"Is this thing On?"

So this journal isn't exactly friends only, but about 50% of the entries are. If you're here for art, most of that will be public~ But if you're still interested in friending, friend alway! Just comment, and you shall be added...though a few words on how you found me would be appreciated as well (not mandatory, but just something I'd personally like). ♥

IP logging is off, anonymous posting is on. So hit me. Something you always wanted to say to me or ask me but were too afraid/polite to do so? Now is the time to do it.

EDIT: I'll leave this here for whoever comes across this journal, or whoever lurks around it. -_^

There are all of these pictures with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA" on pixiv and it's so cute omg

Treadmill count: 650 calories burned today.

I know tomorrow's the 4th of July, but I wish I could go in :( Today was a lot easier than yesterday, and I'm not sure if it's because I did it yesterday or because I had some really catchy music playing while I was exercising (as...much as I hate to admit, The Pussycat Dolls have some really freaking catchy songs, I can't stop listening to Hush Hush; Hush Hush oh god) lol.

In any case, this isn't as painful as I thought it would be and I think I can keep it up, if I try. The only problem is I'm going to New York for all of next week...not sure how I'm supposed to keep it up then. I guess walking all over the city should help? I don't even know.

...I was trying something new, but it took waaaay too long. :(

There's something beautiful about making food that you sincerely enjoy and is healthy. Guys, guys, I love this cooking thing so much. ;o; I loved it before, but I never did it that often and now that I know I'll be doing it most of the time I'm just so happy and excited omg.

...Though I know that once I'm tired and totally not up for making food for myself I will totally change my tune, but! For now, yaaaaay. ♥ ♥

In related news, spinach is a wonderful wonderful thing and everyone should eat it more often.

...Thanks guys. I'm feeling better. I had a talk with my Mom and we're going to see if we can make an appointment tomorrow. I'm probably just freaking out (as usual), but it will be nice to at least know what's going on. I should really know better than to self-diagnose myself (It's never lupus), but just making the comparisons was freaking me out and...yeah. Anyway! Not worth thinking about tonight, at least.

It did help to hear that Gyakuten Kenji is doing so well that they're considering a sequel--and that they are indeed working on Gyakuten Saiban 5! I love how Japan knows how to milk its cash cows.

Oh--and thanks to everyone who responded on my healthy food post the other day! I'm feeling so inspired--starting this week I'm going to try exercising 30 minutes each day. I've already started eating organic banana chips as an occasional snack, and they're wonderful. ♥ Tomorrow I hope to make a spinach tortilla wrap for lunch. We'll see how that goes.

RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. It's really weird seeing two such big icons pass away like that. And so young too. I still remember jamming to Thriller as a kid--I wonder if kids these days even think of Michael Jackson that much? Time really does fly, doesn't it.

Thanks for all the help guys!

...It's been a while since I've felt as inspired to just...draw like I've been lately. What a relief. At least something's working out. Not to say things are horrible, but I haven't been feeling too well lately for a number of reasons, so it's good that something positive is going on, haha.

When I remember my father the first thing I think of is his stomach. It may be a bit unflattering for him, but in my early years my favorite place to sleep was on his stomach. I would crawl on his lap and rest my head on it, and just listen. To his stomach making funny noises after he just finished eating, to his heart beating, and then I would fall asleep. It probably wasn't too comfortable for him, but he never complained.

The second thing I remember is his beard. The way it scratched my face when he bent down to kiss me, and how it made me absolutely convinced that if Santa Claus existed he would look like my father. To my chagrin it made people think he was my grandfather at times (and I would emphatically tell them otherwise), but in the end it was one of those defining features about him that I will never forget.

The third thing I remember is his songs. Apparently when he was young they used to call him Elvis (this never ceases to amuse me), though admittedly his songs never really reminded me of the rock star. Instead they are steeped in tradition, in a tongue that I was never taught, or simply silly tunes he made from my name because he knew how much I liked hearing about myself (I was a very narcissistic child, I'll admit).

My mother told me that she had a dream with him in it, a few months ago. She said that in it I was a child, and every time he came close to me I would walk away from him. He turned to her and told her to make sure I remember him.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. I may have never been good at celebrating this day properly, but I will never, ever forget you.

...I'm not sure why I've never drawn Viktor in a top-hat before. It just makes so much sense.

( Some practice doodles behind here )

Also, here, have a short story I was working on this semester that I ended up liking. It still needs some editing, but it's my favorite out of all I wrote for the class. It's been such a long time since I worked on a written story, and working on this made me kick myself for not doing it more. Anyway, here it is. It's called "Ellen".

( The problem with Facebook, Maggie figured, was that it makes you feel compelled to rekindle old connections that probably were better off forgotten. She knew she should have trusted that weird feeling in her gut when she saw that Ellen Anderson (nee Lennox) had friended (she noticed how the verb was now “friend,” instead of “befriend”) her after 19 years of silence. )

My first picture on my new computer (incidentally, it's named Ari and its harddrive is Lily since I'm a dork like that). :D I'm feeling a bit more settled, so I finally sat myself down to do a more complete picture. I've been doing little noncommittal sketches here and there for the past week, but it wasn't until now that I felt like I could do a bit more...whew. It's good, since I need to get started on Overland again soon.

Still wish I had a better place to draw though, ugh my back...

( The undersketch )

...and finally joined Twitter. Anyone who tweets, my name on there is atroquininium.

The house is being remodeled and everything is in disarray...considering that I just sent all my shit from college back here, this is very distressing as I can't really unpack anything because I have no place to put things. Uuugggh. I want to get back to drawing and everything but the lack of space is really bothering me, sigh. I'll figure things out.

I still can't help but feel like I'm just going to return to school in September...it's just so weird knowing that I'm done. I'm sure once I start actually paying taxes and doing more adult things this feeling will wear off. :D; Still.

As of today I now possess a Bachelors of Art in Japanese with a concentration in International Studies. Graduation was a bittersweet experience--despite how excited I am to finally be done, I'm just really sad I won't be seeing the wonderful friends I spent the good portion of my four years with. I cried a little, but now I'm even more determined to not be stupid and keep in contact with everyone from now on. Right, mortalysis? Right.

More stuff later when I get back home.

So apparently I'll be working in Takaoka City in Toyama prefecture next year. Not my preference, but I like surprises so I'm looking forward to getting acquainted with the area. It's right next to the Japan Sea (I wonder if the weather there is as crazy as it was in Kanazawa?) and about an hour or so away from Kanazawa so I'm relatively close to my host family in there...though I'm a bit more separated from my Kyoto host family which kind of makes me sad. :( I'll still try to visit them whenever.

The good thing is that there seems to be a special page made for JETs working in Toyama- ToyamaJETs (you might want to check it out, nittle_grasper)...there seems to be quite a few people in the prefecture so at least I know I won't be completely alone, haha. Man! Learning about this has gotten me really excited for next year...even though I have my fair shares of worries too, haha. I've never truly lived on my own and suddenly I'll be doing that in a different country...here's wishing me luck, I suppose.

So I'm done!! Now all that's left is graduation. :D Yaaaaaay, now I can breathe.

Guys. I...kind of marathoned the Ace Attorney series from Phoenix Wright 2 to Apollo Justice in one month. And...omg. While I'm excited about the Edgeworth game coming out (right when I get to Japan too!! :D)...we can has Gyakuten Saiban 5/Apollo Justice 2 (or...whatever the next game in the series would be called) now? Please?

...okay, until then I'll be doodling pictures of Phoenix/Apollo/...everyone ever. :( But especially those two.

So I totally need to finish reading this book, and what am I doing? Man, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I couldn't access LJ before. :(

MEME TIME!
[ARTSY FARTSY]
FRIENDING MEME
My Thread Here!

Uuuugh, I'm going to have to go back later to look at everyone else who posted there today, but I want to do it nooooow...*crawls back into postmodern depression*

Finally, livejournal works for me again! I've been trying to get on for days now...

...though it's not like I have that much to update with. Monday was my birthday (I am now 22!), it was very fun, and I got to have dinner with the amazing literary critic duo Takayuki Tatsumi and his wife, Mari Kotani, which was also very awesome. I showed Tatsumi-sensei my sketchbook and he totally made fun of me for drawing BL-ish comics. Good times. X) I've been feeling very hopeful for my future, which is a refreshing change from how I've felt most of this year...hopefully I can maintain this.

Now, hopefully livejournal won't forsake me again. :(

Happy Birthday sebychu!! ♥ Hope you're having a lot of fun in Ohi...oh wait, already answered that question.

S-sorry I haven't been on IM for a while...