Ann's Busy Schedule of DOOM
I've been really busy lately! Not with work (although work has been going well--just a tad boring at times), no, I mean with my social life. I've had enkais almost every night. Had to turn a couple down. One is set for tomorrow night, but I simply don't have the time. Bah on time.
Yesterday was a holiday and I went to the city to go camera/sleeping bag/sock/oatmeal shopping with my dear friend, nighstar. Thanks to her camera shop location knowing skillz, I am the proud new owner of a Canon IXY DIGITAL 910 IS. It was a bit expensive for me, but it came with a 2gb SD card and a screen protector. How could I say no? After researching this camera for just a bit, I knew it was just what I was looking for. It's relatively inexpensive, small, has a huge LCD screen, takes panoramic shots, and has a macro mode. When playing around with it at the mall yesterday, I discovered it is about a billion times more amazing than I first thought. It has a color-recognition mode and a color-swap mode. It also takes movies in AVI. AVI! Oh, the fun I will have with this camera. It is the best thing I've bought in Japan so far. Needless to say, it blows my old, macro mode-less, battery-taking, bulky camera out of the water.
But my new camera needs a name. As per the tradition, I shall name it after a Final Fantasy summon. This one wasn't hard at all; "Ixy" did it in. I dub thee, new camera, Ixion, after the Aeon from Final Fantasy X. Woo, I'm a dork!
And Friday, immediately after school, I am heading to Kyushu for six days of camping, loafing, and taking pictures with my friend Annie and a whole other car full of people. We're going to Beppu (a very famous hot springs town,) Aso (home of Mt. Aso, the most active volcano in Japan,) Takachiho, and several other amazing places. I'm so excited, if just a little tense. See, we're driving the whole time. And you know me and... directions. Still, I borrowed a guidebook and atlas from a friend and have been studying it intently. Hopefully I will be able to guide Annie and I safely from place to place with minimal confusion... But I don't think I will sleep very well until after the trip. I do hold out hope that things will go smoothly. Tonight we're all meeting up in the city to practice pitching our tents. As many of us haven't pitched a tent in our lives (*timidly puts hand in the air*) this will be very good practice. Yay!
Last week while surfing Youtube for Firefly clips, an episode of Clone High popped up. I was so drawn in that I quickly downloaded the series and rewatched it. After that, I got the inexplicable urge to see Invader Zim again. So I downloaded that too.
But I was wary about watching it. I was afraid that I'd watch it and discover that it has become annoying, moronic, and insipid in the last five years. When the file finally downloaded, I went right to my favorite episode: Megadoomer. I really did think I was going to dislike it. But as soon as the theme song started, I knew my tastes haven't changed a bit. I still love this show with all my soul. It's just too funny. And kind of... cute... in its own way.
One thing that has changed though, is my attitude towards its untimely cancellation. I used to think back on it with an unbridled, white-hot hatred toward Nickelodeon. Now, though, I'm just happy that these small few episodes where able to trickle through. Although I'd jump at the chance to see more, I think that the show would've lost its appeal if it had gotten any more popular (which, of course, would have saved it from cancellation.) I shudder deeply when I think of the show simply dissolving into formulaic weirdness like Spongebob Square Pants. I'm glad Jhonen decided to leave when he did. He left a lot of fans disappointed, but it's important to do whatever you think is right for your art, even if it's not popular. I'd like to think I would have the same type of courage if stuck in a difficult situation like that.
Well, I am now off to said camping practice! Pray for my domesticated soul.
Yesterday was a holiday and I went to the city to go camera/sleeping bag/sock/oatmeal shopping with my dear friend, nighstar. Thanks to her camera shop location knowing skillz, I am the proud new owner of a Canon IXY DIGITAL 910 IS. It was a bit expensive for me, but it came with a 2gb SD card and a screen protector. How could I say no? After researching this camera for just a bit, I knew it was just what I was looking for. It's relatively inexpensive, small, has a huge LCD screen, takes panoramic shots, and has a macro mode. When playing around with it at the mall yesterday, I discovered it is about a billion times more amazing than I first thought. It has a color-recognition mode and a color-swap mode. It also takes movies in AVI. AVI! Oh, the fun I will have with this camera. It is the best thing I've bought in Japan so far. Needless to say, it blows my old, macro mode-less, battery-taking, bulky camera out of the water.
But my new camera needs a name. As per the tradition, I shall name it after a Final Fantasy summon. This one wasn't hard at all; "Ixy" did it in. I dub thee, new camera, Ixion, after the Aeon from Final Fantasy X. Woo, I'm a dork!
And Friday, immediately after school, I am heading to Kyushu for six days of camping, loafing, and taking pictures with my friend Annie and a whole other car full of people. We're going to Beppu (a very famous hot springs town,) Aso (home of Mt. Aso, the most active volcano in Japan,) Takachiho, and several other amazing places. I'm so excited, if just a little tense. See, we're driving the whole time. And you know me and... directions. Still, I borrowed a guidebook and atlas from a friend and have been studying it intently. Hopefully I will be able to guide Annie and I safely from place to place with minimal confusion... But I don't think I will sleep very well until after the trip. I do hold out hope that things will go smoothly. Tonight we're all meeting up in the city to practice pitching our tents. As many of us haven't pitched a tent in our lives (*timidly puts hand in the air*) this will be very good practice. Yay!
Last week while surfing Youtube for Firefly clips, an episode of Clone High popped up. I was so drawn in that I quickly downloaded the series and rewatched it. After that, I got the inexplicable urge to see Invader Zim again. So I downloaded that too.
But I was wary about watching it. I was afraid that I'd watch it and discover that it has become annoying, moronic, and insipid in the last five years. When the file finally downloaded, I went right to my favorite episode: Megadoomer. I really did think I was going to dislike it. But as soon as the theme song started, I knew my tastes haven't changed a bit. I still love this show with all my soul. It's just too funny. And kind of... cute... in its own way.
One thing that has changed though, is my attitude towards its untimely cancellation. I used to think back on it with an unbridled, white-hot hatred toward Nickelodeon. Now, though, I'm just happy that these small few episodes where able to trickle through. Although I'd jump at the chance to see more, I think that the show would've lost its appeal if it had gotten any more popular (which, of course, would have saved it from cancellation.) I shudder deeply when I think of the show simply dissolving into formulaic weirdness like Spongebob Square Pants. I'm glad Jhonen decided to leave when he did. He left a lot of fans disappointed, but it's important to do whatever you think is right for your art, even if it's not popular. I'd like to think I would have the same type of courage if stuck in a difficult situation like that.
Well, I am now off to said camping practice! Pray for my domesticated soul.