Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 68

More Fannish Foolishness

A somewhat casual Ichigo (probably my favorite of the bunch.):


Gin Ichimaru (not quite right, but creepy...):


Renji Abarai and Zabamaru (I like this one okay, but it's not my best Renji)


Gin Ichimaru and Shinso (a dialogue bubble obscured the back of Gin's head, so I had to punt.):

lyda222 @ 2012-02-12T08:20:00

A somewhat casual Ichigo:


Gin Ichimaru:


Renji Abarai and Zabamaru


Gin Ichimaru and Shinso:

Skipping!

I am skipping, as in playing hooky or skivving off. I'm supposed to be at "African-American Parent Involvement Day" at Mason's school. (Yes, even though I'm not African-American... it's supposed to be for all parents, with special emphasis for parents of color.) At any rate, I started out with good intentions. I walked Mason to class as usual, talked a bit to his teacher, and then headed over to check out the coffee and treats situation. The treats were actually first-rate. Brugger's donated a bunch of bagels and cream cheese (and brought their costumed mascot to school for free advertisment). The coffee was... industrial. But, still, I hung out and chatted with a few strangers, which normally I have no problem with, but for some reason this morning I was feeling sort of like I had to be more "on" than I wanted to be. Then, when I looked over the programming for the day, I broke. I did NOT want to sit through a concert. Mason's class wasn't going to be participating, so it wasn't like I was going to miss out on a precious Kodak moment. Plus, as the minutes ticked onward I realized that all the usual suspects were showing up... all the parents I already knew so very well from hanging out with them every day after school at pick-up time.

I bailed.

I at least went back to let Mason know I wasn't going to stay. Luckily, today is reading camp for his class, so he has his books to keep him company. He wanted to me to hang out, but I explained that if I did, we'd still end up seperated, since I couldn't sit with the class through the concert and that was pretty much the bulk of the day. He took that pretty well. Anyway, I had already spent the entire afternoon at Crossroads -- first in Mr. G's classroom and then at chess club. I was feeling pretty Crossroads full-up.

My plan is to make a pot of decent coffee, do a few dishes and a bit of other housework, and then maybe... just maybe get started on a Garnet Lacey e-book.

Oh, speaking of writing, Wyrdsmiths is looking for a new venue. Our old coffee shop, the Black Dog has decided that they really want to have loud (annoying) music on Thursday nights. We'd like to keep meeting on Thursdays at 7:30 pm, so we're trying to find a good coffee shop (preferably in St. Paul since the majority of us are St. Paulies) that's open until at least 10:00 pm. This is proving surprisingly difficult.

If you know of any place, let me know!!

Much Maligned "Bount"s

I have yet to meet a Bleach fan who hasn't rolled their eyes when either Mason or I explain that we're currently in the middle of the "Bount" arc. A lot of people have told me they skipped it because other fans told them it was so bad.

I think that's not exactly bad advice, HOWEVER...

If you seriously saw none of it, you're missing a few vaguely interesting bits. They're not worth suffering through all the literal sitting around in Urahura's shop staring at each other scenes (or the comic debasement of the noble Renji Abarai), however, in this arc a character is introduced who is a deserter. Given how Byakuya Kuchiki deals with Renji's (ulitmately kind of minor) insubordination in the Soul Society arc, you wouldn't think any one would be ALLOWED to walk away from the Imperial Guard (Gotei) Divisions alive. Seriously. But this guy deserts. Why? Because Kenpatchi Zaraki lets him.

As we all know, Zaraki is the only captain to have gotten his rank by... well, essentially murdering the previous captain of the 11th division. Technically, he challenged his commanding officer to duel in front of two hundred witnesses or something like that, which is all quite legal in the Soul Society's Imperial Guard rules.

The deserter was loyal to the previous captain and is, quite rightly, utterly horrified at the idea of having to serve under a madman like Zaraki who killed his beloved commander in such a nasty and kind of *unfair* way. Certainly, it's not TRULY honorable. Espeically since the deserter claims, at one point, when he's making his case to someone else, "the Soul Society *needed* someone like [his former captain.]"

I am a big fan of Kenpatchi Zaraki under most curcumstances, because... well, as long as the fight is good, he's on our side. He's seriously bad ass in a fun kind of way. But, what I liked about this tiny thread is that it made me actually consider what it must have been like to watch some punk (because really, you don't get much more low life than Zaraki) SLAUGHTER a presumably perfectly capable and decent captain and walk away with the captain's haori slung over his shoulder, his sword still dripping with blood....

Whoa, right?

I find the idea of a Soul Reaper deserter really fascinating, especially since he seems to have at least been a seated officer (he can call out his zanpakto) -- and it's kind a shame that he appears in this otherwise fairly useless arc.

Here, for once, is a traitor who has a sympathetic back story. He's not a power-hungry megamanical freak like Aizen. Power at all costs, blah, blah, blah.... Okay, so I haven't gotten Aizen's back story yet, but I have a hard time imagining it to be nearly this sympathetic. Unless somehow they're going to reveal something utterly corrupt in the center of the Imperial Guard that would make Aizen's actions seem justified.

At any rate, the other thing that I find myself thinking about while suffering through the Bount arc is how sociopathic Urahura really must be. I LOVE Urahura. "Hat and clogs" rules! But, the guy *is* responsible for a number of rather ethically dubious research projects. Though it's not stated outright, it seems clear that Urahura was in charge of the Mod Souls project which was shut down because it was seen as too awful. Kon is supposed to have been the last of his kind.

I say this because, here, all of a sudden, out of Urahura's shop pop three Mod Souls, each of whom, seems to have EXTRA super-human powers (which Kon does not possess, and never hinted at having -- which you know he WOULD because he's that guy) AND wonderfully/creepy designed gigai. Which would lead one to believe that, if somehow Urahura did NOT engineer the project, he's certainly not above restarting it... with "improvements."

This project was supposed to have been shut down because it was seen as VERY WRONG to take what is essentially a human soul and imprision/transform it into a killing machine. Yet, so far, not one of the shinigami who have appeared in this arc (and there are far too many cool people who end up trapesing through this mess) ever once turned to Urahura and said, "Ai! What are these??!! Where the hell did they come from???" And Matsumoto actually watches the transer of a Mod Soul pill from a gigai into a doll -- I would grant that not everyone knew about this project, but Rukia did, so...

*shrug*

On a general note, I just want to say that I've always been a little creeped out that Urahura seems to be the go-to guy when a Shinigami needs a body. I mean, like, what's his back store room really like, you know?

Ridiculously Busy Day

Today is Thursday, my busy day. I started it off with a trip to the library to return some stuff (my drawing Manga and some of Mason's Bionicle books). Now, I'm in the relatively lull period before I have to head back to Mason's school for volunteering, first in the classroom and then at chess club. After chess club, will be kuk sool wan. We're going to try to make it tonight because it's sparring, which Mason loves (and has special gear for). Then, I'm off to Wyrdsmiths.

Normally, I also try to clean the fish tanks and any other number of household things done as well (hey, at least I already got the recycling out)... but probably I'll end up reading my Wyrdsmith homework and not doing much else. Though I do need to have dinner pre-made or there will be no hope of anyone eating tonight.

Last night I had my second hula hooping class. It was a lot of fun. I was smart this time and brought my own music because... well, I'm old, and I don't appreciate that NOISE that passes as music these days. Having my own beat to hoop to helped quite a bit, though I'm still not getting the "hip thing" as everyone calls it. I was told by the instructor, though, that sometimes that's the last thing that clicks, particularly for adult students. I did, weirdly, totally rock the trick steps. (Again, I think I blame my martial arts training for this.) My shoulders have been sore since Tuesday's KSW, because we played a "game" that actually involved a whole LOT of push-ups -- and one of my goals this year in KSW is to actually do REAL push-ups (not "girly" ones from the knee, and also ones where your chest actually nearly touches the ground.) I suspect my entire torso is going to be sore, sore, sore by seven o'clock tonight.

So imagine me running around the Cities today with achy muscles.

Street Slang (polite form)

Yesterday, after I picked up Mason from school, I had a sudden burst of memory. At one point Shawn had bought me a copy of JAPANESE STREET SLANG. I dug through the house and discovered that, yes, we still had it, and it was still as wonderfully silly (and potent!) as I remembered it.

I also realized there is pretty much NO WORDS that are repeatable from BLEACH. A phrase that was translated, "What's that?" Really = "What the f*ck is that?"

Sheesh.

Release Day!

Hey, hey, it's release day.

Today is the day that ALMOST EVERYTHING is officially out. So run like headless chicken to your nearest bookstor and buy sixteen thousand copies. After all, you don't want to miss out on the exciting conculsion to the Vampire Princess of St. Paul series, am I right?

I have a feeling that the choice that Ana makes between all her various boy options is going to disappoint some fans. But, you know, I also (as usual) didn't REALLY expect this to be the final book, though at least this time I was more aware of the possibility while writing, so I'd hoped to let her bounce around a lot more before seeming to settle.

Anyway, if you've read the others and are following along, see what you think.

In other news, at HalfPrice Books the other day, along with Manga, I bought a "How to Speak Japanese" series to listen to in the car as I drive from place to place. I'm sure I'm one of a thousand Anime fans who thought this was a good idea, but it *is* startling how many question forms I already recognize. Not that I can repeat any of them yet... but if someone asks me "What is that?" in Japanese I would recognize the question at least, even if I had no response.

I'm actually always baffled by the fact that language courses don't start by teaching you how to say, "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you just said," or "Can you speak slower?" or even, "I need a translator. My Japanese is very bad."

I took French in high school for several years (as well as college) and the only thing I can say with any amount of accuracy after all that time is one of the first phrases we learned: "Open the window," (Ouvrez la fenêtre).

This is a ridiculously unuseful thing to know how to say. In the two times I have been to France I never ONCE had the opportunity to use it. I remember trying to brush up for my last visit and encountering textbooks which had me learning to say things like, "The cat is under the porch," and I remember thinking, "Oh, yeah, that'll be helpful for the week I'm in Paris. Because, you know, the first thing I'm going to do is lose my cat under the porch!"

But, at least during the 1980s people traveled to Japan a lot, so I'm learning how explain to Customs Officers that I'm in Toyoko on business (which I won't be) and how to have a pleasant conversation with the taxi driver about the weather and the popularity of certain Japanese cars in America. Honda! Toyota!

What I wish (and it probably exists somewhere in the universe) is that there were a fan guide to speaking Japanese. I want to know how to say, "Oh god! Look at the size of that monster rising out of the harbor! Is that Godzilla? We're all going to die!(polite form)"

One of the reasons I think that would be helpful is that there are certain things the language tapes are never going to teach. For instance, Mason and I started repeating a phrase that we heard a lot that had been translated as "damn" or, occassionally, "shoot." Shawn suggested that before we go shouting it in public maybe we ought to know EXACTLY what it meant. Well, a simple trip to "How to swear in Japanese," revealed that we were actually repeating the s-word. Which explains a LOT about the reaction I get when I tell people that Mason and I are watching Bleach together....

Unlike fan translated episodes, Netflix/Adult Swim has santizied Bleach to the point that...well, the FCC doesn't revoke their license, and an eight year old has nothing to fear -- even when encountering the rude folks in the 11th division barracks. Though even *we* recognized that probably "Screw you" wasn't PRECISELY what got said at one point.

What this means, however, is that when we run out of subtitled Bleach episodes, we won't be able (as I first thought) to go to the fan sites and pick up where we left off. Probably, we'll have to start reading the Manga.

Weekend Plans?

If you don't have any, I am going to be at Uncle Hugo's from 1:00 - 2:00 pm signing Tate Hallaway's latest release, ALMOST EVERYTHING, which is the last in the Vampire Princess of St. Paul series. I kind of forgot about this... or, rather, February snuck up on me (due, no doubt, in part to my current fannish fever,) so I have a very bad feeling there will be many crickets.

However, if you decide you want to go, and need more informaiton check out: http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.shtml

This also means that the book's official release day is *tomorrow.*

So, uh, go buy one. Please?

I have another deep sense of forboding around this book as well, I have to admit. I mean, it would be REALLY AWESOME if it did well... but my publisher seems to have given up on it a bit. There were no galleys made, so, for instance, my main source of "getting the word out," ie Romantic Times didn't even review it. I don't know how anyone that wants it is going to find it... outside of Twitter.

Sigh.

However, there will be a radio interview coming up just after Valentine's day, so hopefully I can at least interest the listeners of KFAI! And, I'm dutifully printing out some postcards in the hopes of gathering some friends to Hugo's.

In other good news, I managed to get my class mostly in order. I need to record and upload a quick vlog lecture yet, but then I'm good. I even managed to gather all the links I need for next week as well, so I'm almost kind of ... ahead. We'll see how long that lasts.

Otherwise, the weekend was fairly quiet. Mason had his swimming lesson on Saturday. We took part in the American ritual of the Superbowl by being invited to a friend's for the big game/commerical watching. I have to say, this year the commericals didn't really make me happy... outside of Volkwagen, of course. Star Wars references work for me, believe it or not. I know, a surprise, right? Mason really enjoyed the half-time show, as, frankly, did I. Madonna is totally past her sell-by date, but it's sort of like finding an M&M in the couch cushions... you still kind of want to eat it.

Fan Arts!

I loved this picture of Renji Abarai so much, I decided to ink it (and attempt the color of his hair, which in the Anime is almost maroon.)



Yesterday, after picking up my glasses at the Roseville mall, we stopped in at the HalfPrice Books that's out there. I'd brought a long a box of old textbooks and such that I've been cleaning out of the basement for trade, and decided to see if they had any of the Manga for Bleach. They had a bunch, but I picked out some that had some cool action for drawing. Ironically, the picture I chose isn't terribly action-oriented.

Here's creepy Gin Ichimaru... (the original shows him in this relaxed, satisfied pose in a literal shower of blood. EEK!)

A New Vision

Almost two weeks ago, I was doing the dishes in the kitchen and I heard the cats knock something off the table. I didn't think much of it. Then, I heard the mail come and I went to go get it. I'd been in my tennis shoes because I needed to pick up Mason in a matter of minutes... and as I headed out, I heard, beneath my feet a decidedly hard crunch. I looked down. MY GLASSES!

They were broken in three places. Completely shattered.

I dug my earlier pair out from the drawer and have been wearing them until I could find time to go get a new pair. Since we don't have insurance for me, we needed to find something cheap. Luckily Vision World was having a sale. I went and got an exam and picked out two pair. The eye doc said that my right eye has been doing most of the work for my eyes for a long time, but other than that my eyes were pretty healthy.

Yesterday we picked up my new glasses. Obviously, I usually take my glasses on and off a lot, but I've been wearing these constantly as I get used to them... and I have to say, I probably should continue that trend. It seems that the world is a lot more... 3-D than I previously realized. I wonder if I've been slowly loosing a bit of depth perception.

In other news, I have to teach starting Monday. After languishing for a long time with only four registered students, my on-line class at the Loft suddenly picked up the three more needed to make it viable. I'd gotten my mind around the idea it would be cancelled so I'm... rushing around trying to get ready, and trying to focus on the fact that I have things that need doing that aren't related to drawing more fan art or writing slash fic.

Also, I need to get the word out about my up-coming signing at Uncle Hugo's for Tate's last Ana book, ALMOST EVERYTHING.

This means, of course, that this morning all I've managed to get done was ink a couple of pictures while sitting next to Mason who is nursing a tummy ache by watching the Star Wars triology (the evil prequels, no less.)

Later today I need to fetch some bread from the bakery and get ready for a Superbowl party/housewarming we were invited too. Unfortunately, Shawn woke up with a migraine, so she's trying to sleep it off.