| Lazy day <3 |
[23 Dec 2009|10:23am] |
Just got back from taking Kin-chan to his first annual vet checkup.
The vet said he was a gorgeous cat, and friendly, and well-behaved, and that all his care was perfect. His weight's perfect, his teeth, ears, and eyes looked perfect, his nails were clipped well, and that he looked great.
For some reason that made me happy, being complimented on how well he's taken care of. Maybe it's just nice to be told I'm doing a good job at something.
I'm planning on taking a nice, lazy day today.
I was lying on my bed on my stomach, propped up on my elbows playing a game, and Kin-chan came over, curled up under my chin, and went to sleep.
Got Masuda's PB the other day. He's quite a nice-looking boy!
I don't think I'll be able to scan anything at all for a while, but I may snap some quick preview pics.
Is anyone interested in the following Christmas CDs?
- Bing Crosby
- Frank Sinatra
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Jackson 5
- The Beatles
I'd be willing to upload them if anyone would like them.
I'm thinking about doing a Christmas Card type thing via voicepost or something. I'm still thinking about it. :x Maybe I'll have the guts.
|
|
|
[23 Dec 2009|07:05pm] |
in a really low place right now...
have a fever that wont go away....
went to the doctor and the doctor was no help. she gave me meds im afraid to take.
i want to go home
|
|
| [Daily Doodles] Kitty stare |
[22 Dec 2009|11:24pm] |
Daily Doodle: It is so easy to tell when I'm having an off week, cause I just draw cats. Or goats. Sadly, didn't do anything special for the big half-year mark. Maybe I'll shoot for something for the new year. Anyway, kitty, on an uneven surface.
Time: 10 mins?
( Daily Doodle: Kitty stare )
|
|
| Straight To DVD Edition |
[22 Dec 2009|04:24am] |
I bet you that some dudes out there are filming it right now.
Google it up at your own risk.
|
|
| I have cards and coffee! ♥ |
[21 Dec 2009|11:24pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 giggly |
] |
☆ ♥ love! ♥
Much love & thanks to the lovely ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mayezinha, chomiji & chibi_nasu for your cards! Loved them! They really put a smile on my face today, and I really needed that. ♥ And Maye...thank you sooo much for the earrings! So pretty and delicate! And of course, the coffee! It smells so delicious, and I can't wait to brew up a pot. You are too kind! X) ♥
The final batch of my own cards went out today, so that's finally done! \(^O^)/ I really love doing these card exchanges every year...it's such a nice and tangible way to send along some holiday cheer.
☆ di(e)ce!
 
I'm finally caught up with the latest di(e)ce, and OOOH...how *adorable* are lil' Gara and lil' Shion?? They're both 5 years old in these pics, and so damn cute it's hard to believe they both grow up later to become their hot selves, lol. It turns out that they were yanked out of their childhoods and taken in by mysterious people to be trained to become future "bishops." It seems like only bishops are allowed to know from the very beginning what the whole deal is behind "di(e)ce." Prior to his training, Shion was raised in a very privileged household, and was a sensitive child who cried a lot. Gara, on the otherhand, had very abusive parents, and learned early in life that crying will get you no where. He's a tough kid, even at age 5. I loved how he looked out after Shion. X) I think I might ship the grown-up versions together now. XD ♥
*Ahem* Of course, this naughty image of them from the inside of volume 4 only encourages that thought! The proportions are a little off in the picture, but I still kinda love it.
( bishops! )
|
|
| [Daily Doodle] Kitty crouch |
[21 Dec 2009|08:22pm] |
Daily Doodle: Let us just say I am looking forward to the days off.
In other news either this or tomorrow will mark one half year doing daily doodles. Pretty neat. Let's just hope I can actually draw something interesting tomorrow
Time: 10 mins
( Daily Doodle: Kitty crouch )
|
|
| ARGGGGGGGGGGH. |
[21 Dec 2009|06:28am] |
THE EXCITING CONCLUSION OF THIS REALLY STUPID CRAP!
Dear Play-Asia:
Are you brain-damaged?
You have been holding my order on manual confirmation for five days. I paid immediately and gave you two days of courtesy waiting to get your shit straight. I provided all my payment transaction details in your oh-so-conveniently provided text box prompting me to confirm my already confirmed payment. I make sure to include my transaction ID and all other iformation because I know you will probably need it.
Nothing happens for two more days. I email support.
Wait the weekend. Receive reply today. The reply from a rep?
"What is the paypal transaction ID and date so we can confirm?"
:| :| :| :|
I WAITED FIVE DAYS FOR YOU TO ASK ME FOR THE INFO I ALREADY GAVE YOU?!"
Can I kill someone, please?
I wouldn't care if it was for me, I don't mind waiting. But this is a Christmas present, you jackasses.
|
|
| "Since we've no place to go..." |
[20 Dec 2009|11:56pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 mellow |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Real (Kuro) |
] |
 Wow, that was a winter whammy! I know for those of you in snow country, this sort of storm is just a drop in the bucket. But such snowfalls are quite rare around here, and the last one I can think of was at least five or six years ago. The biggest one in my memory is Blizzard of '96, when they shut down the public schools for a week. I hear the one we just had has clocked in at #6 in the record books.
They say accumulation will stay on the ground through the week, which means we might very well be having the first white Christmas in my area in 20 YEARS. Unbelievable!
I did enjoy seeing the snow come down all day, though was slightly bummed that I had to miss my friend's holiday party on Saturday night. I was going to make a leek mac and cheese for it, and though I knew about the forecast, I still optimistically bought all the ingredients Friday evening. Ah, wishful thinking that came to nothing!
I ended up spending most of my Saturday writing Christmas cards instead, even though I knew the mailman wasn't going to be coming by to pick them up. Hopefully they'll be going out tomorrow! My apologies for the delay. I hope they'll reach you in time for the holiday, but if they don't...there are New Year's wishes in them as well, so they'll be partially on time, at least. ♥
This here is a cardinal that I saw nibbling on some breadcrumbs on my back porch. It's slightly fuzzy, since I snapped it through the window. =) Some more pics of the snow under the cut!
( let it snooooOOMg )
|
|
| Tofu recipes? |
[20 Dec 2009|10:23am] |
My stir-fry experiments have been coming out well. This morning I had one with a soy-wasabi sauce that was really good.
I want to try some new stuff. Can anybody recommend me any good tofu recipes? I was thinking of making some kind of fried tofu, but I've never used it before, so I'm not sure what might be good to start with. I've got tofu and lots of veggies, and lots of asian spices and sauces to work with.
|
|
| [Daily Doodle] Squirrel |
[19 Dec 2009|11:52pm] |
Daily Doodle: I love how squirrels do that "Do you refer to moi?" thing. Otherwise, I am tired and behind on everything ever.
Backdated 4 hours
Time: 5-10 mins
( Daily Doodle: Squirrel )
|
|
| Oh busy day. ;A; |
[19 Dec 2009|10:46am] |
I feel accomplished. \0/
We went to the grocery store first thing this morning. I bought a lot of vegetables and seasonings, to make stir-fry. I was just going to get some cabbage to make okonomiyaki, but decided to get other stuff too.
I came home, cut up bok choy, swiss chard, carrots, mushrooms, onions, celery, and cabbage, and added bean sprouts. I made up a bunch of packets of 'stir fry mix' and froze the extras, so that they wouldn't go bad. Then I took a bunch of meat, marinated it in bags, and put that away.
Now I can make stir fry or other things without all the ridiculous prep time. Everything's washed, cut, rationed out, and ready to be used. Boiled up a big pot of rice to go with it, and fridged that.
I also bought a bunch of single-serve containers and screw-cap plastic containers so I can make non-instant food to take with me to work and such. I quit buying soda, period, and am drinking watered-down juice and plain water.
I'm trying to make things as convenient and easy as possible, because once I start watching my nephew, the temptation to just crack open a can of soup or eat something instant is going to be really hard to resist, since I am going to be tired all the time.
I wanted to exercise today but my legs and feet and knees hurt already from being at work all night and then shopping for an hour, and then spending another two hours prepping all those veggies, so I'm just resting today.
I did make a test stir fry today and it came out good <3
Rest times ;A;
|
|
| >|@online shopping |
[19 Dec 2009|03:12am] |
Sometimes I hate buying things online.
( Argh. )
Also, I am debating picking up an old fic I was writing... probably 8 or so years ago. lassarina, you know the one? My FF6 story. What would you think about me working on it again? :x Or even parts of it... I'm thinking of rewriting it from scratch, using my original notes/drafts... Hell, I've got about 50 pages of notes, still. I really want to work on it again (getting back into FF aaaaaaaahhhhhh) because it's major Gen-stuff, and that's my favorite to write...
ETA: This looks really neat.
|
|
| Time to discuss racism and humour! aka how about them mildly infamous icons? |
[18 Dec 2009|09:47pm] |
Hey, it's time to stop drawing wolf butts and variously gendered people touching each other and time to have another tl;dr chat!
Today's topic is more like a topic-train. It looks like this: Racism in fantasy works --> stereotypes in jokes --> kyriarchy and humour --> are we allowed to be funny ever?
(The answer is of course: No! No humour allowed! What did you think this was, real life or something?)
To make clear whither and whence this post: I have recently seen some icons of Sazh (dark-skinned character from Final Fantasy XIII) that I found objectionable, as did heebee [here] and ![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) renay [here]. The icons can be seen below this cut — I did say they are uncomfortably racist, right?:
( The Icons in Question )
I prefer not to name the iconmaker or link to their work, though many folks might recognize hir anyway. Rather, I want to take part in a general fandom discussion of this topic, rather than call out and dogpile a single iconmaker. I'm attempting to engage the iconmaker, not neglecting that part, but I hope to minimize the extent to which zie feels attacked in hir own space. And while I can't really tell anyone what to do, I do ask that please, no one go over there and call hir racist. That is not productive. (If that seemed self-contradictory — hey, this person did something racist and by the way don't tell hir zie's racist — please listen while the ever-awesome Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine explains.)
If you are confused as to why these icons might be offensive, I recommend taking a look at the collection at the Authentic History Center, as well as some rebuttals of common responses to this imagery.
That said, let's try to get this party started!
Race and Racism in Fantasy Worlds
First up, a common cry: But these are fantasy worlds, they don't have our history of race and race relations there, they might not even have an idea of race! Fantasy depictions — or fanworks based on fantasy depictions — can't be racist!
The simple answer: Okay, I will grant that within a canonical world, by canonical standards, something we might take as racist/sexist/otherwise offensive is not taken as such within the context of that world.
But you know who isn't in the context of that world? You and me, buddy. And the creators of the canon. And pretty much all the consumers of that canon. So while the characters embedded in that world might not be engaging in racism by the rules of their own world, we do not have that excuse.
We who create and consume media, we live in this world, with all its sorry and glorious history. It's possible to go in circles forever around the subject of fantasy depictions and their effect on real-world issues. I would prefer not to go there; I would get dizzy. I hope we can at least agree on this: whatever the creators' intentions and whatever the rules of the fantasy world, we, because we live in our world, are justified in viewing and analyzing the fantasy through the lens of our real-world experience — the experience through which it is created and consumed.
Using Stereotypes in Jokes / Kyriarchy and Humour
Okay, so can we at least poke fun at racist stereotypes and make other plays off prejudice in an ironic way using those fantasy characters (who by the way are imaginary and can't be hurt)?
Yes and no.
The relationship between humour and kyriarchy is... pretty complicated. It's quite easy to fall into a trap here: attempt, with the best intentions, to deride things worthy of derision, and yet in making the joke end up perpetuating those same ills.
Here's the thing — when you make a joke using a stereotype, you're still using that stereotype.
( My complete lack of humour continues! )
( Are We Allowed to be Funny EVER omg )
I know a lot of people try to make lists of acceptable and off-limits topics for humour. I think that's a pretty fraught discussion. Liss made a pretty neat post on off-limits humour, breaking down why certain subjects are more off-limits than others. But she also makes the point that no topic is really off-limits: it's all about context. It's about your audience. It's about thinking hard about how your humour will be received, and by whom. And if necessary, it's about summoning up the creativity to make new jokes, jokes that do not perpetuate the very things we try to fight.
And back we are in a grey area, context context context. But I hope we at least have some more things to think about, and some tools to discuss this disturbing trend in fandom. It's not just a few Sazh icons — it's everywhere, in jokes about female characters, older characters, characters of colour... It's quite saddening. I'd love to discuss how this problem relates to fandom in general, or Final Fantasy fandom in particular, since we have such a fun history (see: Barrret). It's a big issue, with too little tl;dr. Open the deer pens, prepare the aquamarine paint cans! Or, you know, just drop a word or two.
A note on where to comment: I'm posting this from DW to LJ, so it's available on both services. However, I would prefer if people commented in the LJ copy, to make it easier for me to keep track of the discussion. I'm keeping commenting open on both sites, so this is just a request =)
|
|
| FF6 Advance |
[18 Dec 2009|05:25am] |
Playing FFVI Advance (thanks to the Gamecube attachment that lets you play GBA stuff on the TV) and am disappointed by a few things. :(
- No more, "Call me a treasure hunter or I'll rip your lungs out!" Cryyy.
- No more killing Intangirs with Death/Doom. D: THIS IS SO GAY.
- OH GOD WHY KEFKA'S PORTRAIT MAKE IT GO AWAY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:
- Names for everything are changed, and it's disorienting. I'll get used to it, but it's just weird at first.
- Several bugs/glitches that were NOT fixed from the SNES version that really should have been.
Seeing the new translation is weird, but not necessarily bad. It's just like, waiting for a particular quote to show up, and then seeing that it's been changed is a bit of a kick.
I'll reserve judgement until much later, after I've had some more time to get back into the game.
|
|
| [Daily Doodle] Bleach - Soifon/Yoruichi (...PG?) |
[17 Dec 2009|11:24pm] |
Daily Doodle: We go from a Bleach pairing known to approximately 5 people in the universe to one that is borderline canon. At least one side of it is... yeah, pretty much canon.
I really like Soifon's shoulders in canon, so I tried to get a little of that in. Other than that, I think I am too tired to comment much. It's been a long day.
Backdated 3 hours
Time: 2hours, give or take half an hour? I was doing a lot of other stuff tonight, hard to track the time.
Thumbnail:
( Daily Doodle: Bleach - Soifon/Yoruichi )
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
accomplished