I LIIIIIVE!!!! *lurches out of her grave*
Welp, I survived the Summer of Hell, somehow. Spicer-kitty did, too. ^^
In the final gauntlet of Voice vol3, I ended up staying up until 4 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 5 AM on Thursday, but by the manga no kami, I finished! And it doesn't look rushed, too. YES. But still, the volume was a week late, which makes it the first time in 8 years of lettering manga that I couldn't make a deadline. *sigh* But Shoujo Editor 3 was able to give corrections to me quickly, and in the end, it didn't affect the publishing schedule at all, which is very good. Things could have been much worse.
And I am determined to never be late like that again! *fighting pose* No more crappy summers! This was the third year running, and I have had ENOUGH! I refuse to let Summer 2014 be crappy!!! GRAR!!!
After turning in Voice vol 3 on Friday morning, I ended up sleeping until 1, then did the already-arrived corrections, and fell asleep for 2.5 more hours later that afternoon. I slept almost as much on Saturday. Just call me Morita-sempai, from Honey and Clover. I work like mad for two weeks, then sleep for the next one. :P Though Morita-sempai has two things in his favor: 1. he's in his mid 20s, and 2. he's crazy. I have no intentions of doing this again!
This week, I had to push to finish Seraph chapter 2 by Tuesday morning, which is the deadline for the next issue of Jump. Speaking of, that's New Title 10. Seraph of the End! Yamamoto Yamato-sensei is the artist. Two other guys work on it, one who writes it, and the other does storyboards. Never seen that particular setup before, but it seems to work for them, so yay! Chapter 1 is up now at Shonen Jump online. If you want to read it, you need to buy a subscription or at least the single issue. Or you can just look at the art on the Jump site. Go fast, because they'll change it come Monday and the new issue. ^^
I don't have to rush the third chapter of Seraph next week, as we'll be going every-other week until we catch up with Japan. Seraph is monthly in Japan, not weekly. ^^ Anyway, Seraph Editor is great to work with, and we're off to a wonderful start. :D
I'm still in recovery mode--particularly after the setback of having to letter ~75 pages more of Seraph in two days--so I've been focusing on the fannish fun of Yuletide. Those who read my DW account have already seen my letter, but if anyone on LJ only is curious, it's at http://slr2moons.dreamwidth.org/187915.html. Feel free to write me a treat, if you are inspired. :D
Oho, last Tuesday, Voice vol 1 finally came out!!! :DDD My own copies have yet to arrive, but I found it on the shelf during book club and walked down memory lane. Even if you don't care for crazy shoujo comedy, I would be much pleased if you'd flip through the volume and admire all my hard work. I earn every cent of my paycheck for Voice!!
I've started walking again. It feels good to get out there and stretch my legs!! Only doing about 45 minutes of actual walking, as all my leg muscle withered away while I worked like mad this summer. X| On Sunday, I'll be joining my book club/hiking buddies for my first hike in MONTHS! I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be huffing and puffing all the way through, given my poor condition, but it'll still be fun.
On my hike today, I was attracted by the blackberry vines that grow all over around here. I've resisted picking any in previous years, thanks to watching this one movie where the MC's friend buys some roadside stand blackberries, eats them, and contracts some sort of killer amoeba that does her in. But I caved this year. :3 I didn't have a bag with me, so I filled up one of my hoodie pockets with berries. I was scratched, I had to fend off spiders, and my hands were purple and sticky with juice, but I did it!
Peak blackberry season is ending, and lots of people in my neighborhood hit these bushes, so the pickings were slim. I still managed to find about two cups worth, though. (Found a great batch that no one else went for b/c it was behind a spider web. That didn't stop me, of course. No, I didn't kill any spiders, just broke their webs so they'd scurry away and I could get those berries.)
By the time my pocket was full, juice was soaking through the bottom, so I went home, put all the berries in a tub, started a load of dark-colored laundry along with my (already black) hoodie, and set about making blackberry syrup. I looked up an actual jam how-to online, but OMG it's so COMPLICATED! You have to have all this special equipment and gizmos and I said "screw it, I'll make syrup. And make up the recipe as I go." And I did. :3
On a whim, I added two tablespoons of chia seeds, because I know they thicken liquids due to their inherit gel nature. And whaddaya know--I made blackberry jam after all. *laughs* I boiled to death and then filled four babyfood jars with it! (Spicer gets meat-only babyfood mixed in with his canned cat food several times a week.) I'm gonna make a batch of my mother's delicious from-scratch biscuits tonight, so I can fully enjoy my homemade blackberry jam.
I sampled the goods as I was filling jars, and licked the spoon. Mmmmmm. I made a killer batch. X9
Speaking of, here is my recipe. All amounts are estimated, because as usual when I make up a recipe as I cook, I just eyeball everything. :D Though I did measure the water and the sugar. :P
Sabrina's Make-It-Up-As-You-Go blackberry jam!
2 cups freshly picked blackberries, washed and de-stemmed. Ware joy-riding spiders.
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons chia seeds (this is what causes the jam to be jam and not blackberry syrup)
Put it all in a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove, stirring very frequently. Make sure you have something to do or a book to read, because you have to babysit it for an hour and a half complete cooking time. Once it's boiling good, turn down the heat so it's still bubbling a bit and stir every couple minutes. Just settle in, an hour and a half is quite a while.
Have your boiled/washed containers ready to go at the end of the hour and a half. If using glass, make sure they're nice and warm so the boiling mixture won't crack them when it's poured in.
Fill your containers. You're gonna get sticky, just accept it and move on.
Let cool. Enjoy! :9
I'm about a week behind on my flists. I'm sorry if I've missed anything important, everyone! I'll try to catch up soon. *hugs for all*
In the final gauntlet of Voice vol3, I ended up staying up until 4 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 5 AM on Thursday, but by the manga no kami, I finished! And it doesn't look rushed, too. YES. But still, the volume was a week late, which makes it the first time in 8 years of lettering manga that I couldn't make a deadline. *sigh* But Shoujo Editor 3 was able to give corrections to me quickly, and in the end, it didn't affect the publishing schedule at all, which is very good. Things could have been much worse.
And I am determined to never be late like that again! *fighting pose* No more crappy summers! This was the third year running, and I have had ENOUGH! I refuse to let Summer 2014 be crappy!!! GRAR!!!
After turning in Voice vol 3 on Friday morning, I ended up sleeping until 1, then did the already-arrived corrections, and fell asleep for 2.5 more hours later that afternoon. I slept almost as much on Saturday. Just call me Morita-sempai, from Honey and Clover. I work like mad for two weeks, then sleep for the next one. :P Though Morita-sempai has two things in his favor: 1. he's in his mid 20s, and 2. he's crazy. I have no intentions of doing this again!
This week, I had to push to finish Seraph chapter 2 by Tuesday morning, which is the deadline for the next issue of Jump. Speaking of, that's New Title 10. Seraph of the End! Yamamoto Yamato-sensei is the artist. Two other guys work on it, one who writes it, and the other does storyboards. Never seen that particular setup before, but it seems to work for them, so yay! Chapter 1 is up now at Shonen Jump online. If you want to read it, you need to buy a subscription or at least the single issue. Or you can just look at the art on the Jump site. Go fast, because they'll change it come Monday and the new issue. ^^
I don't have to rush the third chapter of Seraph next week, as we'll be going every-other week until we catch up with Japan. Seraph is monthly in Japan, not weekly. ^^ Anyway, Seraph Editor is great to work with, and we're off to a wonderful start. :D
I'm still in recovery mode--particularly after the setback of having to letter ~75 pages more of Seraph in two days--so I've been focusing on the fannish fun of Yuletide. Those who read my DW account have already seen my letter, but if anyone on LJ only is curious, it's at http://slr2moons.dreamwidth.org/187915.html. Feel free to write me a treat, if you are inspired. :D
Oho, last Tuesday, Voice vol 1 finally came out!!! :DDD My own copies have yet to arrive, but I found it on the shelf during book club and walked down memory lane. Even if you don't care for crazy shoujo comedy, I would be much pleased if you'd flip through the volume and admire all my hard work. I earn every cent of my paycheck for Voice!!
I've started walking again. It feels good to get out there and stretch my legs!! Only doing about 45 minutes of actual walking, as all my leg muscle withered away while I worked like mad this summer. X| On Sunday, I'll be joining my book club/hiking buddies for my first hike in MONTHS! I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be huffing and puffing all the way through, given my poor condition, but it'll still be fun.
On my hike today, I was attracted by the blackberry vines that grow all over around here. I've resisted picking any in previous years, thanks to watching this one movie where the MC's friend buys some roadside stand blackberries, eats them, and contracts some sort of killer amoeba that does her in. But I caved this year. :3 I didn't have a bag with me, so I filled up one of my hoodie pockets with berries. I was scratched, I had to fend off spiders, and my hands were purple and sticky with juice, but I did it!
Peak blackberry season is ending, and lots of people in my neighborhood hit these bushes, so the pickings were slim. I still managed to find about two cups worth, though. (Found a great batch that no one else went for b/c it was behind a spider web. That didn't stop me, of course. No, I didn't kill any spiders, just broke their webs so they'd scurry away and I could get those berries.)
By the time my pocket was full, juice was soaking through the bottom, so I went home, put all the berries in a tub, started a load of dark-colored laundry along with my (already black) hoodie, and set about making blackberry syrup. I looked up an actual jam how-to online, but OMG it's so COMPLICATED! You have to have all this special equipment and gizmos and I said "screw it, I'll make syrup. And make up the recipe as I go." And I did. :3
On a whim, I added two tablespoons of chia seeds, because I know they thicken liquids due to their inherit gel nature. And whaddaya know--I made blackberry jam after all. *laughs* I boiled to death and then filled four babyfood jars with it! (Spicer gets meat-only babyfood mixed in with his canned cat food several times a week.) I'm gonna make a batch of my mother's delicious from-scratch biscuits tonight, so I can fully enjoy my homemade blackberry jam.
I sampled the goods as I was filling jars, and licked the spoon. Mmmmmm. I made a killer batch. X9
Speaking of, here is my recipe. All amounts are estimated, because as usual when I make up a recipe as I cook, I just eyeball everything. :D Though I did measure the water and the sugar. :P
Sabrina's Make-It-Up-As-You-Go blackberry jam!
2 cups freshly picked blackberries, washed and de-stemmed. Ware joy-riding spiders.
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons chia seeds (this is what causes the jam to be jam and not blackberry syrup)
Put it all in a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove, stirring very frequently. Make sure you have something to do or a book to read, because you have to babysit it for an hour and a half complete cooking time. Once it's boiling good, turn down the heat so it's still bubbling a bit and stir every couple minutes. Just settle in, an hour and a half is quite a while.
Have your boiled/washed containers ready to go at the end of the hour and a half. If using glass, make sure they're nice and warm so the boiling mixture won't crack them when it's poured in.
Fill your containers. You're gonna get sticky, just accept it and move on.
Let cool. Enjoy! :9
I'm about a week behind on my flists. I'm sorry if I've missed anything important, everyone! I'll try to catch up soon. *hugs for all*