State of the Neko address: week 15

song+ Guilty Pleasure- Ashley Tisdale- Guilty Pleasure
book+ Savor the Moment
scent+ spray sealant
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's shome!
downer+ visiting Roro is still so far away..
attire+ pajamas. yay comfort
drink+ water

this weekend was pretty great. i had fun with mom at the Botanical Gardens, in spite of the heat. i enjoyed the book i borrowed, and i finished watching Kobato entirely. it was really good too, i'll probably pick up the manga now. xD i still haven't started Avatar the Last Airbender yet, but all my TV shows are on summer hiatus, so there's plenty of time now.

i spent the relaxing part of Sunday afternoon playing through Lego Star Wars again. it doesn't matter that i never saw the new three, i can still enjoy the game for all six episodes. it kinda makes me wanna pick up Lego Indiana Jones to round out my collection with all the Lego games, even though that's another series i haven't seen.. xD it's something to think about at least. for now it's just going on my maybe-when-i-have-money-again list, which is shorter than you'd probably think. at this point it's just musicals and video games, and not even that many- less than 10 items total.

one of the girls in the JiD thread on DoA asked for a group shot of the sisters with Eve to see size comparisons and such. having little better to do, i obliged, and figured i'd share the pictures here too just for fun. xD Eve is such a BIG busty girl she kinda dwarfs them, but i think their vivid personalities still keep them visible.



anyone else ever have days where it feels like the universe is conspiring against you? today i've spilled things on myself/nearby tables about 6 times, i have more work than a normal Monday (with no assistance), and my good bra picked today to self-destruct. i have underwire poking out and stabbing me on my right side, and the strap on the left side snapped away from the backside altogether at about 3:15 this afternoon.. i've been slouching and carrying things against my chest to disguise it as much as i can. * sigh * it's completely absurd, it was fine yesterday. i've asked Moose to take me to the mall after work to take care of it, and i can afford to, but it's still ridiculous.

i dunno, pretty much every moment of today i've felt like i'd much rather be in bed taking a good long nap. i'm a strong supporter of naps, i think they make most any day a better day.. days like this though, i wish i could hibernate through. ugh. i think instead i'll either bunker into my computer chair and do some marathon-reading, or i'll finally get started on Last Airbender.. which is probably what Tiff would prefer so we could finally talk about it. xD

the only good thing about this week i can think of so far is that it's a small week (incoming comics-wise) and due to memorial Day shipping delays, tomorrow is the first time in a LONG time i won't have to be at work early on a Tuesday! generally i have to be in at 8 or 8:30, so not getting the comics until at least 10:30 is gonna be kinda awesome. xD a pretty easy morning for me, even if it's spent finishing the bajillion things on my desk today. there's also a slight possibility we won't get the stuff in at all Tuesday, in which case the rest of my week will be trickier, but i could have like a half-day off.. possibly. it's not really likely though, in that case i'd probably get shuttled off to another department to slave away, and in return we'd maybe get someone when the stuff arrived to help get it done sooner.. so i'm actually hoping it's delivered tomorrow morning. i don't wanna work for someone else, i like my authority. xD

man, the closer i get to Roro-time this summer, the further i seem to be from it. i know it's like a little more than a month away, but it feels like years, because every day at work d-r-a-g-s when you know what's coming up, but not quickly enough. xD i'm sure once i've bought my airfare it'll feel kinda like it's rushing me, with NO TIME to save the rest of what i'll need, but the workdays will likely continue to drag until the very Friday before i go. *sigh* the days feeling like they're dragging is my primary indication i'm ready for a vacation, so feeling it as i approach one is akin to torture.

State of the Neko address: week 14, part 3

song+ 2 Hearts- Kylie Minogue- X
book+ Savor the Moment
scent+ spray sealant
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's shome!
downer+ visiting Roro is still so far away..
attire+ pajamas. yay comfort
drink+ water

so the Botanical Garden with mom was pretty fun! i took FaithAnn and Rosalie, mom had Blessing, Celeste, and Faith. this is gonna be essentially a photo dump, so i guess i'll sum it all up first.

we started by taking shots by the fountain out front, for me- sisterly almost-shoving-in poorly disguised, for mom- some pouty "why do we only have WINTER clothes?" shots. on the way in the front door, i took the labyrinth-ish fountain shots, FaithAnn playing in the water a bit, Rosalie marvelling at the scale. once inside we headed to the first garden visible where i took solo shots of most of the dolls, and the one random ivy-covered corner of a building. after the heat got to be too much, we headed off to Ol South for awesome lemon pancake/crepe things! so as i have to do any time i have a doll in a resteraunt, i have over-exposed trying-to-steal-the-food shots, along with a reactionary "what, none for me?" shot. ..yeah, i think that's all of it.

State of the Neko address: week 14, part 2

song+ My Heart- Paramore- All We Know Is Falling
book+ Savor the Moment
scent+ spray sealant
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's shome!
downer+ visiting Roro is still so far away..
attire+ pajamas. yay comfort
drink+ dr pepper

so great strides have been made in the complete customization of Rosalie and redoing FaithAnn. all that's left at this point is gluing on piercings and finishing re-stringing. that won't take long at all, fortunately. (done! check it out!)



i injured myself mindlessly yesterday, and now my left middle finger is temporarily useless. i got a deep but not too painful cardboard-cut yesterday handling a box at work. middle finger, just a few millimeters from the fingernail on the pad, i forgot about it by the time i got home though. to strip FaithAnn's old blushing and faceup, i used my usual mixture: part of a Mr Clean Magic Eraser dipped in a solution of half water, half Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer. it works amazingly, it'll pull off a company faceup in two swipes or less without hurting the resin at all.. it's also apparently much more corrosive to human flesh. xD i've never had trouble with it before, but it dribbled into my cut when i wasn't paying attention and ripped it back open and dissolved the previously cut parts. O_o it was vigorously swished about in water and promptly covered with a band-aid, but it still hurts today. i'm doing left handed things without my middle finger, so i've had to go back and correct twice the typos i normally have in the course of drafting a post. xD it's a Disney Princess band-aid, so at least it's making me smile when i see it. the cut is under she shiny spot that's actually Cinderella's head.



i still worked on the faceups and new blushing and tattoos, i just did it with a band-aid and one less finger. xD i think they came out looking spectacular, and can't wait to share pictures with the JiD discussion thread.. especially of Rosalie's custom wig, i sewed purple hair wefts into it by hand to get the look i wanted for her, then styled it myself. she's still got her default eyes, but it's okay for a few weeks. FaithAnn is wearing Bea's old wavy brown wig, i need to get her new hair because after being exposed to high heat and extreme humidity at Scarbie, the other wig started bleeding colour everywhere and it just won't stop! that's why i had to re-do her in the first place, so i think i'm gonna get her a good black wig, then sew green streaks into it like i did Rosalie's purple minking. The black wig/brown eyes/ black glasses order will happen either when i get my fishy split refund, or after i buy my ticket to go see Roro- whichever comes sooner. for now though FaithAnn's a brunette with blunt bangs, and Rosalie's apparently rocking some blue contacts. xD



otherwise i'm great though! tomorrow's mommy-day, and though i have no clue what we'll be doing, i'm sure i'll have fun doing it. xD i also have no idea when we'll be getting together. i'm really altogether clueless, but that's fine. whatever happens, it's cool. okay, updated plans include doll photos at the Botanical Gardens and a cheap lunch.

this weekend i'll have plenty to keep me busy. in addition to mommy-time and two seasons of Avatar: the Last Airbender (on loan from Tiff) to watch, Steve gave me an anime called Kobato, and Jacinda loaned me the third volume in a quartet of books we've been following, so i shouldn't get bored at any point in time. xD plus i have a second Wiimote for the first time, so i've been enjoying actual head-to-head competition in Wii Sports. turns out i'm worse at tennis and baseball than i thought, especially compared to someone decent playing at the same time. still a pretty decent Wii bowler though. at least there's that. since i bought Wii Play (for the second controller) i've learned i'm still awful at Duck Hunt, Wii Billiards is harder than Monkey Billiards on the GameCube (go figure- Monkey bowling was much harder then Wii bowling is), and cow racing is kinda addictive even though the people i've played with are kinda jerks who totally never even hesitated to shove my cow off the track at all. xD i still wanna get Wii Sports Resort, because i'm still playing Wii Sports more than any other game.. though Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario Wii both look promising, new games are low priority with the Roro trip quickly approaching. maybe when i get home i can go crazy and buy all the games people have been talking about lately.

i must say though, i am SO super proud of the work i did tattooing them. they look awesome head to toe and i'm in love with myself and my little sissy. xD


my Luigi star and Moose's four leaf clover

her famous birds! these are a smidgen fancier, but a good representation of them.

just lounging after a long day. sister-time is the best, yo!

State of the Neko address: week 14

song+ Kids (feat. Robbie Williams)- Kylie Minogue- Light Years
book+ Pokemon Coliseum guide
scent+ pizza
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's shome!
downer+ visiting Roro is still so far away..
attire+ pajamas. surprise! xD
drink+ dr pepper

Kyu and i did an AWESOME job cleaning and rearranging our living room. it actually looks like people live in our apartment now. xD we finished the last little bit Sunday morning, so i invited people over for LEGO Rock Band awesomeness. it was super fun, but i still haven't started watching Avatar: the Last Airbender yet. that'll start this weekend, i think.

i'm super excited though, because Rosalie should make it home today or tomorrow. she'd made it to the Ft Worth sorting center last night at 11:20 according to her tracking info, so today or tomorrow seems like a perfectly reasonable estimate. I'm excited about it, and i think this weekend will be very blushing and faceup intensive. most likely Sunday i'm thinking.

i'm like 98% sure that mom called dibs on my Saturday time this weekend so we could hang out. is that right, mom? and if so, were there specific plans at all? xD i can't remember for the life of me. too much has happened since that conversation.

i'm thinking maybe i can get both faceups done during the week and take this weekend for just the body work. there's a lot of prepping to be done before i can redo anything on FaithAnn, so i think if i get home and Rosalie hasn't been delivered yet, i'll start stripping all the dirt and old blushing off her to get her ready. this time i'm definitely taking my time though.. i don't want to need to redo them again in a few months. i've learned my lesson, rushing to seal before it rains doesn't really work, it just makes things more difficult later on. * sigh *

okay she IS home! pictures within the week, hopefully.

State of the Neko address: week 13, part 3

song+ Thnks fr Mmrs- Fall Out Boy- Infinity On High
book+ Supergirl- Power, Candor, and Identity TPs
scent+ dust
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's shipped!
downer+ the apartment's still pretty messy
attire+ pajamas. surprise! xD
drink+ milk!

more progress was made cleaning up the living room last night. it's still not done, but about a third of it now looks like your average livable space. xD it's the deciding what can be thrown out that's slowing it up, but it's making a bigger difference overall. this weekend Kyu's skipping his Warhammer group thing, so we should be able to get it done to the point where we wouldn't be embarrassed to have guests over. that'll be pretty nice.

sometime Thursday we should be to the point that i can get into the closet with my comics, so i'll finally be able to go through them and sell what i don't need or want anymore. i was planning to last weekend, but realized i couldn't reach them at all. i've found a pretty good sized pile of comics loose and un-filed in the course of my cleanup already. I didn't realize how much i'd managed to accumulate in the course of a few years. -_-; i definitely wanna get a trade put together though, so i can clear out a LOT of space, and also so i can use the proceeds to catch up on the subs i have (still) waiting for me at the main store.

i started pricing flight tickets this week, and i'm aiming to have my to-and-from-Roro flights booked and paid for early June. that gives me security that yes, i'll actually get to go, and also saves me money by booking in advance. also after buying the tickets, i'll know how much else i need to save toward the trip for the other expenses. i've already started drafting my packing checklist to minimize the possibility of leaving anything we've talked about using behind. xD by the time i'm actually packing, i'll have the list organized by luggage pocket and importance of item. i'm just super excited about this trip, for one cause i'll get to see Roro, but also because it'll be my first real doing-something vacation since Florida a few years ago. the last one before that was a spring break road trip with mom, Roro, and Moose YEARS ago.. and it wasn't great overall, with the sibling fights, and the getting sick.. and the gulf being too cold to really swim in.. which was seriously lame, but obviously beyond our control. xD

so random work-rant: you know what makes me CRAZY? people who shuffle about and NEVER PICK UP THEIR FEET. the perpetual skritch skritch slide sounds drive me batty, and it's particularly annoying since my boss does it and feels the need to walk around my (un-carpeted) part of the office every half hour or so to stretch her back. i get needing to move now and then, but i think she does it excessively. also, there's NO call for standing directly behind me (another thing i abhor) and watching me work. sometimes it's under the guise of reminding me of my assigned tasks, but that's what my schedule is for, and if i'm the one that listed the remaining tasks not 15 minutes ago, WHY would you need to wander back and be all “don't forget to do whatever” WHILE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF DOING IT?? ugh. xP also, “remember to do” is better than “don't forget” because the human mind frequently overlooks negatives. “don't forget” is subconsciously processed as “forget” so really the reminders? not helping! sorry, but it needed to be said, and saying it here and not to her lets me keep my job. *shrug*

whatever though. it's almost the weekend, so i can deal with anything i need to until the time i can go home and not stress about anything at all. there's stuff i need to get done this weekend, and goals i've set for myself, but nothing that'll make me stress.

oh! Rosalie shipped yesterday. last i checked, she was outbound from Australian customs in Sydney. i should have her home with me sometime next week, so that's very very exciting! with the living room all cleaned up and organized, i should even be able to set up an area for doing her blushing and faceup. all the custom stuff that's gonna be so time-consuming will really go more smoothly if i have a good amount of space to spread out my supplies and parts over. especially since i'll be redoing FaithAnn at the same time.

i really need to get some clear detail shots of Moose's most distinguishing characteristics to use as reference for Rosalie. i think i'll have her take some pics of me at the same time so i can try do leave out my own biases this attempt at FaithAnn's face. xD FaithAnn kinda resembles me now, but i want to do better next time. i want people to know without a doubt that she's tiny me. i'm also gonna try for a lot more detail this time around. before her tattoo looked like mine side by side, but just looking at hers, it was a kinda smudgy blob. xD for the tattooing i'm gonna have my watercolor pencils practically razor sharp. it'll be the next thing to a real needle doing them. i'm also gonna do one girl first, spray the first layer of sealant, work on the other girl and spray her, and by the time that's done, the first should be ready for her second layer of sealant. i didn't allow enough time to dry last time and it picked up dust and didn't set the art completely. my impatience won't get the best of me this time around, i swear.

State of the Neko address: week 13, part 2

song+ This Ain't a Scene, It's An Arms Race- Fall Out Boy- Infinity On High
book+ Supergirl- Friends and Fugitives
scent+ melted cheese
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's paid off!
downer+ the apartment's REALLY messy
attire+ pajamas. surprise! xD
drink+ milk!

today has me feeling like i'm forgetting something. i've checked my schedule and my phone enough to know that i'm probably not, but i can't shake the feeling that i'm missing something i shouldn't be. it's strange and disorienting. i'm about half an hour ahead of my schedule so far as assigned tasks go, in fact they've all been going smoother than they normally do. that could (in theory) explain the sense of being off-center, but it's less trepidation and more absence of something unknown i'm feeling. it's bewildering and frustrating..

at least my breathing is almost normal again. and my left shoulder's behaving itself again too, so yay! I'm hoping to maintain this semblance of normalcy for a while. long enough to maybe get something done around the apartment. last night we got rid of our absurdly uncomfortable couch, and now we're in the process of cleaning up everything else to match the new found sense of spaciousness. we made pretty good progress last night, but there's still a while to go. dog hair and chewed-up bits of miscellany really have a way of getting into the hidden spaces and corners of EVERYTHING, making the otherwise not-bad-at-all clutter seem horrendous. resultantly, we're cleaning and deciding as we go what we still love and what can be thrown out, given away, or sold. when we're done with the living room, the easy chair will come downstairs again and i'll make progress on the upstairs clutter again. my progress from a few weeks ago was halted by the shoulder issues, but i'm ready to get at it again.

last night i heard that ABC has signed off on a reboot of Hawaii 5-0 for their fall lineup. i watched the trailer last night and i have to say, i'm seriously excited about it. xD Hawaii 5-0 reruns were one of my favorite things to watch growing up, along with black and white Perry Mason episodes (Raymond Burr was my first celebrity crush) so as long as they approach this reboot from a respectful angle (like the '09 Star Trek did) i think it could end up really awesome.

i get people recommending tv shows to me all the time, sometimes they're spot-on, and sometimes i wonder WHY things get suggested to me. when i hear enough times about any one show, i'll put it on my list. things on the list get looked up on wikipedia, then if it seems interesting enough, i'll look for it on youtube to try it out before buying. if someone's willing to let me borrow their copy, it can skip to the top of my list, but that doesn't happen too often. Last time anything skipped the list, it was season one of Chuck, which i liked, but not enough to watch it on Mondays when new episodes air. Avatar the Last Airbender is on my list toward the bottom, but Tiff has loaned me her boxed sets of the first two seasons (out of three) so i'll start watching it this weekend. i've only ever heard Kyu say anything bad about it, everyone else seems to adore it, so we'll see where my opinion falls on the spectrum. as much as i love Kyu, we have vastly different tastes in entertainment. xD

the girl i bought Rosalie from has run into some issues with her son's health, so while the package is addressed to me and securely packed up, she hasn't been able to ship it off yet. i'm pretty understanding of a child too young to be left alone, and too sick to walk to the post office with her, but the selfish part of me is ready to have this girl come home already.. xD i'm impatient for a lot of things lately though, so i guess i'll just make myself wait patiently.. not one of my stronger skill sets. *sigh*

State of the Neko address: week 13

song+ Tell Me Lies- Ashley Tisdale- Guilty Pleasure
book+ Wonder Woman- Warkiller
scent+ pepperoni pizza
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's paid off!
downer+ still feeling sickish
attire+ pajamas. i wear my pajamas a lot..
drink+ milk!

so my decision to attempt lyricist on Rock Band the day i started feeling better? not the smartest choice i ever made. X.x i re-irritated my lungs and throat, and spend most of the weekend resultantly miserable. i got some super cute detail work done on some doll clothes though since there wasn't really anything else to do. xD so i guess i was at least kinda productive? i'll try to get pictures up of what i got done soon.

most of these are for Rosalie, but a few are for FaithAnn. sparkly new rhinestone-studded skull and crossbones belt buckle for her hot pink jeans

bead trim for a pink/orange/purple sundress, and a metallic purple double-strand necklace too

a pearl toggle for the shrug that goes over it. this won't ordinarily be worn alone, in case anyone wondered. xD

pearl trim under the bust on a blue blouse, and a dangly crystal charm to accent

and a lock-and-key charm set for brown jeans. for this i'm looking for an off-white ribbon in quarter inch/1cm thickness to be the belt part. or in an emerald green.


anyhow, my left shoulder is twinging and visibly out of place. not fun. hopefully it gets better tonight and i can do my job properly tomorrow, because even holding my phone is heavy enough to HURT it.

State of the Neko address: week 12, part 3

song+ the One- Kylie Minogue- X
book+ the Pulse TP V1-3
scent+ mint ice cream
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ Rosalie's paid off
downer+ my lungs are attempting to escape
attire+ pajamas
drink+ dr pepper

so i had the brainstorm this morning that i have all these single issues of comics where i also have the trade, and i have some trades i don't want. my workplace has a pretty awesome buy/trade program where i can get my money in store credit. i have a few rather pricey subs to pick up soonish. somehow, it took me until today to get to the conclusion that i can sell my stuff for credit and use the proceeds to pick up my subs. xD yay me and my cognitive failure.

anyway, boring day, just menial stuff to do, but since i'm feeling way better, i'm thinking of attempting LEGO Rock Band again tonight. i guess we'll see how things go.

State of the Neko address: week 12, part 2

song+ Boyfriend- Ashlee Simpson- I Am Me
book+ Alias TP V2
scent+ dust and dog food
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ i've almost got Rosalie!
downer+ my lungs are attempting to escape
attire+ pajamas
drink+ dr pepper

still sickish and violently coughing. sometimes so hard i pee a bit, and once so hard it made me throw up. not pleasant. also, at one point yesterday my eye was so inflamed from whatever this is that some of the blood vessels burst and it was bleeding. Good times. X.x

ANTM finale aired last night. as i expected, my girl Raina got second. Krista won, and i'm okay with that because it wasn't Angelea. i'm kinda considering it a victory anyhow. xD

no further Rocking has occurred, LEGO or otherwise. i'm hoping to feel better soon so i can play it this weekend in celebration of paying off the last bit on Rosalie. final payment goes out tomorrow, so i should have my girl home in a matter of weeks. after this weekend, i'm fast-tracking the saving-to-see-Roro. there's other things i need to take care of, but my priority is getting together what i promised i would, or as close to it as possible. like i have a pretty huge pile of stuff at the main store, like $260 in subs, waiting to be picked up. and as soon as i have the funds to spare, i'll go get it all. for now though i've been getting it one bundle at a time, the oldest first. When i can i'll go get it all, but for now the store can just deal since i'm usually one of the most reliable when it comes to picking up my subs regularly, a whole bunch of expensive things just arrived all at once. -_- it seems to have calmed down though, so i should be able to slowly catch up over the next month or so.

Moose, Kyu and i finally had the kind of discussion most have BEFORE becoming roommates this week. like what we expect from each other, what's fair in terms of splitting the bills, and what's fair to ask of each other. it's already made a pretty big difference, so hopefully things'll continue to improve. there's still more to be said, but i think it can wait until we see how much of this conversation actually took, and what's a temporary easement of grievances.

no one's said anything, but i think that moving in early summer has kinda been deemed unlikely by each of us. at this point i'm thinking waiting until August wouldn't be too bad. it'd give us time to save up to cover whatever costs there are, like deposits and whatever, and late summer -if we HAD to- we could each take the same day off (Moose earns her first 8 hours Paid Time Off this July) to get moving stuff done. i'd rather not have to resort to that, but later this summer it's at least an option. also, selfish as it is, i'd rather not spend the time right before Roro-time doing stressful moving stuff. xD i guess i should bring it up to them for roomie voting before i go and decide everything. xD

even with thinking it's better to wait, i wish we were at the point where we could tour the new place and start thinking of how we want to arrange everything. xD that's my favorite part of pre-moving, and i think Moose enjoys it too. i guess for now, i should focus instead on making this place more bearable for the duration of our stay. also, sorting through my things and trying to weed out more things i can live without. i have a lot of stuff and never enough space..

i could probably sell a good chunk of what i don't want for enough to more-or-less break even. i doubt i own anything secretly super-valuable that'll leave me stinking rich, but i do have a lot of gently-used collectibles i haven't even looked at in almost a year except to shove them out of the way and get to something else. xD the thing about collectibles is that i end up buying the 65% i don't actually want just so i can say i have it all. i think if i sold a lot of that (the in-demand stuff) the resulting funds could get me more shelving and organizational things to keep the new place looking nice. The pack rat in me is clinging desperately to “but it's a WHOLE COLLECTION and it's mine!” but really, who cares if i never play with it? i do have some collections i don't feel the need to pare down (because i play with them) or play with (like statues- not meant to be played with) but i have a lot more that i don't really need or want: lots of comics where i also have the trade, some trades i just didn't like, a lot of Final Fantasy action figures (of which i really love maybe 10%), some manga i outgrew in high school (but kept for completion's sake) and a box of stuffed animals of mystery origins. the box that was all gifted is safe from this potential purge, but i seriously have a box of stuffed animals that i don't remember ever purchasing or receiving as any type of gift at all. that can all go to the thrift store or charity or whatever for all i care.

State of the Neko address: week 12

song+ Good Life- Kylie Minogue- Light Years
book+ Alias TP V1
scent+ dust and dog food
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ i made the third Rosalie payment!
downer+ my lungs are attempting to escape
attire+ pajamas
drink+ milk

guh. i spent most of my weekend hacking and coughing. today's no better, but i need to get paid and make my bills and obligations, so i'm at work. i'm about three breaths from choking on a lung, but hanging on. the air just feels SO oppressively thick today. it feels like i'm trying to breathe in chlorine and sand any time i take a breath. X.x there's no point saying home though, i'd be just as miserable there, but getting paid nothing. i may as well profit in my suffering.

it's also crazy-humid today, that swampland pre-rain heavy, cloying humidity. i wish it'd hurry up and rain already so it could cool off. today's my busiest running-between departments day, so it's actually really affecting me. i'm finishing the last of the tasks delayed by FCBD. as of this week i'm back on track though, so that's good.

i picked up LEGO Rock Band (for the 360) Friday night, thinking it'd be a good way to pass the weekend. turns out that hacking up a lung (or next thing to it) doesn't rank too high on a Vocalist career track. xD inability to breathe (and therefore sing) properly bumped some of my scores down to the low 80s when i average high 90s to 100% on most songs. when i'm able to breathe again, i look forward to going through and getting things done more satisfactorily. for now i'm worried less about ranking and more about just getting enough stars per gig to unlock the next venues. i'll be taking a hiatus from playing for a while though. partly because i have a (self-imposed) no console games during the work week rule and partly to give my throat and lungs a chance to get better.

i did finish going through the music i got a few weeks ago. the stuff that i really liked has been integrated with my other stuff. my iTunes library is now 10 and a half gigs, which isn't a ton of music, but it's about 3 ½ gig more than i can fit on my ipod.. which has started to act up. i think i'll be upgrading it around the time i get back from visiting Roro. today it froze out of nowhere and had to be reset. i'm hoping it decides to behave itself for the next few months until i can get a new one. really i'd hoped to be able to replace this one months ago because i need more space on it, but since there wasn't anything keeping it from performing, just cosmetic damage from being dropped, i kept shifting it to the bottom of my priority lists. at this point it's still working, so i'm thinking mid/late July after i'm back from Roro-time i'll see what's available. i think this time i'll actually buy a clear case, because i don't want the new one scratched in the first week like this one was. turns out the chrome-ish plating screams (as much as an inanimate object can) “I AM PRETTY! I DARE YOU TO CHANGE THIS FACT!” and everything possible took up that challenge. X.x i'd like to avoid that next time.

State of the Neko address: week 11, part 2

song+ 2 Hearts- Kylie Minogue- X
book+ LEGO Rock Band instruction manual?
scent+ breakfast burrito
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ i made the third Rosalie payment!
downer+ feeling vaguely sickish again
attire+ pajamas
drink+ milk

it's finally the end of the week. it took forever to get here too. this week felt absurdly long. i've finally started making noticeable progress on catching up all the work that FCBD pushed aside. my desk is much less cluttered today than it's been for the past few weeks. ideally, it'll be cleared off by the end of the day. today is also the first time in about a month i'll have time at all to do an inventory, which i should be doing every Friday, but (understandably) haven't been.

this week i also made strides in reclaiming my creativity. after organizing the bulk of the clutter upstairs, i treated myself by making a dress for Eve. i used one of the (unwearable) silk shirts salvaged from Poppa's closet to make a cerulean blue sleeveless wrap-shift of almost-to-the-knee length and gave it a wide kimono-style belt in white satin ribbon. she wore it up to work (with black strappy heels) when she came with me yesterday and everyone remarked that she looked very classy and sweet. i'm thinking of finishing it tonight, embellishing the belt with the details i decided to skip since i was tired. maybe making an underskirt to go with it too, or a shawl of some sort. it looks nice as it is though, so i'll likely just do the belt then call it done. there's a distinct possibility i'll work on other dolly clothes though.

i made the third payment on Rosalie this morning before work, so i need to have some things ready for her arrival. i have clothes, but i'll have to buy her hair and some brown eyes soon. i'll be okay with her having temporary eyes and hair for the first week or two, but i do want to get her complete and accurate with some expediency. i already found the perfect wig and can get it pretty cheap with domestic shipping, even. the trouble is finding good brown eyes. the ones i like are sold by foreign companies, and i'd have to buy other stuff too to justify the shipping costs to myself. only Iplehouse and Dollmore have brown eyes i like, so since i'm not in the market for another doll yet, i'd have to order enough clothes and stuff to make it worth the cost of shipping.. so that'll probably be next month. when i decide which to go for, i'll let ya'll know and open it up if anyone is in the same boat justifying-the-shipping wise. Iple's brown are in FaithAnn, they're kinda honey toned. Dollmore's brown are in Xavin and they're a dark chocolaty shade. i think Moose's eyes are a smidgen paler than mine, so i wonder if buying the same shade and putting them in the doll with slightly darker skin will get that effect..? maybe rock-paper-scissors (lizard-Spock) is the way to decide. xD

tangentially (cause that's how i roll, yo!) i've noticed the right speaker always dies first for me. my current headphones are oddly sculpted, so i wear the L bud in my right ear for comfort, and its sound is fading in and out. with my old headphones, i wore them like i was supposed to, and the right ear lost sound about a month and a half before the left finally gave in. i borrowed Kyu's headphones for like a week, when i returned them to him they worked fine, then the next day the right bud died. what's up with that? xD

so i'm still working my way through the new music i got a few weeks ago, but i'm much closer to the end of it now. i only have like 20 songs to go. xD it doesn't sound like much progress, but i've been through the first decade and a half of Kylie already, plus i think 4 or 5 Rhianna albums. so yay progress! I have to say, i think my favorite surprise has been Kylie singing Can't Get You Out Of My Head to the tune and beat of New Order's Blue Monday which was a live mash-up performance headlining the Brit Awards a few years ago, it's awesome! xD



guh. it's absurd, i think it's hotter here at my desk than it is outside.. i just had to run back and forth between 3 other departments, and it felt nice and breezy, and now i'm sitting at my desk, wondering if it's possible for me to drown in my own sweat.. xP i'm just glad i have a fan blowing nearby. i'm right under an AC vent, but it never seems to make a difference since they don't run it back here Monday or Friday.. or even Thursday after sub is done. it's to save on electric costs since it doesn't make sense to run it for half a building that only one person is in all day. other people pass through this part of the office, but i'm the only one with a desk here this week, since our buyer is on vacation.

okay, so i'm still not completely caught up, but much closer at the end of the day. inventory has been bumped to Monday morning, but the month and a half of paperwork (sub changes and mail order shipping invoices) has been put in perfect order and filed away. my desk looks almost barren without it. it would look bare if not for the small army of action figures placed anywhere there's space for them. xD

ANTM update! my girls are still in the top 4. if the one girl i can't stand wins, i'm gonna be super pissed. xD i like three of the top four just fine, but one of them (Angelea- pronounced Ann-Juh-LEE-Uh) is so obnoxious she makes me want to punch the TV to try and reach her. X.x she's selfish, ignorant and imperious and thinks she's awesome, but her photos are pretty mediocre and she photographs kinda old-looking. also she's rude to the other girls and expects special treatment, which is just stupid. i'm seriously hoping the finale ends up Raina vs Krista, with Alexandra placing third. xD based on attitude, charisma, runway walk, and previous photo quality that's how i'd rank them, but that means i'm likely entirely wrong and i'll be disappointed. i seriously don't know what's up with the judges sometimes.. if my post-cycle-10 pattern sticks, Raina will come in second (while totally deserving first) and Angelea will win causing me to scream at the TV demanding some insight (that i'll never get) as to why the judges would pick her. yeah, i'm really hoping she goes home next week.. xP though even if she does, there's a high likelihood Raina will still peak at #2. *sigh*

State of the Neko address: week 11

song+ On A Night Like This- Kylie Minogue- Light Years
book+ Red Pyramid
scent+ chocolate
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ i made the second Rosalie payment!
downer+ FCBD stress
attire+ green tee and jeans
drink+ milk

dancing Friday night was awesome, it felt great to just let go. i'm still crazy tired though.

i'm that stage of tired where you can't get to sleep, but you know you need to, so you do tiring things to convince your body and mind they want to rest. this is the stage of tired where insomnia drives me to rearrange furniture in the middle of the night. at least this time i mentioned the possibility to those most likely to walk into whatever i move around. xD i wasn't always so thoughtful. I settled instead for finally unpacking the BOXES of stuff that got shoved into the far closet and forgotten when we were trying to condense enough of our stuff to accommodate a roommate. it's mostly clothes boxes (t-shirts, costume pieces, ill-fitting pants) but there's some other stuff too. the books wound up in a different closet i can no longer get to though, and i miss some of them dearly.

it dawned on me at three am (about when i was going to bed) that i own a lot of clothes, i can just never find more than like 15% of it at a time! xD that's why i wear the same groups of items again and again, and by the time i find something else, a few things have hidden themselves away in obscurity. like as i was cleaning i realized i own way more black tee-shirts with (mostly comic book) designs on them than i'd ever realized. i usually can only find two or three at a time though. also- underpants. i probably still have every pair i bought in the last 10 years. i found myself saying to myself (more than once) while cleaning/unpacking “oh this is CUTE! I forgot i had it!” and really conversing with yourself and an inability to sleep (even when bone-weary tired) are probably signs of madness, but no one was around/awake to judge me, so whatever. xD

tonight i must venture forth and buy hangers. i gave Moose every spare we had when she moved in and now i have exactly two. i have considerably more that needs to be hung up. xD after that (and BBT/HIMYM) i intend to continue my tidying process, because more still needs to be done before i can actually rearrange anything like i'd like to. xD there's piles of stuff in the way still. i did get the hardest part done last night though, so the rest should go relatively smoothly.. i hope so at least. optimism, yay!

after the hangers have been acquired, i'll see if i still need more drawer space. it's a distinct possibility since Kyu owns a bajillion and a half pairs of jeans. pants are something i don't like to hang, i think they take up too much space that way. shirts and skirts hang much flatter so you can fit more. especially if you buy the smart skirt hangers that can clip to each other to take up one vertical space instead of like 6. i love those hangers.. if i do need drawers though, i'll likely go for the broad, flat stackable ones in clear plastic. i think a few of those would be plenty, and more space efficient than stacked narrow drawers that'd hold less each. i know they hold less, they barely contain my dolly wardrobe things. i still need more bookcases too, but that'll probably wait until the new apartment. there's not really room for more in the current one. xD

really, i'm thrilled FCBD is over, but i somehow still feel its looming specter over me. like no matter how i try i'll NEVER ESCAPE IT! :o oh noes! maybe it's because even though it's passed, there's still a ton of labor-intensive time-sensitive tasks to get done like right now. X.x July can't get here fast enough for me. i am totally ready for time off and for Roro awesomeness. I LOVE YOU, RORO!

This is random -fair warning here- but what would the plural of 'uterus' be? uterus', uteri, uteruses? it's a word rather like 'omnibus' that i have trouble with so i keep it singular when at all possible. xD i have this issue with most words ending in an “us” or “iss” sound. except hippopotamus/hippopotami, that i'm set on. xD i have a similar problem coming to terms with mouse/mice vs moose/moose. shouldn't the one ruling apply to both?

ANTM rambles and pseudo-charts! xD

i dunno to what extent ya'll are aware of this, but i'm like crazy-addicted to ANTM (America's Next Top Model for the uninformed). i get REALLY into each new cycle, yelling at the tv when a girl i'm backing doesn't do well, or when i think the judges are doing things ALL WRONG! :O and since i end up beyond-ridiculously invested in one girl or another emotionally, i inevitably get pissed when she doesn't win like i want her to. out of 13 complete cycles, the girl i was backing has only won once. 1 in 12 is an awful record, really.. X.x my girl will usually make final 6 or so and make it abroad, then for unknown reasons not win. it's infuriating, and last night when i marathoned cycle 11 i got re-pissed that Allison didn't win because she was SO MUCH BETTER both in the runway show, and in her portfolio!

it really is crazy-addictive. as the episode a few weeks ago finished Kyu was all up in arms about the judges' awful elimination decisions and how it was hard to watch anymore because the drama!ho's weren't getting cut. for clarification: i despise the DRAMA factor and skip that on my re-watches, i'm in it for the creative photo shoots and the peeks into the industry, and elimination for what professionals think compared to what i think. i classify the cycles as good and bad depending on how long it took me to care about a particular girl, and how memorable the photo shoots are. for me, the best are cycle 4 (Kahlen!) and 11 (Allison!)

i started watching it regularly at cycle 7, when tv networks merged and it was on a channel i had reception for! so i watched it and loved it, and caught cycles 3-6 on VH1 marathons to catch up. for the first two cycles, i knew who won before i watched and wasn't really surprised, but for everything else i've been really into rooting for my girl.. pointlessly. xD knowing who was gonna win 1 and 2 kept me from even caring about the other girls, but for th rest i've been disappointed SO many times. you can totally see a kinda bizarre pattern up through cycle 9. xD

cycle 3 i cheered Norelle, she came in 5th.
cycle 4 i cheered KAHLEN, she came in 2nd. best cycle ever! for real. (she should have won though, so much better overall)
cycle 5 i cheered Kim, she came in 5th.
cycle 6 i cheered Joanie, she came in 2nd.
cycle 7 i cheered Amanda and Michelle (twins), they came in 4th and 5th, respectively.
cycle 8 i cheered Natasha, she came in 2nd.
cycle 9 i cheered Heather, she came in 5th.
cycle 10 i cheered Whitney, she WON! only time this has happened for 'my' girl.
cycle 11 i cheered Isis, Analeigh, and Sam, they came in 10th, 3rd, and 2nd, respectively.
cycle 12 i cheered ALLISON!! she came in 2nd. (this still PISSES ME OFF! she's awesome and deserved to win!)
cycle 13 i cheered Laura, she came in 2nd.
cycle 14 is still going on, and my girl's in the top 5! i'm all for Raina this time, but Krista would be cool too.