really appreciate it.
…and, last but not least…
10. Anything from my Amazon.com wish list
non-book | writing
fiction/poetry | nonfiction
words/maps | fairytales
feminism | natives
religion/spirituality | self-help
socio/psych | shoes/boots
In shoes, I wear a US woman’s size 10 M. (It’s in sections because I organize like someone with OCD, but if it’s not kosher to have more than one link, let me know and I’ll fix this post.)
Thank you so much, guys and gals!
Here’s my address:
[REDACTED]
Also, if you grant a wish of mine, please feel free to link to your list so that we can all share the love! Thanks very much again.
Holiday Card Call 2011
by V.E. on November 3rd, 2011
filed under fyi, personal, writing
This is my third annual Winterthing Card Call. (For reals!)
If you would like a holiday/winter card from me, please email me your real name and address and I’ll send you a card in time for some major holiday that’s coming up faster than I’d really like it to.
Send me your name and address and I will send you a seasonal card (I make new ones ever year… or have them made), complete with yearly update and all.
My email is iwasborninjuneATgmailDOTcom… but with the actual symbols, of course. Please put “Winterthing Card” in the subject heading so that I don’t delete your message as spam.
Out of country addresses are fine. (I live in the USA.)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
AX 2011: the Rundown
by V.E. on October 20th, 2011
filed under anime/manga, fyi, recap/review
This is the main page, so to speak, for all my Anime Expo 2011 posts. I tend to be lackluster in writing up what I think about (and even just recaps of) the events I attended and cool things I saw, but my goal this year was to finish all this before attending Yaoi-Con, which is this weekend! I… have succeeded!
So, without further introduction, here is my multiple-post Anime Expo 2011 recap and review.
Dated: July
AX 2011: Day 0
AX 2011: the Loot
Dated: August
AX 2011: the Video Rooms
Video Rooms at Anime Expo 2011, over at Otaku Project
Dated: October (about time!)
AX 2011: the Panels
AX 2011: Anime & Manga Studies Symposium
AX 2011: the People!
Photos
More photos of the convention on flickr
In case you ever wondered
by V.E. on August 7th, 2011
filed under fyi, health, personal
Dear children,
This is what happens when you aim for someone’s head and hit a fucking doorjamb. I do not recommend it, and many of the customers at work now think I’m a miscreant. I guess I am, sometimes.
Photo taken a couple days after it went down.
It took me two swings to figure out the guy’s moves, and I didn’t miss after that. So, two good solid punches… one with each fist… right into a doorjamb… this it what that looks like.
I’m just a doll, aren’t I?
The (off duty) EMT who looked my hands over afterward told me it was a miracle I hadn’t broken them. My knuckles sting every time I move my fingers or wash my hands and everything up to my shoulders is sore as hell.
Don’t try this at home,
V.E.
One Paragraph 0
by V.E. on July 28th, 2011
filed under fyi, meta, one paragraph
I read and watch and otherwise consume way too much stuff in a month to review everything the way I want to, so I’ve come up with this “one paragraph” category for short reviews that will be a paragraph or less each and will be grouped in batches of… probably five or so. There’s no schedule of posts for this… When I have at least five short reviews in one post, I’ll post it; otherwise, not.
So here’s how the reviews will look and what they could contain:
———
Title of book/movie/whatever (date I finished it)
Appropriate link in the title for your information. Why I picked it up in the first place. My impressions; what stood out to me; what I liked and didn’t like. Whether or not I’d recommend it to anyone else. No summary (that’s what the link is for, after all). All in a paragraph or less.
———
(Repeat x4)
I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I feel obligated, for some inexplicable reason (it’s not like I don’t already have enough to do), to log and respond to the movies and anime I watch, the books and manga I read, and the events I attend. I want to remember when I watched/read it, and I want to remember if I liked it or not. But, I don’t have time to write an in depth review of everything, and—in some many cases—I don’t want to, either. I want to do all that and also not feel guilty for not doing it and/or not doing something in the first place because then I would have to review it. Second, and more simply, I need to practice being more concise in my thoughts, and this is a good way to do that.
I’m not going to go back and do anything that’s already past because that would partially defeat the purpose of this new (for me) type of review. In any case, look for some short reviews here in the near future!
Japan
by V.E. on April 2nd, 2011
filed under anime/manga, fyi, politics
Okay, I know this is a little late in coming, but yesterday (and, yes, I know it’d have been late-ish yesterday, too) I was fending off fucking idiotic April Fools Day nonsense. I seriously hate that holiday (if it can even really be called that). No joke; I hate it.
Anyway, the point of this post is to alert you to another way to help the people in Japan. I don’t have much to say about the disaster, except that it brought to mind all the Red Cross training I had in New York and the main two things I learned: (1) Never bring more victims to the affected area (ie: don’t be a hero), and (2) People panic much less often than you’d expect, especially if there’s a plan and they have hope. And sometimes, someone defies even the most hopeful expectations and becomes a total badass.
Anyway, without further ado, I give you:
Anime and Manga Bloggers for Japan
Supporting the Japanese people in a time of need.
