What’s happened since… April? >.>
A quick doodle and color of Riesz, my Ragnarok Online priestess. XD
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Deviant Art Page/ Strawberry skies
As I said before, I registered for a Deviant Art page and actually posted things on it. I didn’t really feel like doing it at that moment, but I did it because it was a step to get my name more “out there.” I really want to become an accomplished artist and it’s just one of the kind of things you have to do, right? =o I was getting more and more into it as people were quickly discovering my gallery so my art piece comments gradually get happier and happier. XD It was exciting getting comments from a bunch of strangers; a bit later though, I found some pages to some really good artists that just blew me away and I starting to feel down about drawing again. >_> Rummaging though Deviant Art is interesting because you can find some really awesome artwork and interesting tutorials from good artists. I ended up spending an afternoon and evening later just watching tutorials and picking up tips on how to CG better. I’ve incorporated some of what I’ve learned and changed a few of my methods and I feel that they really help. ^-^ -though it also feels like I have a long way to go. o_<
Casey convinced me to get a domain name soon after *officially* starting my Deviant Art gallery, emphasizing that “it’s so cheap so why not?” (it costs $15 US a year) The URL is http://www.strawberryskies.net. It’s pretty much the same as the Geocities site I started back in 1999, but with more up-to-date images, info, and links. ^^;; It’s not so artistic nor pretty, but at least it works. ._.
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AiZen Anime Shop
Since Casey was laid off a while ago, he’s decided that he’d rather build his own company and pursue his dream than go back into the IT field. He bought a license to buy and sell anime related merchandise so now we’re officially a shop!! ^.^ His company name is AiZen, but he wants to put the part that deals with anime entertainment under a different more “friendly” name which we haven’t decided yet. =o We don’t have a website or any kind of front neither so there’s still a lot to do. Casey wants to make AiZen more than a store; he wants to make it into an anime community a company that gives back to the people, making a difference in peoples’ lives. He wants it to be a place where people can mingle, chat, inform, and help one another. An example of what he wants is Penny Arcade.
-SO, if you guys wanna buy anime, manga, figurines, etc., ask us! =D We can probably give you better discounts than most other places! XD
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My Brother and Taiwan/Cogswell
My dad convinced my brother to go back to Taiwan this summer and take Chinese classes and was asking me if I wanted to go back with him (I’m assuming that he was offering to pay for the flight ticket if I wanted to go o_<). '_' I kind of want to go, but I don’t want to be with my dad if I stay in Taiwan. ._. I still have awkward feelings towards my dad from the things he said to me last time I was in Taiwan even though now he acts as if nothing’s happened between us; he hasn’t even apologized. It seems like no matter how much he’s hurt me, I still love him…
Bryan’s in Taiwan right now and it sounds like he’s really not liking his time there. ^^; It seems though that his mood about his situation have improved a bit when compared to what he’s said in his recent letters from letters during the middle of his trip. He’s scheduled to move into college housing when he gets back to the states and it’s arranged for him to have 3 housemates! XD Sounds like fun! ^.^ He’s probably not so thrilled, and it isn’t so great according to what I’ve heard from my friend Yuusuke’s roommate experiences, but I can’t help to feel a bit excited because I’ve always wanted to try living like that. XD For years, I’ve imagined what it’d be like to live in a college dorm with fellow college-mates with whom you can make friends with; with people who you can pass in the hall who’d remember your name and possibly say “hi” or want to hang out. I know I’m probably over glorifying it from too much fiction reading/watching and that it prooobably emerged from some kind of psychological need for people to acknowledge my existence, but I can’t help to get excited when I think about it. XD -though, Bryan’s going to be moving into a HOUSE and not a DORM so I guess my excitement is a bit irrelevant. o_< I think it’s a bit sad that I’m more excited about Bryan going to Cogswell than Bryan himself. ._. So sad… -_-
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Anime Expo/Inspirations
Casey and I went to last Anime Expo this past July and I had a really AWESOME time!! XD It’s been so long since I’ve had so much fun at an anime convention (though I guess I haven’t really “been” to a anime convention in a long time since I’ve always been in Taiwan when Fanimecon happens. >.>) The thing I realized about AX though is that the video room schedule really really sucked because about 90% of whatever they were showing are shows and movies that have been licensed and out on video since I was in high school. >_> *sigh* -so, the point about going to AX to have fun is not to see the video rooms, but to see the events and people! XD
The first matter I want to say about what happened at AX is that I ran into a high school friend that I haven’t seen in years there, David Galon. =o I was standing about seven feet away from him but he didn’t seem to recognize or notice me and was talking to someone who appeared to be a friend. '_' I was surprised because he looked really different from the last time I saw him, but I’m sure it was him. I just stood there with Casey not sure what to do, I was too embarrassed for him to see me, so I didn’t end up talking to him…
The first thing Casey and I did on the *official* starting day of AX was go to the dealers’ room. XD Our main objectives were to check out the Gravity (Ragnarok Online) booth, the NIS America booth, and to scope out the sales competition to see if we’d do okay if we started setting up shop at AX’s. We didn’t do much merchandise browsing though because we figured that we could get most things anime/manga cheaper anyways. o_<
Stopping by the NIS America booth was one of my major highlights of the day. T-T I remember reading in a newsletter I got from them that Haradaya, the infamous artist and character designer for Disgaea and many other Nippon Ichi games, was going to be there and will be giving autographs. =D I asked one of the people behind the counter about him and to my surprise, it seems like most or all of their staff at AX were from overseas (or at least seemed to speak English as a second language). o_< -anyhow, after some communication, I found out he was still there and I got him to sign two freebie prinny hand fans; one with my Chinese name and one with my English name!! =D As I was getting my autographs, Casey was wandering around the booth and a piece of Disgaea merchandise caught his eye, a large canvas print of Disgaea2 characters for… I think $350. He decided that he wanted it and convinced me that it was a good buy (since I’m so stingy ^^;) and we requested Haradaya to sign it. ^.^ His autograph session was over so they took us into the booth and I got to sit down and talk with Haradaya and a translater for about five minutes!! XD It made me really happy. T-T For the record also, our canvas print is 8/100, so that means there’ll only be 100 prints and ours is special because it has his signature! =D -and we got to sit and talk to him! XD
The other main places we went to check out were the Anime Music Video Contest and artist alley where I got to see some fellow BAAU members.
Here’s my favorite AMV from what was shown at the contest:
Click to viewIt was really great seeing old BAAU friends again. I miss hanging out with them at BAAU meets. ._.
Though not as a part of AX, I got to see the movie Paprika at home that weekend. XD Casey bought it a few months ago, but we never saw it till then. I really like the movie; >.< I definitely recommend that people see it! =o I think it made itself into my “favorite movies list.” ~
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Mom Moving
My mom’s putting our house in San Jose on sale since she can’t afford to pay mortgage anymore. ._. I went back about a few weeks ago to pack and move most of my brother’s and my stuff out of the house and just came back on the 11th two days ago from helping mom for a little over a week of packing, sorting, and moving boxes. We’re still not finished though; there’s soooo much stuff there. -_- The worst thing about it is that most of the boxes aren’t sorted in any way and half the house AND the garage were jam-packed with them mostly due to the fact that mom decided to remodel the house before selling so the construction crew needing to clear out rooms. My mom, out of depression, also tends to neglect mail so a lot of mail and receipts have piled up and a lot of them are scattered all over the place. Casey came with me and helped for the first weekend, but had to leave back to Los Angeles until the weekend afterwards. Work is really slow because my mom doesn’t seem to have the motivation to work unless I ask her to join me or when my aunt’s there to help which she does two times a week for a few hours. All Casey and I seemed to do was wake up, do the “house-work,” eat, and sleep; we were both so worn out every night. I started having dreams of moving, packing, and sorting boxes and every morning when I got out of bed, I so badly didn’t want to do anymore boxes. Even though we’ve come back to Los Angeles, I’m still having box dreams. T-T I just had one last night. We’ve thrown out and donated so much stuff. *sigh*
Not only is moving boxes a big point in my life right now, but there’s also a lot of drama going between my mom and sister. ._. My sister refused to do anything to help my mom weeks ago but then just recently tells my mom she wants to pick up her old stuff from the house. There’s a whole mess of other things about this, but I’m not going to get into details because it’s just too, much. -_- -anyhow, I have a strong feeling that my sister won’t have family contact much anymore after this point in life. '_'
It’s kind of weird thinking that the town I grew up in which I can consider my “home town” won’t have the “home” to go back to. '_' I think it’s kind of sad, but we have to keep moving forward with our lives, right? ^^