gorgeous day: reredefined

「こういうふうに思っていたんだなと思える日が来るわけですからね。」
"'So this is how I was feeling.' The day you can feel that way is sure to come, after all."

-Ninomiya Kazunari, from the NHK special program 歌でつなごう, 2011.05.03

. going to make an effort once a month to have a me day. Unplug from the internet, sit, read, think, write. Treat myself to dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant. Probably not get a drink next time (one drink gets me warm and somewhere between buzzed and drunk (severely vibrating?), you see), but definitely get those fried oysters again. Mmm. Though the waitress needs to learn to card. I'm 23 so it's fine, but it's the principle of the thing.

. mildly upset that taxes are done online now. I like doing things with pen and paper when I can.

. listening to the frat boy in the apartment above mine cough while he smokes. If you don't like coughing, stop getting high. :/

. crazy excited about my JEOW assignment! I've been thinking about what I want to write all day, and I hope it ends up being something my recipient likes, whee~

. also excited about Nino Exchange! I was honestly hoping for 14 participants (two for each day of posting), and we've already passed that (largely thanks to some lovely ladies on my f-list), which is more than I could have asked for! So, you know. I'm pleased. :3. Just think about it... the Nino fic, the Nino fic~

. on the top of the world, looking down on creation~

. (still severely vibrating.)

BACK! During the time I was on hiatus, I...

. realized I knew Nino's interpreter. (He graduated with a Ph.D. in comp lit from UCLA last spring, and he's been hanging out and organizing various events around campus. I get a lot of group e-mails from him, and I've also actually had long academic discussions with him before. Ahhhh I freaked out when it clicked... about a week after the fact. XD I also ceased plotting Nino/interpreter crackfic, so.)

. sorted my e-mail inbox. Back to 0, so beautiful~. But I still owe Harrison and Kat and other people e-mails. D:

. hung out with Armay and watched the latest A*ashi concert DVD (more on that later, in the filter). It was amazing to watch it live with someone who 1) is a fan who actually likes their concerts and 2) does not have to be liquored up to watch them.

. noticed that Nino got a haircut. Shut up, this is totally about me.

. took two midterms and wrote a paper. Eh! ._.

( . got some songs stuck in my head. )

. changed my LJ layout and default icon. I know it's whatever to most people, but for someone who's only had, like, three layouts and five default icons in the entire time she's had a journal, this is a big deal.

. wiped Harrison and reloaded him from factory settings. Not that it'll help much with the overheating thing (though I did get a cooling pad for that), but at least he isn't as cluttered as he used to be.

. meditated on life or whatever.

. missed you guys. ♥

a.k.a. another GANTZ premiere report. This is mostly a runthrough of my day, so non-friends (and some friends... be honest with yourself, Inez) will probably find some of these parts boring, but it does get juicy, so stick around if you're in it for Nino. [Also, this is not in the A*ashi filter because Harrison -- the person, not the computer -- would want to know. ♥]

So, as I mentioned previously, I ended up getting tickets to the Hollywood premiere of GANTZ. ( And so I went. )

I have class in two hours, and I'm not done with the assignment (Classical Japanese, why are you like thissss), so I figured now would be the perfect time to post on my LJ.

(And for the curious, this is my class schedule for winter quarter:

MWF: n/a

TR:
0930-1045 Readings in Classical Japanese Literature: Heian
1100-1215 History of Modern Japan
1400-1515 Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese

It's nice except for the part where my M and especially W nights suck. Though you'd think by now I'd have figured out how to not procrastinate on getting work done until the night before. You'd think so, wouldn't you? How naive.)


Financial aid disbursement day was yesterday, which meant that I got all my money for the quarter in one lump sum. I'm going to try to be good this quarter and not buy things I don't need,* though after the initial amount of money I drop for the usual things, I'll probably have whiplash in my back and will be lying in bed for it anyway.

* Among the list of things I do need: More magazine, the Arashi DVD, miscellaneous Nino things. Also, food or whatever.


Speaking of Nino things, ( I bit the bullet and bought a ticket for GANTZ. )


And now, back to 竹取物語.

Watched the last episode of Freeter today.

( Favorite scene, etc. (Spoilers, obvs.) )

ON THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL GOOD, LIKE:
- finishing my annotated bibliography, yeah girl
- annihilating my Classical Japanese final, yeah girl
- being done with the quarter, yeah girl
- the fact that it's 60° and sunny and breezy and California are you serious, yeah girl
( - these shoes that just arrived, yeah girl )

Hope you all are having a lovely day.

(It's been a while since I've done a movie post, eh?)

Finally watched Tekkon Kinkreet. I know, I know what you're thinking: Why, Inez! It took you this long to watch Tekkon Kinkreet, the movie that your darling Ninomiya Kazunari lent his voice to? Shame on you! That shit came out in 2006, though technically on DVD in 2007! It's true, I was slow on this one. (Though I've only been in fandom since late 2008, so I think I get a pass on this (false).) I actually have tried to watch this multiple times, but I could never really get past the animation, which is honestly not my thing, despite being very obviously carefully crafted.

But today I picked up the DVD, which came magically to a library near me via InterLibrary Loan (other dark uses of ILL have included requesting the entirety of Animorphs one summer, during which the Haverford library had to borrow from public libraries all over Pennsylvania just so that I could ~*~rediscover my childhood~*~; suffice it to say, I only got through about 30 or so books -- a little more than halfway!). And I sat down and watched it. It was actually quite nice. I mean "nice" in a strange and dark and somewhat trippy kind of way, which many anime movies seem to tend toward, but I think it was a good exploration of childhood and friendship and [loss of] innocence and internal conflict and all of that. Solemn and shocking and poignant, and very well done. A little violent, so steer clear if that's not your cup o' tea, but otherwise highly recommended.

And of course, Nino did a great job. No, seriously, that boy is talented. Good cast all around, though obviously Nino was the best. ★ Bonus points if you can pick out Morisanchuu's voices!


November 4th! It's my brother's birthday! Or as Dwight might say: "It is your birthday." We're Irish twins, so for six days starting on my birthday (Oct 29 to Nov 3), we're the same numerical age. But now he's older again. I guess it was glorious while it lasted...


to-do list: R, Nov 4

dirty clothes launderin'

history second response

アレだよ、アレ！

grocerizin': eggs! milk! bread! chicken! thank you card for Halley!

アレもね。

e-mail to Haas

start conceptualizing paper for annotated bibliography, consult with professor

urrgghhh look up fellowships for next year


I feel like I had more to say in this post, but obviously it wasn't important if I can't remember it now. Heh. I hope you appreciate how I pointlessly wrote more words for you to scroll past. You're welcome~

Ripped and uploaded for Chele, but if anyone else wants it (Japanese audio, English subs), it's here.

Inspired by the recent poll in which Ghibli favorites were ranked. Mine are Totoro and Laputa, so, heh. I guess I match up with the data here.

Fun fact, from an episode of Shukudai-kun that I can't remember off the top of my head: Sho's favorite is Totoro. Aiba's and Ohno's favorite is Laputa. Nino's and Jun's favorite is Whisper of the Heart. (And now you see why I uploaded it.) Also! Nino said recently in some magazine that the love story in Whisper of the Heart is his ideal love story, and that it makes him nostalgic for youth~ or whatever. Aw, Neen.

And now, a poll:

[Poll #1618010]

Since I had a limit of 15 options, I went ahead and eliminated Ocean Waves and Tales from Earthsea because I'm assuming that no one has seen them (also, Earthsea basically sucked, so...). Also eliminated The Borrower Arrietty because it's still in theatres in Japan, and I only know of one person on my f-list who's seen it.

Stolen from Jess (I learned your name and I'm usin' it because I like to use my friends' real names instead of their usernames since it makes me feel close oh so close to them)!

* Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper on their LiveJournal.**
* Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
* Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

** Pisses me off that they use "their" here for "anyone". "Anyone" is so clearly singular. Also, I should maybe stop caring about grammar because I get wound up about things like this, and it makes me look like a grammatically awkward douche when I use "whom" properly and "none" as a singular pronoun.*** Additionally, my rant right now makes me look like a super-douche, because I know that I'm not perfect with my grammar all the time and it's like, "Get off your high horse, Inez, you kind of suck at grammar so stop thinking that you're better than everyone else." I'm, like, a hypocritical super-douche (the worst kind!). But whatever. My journal, my douchewanking. :|

*** Hahaha, I also totes don't use proper grammar when I'm RPing as Nino, and it pains me to have to be grammatically incorrect. I love you, Neen, but you're not the kind of person who'd use "whom" in the right place (and especially not during schmoopytimes).

Anyway! Are you ready for the pretty wallpaper?! :D???!!!****

**** I don't know why I drink coffee when I don't need it.

( No surprises here! )


Getting mopey about my writing again. Baww why can't I be as good at writing as my favorite fic authors, etc. WHAT ELSE IS NEW, AMIRITE?


Can't stop listening to this song. You know. This one. Ves said very astutely, "Such a pissy title has to be a Nino song." And I laughed, because it's so true. But GDI, guys, I love this song. I've had it on loop all day. The lyrics, the lyrics... they're all about the title, you know. I love that he tells stories in his songs. Also, I think he knows how to use his voice really well. I especially love the part in the last refrain where he sings "wakannai kedo". I literally made a "hnnn" kind of noise when I first heard it. And every subsequent time I heard it.


Somehow this became a fully fandom post. I love you, non-fandom friends......******

****** Another compulsion! I always have to do periods in groups of three, because they're like sets of ellipses to me! And I have to have the volume on the TV set as a multiple of five (same with things like layer transparencies in Photoshop).