all sorts of manga news
4/9/14 09:26Interesting 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.
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.
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*
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*
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:
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:
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
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
Have you ever wanted to go back in time and give yourself a hug of thanks? I do. I surely do!
Clay vol 25 is due tomorrow, Monday, and I finished yesterday after a flail-filled work rush. 14 pages of Clay a day is NOT fun, I can tell you. The reason for the last-minute dash was the Seraph-chapter-every-week final rush while we caught up with Japan. Even without needing to worry about FX for the individual chapters, lettering 45 pages of text-only a week takes time. But I brought everything in under or before deadline, once again! *triumphant pose* Oh yeah, including Voice vol 7. ^^
Now it's time for me to start the Seraph vol 3 (chapters 8-11) graphic novel version, which means stringing the four chapters together, creating the English sound effects and doing all the related retouch, and the omake pages. The original deadline for Seraph vol3 was June 6th. As in 5 days from today. *sick laughter* But thankfully, way back when Seraph Editor sent me everything I needed to do the volume, I realized my schedule was going to be tight in May, thanks to the Seraph mad dash and my twice-yearly vol of Clay. And I asked for more time, which SeraphE kindly gave. Now I have a whole month to do the GN conversion, rather than 5 days. THANK YOU, PAST ME!!! *tearful, glompy hugs*
Today I've taken most of the day off to let myself recouperate from the work rush. I've been skating on the edge of being sick, and really needed some sleep. I've taken three naps, all with Spicer-kitty snuggled up! He does love napping with me. Then I updated my fanfiction recs page, and FINALLY finished the link and WIP-status update check. Speaking of, I might as well plug my site again. It's been a while.
I like fanfic! I like telling other people about the fics I've really enjoyed!! I have eclectic tastes, in all sorts of fandoms! Books, movies, tv shows, and of course--anime and manga! I enjoy every iteration of romantic love! I enjoy drama! Comedy! Suspense! Romance! Adventure! And I don't just rec fanfic, I have original online fiction AND webcomic recs!!! Do please stop by. I have just under 500 recs now! *flails with excitement*
Slr2moons' Fanfic and Online Reading Recs
Now that I've satisfied my need to share fun stuff, I shall get started on Seraph vol 3. My day isn't complete unless I've done at least SOME work, after all. Even holidays. ^^V
Oh yes, and I've taken on a 6th title. It's a shoujo title with Naruto Editor, with whom I've worked for years and really get along with. (note: he doesn't edit Naruto anymore, but he'll always be Naruto Editor to me. :3) The title won't be constant lettering, from what I understand, and I know NE will do his best to give me lots of lettering time. I can't say what it is or who the mangaka is, but I do like their stuff! Until the official announcement, everyone please welcome New Title 11. I should begin lettering it sometime in July or August. (I know, I'm already super-busy. But that was because of lingering effects from last summer and fall, and the Seraph catch-up. I'm confident I can handle this specific 6th title because of reasons, and remember I have home-buying in my near future. Extra $$$ is a good thing!)
Clay vol 25 is due tomorrow, Monday, and I finished yesterday after a flail-filled work rush. 14 pages of Clay a day is NOT fun, I can tell you. The reason for the last-minute dash was the Seraph-chapter-every-week final rush while we caught up with Japan. Even without needing to worry about FX for the individual chapters, lettering 45 pages of text-only a week takes time. But I brought everything in under or before deadline, once again! *triumphant pose* Oh yeah, including Voice vol 7. ^^
Now it's time for me to start the Seraph vol 3 (chapters 8-11) graphic novel version, which means stringing the four chapters together, creating the English sound effects and doing all the related retouch, and the omake pages. The original deadline for Seraph vol3 was June 6th. As in 5 days from today. *sick laughter* But thankfully, way back when Seraph Editor sent me everything I needed to do the volume, I realized my schedule was going to be tight in May, thanks to the Seraph mad dash and my twice-yearly vol of Clay. And I asked for more time, which SeraphE kindly gave. Now I have a whole month to do the GN conversion, rather than 5 days. THANK YOU, PAST ME!!! *tearful, glompy hugs*
Today I've taken most of the day off to let myself recouperate from the work rush. I've been skating on the edge of being sick, and really needed some sleep. I've taken three naps, all with Spicer-kitty snuggled up! He does love napping with me. Then I updated my fanfiction recs page, and FINALLY finished the link and WIP-status update check. Speaking of, I might as well plug my site again. It's been a while.
I like fanfic! I like telling other people about the fics I've really enjoyed!! I have eclectic tastes, in all sorts of fandoms! Books, movies, tv shows, and of course--anime and manga! I enjoy every iteration of romantic love! I enjoy drama! Comedy! Suspense! Romance! Adventure! And I don't just rec fanfic, I have original online fiction AND webcomic recs!!! Do please stop by. I have just under 500 recs now! *flails with excitement*
Slr2moons' Fanfic and Online Reading Recs
Now that I've satisfied my need to share fun stuff, I shall get started on Seraph vol 3. My day isn't complete unless I've done at least SOME work, after all. Even holidays. ^^V
Oh yes, and I've taken on a 6th title. It's a shoujo title with Naruto Editor, with whom I've worked for years and really get along with. (note: he doesn't edit Naruto anymore, but he'll always be Naruto Editor to me. :3) The title won't be constant lettering, from what I understand, and I know NE will do his best to give me lots of lettering time. I can't say what it is or who the mangaka is, but I do like their stuff! Until the official announcement, everyone please welcome New Title 11. I should begin lettering it sometime in July or August. (I know, I'm already super-busy. But that was because of lingering effects from last summer and fall, and the Seraph catch-up. I'm confident I can handle this specific 6th title because of reasons, and remember I have home-buying in my near future. Extra $$$ is a good thing!)
Tags:
all-purpose update
18/5/14 21:18I'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!
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!
On Friday, I rebooted my laptop so it would be fresh and alert to burn some data DVDs, and that was the end. Windows would load, but no programs would open. I did a little googling for possible reasons on my tower, Shetan, and at the "malware" results, I took Usagi to the doctor.
Didn't hear from him that day, as he said. Didn't hear from him on Monday. -.-;;;
This morning I called, and apparently the file system is kaput. No way to fix it aside from wiping and reinstalling. The doc says he can pull all the data off with Linux, which is good b/c I have a ton of music, anime, and audiobooks on there. But still.
I've had my money's worth out of Usagi. She was new in '08, and has chugged along mostly reliably for six years. My poor XP 32-bit laptop. *sigh* Not even supported by Windows anymore.(I think the Java installation I did the restart BEFORE the killer one is the problem. Perhaps they stopped providing 32 bit Java, and didn't notice/care Usagi was 32 bit, so they stuck 64 bit on her and ruined everything.) /tinhat
With buying a house in my sights, this means I really can't afford a new laptop. I'd have to buy Photoshop along with it so I could work remotely on it, anyway. AND a new drawing tablet, b/c Anthy (the Intuos 4 tablet I used with Usagi) is also Win-32 and six years old, and IDT they make drivers for that anymore. I'll check before buying a new tablet in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. Anthy will be my backup for when (let's be realistic) my current work-tablet on Shetan, Doumyouji, fails. *sigh again* I'll need a new torrent proggie, too.
So. My data is being transferred to a new external hard drive. Shetan will have to carry all my computing weight for quite some time. And no more visiting unknown sites after a google search, either. I'm not risking my work machine just to look stuff up.
Now to decide what to do with Usagi's corpse. Bring her home to gather dust? Let the computer doc have her for $10? Reformat and bother to sell on Craig's List? Give to Goodwill? Meh. I'm leaning towards the 2nd. I still have Tsukushi and Utena2's husks around...
Didn't hear from him that day, as he said. Didn't hear from him on Monday. -.-;;;
This morning I called, and apparently the file system is kaput. No way to fix it aside from wiping and reinstalling. The doc says he can pull all the data off with Linux, which is good b/c I have a ton of music, anime, and audiobooks on there. But still.
I've had my money's worth out of Usagi. She was new in '08, and has chugged along mostly reliably for six years. My poor XP 32-bit laptop. *sigh* Not even supported by Windows anymore.(I think the Java installation I did the restart BEFORE the killer one is the problem. Perhaps they stopped providing 32 bit Java, and didn't notice/care Usagi was 32 bit, so they stuck 64 bit on her and ruined everything.) /tinhat
With buying a house in my sights, this means I really can't afford a new laptop. I'd have to buy Photoshop along with it so I could work remotely on it, anyway. AND a new drawing tablet, b/c Anthy (the Intuos 4 tablet I used with Usagi) is also Win-32 and six years old, and IDT they make drivers for that anymore. I'll check before buying a new tablet in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. Anthy will be my backup for when (let's be realistic) my current work-tablet on Shetan, Doumyouji, fails. *sigh again* I'll need a new torrent proggie, too.
So. My data is being transferred to a new external hard drive. Shetan will have to carry all my computing weight for quite some time. And no more visiting unknown sites after a google search, either. I'm not risking my work machine just to look stuff up.
Now to decide what to do with Usagi's corpse. Bring her home to gather dust? Let the computer doc have her for $10? Reformat and bother to sell on Craig's List? Give to Goodwill? Meh. I'm leaning towards the 2nd. I still have Tsukushi and Utena2's husks around...
Tags:
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![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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??
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??
Tags:
- friends,
- hiking,
- homebuying,
- irl,
- moving
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!
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!
One of the things I do when I'm busy with work is sort of watch but mostly listen to a favorite film, and if I have it on DVD, I turn around and watch/listen again with the commentary. I just finished doing that with one of my all-time favorites, Donnie Darko director's cut.
( Disillusionment follows... )
There's something to be said for not seeking out the Word of God on your favorite pieces of fiction. Sometimes the window treatment is just the right shade of green, and not casting the shade of greed upon the characters as they talk in a key scene of a film. :|
Okay. Introspection over, back to work for me.
( Disillusionment follows... )There's something to be said for not seeking out the Word of God on your favorite pieces of fiction. Sometimes the window treatment is just the right shade of green, and not casting the shade of greed upon the characters as they talk in a key scene of a film. :|
Okay. Introspection over, back to work for me.
Tags:
Last week I answered some interview questions via email for a Japanese pop culture blog. Several other letterers were asked the same questions. I was asked if I could provide some WIP samples, and after Shoujo Editor 2 and Seraph Editor approved, I did! You can find the interview at the link below. It's a small world, because I know two of the other letterers! Heeeee!
Advice on Manga Lettering from Manga Letterers
LMK what you think! C:
Advice on Manga Lettering from Manga Letterers
LMK what you think! C:
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!!!!
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!!!!
Tags:
Spicer-kitty update!
3/2/14 12:21Spicer-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. >
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. >
WORKWORKWORKWORKWORKWORK
22/1/14 21:00*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.
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.
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. )
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. )Tags:
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!
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!
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
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
Went to my third Yuletide/Nano/scribing-for-any-reason write-in on Friday evening, where I saw the wonderful snottygirl, saladbats, and mab. There were only four of us, but it was still fun! We even ran into a past NaNo-er, and a small group of others who WERE NaNo-ing. ^^ As for me, I made some serious inroads on my own Yuletide fic, of which I am very proud. I wrote about 350 words, which is a lot for me in the space of 45 minutes of actual writing time. (The rest of the evening being spent chatting or researching stuff for my fic.)
Speaking of, I finally figured out how to work writing on my phone. I can't write to google docs since my phone isn't an iphone or an Android, I don't trust emails to not lose text half-way through me typing (it's happened), and Livejournal's posting page is ridiculously code-heavy nowadays...but Dreamwidth works great. :D I have my Yuletide WIP in a private post on my DW account, which I keep open in a tab on my phone's browser. I can be in the middle of writing something, pause long enough for my phone to go into power-saving mode, wake it up...and my words are all still there. Dreamwidth doesn't time out! OMGYAY! \O/ As long as I have a net connection, I can write on the go! And carry pen and paper with me, JIC I don't have the connection. Score!
The deadline is less than a month away. Today I worked on it during breakfast and dinner. I'm pleased with what I have so far, including catching two plotholes pertaining to aspects of canon I'd forgotten, annnnnd a really big realization that I needed to lighten the mood of the MC. Thankfully I caught all three problems before I was more than 500 words into the fic. :D
Speaking of wordcount, the Yuletide minimum is 1,000. This fic is going to end up much more than that. I'm about half-way through the first scene, and the fic's already 650 words long. It isn't just my inability to write shortfic, though. My recipient loves a particular trope, and for me to do it justice, first I have to establish certain facts before I go ripping them apart. (No, there's no non-con in this one, I swear! X|) My recipient did say in their letter that they loooove the sexy tiems, but with the plot I've chosen, that won't really work. Not without the trope of Healing Cock, which I refuse to write. I hope they'll be satisfied with manly snugglings. ^^
I had kind of intimidated myself about this year's fic. I mean, last year's Yuletide fic by me turned out GOOD. It's the most popular fic I have at AO3, and I genuinely like it. I even read it for fun every couple of months! I worry that this fic can't live up to the success of last year's. But my fanfic sempai Star-chan calmed me down. She told me to just do the best I can. I am a decent writer, after all, *I* wrote last year's fic! And all the other fics on my account, all of which are perfectly readable. I certainly have the potential to write another well-received fic! And besides, what's truly important is that my recipient likes it, and I'm doing my damnedest to do just that! (Even though there won't be any sexy tiems. Hopefully someone will give my recipient a sexy fic treat. Though maybe if I finish ahead of time (HAHAHAHAH!) I could write a 2nd fic for them and load it with the smut. I'd say there's a 5% chance...)
I've enjoyed typing on the fic today. Not only having a full-sized keyboard, but being in my home, where I can relax and not need to tune out the coffeeshop music and conversation all around me. I do love write-ins, but it's more for the creative companionship and ready opinions/help to be had, rather than actual words produced. Though writing sprints work well for me. Let's do more! C:
I keep forgetting that someone is writing a Yuletide fic for me, too. I suspect I know which one, based on a comment in the yuletide-coal community that fit one of my requests. It will be interesting to see if I'm right. ^^ Whether I am or not, best of luck and good wishes to my author, if they happen to see this post! I'm looking forward to reading your words on the 25th! :DDD
In work news, Clay 23 is in the can. Voice 4 awaiting corrections, Voice 5 lettering begun. Seraph chapter 6 in the can, GN 1 being FXed right now. Natsume 16 and Skip 33 are waiting for me to start. Wheeeee!!
Speaking of, I finally figured out how to work writing on my phone. I can't write to google docs since my phone isn't an iphone or an Android, I don't trust emails to not lose text half-way through me typing (it's happened), and Livejournal's posting page is ridiculously code-heavy nowadays...but Dreamwidth works great. :D I have my Yuletide WIP in a private post on my DW account, which I keep open in a tab on my phone's browser. I can be in the middle of writing something, pause long enough for my phone to go into power-saving mode, wake it up...and my words are all still there. Dreamwidth doesn't time out! OMGYAY! \O/ As long as I have a net connection, I can write on the go! And carry pen and paper with me, JIC I don't have the connection. Score!
The deadline is less than a month away. Today I worked on it during breakfast and dinner. I'm pleased with what I have so far, including catching two plotholes pertaining to aspects of canon I'd forgotten, annnnnd a really big realization that I needed to lighten the mood of the MC. Thankfully I caught all three problems before I was more than 500 words into the fic. :D
Speaking of wordcount, the Yuletide minimum is 1,000. This fic is going to end up much more than that. I'm about half-way through the first scene, and the fic's already 650 words long. It isn't just my inability to write shortfic, though. My recipient loves a particular trope, and for me to do it justice, first I have to establish certain facts before I go ripping them apart. (No, there's no non-con in this one, I swear! X|) My recipient did say in their letter that they loooove the sexy tiems, but with the plot I've chosen, that won't really work. Not without the trope of Healing Cock, which I refuse to write. I hope they'll be satisfied with manly snugglings. ^^
I had kind of intimidated myself about this year's fic. I mean, last year's Yuletide fic by me turned out GOOD. It's the most popular fic I have at AO3, and I genuinely like it. I even read it for fun every couple of months! I worry that this fic can't live up to the success of last year's. But my fanfic sempai Star-chan calmed me down. She told me to just do the best I can. I am a decent writer, after all, *I* wrote last year's fic! And all the other fics on my account, all of which are perfectly readable. I certainly have the potential to write another well-received fic! And besides, what's truly important is that my recipient likes it, and I'm doing my damnedest to do just that! (Even though there won't be any sexy tiems. Hopefully someone will give my recipient a sexy fic treat. Though maybe if I finish ahead of time (HAHAHAHAH!) I could write a 2nd fic for them and load it with the smut. I'd say there's a 5% chance...)
I've enjoyed typing on the fic today. Not only having a full-sized keyboard, but being in my home, where I can relax and not need to tune out the coffeeshop music and conversation all around me. I do love write-ins, but it's more for the creative companionship and ready opinions/help to be had, rather than actual words produced. Though writing sprints work well for me. Let's do more! C:
I keep forgetting that someone is writing a Yuletide fic for me, too. I suspect I know which one, based on a comment in the yuletide-coal community that fit one of my requests. It will be interesting to see if I'm right. ^^ Whether I am or not, best of luck and good wishes to my author, if they happen to see this post! I'm looking forward to reading your words on the 25th! :DDD
In work news, Clay 23 is in the can. Voice 4 awaiting corrections, Voice 5 lettering begun. Seraph chapter 6 in the can, GN 1 being FXed right now. Natsume 16 and Skip 33 are waiting for me to start. Wheeeee!!
...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.
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.
