Monday, April 26, 2010 | 9:14 pm
funny

I saw one of these videos from a friend. So silly. Learn English, get some exercise and pray you don't die in foreign lands!



mood | amused

Monday, May 11, 2009 | 7:54 pm
AMVs

Just for fun, here's a collection of my favorite AMVs from Sakura Con this year. There were some good ones. ^_^

There was an Utena video! Yay! It didn't win anything, but I appreciated the story telling and that someone is still thinking of Utena. It's a drama video focusing on Miki and Kozue's relationship.




Alright, now onto the funny videos... Here's a general video honoring "Soldier A." It looks like it's been shown at a number of other cons, so maybe some of you have heard of it before.




This is a pretty funny song and worked well for this Death Note video.




This is a rather long video, but pretty funny. Steve plays this game a lot sometimes, so I was able to get it. XD The text is a little blurry unfortunately.




Mr. Roboto! I listened to this song a lot before the con since we used it in our skit. XD This one has some neat technical stuff and was funny. This was probably my favorite from the con, but they were all fun.



mood | amused

Sunday, March 29, 2009 | 4:53 pm
Lalala~

Steve and I are now in the know... I kept seeing people do this dance at cons and yesterday we finally figured out what it's from. XD We're a little behind the times. It's a super catchy Swedish song. We both like the song, but Steve especially loooooves it. Ever so often I'll hear it randomly blast out from his computer. Here's the music video with the dance:



In other news, we're still sewing and preparing for Sakura Con... which is almost here! Augh. So far I'm fairly pleased with how costumes are turning out and I think our skit should be pretty funny. I hope we keep our tradition going and win an award this year too. ^_^

In sad news, Steve lost his job earlier this month. His supervisor said they just didn't have enough work to keep him on. He was the person most recently hired, so it makes sense they'd let him go. Stupid economy. So, he's job hunting again. Maybe he'll find something better? ^^;;

Alrighty, back to sewing.

mood | working

Saturday, January 10, 2009 | 4:53 pm
Kitty Video

This is Darwin getting his stocking Christmas morning. =) He was quite happy with it. We couldn't fill his stocking until it was time for him to get it because he kept trying to get into it early. Then as we filled it, Mom had to hold onto him. Steve is filming this. It's a little long, but cute.



mood | amused

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | 9:28 pm
A poem I heard today and liked.

"Wild Geese"
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of thing.

mood | thoughtful

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 | 9:47 pm
Uhhh..

So, for some reason LJ isn't letting me post this video on my last entry. I made a mistake the first time and put in the wrong video.. but then whenever I try to edit it, it just deletes the video out entirely as far as I can tell... So I'll just make another post with it. It's not an exciting video, but here it is.



The cosplay judges announcing this year's winners. We are announced towards the end.

mood | confused

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 | 6:38 pm
Eeee.

I just found out Serj Tankian is doing a concert in Seattle in March. <3 <3 <3 Must go! Must go! I wish it was all of SOAD, but I adore Serj's voice, so I am quite happy. ^^ SOAD has done a couple concerts in Seattle, but I've always missed them because they were in the summers. *determined* But I will see Serj! It's funny, just last night I was talking with Steve about how much I like Serj. I only wish the concert wasn't on a Tuesday night, but oh well.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee- Serj! -eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

mood | ecstatic

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 | 7:55 pm
Strong Ken-chan!

I was amused by this video. Rachel's friend, Brandon, cosplayed Kenpachi at Sakura Con and enjoyed showing off his strength. He was a funny guy and would bring us breakfast in the mornings. ^^ Gotta like a person that comes bearing food.

mood | amused

Sunday, February 25, 2007 | 8:58 pm
Words of Wisdom

Attitude:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home... a school. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... We are in charge of our ATTITUDES."

-Charles Swindoll

mood | contemplative

Sunday, November 5, 2006 | 1:08 am
*shimmies hips*

Yookwi and I took a belly dancing class this morning. Yes, belly dancing. We're taking a pilates class at Gonzaga and our teacher had some free passes for us to do classes at the YMCA, so we thought the belly dancing sounded fun. It was pretty amusing and I liked the music. It was a lot of shaking our hips around. XD I think I did fairly well, although I may have been popping my hips about too much. I guess if you don't do it properly it's hard on your back as you get older. You need to remember to keep your tail bone down. I couldn't tell if I was doing that or not. The class was really quick and I know a learned stuff, even some mini dances.. but I don't know if I can remember it all. @.@ Maybe if we take the class again I will.
lol One thing that was fun about the class is the teacher brought scarves with dangly stuff on them to tie around our hips so we all jingled as we shimmied.

After the class I talked with Yookwi a little bit and dropped her off at home. Then I rushed home myself and madly cooked all afternoon. I made a biiiiiiig batch of yakisoba and prepared veggies and shrimp for tempura. I had arranged for an "anime night" for my classmates at one of their houses. So, I carted all my stuff over to my classmate's house and got to work. We had to put the fryer outside for the tempura because I guess Teflon is bad for my classmate's pet birds, so we couldn't use it in the house. It was pouring rain out there. ;_; My classmate put up an umbrella for me, but there was a few times when the wind picked up and both the fryer and I got water thrown on us. I was on my knees for about a half hour to 45 minutes in the rain and couldn't walk well when I stood up finally because my legs had fallen asleep. ^^;; In the end, I ran out of batter, so most of what I made was shrimp. But my classmates all thought my cooking was good. Yookwi made okonomiyaki too. Oh my god, that was so yummy!! I want to learn how to cook it. I hadn't had it before since I haven't seen any restaurants selling it, but I've wanted to try it. Yookwi said it's easy to make and she'd teach me how. ^_^ Maybe if I learn before I come home in December I can give cooking it a shot for you guys back home.

So yeah, we ate and I also bought a bunch of snacks like shrimp chips, mochi and flower kiss candy. My classmates had an interesting time trying everything. Then I tried to show them Gankutsuou... I say "tried" because my classmate didn't have a remote for her DVD player, so I wasn't able to change the language on the DVD. So, I showed them just the first episode in English (uuuggghhh... the count and franz' voices was okay, but I didn't like the rest - albert sounded like even more of a dork than he is). I told everyone I would try again later to show them anime, but this would give them a flavor of it at least. I had a couple people surprised at how "adult" it was. But that's normal with anime... people either think they are kids' shows or porn. In this case, they didn't know about hentai and when I explained that one I got a few wide eyed looks.

All in all, it was a good day. I was sad I wasn't able to show them Gankutsuou more fully, but I think they have a better understanding of why I like it now. ^_^

mood | satisfied

Friday, September 22, 2006 | 10:43 pm
Another quote

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

-George Bernard Shaw

mood | hopeful

Thursday, September 21, 2006 | 6:30 pm
From a book I'm reading...

"I am interviewing my new outpatient, Lisa, a fidgety young woman with darting eyes that avoid contact with my own. She perches on the edge of her seat, seemingly ready to bolt, her left leg jiggling fervently as she describes to me the circumstances leading up to her most recent psychiatric hospitalization.

'I sat on my bed in the dark with a loaded gun to my head, completely numb, just getting the courage to pull the trigger. And then, out of nowhere, my cat jumped in my lap! I dropped the gun and just started crying. And then I called my boyfriend. I couldn't even talk, but he just knew it was me. He came right over and drove me to the hospital.'

When I suggest that her cat could have just as easily startled her into pulling the trigger, Lisa's leg motions cease and, for the first time, she meets my gaze head-on.

'That would have been OK, too.'

My adrenalin gives a mild surge, but my eyes meet hers unflinchingly. We have our work cut out for us, I think. 'So what do you imagine would have to change in your life for you to feel differently about that?' I say out loud, alert to every nuance, verbal and nonverbal. She meets this question with a long, thoughtful pause.

As Lisa ponders her response, I marvel at the social and historical forces that have propelled the two of us together: she the help-seeker, semiattached to her life as if it were a half-severed limb, and I, the salaried healer, paid to be committed to her life, at least within the allotted time, until the next patient takes her place and I focus on that person's anguish. A clock silently logs the minutes on my desk, its glowing red numbers managing the procession of patients in and out of my office in this busy HMO health center, where a multitude of lives in turmoil intersect with my own. My time is a semiprecious commodity to the insurance company that pays for it. My patient's time? She clearly puts no value to it at all."

-G. Garfunkel, 1995

mood | thoughtful

Wednesday, September 6, 2006 | 2:28 pm
Moved In

I'm in my new house now. ^_^ It's very nice. Plus right now I have two kitties lounging on my bed, so that makes it even nicer. My room is a little small, though, and is being consumed by the queen size futon I'm using for my bed. The closet rod needs to be fixed too, so I currently can't hang up my clothes, which is a bummer. ^^;; So I'm only partially unpacked... But, the internet works fine! XD

I made a few new icons. I missed having Utena icons. You Utena fans will understand the images. ^_~

mood | pleased

Monday, September 4, 2006 | 12:18 pm
Moving Day!

Alright, I've got almost everything packed and ready to go, except my desk and computer. So, I'm going to attempt to disassemble those now. If all goes well I imagine I'll be back online tonight or tomorrow as Sara has wireless internet... If I am not online then assume something went wrong with moving and who knows when I'll be back. XD Feel free to call my cell if you need to get a hold of me. Next time I post I should be in my new house! Hoorah!

mood | determined

Saturday, September 2, 2006 | 9:13 pm
SOAD Withdrawl

I simply cannot find myself System of a Down "Mezmerize" CD! I have all my other SOAD CDs here in Spokane with me, but I'm not sure what happened to that one. I've had an urge to listen to it lately, so I went and downloaded it through a program Gonzaga is a member of and will survive for now... But I don't suppose I loaned that CD to anyone and don't happen to remember it? ^^;; I wish I could find it...

Ah well... *twirls to Radio/Video* La la la la-la-la... aaaaah!

On a related note, I wore my SOAD tank top to the second day of the retreat and one of the few new male students noticed and voiced his approval. I wonder if I could work SOAD into therapy... randomness and screaming therapy, oh yeah.

mood | curious

Thursday, August 31, 2006 | 10:04 pm
Spokane, Version 2.0

For those of you who don't know, I'm back in Spokane now. ^^;; I need to post in my journal more... I flew back yesterday. The flight went okay, although the no liquids rule was annoying. My ears were killing me too because I came down with a cold on Monday. I just really hope I don't have an ear infection. It would be fitting, though. I had a cold/ear infection this time last year for the new student retreat.

So yes, new student retreat. I was there from 7:30 am until 9:00 pm today cooking, cleaning, reassuring the first year students, meeting my mentee, and reuniting with my classmates. It was so good to see everyone again. I felt a little funny coming back because I had gotten out of the swing of things, but I'm starting to adjust again. It's nice to be back around my professors and classmates who are passionate about counseling. It rekindles my passion and makes me want to try my best over the next year.

It's so crazy being a "second year student" now. I remember looking up to the 2nd years last year thinking how amazing it must be to be through most of their classes and in their internships - so much wiser, closer together, and grown up. Something we do at the retreat is a private discussion with the new students without the professors around. It was so odd to be part of the 2nd year group answering questions, not asking them.

I hope this year is fun. I'm looking forward to less homework, although I'll probably have to see study a lot with the national exams in the spring (ugh). I hope to spend some more time with my classmates. Maybe now that I'm moving out of my Grandma's house I can invite my classmates over to hang out. They're good folks. My classmates pulled a prank on our professor, Lisa, tonight before we left. We were making nachos and thinking about how large the refrigerator was, so Eric crammed himself into the refrigerator with the salsa. We then nagged Lisa about not being able to find the salsa until she finally came and opened up the fridge herself. Her expression when she saw Eric sitting in there holding the salsa was priceless. ^^

Yookwi brought me back some zori from Japan. She remembered me looking for shoes in the spring for my Fuu costume and not being able to really find any big enough, so she went hunting around for big ones in Japan. They're really nice - smooth brown leather on bottom and tatami on top with green straps. The leather smells so good and strong. The first thing I did was sniff them. XD They appear to fit, she said they're not supposed to be big, but close to the size of your foot. She said your toes could even hang over the edge a bit, but mine don't, which I'm glad for. I want to wear them around, but at the same time I don't... the leather on the bottom is too pristine. ^^;;

I have to be back at the retreat at 8:30 am tomorrow, so I'm headed to bed. I'm pretty tired from my long day and stubborn cold. *downs some pills* Good night!

mood | exhausted

Sunday, July 30, 2006 | 4:44 pm
Garage Sale

Hey local folks - I'm thinking of having a garage sale on August 19th. Would anyone like to be a part of it to sell some of your stuff? I can always do it a different day if the 19th doesn't work for people. I leave for Spokane on August 30th. Thanks!

mood | curious

Tuesday, July 18, 2006 | 11:51 pm
Just a thought...

Is it strange that I'm missing two different sex toy parties that my grad school classmates are throwing this summer..?

Counselors gone wild! Woo-hoo! XD

mood | amused

Monday, July 17, 2006 | 4:04 pm
Aurora Con 2006

As some have already posted, Aurora Con was on Friday. It was Alaska's first anime con. I thought I'd never see the day that Alaska would have an anime con! It was a decent size too, although I felt a bit like an old lady as most of the attendees were teenagers. The con was rather unorganized and the judges were difficult to round up for the contests, but overall it was fun. I think next year will be a lot better for the con as they figure out their organization.

My friends and I blew over the competition at Aurora Con. Umiko won first place in the karaoke contest. ^^ She has a great singing voice. And then the rest of us won for the cosplay competitions. It was organized a little strange as they sort of had separate construction and skit competitions as best I understood it. Noin won first place in construction and the rest of the won the group construction award/third. For the actual masquerade, our skit won best in show. The skit idea was my creation. It wasn't amazingly funny, but kinda cute and poked a little bit of fun at the similarities between Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop. Our skit was called "Samurai Bebop." With some hand sewing help to save time I made the following: Fuu for myself, Jin for Timeron, Mugen's jacket & earrings for Ry, a gigantic rice ball for Erin M, & a Punch vest for Orion. My Mom and I constructed and spray painted a Pocky Box for Aki and Erin M. did the detail painting. Everyone else made their own costumes. It really stressed me out, but I think it was worth it. I won't take on that much in the future, though. ^^;; Only costumes for myself and maybe one other person at the same time. I like the way Fuu and Jin turned out. Everything else was rather rushed, but worked okay.

You can see our skit here. Sadly the start of the audio got cut off it seems. And us receiving our award here.

Pictures I took at the con.

( Skit script and a few favorite picturesCollapse )

mood | calm

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 | 11:57 am
Learning opportunity!

This summer I'm doing an independent study on Native American techniques in counseling. I need some extra credits if I want to be licensed in Alaska someday and I thought learning more about this area would be good for work in Alaska and Washington. In order to do some research I'm planning to go to the Alaska Native Heritage Center sometime, possibly tomorrow, but I could postpone it if needed. Would anyone like to come with me? Admission is $9.95 and it's open from 9 am - 5 pm every day. I probably won't get there at 9 am, but I want to go early so I can make the most of my money and gather as much information as possible. So, I'll probably plan on getting there at 10 am or 11 pm. So yes, let me know if you feel like learning with me. ^_~ I can change the day I'm going if needed. Thanks!

Edit: Whoops! I forgot I have to pick my Dad up from the airport tomorrow afternoon, so I won't be going then! Sometime I will go, though. Yep.

mood | calm

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 | 9:41 pm
Aurora Con Update

For those of you going to Aurora Con, the con is one month away! Remember to request Friday, July 14th off work if you need to.

Also, Aurora Con has cashed my check for the group registration. They haven't contacted me about it, but I know they took my money. So, I think we should be registered fine. If not, I'm going to raise hell because that was a large check I mailed them.

Augh.. my tummy hurts... I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me.

Ry: I've begun working on the Mugen costume, but because I never received a measurement of your foot, I was unable to order you geta. Do you have any flip flops? If not, we can get some from Wal Mart or some place. They won't be geta, but at least they'll be fairly unnoticeable sandals.

mood | nauseated

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 | 8:29 pm
A quick note

I did my last counseling session for the summer today. It didn't go too well... My client is having issues with housing and poverty. It's very hard to counsel someone when their basic needs aren't being met. It makes me feel rather helpless, especially because I am not in a position to fix a lot of those basic needs issues. I can't just start handing out twenties or anything to my clients... But still, it makes me want to get involved with prevention programs in the community that help keep people from getting the point where they're homeless, poor, drug addicted, single parenting, starving, etc... Maybe I will when I'm able to build myself up more to become a significant force in the community with a larger experience and knowledge base. At this point... I'm helpless beyond the emotional support I can give. Supportive words can only go so far when you're hungry and without a roof over your head.

Today is my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. =) I am proud of them. They don't have a perfect marriage, but they're doing pretty well. It can be a difficult task to make a relationship work for a long time.

I am turning 23 on the 23rd of this month, which I find immensely amusing. One of my classmates told me it's my "golden birthday." So, folks in town, are you busy on the late afternoon/evening of the 23rd? I'm not really going to have a "birthday party" per say because I don't want anyone to feel obligated to bring presents or anything, but I'd love to see everyone. I'll probably do my usual thing and cook for everyone at my house. What say you? And does anyone own Twister? I have an odd urge to play Twister. O.o

Alright, back to working on my Assessment final. Woo-hoo.

mood | working

Friday, June 2, 2006 | 2:09 pm
From my career counseling class:

I liked this...

THE BOTTOM LINE

FACE IT, Nobody owes you a living.
What you achieve, or fail to achieve in your lifetime
is directly related to what you do,
or fail to do.
No one chooses his parents or childhood,
but you can choose your own direction.
Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome,
but that, too, is relative to each individual.
NOTHING IS CARVED IN STONE.
You can change anything in your life,
if you want to badly enough.
Excuses are for losers:
Those who take responsibility for their actions
are the real winners in life.
Winners meet life's challenges head on,
knowing there are no guarantees,
and give it all they've got.
And never think it's too late or too early to begin.
Time plays no favorites,
and will pass whether you act or not.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE.
Dare to dream and take risks...
Compete.
If you aren't willing to work for your goals,
don't expect others to.

--Believe in Yourself--

Keith Kennedy, 1985


That goes along with my beliefs in freedom of choice in life and the importance of taking responsibility over those choices. *nod* It's quite blunt and to the point.

In my assessment class today we went over the ink blot test. Man, I was blown away. My impression of it was completely wrong. Tavia, I remembered you asked me about the test. I need to revise my answer to you! It's much more than I thought it was. It makes me want to learn how to administer it, but man.. it takes a lot of training. ^^;; It's interesting, though.

mood | nervous

Tuesday, May 23, 2006 | 6:59 pm
Everyone wants some Fanta!

Oh my god.. XD It's already been posted in other journals, but I have to post it for you guys here too. Our FMA Fanta skit is on YouTube! A random person recorded us and deemed us YouTube worthy. I am in shock. It's a decent recording too! It's of the close up of the screen next to the stage, so you can see our faces better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPeQNE-HVKM

mood | surprised