(i am) a work in progress.

fruit bouquet #2

2008-05-12T07:04:51Z

The idea was to make a smaller bouquet than the last one (note the star-shaped pineapple; the flower cookie cutter was too large), but there still ended up being a lot of fruit in it. I had green grapes this time, and honeydew instead of cantaloupe. The color combination didn't work as well, but it tasted better. I also used rice instead of lettuce as the base in this (because I forgot to pick up lettuce). It worked really well packed tight, and also served as a weight to keep the container from falling over. The hardest part was still slicing cutting through the skin of the pineapple.

I think my first arrangement was better, but I still paused traffic while walking with it. Drivers slowed to look as they passed by. More importantly, my mother liked it.

my tablet

2008-05-11T04:28:54Z

I got my Modbook back 2 weeks ago, and have been loving it every moment since. I like writing out my journal entries; this takes care of that just as well as on paper. Better even, since it's automatically converted into typed text. I just wished Inkwell had better handwriting recognition. My handwriting is really clear, but it still manages to futz it up. I don't know why it doesn't just start by asking you to write out the alphabet and just matching based on that.

It's soooo much easier for drawing though! With a regular tablet, I still think of the pen as a mouse. An easier to maneuver mouse, but still a mouse. Drawing directly onto my screen makes the pen feel like a pen. Here is the panel I did for EPUC this morning (the sentence:

The mystery was rapidly unfolding... but I couldn't shake the suspicion that I had met this broad before, in a Mario world.

):

I just noticed that I forgot to give Daisy a nose and color on her lips, oops. And Peach looks loony, which she didn't when it was just her (reference image). I added the others after, but didn't want to re-do Peach.

Anyway, point is, I love being able to write and draw right onto my screen. And I have found a new home for my old tablet. dawna's daughter is seriously

amazingly

reactived account

2008-05-10T07:05:34Z

Steam has changed a lot since I last logged in. Icon still applies though.

There's a community aspect now; I have a (empty) profile page. Must do the social network thing and collect friends. Where have all the SuBs gone? I can't play till I have (access to) a PC though.

antidote

2008-05-10T05:48:59Z

worry, like poison, seeped under our skin. cut deep, we were slowly dying. what passion was left, quickly evaporating.

you came along, dressed our wounds, wiped it clean. scabbed still, but healing. no scars, no re-openings.

hope revived. please don't let this happy honeymoon end, keep us from getting crushed again.

32/100 things about me: more things I can't do

2008-05-07T05:46:06Z

Charlie Berman reminded me that I can't use a normal lighter. I

can

, it just takes me a lot of tries and I usually give up before I get it. That's why they invented the sliding ones! Also, I don't smoke so it's not like I have any actual use for a lighter.

There was that one time at a party, in front of everyone, when Mike bet $5 ($10?) that I couldn't. I got it on the first attempt. He responded by saying I had only been pretending for the last year or whatever that I couldn't, that I was just waiting to scam him.

I miss those guys.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy

2008-05-06T03:46:51Z

I started and finished Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy the other day. It was incredibly short*, but also a good recap of the series, which I've been meaning to watch again. Gameplay was fun; I liked the parts that involved drawing an array with the stylus. Character Mode isn't as great as I thought it was going to be, but that might be because I'm playing as Al (which is putting me through a sped up version of what I just played through). Maybe it'll really be a different view if I use someone else.

*It's been a really long time since I've played a side-scroller. Maybe it just feels so short compared to RPGs.

31/100 things about me: on Oprah

2008-05-01T06:01:29Z

While channel surfing, we caught the end of 20 Richest Women in Entertainment on E! Number one was Oprah, of course. J suggested that we write her a letter asking for help with our rent, since what we pay would be like a quarter for her. He started dictating a letter from me, "Dear Oprah, my family immigrated here when I was young. I'm the daughter of a single parent, and a hard worker..."

During this conversation, I was also heavily engrossed in a DS game. "I was on Oprah," I said nonchalantly.
"You were?"
"Yeah. Oh," I responded, realizing what I had just said.

I was on Oprah, which apparently I had completely forgotten about until just now. This would be random thing about me #31.

I wasn't on the show on the show (in person); it was a video that played on the show, but still, on Oprah. I had 30 seconds in it (or 2 minutes?), talking about the cardboard boat races we did in Physics. My high school might have been on Oprah twice while I was there. I remember a camera crew coming in to film, and I think it was a second time? Either way, I'll have to go dig up my copy of that tape now.

sunshine

2008-04-28T05:51:31Z

Gorgeous blue skies, tank top and shorts weather – another really nice weekend. And I take this all for granted, spending my time in front of a computer and tv.

I did sit outside for a while today, enjoying the warm sunshine... and my DS.

new layout

2008-04-25T23:43:10Z

It's been done for a few weeks, just b0rked in some areas in IE (what's new?). Again, rather than going through and figuring out what needs to be fixed without easy access to IE, I'm just hiding the broken parts.

30/100 things about me: whistle like a bird

2008-04-21T02:01:52Z

I also can't whistle. Not loud, anyway. And it sounds more like a bird chirping than whistling.

smellies

2008-04-16T06:45:23Z

Dear world, I have made and received my first BPAL purchase. From dawna, and not BPAL directly, but I have purchased BPAL. 2 imps/decants. These, plus the ones she and foxfirefey sent me before means that I have a collection now. I just looked it up, and holy crap, it was a year ago. I'm just being really slow about the whole collecting thing, and I still haven't browsed through all the available brews yet. I really like my new ones though!

Yesterday, I wore 51:

Luminescent, glowing, and otherworldly: green mandarin, neroli, honeydew, white amber, guava, freesia, white and green musks hovering over desert scrub, smashed wood, and the dry, biting scent of night air over the Groom Lake salt flats.

Today, Black Moon:

The absence of light: motia attar, black orchid, mugwort, English pear, cucumber, blue lotus, jonquil, massoia, calamus and crystal musk.

dawna also included an imp (decant?) of Mango Juice. It smells like the mango lotion I have.

edibly delectable

2008-04-11T06:28:02Z

I smell good enough to eat, thanks to the chocolate peppermint soap foxfirefey sent me. Mmmmmmmm.

29/100 things about me: Link Thief

2008-04-10T06:18:37Z

In Link's Awakening (on GameBoy), I started the game with the name THIEF so that I would not be renamed when I stole weapons from the items shop. I also harassed the chickens until they got angry.

Or maybe that was my brother and not me, but I think we both did it. I want to play it again now, for that reason (since back then, I didn't know what easter eggs were, that programmers were cool and add in fun stuff). I think that's the only Zelda game that allows you to steal.

28/100 things about me: non-snapping fingers

2008-04-10T04:44:48Z

I can't snap my fingers. Sometimes it'll make the right sound, but never as loud as I hear from other people. And more often, it's a misfired pfffth, fingers rubbing more than snapping.

At least I am not alone.

27/100 things about me: fork vs. chopsticks

2008-04-10T04:37:58Z

As burr86 pointed out at lunch a couple of months ago, I was the only other one that wasn't using chopsticks, and the only Asian at the table. I can use chopsticks just fine, and have been able to since I was 2 or 3, but most of the time, I prefer a fork. Sometimes I'll favor chopsticks, usually when out with family (when using a fork looks like I can't use chopsticks).

my totally awesome new toy... until it broke! :(

2008-04-04T22:33:13Z

I ordered it in October, after deciding I really did have to have a Modbook and that it was worth the credit card debt. It arrived on Wednesday (was supposed to be Tuesday but UPS didn't come even though the tracking said they did).

It was totally awesome for the 20 minutes I spent on it before the screen went blank/black. It wasn't the brightness, low battery, or on sleep/screensaver, and it still worked when plugged into an external monitor. Other people have had this problem too; tech support said it's a known issue and that I'd have to send it back for repairs. Hopefully it'll come back soon, with no further issues because it's seriously awesome.

I have a DS

2008-04-02T22:27:53Z

I wrote this entry last Thursday, the 27th of March. Just that it's taken me a week to post it should show how attached to this thing I am.

----

I got my iPod to use primarily as a portable drive for school. Then it became just a mp3 player again. After it died, I got a DS (lite) to be my music player, with gameplay being a secondary function. I've had it for a month now, but between lack of time/energy, and my card not working, I haven't used it until Monday, waiting for 21. J figured out that I got the wrong one – I didn't know SDHC wouldn't work – it's still a MicroSD card!

There's no music or SNES emulator set up on it yet. I am still planning on doing this, but right now, I'm using my DS to play DS games. I think I like it more than the Wii even! :O

So far, I've been playing:

Drawn to Life

It's like I'm creating my own videogame with all the parts I get to draw. I am playing the role of The Creator afterall. What I really like is how I can draw whatever I want instead of what it's telling me to draw. My cloud platforms were bubbles originally, but since the blue blended into the background too much, I changed it to be Kirby balancing cherries and bananas (because it was easy to draw). My "dark stormy cloud" is a group of hearts with scars and stitches. I got bored with the story already, but creating my character and the other changes are helping improve my pixel art. (Photo is blurry because of movement. The black outlines on the arms aren't mine; I got hit and it reverted the arms I had back to the mannequin's.)

div style="display: inline; font-weight: bold;">Big Brain Academy</div>
I played this on the way to work on Tuesday, and tested just below Below Average. WHAT. I was still half-asleep, but that's still really low. I've been playing it every morning and am now just below Above Average. That's more like it.

Brain Age

At night, I train my brain with Brain Age. The initial test, which had me saying out loud the color of the word (not the color the word read) would not register when I said blue. Each time blue came up, I'd have to repeat it one or two more times. Did not have this problem with black, yellow, or red – do I pronounce blue wrong or something? Blue. Bluuuuuuueee. Because of this, my brain age came out to 63. Uh, no. I created a new file and took the non-speaking test instead, which happened to be math. Brain age: 23. Much better. Kthnx.

Lost in Blue 3

Surviving being stranded on an island with a cute boy. This is the reason I've been going to bed at 1 or 2 the last few nights. I played on the bus on the way home tonight. No, I'm not self-conscious of blowing into the console – need to start that fire to stay warm!

WarioWarez

Crazy insane random fun mini games perfect for short waits when the brain games are dull.

FMA and Bleach are next on my list. And Zelda.

21 the movie and Ben the genius

2008-03-25T17:18:21Z

We went to a screening of 21 last night. And to further perpetuate my expectation of a special guest and Q&A at these things, Ben Mezrich (the author of the book the movie and main character are based on) was there to answer questions about what happened in real life and how much was different/exaggerated in the movie version. They invited everyone to Jillian's for blackjack after, but we didn't go. Also did not get a voice post.

drawing

2008-03-24T06:23:41Z

I need a new layout. Even after making it collapsible, the fixed sidebar sometimes bothers me. I worked on a new illustration for it last weekend, but I don't know if I still like it. Maybe it needs to be less sad. Or more sketched/uncolored. Parts of it still need touching up, but I really like the way the hair came out.

I brought home my work tablet for the weekend, to um, practice. It's been a few years, but I got drawn back into iSketch (Pictionary), and I joined Eat Poop U Cat (2.o version of The Sentence Game, both of which are a cross between Telephone and Pictionary). It's quite addictive, and I've already earned kudos! My

blue screen of Death is hell

strip was well received, and everyone is really friendly.

Animal Farm != Animal Crossing

2008-03-22T01:22:03Z

This is what happens when I'm multi-tasking and not fully listening to the words coming out of my mouth.

"No, I'm not going to play any more Pokemon games."
"Diamond/Pearl is actually really good."
"I'm not going to play Pokemon or Animal Farm."
"Animal Farm?"
"Yeah."
"No, it's Animal Crossing."
"Uh. That's what I meant... Animal Farm is the book -"
"One is with cute little animals you control, and one is where the animals control you."

working at LJ

2008-03-20T17:54:36Z

2 years today.
Think I'll make it to 3?

Pet Peeve: When LiveJournal is spelled wrong.

Capital J.

One word, no space.
Random Trivia: My hire date and burr86's hire date are 6 days apart.

pretty pretty

2008-03-18T00:07:53Z

A gift from my cousin in China. She made me a choker that also doubles as a removable pin.

omg we're (inversely) matching!

2008-03-13T23:40:21Z

janinedog, henrylyne, and I had lunch with gameboyguy13, iseebi, allsunday, and Stephanie-whose-username-I-didn't-get. All of whom I met for the first time today (except for JD, who I met once before, very briefly).

getting home

2008-03-11T05:44:40Z

I watched the bottom half of the sky, the part glowing orange vibrant pink, watched it sink further away at the end of the street. The end of another day. I didn't go for my camera, I didn't need to capture this moment, just to soak in its stillness, a break to remember something I used to see everyday, beauty I used to make time for.

confession #3 and 26/100 things about me: zits and photoshops

2008-03-10T05:34:35Z

I don't think it's fair that I still get zits now that I'm out of my teens.
So sometimes I Photoshop them out. (but usually I don't care or am too lazy to bother to)

^ shirt I bought today (which, at this angle, apparently makes my boobs appear non-existent)