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December 5th, 2009

05:41 pm - Need Advice on Some Products Wow this poor LJ seems so nearly abandoned. I promise I'll spruce it up w/ some fanart in a few days. But first, to help some people out and myself, I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on a few things (esp the underlined ones) 1) Computer Mouse Any good suggestions? The one we have is kind of crap... it keeps turning off. It's also one of those super mice w/ 5 buttons I don't know what to do with. I don't need something that fancy (mostly cause I don't know how to use it properly). - Wireless would be nice but not 100% necessary - Not really sure on size. It might not be a bad idea to have something on the smaller size because I don't have a lot of room on my desk but I don't want it so small it's not comfortable. - Decent price. I don't need it to be the best mouse evar and be like $50. $20-30 is ok if it's decent 2) Bluetooth headset I know it's bizarre i don't have one yet but speakerphone works fine w/ my Crackberry so haven't felt the need. But I suppose I should look into it anyway... I know that w/ headsets it varies from person to person due to ear size and shape and all but I'd still like suggestions on brands or such re: quality, general comfort, etc. What works well w/ Blackberry Curvers and maybe iPhones? 3) Music I know I asked on Facebook already but I need more music suggestions. It can be old, it can be new, it can be in any language and any genre. At the moment, upbeat/fast-paced would be preferred for cleaning/driving purposes. 4) Artbooks I would like to add to my artbook collection and possiblly give someone who's got me in Dan's Family's Not-So-Secret Secret Santa something to get for me that's not a gift card. So what are some of your favorite (or even lesser favorite) artbooks? What are some in your collection or would like to have? This is NOT limited to anime/manga. I love artbooks for American cartoons (like Disney), video games, American comic artists and smaller artists (like those on dA). if it's pretty or amazing or both we're good =P Was considering the xxxHolic one but not sure if I really need it? ( Things I already have: ) 5) Printer/Scanner/all in one (or maybe separate?) My HP all in one 1200 does not print anymore. There's something wrong with the mechanism and I don't know anything about printers to warrant tinkering with it. Scanner still works but it's a pain because the program it comes w/ is too old and doesn't work with anything beyond XP and HP is too lame to make a new functioning driver. SO, it's time to get a new one. I would prefer an all in one due to space restrictions and generla handiness. I know there are some really good ones now and I'm kind of willing to spend the extra $$ so I can have prints that might be good enough to sell. I'm not talking $300 extra but something in the $100-150 range maybe. Any suggestions? Anyone have good or bad experiences with particular models/brands? Current Mood: busy Tags: advice, artbook, blue tooth, mouse, music, printer

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September 24th, 2009

10:14 am - Fanart for Merlin So I accidentally posted this here as well as at the community camelot_love But what the hell, why not. Here's a second fanart I did for the BBC series "Merlin." I am totally in love with Arthur/Gwen even though it's not even been shown in the first season. I'm a sucker for canon ships. Again a lot of this is due to irrel who got me totally hooked. But yeah, while the show's quality is questionable being cheesy and all (but hey, cheesy can be good cheesy fun) the characters are what make me love it and the actors do such a great job. I love that Arthur's such an ass of a prince but noble deep, (really deep) inside. Merlin's such an adorable dork! Those ears! lol. Gwen being a handmaid is an interesting twist (and not white! I love that this doesn't have all white people in it!). Morgana kicks ARSE! She's smart, witty, and literally kicks butt. Am so sad with what will happen as the series and the characters develop more into what we know in legends. Am not liking that Uther's a really terrible King. It helps he's played by Buffy's Giles (Anthony Head) A work in progress obviously (because all my pieces are, even the ones that are "done" and have prints lol). Anyway, I'm trying my hand at "painting" w/ PS hoping it would add to the realism thing and well that was utterfail! on both parts as neither person looks like Angel Coulby (Gwen) and Bradley James (Arthur) But I am learning...sort of. I think I'm just having a hard time breaking out of old (bad) habits w/ anime drawing and what not. It's sad, I can't even make the characters into anime-esque ones! Stoopid realism. Arthur and Gwen - Sweet WIP by *TerraForever on deviantART PS - DeviantArt I am NOT liking your new embed features. They are NOT working for me at all. Current Mood: hungry Tags: arthur/gwen, fanart, merlin

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August 2nd, 2009

12:44 pm - Name That Chinchilla! So as you may now by now Dan and I are the proud owners of a fuzzy fluffy chinchilla. Said chinchilla was acquired due to Bobbi Ann's (my sister's friend) inability to bring it on the plane with her to Alaska where she's moving. Of course, not thinking it was going to be a problem, she had already shipped her supplies to Alaska so now Dan and I are spending some $$ on the cage, bedding, food, etc. Hopefully it won't be too bad if a Craigslist meetup today works out and the cage I'm getting for $50 (worth normally $200) isn't a bust. Now, while the name Yoda is incredibly cute and nerdy (just like me! lolz) Dan kind of wants to re-name him because Yoda was a name given by Bobbi Ann and we'd like to make it more of our chinchilla... So, any suggestions? Lots of pics under cut some general traits: - Gray - suuuuper fuzzy - furry - suuuuper soft - fast - lots of whiskers which are very long ( Chinchilla Attack! ) Some random ideas: 1) Yogurt (still Yoda, but cuter *coughspaceballscough*) 2) Goliath (Gargoyles -due to color and it's funny naming something so tiny) 3) Mr. Hyde 4) Mr. Spock 5) (Mr.) Fufucuddlypoops (Avatar) 6) Quachi (mascot from Canadian Olympics) 7) Splinter (my sister took Bobbi Ann's 2 turtles, ok tortoises, so this would be fitting in a way) 8) Swiffer (the current favorite actually) 9) Archimedes (Owl fr. Sword in the Stone) 10) The Grey Pirate Roberts (har har) 11) Tribble (Sharon's suggestion) 12) Edgeworth 13) Watson 14) Donut 15) Pocket (Rachel's suggestion) SO What do you think? Any suggestions? any favorites? Current Mood: sleepy Tags: chinchilla name, photo

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July 30th, 2009

05:49 pm - UPdates! If you haven't been keeping up to date with me by following me via Twitter... you SHOULD! Go get one now! And then you can have a play by play of the ups, downs, and in betweens my days are. But enough shameless plugging for Twitter. Let's get to the painful stuff first: Since this is on the long side, I've put it under a cut... ( The Good The Bad and the Furry ) Music -  I needs me some new songs! What are your top 10 groups/songs right now? I've got a lot of driving this weekend and it'd be nice to get some new stuff! Current Mood: lethargic Tags: car problems, carpal tunnel, chinchilla, computer, massage

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May 29th, 2009

04:17 pm - Sac Anime Digital Art Contest If the Sac-Anime thing works out and I do get some sort of table or whatever, then I am definitely going to go... and I figure I might as well enter their Digital Art Contest. I don't know how they do their judging because I'm not sure I agree with the winners from last year: here Anyway what the hell, why not right? I'll either enter in an old doodle OR it'll force me to make a new one (finish stuff I've been working on). So where do you guys come in? Well, I need you to vote on which existing piece I should enter or perhaps suggest another piece I should enter. So far I figured 3 of my better selling prints are possible. ( Possible Entries ) I'm totally open to other suggestions. I totally need to sell at Sac Anime at the very least. I'm a lot lot LOT farther from breaking even than I thought. Man I spent a LOT on stuff! Stupid Kinkos. Why do you have to be so expensive yet so convenient?  Keep an eye out on my Journal and dA account. Will be posting Magnet photos this weekend! Btw Sharon, I may not be able to get the rest  of the Batman cast done anytime soon but I'll try. Current Mood: thirsty Tags: art, contest, sac anime

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May 26th, 2009

07:26 pm - Fanime 2009 Fanime 2009 has come and gone and while it was not very good, I'm resigned to say that it could have been worse. Friday and Saturday were pretty disheartening. In the previous years I usually made at least $100 right off the bat on Friday and did even better on Saturday. But as of Saturday night I think I barely went over $100.... I was kind of ready to cry. I spent a lot of money to prepare for this year's Fanime and had high expectations. Not tomnetion the drama I went through at work to get Fri & Monday off... and it seemed like it was all for nothing. Was this the trade off with work? Things would work out but I'd have a crappy Fanime? I feel like the powers that be may have been snickering or something. Fortunately Sunday and Monday did much better. I'm actually really surprised with how well I did Sunday considering I was only there for a little while and missed 5 hrs as I was at Sarah and Jeff's wedding. Monday was also a relatively good day and in the end I think I might be just a few dollars short of breaking even. This isn't great but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I still feel pretty bummed but at least I'm not out $400 or something. I know part of it is my fault - I just didn't have enough new pieces. Nor did I have any pieces that were "in" this year. I have the Avatar market pretty well cornered since 30-40% of my stuff is Avatar, lol. But it's just not as big this year (maybe when the movie is out -HA!) Also, there were TONS of artists this year! It was jam packed! I didn't get to look around but there were some big artists there this year so competition was just too much. And there's also the economy. I did notice a huge drop in numbers on Sunday. Fanime was a little lame in that the people who are usually there *coughcough* weren't this year. Hopefully next year. Clover and her bf were super awesome and really helped out SO MUCH. I can't thank you guys enough! I wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys! The company and the help was greatly appreciated. Dan made it out too for part of Sunday but I forgot to send him out to the Dealer's Room so he missed out on FAnime for the most part =P Next year we're planning on taking over a huge section of Artist Alley. Keep your fingers crossed that I can sell at Sac Anime this year. I don't have a table but some awesome people I met last year are willing to squeeze me in (3 to a table will be CRAZY). I hope I can do it and move more merchandise and get a little more income. Btw pics of Onigiri Magnets should be up by next weekend if not sooner for those of you who wish to order some. Good thing I didn't make buttons since someone else at the con was selling onigiri buttons! Small glass tile keychains are next! I really need to watch more anime... Next post: Sarah and Jeff's wedding! I even dled all the photos from the camera onto my comp! Mike since you've got connections, I say you start up a photobucket account like what Sharon did for her wedding. Current Mood: lethargic Current Music: the A/C working hard Tags: artist alley, fanime, wedding

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May 7th, 2009

06:02 pm - Onigiri Magnets EDITED! Added a Joker one thanks to Sharon. ^_^ So I'm  adding to my magnets (and ultimately my workload and stress) by making some cute onigiri ones! The sizes aren't set in stone yet. There will definitely be 1in squares, and 1.2-1.5" circles and 1.2" squares. I'm not sure if I will be making anything larger like the 1 7/8" and 2" magnets (the big chunky and thin glass tiles). Anyway I wanted your opinion on the onigiri and also to see if you guys had anymore suggestions on expressions OR characters to turn into onigiri! I've got WAY too much Avatar and not enough of other stuff that's probably more popular at this point so I'd appreciate any help. But the key is that they have to be recognizable with very few key traits visible on their face and such. Also, which onigiri would YOU buy? I'm trying to figure out many of each I should  make. I figure 2-3 of the medium sized, then 2-3 of the small 1.2" square, and maybe 4 or more of the small circles.... ( Onigiri Cuteness! ) Current Mood: stressed Tags: fanime, magnets, onigiri

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April 28th, 2009

08:36 pm - Birthday Field Trip! May 2nd Hey guys! For those of who you aren't cool enough for Twitter and aren't following me, then I extend to you an invitation: BIRTHDAY FIELD TRIP TO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES!!! (If you don't know what the Academy of Sciences is, well shame on you. And go HERE ) WHEN: Saturday May 2nd TIME: TBA But definitely starting early in the morning. Apparently lines for stuff there are horrendously long but it's my birthday so someone better part some waves! Ok so it's not my actual birthday but it's just a day off so it still counts... >_> I'm hoping to rope my entire family into going but we'll see how that works out. I haven't been to the Academy of Sciences in probably over a decade and I absolutely loved this place and now it's even cooler! So hopefully the lines won't be too painful, or at the very least, we'll have lots of good company while waiting in line =P Transportation - Unfortunately, due to monetary issues there will NOT be a bus for the field trip (unless everyone wanted to pitch in... that would be so awesome. Party bus! haha). So we'll all probably meet there. Even if you can't come specifically at the decided time, as long as you join in at some point that'd be great. It's just that the earlier the better apparently. You get a discount ($3) if you bike or take public transportation though Food-not sure how we'll work this out. I'm assuming this will be a full day event and they do have food there. The Cafe has a price range of $3-11 and the fancier place is more expensive (didn't check prices) Cost - $24.95/adult (+food) I am honestly thinking about becoming a member because it's $99 for one person and you get to bring a guest... If you do it 2x it's already paid for itself but you also get other perks... my problem is that I don't go to SF often so I don't know if I could do a 2nd trip! RSVP If you are interested in going, Contact me ASAP. Even if you're not sure, I just want to get a rough head count so I have a better idea of how to plan this out. Sorry this is kind of last minute but my bday kind of crept on up on me. Originally we were going to the SF Zoo but since the weather in SF can be unpredictable (although usually predictably crappy) something indoors seemed to be the better idea. So EMAIL me at ksalumbides[at]gmail[dot]com. OR call me/text me if you know my cell. Email or text is best though. Hope to see you guys there!!! Current Mood: hungry Tags: academy of sciences, birthday

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April 15th, 2009

10:01 pm - Suggestions and Stuff Twitter - I love it. It helps get me through the day just seeing what other people are doing and talking about. It's a nice 30sec distraction. I just need to find more people to follow who are either friends or interesting/fun/cool celebs. I've got Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Kevin Smith who are really cool to read every now and then. Felicia Day has some cute and funny updates. And best of all she's got NATHAN FILLION to join. Yes, my friends, THE Nathan Fillion. Captain Tightpants if you will. Or NatFin as he signs XDDDDD I admit I'm a tool. But it's fun as long as you don't get caught up in stupid celeb crap. Music - I need some new music. Suggestion songs, albums, genres, groups. Whatever you're listening to lately or particularly love. I'm particularly interested in getting back into Jpop/Jrock. Books - Well I have a ton I need to read. Anyone know Chelsea Handler of Chelsea Lately fame? Dan and I love watching her show because she and her round table group make fun of a lot of people and it's just mean fun. Anyway Dan and I bought one of her books, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands which was pretty fun to read and very quick. Now we need to get her next book Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea ARt stuff - so I used my Bind-It-All and made a cute blank notebook out of cardboard and paper and the coil and it was awesome and easy and CHEAP! So I am going to be making notebooks about 5" x 7.5" (pages will be slightly smaller) with my art on the chipboard covers. So uh...who wants one!? Lol.. actually I'm having trouble figuring out how much they would cost. Materials don't cost much it's more labor intensive to put it together and there's the art featured... What do you guys think? My fanart prints are usually $7 for 8x12 or 9x12 and $6 for original pieces of similar sizes. What's reasonable for a handmade notebook (which will be lined)? Btw Easter was awesome. Best Easter evar. My family (sans my Nanay unfortunately) came up to celebrate with Dan's party. Lance was a bit shy at first then he just had a BLAST. This kid could not get enough of being out in the back yard playing in the club house, the slide, the wagon...it was just so much fun to watch him have fun. And it was nice to have both families together as opposed to deciding who to spend time with and what not. There was also lots of good food, good fun of all sorts and yeah. Good times. THen we had dinner at Thai Chili which was uber yummy. I ate WAY too much that day but it was well worth it. Chess - anyone know any good sites or any good set ups for a game where the last move is a move by the Queen for checkmate? I'm trying to draw Yuuko from xxxHolic holding a Queen which she's about to put down for checkmate but I don't know anything about chess. I just need some chart showing where what pieces should be to set this checkmate up. Does that make sense? I didn't find anything I was looking for online (I only searched briefly though) but I figured you guys might know already. Current Mood: hungry Tags: art, books, chess, easter, music, twitter

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April 6th, 2009

12:41 pm - Spending to Earn... Quick announcement: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAROOOOON! Back to our program: In an attempt to divert myself from the current task of cleaning my room (especially since I cleaned a good portion of the apt already) an old idea popped into my head: Make Notebooks to sell! This is something my sister and I have been talkign about doing since last year but having no job and barely any $$ to prepare for Fanime in the first place, it didn't happen. But this year, despite still not having any $$ (especially since I Just spent another $300 on my car and am still in serious debt) I went ahead and bought the Bind-It-All to make my notebooks with. My sister has one and she loves it and I have been wanting it for a while. Anyway I bought a huge combo set on ebay for $200+ w/ shipping and what not and I'm really excited to use it. I'm going to either do 4x6" or 5x7.5" sized notebooks (possibly smaller cute ones too). I'm not sure how many pages to put in yet and that determines what ring size I'll be using but yeah... The covers will be chipboard on which I will (somehow) adhere my art to (any good suggestions?). I figure, this will be something other people will NOT be selling and I can put both fanart and original art on it. Down the line I may even make organizers/planners since I can print out templates online... I have not yet decided on whethr or not I will be putting lined paper or blank paper inside. The blank is obviously easier but I feel the lined (while more work and technically $$ as I have to print out the lines) will sell better. So what do you guys think? Would YOU buy said notebooks if it featured things like my Apple Lust? My Zutara? Or random other doodles? My other concern is I don't know how much to charge for it. How much would you be willing to pay? The nice thing is that I can also put it up on my etsy shop or sell it at garagesalejapan etc. And again it's kinda unique... My other concern is some of my art works are landscape oriented and my notebooks will be portrait (ie Zutara). Buttons: I am in fact going to be making buttons of my current magnet designs and some new ones... Do you know where the best places are to have them made? I don't know if I want or should invest in a button maker. I thought about CafePress but I think I'd need to get a Premium account and I don't think they're that cheap... so uh suggestions? And would you buy a magnet/button of "Cake or Death " or "Do you have a Flag" ? Lol Dana got me thinking about Eddie Izzard and I watched Dressed to Kill today so yeah XD Food - I'm really craving JApanese curry right now and I'm hoping to make some vegetarian curry tonight (I don't like cooking with meat). I am also really craving some really delicious onigiri, particularly the really cheap Convenient store ones from Japan. God how I miss those! Even my parents do! Lolz I need to make some but I don't know any particularly good twists to the typical just rice and stuff. SO any tips for Japanese Curry and onigiri? Oh found this at the Nugget whilst in line: Panda Rasberry Confection It's actually really pretty good and I'm going to eat through that box as we speak! Quote of the DAy I'm starting something new: a quote from one of my awesome flea market books: How to Insult Abuse and Insinuate in Classic Latin" or "How to Seduce, Pleasure, and titillate in Classic Latin" From the latter: "Poeta puerilis petit musam seniorem quae animam violet, hendecasyllabos inflet, stygio fato eum eripiat,. sua basis necessaria est" = "Boysih poet seeks older Muse to ravish his soul, pump up his hendecasyllables and save him from Stygian gloom. Must have own pedestal." Current Mood: crazy Tags: art, bind it all, birthday, notebooks

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April 4th, 2009

03:58 pm - Dum dee dum Let's start with the negative stuff first shall we? 1) Car - so it turns out that my car is in need of repairs again and this time it was a fuel injector that needed to be replaced. And I have to shell out another $309. POOP I SAY! But fortunately because I just had it done a while back I don't have to pay for the diagnostic testing. Although really I shouldn't have had to pay for the labor since they should have caught this last time and fixed everything at once. Oh well whatever. It's DONE... and hopefully so are my problems. Again it's good I just got paid. 2) Work - supposedly we're hiring soemone but when they'll start - no one knows. Dr's dragging his feet and his wife is letting him! She really needs this person to start ASAP (so do I but she especially needs the help) and yet nothing's happening. It's really frustrating. This is one thing I don't like about work - they're always procrastinating (I know I'm not one to talk) but in a business, that's not cool. Hence bills often don't get paid on time. >_< 3) School - Ok here's where I need your help (again). I'm already doing my paper on Streptococcus Pyogenes (Flesh-eating bacteria) and so I figured I'd do my Hot TOpic PResentation on it as well (and buy this guy -thanks Sharon for the link!) Unfortunately there's nothing really new and exciting about it recently. I mean there have been a few cases of it but nothing new in terms of real improvements or findings, etc and I need things to be current to work for the presentation. So uh... any ideas? I am also willing to take suggestions on other possible Hot Topics. Keep in mind that the big ones like MRSA, Salmonella, and what not are already taken. It has to be anything microbiology related that's been in the news within the past year or so. 4) Pain - So I managed to have a major leg cramp in my right calf last night. At first it wasn't bad but holy shit it HURT! And it just happened so fast! My leg is still sore today so I've been limping around and man... that was amazingly painful. Also, methinks I hurt my back... again ^^; The Good Stuff 1) I get money back from the gov't! Not entirely sure how much because apparently there are issues with the whole stimulus thing with my account which is lame but I will get something. 2) Found a delicious Thai Restaurant in Elk Grove East of the 99 on Elk Grove blvd. It's called Thai Chili. Very small and not super fancy but utterly delicious. I've never seen a menu that large. They had a TON of food. And they had 2 pages of Vegetarian dishes! And even a Kids Menu. Price was decent and portions were good (Dan and I had leftovers) and service was good. The guy we think was the owner even suggested a dish out of the blue to change the taste up of our meal and as a result Dan now likes curry! Reminds me of when 2KThai was a family-run business and not superficial. 3) I'm "done" with my Death Note fanart! Ok so it's not really done and was a super rush job. Coloring sucked and the bg...well yeah... but I'm moving on because I don't have time to linger on it. Maybe before I print it I will make a few improvements but don't expect it. Check them out under the cut. ( Doodles! ) Oh yeah and it's Spring Break! WOO! No class! Work still but no class! Of course I have a presentation, 2 papers, and a test to study for but no class! =P Current Location: home Current Mood: productive

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March 28th, 2009

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March 24th, 2009

05:17 pm - Biting the bullet and crossing fingers Welp, Dan and I both took the plunge and have become tools in our own ways. First of all, I joined twitter If you don't know what it is, you should really peep out from under that rock of yours once in a while. My brother in law has one for crying out loud! Sure it was to follow his idol and hero Lance Armstrong (hence naming his son Lance) but he's seriously hooked too. Anyway so I'm on there as TerraForever, or you can find my by my email ksalumbides(at)gmail(dot)com. Some fun people are on there like Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, etc. Still looking to add more people. I don't know why I did it... it was just this random decision ... maybe trying to avoid work while at work =P But it's kinda interesting. It's like a mini Lj. Lot easier to update and it's just brief ones and you can also do replies as well. As for Dan, well he got himself a 16gb iPhone. His phone was dying (so he says) and he's never gotten more than the cheapy phones before and figured he'd splurge. And really I think with his love of quirky games and his general nerdiness it was a good investment. It'll last him for a while and allow him to do some fun things (he was jealous of my blackberry anyway). I have to say I do like it for it's fun quirks and such but typing is a bitch. I mean sure, with my index finger it's fine but it's nowhere near the same as tying with a real keyboard (a la blackberry). Dan's loading up on music, games, and ringtones. Any suggestions for the latter? So now Dan and I are slowly joining the masses. Meh. Now I'm crossing my fingers for several things: 1) My employers hire a new person so Marisela and I aren't doing everything and so I can take more days off w/ less guilt. I'm especially concerned about the Friday of Fanime Con because I don't have that off yet. If we hire someone then it shouldn't be a problem but if we don't...well there may be issues. Did get the Monday off though so that's good. They were smart and did in fact close the office for the day. 2) I get my massage tonight and I hope it's worth the $45. I don't know what kind I'm getting -it's at some asian place on Florin & Stockton @_@ so we'll see. I wanted to do 2 hrs - that's my min usually but no $$ and no time. I really hope I can squeeze it in. if not, I suppose there's always Thursday. My neck and back are really bad right now and yes, I know I work at a chiro's office but no chiro for me if I can help it. This is when I really wish I was in the Philippines. $15 massages for 2 hrs!!! 3) I can actually get my artwork done. I'm getting all these ideas as to what to sell but the time to make them is shrinking rapidly. I do have 75% of my lineart for my xxxHolic Yuuko done and I've sketched out my Deathnote piece as well as 1 Vampire Knight. I am thinking of doing some quick photo-sized prints of other characters that will be easier to do and more classic (Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, maybe some Bleach or Naruto... just quick character ones and sell them for $5). With this style I won't have to worry as much about composition and bg and all the other details... Any particular characters i should do? Random things of the day: 1) 3 Musketeers is yummy. I haven't had them in a while until last night 2) Whilst watching Encino Man on On Demand over the weekend, I caught sight of Twix Cookies N Cream and I nearly died. I thought I was among like 5 people who remembered it and now I have proof it existed and was probably THE BEST Twix flavor (Fudge was good too though) 3) Strawberry yogurt (Yoplait) is so yummy 4) I am so glad I dropped out of Death Note before it got terrible. I read the spoilers earlier today just to finally know what happened and jeebus... 5) Rock n Rolla is a good movie. Gerard Butler = <3 6) Watchmen was also a good movie. Might watch it again next weekend with the sister. Current Mood: optimistic Tags: art, fanime, iphone, random, twitter, work

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March 19th, 2009

05:58 pm - Nothing like a $534 punch to the gut So let's get all the ugly stuff out of the way first, shall we? ( Cut to save some of your sanity ) Current Mood: melancholy Tags: car problems, career, nursing, teaching, work

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March 5th, 2009

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February 19th, 2009

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February 13th, 2009

05:57 pm So anyone have any bad luck incidents? Not that I'm a huge Valentine's fan (I do like it for the candy though) I still enjoy some aspects of it - like going out to some place fancier than BJ's. And I like that I can plan surprises even if they're nothing big. I know, it'd be better if the surprises happened on other, regular days, but Valentines provides a good set date otherwise I'll never get it done. Last year - Dan surprised me with a dozen roses before Valentines which I thought was smart and sweet. - I surprised him with some candles and hurricane vases for the candles as well as a bunch of his favorite chocolate treats. But... for the life of us we CANNOT remember what we actually did to celebrate Valentines! We were poor and jobless during that time so we know we didn't do anything super fancy but we must have had some dinner... right? I'm going to have to hunt for some photos to see if we can figure it out. So yeah - not big Valentine's people otherwise I feel like we'd remember something lol. This year - It's not Valentine's Day but 2/14 doesn't fall on a work day this year. I surprised Dan at work.... I've been planning it in the back of my head all week but I didn't actually have much time to prepare - no card, nothing fancy, and I didn't even know for sure I could do it till 10 mins before I did it. I conspired with his coworker, Kate, to keep him in the office during his lunch break while I rushed to Target, got some chocolates, including Reeses in heart shapes and Starbucks Cafe Mocha Chocolate Truffles. Then I rushed to his work and... Surprise!! It worked out really well although I wish done this a bit better. =P Now since we've got a little more $$ Dan's made reservations at Mulvaney's which is supposed to be yummy and fancy. Unfortunately because we planned things a bit late we could only get reservations for tonight. And since I don't get home till late... it's at 9pm tonight. o.o... so it's a late early Valentine's dinner. Lol. I'm looking forward to it but it's not really nice clothes weather what with the cold rain and all and I can't check their actual menu! I want to plan ahead, lol. Anyway I will let you all know how it goes. Date-wise celebrating Valentines tonight actually works out really well because tomorrow is going to be full of events.  Tomorrow at 4pm Dan and I will be at the Dr's daughter's baptism and we may have a function w/ Dan's family in the evening. I'm not really sure. In the morning we have to run around and get birthday and baptism presents. And of course there's the fact that I have a paper to write and a test to study for. Anyway I have a heavy work-related post possibly in the near future definitely under a cut, fyi. I don't know what you do with yourselves on Valentine's Day/aka Singles Awareness Day but whatever it is I hope you either get to relax or have fun, or both. In the end, it's a Saturday and it should at least be spent as such. Random - I know that Jamba Juice is packed with sugar and all this other bad stuff along with it's yummy, slightly healthy stuff, but man it is SO good. Even on a cold rainy day. Mmmm. I also discovered their not so cheap but delicious Cheddar Tomato Twist thingy. - Can someone give me a good Herbal remedy or such to do a quick paper on? There are just so many and I don't know where to start. Several suggestions would be great since I don't want to do what others are doing (we're posting our papers on a discussion board for my Pharm class Dan and I managed to get one day of working out on Tues to try out our 24hr Fitness gym. Unfortunately it's pretty packed during the times we'd probably go. But I kind of like the idea of going and just reading while biking and throwing in some other exercises. I don't know if I'll have the time to do any serious working out regiments but it's better than nothing! I'm hoping to go in Sat and Sun My parents are in the Philippines for 5 weeks. Well that's not true it's just 4 weeks since they're going to Australia on Sunday for a week! Jeebus! Want! Current Mood: excited Tags: dinner, surprises, valentines

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February 10th, 2009

12:58 am - Book Suggestions ASAP! Hey guys, since so many of you are avid readers and know more about books than I do, I was wondering if you could give suggestions on some good books for a 6th grader I'm tutoring. Here's the thing, this kid seems to have many problems academically, behaviorally, etc. A major thing that I've been asked to do is to help him with his reading. He does his readings for class but he doesn't do very well with comprehension. I think this stems from the fact that he does not enjoy reading at all. He tends to get bored with books easily and does not read on his own. Most of the books he's tried to start tends to end up abandoned after a few chapters or so. It seems he has trouble focusing in general and so what he needs is a book that will really engage him. I think that if he finds a book, especially a series, that he likes, he's more likely to continue reading and probably will remember what he read. Part of what got me hooked on books was Nancy Drew. I liked books well enough but I wasn't a book worm until maybe 2nd or 3rd grade when my mom gave me #55 or 56 of Nancy Drew (the yellow classic ones) because there was a crocodile on the cover and she knew how I loved reptiles. BAM! I was hooked! I gobbled up one Nancy Drew book after another! Had I not sold some of my collection I'd probably have enough to have my own bookstore. And I didn't even own all the books - I borrowed quite a few from the library! Anyway so I'm going to experiment and see if that's what this kid needs. He's admitted to liking manga. He's into Bleach and Gunslinger Girl and stuff. He was into Naruto but quit that. So here are some Likesand Don't Likes LIKES - action/adventure - mystery/crime stuff (likes CSI type stuff) - sci-fi (like Star Wars, Gundam, etc) - ancient history (especially Egyptian or Indian) DOESN'T LIKE - Fantasy ( especially magic stuff like Harry Potter or Spiderwick Chronicles) - Literary type books (at least not right now - a lot of times he feels like nothing is happening that is important enough or engaging enough for him to want to read it) I have never known anyone who didn't like Harry Potter and this is coming from someone who likes it well enough but isn't a huge fan. It's kind of interesting and crazy. It sounds like it'll be tough finding something he likes but I really do hope I can get him to enjoy something. I know that he likes video games, especially fighting games (classics like Tekken and of ocurse Soul Calibur) and shooting games (Halo, Call of Duty) so books along these lines might be good too. So any recommendations? I'll take anything and everything although I'm limited to what the libraries have as I am not about to go buy any of these books for this kid and I don't know if his parents want to buy anymore books that will just collect dust. Thanks guys! Current Mood: need a massage! Tags: books, tutoring, young adult

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February 5th, 2009

05:11 pm - It's Decided... Dan is going to either become a Judge down the line or my agent. Apparently I will become a great fiction writer because if Stephanie Meyer can make a ton of $$ from fanfiction and Mary Sues then dammit, so can I. We (by we, I mean mostly I) have decided that Dan shall be a judge down the line because he is really good at looking at both sides of the coin. And in general the duties of a judge seem to better suit him than an attorney (not that he isn't a good attorney but you know what I mean). Unfortunately becoming a judge isn't something you just become promoted to over time. There is a lot of politics and lots of ass-kissing that Dan just isn't into and I can't really blame him. But I do think that it would be a good fit for him so I'm not giving up hope on him yet. But of course, if he becomes my agent, I guess maybe the judge thing will have to wait. XD Now Dan (there is no we in this) has decided that I'm apparently a good writer (even though he's never read any of my stories before and quite frankly none of you should. It's too late for some of you though). And if Stephanie Meyer can make a ton of $$ for writing about a Mary Sue and her sparkly vampire bf then I should be able to as well considering 100% of my OCs are Mary Sues (half the time to make fun of Mary Sues though). This has all been sparked by Stephen King's comment on how J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer both spoke to their audiences and really captured them but the difference is that Rowling can write and...well...Meyer CANNOT. I'll probably never reach Rowling but I like to think I could probably do better than Meyer. Hell, my Narnia fic is probably better. Ok maybe not, but I wrote a Mary Sue to make fun of Mary Sues so that's already a step in the right direction. Anyway, Dan has ordered me to start writing a story asap so I can get it published. And the best way to start is to write some fanfics. At least that's my comfort zone right now. Write some short stories for kids or young adults based on existing series (cause you know there's a TON for Pirates of the Caribbean and other big movies already). For example, if I start some PotC stuff, I can insert Cap'n HurriKat as a guest character in a few books. Then, I'll have a whole spin-off series entirely for her. Come on, swashbuckling action with kick-ass female pirate captain? Total win.... Or not. I would really like to do some kids books as well as young adult, hell even adult (not THAT kind of adult) books where I can have some of my drawings scattered throughout. Then I get to do two things I love. I wish I could write mystery type stories but those are pretty hard. At least if they're going to be good. And generally one thing I have a hard time with is figuring out how to get from A, B and C etc. I am usually pretty good with knowing key scenes and events in the story but how I get from one event to another can be a problem. Endings can be a problem too. I know I want some things to be in the ending (ie character (s) die but I don't konw how or why) etc. But writing problems aside, my story(ies) will eventually lead to a big movie deal which will land me even more $$. And then there's merchandising. That's apparently how Dan and I are going to have our cake and eat it too. How about you? And in other news: Fail - drawing people facing to the right, drawing hands - when peopl eat your yogurt even though it's got a big Blue K on the lid - working on an empty stomach for 7 hrs. Ok so partly my fault but that was my yogurt! worst part was when we got 4 new PI patients out of the blue so no food + tired + lots of patients = not happy me - feeling like you messed up when you were doing what you were told to do -Properly marketing Valentines Day Cards - it's not terrible since I don't have a ton of time to make them but I need $$! Win - Tropic Thunder - finally saw it. It was pretty funny, kinda 'tarded, and actually insightful at times. - Drawing again - Having a student to Tutor - Star Wars Themed Wedding. I kid you not. Hopefully Dan and I will be going to the Philippines in Feb 2010 to go to a good friend's wedding which will be Star Wars Themed. This guy, his brother, and the wife-to-be as well as friends are the reasons why there are cons in the Philippines now. My friend getting married (more like a cousin really) flies here to the US to do cons as well. They make their own costumes -I put on a C3PO head and it was really claustrophobic. Anyway HUGE fans so yeah that will be AWESOME. Dan and I are going to see if we can dress up too XD - RAin - I prefer to stay inside all day when it does Rain but we totally need it. Current Mood: artistic Tags: books, fanfiction, judge, stories

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February 3rd, 2009

01:27 pm - This week smells of Fail So the next two weeks will probably be intensely crazy and lame and full of fail. 1) I have my first Microbio exam next Weds which I am not at all ready for. It SEEMS like it should be easy since we're dealing with a lot of basic stuff right now, but it'll be short answer/short essay type questions. So I REALLY have to know my stuff. And the story of my life is knowing just enough to say that I am familiar with something but never enough to say that I actually know it. Lab has been sucking due to a variety of factors; it shouldbe fun and would be fun if other things didn't suck. Also miss my old classmates. 2) Money is going to be tight . Although I have a job (and am grateful)- it's not going to be enough. I racked up a lot of credit card debt over the years, mostly from that first year living in Sac w/o a job and my hours are going to drop over the next few weeks. I was really hoping to pick up on my tutoring job from last year but that doesn't seemed to be working. I really have to try and cut my debt down by half in the next few months because Dan and I are seriously planning for a trip to the Philippines in Jan 2010. If anyone's interested in $5 sketches, let me know! 3) Stampin' Up/Crafting business - I really wish I could do more with my art and my crafts and sell more cards, do more workshops, etc. I just don't have the place to host anything nor the contacts to start with. It's incredibly frustrating. 4) New Years resolutions - mostly fail but that's not a huge surprise =P But I am trying (sort of) Anyone actually keeping up with their resolutions? Unfortunately one set of resolutions kind of works against another... Dan and I are thinking of doing the 24 Hr Fitness deal through Costco ($300/person for 2 yrs for all club locations). Yes we'll hopefully get in better shape but $600+ is a lot of $$.  5) Art for Fanime- am having a hard time with Vampire Knight's art style. Grrr and I haven't had any time to draw on the computer... 6) I really need to stop being such a push-over. I am just such a wimp. I hate confrontations and debates even though I used to do debates in school... But seriously I just take so much shit and I end up bottling everything inside and having all these mental issues (bad dreams, anxiety, etc). But I really don't know how to change. I know in part there is a self-esteem issue as well...  And if ever I get into any sort of confrontation or try to vocalize myself I end up breaking down into tears. Not exactly good speaking skills there. If anyone has any good tips, I'm all ears. I might try my hand at haggling when I call Comcast and see if they can drop my rate otherwise I'll threaten to switch to AT&T =P 7) Studying for GRE - FAIL Win: - Starbucks Green Tea Fraps... holy cow how did I NOT try this sooner? It is SOOOO GOOD. Mike, in lieu of green tea ice cream you should really try this. It's sweeter than Green Tea Ice Cream but still SO GOOD. It's my new addiction. I was TRYING to save $$ but uh, I don't think it's going to work out too well ^^; - Lance (my nephew) talking - he's hilarious (when he's not being a clingy brat) but seriously I love this kid. But not as much as he adores Uncle Dan because he worships that guy (don't ask me why) - Being in the office most of the day by myself - it's just heaven - Moonstar Buffet - SO MUCH GOOD FOOD ( expensive but good) EDIT - WIN - Getting a student to tutor!  Woo! I got a 10th grader in Elk Grove who needs help in English. She's not doing too well and as a result, her 4.34gpa dropped to 4.08 *rolls eyes* Jeebus, there was no such thing as GPAs above 4.0 when I was in high school! I feel so bad for kids these days. I hope by the time I have kids requirements and expectations will chill a bit. Current Mood: busy Tags: fail, money, resolutions, school, self-esteem, win, work

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