Things I don't like: feeling bad

I haven't updated in months, so I thought I'd give a quick update.

I have a few mental illnesses.  They kind of wrap themselves around each other.  I'm in a therapy program thingie, and going back to school soon.  My school goal is to not drop any classes - which is why I only signed up for two.  There isn't a magic pill, you have to work to "get better", and honestly a lot of people never get better. 

I've updated my vlog some, but nothing exciting.  I really like vlogging, I've tried doing it every day in the spring (fail lol) My latest video is informative (talking about the game Guild Wars), but I'm so down-sounding I want to re-record it.  I'm also on Poupee Girl a lot.

Anyway, so that's what I've been doing.  I'll be moving my inspiration board closer to the computer in the next few days, and will blog more :)  I hope you're still here when I do!

Anime Conventions!

A Lolita blogger I read (Miss Lumpy) talked about Anime Boston in a recent article, and since I’m going to a con for the first time in a few years, I thought I’d talk about anime conventions! Beware, this is a long article.

My con of choice and the one I’ve been to most often is Animazement in Raleigh, NC (USA). I’ve gone for 5 years (not in order - I skipped it for Otakon in 2004), and am very excited to say I’m returning!! It’ll be the first time since 2006 I’ve been, and the last con I went to was in 2007 I think. So I’ve been out of the circuit for a while. The conventions I’ve been to are Animazement, Otakon, Anime Weekend Atlanta, and AnimeUSA (I’m in North Carolina). I’ve gone to two cons a year but never more than that.

I’m so excited about the convention and cosplay and planning and … what? You’ve never been to a convention? Well let me tell you a bit about them!

There are many, many, many anime conventions around the world (here’s a map from animecons.com) And if you live in the US, it’s very probable that there’s a con at least 4-5 hours from you (which sounds like a lot, but lots of people travel further! I have a friend coming to Animazement from NYC!) Anime conventions are on the weekend for 3 days (Fri-Sun) 90% of the time (Anime Expo is 4 days I think, and some cons have pre-con events the night before). They usually officially ‘start’ with opening ceremonies around noon or one pm.

Every anime con has a program, which lists every little thing and what time it is. VERY IMPORTANT!!
Every anime con has a registration fee which is $30-$60 depending on how early you pre-register or if you pay at the door. Every convention will have a weekend badge, and every convention will have a 1 day badge.

There’s lots of things at cons, like guests, panels, Dealers room, artist alley, viewing rooms, AMV contest, cosplay contest, rave/dance… maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

GUESTS! Members of the industry! Directors, voice actors, producers, authors, very cool people of both English and Japanese versions of anime/manga! They’ll have a panel about getting into voice acting to a signing session, usually both. The Japanese guests have translators of course!

PANELS! Usually they run for an hour. They can be anything from creating a fan forum to “History of [type of] anime” to learning silly dances - I don’t know, everything and anything! About a half to 2/3rds of panels are run by fans. I ran a panel on Jpop girl groups a long time ago, which filled the room! I’d love to do something similar some day.

Dealers Room/Artists Alley! One is people from the industry or anime stores or music stores selling official goods (Cds, art books, phone straps, manga); one is fan made everything! (fan-made comics of established anime/manga called doujinshi, original content, fanart, sometimes lolita accessories. Bring your wallet.

Anime cons have a constant stream of anime running in several suites on a big screen (hence my name, viewing rooms). There's a lot of different types, be sure to check this out!

AMV contest! AMV stands for Anime Music Video, and it's made by slicing pieces of anime into one short video with a music background instead of dialogue. The competition is seriously fierce!

COSPLAY CONTEST!! THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART!! The cosplay contest is usually a bunch of skits made by groups of fans to show off their costume and do something cute or funny relating to the anime/game/manga/whatever. Usually comedy, and apparently more dancing in recent years, make this a great thing to go to - or be in! I've been in the cosplay 3 years (My group got 3rd place in our division one year! I have the certificate on my wall!), and it was the best time I've had at a con. I want to be in a cosplay at this Animazement, but want to slide in and not have that stress. GO TO THIS, IT IS SO GREAT!!

Usually a con will have a rave/dance/thing where you can get your boogie on to some serious Jpop/rock!

What anime cons have you been to? Do you hate anime and would never go to one?

Next post will be about how to get ready for a con, and the one after that will be about cosplay!

Vloggy vlog March 26, 2010

I have no idea why it cuts off 1/4th the screen x_x

Things I Like: Pokemon Heart Gold!

image from play-asia.com

So a new/old pokemon came out on Sunday - The original older ones were called "Gold" and "Silver", the re-releases with updated graphics and touchscreen DS-y stuff are "Heart Gold" and "Soul Silver".  I know very little about the pokemon games.  Each game has a "legendary pokemon" (Ho-Oh and Lugia). There's a few pokemon you can get in one that you can't in the other (and vice versa), but other than that I have no idea why they released the two.  I think the maps and people are the same... I don't know.  I probably shouldn't blog about something I know so little about, right?

I got Heart Gold, and am currently running around the Johto region looking for local pokemon to catch and leveling my party - you can catch as many as can fill the huge amount of space in your 'pokemon storage', but you only play with 6 pokemon at a time.  Mine currently are Totodile (the water pokemon you can start with), Rattata (purple rat), HootHoot (owl that stands on one foot), Sentret (squirrel thing that stands on its tail), An Onyx named "Rocky" (I traded for him), and TOGEPI! I LOVE TOGEPI!!  Except he's only level 1 right now so I can't fight him.  I haven't put him in the pokewalker yet to level him.

source unknown

Oh! The pokewalker!  It's a pedometer decorated like a pokeball.  You use wifi to put a pokemon "in" the walker (think tamagotchi), and as you walk around, it gets stronger!!  How cool is that!  I wear mine around the house too, you'd never guess how many steps you take just walking around from room to room!  You can also unlock new 'routes' to walk in, find berries, and even find pokemon (though I'm not sure how to do the last bit).

When I find out more about the history of pokemon, I'll do another post :D  Thanks for reading my ramble-y posts!

Things I Like: Poupeegirl

Awaiting at http://pupe.ameba.jp is a japanese-translated-into-english doll dressup site.  Poupee means doll in french (or something), and is not pronounced "poo-pee girl" (I say it that way anyway).  On the sidebar is my poupeegirl named Himemiya - the widget makes her outfit change when I change it on the website.  The goal of the site is basically to upload pictures of your real wardrobe, and have a 'closet' other people can look through and say good things about your awesome rose-shaped mirror (or whatever XD)

To get new clothes you can do one of six things; earn ribbons from being commented on, commenting on other's real pictures, or uploading a picture; upload a picture (you get a free clothing item per upload, sometimes very bad items); using shells (which you get randomly for going to someone's 'home'

... you know what?  This is getting complicated.  Check out the site, check out the livejournal community , have fun with it!

Things I Like: Flip Video camera

Let me start by saying that I was not paid by anyone to do this entry, I just really like this product.

Ok I've only had this thing for like a week, and I have like 20 small videos of my pets alone (I want to do a music video!!) I've wanted one for a while, and decided to get one when I got my new computer. It was on sale! It was destiny!

A Flip Video camera, or Flipcam as I call it, is a small camcorder with memory instead of tapes. To put the videos on your computer, you just pull down a button, and a USB 'flip's out to put straight into your laptop. I have cords so I can flip it straight into the USB plug that's connected to the USB on the front of my comp.

It's a little bit bigger than the size of my phone or a digital camera, so it fits into my pocket or purse :D The case it came with is a very tight piece of fabric (bleh) so I need to buy a case or make a case or something, I don't like it not having protection. Currently when in my purse it is housed in a sock ^_^;

Here's what mine looks like (this is not my picture, it's from a website called squidoo.com)

See the thing on the side?  Pull down that button thing and the USB arm flips out! 

I totally recommend going to an electronics store and playing with this thing, I love it.  There's also a non-HD version, but I figured as long as I'm getting one, might as well be the nicer one right?

Vloggy Vlog

I need to add more time at the end so it won't cut off my "See ya later, bye!" x_x

Things I Like: Anime part 2

This entry will be about my favorite anime!

Some Classic Shoujo - Sailor Moon is a favorite of mine (if any shoujo fan says they didn't like it, they're lying); Card Captor Sakura (Oh Tomoe, your unrequited love with Sakura is so cute!); Magic Knight Rayearth (I've never seen the whole thing, but I just ordered the whole series woohoo!)

Revolutionary Girl Utena - My favorite anime ever!  Roses and honor and duels and girls fighting - how can yo go wrong?  It's about this girl (Utena) who finds herself in the middle of a dueling game to win possession of - a girl, Anthy!  Utena protects her and more drama unfolds!  I like Anthy because I think she's a lot smarter than one would think.

Ikkitousen - So not shoujo.  Ok, it's a little ecchi, but I really like this show!  Minus the exploding shirts and panty flashes, there's a really good story. It's a fighting anime set in modern day japan, where schools have politics which rule the region. Students advertise themselves as fighters with a magatama stone earring (it looks like half of a ying-yang) it's based on the 12 kingdoms stories - fighters challenge each other with the power of a previous life.  I like it because girls fight (and win!) and not to save the world or their boyfriends.

Escaflowne - Classic! My second real anime ever.  I started watching it right before Gundam Wing came out on toonami.  It features Hitomi, a girl with fortune telling ability. Hitomi gets channeled to a different world called Gaia, where they refer to earth as The Mystic Moon.  There's fantasy, sci-fi, some mechs (woot for steampunk Mechs!) and even a little romance.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - I. Am. Haruhi.  I run around looking for people to join my club.  I convince other members to do activities.  I get bored easily,  And I am some sort of god.  Ok, not the last part.  This show is told from the male lead's perspective, Kyon.  We watch all of Haruhi's antics from the outside!  Also in the show is some sci-fi stuff, but don't tell Haruhi.

Others I love:
My-HiME - Girls with magical skills and weapons fighting evil!  Lots of drama!  I love it.  It has a sequel, My Otome, but I don't like it as much.
Maria Watches Over Us - Schoogirls and beauty and student council and roses! But no magic or dueling this time, just school drama.
Pokemon - ... don't ask.

Things I Like: Anime part 1

Things I Like: Anime (part 1)

I've been into anime for about 10 years now, and every time I'm like "oh I've grown out of it" I get the urge to watch some more again.  I used to be all up on downloads episodes (I do not condone downloading shows that have been licensed), watching five or six series at a time that way.  But it's a lot of work, and everything now comes out in MKV files and neither of my computers play MKVs (I've tried every codec and file and nothing works, I think my comps are just too old), so that leaves me with streaming, which I haven't gotten into yet.

BUT! I've bought a lot of anime!  Not always when it first comes out, I usually buy the box set (easier to hold all the DVDs, less "omg where did I put disk four?!") I totally recommend RightStuf.com, they have better princes than... everywhere. And free shipping if you order over $50!  (rightstuf did not pay me to endorse them, I doubt they've seen my blog at all)  A trick I used a lot - instead of buying the expensive box set, first see if they're selling individual DVDs, how much they are, and if they have them all.  I got all of several series because the individual DVDs were cheaper than buying the box set (like $5-7 each).  I guess they're trying to get rid of individual DVDs so people will buy the box sets, and everythings going to bluray soon anyway.

SO!  Here is my collection!

titles L-R, using the english names unless they go by the japanese:

My Hime, Air, Ikkitousen, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Read Or Die the TV

-----------
Maria Watches Over Us, The Gokusen

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Escaflowne, X, Princess Princess, FullMetal Alchemist, FMA movie, Azumanga Daioh, Rumbling Hearts, Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance, Lain, Howl's MovingCastle, Read Or Die oav

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Sailor Moon movie collection, Chobits, Sakura Wars movie, DiGi Charat, Paradise Kiss, Noir, Death Note, Ai Yori Aoshi, Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi, Nurse Witch Komugi, Haruhi first DVD box (I only have the first DVD, I can't decide if I should buy the other 2-3 or buy the box set)

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(Not really anime but on my shelf) Cosplay Encyclopedia, Suicide Club, L'arc~en~Ciel Live in USA (I WAS THERE!!!) Under17 concert, Morning Musume Green Live, Battle Royale 2 (I lost the first one), Moonchild (Gackt+Hyde=win), My Z Hime (My Otome), too much Pokemon

Here's some random bad artsy shots:

 

And here's Earl the cat on the shelves all my anime used to be on

Mountain Lodge and Conference Center in Flat Rock is teh FAIL

If you're near Asheville and having a wedding read this:  Mountain Lodge and Conference Center in Flat Rock is teh FAIL they stole a deposit that was "fully refundable" and then changed planners.  They were supposed to give her money back months ago!

Things I Like: Brain Age 2 for the DS

(not a review!)

I love puzzle games on the DS!  I have Tetris too!  I've never played Brain Age 1, so this is about the game I do have!

There's options for training and quick play.  Training means you have your own file and 'brain age' (how old your brain is - the number gets 'younger' the better you get.)

 

 There's several exersizes, including; finding the signs for equations very quickly, finding the right amount of change, playing piano, remembering how many blocks fall into each box - simple things that are surprisingly hard!  My favorite game is Virus Buster, which is a mix of Dr. Mario and Tetris.  It's the game you play to relax.  I'm pretty good at it :)

Since this isn't a review, just a "thing I like", I won't give a rating or anything.  I'm *not* (oops forgot that) the biggest or best gamer, so I probably won't do reviews of games ^_^  I want to do an article on Mario too, but I don't know facts about his games through the years...quick! To wikipedia!

Random... pretty random...

It's @&#($ freezing outside, so I moved my laptop to a TV tray in the living room (where the heater is).  And honestly, without my blingy clock and my new silhouette picture and my lamp and my ponies... I don't feel that motivated to write.  I need to put on a snuggie and go back to my bloggie room.  Well, I don't actually have a snuggie, I need to get one.

The good thing is that I can watch MTVHits and listen to the 'mix' channel on cable's music stations (not at the same time, I flip back and forth) while I type.  The bad news is that I get stuck on my couch and don't get anything done because I can leave the bloggie room easily ("it's cold I'm sleepy I'm going to bed")  whereas on the couch, "It's warm I'm sleepy I'll stay right here where it's comfy".  Cold but motivated, or comfy and stuck.  Which would you pick?  I can't decide.  Also I'm able to close the laptop when a favorite show comes on, but I watch less anime when I'm not in the room with my PC (which has better speakers and more room for downloading).

A long time ago I started marathoning Sailor Moon (I got all of it squeeeee) and got to SuperS (which features Chibiusa and I don't like her that much... hello, she has a crush on her DAD and makes fun of her MOM, how weird is that?)  So I started SuperS and am only to like ep 5 or 6 >.<

Anyway, back on track with the "Things I Like" series next post!

Today's Snap! February 8, 2010

I love purple, and I'm wearing it today, so I thought I'd post a snap!

Dropping a Class

 

I'm in college, and I've had to drop a class or two (or three).  Dropping a class means quitting it before a certain point of the semester so you don't fail it.  It keeps your GPA (Grade Point Average) up, because it doesn't affect it.  People drop classes because of too many missed days, too low a grade, or if they can't handle the class for some reason.

I've had to drop classes mostly because of too many missed days.  I feel like, "I missed a class, I'm behind, I can't go next class, I won't know what I'm doing" etc etc.  I get too behind, and I end up dropping.  

At the school I go to it's fairly common to have to drop a class, mostly because of real life things.  I go to a community college, and people have jobs that make you work during class and children that need their parents to pick them up when they're sick.  I'm sure people have these problems at every school, though there's such an eclectic group of people at my school (it's pretty big for a cc).

I hate dropping a class.  But what you have to remember is, you can take that class next semester!  It's not the end of the world, or the world would have ended several times over by now!  If you have to drop a class, don't feel like you failed (like I and a lot of people I know feel).  Figure out why exactly you dropped that class, and then you'll be able to change it for next time!

Sorry this wasn't as happy as my usual posts, I'll get back to the happy next time I promise!

Craft Day! Modern silhouettes!

Craft day with Mariko from Bonbon de Sucre! Using Victoria Suzann's tutorial from Lolita Charm, we made modern silhouettes using old frames, scrapbook paper, and a digital camera!  We didn't take any pictures of us making them (we were too excited and jumped right in!)

Here's mine!  I chose a bright colored paper (Mariko did a more subtle tone in off-white and forest green), and decorated with sparklies!  It's a normal 5x7 frame, it had a cat doing aerobics in it O.o

I had a lot of fun making mine!  Next week we might try for alice bows (head-eating bows?)

Things I Like: snow days! (is that a thing?)

So the south got snowed on yesterday and today, and were forecasting 14"!  We only got around 7", which is still a whole lot for us!  So I took pictures!  Exclamation point!

This is what it looked like yesterday evening:

 

  

and here's our pets having a snow adventure!
Penny loves the snow:

Ulla was not amused with her paws sinking in the snow:

 

And Earl had never been outside in the snow before!

It wasn't as bad as the huge snow we got in December (over 12" and fell fast!), but we're still stuck in the house.  The *mall* was even closed!  I doubt I'll have school on Monday...

Things I Like: Rings!

I'm obsessed with rings.  Cute, gothic, shiney, sparkly - I like them all!  But I have really big fingers, and in some stores often have to search for a big size just for my pinkie!  The ring I always wear on my right hand is like a size 12 or 13, seriously.  Yes, if/when I lose weight my finger size will go down, but that's not happening overnight ^_^;  SO! For now I have a lot of cute pinkie rings, an adjustable bow ring, and a kind of stretchy heart ring.  

Here are some of my rings:

 

  

I'd love to have more gothic ones (I love crosses, skulls not so much), more flowers, and maybe make some cabochon rings with clear beads (Fuck Yeah Lolita's cabochon ring tutorial is here)

What's your favorite type of jewelry?

Craft Days!

picture from weheartit.com

My friend Eirwen and I are going to start doing craft days on Tuesdays! We're doing tutorials like silhouettes from Lolita Charm and bunny slippers from Violet LeBeaux! We also want to do some cross-stitch, make bows and headbows, and decorate our phones and MP3 players. I started decorating mine, but I'm using the sticky back ones, and I'm afraid they'll come off! But if I just use glue it gets all cloudy. Victoria Suzanne from lolita-charm suggest a glue with 'diamond' in the name (I totally forgot what it was, but they didn't have it at AC Moore).

Maybe we'll crochet flowers! As soon as I figure out how to do it again. I have a whole book on crochet and knitted flowers. I want to make hats too, I found my instructions (and lost them, and found them again). I won't be felting them though; I don't like the feel of felted stuff. I mean I guess it is okay for stuffed animals and certain kinds of hats, but all I see is "Yay I made a beautiful ---! Now I'll throw it in the washing machine and make all the beautiful stitches go away." ;_; keep your stitches people, they're beautiful! My neighbor crochets, maybe she'll teach me some new things?

I'd like to get back into making ribbon flowers. I have all the materials and a few books, but it's just so hard to figure out without someone teaching me in real life. I'm a visual learner I guess?

Anyway, I think our crafts are going on Eirwen’s blog Bon Bon de Sucre, but I'll post some pictures here too ^_^

OH! And felt cakes! Caro from Fuck Yeah Lolita is making a bunch, I want some! And I want to make them into tiny purses! And I want felt pies o.o; I have no idea why.

Things I Like: ponies!

I love My Little Pony! I collect them! Well, ok, let’s get complicated. There are four Generations of ponies – G1, the originals from the 80’s and early 90’s; G2, some from the mid-late 90’s; G3, from mid 2000’s; and G3.5, the newest batch (not another full generation because there weren’t years in between – they came out right after they stopped making G3).

I only collect G3s, because I like them best, and I collected a million of the originals when I was little (and gave them to my little cousin, they were lost in a move). Also, there’s Ponyville – small ponies to compete with Littlest Pet Shop.

I don’t collect the new ponies because I don’t like the new mold. Also, along with Ponyville ponies, they’re just recycling the characters over and over. I have over 100 g3’s with only a few repeated characters, Ponyville and G3.5 so far are only being released with the “Core 7” (the specific ponies they use to promo, etc)

ANYWAY! I love ponies. MLPs are so cute – I love the colors, the designs on their hips, styling hair, making little photoshoots (should I post a photoshoot here?). There’s so many different types of ponies! Ones with long hair (like, REALLY long hair), ones with tinsel in their hair and glitter on their nose, and the cute playsets! I had one with a ferris wheel and a roller coaster! But it was too big for my room ;_; Ponyville has way better playsets, they all look like normal things (purses, popcorn in a box, teapots) and then open up for a playset (shops, movie theater, TEAPOT PALACE which is the coolest set EVER).

Here’s some pictures of my collection:

What do you collect?

Today's Snap! Jan 19, 2010

I dressed up a little today, so I took some pictures!  Check out my new bangs!

And my rings!  I think I'm getting up a pretty big ring collection!

These are worse quality than the ones off my camera, should I upload pictures to photobook/tinypic and then link them here?

Working on a kind of big post (big for me anyway)!

Sparklies!

I mini-deco'ed today! 

And here's my DS:

The top and bottom a few deep are sticky back that I got a while ago, and today I filled in between the two parts!  Can you see the crowns?  I was thinking of doing the whole thing, but then where would I put my fingers?  O.o

Anyway, I'm working on a big post, I think it'll be up tomorrow!

Today's snap! January 12, 2010

Nothing exciting is going on with the bottom of the outfit, so I just took a picture of the top ^_^;  Both hands are raised because my tripod was in another room.  And I think the pink in the room make my face more pink... Wahwahwah, I know!  XD

I'm thinking tomorrow I'll wear the same sweater in a different color >.>  And maybe straighten my hair?  I like the waves, though...

Crafty!

Yay for crafting!  Tonight I experimented with epoxy and my desk lamp.  I followed a series of tutorials from Violet LeBeaux on making an inspiration board, and decorating a mirror and lamp.

Here's my inspiration board! (tutorial)

And a close up of the lace/ribbon/flowers/fabric

 My lamp and mirror were black, and I didn't have any purple lace, so I went gothic lolita / black and white with it.  I may have overdone it on the lamp with the little flowers, but they have pearls inside and are so cute!  Violet used three roses around the lamp base, but I didn't have room, so I just glued one.  I'm not sure about my ribbon choice, but I'll like it more when I'm not staring at it and wondering "Should I have used a different ribbon?" over and over.  Anyway! (tutorial)

Here's my mirror!  I've got a black lace with a cool pattern on the top on the actual glass, and another white lace with a cool top on the black frame.  I put two little flowers on each corner, which are kind of hard to see.  I like the rose on the bottom. (same as other tutorial)

I really like making things.  I think my favorite lolita thing to make is headpieces.  I'm going to try for bows soon! Thank you Violet for showing me how to make my blogging space pretty ♥  If I come up with something cool, I'd like to do tutorials too!  ...Maybe when I think up something people would want to do XD

Things I Like: Pandas

My love of pandas started in college, when I first discovered Kana (or Moon Kana as she goes by now).  At the time, when she first started, she carried around stuffed pandas, wrapping them in ribbon and holding or dragging them around.  It got me into collecting stuffed pandas, which I still collect today.  I’ve gotten in to little things for the house now, light pulls or little statues.  I stopped counting the pandas I'd collected, because they're from so many different sources - home stores, toy sections, the internet, Sanrio.

 Some famous pandas that I love are the Sanrio character Pandapple (I wrote the first draft of this with a pandapple pen!), and the character Po from the movie Kung-fu Panda (greatest kung-fu movie ever).  I have a LOT of KFP items – a little plush of Po and Tai-Lung (the bad guy), a big plush that sits in a chair in my room, a KFP blanket rolled up and held by a panda’s arms with Velcro, action figures of the whole cast, and some note pads and stickers.  I like collecting things.  While wandering in the toy section I’ve seen a panda toy or two from the show Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (nick jr. show where they teach English and Chinese), but I haven’t seen the show so I don’t know how big a character it is.  Ok that’s a lie, I did watch it once, Kai-Lan went with her friends to the ladybug festival.  Stop laughing at me! XD

I have panda’s littered through the house, but here are the majority of them.  My favorite is Arashi, my first panda.  I have a panda backpack too, but the straps are so short (it’s made for a kid) I don’t wear it.  Also I’m a bit old to wear it.  I mean, I wore it when I was 18 or 19, I didn’t care what anyone thought.  But I personally feel too old for it.  I saw a kid wearing one in the mall and got all sentimental.

What’s your favorite animal?

Things I like: Roses

Things I Like:  Roses

  (courtesy of www.weheartit.com)

I love roses.  They’re my favorite flower.  For some reason, they represent beauty and class to me.  A princess would wear roses; a beautiful lady would tend to her rose garden.  I’m not sure when the rose obsession began. Right now for me it’s all about fake roses, with the bud taken off the stem, to decorate things.  I love full blooms best, but also the little tiny ones in the craft store.

 

(Anthy and Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the symbol of the series)
Roses also have to do with my favorite anime, Revolutionary Girl Utena.  There’s a theme of roses – the characters have rose symbols on their rings, a rose garden is a central point, when dueling one must cut the rose off the competitor’s chest with a sword to win the Rose Bride… ok, it’s a bit complicated, but it’s so beautiful and the soundtrack is wonderful.  It makes me want to drink rose tea while watching (which a friend and I have done, actually!)

 (courtesy of www.weheartit.com)

We have a rosebush in my backyard garden, but it’s basically a big stem with one or two roses growing at a time.  I tried to keep some small roses in a pot, but that didn’t work out well.  I’m not good at gardening ^_^;  I try to draw them, but am not the best artists, so the sketches aren’t something I show to others.  So I decorate with them, and wear rose patterned things, and want a rose-themed lolita outfit, etc etc.  I love their smell, of course.  For spring I’ll get a rose perfume, assuming it works for me (perfumes smell different on everyone).

What’s your favorite flower?

Blogs I follow!

Not looking my best today.  I did it up well - wore a nice black shirt, my pearls (love them!), did my hair, had on makeup... but that has turned to a mess.  Friends came over and we had fun, but twice I had a mild freak-out and had to leave the room.  I have bipolar disorder; which comes with depression, anxiety, and fear of leaving the house sometimes.

Anyway.  Let's talk about something else.

Blogs I follow! (in no particular order)

Violet LeBeaux - A super-nice author who posts a lot about Hime Gyaru, her new artwork, and her new deco project!  Totally recommend her tutorials!

F*** Yeah Lolita - a great lolita blog!  The author isn't afraid to cover topics, like "WTF Meta?"

Lolita Charm - The author, Victoria Suzanne, is a lifestyle lolita.  Her blog is anything from "What I did this Loliday" to updates on her youtube, the Charm Channel, to her newest post "Lolita Level Up!" with a list of 'what I've done with lolita' and gives you a score.

Smoldering Rose - The author beata-beatrixx just started this lolita-themed blog :)  I like it so far!

Part-Time Lolita - The author describes and gives tips for the "in-between lolita"

The Hedge Witch's Garden  - The author Eirwen is a friend of mine, and writes about being a 'Hedge Witch', or natural witch (working with nature and herbs and cool stuff like that)

The Guild Wars Bard - I've only just started reading this, so I don't know much about the author.  I love Guild Wars, and so far this is a great place for a GW fan to go!

A lot of the ones I follow are lolita themed, but I'd like to branch out into blogs about my other interests (cosplay, video games, amateur photography).

A little about me! (the first long post)

Here's me!  That's a My Little Pony collection behind me, with a Kana (Moon Kana now?) poster from a Gothic & Lolita Bible.  The study is my blogging room, mostly because it's the computer room.  I've added a few things from tutorials by Violet LeBeaux - an inspiration board (like a corkboard, only awesome), a decorated mirror, and a nice desk lamp I'll start decorating probably Sunday.  I seriously recommend her site, she's one of the best bloggers out there!

Back to introductions!  I go by Himemiya in most places.  I was going by Jaimicchi for a bit, but I've gravitated back to my first cosplay/anime/bbs name after re-watching some Revolutionary Girl Utena. I like it - Himemiya means Princess Shrine, and is the name of my all-time favorite anime character, Anthy Himemiya, who is the Rose Bride - it's complicated, watch the show! XD  Plus she has purple hair, and purple is my favorite color.  Jaimicchi came from my real name, Jaime.

Let's do this in survey format, shall we?

Name: Himemiya / Jaime
Age: A lady never tells!
Birthday: July 16th
Long-time obsessions:  Anime, Music, Cosplay, and I'm just getting back into the lolita scene - I left for about four years o.o;
Current obsessions: decorating everything, reading blogs, doing online tutorials, lolita, Lady Gaga, my awesome tripod
Future/possible obsessions: decoden, hime gyaru (it's all your fault Violet!), getting back into anime?(You never really *leave* anime, you just stop watching for a while XD)
Style: Classic and Gothic lolita (again, just stepping back in), mori (I live in the woods even!), lots of purple (somehow I always end up with a purple shirt, a purple jacket, a purple purse, a purple notebook...)
Collections: My Little Pony, anime plushies, manga, stickers

I think that's it!  Any other questions?  Just leave a comment ♥