Appa's Thoughts

Most of the stuff on Japanese TV is like this. If you listen carefully, they use some familiar BG music a couple times.

(By the way, this has some English cues about what's going on. The rest is easy to understand.)



I've got about two weeks until my JLPT! *ties on "Absolute Victory" bandana*

Today my classmate and I spent an hour after class having a serious discussion about manga as an art form and its relationship to the industry. He's such an inquisitive person, so I enjoyed it a lot. It started with him asking me to explain the logic behind a couple of the paneling techniques and why certain extra characters were shown more graphically murdered than others. I had never thought about it, but it was fun to look carefully at and interpret what I take for granted about the style (as the character designs themselves are usually the object of discussion).

When you get down to it, it's amazing how avid manga readers are able to read this as a kind of language. We pick up facial, layout, and bubble cues, but others actually find this very foreign. This is actually the second time I've had this as a schedule class discussion topic. Of course I expected to encounter it in Japanese Visual Culture, but I really like taking the Word & Image approach to it too. I would never have expected to compare shoujo manga paneling to cubism, but it kind of works!

Anyway. It's fun to squeal with fellow fangirls about manga we love, but I also love being able to put manga in a box and analye it seriously without even needing to pay attention to plot. I'm really amazed lately by how a couple of friends have wanted me to discuss things like this with them lately. I warn them that they're opening cans of worms and I'll probably talk their ears off, but they keep asking good questions and being involved. And I like this!! It's so gratifying to see when other people take interest in the same things and you're not actually boring them.

Or just educating them, either. They've been very insightful conversations on both ends. I love that.

Sometimes the explosion of manga popularity makes me feel a little main-stream teeny-bopper, but at least that kind of popularity has made it be taken a little more seriously in scholarship as an art form. Sure, we fans love to talk about how deep or complicated some are, but simply as works of art, even the simplest entertainment-only plots are worthy of discussion of technique. But maybe that's more so my inner mangaka-wanna-be-artist speaking.

Ack... I should go do Chinese homework.

Today at work I came across someone with an address on a street called "Ascot". That made my inner dork very excited and thus I started wondering about the rest of the neighborhood.

Poll #1486000
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

Which of the following streets would you most like to have for your address?

Watched a happier play tonight...

It's a tradition at CC (an interdisciplinary honor's college, separate yet not from my university) for the freshman to write and perform a musical every fall. I was not in the freshman production for my class because I was a transfer student (and hadn't even heard of this place at the time), but I still love this tradition.

I went to one two years go and loved it, but everyone says that it wasn't that great. I was abroad last year so I didn't see the last one, but I did manage to see this one this time. It was called "Nugget" and was set in a California mining town. The women get sick of the men and throw them out (only after the mayor receives a Russian mail-order bride). Stolen gold. Cross-dressing. Someone dressed in a barrel. Corny jokes. Goofy characters. Very, very neatly tied up endings. Yup, it was fun.

I was also really impressed by the music. I mean, I've heard musical numbers from past performances, but that it can be put together this quickly and so well by a bunch of 18-year-olds is pretty remarkable. I love it!

---

Speaking of inspiring people, there's this guy. I don't know who he is, but on my way to work one weekend I heard him singing out loud while walking down the opposite side of the street. I love it when people aren't shy to sing in public just because it makes them happy. (I prefer to be behind closed doors--especially doors to karaoke rooms!)

I encountered this same guy, I think, sitting on a ten-foot brick wall, singing again in the middle of the afternoon. I can't make out what exactly he's singing (I've haven't stuck around to listen too closely), but he's just so happy and it brings me great cheer.

I miss how first semester there was a guy always on his pogo stick. But he quite school to get be a professional pogo stick-er. For serious.

Watched the university staging of Cabaret mostly because I've enjoyed some of the songs from AMVs. I'm a little sad that the performing of "Willkommen" fell short of my expectations, but the Sally performer certainly made up for that. I was mainly curious about what kind of crazy plot a play like that could have had. It wasn't what I expected.

Yeah. I forgot my problems.

But then I brought up the news and suddenly the world looks very dark. And I feel like I've failed to be a soldier of justice or something, just in regard to other things going on. I've been the voice people don't like to hear and I get tired of even hearing it myself. But it's when I'm passive that I feel the most sick to my stomach. I get wiped out by saying anything, but not saying anything...

And now I've taken a break from writing this to open to my mouth to someone. And it went smoothly. We're all civil. It's all been civil. I still still try to avoid bringing any politics into my fandoms and this journal because it taints everything. But we can't always flee to our safe little fantasies where we can pretend everyone loves one another and wouldn't hurt one another.

I really can't imagine what living in in Germany seventy years ago would have been like. I may push myself to say things people don't want to hear now and risk labels and stereotypes and jeers--all of which I've gotten plenty--but could I have been courageous enough to have said anything then, in that kind of world? Or would I have made myself ill by staying silent? Would I have eventually become silent to the point of being numb?

Have I already become numb?

I really like randomly finding people doing musical performances. Especially when they're giving out cookies. It's even better when they're really good at their performance and they sound unique, then they don't even need cookies to get me over to listen.

Today I stumbled on one of my classmates singing at the piano while another guy was playing bass. Too bad I came at the tail end of their performance. I know this guy--a sophomore--is an actor, and I've seen him in two studio plays which I liked, and from our seminar discussions I can see he's pretty bright. But then seeing him perform with that much energy and personality at the piano?

I'm a fan.

There are a couple of girls I'm a fan of here, too. One is a junior and her sister is a freshman, and I first saw them singing some soft and airy harmonies at an event last February. I would notice them from a far and admire how well they harmonized (and I could tell right away that they were in sync enough to be sisters), but it was at the honor's college coffee hour last spring when I spontaneously made a rant/song about having been a transfer student, the older one came running to me afterward to tell me how happy she was to meet someone else who transferred in there. We shared an instant understanding that none of the people who had been through the freshman program could have understood, and since then she's one of my most pleasant acquaintances.

These two sisters are so bubbly off stage. They're always smiling, laughing a little awkwardly, and when they're together they get each other laughing more. They always have someone nice to say whenever I run into either one of them. And they get away with saying things like "It was so whimsical when John took off his hat!"

At a different coffee hour recently, they both dressed up as Elvis, and laughed in their flighty way and could barely make out "thankyouverymuch" without laughing, but when they sang their renditions of Elvis songs, or more recent popular music, it always sounded heavenly.

I'm a big fan of them, too.

-----

And then there are the two girls I've been watching Fushigi Yuugi with...

I'm been very amused about some of their reactions to thinks. They want to see Miaka and Tamahome wind up together, but we all liked HotohorixMiaka. Actually, I had never liked or disliked Hotohori and Miaka as a pairing, but this time around I suddenly preferred it.

Anyway, they both started as Hotohori fans, and then they liked Tasuki when he came in, and then one took to liking Hotohori best while the other liked Tasuki especially. I let them know Chiriko was my favorite but I like them all and just feel sad that Chiriko got jipped in the anime. And I've been pointing out silly inconsistencies or saying things like "yes!! They got the animation budget back in this episode!" and "Watch the blood. Watch the blood. Why is it pink? Why does it look like petals!?"

***SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT***
( It's the part of the series when they're dropping like flies. )

Oh wow. It's 1:30am. I have a field trip tomorrow I should get some sleep prior to. I spent so many hours today working on two take-home economics exams that time passed me by completely. But they're done, yay! ☆☆☆

Some Broadway songs drive me crazy with how catchy they are. I tend to prefer Sondheim's tunes such as those in Into The Woods or Pacific Overtures, but lately I've been stuck on a few Avenue Q songs, which I can really blame AMVs for. Every so often I'll find myself singing or humming "It sucks to be me... It sucks to be me..."

Darn it! They're just so catchy!

----

Anyway. I have no talent with LJ design.

Actually, the current layout I have was something I made someone else do, and I don't even like it much. I had been hosting a picture for it on Geocities, and even though I knew Geocities was going to disappear, I didn't do anything. I wouldn't know how to do anything anyway.

But I still like using my own pictures on my journal, so---would anyone with a little more know-how mind helping me out with making my journal a bit more cohesive and showing me where I can change things so that it can grab an image hosted elsewhere? Depending on how much effort it takes (like I said, I have no idea), there might be a fanart reward in it for whoever helps me out (feel free to mention this to friends who might be interested).

.....Please?

Had myself a little anime marathon this weekend. Just now finished Berserk, which I was thoroughly enjoying...

until the ending.

It was like... SERIOUSLY!?!?!? You're ending it THERE!?!?!?

....guuuhhh!!!!!!!

*goes back to rewatch first episode now that it'll make more sense*

EDIT: And... that didn't help much. Woah. I can't say it was a bad ending... well, I certainly can, but huh. I guess that ending had the effect they wanted it to.

As for my "guess who dies first and when" game, I was mostly right with my more general predictions, but they sure surprised me on just how most of them were going to go. Still, I've got this hint of a plot bunny that says "But ****** might still be alive! We didn't see him die, they just implied it... although, he sure was asking for it."

I'm sure this AMV is going to be a lot funnier to me now:

Life is crazy. This is a given, we might as well get over it. Anime is still fun for those moments you can afford it.

I've been craving something that feels "old" or "classic" lately, so I'm borrowing Berserk from a friend. Six episodes in and I'm really enjoying it so far, it's good quality. Still, there's this urge to guess what kinds of ends each of the characters will meet. I'm playing a game with myself to see if I can predict which of the supporting characters will die first and how late into the series.

Also still enjoying the Mirai Nikki manga. The plot is intricate enough between each of the episodes that it keeps from being formulaic, and I've found something I've liked in almost all of the characters. I find it scary to admit that I'm actually a bit of a fan of Yuno. o_o;; Funny, because she'd typically turn me off from a series entirely.

And I guess that's my update. Off to another unproductive meeting.

I read Toni Morrison's novel Beloved for class. Once you get the hang of her style it's a good read, I think. Not one of my favorites, but it did keep me interested.

We had to watch the movie for class, too. One of my classmates and I took care of this last night, and wow... it was long and painful and just the fact that I can only associate the lead actress's face with fortune, it felt like a huge waste of my time. Didn't expect it to be quite so long either, and wound getting home pretty late, and getting a huge migraine (can I blame the red strobe light effects?).

So. Bleh. If you're interested in this title--not that I'd push anyone in any way or the other about the book--then skip the movie.

You might recall that about a year ago, I had a Sefuru dangle on my backpack which, because it was made of a kind of fabric, fell off somewhere in the depths of the Japanese train systems.

I was quite saddened, but I found a metal Sefuru dangle later, which I liked quite a bit, and had been using it on my key chain. I don't typically use many dangles at all, but I tend to get pretty attached to the ones I do use.

And today I have just discovered that the metal link broke and this Sefuru has run away too. >_____< My happy little Dragon I've had for a few years was attached to that, too, and now it's gone, too.

I know Sefuru probably wouldn't like hanging around with someone like me, but this is a little mean.

EDIT:

Found it!! Turns out it wasn't the Sefuru link that broke, it was the fused metal on part of the Dragon. Anyway, yay! I still have it to try to figure something out with it.

So!! Went out to Mitsuwa in Chicago today (always a long-anticipated trip), and they did not have new volumes of the manga I was looking for, but that DID have a 35th anniversary tribute to Please Save My Earth. ^_______^ It's got eight side stories from guest authors. Tee hee... most of them are Alice/Mokuren//Rin/Shion focused, but there's a Mode/Mokuren one, a Sakura/Issei one, an original character one, and a very short Haruhiko one from Hiwatari-sensei.

Kyaaahahaha. I shall enjoy it bit by bit.

一个很害羞的男孩，叫小明，看到了他的很安静同学，叫梅林，就很喜欢她。小明紧张得不会请梅林当他的女朋友，可是他们慢慢地成好朋友。他们常常一起学习，一起去学校餐厅一边吃午饭一边开玩笑。小明越来越开始爱她，但是他不知道怎么告诉她。
最终，小明想一个想法：他瞒梅林他请教她怎么请很可爱的小姐陪他去晚会。然后，小明就做梅林所说。可是，他问她的时候，梅林说，“太棒了！其实，我被怎么告诉小张我喜欢他困扰了。咱们可以帮彼此。”
听者她的答案，小明很痛苦了。

( ?? )

YOU:
1. Name: (or nickname)
2. Date of birth:
3. Where you live:
4. What makes you happy:
5. Currently listening/the last thing you listened to:
6. Do you read my journal?:
7. If yes, what makes it especially good or bad?:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. What do you love at the moment?:
10. Favorite place to spend time:
11. Favorite lyric:
12. The best time of the year:

RECOMMEND:
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A band, a song, or album:
4. An anime:

PLUS:
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Look at my friends-list and tell what you like about one of our mutual friends:
4. Put this in your journal so that I can tell you what I like about you.

Over the past four days, I wrote a 31,829 word work of original fiction, beginning to end.

And I played with a 6-week-old kitten.

To me:
"The room is brighter now that you're here. I could tell you came back to campus because the flowers are blooming again."
(The best part is that these lines were fed to him by another guy at the table.)

I had a good laugh over that.

____


I've spent the last two days writing, writing, writing, yelling in angry Chipanglish, walking aimlessly, reading, barely avoiding a trip to the emergency room for a bloody nose which wouldn't stop (did you know Attila the Hun died of complications from a bloody nose?), and eating not very healthy food. Just doing my best not to go stir crazy out here. But hey, I have 15,958 words down so far. Let's see how far I can get before Monday.

Apparently, my regular fiction speed is much slower than my fanfiction speed. Maybe if it were more humorous I would type faster.

Yoshizumi Wataru's "Spicy Pink" is a nice dose of disillusionment. ~__~ Last night I was talking casually with a friend, and again got the whole "you must write a manga about this. YOU MUST. No buts. Do it."

*slump* I appreciate that I have fans, but I don't think they know just how much I wish this weren't all a joke. At least I didn't go to an art school, because paired with my Japanese, I might have actually been crazy enough to go for it.

Anyway. I'm playing with a plot this weekend. Must keep myself busy (not usually a problem, haha...). Just writing, no drawing. Writing in my native tongue, on top of that.

I will dress up, walk downtown, find a coffee shop, get some tea, and type. I do so love the sound of my fingers on a keyboard.

......or at least that's the plan.

Not what I was expected to happen---I got more Gakuen Alice to read!!!! >:D *gobbles it up* Kyaaaaa! I love these characters so much.

....I was already productive today. -___- I just want to go hide with this and finish it all... but I should sleep and just read more tomorrow. But it's so exciting because it's finally getting to stuff we've been waiting for all along! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D!!!

....kya!

Ow, why does my back hurt lately? I need to clone myself so I can give myself a proper back rub.

So! Today I finished moving, waited 45 minutes for a professor who never showed up, learned stuff about William Blake's poetry and illustrations, fit in a couple episodes of Fushigi Yuugi with my friends (whoa, I had forgotten how sadistic Nakago can be), and went to go see a play in the studio theater. Tonight was the only showing I could make, and I got there as soon as I could after class, and was the last person in line... and the person in front of me got the last ticket! Patience won out, however, and I got one of the unused usher's seats. :D

"Fuddy Meers" was pretty good, and had a cast of satisfyingly crazy characters. The basic plot might remind most people of the movie "50 First Dates". I'm not usually a fan of those kinds of movies, but I did like that one because I'm so intrigued about how memories make a person. Therefore, I enjoyed the plot as well. The set was pretty neat, too--it spun between three scenes!

I really like being able to go see university theater productions, and I find I've been able to recognize some student's set work and I've become a big fan of a couple of actors. Two of my classmates were in this one, and one was a crazy person with a sock puppet. I love it when these studio plays have characters with mental illnesses.

I want to be in a play again. I hope things might work out for me to try out for a community theater production when I go back home or something, but the problem would be finding one which my younger siblings will be able to go see me in... sure, I love the idea of doing something like "M. Butterfly", but I wouldn't even want my mom to know the plot line for that!

Speaking of, they're putting on "Cabaret" on the main stage next month. I want to see that pretty much because of all the AMVs I've seen with music from it. ^^; Of course, that would make it hard for me not to picture "Lulu" as "Lina Inverse", but...