I have a Dreamwidth account. I doubt I will post here, unless I export my LJ posts here. No point in having two blogs talking about the same thing! But if something really does go bad with LJ, at least I have this!

Soooo...Tenimyu fans. I'm gonna be doing a sales post soon, and I'm selling some of my old CDs (More than Limit, DL1, blah). Unfortunately, I have no idea what CDs go for these days, and my preliminary research over at tenimyu and tenipuri_myu hasn't turned up any useful info. Anyone know, because I'm pretty sure the original 2800Y price tag these CDs have won't fly.

Also selling all of my Gackt CDs. All 12 of them. I have a harder time justifying reasons to keep CDs over books; CDs can be burned, and once you have a digital copy, there's hardly any need for the actual CD anymore (when was the last time YOU used a CD player and not your iPod?). Since my eyes are bad and stuff, I try to stay away from reading scans online all day (though with this new Readability thing recommended by star_keziah, reading fics online has become SO much easier).

Ah, market research. You confound me to no end. Sometimes, there's no information to be found (how much DOES a Pandora Hearts doujinshi go for anyway?). And sometimes, the fandom's so old that you're lucky to give things away (darn you, Prince of Tennis!). I don't know if this means I'd be a good entrepreneur, or a horrible one. @__@

I posted this on my Facebook, but...

Why, oh why don't I have $300?! I could be on a jet plane back to Japan, livin' it up with friends and getting a taste of the life before I commit myself to being a normal American once again. Damn you taxes, for had it not being for you, I would have had these funds and then some!

;__; At times like these, I really wish I had a sugar daddy or something. "Hey baby, send me to Japan for a week, will ya?" Oh, if only my morals were loose!

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Yeah, I've had it happen. Usually it's because we don't talk anymore, or because they friended me and I never added them back. I don't think I've ever had an LJ friend with whom I'm in constant contact unfriend me. If that happened, I'd probably send them a PM to ask about it if it was rather sudden.

As for me, I defriend folks who I haven't spoken to, or else I never add people who randomly friend me. I've got a few unlocked posts, so I like it if people at least leave a message and say "Hey, I've friended you, is that cool?" In the past, my journal was unlocked, but I had some crazy drama that was so absolutely pointless that I just locked everything.

I've also defriended people because I wasn't interested in their journal anymore. I strive to be more than just a fandom friend, because I change fandoms every other second (or I leave fandom completely from time to time), and chances are we won't be in the same fandom for more than six months. Thus, all the friends I have are interesting outside of fandom as well. or people I've met in real life. Unless we were really close or spoke often, I don't feel like I owe people an explanation for why I unfriend them. Either I lost interest or we never spoke to each other. Isn't that the same thing that happens with real life relationships? You stop talking to a person and they fade into the background of a past friend.

Happy (Official) New Year everyone! It's finally 2010 in America, and once again, being on the East Coast, I'm the first to bring it in. Actually, I kinda missed it (I was chatting with houkouonchi) until I heard all the fireworks going off.

I think 2009 was a very weird year. I realized I didn't like my JET job and I wanted to quit, I went to Thailand and got Thai plague, I got some other random disease that rendered me as helpless as a baby, I moved from Japan to America, I was jobless for three months, and I found a cozy little job in a corner office (which I have currently lost). I mean, when I was up, I was UP, but those downs were really low. Still, I can't say it was a bad year. A year of confusion, regrets, and tough decisions yes, but also good friends, great fun, and some much needed thinking time.

For 2010, I hope to find a satisfying job, peace of mind, and inspiration. Good Lord, I need inspiration. I know I'd like to go to Sweden, but I feel no push to even write anything for it. I need a big ol' kick in the pants. I suppose my next credit card bill will do that for me. :D

So here's to the new year! To big changes, big chances, and new prospects. I wish everyone the best!

I'm making a spreadsheet of all the books that were in that "lost in transit" package that I may or may not receive from Japan (please Jesus, I don't know if you agree with BL, but I'd totally love that package back. *wibbly eyes*). This list doesn't include anything that I didn't take to Japan, and it's not complete (damn you DMP for having a monster list of BL manga and novels!), but it only excludes DMP. So far I am missing: eight series, 46 individual books, and about $505 in book costs. Not to mention the $100 shipping fee. And DMP is gonna murder me, as I know I owned nearly every novel they released. However, I had to stop making my list when I came to them because I did receive a SAL shipment, and I'm praying that some of my favorite novel titles are in there (I have no idea what I packed where, as that whole moving period feels like a blur).

Still, sadness! ;__; I estimate the total loss to be around $700 when I finish tallying everything. I had no idea I spent that much on manga! It's a crazy thought, made even crazier because this is just the BL manga list. I that if I start making a list of all the regular books, I'll burst into tears. I guess this is a very valuable (as in expensive) lesson; next time I ship ANYTHING, my name and address will be plastered in fifty million places on that box, inside and out. People will talk about the insane girl whose address is posted inside regular $0.44 letters, but at least I know it'll get there!

Plus, my favorite blue sweater was in that package for padding. Double sadness! Jesus help me!

Grad school in Sweden. I am considering this. Anyone have any opinions or experiences here? Looking at Lund University's Asian Studies program or Uppsala's History program. Each program is just one to two years (depending on which Masters degree I choose to get), which is a much more manageable commitment than seven years for a PhD. That's not to say that I don't want to continue my studies with a PhD (I mean, really, what can I do with a Masters in Asian Studies?), but it's free? The programs feel more like enrichment and a taste of what's to come, like an appetizer, rather than the full course of a doctoral program.

But Sweden is cold. Damn man, can I not get away from cold temperatures?

Project Runway this week: WHUT. No, seriously, I cannot BELIEVE this elimination. I think they totally got it wrong. >:-[

Hey all you knitting fends! I want to make a baby winter set for the baby I'm looking after now, but I want a pattern this time, as my "just go for it!" attitude made my last hat pretty difficult. Basically, I'd like to make a baby hat, mittens, scarf, and booties if I can. However, I have absolutely NO idea how to do anything with curves in it? I know I can look for myself, but being the novice that I am, I'm never sure if a pattern is really easy or harder than it looks. If anyone has any patterns or videos that they love, I'm all ears.

Randomly, next week's episode of Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood will be the Hughes episode. You know, that one. I suppose it'll be just like episode 25 in the last series, but damn, isn't this new series quick? Now Brotherhood ep.10 = FMA ep.25. Were all of those other episodes just fillers? Props to the original writers for that, because I was entertained by those fillers...

Also, the new 逆転検事 (Gyakuten Kenji = Perfect Prosecutor) game...I am again entertained. I don't know if I can make it past the first case without better Japanese skills (OMG lawyer!Japanese is not fun), but I am having fun playing it. The new Logic system will take a bit of time to get used to, especially since you have to connect two things as well. If you see red footprints and then find bloody shoes, you have to connect them. This is an easy example, but I figure it'll get harder as we move up in the cases. I'm still in the investigation stage now, because I can't move on without connecting all the Logic elements. While I understand about 75% of what I read, putting it together in a logic-based game reduces me to about 50% understanding. However, I don't want to play too much, since I'll be buying the game when it's released in English (that's why it's on my R4 card now). Has a release date been set?

I tried to get the new Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 game for my R4 as well, but it won't load past the start screen. Anyone have a version that works? I'm really excited about this game too, and I've already got it pre-ordered for it's English release in September. I know I'm skirting the lines of legality, but I don't want to buy a Japanese game when I know I'll buy the English version later. I mean, the Japanese version will be immediately forgotten once I have the English, so I don't want to pay for two versions. I do this with books, as I see it as practice, but games are a bit more expensive. I might do it for KH 358/2 if I can't find a version that works though. I think the KH franchise is brilliant and playing the games reduces me to a puddle of gooey happy. Also, I didn't know that the Chain of Memories PS2 version had already been released in English. I have it in Japanese (on sale at Book-Off, else I would have waited), but I rather enjoy Haley Joel Osmond for some reason. I don't know if I want to deal with that card system though; foolish idea, that damn card system...

Right, bed. I hate how having a nap throws me off my sleep cycle. Granted, I didn't need to be in bed for four hours, but that bed was sooooo comfortable, and I was soooooo tired.