Just popping in to mention my six-year-old brother, Josh, and the story I just read to him. I hastily chose it out of my full collection of the Grimms' brothers' fairy tales, as I looked for something short and possibly full of fuzzy animals. I suppose I should've seen this coming:

Me: "but he let fall the bucket in the well, and himself after it, and as he could not get out again, he was obliged to be drowned." The end.
Josh: That's it?
Me: ... yeah, that's it. Err. THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS--
Josh: **ambles off to watch TV**
Me: ;_;

IN MY DEFENSE, the story was titled, "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage." Deceptive like ninja, yes or yes?

So.

I'm now in my senior year of high school, and I will turn eighteen next January, on the third.

Hmmm.

Brb, at least until I can, somehow, secure my future.

I won't be leaving permanently; I just won't post often, if I ever posted with any real frequency at all. I'll still write lots of comments, though!

So I went to my first anime convention yesterday - YasumiCon 09 at FIU - and returned home with a souvenir that is almost certainly better than yours:









Yeah. OH YEAH. There will never be another one ever again.

More details about cons later. Maybe. When I finally recover from the shock of finding a mostly homemade Kakashi-themed rubber duck.

So littlekasumi and I were discussing the gender issues in One Piece, your basic good, bad, ugly, and really annoying. She made some very justified complaints about the lack of co-gender fights, and I griped a little about the limited nature of the women-anything fights, and I walked away from the thread with a half-full bottle of hope and a question about Oda's concept of "manliness."

The more I dwell on his use of the word, the more the bottle appears half-empty.

As much as I love the series and admire his fierce, independent, strong-willed female characters, his concept of "manliness" was still one of my most deeply rooted resentments. Make no mistake, I think it's a noble, marvelous concept - straightforwardness, honesty, "A wound on the back is a swordsman's humiliation," everything Luffy embodies - and something I wish to implement into my own life, but it appears to me as if he really does restrict these golden qualities to his male characters.

( no spoilers unless you don't know who Olvia is )

On a lighter note, I've been on a shoujo manga binge lately; just last night, I reread Cat Street and found it better and lovelier than I did the first time (and even then I loved the hell out of it.) I'll post to sing its praises soon enough.

Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.

I have just replayed at least three times this video of a gorgeous 15-year-old Korean pop star ripping his shirt off at the end of a dangerously badass, improvised (?) hip hop dance. And I, too, am throwing my metaphorical panties.

At a 15-year-old.

GOD, ALLAH, BUDDHA, MORGAN FREEMAN, WHOEVER'S UP THERE - I NEED HELP! meeting him

My philosophy teacher just gave me the class' full collection of Shakespeare, each play neatly contained in a compact, blue, leather-bound book.

36 books in all, not counting the Othello that I borrowed and lost eons ago, and have been planning to re-buy.

Given. 36. Of Shakespeare's plays.

The heavens have probably knocked off 36 years of my lifespan, just to preserve the cosmic balance. You know, they can go right ahead. I have a box full of Shakespeare.

"Prologue of the Rambling Sort"
by Rita Dove




This is a tale of light and shadow,
what we hear and the silence that follows.
Remember this as we set out
across sea and high roads, as talk turns
to gentlemen and valets, grave robbers
and tormented souls. This is a story
about music and what it does to those
who make it, whom it enslaves ... yes,
slavery of all kinds enters into the mix,
although the skin of our protagonist
does not play so great a role
in his advancement and subsequent
fade from grace as might be imagined.
Or does it? Rather, let us say that
the racial divide has not yet been invented;
you lived, you died, things happened
between the two.
                    But you are here
for the story. The story someone penned
in thirst and anger on an uncharted desert isle,
then stuffed into a bottle that now floats,
a glassine porpoise, swell upon swell, too small
for anyone to find ... until the paper inside
finally crisps, tanned beyond recognition
by the sun that is its constant lover....
So it is a lost story
but we will be imagining it, anyway.
We'll leave out the boring parts.
There'll be marching bands, wardrobe changes
and, of course, Love—melting hearts,
sweaty meringues, Flowers of the Realm
and the occasional heave-to in the shrubbery.
Political cartoons. Honorable,
quiet fools.
                    The major players:
father and son, son and father.
Two composers, a violinist between them.
An African Prince in Turkish robes;
a Prince of Wales turned Regent turned King;
an Assistant Keeper of the Wardrobe to the Queen.
(Always the wait-staff, ever vigilant, eye- and ear-y.)
A music student turned copyist, a performer
turned entrepreneur, a faux emperor, a famed chef,
a fiddling beggar; plus assorted fops and dabblers,
countesses and dwarves, all with their freakish
bundles of accoutrements: turbans and reticules,
wigs and vinaigrettes; brooches painted
in the shape of the lover's eye.
                                        Enter
two prodigies (of an age but not a color),
an absent mother and all-too-present father,
a fattening son and his maddening sire,
a small man and his indigestion,
a fat man and his gout,
rabble and revolutionaries,
guillotines cranking up in time
with the organ-grinders—just
your average gulp of hope
and gobble of terror—then picture a river
pouring itself through a city,
picking up garbage and gulls,
doused in barge oil, speckled with swans,
lapping and sloshing and pooling...
that's how we'll be traveling—and the rest,
as they say, is background music.
(Ah, but what heavenly music that was.... )

Updated my user profile. That kinda-sorta-lengthy paragraph? I love it to death. I love it and I hope it'll be a long time yet until I tire.

First post under the 5-things policy! How exciting!

1. MY MOTHER BOUGHT ME A NEW LAPTOP TODAY YES YES YES IT IS MINE AND NO ONE ELSE'S AND I CAN TAKE IT TO COLLEGE AND NOT HAVE TO SHARE. Unless I want to. It cost ~$600, which I thought made for a rather marvelous deal considering the following: 4 gigs of RAM (score!), 320 gigs of hard drive space (combo score!!), and a working CD/DVD drive, mwahaha. And an "e" key on the keyboard. Hecks yeah!

( cut for more (old) laptop blurbage, also I named the new one Cinammon instead of Marvin because Marvin will probably bring bad luck )

One day, $600, this cheapskate will pay you back in full and defeat you, yes, with authorly royalties. Err, if things go as planned as they do in, you know, my dreams. *sheepish*

-*-

2. Today, she also bought me (!!I know!! So much money spent in one day! Yay for being a teenager and financially dependent!) two books: Wild Swans by Jung Chang for history class (AP European History, but well, that's the IB program for you) and The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. Isn't that title lovely?

-*-

3. Also, a pack of 30 pens for $3. THREE. DOLLARS. They are superb Cello pens, too, with little plastic balls atop the ballpoints to... preserve the smoothness, I guess? Perhaps this is the most exciting news of the day?

-*-

4. No, this is! Full Metal Alchemist 2 is out and kicking and wonderfully animated, and I am so addicted to the opening, "Again," by YUI that perhaps I have confirmed my family's suspicions about my sanity (or lack thereof.)

-*-

5. I have a Model UN resolution to write that I should've written and emailed during spring break (which officially ended this morning at 7:40 AM, sigh) representing Argentina and taking action against HIV and AIDS. The only decent idea I have is proposing that the "UN" establish sex education coalitions in all Ibero-American countries, despite the traditional Catholic stance against them. It might be controversial enough to be interesting. That, or something about the rampant prostitution that helps spread it. Suggestions, anyone?

I know, I know. At least five hiatuses, very few posts to show for them -- I'm pretty bad at this Livejournal thing. Lurking is easier, but ultimately less rewarding. Also, more lonely.

So I want to implement a new policy: 5 separately numbered things to post about, per each day I post, excepting fanfiction, book or animanga reviews, article discussions, or news posts. Five! Just five! For days on which I don't have five things to write about, I reserve the right to make stuff up.

I solemnly swear that I will not be absolutely no good! I'll leave less hanging. Be less afraid! Less of a dead thing on otherwise bustling friendlists! All of these are things I've wanted to be for a very long time.

So! Let's try this again.

I'm back! I think. I think that, maybe, I'm here to stay.

Interrupting this period of self-reparation (via school and clubs and responsibilities, urk) with an important announcement:

Kaoru Mori, mangaka of the beloved historical romance manga Emma, is releasing a new series that might be called Otome-Katari but WILL be about a horse-riding princess of Asia who practices archery in the days of the Silk Road!

"An advertisement in the September 25 issue of the free Toradayo magazine further revealed that the new work is a historical manga set on the Silk Road that connected Asia with Europe before the modern times. The story will center around a princess who knows archery and horsemanship. According to a flyer for Fellows! magazine, the manga is tentatively titled Otome-Katari, and the princess is named Amiru." - Anime News Network

According to the same source, the series debuts in Fellows! magazine on October 14! Speaking as someone who was once torn between being a horse-riding courier and a princess because YOU COULDN'T BE BOTH, it... it feels good to be alive.

Just had my first day of 11th grade, and apparently, my new English teacher is both stupendously strict, stupendously smart, and stupendously nice. Also, young. Also, fanboyish. My homework assignments?

1) Bring a planner tomorrow, or no credit. *f-flinches*

2) Pick a song that represents me, present it to the class (not perform, though that's undoubtedly a better idea), and explain how I identify with three lines of my choice.

3) Bring an image or accessory or decoration to contribute to our Class Personal Wall Thing of Personality that we believe represents us. My teacher's was a giant poster of Amazing Spider-man, who relieves all his stress just by sight alone.

During his obligatory introduction of rules and policy and whatsit, he made one reference to The Dark Knight, one to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and another that I don't remember right now but am sure I was equally impressed by.

Also, he verbally stresses the importance of literary principles in all forms of fiction, including "comic books, which we will be exploring this year as well, particularly as they are generally easier to analyze than literature." He kept saying "comic books," but I kept hearing "manga."

Are you slack-jawed yet? Is there more, you ask? Is there more?

Last year, he made one class watch FLCL. No, I don't know if it was the dub or sub, does it matter?

But, you know, w-why FLCL, which some watchers used to anime can't even stomach? Though I admit, the symbolism would be Christmas for any devout English teacher.

... you guys, I need a good Trigun screencap website. You know, for homework. :D

It is was Saturday night and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series finale has just aired. The past new episodes aired recently too, of course, but I didn't post about my reactions to those, probably because I am lazy and uncool.

This, though, is the exception.

( I loved everything. )

As this post comes to a close, I just want to say to all the Avatar fans on my flist (and the majority if not all are Avatar fans; I'll get to that in a minute) - it was a great ride. An adventure. I loved every minute of it, and I love every single one of you, and I want to reassure you (and I want reassurance from you) that the series finale notwithstanding, nothing has ended. To have finally reached the end of the Avatar series is to - leave something behind, almost. I discovered organized fandom through Avatar, as well as Livejournal, as well as communities and fansites, as well as ship wars, as well as the high-caliber fanfiction that raise a reader's standards to an almost regrettable height, and as well as a great many of you. I was 13 when I found this series; now I am 16. Despite all other fandoms, Avatar was my beginning and my home. It still is. Thank you, guys, for making it so fun. It's been a long way, and I am glad to be here.

Title: Parisian Nightfall
Day/Theme: May 19th / I will lie like a rose on your pillow and I will twine laurel in your hair
Series: Paradise Kiss
Character/Pairing: onesided Isabella/George, Yukari/George
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Major spoiler for series ending lies herein.

( Sober, he knows it isn't fair. Drunk, he continues to remember that it isn't fair. Godforsakenly drunk, he has to think twice... )

( Author's Notes, a little on the rambly side )

Title: How to Keep Immortal
Day/Theme: May 18th / Many are the dead men, too silent to be real
Series: D Grayman
Character/Pairing: Ticky Mikk
Rating: G

( Ticky is a Noah first. )

Follows is an Escaflowne oneshot for 31 Days.

(cross-posted directly from 31_days)

Title: A Hiding Place
Day/Theme: May 17th / Did I dream this belief, or did I believe this dream?
Series: Vision of Escaflowne
Character/Pairing: Hitomi/Van
Rating: G
Warnings: MEGA SERIES SPOILER WARNING.

( Every few years Hitomi dreamed of Guymelefs, of the world on fire and Escaflowne tearing through the sky with war on its wings. )

Clearly, I might be overestimating my penchant for working for what I want...

( in which there are big numbers and bigger goals )

... but no matter how little I actually accomplish, it should be fun.

Oh my god! *HUGE SQUEAL OF FANGIRLISM GOES HERE*

I just found robinmckinley's Livejournal! Ahh! I think I'm going to soil myself!

In case you aren't familiar with her, she's the author of The Blue Sword, its prequel The Hero and the Crown, Spindle's End (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty), Sunshine (a vamp novel), and several other novels, most of which are fantasy for young adults. She's awesome!

When I'm not feeling horribly deficient at everything, I'll definitely go on at length about her works, but yes! Awesome writer. Highly recommended for those who appreciate atmospheric, tightly written fantasy with strong female protagonists who have a thing for animals.

Incidentally, at some point in time, she set in a request to Fanfiction.net to exclude her from their website and prohibit, to an extent, fanfiction based on her work. Not that this is going to stop me from ficcing her work in the future, but it will keep me from posting such pieces in the future.

Aaaaand I'll stop here, as this post would probably make her very uncomfortable.

Postscript~ You know, for the young and obnoxious (such as myself), there's something about the hero-worship mindset that makes it difficult to view professional authors as fellow lit-inclined dorks. One of the downfalls of being too much of a fan, alas - you make your target more of an idol, less of a friend. It occurs to me that this behavior is among the most childish I could ever exhibit. I won't, however, apologize for loving the woman's work far too much.