rambling on and on til the break of dawn

[jemz]

So many things that I've been meaning to write about!



ichi. I've never wrote about my New Year's Resolutions so here they are!

Travel - hahaha, this is a permanent one! But I'm traveling somewhere each month, either by plane or foot or car. It'll be fun and adventure!
Say Yes to new experiences. - I think I'm feeling a bit stagnant in my life. It's not that I want exciting, once in a lifetime experiences but I also want to shake up the normal day-to-day activities.
Be Happy. - A lifetime goal that forces me to be aware of what and who makes me happy at various points in my life.


Only a few but they are more life-affirming things. :D


ni. Did you know?

That it's the International Year of Astronomy? :D I didn't either until I watched Fragile Planet at the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences! This is so exciting!

I went to the museum on Saturday with some friends who haven't been there before and it's was so cool to go with people who are willing to expand their horizons. I got a membership there and I started looking at the lectures and events that they offer. Did you know they even have a travel program!? I really want to go on that 10-day tour of the Amazon rain forest on a old-style expedition boat! *___* How awesome is that?!

And so I'm totally dragging people to the Academy for a lecture on Feb. 23 - Asteroids, Evolution, and the Long-term Habitability of Earth. They also open the museum up on Thursday evenings with some cool music, cocktail drinks, and you can explore the exhibits! So awesome!!!

But back to the Year of Astronomy. They picked 2009 to celebrate because it is the 400th year that Galileo picked up a telescope and saw the heavens. Go and visit this website to see what organizations in countries around the world are doing to celebrate!


san. Conventions

So I started off my year with animelosangeles, a great LA convention that was fun and relaxing to work. Met some great people and had a blast. I even acquired a few personal minions! (Thanks Karen & Kon! You two are the cutest minions ever!!!!) I even got promoted! XD

But now things are starting to gear up for FanimeCon. In case you didn't know, I work for FanimeCon in Northern California. It's a really fun convention that I am super attached to. A lot of the staff members are super awesome and cool to hang out with. I don't think I would volunteer as much as I do without them. I've grown a lot and developed a lot of skills that I didn't think I would need. It's taught me more about time management as well as project management. It's taught me how to handle people in certain situations and shown me exactly how much patience I have when I haven't slept or eaten enough in days. It also taught me that the oddest things happen because I'm at the right place and time. It also taught me to have fun and be proud of what of the accomplishments. And radio protocol. XD

Before FanimeCon happens though, I'm heading to Sakura Con in Seattle for a weekend of fun with wifey, Clare, and Erisu. :D Going to see some of the bands playing there and check out a few panels and events. It'll be fun! I haven't been to an anime convention that I didn't work for in about 4 years! Anyone else going to that? I may need someone to check things out with as wifey, Clare, and Erisu are going to ditch me as they cosplay DBSK's Balloons.

Other conventions I'm thinking about going to is Gallifrey One. But admittedly, that's so I can see my friends who are all working that convention. I know kerryblaze is going, so yay! But it's next weekend and I made some plans to watch the new Big Bang DVD with a friend. In my mind, pretty singing boys > Dr. Who.

Also am thinking of going to Otakon! :D If they get who I think they are getting, I AM TOTALLY THERE. But if not, um, time for another JE meetup. XD

Koyamamamama is coming to see me for Azkatraz, the HPEF-sponsored Harry Potter convention/symposium, in San Francisco! :D We're going to the midnight showing of HP & Half-Blood Prince and then rock out all weekend with everyone who's going! I hope I will see all you there!!!! I'm totally excited about it. Our room is totally going to be the JE/DBSK/BB/w-inds. room. We may even need to go karoake at DoReMi and do all the furitsuke for the JE songs with Peyton.

I believe that is it for me on the convention front.


yon. Weddings

I haven't yet escaped the numerous weddings but I did escape being in the wedding parties for all of them for this year! *happy dance*

April will be the start of them all and I'll probably start posting pictures of them. But I'm really excited about all of them! I love weddings and I love dressing up for them!

Remember that A Day in the Life of... meme? I think I may do something similar to that for all of April. It'll be a good goal since I'm doing something every single weekend! You aren't interested in the daily stuff, right?


go. Nihongo

Sadly, I dropped my Japanese 2 class at the city college I was taking it at. My second day of class was when I got super sick and couldn't go for another week after that. That's too many classes to miss so I will try to pick it up again in the summer. Why not in the next quarter? Because that's when I have weddings and Fanime! I'll be swamped!

But I'm doing some self-study and watching all these dramas with people are helping me pick up bits and pieces.


roku. Concerts

So my sister had this goal, one year, to go to a concert a month. And she did. It was really cool to hear about her concerts since she's more into reggae and neo-soul and more chill music. But she likes American music and I...am not so much with the American music.

But I am excited to catch the Japanese bands who come to the area for concerts. I'm catching AN CAFE on April 14th at Slim's in San Francisco. Anyone else interested in going? It'll be awesome to see Teruki, Miku, Kanon, Yuuki, and Takuya again. I had a lot of fun watching them last year at Fanime's MusicFest.

Hopefully, I'll get more chances to see more Japanese musicians play in here. :D


nana. Travel

I had this New Year's Resolution to go travel somewhere new within California but I sort of scrapped it when I simplified my resolutions. I still want to travel somewhere new around here. I love doing a day trips.

hahaha. I make all sorts of plans and never really act upon a lot of them because of other factors but I really do love traveling! I want to stand on the San Andreas faultline because that's so amazing. To stand on two different continental plates! It's like straddling the state border or country borders! XD

I have a bunch of things I totally want to show Koyamamamama when she comes for Azkatraz. I'm dragging her (willingly) to the Academy of Sciences. There's the Exploratorium that I want to take Fishbot & his cousins to. I want to go up and hang out around the Redwood forests. Go back to Carmel and do the 17-mile drive. Watch the monarch butterflies. Go to more observatories and planetariums. Maybe go whale-watching. More wine-tasting in Sonoma.

I really want to explore California and see what's going on that interests me. Maybe blog about it on here if people are interested in reading about it. XD Well, it'll be more like personal documentation!

But besides exploring California, I'm also going back to New Orleans to see Iso and zerone45!!! I'm dragging them to my friend's bachelorette party as our tour guides for the French Quarter. I'm a bit sad that we're missing Mardi Gras by a week or so but I think it will be good since it'll be a bit quieter and we can all concentrate on the bride-to-be and having a ton of fun.

Not sure where else I'm flying to this year other than to LA for all the Anime LA meetings but I'm sure it'll be fun!


hachi. The Bet

This isn't something new but I'm still on that Sugar Bet with my friends. This time, it's no desserts & breads. We just need to post twice a week and get 2 wildcard days to eat whatever we want. It's been really helpful for one of my friends and really good for me in terms of turning down all that birthday cake! I can now fit into some of my old pants! Yay! Saving money by losing weight! hahah. I'm also a bit more motivated to look my best for all the weddings coming up and, in turn, for Fanime. Gotta keep up my reputation of looking fabulous there!

I've always been aware of the sugar levels in a lot of food ever since that first bet but forgoing bread? IS DAMN HARD. D: I miss my whole grain sandwiches and pate on baguettes and even bruschetta!

But in making healthier food choices, I'm also starting to work out more. Especially since I don't have to drive 70 minutes to my japanese class and back (that's how much time I spend driving both ways!! :O ). I'm pretty lucky that my gym is less than a 5 minute walk. :D Also, Sarsie and kerryblaze totally inspired me to get fit. Maybe next year I'll join in the AIDS walk with vanae12.

Oooh. Tonight, I made a bet with Mel-chan that ends on Jan. 1st, 2010! Our goal is to hit our target weight or lose 25lbs, whichever comes first. If I don't make it, then I have to watch 25 episodes of Ultraman Moebius. If she doesn't make it, she pays for concert tickets of the concert of my choice in Japan. OH SNAP, motivation y0!


kyuu. Piercings

My tragus piercings are healing slowly! I want them to hurry up and heal faster so I can play with them! And sleep on my sides!

But I am thinking of getting another set of piercings for more earrings. My sister got them a few months ago while I've been holding off so I can take Koyamamamama to my piercer. I hope her mom doesn't think I'm a bad influence when she gets back home with a few new additions! XD Anyone want to come along and get something pierced?


Juu, Hairstyles

My hair is too long!!!!! It's down to my waist and I'm just waiting for the moment to chop it all off! I am aiming for the end of this month so I can flaunt the new hairstyle in New Orleans. Why am I waiting so long? Because I'm donating my hair to Locks of Love. It needs to be at least 10 inches in order for me to donate. My best friend and I are doing this together except my hair grows faster than hers. XD I only have another inch to grow and then I can cut it.

I'm thinking of having my hair to the top of my shoulders. That's the shortest I can go without looking incredibly silly. I'll probably do bright red highlights closer to the end of March so it will look spiffy for all the weddings!

Should I layer it or go for a more edgier cut? What do you think?


Juu-ichi. Cleaning

So I'm going to clean out some of my collection. Would anyone be interested in my BPAL collection or my japanese magazines? I'll probably update the sales post soon and spam all the right comms but I want to offer it to my flist first!


Juu-ni. Makeup

I've been wearing very simple makeup lately. Just some pretty eyeliner and mascara with some lipgloss. Normally, it's just chapstick or lip balm but I've been feeling the need to be a bit more girly. Maybe it's all Kon's influence. But whenever I see my eye shadows just sitting there, unused, I feel the urge to play with them and put some on. I have lots of bold colors and now I'm looking to get some nice matte and neutral shades. Maybe after I get bored with my current pigments from Bare Escentuals. XD

I keep reading up on Kon's makeup posts and want to make some of my own. But I've been kinda busy lately. And I'm being lazy. XD So I'll probably link to hers and other interesting ones I find.


I think that's it for now! I hope everyone is doing well!