- a n k i - ?!

1. http://anki.nce.buttobi.net/
2. Manually append /archives/ to the url once the above link loads.
3. ????
4. PROFIT

(You must do it this way; direct linking http://anki.nce.buttobi.net/archives/ does not work.)

Surprising turn of events.

I don't know how many of you have been up to date with SamBakZa's flash series (a.k.a. "the really cute flash vids of that bunny chasing around this cat"), but I only found out recently...and it's nothing short of shocking, to say the least. =/

(Please actually click on the link and wait to watch before reading any further. Unless the seemingly randomness of the following semi-memoir doesn't bother you...in which case, please watch anyway.)



Hedgehogs.

There once had been two in our rather-ghetto cellar in China. I was a bit too young to have understood its exact architectures then; in retrospect, it was perhaps just a simple square hole dug into the ground lined with bricks, covered by a pile of logs. In winters we'd store white cabbage there, though we did have a real refrigerator-- there was just something special about the taste of nappa stored and dug out from underground.

And one year, instead of bringing inside another cabbage, my father motioned me and Mother to come out. There, under the space made by logs. There were they: two gray-brown ball-shaped masses, huddled close together and not a muscle shifting. Especially impressionable had been their spikes, the tips of all of which a bleached color fading close to ashen white.

Not the same at all as I'd seen them in books and cartoons.

We laid out food for them, small pieces of meat and yam among other things, and checked at weekly or biweekly intervals. My mother had forbidden me to disturb them on a daily basis after we'd carefully removed all cabbage from around them, still enclosed in plastic bags, though they never seemed to notice anything we do. The meat, however, was always gone. The other foods, not so much.

We kept the area quiet through all winter. Dogs, children, meddling neighbors; none had known about our pair of spiky visitors sleeping under a pile of logs.

'Til one early spring day, of course. They had gone, as quietly and unobserved as they had come, leaving us a gift of an empty cellar now smelling ever so slightly of certain odors left by wild animals.

The cellar had been empty since.

Words

7th ALBUM 『UROBOROS』2008.11.12 RELEASE

SA BIR
VINUSHKA
RED SOIL
慟哭と去りぬ
蜷局
GLASS SKIN
STUCK MAN
冷血なりせば
我、闇とて･･･
BUGABOO
凱歌、沈黙が眠る頃
DOZING GREEN
INCONVENIENT IDEAL


SO, KIDS, TODAY I LEARN THAT APPARENTLY BUGABOO IS a real word. (Kinda explaining WTHeck's been up with Kyo doing that "you ooga booga" thing in certain recent-er songs. Like DanRee kindly suggests, we may as well expect "hibbies jibbies" in the future.) And that however curioser and curioser Deg's song names get, Agitated Screams of Maggots shall retain the crown for quite a while more.

11/14(fri) New York, NY / US Terminal 5
^ I'll be there for that, too. :D

In other news, NC is alright. Expecting Hanna this weekend, but hopefully it'll be no more than some rain and a breeze. It's prettier here than Ohio and certainly Des Moines. Parents are good, siblings worse, and Jing spends her days pretty much idle.

Common sense says I should probably be drawing more. -_-;

I ARE WATER STRIDER

I can pretty honestly declare, by now, that deciding to take summer classes was one of the significantly better decisions I've ever made in my life, thus far. In general.

(Also ignore the date. I randomly had this saved as a draft for that long, apparently, but the opinion certainly hasn't changed. 8D)

The Current

Random issues?updates? that I've lost track of who I've already told and who I haven't, so I suppose I'll just slap them all here and try to be comprehensive.

I. The main troop
...Had a relocation again. This time it appears to smell like Raleigh, North Carolina. I know, I know, some (read: more like none) of you who probably happen to remember would probably say, But but Jing, Iowa happened only how many months ago? Six? Eight? Well, I suppose the situation bears some resemblance to why MPU made the NY - OH transition all those years ago. The basic idea is that he decides he's had enough, proceeds to search for a new position, gets hired thar, and says LOL KTHXBAI to the old job. Except this time, I guess he really hated Iowa just a wee bit moar than the usual.

Now, unlike most of you kids whose school works under the semester system, the Jing did not get out of spring quarter until the first week of June (that's finals week for her), and the main troop timed its moving so that their drive from Iowa to NC would find Ohio as sort of a midpoint/resting stop. While here, what they did was halping Jing move out of her dorm and right into the...

II. Studio.
Oh yes. As the required first year of living either on campus or with parents draws to a close, Jing (with major halp from a certain "fwen") luckily found this nifty little place right as the last vacancies were filling up. Actual place doesn't look as fancy as the pictars suggest, but Jing's did also come with an okay armchair and two decent barstools not shown. All utilities--including internet*--are included in a rent of 485/mo. No, this is not actually associated with university housing in any manner; it's just a company that carries the word in its name because its target clients happen to all be students. So, basically, it has everything a dorm has to offer + privacy + no rules & it's simply a hell lot cheaper.
* Except the internet kicks in only come September, when the real school year starts and the majority of the students start their leases. This means that until then, the Jing has to come to the library for internetting purposes--including right now as I type.

Why do I sound like a bot advertising the place? In short, it's just that despite certain flaws (see finer print), this place is simply an amazing blazing deal--especially compared to where I used to live alone back in NY (shared bathroom/kitchen)--and especially since I was so very lucky to have caught it at all...again, thanks to "fwen" dearest, who looks like will come live with me for a month+ in just a bit more. I've also been spreading the news left and right to anyone who might consider a roadtrip and just may need a place to crash, even if it's in Ohio... A few maybe's and no solid takers so far. :D

So...wait. Am I saying that Jing'll basically be staying in Ohio for the largest part of this complete summer? Short answer: Ya. Long answer: ...

III. ...Maybe.
Possibly most of you know this already: Jing is taking ze summer quarter. Not summer classes--summer quarter. Again, since most of your come from the world of semesters, I shall explain.

1 academic year
= 2 semesters (fall/spring)
= 3 quarters (fall/winter/spring)

Instead of "summer vacation", we have a usually-empty summer quarter. Most students take that quarter off since it is completely, 100% optional. (In fact, the school by default assumes that you don't take it. You have to specifically register for it, etc. The tuition policy, however, is just the same as regular quarters; you don't have to pay extra.) Four years of 3 quarters per year gives you 12 total quarters of classes taken--but if you take summer quarter each year, you will complete those same 12 quarters in only three years, without having to take heavier course loads per quarter.

All that said, I suppose it means Yeah, Jing kind of sort of wants to graduate early. Assuming she doesn't decide to change her mind 180 degrees about med school in later college years, getting out of undergrad certainly seems the quicker the better. In any case, it's simply better/more practical to stick around for job purposes and other responsibilities...than probably just sitting on my ass in NC for 3+ months.

While it is true that she wouldn't want to cut so many classes like she did last quarter (hoppin' back to NY on random weekends and skipping a lecture or two on Mondays/Tuesdays) due to the nature of her classes (Mol Gen 500, yoy!~) and schedule, there is at least one instance in a certain month that she may be free to...roam... a bit. No, 'tis sadly not the blaringly soon and obvious July 4th; Jing'll be busy celebrating reunion with the fwen around then. =/

But keep yer eyes and ears open. 'Twill be a surprise...maybe. 8D

Happy Birthday Jing!

I know this blog means a lot to you so hopefully you'll see this in time?
I hope you're being happy wherever you are. One of these days you really need to drag your butt back to New York while I can actually spend time with you D:

The Mother

The brood mermaid holds a low rung in the caste of the working class. Taken as they come and cheaper than those in the sister-profession of prostitution, they are virtually disposable to the no-longer-quite-underground industry of larvae trafficking. In its quickly deteriorating society, the ruling caste has joined forces with masterminds of the underground, launching yet another "humane solution" to halt the growing problem of unwanted diffusion or dilution of noble blood. In an attempt to cleanse the hierarchy of all existing half-royal underlings, all brood mermaids who have knowingly reared seeds of the noble were drawn to scattered, isolated meeting spots with promises of rare reward--but what met them instead was, surely enough, the very rare Mother.

The Mother has long been a suspect of the mer race's nearest (but taboo) kin, very particularly due to the close resemblance they bear to the mer larva; though, unlike the mer, they retain their many eyes and globular body mass and do not moult or cocoon to reach adulthood. Their gender demographic or mode of reproduction has also been a largely speculated mystery, as it would appear that all members are born? and remain female. They are known in mer children's tales as monsters who lure and snatch away the misbehaving child.

Far too many generations have lapsed for the general public to recognize or remember that, in actuality, the legendary Mother has an affinity only for mer children in the larval stage. Sending and receiving globules of themselves, they "charm" away the developing larva, kidnapping them to unknown, un-mer territories, never to be seen or heard from again. However, they do not and would not even dream of wounding the child, as this has become clear; they treat and rear all catches of larvae as one of their kind with the gentlest mother's care.

But the brood mermaid remains.

She wails.