Tuesday, November 23, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 40

song+ the Only Exception- Paramore
book+ nothing
scent+ sweat (comes with being ill, unfortunately)
quest+ getting a home business pulled together
upper+ i have materials on hand to get started
downer+ i'll have to rely on self-motivation
attire+ pajamas
drink+ milk


i've been meaning to post for the past week and some, it's not like anything great has happened to keep me away, i've just been stewing in my own panic and paranoia and my ego prefers not to reveal that to others. i know, pride before the fall and all that, but at least it was only a week.

basically what's up is that when i quit my last job, i went and applied at places i like to shop, thinking that i'd at least know the merchandise and have helpful opinions and such. (boy was that wrong!) i took the first job offered to me and neglected to factor in any of my neuroses. it turns out that when you have a crippling fear of strangers, don't handle phones at all well, and are kinda math dyslexic, being a HEAD CASHIER is not the best fit. since my first day on the job ended all my spare time has been spent FREAKING OUT (oddly, i handle it kinda okay while actually at work). i'm having panic attacks right and left, worrying about it is keeping me from sleeping, and the stress is literally making me sick. i've kept with it out of a sense of obligation (there's bills to pay after all) and the knowledge that tons of people hate their jobs, they just do them anyhow. i really don't think i can anymore though, so last night while i couldn't sleep i was thinking about what i'd like to do, and what i can do. after talking to Kyu on his lunch break today i've decided what i will do. i'm quitting my job this week, then doing something fulfilling.

to start with, i'm selling half my dolls- the half i kept because i enjoyed the effort of obtaining them or because they were my first. i'm keeping my Iple girls, and Momo. selling off the rest (and the things that fit them and not the ones i'm keeping) should make me enough money to help with the bills for the next month or two. after that point i should be ready to sell original designs for EiD women. that's the bulk of my plan. i LOVE fashion design, i enjoy sewing at the fiddly doll scale, and i'm not afraid of the EiD curves, so i'm going to sew for them and sell it on Etsy (and possibly Ebay) and make money that way. i know it won't be easy, but it's entirely possible. i may sew for JiD girls too, but since both mine are the large bust i won't be able to serve a pretty sizable section of that ownership, so it'll be special exceptions when i make things for them.

i need to start by making a handful of EiD patterns in large and medium bust, then i can just make what i see in my head. once the serger's set up, i can sew it all much quicker. really the only things limiting the income of that endeavor is how much i'm willing to work for it, in both the construction and the marketing. i need to be willing to put myself out there so other owners can find me, and i need to be motivated enough to keep a varied stock ready to ship out. fortunately there's a post office within walking distance, so i can do this on my own and not have to factor in fuel costs and such.

so yeah, nervous breakdown narrowly averted, (yay for that!) and most of my doll stuff will be sold over the next while. i won't be able to buy fun things for a while, but that's fine, it'll leave me time to work on actually making money. doing this i'll be able to do what i like, and when i want to i can branch out and do other things related to the same field. like beaded jewelry, or doll-scale chain-mail. it's a fascinating art, but kinda expensive, so it'll be a long while before i can even try it. xD but yeah, i'm going for it, so wish me luck!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 38, part 3

song+ Pon de Replay- Rihanna- Music of the Sun
book+ Pokemon Platinum guide
scent+ sweat X.x (i'm about to shower though)
quest+ getting in shape/learning to drive
upper+ Cori is home and finished
downer+ i worked late and didn't have much time to dance this evening
attire+ pajamas
drink+ Sobe Strawberry Daquiri


okay, pictures of Corin (Cori to her friends) who is my recently arrived Iple Noctarcana Circus Carina. i have her in her belly dance circus outfit, in the outfit i made for her, and settled in with the locals. xD the amount of detail on the costume is insane, so there's pictures to show off every part. the pants, the bra, the cuffs above her elbows, the cuffs at her wrists, the veil and headpiece, the chain and dangly beads at her waist, the beaded ankle cuffs, there's even matching and earrings- Iple pierced her lobes for me. xD i did her faceup myself and i'm very pleased with it. it looks good with her costume, but she also looks pretty normal in more casual clothes. anyhow, here she is!

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
Photobucket
in other good news, i'm getting more hours at work. xD i worked from 2 to 9 today, and this Friday i'm scheduled from 9 to 5:30, so it'll be nice having a check for more than one workday.

Friday, November 12, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 38, part 2

song+ Can't Get You Out of My Head- Kylie Minogue- Fever
book+ Happily Ever After- Nora Roberts
scent+ toasted waffles
quest+ getting in shape/learning to drive
upper+ Carina is shipping!
downer+ my arms are killing me today
attire+ pajamas
drink+ milk


hello all! it's now friday and the last half of my week ha been about as crazy as the first half, but even more fun! xD Wednesday was mellow fun after posting. i spent the day altering my Kindle library, removing things i didn't like, looking for similar things to books i did like, there's enough on it now to keep me entertained for a few days when other options aren't feasible. yesterday my last check from the old job hit my account and was larger than i'd expected, so i was able to pay my phone bill AND buy the Kinect i've wanted, and i still have enough left to cover the water bill when we get it next week!

after getting it home and setting it up, i jumped right into playing. i did about 15 minutes of the pack-in Adventure game (which is pretty lame and only fun in groups i think) then switched to what i REALLY wanted to play- Dance Central. i played that for about an hour and a half. until i realized i had carpet burn on the bottom of my feet (quite painful- don't play barefoot, wear socks at least) and my shoulders and knees were starting to creak. i took a break and cleaned up the room with Kyu when he got home from work, so there's (in theory at lest- he wouldn't help me test it) room for two to play if desired. then tried again (with socks) and while my feet fared better, i was still too sore and became unable to keep breathing about a third of the way into my second song. the hip-hop moves are hard for me, they seem entirely counter-intuitive so repeating the same three moves of 'Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)' took as long as learning the entire routine to 'Poker Face'. X.x i slept in this morning by a good bit and i'm still so sore it hurt to brush my hair today. that's mostly from the Saturday Night double disco move in 'Funkytown', but my legs are protesting too. my knees are displeased with the quick crouch-and-turn that's a third of 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' (this was also a contributing factor to the carpet burns on my feet) and my hips and feet are both upset with the lunging hops that require rotating 180 degrees in a two count, four times in a row.. that's sadly the only move i managed to figure out from the hip-hop repertoire. xD there's still tons to go, but i think my current fitness level demands i take it a bit easier, even though i WANT to play today. maybe when Wolfie comes over we can just flail to the Adventure game in two player mode and that can be my cardio for the day. his heart monitor won't let him dance, i already know that for sure..

so far as today's excitement goes, Corin is due to arrive in a few hours. her tracking hasn't updated from clearing customs yesterday, but from experience, i know that it takes about 12-16 hours to get from clearing customs to my local PO, then packages get delivered independently from the other mail runs. with a guaranteed delivery deadline of today, i'm not worried about it, just excited and looking forward to painting her face soon. i should dig out my supplies while i'm waiting i guess. on the bright side, pictures of her soon!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 38

song+ Chocolate- Kylie Minogue- Body Language
book+ Soms 3 guides
scent+ toasted waffles
quest+ getting in shape/learning to drive
upper+ Carina is shipping!
downer+ i need to find an alternative income if i wanna get a Kinect any time soon
attire+ pajamas
drink+ milk


this is kinda late for my beginning-of-the-week post, but Monday was spent sewing for Corin (the name of my incoming Carina). i wanted her to have a normal non-ethnic outfit to wear some of the time, so i made her a white skirt (with bike shorts to layer beneath) and a red shirt to go with her red sneakers. she shipped sometime yesterday evening and is at the Korean airport waiting to take off according to the most recent tracking info i have. i'm very excited, it was my impatience that made me check the Iple web site since i still haven't gotten a tracking e-mail, and i saw her listed as on-shipping, so i figured i'd try the tracking number and bingo! xD ninja dolly shipping!

yesterday was spent with Moose, she took me to return a videogame i bought last week and didn't like. i used the refund to renew my subscription to Game Informer for the next year. i also traded in some games i either haven't played or didn't like after buying them when i still had money and with that i bought Dance Central (to motivate me to actually earn enough for the Kinect peripheral) and a copy of the basic Sims 3 PC game for Moose's computer. xD it's my game, but my PC won't run it since it had issues graphically with Sims2, so i bought it and it's on her laptop, but we're playing together in the mornings before obligations like jobs and whatever come around. xD

so that leaves today for drafting this post. it's an especially-early 7-something since i woke up with Kyu and he has to get to work early on Wednesdays and if he wants to be early it makes sense to get up and have Wolfie drop him off on his way to take Suzy to work, so it's early and i'm up and not exactly sure what my day will entail. definitely breakfast, very likely some puttering to figure out neat tricks for when i Sim it up with Moose in a few hours, and quite possibly some puttering upstairs to either figure out some starter EID patterns, or just some sewing for my girls. xD every time i start working on a pattern, i get an idea for something that'd be awesome to keep and i forget entirely to document the process in any repeatable way. i suppose here would be the place to put that quote about the definition of madness being repeating the same series of actions and expecting a different outcome? or however it goes, i think i just need some smaller patterns to enlarge and alter as this from-scratch thing isn't really working out for me. then again to do that i'd also need ink in my printer, which i do not have, so i'm stuck with drafting them on my own..

so for those who don't keep up with video game news or whatever, the Kinect is a new peripheral for xbox 360. it's got multiple cameras and motion sensors in it and the premise is that with Kinect games, your body IS the controller (that's the slogan even) and Dance Central is a game where it teaches you actual choreography to do established routines to the included songs. it's by Harmonix (who invented Guitar Hero and Rock Band) and has some pretty big dance hits from the past several years. some hip hop, some more techno, some definitely pop-ish. i bought the game already to make me more motivated to earn the funds to buy the Kinect so i can actually play it. xD Kyu has pointed out to me that i could totally sell some of my trades and GNs that i'm less likely to read since the old job will always pay cash for books. usually i do it for store credit so i'd actually forgotten. the issue there is that i'd get a lesser payoff in cash than in credit, so i think i'll have to sell a bit more stuff. in any case i'll probably be going through my books soon so i can get to dancing. it looks like an AWESOME workout that'll actually make a difference to my fitness level and (possibly) coordination. even if i remain a Flaily McSpazzyPants i'll have fun with it and work up a decent sweat, so i think it's worth justifying the cost of game & peripheral as comparable to other exercise equipment, in which case it's actually much more affordable. xD in any case, i'll certainly let everyone know once i've managed to buy it.

Friday, November 5, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 37, part 3

song+ Evacuate the Dancefloor- Cascada
book+ nothing currently
scent+ chicken
quest+ getting in shape/learning to drive
upper+ Carina is paid off!
downer+ i am ..listless?
attire+ pajamas
drink+ water


my first day at the new job was Wednesday and it went well, i think. the only day i work this week since the schedule was made up before i got hired. xD decent feedback was given, no glaring errors and i didn't blow up a cash register or anything. the other people were friendly and helpful and i think i'll manage to get the hang of things pretty quickly, though some of the stuff i've already forgotten. X.x there's a lot to learn though so hopefully i'll be given a few days to get more of it under control and remembered.

so far the strangest thing is adjusting to a part-time schedule. getting out of bed is hard on days i don't have to work, which kinda goes against my 'hey, let's get in shape!' goal. today i only slept in by a few hours so it's getting better already, i guess. xD in theory it'd be great if i got up with Kyu and worked out or something in the morning before doing something vaguely productive with my day, as opposed to sleeping in, eating something and playing video games until Kyu comes home.. or i could at least compromise and play something almost-healthy on the Wii.. but no, i'm going the sit-in-a-chair controller route. i'm thinking though that when i have money again (in a few months or something) that getting a Kinect for my 360 could get me off my butt and playing a dance game or something to work out in a fun way.. i'm a long way from being able to afford anything like that though so yeah, for now i suppose i should focus on convincing myself that WiiPlay/WiiSports would be a totally awesome way to spend a few hours. xD

the only other thing going on is that i made the final payment on Carina today, and requested that she not ship to the old job after all. xD that would be a smidgen awkward.. not the end of the world since Kyu still works there and i put it as the shipping address months ago when it seemed i'd be there forever, but yeah- a bit awkward. odds are now significantly greater i'll be home to sign when she arrives anyhow, so it's fine to have her sent here. xD that's it so far as updating everyone goes though. i'm off to force myself to work out! yippee.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 37, part 2

i have a job! xD my interview went well, tomorrow morning i go in to train as a Front End Supervisor. turns out the FES training me is a friend from my art classes in high school, so that's awesome. xD it's part time for now, but part time at a better pay rate, with actual opportunity to advance, so i'm excited.

Monday, November 1, 2010

State of the Neko address: week 37 (Happy Halloween!)

song+ DQ5 theme
book+ Dragon Quest 5 guide
scent+ cherry cheesecake
quest+ getting a job!
upper+ interview at Michael's this afternoon!
downer+ i am (temporarily?) unemployed
attire+ interview-ish attire
drink+ milk


okay, here we go, pictures from this weekend! first up, the costumes i put together for everyone Saturday morning, and an establishing shot so you can see how they live most of the time. all smooshed together in a bookshelf. xD the looming shadow would be me. i dressed them all against their natural styles since the point of Halloween is to become something else.
Photobucket
FaithAnn as a Raver-girl. (it's blurry but really you can see it all in the previous shot)
Photobucket
Rosalie as a Drunken Fairy Pirate, in the vein of college freshman too-much-sexy-is-just-enough.
Photobucket
Momo as Red Riding Hood (it's funny because she's a wolf cub!)
Photobucket
Xavin as a Hollywood Redneck (like the Beverly Hillbillies type)
Photobucket
Larxene as a Punk kid. marginally more legitimate than the mall variety, based on the hardcore ones i know.
Photobucket
Bea as Minnie Mouse, she's just missing the ears. i really need to figure out how to do them from the thin black craft foam i already have..
Photobucket
and Klara as a fearsome Pirate, with her first mate Cactuar.
Photobucket Photobucket

next up we have some fake shots of Rosalie driving the Moose's car. fear not, they were taken after we'd safely parked after coming home from Mom's after Bonnie's party. xD boy how that fairy costume loves to ride up..
Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

then some shots of me and Moose in costumes holding our dolly selves and having various sisterly shenanigans going on. this is only half of them, i deleted the segment where FaithAnn's hair fell off and i was putting it back on while Moose pretended to kick me repeatedly. naturally that was followed by Rosalie kicking FaithAnn, apparently dressing a doll as a Drunken Fairy Pirate gives her some degree of Drunken Master kung fu or whatever. xD also included- fake licking of the sister, a classic family photo archetype if ever there was one. these were taken at Moose's new place where all the décor is her roommate's.
Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket