SpacePirateCaine

Here we go again. It's been ages since I've written a journal entry here, but what're you going to do, right? I'm not that motivated. Anyway, it's that time of year again, and I'm getting geared up for the PulpFaction <a href=ozcomics24.com/>24 Hours in Oz Comics Challenge. Last year I took it way too lightly, stopped in the middle to watch Gladiator and also slept a full eight hours towards the end *prior* to finishing; this year I'm gonna actually make a vested effort. In re-reading the official page, I realized that I'm the only non-Aussie to have completed a 24 hour comic for that particular challenge: Go me. So other Americans and other nationalities - REPRESENT! Seriously, don't let me have all the glory.

The 24 hour challenge rocks my socks; it's a hell of a learning experience, and ought to give me the motivation to at least work on that particular bit of comic stuff; when I've been so lax in recent past. June 10-12! I'll be there.

So, it's October already and I haven't written a journal entry since late January, it seems. Such is life, I'm inconsistent, but that's cool. New art, also in a sudden and unexpected rush of creativity. I should probably be channeling it all into my comic work, but I'm dumb like that. Still, I'm pretty damned self-satisfied now that I've overcome my inability to draw women. I'm getting back into MUXing, and with it, came character concept sketches that I am honestly really happy with. Thanks to Danny, for bringing me on to the MUX, and the Semi-porn site "Manga Super on the Web" for having such amazing art to learn from.

I've been eating a lot of curry recently. Like a *lot*. Had Curry in Shinjuku last weekend, then tried the new curry place that opened up in town last tuesday - it was so good that I went again yesterday, and took the leftovers home to eat today. Mutton Masala... So tasty. To whomever it was that came up with nan: I love you. Carnally. You invite over the creator of Chicken tikka, we'll have a party.

A quick check also reveals that I have been on DevantArt for two years and four days, now. You'd think I'd have posted up more art here by now, but I guess that's just the way it happens. My "I want to share this with everyone" factor is a little low in most cases. And I've deleted and/or put into 'scraps' a lot of the old sub-par work. Once I have some more really good pieces, I'll go about systematically moving all my old crap into scraps, and once my own webpage is ready, only the best of the best will go there.

Anyway. That's all for now. I just was sick of seeing my (albeit entertaining) old journal entry. You may now return to your regular scheduled broadcasting. Or whatever.

Man, am I beat. It's some ridiculously early hour in the morning, and I'm much further away from my cozy, albiet oft cold floor than I want to be. I think this would be the right time to express my general disdain for going to sleep after dawn. I brought it upon myself, since testing week is the one week in which I actually, truly, work hard during the school year.

I'm hardly an overachiever, but I get what little homework that's assigned to me in on time, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, but for some reason, when all of my teachers have reports assigned for the same week, it comes down to me spending every night huddled over my computer clicking away at my (semi-screwy, one click brings up three w's, and the 'd' key tends to refuse to work) keyboard. 2000 characters can be big when it's 4 a.m. and your teacher wants you to hand-write your work because 'typed stuff doesn't have the distinct flavor of written work'. I agree. That flavor is the flavor of my hand cramping up tonight when I wake up.

Yes, I decided that the high road in this particular instance would be for me to take in my freshly baked report and pass it in when campus opens up for the day, *then* sleep. The pros of this decision are that I don't have to worry about reenacting last semester's "mad dash 'coz the office closes in 15 minutes and my house is 12 away" event that nearly cost me bigtime. The cons? I'm awake at 7:30 in the *freakin'* morning.

There's something amiss about returning home during the daylight hours when you have yet to bed down for 'the night'. I've experienced this a few times after long nights of karaoke, and I can't say it does it for me. I'm slightly light-sensitive while I'm trying to actually get to sleep as well, and even with the bedsheet I'm using in place of curtains blocking the direct sunlight, bright is bright.

Oh well.

At least that's all I have to do tomorrow. This will be a blissfully 'slept in' Tuesday for me. Once I've completed the three tests and two reports remaining, it's back to the States, though, for some long-anticipated relaxation. Since winter break is all of 2 weeks, it is though a great two weeks, in which I celebrate both Xmas and New Years', not quite long enough to work out the kinks accumulated during the school year. I'm looking forward to days of lounging with my cat, hangin' with my folks, and working on my art, which has taken an unfortunate back-seat that unfortunate ogre they call real life these days.

I'll bring you somethin' nice in February.

Arr.

I had an odd revelation recently.

Think about it - I don't know what the name of the scientific principle is; I used to, but it doesn't really matter right now, but matter does not spontaneously generate, ever. Amoeba split an' stuff, but they have to eat (I imagine) in order to do so. So this means that our bodies have to come from somewhere.

Our bodies are made, primarily, of muscle, skin and what have you, protiens and fats and things that are converted from our primary intake - food.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are walking globs of food. When you think about it, except for whatever matter is left over after your birth, everything else, every millimeter of skin on your body is converted from the food you've been eating since the doctor slapped your ass to make you start sucking air. For some reason, it seems extremely funny to me that I am made of food. We all are. We're pretty attractive dishes, I'd say, but even so... It's funny.

Now, to take this unusual revelation a little further, I eat a lot of hamburgers. It's part of the reason that I'm overweight, but the protein from my MacDonalds' is also responsible for my MASSIVE BULGING BICEPS - ARR!. I have a good, solid double-quarter-pounder on either side of my shoulders. Most of my body, for that matter, or at least much of the growth in my last four and some-odd years of life is made of convenience store premade dinners. Japanese people are walking piles of rice!

Honestly, I have nothing intelligent to say today. I'm almost back in the States again - tomorrow I have my last full day of class, except for one class on Monday. Good stuff.

So yeah... That's enough out of me.

Arr.

Television, Breakfast, Internet, all of these things are pretty easy to get used to life without, really, once you've been without them for a while. I've noticed this recently. Even when I log on to the computers here at school, I check my three mail accounts, delete the junk mail in each, check the three forums I frequent, sometimes write little foggy pearls of wisdom (If you can call them wisdom), then read Penny Arcade. It would seem that most of the use for the 'net for me is chatting with my parents and friends afar, and downloading movies and so on using WinMX. I don't get proper e-mail anymore, except from Wen, though that doesn't really matter all that much to me. I've filled the gap with reading, TV and video games.

Many would argue, I suppose, that the TV and games aren't the best things I could be doing with my time, but after the games are bought, they don't cost anything to play, 'cept for the electricity bill, which is suprisingly much lighter than I expected it would be.

First day of December. I've done six journal entries in the span of a year. seven, if you include this one - I'm averaging one every other month.

I've been trying to readjust my sleeping schedule. I found that recenty I've been calculating my bedtime to roughly 6 or 7 hours before my next class begins. Weekends are sporadic, usually just dependant on whether I notice that the sun is rising, or the game I happen to be playing at the time reaches a good stopping point. Of course, there's also just the 'You know, I just really don't feel like playing this game right now' factor, which has raised a bit recently.

Replaying Xenosaga (ep. 1) so that I can play the as of yet untouched copy of Xenosaga (ep. 2) that I have has led me to realize one of the reasons I stopped in the first place : for the plethora of enemies you have to fight, there isn't much in the way of experience - I'm near the end of the game, and my characters are barely in the upper 20's, level-wise. This could be a potentially very good thing, if it weren't for the fact that it seems the enemies in each new level are designed for characters a whole lot more powerful than mine. Even if I systematically hunt down and destroy every enemy in every level I enter, generally going for point multipliers, I still am not particularly tough. My main character, even though she is basically fully powered up, stat-wise, is not awfully tough. I enjoy a challenge, but when the game was designed in such a way that save spots are an hour or more apart, it can be a bit frustrating at times. Still, a good story.

Where was I going with this?

Ah, yes, that destination would be "Nowhere in particular". My journal style, it would seem, is 'free form'. I guess since I write them for myself it's not a bad thing at all, but this is a public journal - I can only imagine what you poor readers are going through trying to pick through this miasma of ungathered thoughts.

I've composed about 9 songs, now, that I think I want to put together into an album. I still want to do five or six more, so that there'll be at least an hour's worth of music, and among those songs, only about half of them are actually 'finished'. The comic, as always, is a slowly advancing juggernaut. I'm indeed making progress, albeit slow progress. No more starting over, which is good, though the first three pages, which I have inked, have to be redone. Nevertheless, all is well on that front. I'm half way to the first goal line.

On the bad side of news for these days, I've managed to damage my MP3 player - the one thing I use without fail every day. It fell out of my pocket while I was mounting my bicycle a few days ago (At least it wasn't while riding, that would've REALLY sucked). No huge damage, it was in it's little leather case, so no scratches, even, but the earphone jack shifted or something inside the machine, so the sound became distant, or sometimes only earphone would play sound, or something of the sort. I decided to do some home repair, went to the 100 yen shop, bought a tiny screwdriver, and attempted to open 'er up.

Well, I got the top two screws undone, managing to tear up the skin on my index finger and thumb in the process (Tight little bastards), but the bottom two screws just wouldn't give. I managed to, with my screwdriver, strip the screws. No getting them out now without some real hard work. however, I did manage to fix it in some fashion. I'll want to actually get it repaired the proper way when I get back to the States, but assuming I don't drop it again before I get back, the current jury-rig job I've done should work out.

I'll have to scan in some new art and post it here soon.

Arr.