momijizukamori / Recent Entries

What I’ve been working on this week in between uploading Homestuck photos: Magneto, and knitting. The knitting isn’t for a costume, I’ve just spent way too much time on it (it’s the Echolaria, for any Ravelers reading). Things I want to hopefully get done in the next week or so:

-simple women’s kimono/yukata tutorial

-notes on sewing bodysuits

-new tumblr/personal blog theme (waaay overdue)

...The moments where I seriously consider trying to make money doing indie yarn dyeing because I really love doing it, and at this point I have amassed enough dyestuff that the start-up cost would mostly be the wool.

But I know Etsy is a platform that fails more than it succeeds, and I'm not sure the world has room for more indie dyers, particularly because ahahaha how do I market myself. But - I think I wouldn't be looking at it with the immediate goal of it being a full-time job/career. Just something to make some money on the side to fund my own crafting *g* Prices would probably be somewhere in the $15-$25 range, looking at bulk supplier prices (the variation mostly depends on fiber-content)

Thoughts?

So I've been posting all my cosplay stuff to tumblr, which has a slightly wider audience for it, but would people be interested in me cross-posting my personal photos/WIP stuff/tutorials? I think I can jimmy IFTT into it.

I need like, 'time management for people with executive function problems who also find schedules terrifying'. Because it seems like everything that is 'time management for people with executive function problems' is 'make a schedule' which is basically an idea that makes me want to run screaming in the opposite direction because as soon as I fail to meet something on the schedule all hope is lost and I will shut down.

(or possibly I need to suck it up and find a psych my insurance covers)

I wish I could declare myself done with trips for the rest of the summer, but I know my mom wants me to help her move furniture to NC sometime in August, so I'm not quite done yet. But hopefully that's it between now and Dragon*Con, because I'm basically at the tail end of what is essentially four trips in a row.

First was going to NC for a week for my mom's family reunion and various relative-visiting. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't fabulous either - I'm just too different from most of them, and enforced socialization is so much nope. Then it was off to Heroescon in Charlotte, which was loads of fun - interesting panels, got to meet awesome artists and writers in person, bought a ton of art, got lots of pictures of my classic Phoenix costume taken. From Charlotte I headed to Portland for Open Source Bridge with a bunch of DW people. Portland was lovely, and the conference was great, but I was unfortunately a little bit burnt out on travel and being social at that point, so I didn't get quite as much out of the trip as I could have, I think. I had a few days of downtime after I got back, and then drove out to Wisconsin to spend the 4th of July long weekend with Andy, which was low-key enough that I enjoyed it thoroughly. We played a ton of boardgames, sat around watching anime, and went out and got some new photos of a few of our costumes (which I still need to process). Then I drove home Monday and... spent basically all of Tuesday asleep. Which I hadn't intended, but it happens.

Time to set about Getting Things Done.

Hello, Parallels author! Since you were assigned me, you either really like Shinsengumi stuff, or share my taste in in RE characters. But the odds are probably on Shinsengumi. While I know I put prompts down, I would basically be happy with anything that isn't horribly bittersweet because oh my god playing through routes in Hakuouki is like repeatedly punching myself in the soul. I just want happy. Also, an alternative to any of the Shinsengumi prompts - Souji or Hijikata and their families. Which would be delving into headcanon, I realize, but go for it, seriously. This site has historical information. Hakuouki is a dating sim with an anime adaptation - copies can be found online of both, buuut I'm going to try to keep blatantly illegal things out of this post *g* The plot is sort of ridiculous, but I love the characterization despite it. Peacemaker Kurogane started (and is still running) as a manga series, and also has an anime adaptation of the first five manga volumes (which... were published under a different title. Confusing, I know). Funimation has the anime online (or on youtube, for those outside the US), and Tokyopop was releasing the manga before they imploded, but some scans are linked here now that the manga is out of print. Kaze Hikaru is my favorite of the three, because there's so much detail put into the research, and the writer is willing to flesh out the universe with fill-in stories to historical facts. Unfortunately even if I wanted to link scans (it's currently being translated by Viz very very slowly), the fanbase is bitsy so they don't exist. BUT IT'S REALLY GOOD.

If you got matched on me for RE I'm... sorry.... That was my hideously self-indulgent pairing choice. My headcanon for them is based off of RE2 and RE4 (I haven't played 5 or 6 yet), and I tend to think of Leon/Ada as being my personal canon. ALTERNATIVELY you can write me self-indulgent Leon/Dante instead? HUGE DORKS FOREVER.

I have a post slowly coalescing in my head that can be summed up as 'how do I time management????' but it's still coalescing, so - a post on one of the things I would like to have better time management so I can do. As well as yay public accountability!

So the backstory, as nobody here has actually read all 12+ years of my blog back posts - I'm a weeaboo/otaku/vaguely derisive slang of your choosing. And I may as well own up to that because it's been thirteen years and at this point something unlikely to change soon, instead of just getting defensive about how I'm not like those fans (even if the number of 'get out of my fandom you're making us look bad' moments have been increasing as I get older).

Learning Japanese is one of those things that I've been interested in as long as I've been into anime fandoms, and has morphed from the sort of vague reasons of 'because Japan is cool!' to 'I would really like to read these series which are no longer being translated/being translated so slowly they're practically no longer being translated' (I see you there Viz), with a side helping of 'I'd really like to read Nagakura Shinpachi's memoirs' and given they haven't been translated in the sixteen years since their publication in Japan I'm not holding my breath on an English release.

The catalyst, though, is that my dad and I have been going 'we should go to Japan' for something like ten years now, and then a friend went this month and I sort of went 'YOU KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING THIS THING' and e-mailed him and started looking at dates and places I want to visit, and I'd like to be able to read the placards at historical sites and stuff.

I've made a few aborted attempts in high school, encouraged by my parents, and a little in university, but the Japanese classes at UBC were basically impossible for non-majors to get into, and there was also sort of a period there where stuff was getting English releases so it wasn't as big of a problem. so it's been a bit since I've tried. I do have a little starting knowledge - mostly that I can still basically read hiragana, and sort of write it, and my pronunciation is less atrocious than the average beginner. And I know a very eclectic collection of words.

I've got a bunch of resources bookmarked, and TextFugu is one of them, which starts off with some questions to answer to get you in the right mindset, so I'm going to put them here.

Task: Answer the question: “Why Are You Learning Japanese?”
I want to be able to read comics, and some historical resources.

Task: Write down a list of “excuses” that might hold you back.

I don't have time.

I'm bad at learning languages.

I'm bad at memorization.

I'm a poor self-motivator.

I'm afraid of messing up in front of people who know the language.

Cyberware

» Commlink
» Sim Module
» Simrig
» Skillwires

An implanted version of the commlink popular with hackers and salarymen on the go. Commlinks are the ultimate personal networking tool, used by almost everyone. They are a combination wireless router, cellphone, vidcam, PDA, GPS unit, chip reader, wallet/credstick, and mobile gaming device.

An implanted version of the external sim module, popular with sim lovers and BTL users. The sim module is an ASIST interface that controls the simsense experience. It translates computer signals (simsense data) into neural signals, allowing the user to directly experience simsense programs and virtual reality.

An implanted version of the external simrig, the simrig records simsense experience data (both physical and emotive) from the wearer. Simrigs incorporate a sim module.

Skillwires are a system of neuromuscular controllers placed alongside the body’s natural nervous system to override muscular movement. Skillwire systems allow the use of activesofts (Activesofts replicate skills that require physical activity).

Bioware

» Bone Density Augmentation
» Pain Editor
» Sleep Regulator
» Trauma Damper

In a long and painful process, the molecular matrix of the subject’s bones are altered for density and strength. The procedure also strengthens ligaments, but as a side effect increases weight.

The editor is a cluster of specialized nervous tissue designed to filter sensory stimuli. The subject feels no pain and is unaware of the extent of damage taken without examining herself or being informed by a biomonitor.

The sleep regulator modifies the hypothalamus region of the brain, allowing for longer periods of wakefulness. The recipient requires less sleep per day and the sleep she gets tends to be deeper and more restful.

A trauma damper is a clump of specialized receptors, implanted at the base of the thalamus, near the midbrain. Upon receiving sensory information indicating fatigue, pain, or physical trauma, the damper triggers the release of concentrated endorphins and enkephalins—naturally produced opiates and painkillers. These substances do not aid in repairing the trauma, but they may keep the user alive and conscious long enough for him to receive medical help.

Genetech

» Adapsin
» Genewipe
» Neo-EPO
» PuSHeD

Adapsin is a catchphrase for two proteins that can reduce the impact of non-biological implants to an organism. True adapsin is an immunoprotein that limits bio-stress upon implantation of cybernetics by down-regulating inflammatory response. The second protein produces a secreted polysaccharide that coats the implant with a bio-film, making the body believe that it is a normal organ, thus limiting xeno-rejection and immune response in the long term.

This treatment is a major genetherapeutic procedure that inserts a tag into the body’s neurotransmitters that triggers accelerated cell death whenever these cease to receive regular neurochemical signals from the body—causing epithelial cells and hair to decompose more rapidly when they are removed from the body. As a consequence, biological trace evidence left by characters with this treatment irrevocably deteriorates after five minutes (rendering it useless for genetic profiling or ritual samples).

Eythropoetin (EPO) is a hormone that stimulates production of red blood cells (erythrocytes), commonly used as a performance-enhancing additive in professional sports for over a century. Neo-EPO increases oxygen retention and athletic endurance by insuring a constant supply of oxygen. (This modification was attempted but ultimately failed, requiring further correction)

The PostSynaptic HyperDensity protein modification increases the size of neuronal bundles throughout the central nervous system. This has statistically been shown to grant an increase in subjects’ IQ.

Icons by Gregory Sujkowski

I SWEAR TO GOD I AM SO SICK OF SEEING BOOTSTRAP LAYOUTS I WANT TO STRANGLE SOMEONE.

That and carousels because terrible design.

EDIT: OH GOD IT HAD A CAROUSEL IN BOOTSTRAP WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Not enough sleep and not enough food and forgetting to take your meds and then sitting in a tiny panel with a bunch of famous fantasy authors and sitting *next* to a famous fantasy author.

Listening to them talk about their craft and thinking of process knitters and product knitters. Thinking that you're no good at the things society has deemed 'art' (and I could get into that but won't right now). And all of these authors are terribly interesting people you would like to know but they are famous and you are not.

And then you end up standing in front of the knitting section at B&N wanting to just fit into the shelves somehow and not think all these things.

(don't be me. I can't recommend it)

E-mail subject from Knitpicks: 'Can you honestly resist a sock yarn sale?'

Yes KnitPicks, I actually can, as I don't knit socks and I have at least four unknit skeins of sock yarn (all bought as souvenir yarn, which is how I justified breaking 'no more yarn until I use some up'). I have similarly forbidden myself from starting new cosplay projects until I get some done, and from buying fabric for projects I do not immediately plan on starting. Doing piecing-sketches is okay, though.

We are, like half of the Eastern seaboard, snowed in. I didn't have to go anywhere today which is just as well because I woke up, looked outside, and decided the closest I was coming to leaving the house was getting the mail from the front porch. I've been sewing instead of any of a million other things that I should be doing, because I'm bad at being an adult and obligations are hard.

Lastly, as suggested by the subject, does anyone have podcast recs? I realized yesterday that I have like, a minimum of six hours a week of driving given my class schedule, and there is only so many times I can listen to the one techno-industrial mix CD that lives in my car. On the list so far - Welcome to Night Vale, Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed In History Class, and Radiolab. My main baseline criteria is 'won't make me angry' and 'has decent sound editing' - other than that, I'm open to considering both nonfiction and fiction.

(Also, if anyone is going ??? because they got a notif about me granting access or something, I was looking for something else on my profile and saw a bunch of people who gave me access who I meant to give access back to, though I post very little that's locked.)

I totally meant to do the rest of the Talkative December prompts (and may still do them!) but then school started and my Alienware decided to bite it on the same day. As far as I can tell, I shorted out something dealing with the power switch and battery charging, which probably means a new mobo, which means probably $100+, which means I'm now investigating buying a new laptop that has more than an i3 processor and ports that don't wiggle. In the meantime, I talked my mom into letting me put Mint on her EeePC (instead of the godawful netbook version of WinXP it had) and am using that, though it is tiny, and an Atom CPU means Firefox maxed out CPU and closed itself like four times yesterday.

Classes are going fairly well, although a week and a half in it's hard to say. Linear Algebra is going to be the hardest by far because all of my advanced math skills are really rusty, and it's a theory-heavy class and while I can usually manage if I have actual numbers to manipulate, I am so not good at theoretical math and proofs.

Arts of China is less interesting than the Japanese Architechture class I wanted to take (it got cancelled because of low enrollment), but it's still pretty interesting. Introduction to Theatrecraft has quickly turned into my favorite because it's all so interesting, and we get to make things! And do lights and sound for the theatre department productions (which this term includes Twelfth Night).

My computer science class (you know, the thing I'm majoring in) is actually the dullest, because it is Intro Java, and I need 'so you know another programming language and just need to know Java's conventions' and not 'let's talk about what an IDE is'. It's also from 5:30 to 7pm aka the point at which I have been on campus for eight hours already and just want to go home.

The yearly 'new things I did this year' post!

-drove cross-country as the ‘person in charge’
-visited Yellowstone National Park!
-learned how to dye silk
-started buying weekly comics issues
-started using tumblr
-FINISHED MY COSPLAY SITE (uh, mostly)
-got my first pet who is 100% my responsibility

And looking back at my 2013 goals of 'floss more' and 'pick up more' I didn't quite make it to every day but I definitely got better at it. This year's goal? Stop picking at my skin.

costume(s) you'd make if neither money nor issues of materials/technique were an obstacle? - akatonbo

Over ten days late, is anyone surprised I ever get anything done? I sure am. In my defense,

akatonbo already knows the answer because it came up on the 30 days of cosplay meme I've been doing over on tumblr. The answer is... well, less grand than a lot of cosplayers, I think. Some of which is my willingness to tackle new things head-on, and some of it is... just not finding fancy designs/armor that really appeal to me? Clow Reed from Cardcaptor Sakura was my first cosplay, and ever since, I've wanted to redo it to do the outfit justice. I'm actually finally hitting a point where my skills are mostly there - I need to get better at embroidery, and I need to do research on 17th and 18th century Chinese garment construction, but the rest of the obstacles are monetary.

I also still sort of want to do one of the World of Warcraft Mage tier armor sets, but I can never decide which.

...Which I owed

somnolentblue on the 15th. I guess I should have mentioned my problems with consequenceless deadlines, huh. As consolation, I found my gallery of X cookie photos?

Anyway! I actually have a lot of Feelings about socks which is probably somewhat eccentric and weird of me. As a kid, I hated socks. It probably didn't help that my parents bought like... bulk packs of those athletic tube socks which slide down into your shoe and feel horrible, but my feet wanted to be FREE! Even in sneakers and stuff which probably led to some kind of rank shoes.

At some point - I don't remember when - I changed my stance. My feet still desire freedom but that's why I wear sandals as many days of the year as I can. And walk on grass barefoot. Which may be why I have trouble fitting my feet into the toeboxes on women's shoes - toes are nice and spread-out. When I buy socks, I tend to get a bunch of pairs of the same style, in black, because black matches everything, I am extremely hard on socks (manual labor jobs yeaaaaaaah), and it reduces missing sock angst if you just have a pool of socks that all match. But deep down inside... I really like 'fun' socks. When Sock Dreams had a sale sometime back in the spring I bought like $90 of socks, mostly knee-high or OTK, and that was after harsh paring of my cart. Fun socks are little a little secret spark of joy to my day. With loose jeans and a t-shirt you can't tell I'm wearing over-the-knee rainbow-striped socks, but I know. A secret rebellion in my wardrobe. I would gleefully buy more except I wore holes in the heels of two pairs this month at work and I'm still crying inside over that.

Then there's the knitting side of things. Lots of people say 'oh, sock knitting is so addicting'. And I really really want to be one of those addicted sock knitters. EVEN MORE TYPES OF FUN AND FANCY SOCKS. But so far, the bug has not bitten me. I did one pair of sport-weight with afterthought toe and heel (and need to replace the heels on both ahahaha). I did one sock (um, mostly? I haven't bound it off yet) in fingering weight yarn on 1mm needles and... I was enjoying it up until I turned the heel. After that, it was all.... you mean I have to keep doing this simple pattern? On tiny needles? For like five inches? And it got put aside and kind of... prodded at until I deemed the cuff long enough and did ribbing, which needs to be bound off. And then the second sock, ughhhhh. It may be a matter of hitting the sweet spot of a patten that actually engages me the way my shawlettes engage me, I don't know.

The topic I was supposed to post about on the 10th was Where would you like to see yourself in five or ten years? from

wyldbutterflies. Better late than never I suppose? Which should probably be my life motto.

I've actually only been asked this question on an interview once, despite it being one of the ubiquitous 'interview questions'. I laughed and said 'A Canadian citizen, I hope.' That was three and a half years ago so technically there's still time for it to happen, I don't think it will. Five years from now - I'd like to finally have a job with some prospect of advancement, a job that's actually a career and not a series of entry-level manual labor jobs. I don't want to be living in my hometown - it has it's merits, here and there, but it's a city that's been stuck dead in the water for my entire lifetime, and it depresses me. Being home reminds me of being in high school, which was not a good period in my life mentally or emotionally. I'm trying to make the most of the benefits of it but it's not something I want to be permanent.

As for the physical 'where' of where I'd like to be - Boston, Vancouver, Seattle, maybe Portland. I love the Northwest cities and Boston equally but in different ways and for different reasons and it's a hard choice to have to make, even theoretically. Out of the Northwest, I'd like to live in Vancouver the most because if there was one thing I learned during university (which okay I learned a lot of things), it's that I am a big goddamn pinko commie socialist hippie. Which also means I don't really want to be American any more - I'm not proud of my country, and while there's always the hypothetical devil's advocate of 'but then why don't you stay and make it better!' - I don't have the energy for that, honestly. I don't have the energy for any real sort of major activism because I have my own shit to deal with.

...I think this is a long convoluted way of saying 'I'm not sure right now, but I hope somewhere good' *g* Long-term planning is not a strong point here. In ten years - hey, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be working for Dreamwidth?

"If you could have one wish for yourself (you cannot use it for others), what would it be?" - wyldbutterflies

(Also, still taking topics!)

Hmm, I guess the 'for yourself' part rules out all the standard wishes like 'world peace', 'end war', etc *g*

Probably.... a fuckton of money. Enough money to help out people I care about personally, and to help out charities, and also enough to live comfortably on and pursue my hobbies - crafting, cosplay, travel. Money in general just cranks my anxiety levels to eleven and not having to deal with it would be a million times better.

For more realizable wishes, a job that I enjoy and care about and pays enough to keep me financially stable. My job history so far has mostly been 'do I hate it less/does it pay more than my last job' (current seasonal job - hate it less, but sadly it pays less too. Ah, America. How much I didn't miss your idea of 'livable wages').

...as requested by

somnolentblue.

First and foremost, COOKIES ARE DELICIOUS. Food-as-gift is totally acceptable to me, and I will chow down anything not full of raisins, cranberries, or white chocolate chips terrifyingly fast. Raisins and white chocolate get a try, but cranberries are totally out because no. Storebought cookies will also get devoured quickly because delicious and low-effort. My favorite commercially made cookies are Tagalongs - which I think have different names in various parts of the US? They're the vanilla cookies with peanut butter filling on top coated in chocolate, and last year I basically drove to Bellingham and shoved a twenty at the scouts and was like 'GIVE ME AS MANY BOXES AS THAT BUYS' and then they were gone in two weeks. Such is the tragedy of Girl Scout cookies. My second favorite store-bought cookies are mint Milanos, but they're on sale approximately never, so usually I just get Chips Ahoy, aka the only commercial chocolate chip cookie I actually like. And frequently on sale!

My legit favorite cookies though are my mom's chocolate chip cookies. Which she makes using the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the bag but through arcane mom magic they always manage to be the perfect balance of crispy and chewy. I've been trying to replicate this for years with only one or two true successes - mine always turn out too 'cakey' which is an eternal disappointment. I'm more likely to make no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies which are chocolate, peanut butter, oats, and far too much sugar and butter but are delicious. It's like an energy bar! In cookie form! And they look sort of ugly, but are nearly impossible to screw up.

I also used to do decorated fandom sugar cookies for friends (see icon) and somewhere have about a million photos of them pre-shipping, but I tragically do not know where said photos have ended up. I also haven't had time to do them recently because decorating little sugar-cookie people in detail is both messy and time-consuming.

...I would end this with recipes but they are downstairs and I am in bed, and should have turned out my light at least fifteen minutes ago. Tomorrow, perhaps!

HEY THIS MEME LOOKS INTERESTING and we'll ignore that it's December second already. I can be retroactive or whatever. Wording blatantly copied from

somnolentblue because... I'm lazy.

Pick a date below and give me a topic, and I'll ramble on about it. Gen, fandom, costuming, gaming, coding, web design, crafts, ALL OF THE ABOVE, etc.

Given me, they will probably not be brief. I feel like I can almost guarantee a minimum of two paragraphs, though as soon as I say that I know I'll get stuck on something. I'll tell you if it's something I have no idea how to talk about though.

Go go go give me things to talk about.

December 01 -
December 02 - Cookies! (

somnolentblue)
December 03 -
December 04 -
December 05 - If you could have one wish for yourself (you cannot use it for others), what would it be? (

wyldbutterflies)
December 06 -
December 07 -
December 08 -
December 09 -
December 10 - Where would you like to see yourself in five or ten years? (

wyldbutterflies)
December 11 -
December 12 -
December 13 -
December 14 -
December 15 - Or socks. (

somnolentblue)
December 16 -
December 17 -
December 18 - costume(s) you'd make if neither money nor issues of materials/technique were an obstacle? (

akatonbo)
December 19 -
December 20 -
December 21 -
December 22 - Torchwood thoughts? (

wyldbutterflies)
December 23 -
December 24 -
December 25 -
December 26 -
December 27 - Card Captor Sakura (

akatonbo)
December 28 -
December 29 -
December 30 -
December 31 - "The Dream of the New Year" (

silveradept)

I could probably write a whole post on Thanksgiving and family and feels and all that, but I am prone to too much navelgazing, so I'll just say that I had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving, and am thankful for the friends I've made, here and elsewhere, for family, for opportunities and chances.

And, now that we are into Winter Holiday Of Your Choice Season - I don't think I'm going to be organized enough to do cookies or cards this year because my organization for getting physical things done is like, nil, so instead - digital presents! You may request any of the following:
-Custom layout/custom profile or CR code
-One of

spire's layouts to be ported as an official layout (with your choice of color theme, if you want something other than the default)
-an effort-minor DW bug (I'm willing to consider some effort-mediums, maybe). If you don't hang around the 'Zilla you can name a thing and I can tell you.
-some other digital thing you know I can do but I can't remember right now?

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Active Entries

1: I'm having one of those moments again
2: A brief cosplay thought
3: Idle Thought
4: Learning Japanese
5: Home Sweet Home
6: (no subject)
7: Design feelings
8: things not to do
9: Crafting + looking for podcast recs
10: (no subject)

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Style: Carried Away for Trifecta by ninetydegrees
Resources: Subtle Patterns and Fargo

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Recent Entries

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What I’ve been working on this week in between

I'm having one of those moments again

A brief cosplay thought

Idle Thought

Home Sweet Home

Parallels Post

Learning Japanese

(no subject)

Design feelings

things not to do

Crafting + looking for podcast recs

(no subject)

2013-2014

Cosplay!

Socks!

Whoops several days late.

On Wishes

The word of the day is 'cookies'

[meme] Talkative December

Holiday things~