For greenbirds:
a picture stemming from our last chat

Also, it's the season of rage, which means I will be spending the next several weeks sulking in a corner hating all humanity. Or possibly knitting while watching sentai/Kamen Rider.
(BIG HINT: not everyone celebrates Christmas/X-mas.) I live in the (most likely futile) hope that one year fandom will acknowledge those of us who celebrate different holidays. Would it really kill folks to have all the awesome fic exchanges and whatnot hit on some other day? I think having a (C)Hannukah or a New Year's fic exchange would be awesome.

*sigh* You know, the first time I took this, I was only at 75%.... At least I have an appropriate icon? Which reminds me, I need to make sentai icons, because those shows involve the good crack!

[also, brokenallbroken, I got a link to this book, and for some strange reason thought of you. Dover: their illustrations may be unusable, but they have interesting subject matter!

Your results:
You are An Expendable Character (Redshirt)

An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 100% Jean-Luc Picard 60% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 55% Worf 55% Spock 50% Deanna Troi 50% Will Riker 45% Mr. Scott 25% Uhura 25% Mr. Sulu 25% Geordi LaForge 25% Data 16% Chekov 15% Beverly Crusher 15% James T. Kirk (Captain) 10%

Since your accomplishments are seldom noticed, and you are rarely thought of, you are expendable. That doesn't mean your job isn't important but if you were in Star Trek you would be killed off in the first episode you appeared in.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Since last I posted, I travelled 12,000 miles in 3 weeks. Moved to another prefecture via suitcase and many, many trips in trains, up and down stairs, and out of my flippin' mind. (~1500 km, all told and yes, I am too lazy to convert that to imperial) Also, new job. And taking the Yamanote line halfway across Tokyo in flip-flops and a borrowed hoodie 'cause I locked my keys in my room (along with my wallet and hat. I WAS NAKED!!!)

So. You know. Not so much with the posting. Or the ability to, I dunno, concentrate on anything. But at least I didn't wind up alcoholic!! [which prolly has less to do with self-discipline and more to do with only liking girly mixed drinks, which are difficult to produce when one's utilities have already been turned off and the only liquor handy is whiskey and questionable Korean sake] Although I did manage to make a list of my original universes and reasonably major and/or important characters! [~50 story arcs, in ~40 universes, and roughly 350 characters, and that's with leaving out some that were a bit nebulous. And the one(s) I've been working on since making the list....] World-building and character design are my stress reliefs; actually finishing a story or nailing down details, not so much.

Haven't drawn much--mostly sketches, a few pieces that made it all the way to inking (but not erasing, for the most part. I wasn't kidding about lacking concentration.) The offer from my last post still stands, by the way. Have been mildly obsessed with the Ray Kowalski bits of due South and fanfics so related, prolly 'cause I'm a bit behind on Saiunkoku since I cannot actually sit still long enough to finish the latest novel. Even with all the hours on trains.

I have comments to make and folks to answer, but that timestamp is accurate and I have to be up by 0530 for that lovely ~1.5 hour commute to work. Also, the local bookstores haven't had a copy of Beans Ace, so I am somewhat wrathy at the world, because Ryuuren and Eigetsu pics would go a long way toward making up for the last 8 weeks.

My brain is about to ooze out my ears from RL stuff*, and I need a distraction. Suggestions for things to draw? I'd love to work on original [not joint universe] stuff, but no one else really cares and I can't focus enough to actually draw anything interesting anyhow.

So. Fanart it is! You know the drill: characters/fandom, some sort of prompt. Be kinda specific? Also, bear in mind that I'm looking for stuff I can do at work, so nothing that requires reference materials (like Vampire Knight). They overlook the crayons and the knitting, but whipping out the shoujo manga might be pushing it. No guarantees, but I have a lot of free time the next couple of days....

p.s.--No sneaking in requests related to stories in progress (fanfic or joint universe). Unless, of course, you have fic to back up said request :)

*The fact that I just finished mainlining Go Go Sentai Boukenger may have something to do with this as well. Dear gods I love the crazy! Also, BoukenBlue. And maybe BoukenBlack. And don't even get me started on the whole group-marriage crack!

I think timeanddate.com is
having some technical issues :D
(amusingly enough, the US locations are fine, but NZ and Canada are likewise skewed. though Canada is checking in at a comparatively balmy -435F)
(also, -462F is ~-274C, while absolute zero is -459ish F and -273ish C)

A list of stuff to wrap up before the year turns. Going here because most/all of it is either creative stuff and/or fanworks.
( behind a cut, because no one prolly cares but me, not that that has ever stopped me from posting )

I've had this strange urge to make character goods recently. I'm trying to think of things that would fit in a regular letter, because half the fun of making stuff is making folks twitch sharing the end results.
( pics of a few bookmarks I made at work recently )

While working on a silly and secret(ish) project, the Egyptian Book of the Dim came up. Which made me think of bad redneck jokes. Which led to me wondering about what horrors would ensue if Egyptian mythology was mixed with the Deep South. I mean, the 'gators, the River, the family trees with suspicious lack of branching--it's not even a stretch! Surely, I can't be the first to wonder what Anubis would look like if he were more coon-dog than jackal.... Or what the crowns of lower and upper Egypt would look like if they involved John Deere caps.... Cow-tipping with Hathor might be more a mid-western thing, though.

If anyone can point to a story/book/whatnot featuring such, leave a comment or something. Because I don't want to be the only one with traumatic images of what happens when mummification and moonshine mix. Not that I will prolly be able to look up the source material, but at least I'll know I'm not alone.

Beans Ace came out, and while it didn't make up for this very, very o.O week, it did make Friday not suck quite as bad as normal. [I realize o.O is not a word, but it pretty much sums up my brain at the moment.]
( a link to horrible quality scans of the Saiunkoku chapter, and my babblings on the same. oh, yeah, tons o'spoilers )

My brain has been fried lately. But, I finally finished the latest Saiunkoku novel!! Only 5 months after the rest of Japanese-reading fandom!
( minor blather and some Saiunkoku fanart, shockingly containing no Kouyuu pics! )

Aside from reading cheesy Japanese novels, I also have finally gotten around to creating fanart for Galaxion [currently a webcomic, though I got into it back when it was in print format something like a decade ago. (the 'about' page)
( Galaxion blather and many pics )

Randomly, brokenallbroken, I think you might like this site for music. Nice and eclectic.

I translated a bunch of recipes, and for the sake of completeness/minimizing my chances of losing them I'm posting them here. I'm trying to get back in the whole 'communicating' groove....
(  a few desserts, honey and sesame recipes, and microwave stuff )

( why I haven't posted lately, exhibit A )

And now some fanart! Shockingly enough, series that aren't Saiunkoku!! [Saiyuuki, Yami no Matsuei, V.B. Rose]
( I SWEAR officer, those are manjuu on his chest!! )

( And, of course, the obligatory Kouyuu picture. )
More to come, if I can wrestle the camera into a modicum of submission.

For the record, I am very displeased w/ con fandom. I haven't found a single con outside of N. America during the month of August (well, there is apparently a Discworld one, but it's full up). It's like the universe is trying to keep me away from the things I love. [grumble] At this point, I'm seriously considering getting a hotel room in an interesting country and throwing my own mini-con or something. Anyone willing to join in? There'd have to be at least 3 or 4 folks to make it worth doing. Maybe a B&B crawl across G.Britain?

( VK and why I haven't finished the latest Saiunkoku novel )

I didn't mean to name my bike 'Kouyuu'. ( I mean, I get lost enough without <i>encouraging</i> it. )

Anyone have suggestions for good travel spots? I want more stamps on my passport.... Posted here and not on my RL journal, 'cause I'm a bit irked at reality right now: visting it during my time off seems a bit counter-productive.
( specifics )

Completely unrelated: the newest Saiunkoku novel is theoretically out at some stores, but not at my local bookstore. Which is prolly good, considering I'm averaging well less than 6 hours of sleep a night ^^; The Chiba Animate better cough up!
Because of this lack of sleep, I've been a bit wonky at work this week.
( I ended up cutting myself )

Okay, I'm doing a little spring cleaning around here, which should result in a trip to the post office by the end of the week. (It might take me that long to find the boxes of stuff I've stockpiled to send out ^^;) I have some books, doujinshi, and random character goods that I'd like to clear out, but I don't know who'd be interested in them. I don't want money for them; I just want them out of my apartment. If I'm going to be sending folks packages anyhow, I might as well make 'em count.
traykor, greenbirds, and cairnsy especially might want to take a look.
( the stuff )
Also, if anyone has any koolaid/flavoraide, food coloring, or easter egg dye pellets (the old school, mix with vinegar type) they'd be willing to send my way.... (I desperately want blues/greens/purples; the only food coloring of any sort they sell locally is red and maybe yellow.)

Because it's too cool a day not to update.
( Saiunkoku fanart: Kouyuu, Kouyuu, Eigetsu and a dash of Ensei )

(I wasn't kidding about needing a breather from typing up the Saiunkoku story o.O)
Translated and adapted from 紅茶ベストセレクション・森　由美子
Best Selection of Tea by MORI Yumiko 4-537-01917-4 [1998?]
By adapted, I mean I listed ingredients and basic prep steps. I didn't do a detailed description of each stage.
( notes )
----------------
( basic hot tea recipes )

( cold [iced] teas and squashes )
( milk/stovetop teas )

( IT SNOWED!!! )

Since I won't be going out anymore today (the snow having turned to drizzly rain and I not having that much of a death wish), I will be typing.

Question: I have a bunch of tea recipes transcribed from a Japanese book (many of which involve alcohol and/or sugar). Anyone else want to read 'em? I'm typing up the Saiunkoku ghost story short story, and I anticipate needing breaks :)