slr2moons. Entries tagged with irl

Interesting things happening in the manga world that are relevant to me.

First, the bad news. Clay is ending in the October 4th issue of Jump Square. This means 2 more volumes in English. I already have Japanese Clay vol 26, which was published in June. One more Japanese volume is coming, possibly two if the final chapter is super-long.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I started lettering Clay in fall of 2005. 9 years, guys. It won't be my first ongoing series to end--that was Nana, which didn't have a real ending, but cut off abruptly due to mangaka health problems. Honey, Captive, and the various oneshots all had ended before I began. Clay will have a real ending.

*is at a loss*

In lighter news, apparently Seraph will have an anime. This is early, particularly since it's a monthly title. IDT we know the anime studio yet, but I hope it's Madhouse or Bones, and that they don't stiff the budget. I likes me some pretty animation. I also hope they wait until next spring. That'll give us around 8 more chapters of manga, and if they keep the anime to a short 11 or 12 ep season, that should be just enough. Please no half-baked anime-studio-written endings! *cough* Clay *cough*.

And in news that's relevant to me on a personal, apparently there's a new manga adaptation of Arslan. O.o Being done by FMA's mangaka, Arakawa Hiromu. Talk about a complete change in style from the original shoujo manga adaption. *blinks* And here I thought the Arslan manga people had mentioned reading at Crunchyroll was the shoujo version, and I'd been surprised someone would license such a dated-art-style manga. This explains things, huh?

As for me, I'm going crazy trying to finish everything--or as much as I can--before the week I lose in Texas for family visits and my cousin's wedding. (No one can lay a guilt trip on you like family, amirite?)

I have this fear that my being away for so long will trigger Spicer into another bought of health problems. It's entirely possible. Argh.

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I'm lettering Skip vol 34, and it has several flashback pages. And I mean really flashBACK, with with one panel from vol 1 being used.

I've been archiving my manga Photoshop files for years, first to CD, then DVD, and then blu-ray. Skip vol 1 is on actual CD, and the disc loaded and the page I needed unzipped and copied to Shetan's hard drive just fine. Skip volumes didn't end up on DVD, but blu-ray instead. Given the subject line, you can guess where this is going.

My blu-ray for Skip vols 16-25 now refuses to load. It loaded slowly but okay two days ago, when I needed some flashback pages, but last night when I needed some more--nothing. I thought it was my disc drive, but the blu-ray that has Skip vols 7-16 loaded as fine as you please. The disc that isn't working has no scratches, it's been in its jewel case all this time. It just refuses to load. Good disc 7-16 contains pages 5-170 of vol 16. Bad disc 16-25 contains the end of vol 16: 171-188.

A year ago, this disc was working perfectly. No problems whatsover. Now? I've lost 1,750 pages of lettered Skip. How I wish I could send my past self a message to copy the entire disc to hard drive. T.T Or even two days ago, when the disc would partially load! *cries*

This isn't a horrible disaster, as Viz has the final tiffs of the pages saved, and Shoujo Editor 2 has already sent me the two pages from vol 17 that I need. But it still hurts. All those hours and love I poured into lettering Skip are now only visible as flattened tiffs. That really hurts.

I'm currently trying to copy everything I can from the bad disc to my new external hard drive. The end of vol 16 was a bust, but I might be able to save all or most of 17. *knocks on wood* Better than nothing, right? *sigh*

T.T Technology, how can you fail me like this? *cries*

Mood sad

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Hey. ^^ Long time no talk yet again, right? But here I am, finally. Unfortunately, when it's been a while since I've posted, I feel I should write a Post of Substance, and that takes time and effort, and thus I decided to do it tomorrow. Repeat for about a month. :P But today, I had something on my mind, and even though it's frivolous, I want to share it. C:

My IRL and fandom friend knatsymike asked me via text how much of my massive manga collection I've actually read. Those of you who have witnessed my collection in person know it's huge, and it seems half the time when I'm asked if I've read a particular series, I'll answer "No, but I own it! :D"

I'm curious to see exactly what the ratio is to the read and unread manga in my collection. I started yesterday. So far, I've made it through Basara by Tamara Yuki. (Sarasa/Ageha/Asagi OT3 4EVA!!1!! /shipping)

A manga vol is read if I've read the entire thing once, no matter how long ago. This includes reading series in a magazine first, like Shojo Beat (How I miss thee... T.T), and then bought the GN when it was released. Also it includes everything I've lettered, because I've read those IN DETAIL. SO!!

Tally so far:

68 read
42 unread
total volumes: 110

Anyone want to make any predictions?? Here, I'll start: I guesstimate I own 1200 manga volumes, and I've read two thirds of them. :3

(Note: These 110 volumes counted so far are 1/4th of one shelf. Have I mentioned I have a massive collection? Because I do.)

To be clear, I didn't buy all of my manga. A good third of my collection were freebies from Viz. I've also stalked several library sales, b/c I can't resist a $1 manga vol I don't have, even if it's covered with library stamps and stickers. I've also obtained a nice chunk from www.paperbackswap.com. (If you join, list me as the person who referred you!!! Use my hotmail addy. ^^V) My manga buying binge slowed down the past couple years, as my rent increased, and Spicer-kitty ended up so sick. (He's doing good! *knock on wood*)

And yes, in case you haven't noticed, I like physical books. C:

Mood accomplished

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On Tues evening, I had to move lilies inside b/c of apartment painting. Soon after heard Spicer vomiting, discovered it had a lily leaf in it. I googled "are lilies poisonous to cats". Yes. Yes they are. No cure, they can only try to dilute. Covered lillies with old shower curtain and tablecloth, stuffed Spicer into carrier, and sped to emergency vet. Wed morning picked up Spicer and transferred to regular vet. So far so good, Spicer receiving an IV bag as treatment. Brought home Wed night, Spicer tries his best to chew off catheter for IV. I cover with paper towel and duct tape. It works, ghetto style. Back to vet Thurs morning for more treatment. Pick him up that night, Spicer attacks catheter at home, he succeeds, take him back to vet for catheter check/retaping and bought Cone of Shame. Home again, Spicer freaked about Cone, after 30 min calms down. Can't chew on leg, but still shakes it hard every couple minutes to try to get off bandages. I sleep terribly b/c shaking leg hits Cone and is very loud, afraid to wear ear plugs b/c of alarm this morning. I'm exhausted. In a few min take him back to vet for hopefully final day of IV. Also blood tests to be run to check for any lily effects.

Lesson learned: Make sure any plants inside your house are not poisonous to your pets. Particularly if you know they like to nom on green things. Like Spicer does. *headdesk* T.T

Mood exhausted

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I've really flaked on the posting more often, huh? Sorry to say I lost an LJ friend recently, but I gained a new one. C: Can't really complain! Thank you to everyone who has kept me on their reading/friends list, even though I don't talk much here these days. :P

Work-wise, things are...interesting. I finished Natsume 17's first draft a few days early. Now I'm waiting on corrections. Voice 7 is almost done, nicely on time. For Seraph, the mad dash of all those chapters in a row is finally over this Monday with chapter 21--OMGYAY--and now I have a week off before it's time to letter the first of the now-monthly chapters, with #22. (Seraph is monthly in Japan, so it's monthly here now that we've caught up on all the previously published-in-Japan chapters.)

Sounds like things are in pretty good shape, right? Welp, now let me tell you about Clay. Clay 25 is running behind. The constant Seraph chapters were a real drain on my time, and now I'm paying for it. This volume of Clay is due on June 2nd, and it's going to be interesting meeting that. Particularly since I'm trying to have a life and see IRL friends more than twice a month. ^^;;

I have made one big change with Clay: in all the previous volumes, hand-drawn "organic" sound effects were original to every page. With all my other titles--all the way back to Nana--I save FX and reuse them where I can. It's a big time-saver. I figured Clay was too varied to try that, but the opposite is true. I've always said Clay is like busywork. When it comes to creating the English FX and retouching the artwork, Clay rarely makes me stop and think. It's straight-forward, and I have it down to a science. (Granted, a slow science, but yeah.) And thus, I've begun saving my organic Clay FX for use on more than one page. It's already saved me some good time, even in the ~20 pages I've done so far.

The vast majority of readers won't notice the reusing. For one thing, I don't reuse an FX within 50 pages of a previous use. In fact, I doubt anyone but me would ever know I started this, if I hadn't said it here! Heh. When 25 is released, feel free to play "spot the duplicate FX" and ask me if you're right. ^^V

But when Clay 25 is done, I have to scramble to finish Seraph volume 3, which is when I add FX for the GN version. Fun times.

I'm still hoping this summer will be good for me, since the previous three sucked.

This weekend, I saw two IRL friends! On Saturday, knastymike and I went to a German restaurant. It was DELICIOUS! I must go back, even though it's a little pricey, and a drive! YUM. Then today, I drove to mab's house and we walked around her neighborhood and talked fandom, and house buying, and all sorts of fun stuff. ^^

A satisfying weekend, all around! And now, back to Clay 25. Wheeee!

Mood busyOMG

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Went on a 6-mile hike on Sunday, in gorgeous 70 degree weather and a crisp wind to keep it from becoming too hot. C: I did better than I thought I did, considering how out of shape I am. Came home, showered, and then slept for 3 hours. Heh.

The next day, I joined

snottygirl for dinner at a new-to-me restaurant in the Pearl. It was delicious! I definitely want to go back. :9 Lots of excellent conversation was had. I haven't seen snottygirl since my Yuletide write-ins, so it was wonderful to catch up IRL.

Work-wise, things are teetering on the edge of being under control. I'm trying not to think too much about deadlines, just focusing on finishing every page I can.

Mostly right now, I'm consumed with irritation. It's time for my lease to be renewed, and I learned my rent is going up $80 to $200, depending on how long I renew for. I did some quick internet searching and discovered the new rate is normal for similar complexes in my area. It took me about an hour, but I realized why:

( Inflation plus supply and demand makes for a frustrated s2m )

If I place a bag of money under my pillow, with the House Fairy leave me a lovely deed??

Mood pensive

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Oh wow, it's been almost a month since I last posted. ^^;; Argh. When I'm busy with work, posting kinda falls to the wayside.

As I've said before, I've been scrambling to keep up with work since the disaster of last summer and Spicer-kitty's illness. As of this past Wednesday, I finally finally FINALLY caught up. It only took me eight months. X| On Wednesday I turned in Voice vol 6, and sat back to realize I didn't have a deadline looming. Natsume 17 is due mid-May, Voice 7 a couple weeks later, and Seraph chapter 15 on Monday--which is normal for Seraph.

It feels WONDERFUL to be caught up. 4 to 5 pages a day for each volume (plus the 8-10 for a Seraph chapter) and I'll REMAIN caught up. Aye, there's the rub!

To celebrate my reclaimed status, I posted the second chapter of my crossover fic for Summer Wars and Skip: Unlikely Idol. You can read it in the usual places: AO3, FF.net, and Luna. (I can't post a link to Skyehawke because the site is down. :|) Reception has been very quiet, aside from my beta and the one talkative fan so far. Such is the joy of crossing over one small fandom and one obscure one. :P (About 10 people have clicked on chapter one at Luna, but not one of them have progressed to chapter two. Alas!)

On Friday I did my taxes in three hours, a personal new record. Taxes are not a simple 1040 for me, nope. :P But they're done and YAY that chore is over! :DDD

I have three goals: 1. remain caught up (yes please), 2. get back in shape (also yes please), and 3. make art for myself (oh please yes please). Wish me luck! All three will be difficult to manage. Speaking of, back to it for me!

Mood accomplished

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Last weekend was the exception to the new standard for Spicer. I had to give him two doses of the painkiller on Tuesday, but today he seems better. No painkillers needed. I guess Tuesday was a bad day? He isn't nearly as perky as he was over the weekend, but he's definitely better than Tuesday. I have a few more doses of the painkiller for future use. I'm sure I'll need them. *sigh* :|

As for myself, I have more encouraging news. I bought a jump rope a couple weeks back, and I've been using it. First indoors (apologies to my downstairs neighbors, though they moved out on the 31st!), and now outside. I started with 10 jumps inside a few times a day--had to relearn how to jump rope. :B Then I moved outside and did five sets of 25, walking along a short route in between. Now I'm up to 7 sets of 25.

Guys, I already feel better. It's amazing what exercise can do! Jumping rope is an incredibly easy way to increase the intensity of a workout. 20 hops and I'm winded! Seriously! It's not just the obvious of legs and heart, either. Your abs must be held steady to keep your balance, your feet build muscle b/c you're jumping on your toes, your shoulders and arms are worked out swinging that rope around. Who knew little kids (and boxers!) had such a well-kept secret?

I haven't lost any of the weight I've gained, but I know I've reclaimed at least a little of my former muscle. (At least in my feet! Haha!) But I feel so much better, I don't really care about no loss of fat yet. I'm sure it's partially the placebo effect. I know I'm exercising, and that makes me feel happy, on top of the endorphins actually generated by exercising! Whatever, I feel better! Yay! Without drugs! Without tons of caffeine! Yay!!!!

Mood accomplished

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Spicer-kitty gave me a scare last week. I noticed he was eating less, but thought he just didn't like the current set of kitty treats. On Wednesday I realized he was much less active than normal, and spending almost all of the time hunched up like the Sphinx--a posture I know is one he does when he's in pain. :C I made an appointment with the vet on Friday, and proceeded to have nightmares about a repeat of last summer's constant force-feeding. *gulp*

At the vet, he showed me Spicer's last blood test results from early in the month: no overall change, though the actual values fluxuated up and down. Spicer's liver is still off-kilter, and probably will be for life. The vet always calls Spicer "a fragile kitty". :| Spicer hadn't lost weight yet (I caught the eating less in time), and had gained .2 pounds. Everything seemed normal in the examination, but the vet noticed his--this is kinda gross, skip to the next para if bodily stuff squicks you--anal glands were swollen and hard. A cat's anal glands are the scent glands, located on either side of the anus. You know, when cats spray scent? That's where it comes from. (Thankfully neither Spicer nor Kakashi spray!) The vet called in an assistant to hold Spicer while he pulled on rubber gloves and squeezed my poor kitty's bottom until he emptied the glands like two big pimples. This brown, thick paste came out. The vet said it's supposed to be a liquid. There was a LOT of it, too. I can only imagine how much that was hurting my kitty!

He sent us home with some food to tempt Spicer to eat, four doses of painkillers just in case, and instructions about pausing some of Spicer's meds that might hinder his appetite.

Spicer is always relieved to be home after a trip to the vet, and he leaped out of his carrier and ran around with joy, as usual. But the joy continued! He scratched at his kitty tree, played with his toys, darted here and there, leaped up on my bookshelves, leaped back down again, sprinted from living room to bedroom and back again, and giving these tight little meows that I know mean "Play with meeeee!!!!" So I did. We played laser tag for several minutes, and then Kakashi was jealous so I pulled out his feather-on-a-fishing-pole toy.

His appetite came back over the course of the weekend, and he's now eating like normal, following me into the kitchen every time I go for a drink refill, and demanding more kitty food. I haven't had to give him any of the painkillers! It seems the agony was from his poor booty glands, and not a huge crisis like his liver taking a turn for the worse.

I feel like a got off easy AND dodged a bullet. I just hope we're this lucky next time he starts to feel bad. >

Mood relieved

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cats,
irl

*points up* That's me, right now. For the most part, each deadline since the disaster during the past summer is slightly easier to meet.

The past three weeks, I haven't been able to do anything outside of work but run errands and go to Book Club, and I really should have skipped that. Or at least bailed out when the 35-minute argument started over what we would be reading in future months. (Some days I just don't have the time and/or patience to sit through that fiasco.) I've missed a birthday party for a dear friend (so sorry, Sno!), and I will be missing a chili cookoff for another dear friend this Saturday (so sorry, Phil!), and it comes down to no fun for me until I'm done. With Natsume, at least.

( Info about specific titles, wistful desires for time to be creative. )

I should stop writing this blog post and get back to work. Natsume won't letter itself. Don't let me being busy stop you from commenting! I haven't heard from anyone in some time.

Mood drained

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Today I read the most recent (legally available) chapter for World Trigger, number 45, and I just had to laugh. Not at any specific event in the chapter, but that one of my predictions was right. I knew the SneeBas made sense!! *preens* I suppose there a slight chance the mangaka borrowed the idea from me. This chapter would have been actually drawn no later than the week of Christmas, and storyboarded at least a week before that. If he'd read the chapter Christmas Day and immediately pounced on the idea, maaaybe it could have happened. But it's highly unlikely. Besides, I prefer the idea that great creative minds think alike. :3 *preens*

Speaking of, here's my official announcement for my Yuletide fic this year!!!

title: Family Lost, Family Found (Plus One)
fandom: World Trigger
summary: Arashiyama Jun and his squad meet a new and nasty Neighbor on their first away mission to the Neighborhood. Jun's soul is broken, but a new friend helps piece him back together.
characters and ship: Arashiyama Jun, Jin Yuichi, Izumi Kouhei, Tachikawa Kei;
genre: action-adventure, suspense, bromance or pre-slash :3
rating: PG-13 for language
length: complete at 18,381 words because I can't write short fic to save my Yuletide sanity
setting: after chapter 42

You can read it at AO3 and at FF.net. I'll post it to Skyehawke and Lunaescence eventually. I keep forgetting. :B

Do please leave a comment, review, and/or kudo if you enjoy the fic! :D

( And now, my introspective on 2013, and hopes for 2014. )

Mood wistful

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Hey, everyone!

I kinda vanished again, didn't I? ^^; Sorry about that. I was busy with work, and finishing my Yuletide fic, and life in general. But here I am! *waves* Hi there. C:

( Updates for Seraph, Voice, Natsume, and Skip. )

I should be busy lettering Natsume 16 and Skip 33, but they're on the back burner. And Seraph GN vol 2. *weak laughter* Yes, I am still behind, though I'm still holding my new record of only one late title from this summer. (Voice vol 3.) I'm not worried about catching up yet, but I have to work every day.

I poured myself into my Yuletide fic this year. The collection went live very early on Christmas Day. As of this post, my story has a whopping 4 hits, and that's it. No kudos/likes, no comments, no bookmarks. *crickets chirp* This means my recip simply hasn't had time to read it (it IS rather long), they did read and and are overwhelmed and don't know what to say, or they hated it and are overwhelmed and don't know how to be nice about it. Obviously I'm hoping for the first or second option. Even if it turns out they didn't care for it, I'm okay with that. I know it's a good, solid story. My betas have told me so, and they'd be brutally honest if it were not. I'm still proud of it. I did my best, and it turned out pretty good! ^^V (I can't link it yet until after New Year's, when authors are revealed. But I know one of you will be VERY interested. *grins*)

The story given to me was for Basara, and is cute. I particularly liked the ending, and I just love that the author worked two of my stated favorite things into the story. :3 It's less than 2k, if you want to read. Mild spoilers for Basara through volume 8 or so. (I forget when Asagi enters the story.) Here's the link: Asagi's New Brother by anonymous until New Year's.

I also received a treat fic, which is an extra fic written by someone because they wanted to write, not because I was assigned to them. It's a lovely short little fic for Gill from my favorite Pixar and comfort film, Finding Nemo. Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, author also not known until New Year's!

Two bits of interest: Adobe is now charging me sales tax on my InDesign subscription, which is illegal. No one in Oregon pays sales tax. I found someone else also affected, but my plea on the DamnPortlander's facebook and my Adobe forum post have been ignored. (Colorado peeps with this problem back in October replied immediately.) Here, have a look: my post about it; and here's the related Colorado post, which was answered. I don't think there's anything I can do about it. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Adobe is only doing this to individuals, and not businesses. I bet Oni Press or Dark Horse could sic the law on them. Grrrr.

And the second bit of interest: the private server that has hosted my recs site, pics, and other assorted stuff over the years is down, and has been since December 7th. I'm doing research on renting space on a pro server. I found out who hosts each of my fave webcomics, as I'll be using the space for my own soon! (Think positive!) So far DreamHost is looking like my best bet. Less than $10 a month, unlimited bandwidth and storage, FTP access. Gunnerkigg, Johnny Wander, Manly Guys, and The Meek are all hosted there. Along with Oglaf. If DreamHost is okay with Oglaf, then nothing I could draw or link to fanfic-wise could possibly phase them. Ha! If anyone has any feedback on web hosts, LMK. I could really use my former webcomicking contacts right now, but oh well.

Christmas so far has been quiet. I opened my presents while on the phone with my parents and sister. It was fun! I am pleased with my presents, and not letting myself gorge on all the chocolate today. :3 After that, I made breakfast, played some online games, and then go to work. And it is back to work I go! Voice vol 5 is due on January 22nd. Wheeeee!

Mood busy

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I finally made time to visit the salon. My rather ridiculously shaggy hair has now been tamed once again into a cute cap. My hairdresser was new (to me), and an amazingly friendly and bouncy woman. She hugged me! XD I had this silly grin on my face the whole time she was working on me. We kept making each other laugh. She about died when I told her how easy it was to make cranberry sauce. "You buy a can, open it, and pour it into a dish." She loved that. XD What a cheerful, genki woman. C: She also swears I look and sound like I'm in my 20s, which I chose to believe she was honest about. *laughs*

Most of you know, I live in a shell of sorts. I don't pay much attention to the news. Once upon a time, I read the daily headlines from the NYTimes, but that takes time and concentration, and I eventually stopped. (Though I still skim the books issue. :3) To give you an example of how cloistered I can be, I had no idea about the whole government shutdown thing earlier this month until it came up on webcomics. :B

I'm tired of being out of the information loop. I know US media can be really skewed *cough* Fox News *cough*, and I wanted something streaming, so I could listen as I work. My cousin R-chan always reads BBC News for a larger viewpoint on the world. I did some googling and found a site that streams BBC World news. I'm pretty sure it isn't an official stream, but it works for me. C: And hey, thanks to it being BBC and my adblock--no commercials at al! :DD

This is my third day of listening to the news for about an hour, and I'm really enjoying knowing more about what's going on, particularly the stories that have stretched over more than one day, like Thailand going batshit, and the China Sea island dispute. Very interesting.

Back to work for me! Oh, and I added about 100 words to the Yuletide fic. First scene is nearing rough-draft-complete status. ^^V

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...I just have to share this.

Late last night when I went to sleep (or TBH, not very early Tuesday morning), I woke up after dozing off. Not much time had passed, because Kakashi was still curled up against my right-hand side with only his head above the blanket, like mine. (So very cute!) I don't know what woke me up, but as I blinked in the dim light that comes in through my windows at night, I saw a dark blob where there isn't supposed to be a dark blob.

I focused on it, wondering what it was, and saw a spider. I could clearly see it was a spider. I disctincly remmeber not wanting to disturb Kakashi, and wondering what I could do for a weapon. No shoes nearby, no stray papers within easy reach, my glass and mug far away on my desk...how to kill it.

I watched the spider for a bit, and noticed it was swaying gently in the air. It wasn't on the wall, it was doing the dangling-from-a-single-thread routine. I finally admitted defeat, and acknowledged that to kill the spider meant disturbing Kakashi. I flung back my covers, sat up, rolled out of bed, and found the fly swatter. I returned to bed and peered at the wall where I thought the spider should be, as I had apparently forgotten about the dangling-from-a-single-thread variable in my exhausted brain. No spider. I looked at the ceiling. No spider. I squinted at my bed clothes, no spider.

Through all of this, Kakashi hadn't moved. He was still curled up in his spot on the bed, watching me, completely unconcerned about any missing spider but fascinated by the fly swatter.

After about 30 seconds, I gave up on hunting. I figured if the spider reappeared, Kakashi would probably play with it to death, or just eat it. I placed the flyswatter right next to the bed where I could easily grab it, and crawled back into bed. Kakashi snuggled up, I wondered where the spider went, and drifted back to sleep.

Fast-forward to now, when while reflecting upon my hazy spidery encounter last night, I finally realized some interesting facts:

1. My eyesight isn't great. I have to wear glasses.
2. I could see the spider clearly.
Conclusion A: the spider was quite close to my face. Within 16 inches, I'd say.
3. I flung the covers back before I sat up.
4. Reference Conclusion A.
Conclusion B: I folded the spider into my bedcovers, specifically between the layers of my bedspread. And it being a quit of many colors and patterns, of course I couldn't spot a spider on it in the wee hours of the morning when I was half-asleep.

I have no idea where that spider went. I haven't seen it since, and I realized where the spider likely ended up long after the sun set tonight.

Meh. It won't eat much. And if it DOES return, I am now armed with my flyswatter. Heh.

Hi. I'm still here. Finishing up a 2nd work crunch with Voice vol 4, but it's not nearly as bad as it was at the end of the Summer of Hell, so there's that.

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cats,
irl

Hello, everyone!

Today is my birthday. Behold, I am one step closer to middle age! \o/

To celebrate my birthday, I'm going to order my favorite pineapple fried rice from the Thai joint across the street. :9

Going out to celebrate has to be put on hold. Work is heavy. While I've managed to finish everything but Voice vol 3, the book is due in a little over a week. It's been a mad scramble. I'm working 10 hours a day, and preferably longer. Thank the manga gods this vol is a little easier than vol 2 and vol 1. Though considering how nasty vol 1 was--with all the crazy shoujo romcom shenanigans to hook readers--being a little easier than that isn't saying much. Heh heh. *headdesk*

Spicer-kitty is doing well! Now it's turned a bit chilly again, his favorite fuzzy kitty basket is back on my desk, and he's currently curled up inside it. Kakashi is giving me the eye, hoping for more food. He's turned rather pudgy. My own weight is holding steady. The green juice once a day isn't taking any weight off at the moment, but with all the stress I'm under, I am happy to not be gaining. (I always gain weight when I'm under stress. Saying level is delightful to me in this situation.)

Not much going on besides work work work. I did make it to book club, but that's my only bit of fun in weeks. So it goes, when in work hell.

Yesterday I did 9 pages, including one pink and one orange. I'm so proud of myself! I want to do that much again! XD

Everyone, thanks for sticking with me for another year! *hugs for all*

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Today I did a random google of my art school and discovered two things: 1. There's a class action lawsuit threatened against them, and 2. They're shutting down. No new students, and once the current ones are done, that's it. They also ended the animation program I went through several years ago.

I am shocked, to say the least. But not really. I've told everyone who asks me about my art school to NOT GO THERE. I tossed their "Come back for your Bachelor's!!!" propaganda letters in the recycle bin with glee. Even saying that, my education there has been useful in my manga lettering career, even the design classes before I switched to animation. But they all could have been so much better...

I do have very fond memories of working at the library, though. Very fond. ^^

Anyway, reading the testimonials of people who wanted to be included in the class action suit was eye-opening. I remember when my parents and I looked into student housing through the school, something seemed off, and we decided to get me an apartment privately. Now I'm very glad we did.

Perhaps it was because I was there over 10 years ago, but I never faced the loan harassment and tripling of tuition I read about. It's shocking.

The school wasn't a complete waste, I admit that. But it seems I am in the minority of that opinion. (But I still wouldn't advise anyone to attend, even if they weren't closing. Nope.)

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Spicer is not doing well. The vet asked me to bring him in today, and diagnosed Collangia (spelling?) Hepatitis. IOW, his liver has a nasty infection. Spicer is back on antibiotics, the shots again since he reacted so badly to the pill version. I have to give him a full syringe twice day. We have another appointment on Monday. By then, it should be visible whether Spicer is improving or not. I'm gonna be very good at injecting kitties. ><

I'm hopeful again. This past week has been a nightmare for both Spicer-kitty and me.

Mood hopeful

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cats,
irl

Since very early Thursday morning, Spicer-kitty has been sick. It's his liver and heart. I'm having to force-feed and -water him so he can get the nutrition he needs to heal. He's getting daily antibiotic shots (vet, me, vet, me), Mylanta to keep him from vomiting, and a stinky brown liver medication.

The bottle-feeding is four times a day, and has to continue until he eats on his own. He already occasionally does, but it's not enough. The heat wave doesn't help. Kakashi is perfectly healthy and barely eating, either.

We have another appointment tomorrow at the vet.

I'm so glad I work at home, because IDK how I'd do this if I had a normal job and still lived alone. ><

You'll know more when I do. :/

Mood worried

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cats,
irl

Stumptown is the independent comics fest held every year in Portland, and this year I was able to go yet again! Given my work crunch, I couldn't hang out all day every day like in all but one previous year, but I was able to go for two or three hours both days, and have dinner with out of town friends. :3

This year was the best Stumptown ever! Wonderful friends truly do make a big difference. While I am happy to wander the con alone, having

winnett join me on Saturday, and

saladbats joining me for BOTH days was amazing. You find neat things to show each other, and laugh about, and deal with any stresses that might show up. Dinner afterwards on both nights with Karen and Chloe was incredibly fun, and they let me pick their brains about exhibiting at comic cons and being part of a comics collective and all sorts of fascinating comicy things. :3

( Specifics and lots of artist and webcomic links! XD )

Being around all those creative, welcoming people really has me recharged and excited about getting my original manga going. X3 I wanna have a table at Stumptown, too! Karen pointed out something interesting: while my anime-influenced artwork will (let's be honest) count against me being given a table at some cons, it will HELP me get a table at others. C: I am suddenly more optomistic. Yay!

I do believe I'm going to have to get a twitter. :3

Mood insired

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Work is still rather crazy (in a good way, because it means I have lots!), and between that and my sister's visit, I haven't posted much lately! But here I am to give a quick review of her visit.

tl;dr version: Pi Party with book club friends, Shanghai tunnel tour where I smelled a ghost scent, watched the movie Lincoln, Saturday Market, Mission Theater and Pub to watch movie Zero Dark Thirty, hike at the Hoyt Arboretum, OMSI where our bags were stolen out of my car's trunk, shopping to replace lost items, new office chair for me as an early bday present, and to the airport for my sister to fly home.

( And here's the whole shebang! )

It was some trip! IDK why it took me so long to write it up, I'm just glad I could remember the final 2/3rds over a month later. Maybe I just didn't want to deal with writing about the theft. *sigh*

PSA #1: Do not leave batteries inside electronic devices if you aren't going to use them for a length of time!!!

PSA #2: If you must leave items in the trunk of your car, place them there BEFORE you get where you're going to park!!!!

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