Go here right now to see the most wonderfully severe Jin ever =)

https://www.triadestore.com/index.php

--and Mugen too. =)


I'm going to SCREAM if someone doesn't sub Nabari no Ou #11 soon. The suspense is killing me. In slow increments.

Just had to share how pretty this is...


It's a Hubei lily, native to the mountains of China. Called 'Henry's lily' in the West in honor of the explorer who first brought one here in 1889. This is the first year we've had them in the garden. =) [photo by evb]

My completely amazing 1/8 scale Creature from the Black Lagoon resin by Sideshow has arrived!

( More pix under the cut. )

So let's see, in addition to moody drinking parties with imaginary friends, what else have I been doing this week...
( Bleach movie, kimekomi lessons from the master, lilies and Nabari no Ou in that order )

--beautiful warm summer nights like this one, the lilies blooming on the balcony with their sweet fragrance, the lilies we chose together a year ago with no idea she was going to die, and now I sit there and I imagine myself pouring the fourth or fifth sake' and asking him, do you ever get to where you can just think, what a lovely night, and not wish she was there beside you? Can you ever just be here and have this time for what it is? Ever?

And I know he'd say no. But eventually it doesn't hurt quite as much. Quite.

And he'd pour the next sake'.

Fair warning: Shameless otaku-fangirl appreciation of one of my most-loved fansub groups follows. If you're not a fan of boys' love stories and/or have ethical objections to collecting fan-subbed anime, you need click no further.

( Why I love aarinfantasy even more this year than last. )

I spent the weekend in Kirksville, Missouri--where Judy and I lived for years, and where she's buried--at Judy's mom Peggy's house, going through the many boxes of belongings she left behind when we moved out here to MD.
Notes on said visit follow.

( A ramble on the visiting of old residences and loved ones' graves. )

Just in time to not miss the date, here's my 58 story. I'm really happy with it.

( Chop Wood, Carry Water )

Well, this isn't at all the story I had intended to do for this occasion, but I'm pretty much happy with it anyway. At least I got it in within the same weekend as 5-3 Day. =)

Spoilers for manga vol. 3 and Gensomaden Saiyuki episode 7.
Very mild Sanzo-Gojyo shounen-ai, probably worksafe. I hope it's not too badly OOC.
(I <3 ellipses.)

( About 2 AM... )

Found it in the supply closet at doll class this morning. Who knew?



(--actually, it's just washi paper. [I think. I'm not yelling "makai tenjyo!" anywhere near it though.] Doesn't it look great? I think I'll make it into scrolls and take 'em to AnimeUSA.)

Had my little festivity in the balcony garden.
( The bleeding hearts are especially pretty this year. )

Best wishes, and many happy returns of the day!

Here's the tiger I made for her. =)



( Posing in the balcony jungle )

I know not all of you bother with this, but I can't help mentioning that huzzah, the spring 2008 season is upon us, and I've been spending a happy lot of time over at Anime News Network reading their breathless 24/7-updated stream-of-sleeplessness reviews of the new shows. Plus, of course, catching as many as I can myself. =)

( New anime rattlings continued. )

Remember at the beginning of episode 11, where we see the teru-teru bozu hanging outside the window as an attempt to stop the rain? That one wasn't working so well, but Akiko-sensei's did. =) The festival has been plagued by rainy weather for the last three years, and Sensei was most worried that we'd have another wet day this year. When I arrived at her house yesterday morning, the first thing I saw was one of these little guys hanging on her doorknob, and she brought it with her to the festival as well. Sure enough, though the prediction had been for clouds and thundershowers all day long, we had two brief showers early on, one later, and bright sunny skies 90% of the day. Yay for old-school weather magic.

I think our sales were pretty good, though we sold more washi paper than kimekomi pieces. As with everything else the economy's had an effect, I guess; the more high-end works (older dolls and dolls made by Sensei) got a lot of looks but I think only one or two sold. The little dolls and animals done by students did better, especially pandas (we'll probably be turning out pandas by the boxful starting next January =). Though Sensei said she may not have a booth there next year as it's just too tiring and stressful, and it does make a very long day, though it was fun to sit working and answering people's questions. (My years of model horse showing stood me in good stead there, though the real star of the public Q&A was strangemuses who must have read off her "what is kimekomi" spiel about 150 times, with equal courtesy and enthusiasm every single time, and on just 2 hours of sleep to boot).

And it was fun to see all the different styles of passers-by--see evb's LJ for a batch of her as-always terrific pix. I didn't get to walk around any (though I did hear the drummers and the J-pop band!) so I'm glad she got such great shots. =)

Finally, my rescued kimono was wonderful. I don't think I mentioned this at the time, but I found this handsome old piece some time back at a great, sadly-closing Asian imports shop in the area. It's either very dark blue or black, with the inside lining painted with a mountain and lake scene. It has a little stapled tag inside the collar that says "antique--100% silk--made in Japan--dryclean only" and it's a montsuki no less--the Sakai family's katabami mon on it in white in the regulation five places. (I could be happier about that, since the Sakai were on the other guys' side at Nagashino, but I haven't been nudged by any Takeda family ghosts so I guess it's OK.) I asked the proprietors about the tag, and they told me that an old garment is considered "vintage" if it's less than 100 years old, and "antique" only if it's age 100-and-up. So this is some interesting piece of silk. =) I fell in love with it on the spot, and got it for only $40 because the inside linings of the back and right sleeve were ripped loose and the under seam of the sleeve was damaged. I knew I couldn't repair it as it deserved, but I was sure I could at least render it whole enough to be wearable, and I wore it yesterday. It wears like a dream; effortlessly light, not too warm or too cool, shrugs off sudden rainstorms with ease and feels just delicious.
I'll need to find more excuses to wear it around. =)

We had a sunny day! Amaterasu be praised! Only two little thundershowers, hardly to be noted, despite some dramatic lightning. Sold the monkeys but not the rocking horse. (ah, well.) My 100-year-old silk kimono held up perfectly. =) Nearly finished the tiger and had my first ever complete (brief) conversation in Japanese. (Person: "Konichiwa." Me: same. Person: "Sono tora kawaii!" (that tiger's cute!) Me: "Arigato gozaimasu." --OK, 6 words, but we understood each other just fine, so yea.)


---Now I descend back into the non-Japanese-fangirl world and deal with things like income taxes and my visit back to Kirksville, MO, to deal with the stuff we left at Judy's mom's house and visit her grave. Dear gods. Pray for me, people.

10,003 to be exact.
w00t. =)

(...however many-hundredth it is.)

I hope Sanzo and the guys take you someplace nice and order the whole menu, with apricot tofu on top. =)

ETA: menu here for Goku's mini-bash:

--Trader Joe's chicken shumai
--coconut curry chicken sticks
--fresh peaches and tangerines

accompanied by the first two chapters of "Burial".

Even Akiko-sensei thought it was neat. =)
*whew* that's off my shoulders.

( Completed rocking horse pix under the cut. )

Cherry blossom season is officially underway =)

The brilliance that gave us Saiyuki and Wild Adapter turns 33 today. =)