Happy April, Fools!

Okay, it was needlessly cruel, but I have been waiting to say it alllllll day. Some of the highlights of my day have included, but are not limited to:

• Having a conversation which included the word "skep," as in a place where people keep bees. Yay!
• Watching Fruits Basket until the wee hours this morning (seriously, we're talking 4:30 am here) and crying like a girl (conveniently enough) made for a remarkably happy morning.
• Recognizing visually that Fruits Basket is animation-ally speaking (and I know, is not a word, but it should be) directly between Full Metal Alchemist and Code Geas. Early to mid episodes have the "V" fingers and noodly body shapes which typify Full Metal comic relief..as well as the quasi-feminine eyes of male characters (thick black upper lids, etc). As the series progresses, the faces become more idealized, the limbs longer and more elegant. That is Geas.
• Those who are into the voice actors should know that Tohru (FB) is voiced by Laura Bailey, who I first heard as Sana on Kodocha and that Kodacha's Aikito and Fruits Basket's Kyo Sohma are both voiced by Jerry Jewell. (YAY! Super COOL!)
• Oh! Speaking of Full Metal- Aaron Dismuke, who did the voicing for Alphonse Elric (the walking suit of armor) also did the voicing for Hiro Sohma, who was incidentally the CUTEST SHEEP EVER!!!
• AND!!!! If you register at www.tor.com you can get a free e-book from Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk. Fabulous book, fabulous author, fabulous day. No foolin.

Happy Pi Day! (Resistance is Futile)

Today is Pi Day (3/14). Please enjoy your Pi Day with circular confections, but please, don't be obvious.
For your listening pleasure: http://pi.ytmnd.com/. Calling this ditty entrancing doesn't come close. I feel as if I have been assimilated.

Make Some Popcorn....I'll Wait

I don't know exactly how I did it, but I made a little movie of my trip to Milwaukee. YAY! There are no pictures of me in there, but lots of neato stuff that I saw when I was at the museum. The movie has no sound, so don't worry that there is something wrong with your sound. I haven't figured that part out quite yet.
This movie was made possible by Picasa at http://www.picasa.com/, whom I will thank by name when I get my Oscar.

Cult(ure) of Personality

Spring break makes me happy. I love the first couple days of basking on the couch like a lizard on a rock, sunning myself with the glow of the computer and/or the television. There's usually lots of sleep, but seldom in my bed. I feel duty bound to stay up wayyyy past my bedtime and conk out on the couch, only to be woken up by slobbery dog smooching in the morning, and then the feeling of pressure that comes from an eighty-five pound Old English Sheepdog alighting upon my person like Blitzen on a rooftop. I doubt if I will learn my lesson before she cracks one of my ribs.

I'll be painting the crown molding in the living room, going to the dentist in Milwaukee twice (nothing major just yet, it's still mostly preliminary stuff), and hopefully watching lots and lots of anime. I've been watching Ranma 1/2 as often as possible for the last month or so, and it will be nice to actually finish off the series. I'm also looking forward to crocheting again. I had to cut it out of my life for a little while, because there was just so much going on between school and home improvements that there just didn't seem to be enough time to focus on making blankets. That's not such a good thing for me, because I find crocheting to be a hard core stress reliever. if you can use the phrase "hard core" to describe the process of making scarves, blankets and doilies with a crooked stick. However, my schedule has a week's worth of flex and I'm itching to start. I'm trying to calm down on my yarn collection, so I won't be buying any new yarn until I finish the stuff that I have, and I won't be keeping all the blankets that I make.

The blankets might not look attractive, but I'm sure that the Humane Society in Wisconsin Rapids will be happy to take them off my hands. Wisconsin Rapids has a no kill shelter, so when I have anything that I think they might want or need, they get all the goodies. I may not have the lifestyle to have a pet, but it's nice to be able to help in some small way.

Anyhoo, I have been playing with this stuff enough, and it's time to watch Witchblade...except by watch I mean "doze on the couch with Witchblade playing on the dvr".

Wheeee!

I love museums. Somehow they manage to keep all the stuff that I would if I had a Bag of Holding and a slightly more evolved sense of the macabre (Am I the only one who got a little chill when (re-)reading that last bit there?).

This handsome fellow is relaxing in a glass box at the Milwaukee Museum.

It's Snow Awful...but it's not the snow.

Last night I went to bed super early, since I have been burning my end with two candles for the past couple/few weeks. Very little of that time has been spent actually doing productive things, though. A little extra time making a blanket here, more time watching anime on the dvr there. Homework? When I absolutely must, but really no sooner.

I woke up bright and early and decided to make coffee, which I seldom do. Six or seven inches of snow fell last night, and I figured that with the drive to school almost guaranteed to blow goats, it would be sensible to be awake for the experience.

You know, I have been making coffee for years now, and you would think that I would have it down to a science. That would be a false assumption, however. For some reason I make coffee as though I hate myself.

I lost count while doling out teaspoons of coffee into the filter, and somehow managed to make a generic espresso gel, which a cup of will doubtlessly keep me awake for the next month. Of course, I had several. There are several true and awful stories floating around my circle of friends which serve as testimony to my unwillingness to dump out even the most heinous brew, and today is no exception.

The only upshot is that I was able to fob off one large mug to the guy who plowed out my car this morning. I don't hate him, but you would think so based solely on the fact that I gave him coffee.
Maybe it's karma for something he did in a past life. If that's the case, then justice has been served. In a mug.

Growing

The time, always passing

Has left its touch

Upon our hearts.

We feel it in the

Way we tighten our lips

Turn our faces

Avert our eyes

It shows in the coldnesses

Our small and counted slights

Returned, unfailingly

In equally nonchalant ferocity.


Today, let's choose to cleanse this grime

Gently from our spirits

To remember the smooth current

Of companionship

Of camaraderie

Of friendship

And together, let us row this boat home.